seriously guys, read this post!

Okay, so I'm not like dying or anything. But I am going to start changing things around here this week. Hopefully it's not a noticeable change to you, my awesome, amazing reader but things will be a bit different. Which reminds me to tell you that if you aren't following me on Bloglovin', you really should do that NOW.

{via}

In two weeks, it'll be Christmas. Three weeks it'll be New Years. This year has gone by crazy fast, but very slow at the same time. Does that make sense to anyone besides me? I usually never have resolutions for myself because I know I always fail at them.

But 2014 is going to be a new and exciting year for me. Namely because in June, I'll be traveling as far West as I've ever been... to California! I know, most people are shocked I've never been. I've been up and down the East Coast, to Canada and I even went to Switzerland, Germany and France (sad face, I want to go back so badly..). But I've never been to California. And I'm really excited.

Some resolutions I really am planning on making are around this blog and my tech blog, because I've been neglecting the latter. I want them both to grow and thrive and be a true reflection of me.

So just hang in there as I change things up a bit - it may take longer than I'd like it to, but in the end it'll be awesome.

And another reminder to follow me on Bloglovin'!

update city.

I've had a few people ask me where I've been lately, and honestly I've been doing really nothing. But since I haven't posted a vlogmas in two days (whoops. I hate challenges.) I figured I'd give you some updates in text form. Here's what I've been up to currently/recently.

- NaNoWriMo. I gave up. I just stopped writing. I have maybe two chapters of my book written. I lost inspiration. I lost motivation. My goals changed and writing wasn't one of them. I still love writing, and reading of course. But I don't think being a writer is my cup of tea.

- Reading. Yes! Reading. I have been doing that. Currently I'm reading Divergent on my Nexus (it was on sale on Black Friday, along with Allegiant). And I LOVE it so far. It's Hunger Games-esque, but not really. It has it's own spin. If you like dystopian novels, this is the one for you.

I'm also still just barely into A Clash of Kings, the second GoT book. At Thanksgiving my sister gave me The DaVinci Code, so that's on my to-be-read stack too.

- Watching. I started Doctor Who a few weeks ago and haven't stopped. It's true. It sucks you in. I'm a huge fan of scifi anyways, so I figured I'd like it. But it's not just the aliens and creatures. It's the Doctor's story. How he struggles with his emotions. Doing what's right. I just love it. I'm hoping I get all caught up by Christmas (halfway through the 3rd season[modern series] on Netflix) for 11's last episode.

- Feeling. Odd. I've been stuck inside this past weekend because we got an ice storm. Not a massive one, but it was enough for them to cancel the St. Jude Marathon & all the other races on Saturday. And even though it wasn't as bad as predicted, it was still ice. I was just in a car accident two months ago. I wasn't going to risk my car or my life to go out and shop or whatever.

But yes, I've been feeling odd. Sort of in a state of flux. Some things (good & bad) happened this past weekend that made me kind of question lots of things. Brought me back to what's important. Made me realize what hasn't been working. Also made me connect with some old friends. All in all, it's been positive. Just a state of change, which makes you feel odd.

- Missing. My family. My friends. I'll be home in two weeks and I've missed them all so very much. That's what the holidays are for though, right? Bringing people together. I also can't wait to bake Christmas cookies because obesity. :)

Ah, I think that's about it. I'll get back on the vlogmas train this week, I promise. :)

sh-sh-shakin'

The 5k is this Saturday. I'm nervous. I know, a 5k. Whatever. Everyone does them. But my last 5k was last year. I've walked two since then, but haven't run them. And I haven't been training. Because running is hard. Okay, not fundamentally. Everyone can run - with the exception of those who are handicapped, yes - but it's training to have endurance and technique with hitting your strides and breathing and blah blah blah is hard.

I ran Cross Country back in middle school until I broke my wrist (I was in a cast up past my elbow and my orthopedic doctor said it probably wasn't smart to try and run), and ever since then I've turned into a lazy slob. I was never fast or good at running - not even kidding, I came in last or close to last every race I ran, but I enjoyed it. In high school I was on the Track & Field team but I decided I would be better at the throwing events, which actually I was - my Junior year I was ranked 2nd on our team in Discus and got to go to the WPIALS finals where I placed 3rd overall in the Women's Discus. I miss throwing sometimes. :(

Anyways. Back to the topic. Guys, I'm nervous. I'm excited. I'm anxious. I know as soon as that gun goes off I'll be able to run with adrenaline and get to the finish eventually. But it's that in between that's going to really test me. I know there'll be TONS of people along the route cheering everyone on, which forces me to keep running, but it's going to be cold. Like, maybe in the upper 20's in the morning (the high is only suppose to be around 35 for the day). And my lungs hate the cold. I'm all prepared with sweater lined leggings, a cold gear long sleeve shirt as my core, a fleece/cold weather running zip up, a headband to keep my ears warm & my earbuds in and running gloves. 

I'm worried about crying too. What? Crying. First of all, it is Shark Week for me which is just awesome (TMI?), but the course takes us right through the St. Jude campus. Even if I don't see kids waving from the windows, I'm still going to get super emotional and just start crying for the rest of the race. People are going to think I'm emotionally unstable (which may or may not be true..).

Le sigh. Just pray that I don't get hurt and/or come in dead last. Also, I have a vlog up for Vlogmas Day 3 and I need some running song suggestions! Go watch it and let me know your favorites. :)

Happy Vlogmas!

Hey guys I'm actually doing this thing called vlogging!

I thought it would scare me more, but honestly it isn't too hard. Turns out I can ramble on pretty well when a camera is filming me. I find that I prefer the one-take iPhone videos (although now I can edit them via the Capture app.. so maybe..) over editing a video together. If I had Final Cut/my Macbook(it died awhile back.. sad face) I think it would be much easier, but Windows Movie Maker just doesn't make the cut (and I'm not paying for a shotty Windows version of Final Cut). Ha. See what I did there?

ANYWHO. I forgot to mention what Vlogmas actually is, and it's pretty self-explanatory - it's Vlog-Everyday-Until-Christmas. Hence, Vlogmas. So I hope you enjoy the video!

Don't forget to subscribe, click 'like' and comment - especially your thoughts on my bangs.

I'm in a conundrum folks!

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. :)

Gobble Gobble

If you follow me on Twitter (which you should..), you may have seen very late Sunday night me complaining about being stuck in Chicago. Friday morning I flew home for an early Thanksgiving with my family, and just for the weekend - not everyone could get together on Thanksgiving so we just bumped it up a bit. It was also sort of last minute, booking the flight 2 weeks before (I never book flights that close), but it wasn't as expensive so it all worked out.

The weekend was really great because I got to be HOME for the first time since May. Of course I got to hang out with my family, and my sister and I went and saw Catching Fire on Saturday. I've never read any of the Hunger Games books - just because I'm lazy not because I don't want to -  but for the traditional movie goer it was SO GOOD. I was reminded again why I refuse to have children. Seriously. Teach your kid to say "excuse me" when he walks through the row to get to and from his seat. And don't let your kid run all around the theater before the show starts. Sit down and shut up.

Anyways. I took the last flight out Sunday night (which connected through Chicago) so I could be with my family for a bit longer. I only had a 20 minute delay getting out of Pittsburgh, which was no big deal. Get to Chicago around 7PM, where I don't fly out until 9:05PM. Okay, no problem. I grab a slice of pizza for dinner, walk through each of the terminals and get back to the departure gate around 8. I'm sitting there with everyone else on our flight when I get an email from Southwest saying my flight has changed. New departure time? 11:40PM. I'm sorry, WHAT!?

Okay, probably because of weather. Fine. 10 minutes later, another email saying it's pushed back to 12:40AM. Are you kidding me!? At this point I had been traveling/in an airport since 4:30PM (Eastern time mind you, Chicago & Memphis are in Central time). I'm highly annoyed but decide not to make a scene about it because a) that's stupid and no one wants to be that person and b) everyone else on our flight is in the same boat (or plane) and we're all stuck together.

The departure time was brought back to midnight, but after we finally got our flight crew and everything we didn't leave until 12:20AM. Last flight out of Chicago and last flight into Memphis. So not only were we forced to be delayed, all those poor airline/airport employees had to wait. By the time I got my luggage, got back to my car and into my apartment, it was 3AM. I was suppose to get into Memphis at 11:30. 3.5 hours later, I crashed and had one of the deepest sleeps yet. Yes, I know it's Tuesday but I'm still exhausted.

I'm flying home at Christmas and I'm really hoping the weather holds up, but knowing my luck I'll be delayed for each flight. For Thanksgiving I'll probably be one of the crazy people at Best Buy at 6PM Thursday, since I don't have a family to celebrate with. I probably won't buy anything but Ho Ho Ho and all that jazz, right?

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving with your loved ones!

Don't be that crazy woman/man who is a huge dick to everyone on Black Friday. :)