Richmond Marathon Stats

For some reason, my Nike + was off by 1.2 miles, which I guess is a good thing, cause that means I over-trained rather than under-trained. Still, this should give a decent idea of my mile splits. My last mile was my fastest, I ran a 8:14 mile apparently, although I improved my time by 12% over the last 3 miles.


Overall, the marathon was great! I set a PR of 3:50:37, which is an improvement of about 15 minutes from my Marine Corp Marathon time. It was a nice surprise to be able to finish that well, seeing as I had taken many days off because of knee injuries. 

This was my favorite picture from the day. Eric took it, about an hour after I finished my race (hence why I don't look totally disgusting). Christine did awesome!! Super proud of my marathon buddy for finishing at 4:50:55. 

For my Dearest who can't be Near...est

School has been going on for three weeks, and I've been here for five because of my job as an RA, so I have pretty much established my room. I wanted to post pictures sooner, but I have been SUPER busy  with class, my job, my new internship, training for a marathon, ecology club, and of course, my friends.

This is my Resident Assistant map that I made- it's right outside of my door, so residents know where I am, and if I'm available to help them. Basically, it's my proudest achievement ever in life. I thought I was particularly clever for making Mordor class and Mikwood sleeping. 

Julie-Frodo gets moved around on a little clothespin, and stuck into the pockets around the map.  

here's a view of 1/2 my room. I made my curtains/window pendents over the summer, which makes my room super preppy looking, but it makes me happy. Also, my friend Phil gave me his lamp, which is super *mood lighting* at night. I my bookcase is filled with Dickens books, as I'm reading Oliver Twist, David Copperfield (which I'm on now), Our Mutual Friend, Bleak House, Hard Times, and Great Expectations. I also have a photo of this Mike, which my friend Elizabeth gave me for Christmas my freshman year of high school. It just cracks me up every time I see it... Also, CAT BOOKENDS  which I bought myself my freshman year for my birthday. 

My "couch", aka where I read. I hung some pictures of Pippin. Ideally, I'll hang some more art here, as it looks kind of silly with just the two little pictures. 

On top is my sleeping bed, and below is a desk that more or less just has equipment and stuff on it. I'm not too happy with how this area is laid out, but I don't really know how to change it.  Also, notice the Sefan picture on the right. 

My shamrock, which is doing really well in its sunny window. The first few weeks I was here, it bloomed constantly. Now it only has four blooms. 

This is where I do most of my work. That huge red book is my Shakespeare collection. People think I'm super hard-core when I carry it around campus. I tell them I have to read all of it by Monday, and then they think I'm a genius.

The End! Maybe I'll post again in the next two months.... maybe.

First Chance I've had for an update!

I've been kept SUPER BUSY since I got back at UMW. Yesterday, I had less than an hour to myself (which I spent running and talking to friends). The rest of the time, I have been in training sessions and group meetings. My room is still a mess with furniture everywhere, but I have a layout in mind- I just need the work order people to come and loft my bed (which I would have done myself, but they hid the pins to keep kids from crushing themselves with trying to fix their own beds). One of my beds got lowered though, which means I don't have to jump to get into bed.

My window is all decked out. My curtains/pendants look really nice and out of place along everything else that has been thrown around. Also, my pull-up bar doesn't fit on any door in my room, which really stinks. But everyone thinks I'm super hard core cause its propped up in the corner.

My group for the dorms I'm in charge of, which I will be referring to as Tri-Mo, is fantastic. I think I got the nicest, most friendly people for my group, and I'm so pleased to already be making good friends. I went for my first round of duty last night (even through there are only a handful of students back on campus), and it was pretty uneventful. Hopefully it will stay that way all year.

What I've been up to

Family Reunion, Aunt Margret Alice's Funeral, Writing, Running, Reading. 

Also, this article is hilarious. 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/cats-imitating-art

This post will be 100% nerdy

So, I haven't posted in a long time. I've been VERY busy what with reading entire books in one day and whatnot. Classes ended on the 21st, and since then I hadn't turned on my computer once. It always happens that I turn on my computer and then feel kinda in a drag for the rest of the day, probs because the majority of the time I spend on the computer is staring at other people's fabulous tumblrs, writing, and listening to music.

I've been having a great month. I love Fredericksburg- especially in the summer. There's hardly anyone on campus, and all the people here are so friendly. I've made so many friends in the past month-  Last Saturday I went to a party at my friend's house and got to hang out in a pool, which was so brilliant after spending the whole day outside. We were talking about music, and I admitted that I listen mostly to my LOTR pandora station, and, like, half the other people there were like, I LOVE THE EPIC SOUNDTRACK STATION TOO!! I feel like I have found my people... Then I went out for ice cream at Carl's and got to spend time with my two new friends who are both named Sam.

Last week, I ran into my Soil Science teacher. It was really funny how excited I was after we talked. He wants me to think about doing research with him, which would be amazing. Also, he was super enthusiastic about my book, which has a lot of environmental background to it. Basically, it makes me sad, because he would be the most awesome adviser, but I can't have him be my adviser because minors don't have a choice, they are stuck with Schcheski, who teaches the basic environmental science stuff (also, the only teacher to give me an A- last semester... grrrrr). UMW produced a new advertisement video with summer science students from the Biology department, which was really fun to watch. Mike lab aided for most of them, so that was pretty cool too.

I've also been running a lot, and have been seeing some crazy wildlife. Two days in a row I saw huge turtles that were trying to cross the path, then just kinda gave up and walked off. And huge ratsnakes, which manage to freak me out every time, even though I know they're harmless. The other day, I was running on the path and passed within wingspan of a heron, which took off right next to me, simultaneously scaring the crap out of me and also being flipping awesome.

I'm reading George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire which I LOVE beyond words. Right now, I'm on a  Storm of Swords, which is the third book in the series, and it's only getting better.

Daenerys is simultaneously my favorite and least favorite character in the series. First off, I love this fan art. But her character is so problematic- she was sold by her brother to be a wife for a Khal so that her brother could get the army and ships he needed to reclaim the throne, however, he gets gold dumped on him and she gets the army, but only after she falls in love with Khal (Stockholm syndrome, anyone?), and then climbs onto his funeral pyre after his anti-climatic death with the dragon eggs that were supposedly turned to stone with age....  

George R.R. Martin is just a problematic writer when it comes to his female characters. Sansa, who is the eldest Stark daughter, is pretty dim-witted and really only thinks about her own safety and marrying hot knights and ending up in famous songs. Arya is pretty much just out there... Catherine is constantly like, "Oh man, I'm a mom, better be all anal about where my kids are ALL THE TIME even though my husband just got beheaded! and then there's Cersei, whose all like, "My son is evil, but don't you dare try and stop him, cause hes my son and I wont have him disappointed for a second!"

Other than that, it's a good series. Hahahaa, just kidding, those parts are interesting too... just make me kind of angry sometimes. Oh yes, and I suppose that had some SPOILERS if you were planning on reading the books/watching Game of Thrones on HBO (which is equally problematic, in a whole other way).

After this, I have to finish Mike's dads book, which I'm pretty excited about. Yesterday, Mike and his parents took me out for dinner/ice cream. They're so awesome!!

So yes. I hope this is readable. I don't know what's going on with this blog, but if it's still giving people problems then I can play around with the settings. The new view features are pretty confusing, but they're sweet once you play around with them enough.

100th Post!!

So, this is the 100th post.
Yep.

Go out and celebrate accordingly. I suggest dressing as your favorite LOTR character and going to pet some cats. Then maybe you could go geek out at the library or something, idk.

Little bit of a reminder about how awesome life is.

So, my FAVORITE ACTORS EVER will be in The Hobbit!!!!!!!!

Every time, I swear.....Martin Freeman just makes me want to pinch his cheeks. FOREVER. 

And Benedict Cumberbatch... as Smaug. 

And then everyone's all like, yeah Julie this is super old news, move on with life, and I'm all like NEVER MY LIFE HAS JUST COME FULL CIRCLE DON'T YOU GUYS SEE HOW COMPLETE THE WORLD HAS BECOME. 

I also only got about 4 hours of sleep last night. So I'm a little loopy. 

Also....

Apparently, Cumberotters are a thing now.