5K

For those of you who don't know, I started training to run a 5K at the beginning of the summer.  I know some people who might be surprised at this since, in high school, I was very anti-running when the running applied to me.  I've never had a problem with other people running (I have several friends who ran both cross-country and track in high school).  It was just the concept of me running that I abhorred.

So what caused the change?  There were several factors.  Part of my motivation was simply to get into shape.  Another was to see just how far i can go.  I may have played soccer and been on the swim team and been in the colorguard in the high school marching band, but I've never been the person who goes outside just to run around.

But I digress.  I feel like it was my cousin who got my butt in gear (or "get my butt moving" as a certain someone's parent would say . . .).  At the beginning of the summer, my cousin invited me to a facebook group.  She was trying to get a group together to do the Tough Mudder race this fall.  As I looked at the website, I couldn't help thinking about how much fun it looked.  The only problem was my lack of physical fitness.  So, I started looking up training programs for running a 5K.  And it's history.

I still can't run for too long, but I can run for a mile without stopping.  Or I can run for a half hour, broken down into six-minute intervals.  It's not much, but it's definitely a start.

Distractions

You know . . . I've sat down at the keyboard several times over the course of the last month thinking about what I should say here.  Whenever I sit down with the intention to write a blog entry, my mind draws a blank.  I start to type something and hope that it comes across as witty and clever, but I reread it only to find that it sounds bland and flat.  I know that it doesn't serve as an acceptable excuse, but I have been thinking about the blog.  As I go on a run or make the hundredth small Chocolate Extreme Blizzard with vanilla ice cream at the Dairy Queen, I think of the perfect things to say.  Yet, when I sit down at the computer, nothing comes.  Maybe it's just the inactivity of the summer, or maybe it's the heat (yes, we have air conditioning, but no it's not on . . . please don't ask me for the answer to that riddle).  Honestly, I can't really say.

However, I can say that I love planning for projects, especially when they're knitting projects and especially when I'm going patternless.  It just feels like this great adventure where I've got to apply all the knowledge I have about that craft.  Or having to learn new skills for the completion of the project.  There are always the rough spots, where nothing that I do seems to be working.  But if you think about it in the grand scheme of the project, those rough patches only make the finished project mean that much more. I've been working on some knitted jewelry designs for an Etsy shop that I'm hoping to open next spring.  Stay tuned for more!

They Do Exist!

Ok, so . . . while exploring the wonders of the internets, I've stumbled upon a blog with an extremely interesting, unique, and entertaining topic.  Introducing Hot Guys Reading Books.  Yep.  It's a blog that features a different picture of a guy reading a book every day.  Because literature-loving guys always seem to be in short supply.  That's all I really had to say right now.  Honestly, I've had a few blog posts in my head over the course of the last month, but . . . whenever I went to write it, I was called to do something supposedly more "important."  By the time I got back to the computer, all of my brilliant thoughts were gone.  At the moment, I'm waiting to pack the car up with my family for a week-long trip to Myrtle Beach, so this post won't be very long or informative, unfortunately.  But stay tuned!

Of Following Dreams and Friendship

It's interesting how things can change.  I just finished reading The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs.  I borrowed it from my sister, who got it from a garage sale for $0.50.  She started reading it, but stopped because she didn't like it.  I started reading it yesterday because I was bored and wanted to read something.  And, as I finished the book a little while ago, I realized that my sister and I are in two different stages.  Before, and during, high school, I was obsessed with fantasy stories.  I was able to slip into that Renaissance Fair-type persona.  I mean, I was never as obsessed with fairy tales as my sister is, but I did enjoy them.  Now, I feel like I appreciate stories taking place in real-life places more.  Like Friday Night Knitting Club.  It's the story of a single mom who successfully starts her own business and gains a motley band of friends in the process.  The way the women stuck together in the novel makes me think of the friends that I have.  Everyone comes from a different background, but we've all come together to support each other in rough times.  I've encountered so many different personalities, attitudes, beliefs.  Stuff's happened.  Friends have been gained and lost, and that's alright.  I've had the opportunity to reconnect with high school friends after being separated for a school year.

There are plenty of things I didn't like about The Friday Night Knitting Club, but I feel like it clearly speaks about how life is what you make of it.  The choice is yours.  Either you can sit at home or in that job you hate wishing you followed that dream, or you can go out and make it happen.  It won't be easy, but I've heard that it's worth it.

A Reflection on Friendship

Friends are such an important part of life.  I think a lot of hardships would be almost impossible to get through without the help of a good friend.  It doesn't matter where you are or when the last time you saw that person was.  A true friend is always there.  While watching Lord of the Rings recently, it struck me how Gandalf and Aragorn were really true friends.  In the story, I always think of Sam and Frodo, Merry and Pippin, and Legolas and Gimli.  But, really,  the books allude to how Gandalf and Aragorn have worked together for many dangerous missions.  Aragorn expressed concern for Gandalf during a discussion on whether they should go through the mines of Moria or not.  At another point, Tolkien implies that Gandalf encouraged Aragorn to return to Gondor and claim his right as king.  Both voice their trust in each other on several occasions.  And that's what friendship is all about, isn't it?  They were frequently separated for long periods of time, but they trust each other implicitly.  I think this is an aspect of friendship that isn't thought of today.  Shouldn't we work towards helping our friends rather than looking at what they can do for us?

Secret Admirer

So, for those of you who don't know, I have an account on this website called www.formspring.me.  It's a website where people can ask anonymous questions to other people to answer.  Now, this can create some interesting situations.  I've been lucky so far in that I haven't had anyone asking me completely inappropriate questions.  However, I signed in for the first time in a couple days, and I got a rather . . . unique and random question.  An anonymous person asked if I am currently dating anyone.  My response was, of course, a completely honest "no."  Well, I said more than just "no," but if you want to see exactly what I said, you can do so here. 

Now, I'm not sure the purpose of this question.  Whether it's completely serious and interested in something specific, or  just a curiosity about whether college-age girls who knit can actually acquire a boyfriend, I don't know.  However, as you all probably guessed, I pondered this over a little bit of knitting (my grey cardigan, to be exact).  My brain has been set on overload by a whole host of questions ranging from the topic of the story I'm currently writing to what I'm going to pack for the youth conference I'm going to in a few weeks to what I really want to do with my life.  I've discovered once again how soothing knitting is.  It relieves stress and allows you to contemplate the problems more calmly.

End contemplation of the value of knitting.

Once again, I would love to find out who it was that posed that question on formspring, regardless of the reasons.  It's not every day that I get asked that kind of question.

Oh, For the Love of Socks!

So, in my last post, I dreamed of owning this kit: Sock Cocktails (except in the Violet Martini flavor . . . they're now out of it).  And now, a couple of weeks later, guess what is now in my possession?

Yep.  The Violet Martini Sock Cocktail kit from Knit Picks is mine.  Now, for the first time in my life, I have ten skeins of quality sock yarn in my possession.  I know that, as Peter Parker so aptly declared, "with great fiber comes great responsibility."  All right . . . so it wasn't exactly like that, but you get the point.  It's good fiber, and I'm going to enjoy it.

Ahem . . . cough, cough.  Anyway.  At the beginning of the week, I cast on my first pair of toe-up socks!  It was exciting.  I'm really enjoying this method of sock-making.  It probably won't prevent the dreaded second-sock syndrome, but it definitely makes me happy.  I mean . . . the tricky part (the toe) is already done.