Just a little whine

I really don't understand what's happening with me and the middle of the week! Meloncholy and crabbiness begin setting in Tuesday afternoon and seem to continue through Wed and sometimes Thu.

SO IT'S WHINY WEDNESDAY!!

Well, I don't want to be whiny today.

Driving into work, I thought about all these different things I wanted to whine about, but now, even though I'm still feeling overall blah, I can't seem to remember the specifics.

Instead, how about hearing about the wonderful weekend I had last weekend? **warning: might be slightly solipsistic going forward, but isn't that the point of a blog?**

Friday was our Christmas party at work.

Every department decorated a tree.

Ok. So, I didn't actually help, but I'm still a part of the department that won. :D
Only in Vegas would there be a Showgirl themed Christmas tree. Ha!

We enjoyed a delicious lunch! With, of course, lots of sweets for dessert.

I had prime rib with horseradish, turkey, cranberries, corn, TWO salads, cheese/crackers, and a roll. There was also lobster and shrimp, but seafood makes me gag. It was bad enough having to walk down the hall where they were serving it. Ick!

There were also drawings throughout the day for random gift cards. At 3 pm there were drawings for larger prizes including a 60", a 55", and a 40" flat screen TV. Wow!

After all the drawings were finished, there was one more surprise drawing left.

A $500 AMERICAN EXPRESS GIFT CARD!

I was standing in the back of the lunchroom, when the drawing took place. After the name was pulled, there was hesitation. "I don't know. Someone from Advertising."

AND THEN THEY CALLED MY NAME!

I had to walk all the way to the front. My face turned bright red someone later told me and I was fighting back tears. I couldn't believe it!!

The last couple hours of work are a blur. Lots of people stopped by and congratulated me. It was amazing.

Saturday was a pretty lazy day, but I did go shopping in the evening. I bought a great pair of boots + a super cute pair of heels. Total for both? $35. Score!

Then I headed to Target to spend the $25 gift card I'd gotten on Thursday. I bought some make-up and nail polish. I guess I was feeling all girly.

Sunday I got to meet up with a good friend that I haven't seen in over seven years! She was in town with some friends, but I was so excited to steal her away for a couple hours. It was so fun to see her again. Despite the years between visits, it was like no time had passed.

We met for breakfast at Coco's Bakery and Restaurant and I had the most delicious multi-grain pumpkin nut pancakes. It was a struggle at the end, but I managed to eat the entire plate! ;-)

It was such a gorgeous afternoon when I got back home, and I was in love with my new boots and my outfit,  that I walked around our apartment complex for a little self-portrait photo shoot.

Aren't my new boots adorable?!

I finished the weekend off with a 3-hour soak in the hot tub with my husband. We only had the jets going for like 20 min, but the conversation was so good that we just didn't want to get out. I was shocked to see the time when we finally got back to our apartment.

Tomorrow, we get the keys to our new apartment. Yay! We have until Sun to turn in our old keys, so this shouldn't be too bad of a move. Especially considering we don't have that much stuff + it's at the same complex. Just closer to the hot tub. It will be practically right out our back porch.

This. Could. Be. Dangerous.

Plus, I'm planning on lunch with another friend that I haven't seen in YEARS on Sunday, so it's looking to be a great weekend ahead!

How was your weekend last weekend?
Do you ever go on random self-portrait photo shoots just because?
What are your plans this coming weekend?
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10 Photos From My Phone

For today's Monday Listicles, we had the option of two topics: 10 PHOTOS FROM OUR PHONE or 10 NAMES YOU CONSIDERED FOR YOUR KIDS.

Since I have no kids, I'll share with you ten photos.

4th of July from the parking lot of our new apartment in Vegas.
We'd moved in just a few days prior to this picture.

Goofy girl at Yappy Hour at Rumor Boutique Hotel

My cutie little girl!

Crazy girl sleeping with her toy dog

Free SURVIVOR concert at Fremont Street Experience

Her legs are all criss-crossed, but I guess she's comfortable.

Blue Moon captured through my phone and our mono-scope

Tiny little nearby park where I once stopped after a run for a little yoga.

My panting girl was SO HOT!

I won tickets from work to go to the NHRA. It was so much fun!

Wow! Flipping through my phone photos reminded me that I still have a few events I need to blog about. Oops!

Which of these in particular would you be most interested in reading a full post about?
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November Photo Challenge

Back in September, Candice, from I Have Run, hosted a photo challenge. I loved this!!  I didn't get a chance to participate EVERY day, but it did get me snapping and sharing more pictures than normal.

I missed this in October.

There were a couple other photo challenges for October that I saw floating around, but none of them quite spoke to me like the Runnerd Photo-A-Day Challenge.

Since I missed this so much in October, I thought I'd create my own challenge for November. You're, of course, more than welcome to join in the fun! I know it's late on the 31st already. I've been toying with this idea for a couple weeks, and I really meant to post this earlier, but, well, honestly, I really have no good reason for not doing it earlier. #procrastinatoratheart

Here's how to participate:

• Leave a comment letting me know you want to join in the fun. 
• Post a photo that reflects the word of the day somehow. Ideally, your posts should be related to health/fitness or running or training, but since it's November, if you're stumped on the word of the day, just use gratitude as the default word of the day. You can post on Instagram, Twitter and/or Facebook. 
• On Instagram, become my friend (enjoyingthecourse) and include the hashtag #EtCphotoaday and/or tag me @enjoyingthecourse in your comment.
• On Twitter, make sure you include the hashtag #EtCphotoaday with each post and/or tag me @EnjoytheCourse
• On Facebook, follow the Enjoying the Course fan page and tag me in the comment of your picture. 

There likely won't be any prizes or anything - other than enjoying the fun pictures from old and new friends. :-)

Be creative. Seeing everyone doing the same thing would be boring. ;-) I'll try to do a recap of my favorite posts each Thursday. Don't worry if you miss a day or don't start on day one. I just want to have fun with this...and I want you to do the same!

And now for the list:

November 1 - Sweet

November 2 - Eat

November 3 - Run

November 4 - Sunshine

November 5 - Orange

November 6 - Power

November 7 - Crazy

November 8 - Inspire

November 9 - Perspire

November 10 - Rest

November 11 - Serve

November 12 - Nature

November 13 - Strong

November 14 - Fit

November 15 - Beauty

November 16 - Friend

November 17 - Family

November 18 - Go

 November 19 - Fun

November 20 - Happy

November 21 - Food

November 22 - Thankful

November 23 - Care

November 24 - Wonder

November 25 - Bright

November 26 - Warm

November 27 - Love

November 28 - Chocolate

November 29 - Looking Back

November 30 - Enjoy

I'm looking forward to doing this challenge with old and new friends. Will you join me? 
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Fall Is...

Today the SITS Girls gave us a photo challenge to share what fall looks like where we live or what fall means to us.

Since I've only lived in Vegas for a few months, and haven't really experienced fall here yet, I'm not entirely sure what a Vegas fall is like.

Being a born and raised Minnesotan, fall to me will always include vibrant colors.

The changing colors of the leaves.
The crisp air.
The switch to sweaters and boots and warmer clothes.

What does fall look like where you live?
What does fall mean to you?
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And so it goes...

On my walk to the shuttle this morning, the clouds in the sky over campus were gorgeous! I simply had to pause, pull out my cell phone and snap a picture.

Then, I don't know why, but I turned around to look at the sky behind me. The clouds looked to have such an amazing texture to them.

Breathtaking.

But pausing to take the pictures caused me to run late.
And need to walk faster than my shoes were prepared to take me.

They fought back by taking a bite out of my foot. I'll spare you a picture of that.

OUCH!

I slipped back into my flipflops but without much relief.

I hobbled my way to the nearest Walgreens to get some bandages for my owie.

I wasn't even hungry, but I couldn't resist
...the bag of animal crackers,
...the package of molasses cookies,
...the box of raisins.

And that's how beautiful clouds led to me skipping lunch and snacking. all. day. long at work.
Booooo!!!

Don't worry.
I punished myself by doing a hill repeat workout tonight.
Nearly 3 miles.

Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls...

But I just can't help it!

It's no secret that both Jeff and I LOVE waterfalls, as described here and here.

For me, it's almost even stronger than love. Is that possible? Is anything stronger than love? It is what binds us, after all.

For me, it's almost like a drug. If I'm out for a walk or in a park, and I hear the sound of rushing water, I can't help but go. chase. that. waterfall!! I keep listening and walking...and listening and walking...until I finally find it!

This past summer, I even convinced Jeff to make a pitstop on our road trip to check out the waterfalls in Sioux Falls, SD. You can read about that here.

A few weeks back, I took Sallie for a walk. I heard the unmistakably, wonderful sound of a waterfall, but I couldn't find it. anywhere.

Today, we went out again but this time hiked even closer to the river.

There it was again. An ever-so-slight, but deliciously exhilarating, sound of rushing water. It didn't take me too long to gasp at the beauty as I turned my head.

There it was!! Complete with icicles. Wow.

Now I didn't happen to have my camera with me - just my phone.

If you look real close, in the back center, you can see two streams of water going over the small cliff.

The camera on my phone doesn't have a zoom, so I knew that I needed to get closer.

Down we hiked. Sallie and I.

Closer. But still not good enough to satisfy my need.

Down. Down. Down.

Finally I could get a shot from the front.

This shot was difficult to get because Sallie, does not get my fascination with waterfalls. She was trying her darnedest to get back up the hill. Guess it reminds her too much of getting a bath. Something she does. not. enjoy.

Back at the top of the hill, I tried to capture one last shot of some icicles. Gorgeous!

I realize they are a little difficult to discern (darn no-zooming-camera-phone), but trust me. They are there. Kind of dead center, hanging from the blob of greenery.

We ♥ Tooshies

This is my 1st ever time entering an I ♥ Faces photography challenge. I've seen some friends enter on their blogs in the past but never attempted one myself.

This week's themes, We ♥ Tooshies, was really intriguing to me. I, immediately, thought of this great picture I have of me walking with one of my cousin's daughters. It's SO cute. However, it was taken before digital photography became so prevalent, so it's an actual photo, and not easily uploaded into blogger (as I'd need to find it and then upload it).

Instead, I sifted through my folders upon folders of digital photographs, and found this one.

This is my 13-year-old niece’s first soccer game. ever.

She was awesome, of course.

I love how this photo captures the motion of her run.

Pop on over to I ♥ Faces to find some other fun tooshies.

Settling In...

We've moved into our new apartment, and it's slowly becoming our new home. I'll probably post more pictures later as our decorating progresses, but this one showcases my favorite new toy! I've wanted a piano for a very long time. Regular pianos are such a pain to move (and we move a lot), but I've really been enjoying this keyboard. It has weighted keys like a regular piano, plus I can plug in headphones, so my practicing doesn't bother anyone else in our building.

This isn't a very artistic photo, but it does provide a little glimpse into our new home...music and books. :-)