Oh hey, again. Two blog posts in like 2 weeks. Alert the media, folks. I may be back for real.

Then again, when has that ever been true? Aaaaanyway, it's been spring break. I had high hopes, like legit high hopes of researching the crap out of some term papers and even writing the suckers. Well, I did some minor research/reading, and I think I have a clearly defined paper focus, but that's about it. Although, I haven't given up on making more progress. SEVEN weeks left in the semester. Grad school, I have nothing to say to you. You've been real. You've been fun. You haven't been real fun. Gee, that was original.

I think I start failing at blogging regularly when I feel like I'm being forced to write. So, an experiment: short, sweet, raw. Unedited? Unlikely. But the first three.

Bye.

Shut up. I know what you are thinking. Well, I imagine you are wondering why I'm writing a blog in something that has been dead for nearly a year. Well, 9 months. Yes, I just counted on my fingers how long it had been. Nine months. You can grow a child in that amount of time. Gross. And no, that's not what I've been doing during my blog hiatus. Again. GROSS.

I'm set to graduate in May with my MPA. Master of Public Administration. What is that, you ask? Well, good question. I don't quite know either. Policy, finances, management, government good, efficiency good, blah blah blah. Maybe this is why job offers are not flying at me at 100mph. In the meantime, I've been trying to keep my head above water as I finish up my final 9 hours. And take comps. And job hunt. And keep my sanity. And eat paleo food. And crossfit and teach my group fitness classes and watch every aired episode of The Hills and try to touch base with society every once in a while. Whew I'm tired.

Really, it is tiring. Straight up tiring. I am doing quite well though, depending on who you ask. If you ask my GA peeps, I am still antisocial, yet unusually motivated this semester. If you ask my crossfit buddies, I am still antisocial, work out at weird times, and NOT DOING THE OPEN. That is a blog for another day. If you ask my fam, I am the same. But mostly, I am taking one day at a time and planning generally and hoping for the best. That is the only way to do it.

Sooo. Not to overwhelm with too much info at once. Things that bring me joy that I've discovered since last posting:

• PaleOMG -- www.paleomg.com
• Enjoy Life chocolate chips -- see above bullet
• Smash
• Homemade pesto
• Coconut butter

Let's just stop there because all of these things are food. Except Smash. Hmmm. Time to reevaluate life. That was a joke. I will not give up my food obsessions.

A Decade

I was reminded a few weeks ago that this month is the 10th anniversary of one of the most life-changing events I've ever experienced. Now I am 26, so I hope to heavens that there are more life-changers ahead. But honestly, MSA will likely never fall from the top 5 or 6.

In a nutshell, the Missouri Scholars Academy is a 3-week program for students about to enter their junior year of high school. 330 gifted students. Eating, living, and experiencing together, all on the MU campus. And holy shiz, I've never met so many truly brilliant individuals in my life.

I thought I might die when it was over. Ahh, nostalgia. A DECADE.

Before I start crying MSA-shaped tears, I'll move onto other things in my life that make me weep for lesser reasons.

1. I'm surviving work. 60 hours down, 240 to go.
2. I'm surviving school. 2 weeks down, 6 to go.
3. ...

Well, that may be it. My good ol' friend Brian actually constructed me a pie chart of my activities. And I told him after seeing it graphically that I had no right to scratch and moan if sleeping took up so much of my pie. Granted, I have taken a hit in the sleep department, but still. I'm doing alright. This kid is alright.

What's up on the board for today? Funny you ask. There is a friendly intra-affiliate CrossFit competition this morning and I am signed up. My CF mojo has been missing for quite awhile, so this could be good. Or really really bad.

WOD 1: Thruster Ladder – Women starting at 65lbs; Men 105lbs

WOD 2: “The 100′s” – 100 Pull-Ups, 100 KB Swings (55/35lb), 100 Double Unders, 100 Overhead Squats (95/65lb)

The Top 5 Male and Female Athletes Will Advance to the Final Event

WOD 3: 20 calorie row, 30 burpees facing the plate, 40 DB ground to overhead anyway (45/35lb), 50 toes to bar, 100ft overhead walking lunge (45/25lb), 150ft Sprint.

See you on the flip side.

What's in a day?

Hello friends,

A few months ago, I wanted to construct a pie chart depicting the ways in which I spend my week. I figured a hefty portion would go to school and studying, another hefty portion would go to working out, blah blah blah. It got old real quick, mostly because it started involving estimating things and by golly, if I was going to put together a graphic, it was going to be accurate, dammit.

I think I could do this now that it's summertime and my days are quite scheduled, almost pristinely in fact. So to break it all down:

There are 168 hours in a week.

30 are spent working.

10 are spent running, riding, CrossFitting, Attacking, and RPMing.

56 are spent sleeping.

14 are spent driving.

6 are spent cooking.

8-10 are spent studying or sitting in class.

I don't care what the remainder is. I'm sure about 100 are spent on eating. The point is that it would make a lovely chart. And the sub-point is that I am busy, and I may have bitten off more than I can chew. And that means I must chew faster.

Wish me luck, comrades. The next 10 weeks will be awesomely gruesome.

Sincerely,

Your fast-chewing pal

Amber

Public Servanthood

Lately, I've been trying to decode the mystery of my draw to the "become-so-busy-you-want-to-kill-yourself" way of living. Unlike the average person, I believe myself to thrive in these types of situations, and with that comes the God-given rights to gripe and vent to whomever will listen. There are a multitude of problems that occur when a person does this to him or herself, but they really don't manifest until the last blasted bit of rope has been pulled apart and destruction is, therefore, inevitable. The real problem with these types of people is that they never learn how to do less. They just kid themselves into thinking that this will be the time they finally are able to flawlessly pull off an overloaded schedule. Which seamlessly brings me to June 2011.

I've dipped my toes into my summer internship (er, in-service training in public administration), and it actually looks to be pretty exciting. Officially, I'll be working in HR attempting to do some benchmarking studies to improve the current Greene County compensation scale. I preface that with "officially," because who the heck knows if that's really what I'll actually accomplish. So if you're driving around Government Plaza, wave in my general direction. I'll be putting in 32-ish hours a week, housed for now in the building where the County Commissioner lives and breathes.

So there is one snippet of my summer. Tune in next week for Part 2 of my series, "Dreaming Big While Not Actually Dreaming At All."

Aaaaand....scene.

Who could love someone named Beezus?

Jesus. That's who.

I am currently semi-obsessed with the movie, Ramona and Beezus. I was stoked about it the very idea of it when I first saw the previews, but I never made it to the theater. Life and other happenings got in the way. But my schedule has cleared out lately, and while I am still sort of busy, I also make room to rent stacks of DVDs and plant my brain-dead body on the couch. Ramona and Beezus, Waiting for Superman, The Social Network, The Kids are All Right, and Easy A all made the list, and I must say, I picked some winners. Hilarity, emotion, and some hella witty writing all make me so happy.

So yes, the semester is over. Year number one is in fact over. I escaped with straight A's, and I am happy as bird with a french fry. This time next year I will be embarking on a whole new chapter of my life. At this time, I don't know exactly what that means, but it is exciting. However, anyone that knows me at all knows that once I get something, I no longer want it. This is my biggest admitted flaw. I blame my perfectionist attitude. It's exhausting really. I need therapy. Or a life coach. Except I already have one of those. (Hi, life coach.)

That is all for now.

I write a better blog than a research proposal.

Last weekend I bought a road bike. She is a thing of beauty, no doubt about it. And she is built for speed. Well, as much speed as she will be getting from these legs. I love her. Although, I do sort of regret purchasing a new ride smack dab at the end of the semester. Last week was horrendous for me. I cried once. And ate countless calories of junk food. Because it is a suggested fact of life that M&Ms and egg rolls help those academic juices flow. I could write a thesis on that hypothesis.

I took my epidemiology final today. Two hours of using my brain to try to figure out if my professor was trying to trick me or not. I swear. If I were a professor, I would not be THAT kind of professor. It is mean and useless, and the people that would get an A are still going to get an A. It just takes longer. So now I have one left. A take-home final and then I will be finished. Until I start my internship and summer school. Grad school is no joke.

I saw on Bravo that they were hosting a Tweet battle to determine if Bethenny was taking on too much. I think sometimes I should ask myself that same question.

The other Tweet battle asked if the Brunettes or Blondes were in the right on Real Housewives of NYC. This is the census work of reality television here, people.

Anyway, I tweaked my back on Saturday trying to be a BAMF. Not so smart. The WOD was the Lumberjack 20. That is WOD-speak for heavy and horrible. I need to remember to keep things in perspective. Just because I CAN pick up a 185 bar 20 times and swing around a 55lb KB like a crazy person doesn't necessarily mean I should. Well, I still want to. It's the whole opportunity-cost benefit analysis thing that says I shouldn't. And the fact that I have been BATHING in Biofreeze the past few days.

Oh, and I am committing to the Omaha marathon in September. I am semi-excited about this, and I really don't want to flake out like I have the past 2 races I've registered for. Wait. 3 races. STL, KC, and Houston marathons. Whoops. Well, this will be my year, peeps. I will have some fun runner friends by my side, at least until they leave me in the dust.

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes. Hey o.

Untitled

I’ve got to get out of the habit of posting so intermittently. Really only because it places too much doggone hype on my biweekly post. But it is what it is. And here is what my blog is not—obligatory snorefest posting. Ta da!

I’ve been watching the Today Show. Nothing new there. I’ve watched that show for a long time now. But I’ve been watching the interviews with decidedly more interest as I look at how the interviewees respond to Matt or Meredith or Ann. If I make it big in some way that permits me to be on national television, I am going to remember these things that I have learned.

1. Try on my outfit before I go on air. Nothing earth shattering there. But important all the same.
2. Get on a first name basis with the big guys/gals, even though I likely have no real authority to do so. This must be performed in an unpretentious way that wafts of confidence but not egoism. “Why thank you, Matt. I too believe that this is but a small, but monumental step for future generations.”
3. Use words such as “future” or “generations” to appear socially conscious and eco-hip. But only once. Twice tops. See Rule 4.
4. Accept that I am 26 and need to act my age.

“Wow, Matt. I never realized how much analyzing perfect strangers on national television was really setting me up for a backlash of bad karma when I finally hit it big.”

I’m tired. The semester is winding down, which means my workload is piling up. I am stressed so I am grabbing extra workouts to decompress. Which means I’m energized. Then exhausted.

Throw a girl a candy egg.

I'm baaacck!!!

It's been awhile, so I'm going to ease back into the blogosphere by providing a list of what I've been up to since March 27th. Shall we? Let's.

• I've kept all my A's this semester. 4 more weeks to go.

• I have committed RPM 50 and ATTACK 72 to memory and am ready to rock starting tomorrow.

• I PR'ed on clean and jerk at 125lb. What a happy day.

• I ran a marathon relay with 3 studs. We came in at 4:01:37 despite fighting heat and other, um, elements.

• I turned 26.

So those are the highlights.

I've also been thinking a lot about how we view ourselves in relation to other people. How it's completely jaded us and made us not appreciate our own personal accomplishments because we're constantly looking at how we stack up in the grander scheme of things. Or maybe it's just me. Regardless, my goal for my new birth year is to celebrate my own victories. Of course I'll still look to others for inspiration/motivation/other-ation, but I'd really like to just be in a place of yes. Ala Bethenny "Stop Pissing on my Cornflakes" Frankel.

So here's to 26, blogging more, and eating my cornflakes. Rawr.

Skillz

Sometimes I wish I had come up with a really great idea for a blog. Let's face it. Themed blogs are the new blogs. The days of listing what you did hour by hour are over. Actually, horror of all horrors, those days are NOT over, which I discovered by briefly skimming through a sample of the thousands of recounts of other people's boring lives. Oh well. There are very few people who possess the writing skillz to keep me coming back for more. They do, however, exist. You just must know where to look.

Examples of some top-notch themed blogs: What Claudia Wore, Letters to Lindsay Lohan, 11th Crossfit Skill.

Mindy Kaling also keeps a pretty baller blog. That site will remain a mystery. Go forth and search, and you shall be rewarded. Anyway, these all gain my stamp of approval 10 times over. But until I personally come up with a life-changing theme that I can be an expert on, I will continue rambling about graduate school, Crossfit, fitness, and my unending love for Lululemon.

It has been pretty stressful lately. The last few weeks I've been hanging by a thread, but I am beginning to see the light. Well, a light or an oncoming train. At this point, I will welcome either, because both signal the end. Positivity simply radiates out of my bones, I know. I will work on it.

I suppose that is all.

Except for this quote: "I saw a dog sticking its head out of an SUV on my way home. For a brief second, I wanted to be that dog."

Yes, I said it. And maybe that can be the theme of my new blog. My Life as a Dog.

You know what they say.

They say you shouldn't wish your life away. But getting through the past few weeks would have been so much easier via a little time travel to the future. I've finally hit a point where I can breathe for more than 2 seconds without feeling guilty for not working, but these are also the points in which you have to keep on trucking or you find yourself back in the same exact spot of wishful desperation.

They also say too much caffeine is bad for you, but I'm in no position to give up my insane consumption.

They say you should think of others before yourself. I think this is a good general rule of thumb, but I also think that there are situations that warrant selfishness. If you don't, you end up getting run over and really, I'm not certain people fully appreciate sacrifices that are made anyway. At least not to the extent that you want them to.

Or maybe I am too cynical-slash-selfish-slash-judgmental to abide by the general rules. Always a possibility.

Regardless of what we're supposed to do or don't do, here's to a positive outlook this week. Cheers!

What the heck is a sham?

Yesterday I ran the My Sham Rox 15k. I used to be an actual runner. By that, I mean I would brave the elements all the way down to the single digits. I never missed a training run. And I had all the cool gear to reinforce the fact that I was legit.

Oh how the times have changed. Since those days of running glory, I have registered for 3 marathons and not run one of them. I was injured for STL last April. And I've bailed on KC and Houston since then. Seriously, who does that? The only running I do now is when it is built into a WOD. Or a track 6 in Attack.

I guess I still have the cool gear. That's something.

Anyway, I'm happy to announce that my love for running has been rekindled. There's something about a good long run that does something zen to a person. Even as I was cursing (literally, cursing) the hills yesterday, I would do it all again today. But only if I had my running partner with me. Haha!

I suppose that is all. All the work I've so blatantly not done while on spring break is piling up. It's going to be a long next few weeks. Luckily, with the help of the Starbucks Tribute Blend I shall survive.

Thumbs up.

This is my Vogue.

Do you ever come across something so ingenious that it pains you to think you didn't come up with it on your own? That was me when I stumbled across one particular blog last week. If you're a CrossFitter, you know there are 10 general physical skills. If you're not a CrossFitter, I'll tell you that there are 10 general physical skills. Things like stamina, strength, flexibility, power, and so on. Well, my friends, this blogger asserts that Coach Glassman has missed a key one: "a hot outfit to do the above in."

I'd like to draw some attention to this site right here.

If you didn't click on the link, shame on you. But I'll brief you on what you missed. Instead of a WOD (workout of the day), these geniuses give you an outfit of the day. All totally CrossFit inspired.

A pair of Lulu speeds, a CF affiliate tee, tall socks, and Chuck Taylors? Okay. Nike shorts, Lulu sports bra, sunglasses, and Nike Frees? Also acceptable. Wunder Unders, a Define jacket, Sauconys, and a coordinating headband? Deal.

This is fashion for the fit. Forging elite fashion. And I can't think of anymore witty alliterations.

This site is also on Facebook, and seeing as how I "like" it, I never miss an outfit. Thank goodness. Long live my own personal version of Vogue.

Old Chicago

If I could mix together the perfect city, it would be Chicago...plus warmth. This girl cannot take the snowy months of winter, and Chi-town just has too much of it for me. I saw snow on Saturday, and let me tell you, it was TOO SOON to see that again. Gross.

Despite the weather, I had a fun time over the weekend at the Les Mills Quarterly workshop. Les Mills is the international phenomenon responsible for producing awesome group fitness classes, including BODYATTACK and RPM, the two programs I teach at Ozark Fitness. It was a great experience, and I left feeling very motivated to bring back all that magic to the way I teach here in Springfield.

I also visited my first Lululemon store. The photo to the left captures the extreme bliss of being surrounded by the wonder of high-end workout gear. I swear I wasn't always like this. Really. However, once you feel the brush of luon against you, something takes over and you are never the same. So to document the experience, I took a photo opp with this lovely painted kettlebell.

I also stayed under budget, which is nothing short of a miracle.

All this brings me to Monday. It is spring break, which is happy. But the work of a grad student is never done, which is sad.

Intensive paper writing...commence.

Dream big, Juno.

The Noncommitment Girl post generated lots of buzz. Who knew. Really, I don't much care about being typecasted. It won't change me, which is probably both good and bad. Let's revisit the subject in 2012.

Moving on. I have been all kinds of sore this week. I blame Tuesday's pull-up/KB swing/sit-up/lunge extravaganza for initial onset. I blame Wednesday's OHS strength and conditioning for continuation of the suck.

So really I guess I blame Jeremy.

Oh well. 115 on a 1 rep max. I'll take it. I got to lift with a bunch of strong girls and I got to do my trademark move. I jerked 125lb from the back, got down into the OHS, and then fell over. The falling over is my trademark move. It's pretty hard to make it look so easy, but I've had years of practice.

But yes. My legs. Having run a few marathons in my day, I can say that this pain is comparable to the post-marathon DOMS. I actually took the elevator DOWN the stairs yesterday. It was embarrassing.

In more girly news, I got a haircut yesterday. I asked for the Kristan Clever but somehow ended up with a Miranda Oldroyd instead. I guess that's okay. Miranda is my girl crush after all. My hair actually looks amazing, which almost inspires me to style it more than one day a week. Whoa--dream big, Juno! The saddest part of the cute hair is the return of my grad school dark eye circles, since I've recently replaced sleep with caffeine. Those tend to ruin the effect.

You've probably seen how they are bringing Bambi back out on Blu-Ray and therefore airing commercials like mad. This is semi-meaningless to me, minus the fact that I keep spontaneously yelling out "Watch what I can do!" just like Thumper. Mostly in the hours when normal people are asleep, when I am studying, desperate, and need a pick-me-up.

So I'm pretty sure that is enough of a snapshot into my life for now.

Noncommitment Girl

"The longer she forces herself to avoid relationships (because that's what she's doing), the more hardened she will become. She will get to the point where having a relationship becomes something that is scary and ominous, because she believes that by giving in to one she will lose everything else she is working on. Yes, it's a control issue, friends, and because relationships are unpredictable she feels like if she has one, the rest of her carefully calibrated, foolproof routine will go out the window.

It's easy for Noncommitment Girl to let her life be solely about her. She has to realize, though, that her life is about more than just herself."

Apparently I am Noncommitment Girl, which I suppose is heaps better than The Cheater, The Flirt, or Goin' to the Chapel Girl. Out of the multitude of categories, I'm happy with what Lo tells me I'm in. Overall, a good read and a welcome distraction from the perils of heavy textbooks. I will be happy to lend anyone my autographed copy if they want to know what "girl" they are. Or boy. Don't be shy.

I'm now going to take a page from a friend and give you a day in the life of Noncommitment Girl. On a holiday.

7:15a: Wake up.

7:20: Coffee. Lots of it. Eat.

8:30: Leave to go teach Attack.

9: Teach Attack to some serious diehards.

10: Sit at the gym and make fun of people with a friend. (Jeggings Lady took the cake. Also, I know I'm a horrible person.)

11:30: Arrive at home. Eat.

12:40: Think about doing homework.

12:45: Fall asleep on the couch.

2:15: Get off the couch only to eat.

3: Watch Scott get into a fight with some weirdo who was picking a fight with Kim on the Kardashians.

4: Contemplate going to 5:30 Attack. Decide I'm hungry. Eat.

5:30: Decide to be responsible and study.

And that my friends, is how you live it up on Presidents' Day. Look out, Easter.

Thoughts on Presidents' Day Weekend

It's late Saturday afternoon, and I'm taking this opportunity to post. I'm going to be cliche and say that I seriously can't believe how quickly time is flying. 2011, you are a sneaky one. Oh well. I really don't mind. I like being busy, and I like completion check points. Therefore, grad school is good fit for me. Two more weeks until spring break. I can do that. I'll be starting off that week of leisure* with a trip to Chi-town. What does this mean? Well, technically, it's a Les Mills fitness convention, so I'll be experiencing the brand new ATTACK and RPM and probably some other classes too. That's pretty exciting. Secondly, it's Chi-town, which means there are THREE Lululemon stores that I can visit. I've never been inside a real retail store before. I'm not sure how I'll react. Shock. Awe. Sadness that I can't purchase the entire inventory. Oh boy. Thirdly, I'll be going with some pretty fun peeps.

On a side note, my body is currently on strike. Not as in the usual, "I'm sore and I can't move" type. Rather, it's the "I did too many heavy deadlifts yesterday and I have to DNF today" type. I hate not finishing a WOD, especially a Hero WOD, but I'm so glad I listened to my back this morning and didn't stubbornly continue to use awful form to gut out endless reps of "The Seven." Another day. That's definitely one I want to conquer in this lifetime.

You should be on the lookout for my next update after I've finished reading The Lo-Down, a riveting tale of life and love in the Hollywood Hills, written by one Lo Bosworth, from MTV's The Hills. An autographed copy arrived in my mailbox on V Day from a pretty damn cool friend. As I mentioned, stay tuned, readers. I'll share my findings.

I'm going to blame the pain shooting through my lower back for this dull update and my overall lack of wit. Regardless, thank you, Biofreeze, for making this lame post possible.

*Week of leisure, ha! Those no longer exist.

I’ll take impossibly hard Canadian provinces for $500, Alex.

If you even halfway know me, you’re aware that I have long been aspiring to be a Jeopardy champion. As soon as they opened up online testing registration a few weeks ago, I signed up. And I took the online test last night.

What a buzz kill. That test was ridiculous. I didn’t imagine it would be a walk in the park by any means, but what I experienced was more akin to a gang beating in the park. I’m pretty sure I only knew about 20% of the answers. 15 seconds to read and type a response before the next one appears on the screen. It’s rapid fire. You hesitate, you lose.

I’ll be notified of my score regardless of if I pass or not. I’m not hopeful. My only consolation is that I will never have to appear as socially awkward as the contestants that actually make it onto the show. At least not televised.

But registration is still open and you can take the test tonight or tomorrow...visit here.

Let’s now talk about how this weather is quick becoming a pain in my side.

Hmm. That’s pretty much all I got on that front.

Let’s talk about how obsessed I am with the Glee cast cover of “Bills, Bills, Bills.” Seriously. I have it on repeat.

And finally, let's talk about how excited I am for my Program Evaluation class tonight. Totally stoked. There are only 4,572 things I'd rather be doing. Approximately.

Snowpocalypse

I would have updated sooner, but I just now dug myself out of an avalanche of snow. Gross. Absolutely disgusting. I'm pretty sure that age and a distaste for snow are proportionately related. Which basically means I have a lot of potential wintery hate inside me.

But today the sun is shining, or at least the leftover snow is so blinding that I am tricked into believing it is sunny, so I am not complaining.

Hmm. So let's talk about the fact that I can't stand up without exhibiting signs of pain all over my face. Somewhere between a cheery mid-morning team WOD with some fellow BAMFs on Friday and "Nate" yesterday, I have lost the ability to walk. The nail in the coffin might have been capping it all off with taping RPM yesterday afternoon. BUT...it is recorded, and I am mailing it off tomorrow. V for Victory.

I have to say, I am loving the Hero WOD that CrossFit Springfield has added to the Saturday schedule. These are special WODs, hard and heavy, and they were written to pay tribute to a specific fallen soldier. Before we start, our coaches brief us with a snapshot into the life of the hero we are honoring. It's inspiring to say the least, and knowing a little more about why we are doing it makes it a necessity to put literally everything into that workout. Yesterday's was "Nate."

"Nate"

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

2 muscle ups

4 handstand push ups

8 KB swings 70/55

CFS, if you're reading, come to a Hero WOD.

Nathan

Yesterday my friend Nathan passed away. After a year and a half of fighting leukemia and then subsequent complications and side effects, his body finally had enough. He was going to turn 26 years old tomorrow.

This isn't going to be a terribly emotional post. For one, I am not naturally that way. And for two, Nathan wouldn't have wanted it that way either, which is the most important reason.

We had an interesting friendship. We lived in the same dorm in college. We took existential philosophy together. We skipped an entire week of our sophomore year along with another friend to embark on a road trip to New Mexico. We pierced our eyebrows at the same time. It is those things that I will most remember.

I told him I was going to drag him to CrossFit when he was better, because anyone that could kick cancer in the face was a prime candidate to fight through a WOD.

If you would send thoughts and prayers to his wife and my good friend, Renee, it would be awesome.

Cherish life, peeps. And I'll see you later, Nathan.