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. 

A Brief Recap

I'm back in Fredericksburg! And I'm super excited to be here.

In the past two weeks, quite a few things have taken place.

First, I went to Grandma's house, just in time to see all the beautiful azelas in bloom! 

(You can click on the pictures to make them bigger if you so desire)

More pictures of Grandmas! It was so beautiful, I took lots of flower pictures. My Grandfather left a wonderful legacy in his gardens. 

Then I got to spend a day at Pittsburgh with my favorite brother. We walked around, went in some stores, heard some horrible Steeler chants, ate loads of carbs at the Spaghetti Warehouse.... 

Then, the next day, Eric ran in the Pittsburgh Marathon! His time was sub 4 hours -- SO FAST! I'm so proud of him.  

I made this applesauce cake while I was home. I read this good book (only good, cause the plot was terrible, but the writing was fantastic, which is all I really care about in the end), and I worked on some stuff, including doing the weeding in the gardens and helping my mom build the wall to surround our vegetable gardens. I haven't gotten to plant anything except some basil and tomatoes my Uncle grew from seeds yet though, because we've been so busy with construction! 

Then I got packed... (yup, looks like I got everything I'll be needing in one suitcase there....)

I also made a strawberry and rhubarb pie to take with me for my new housemates! I made one for home too, which disappeared in under 2 days. This one kind of came out ugly looking, but everyone knows its not the looks that people eat pie for.

And I've moved in! My room is pretty tiny, but I'm used to that. I think it's the same size as my room at home in Vienna, so I feel right at home! 

What a good day!

I got my grades back today, my best friend comes home, and Pippins eye has some movement back!!

I'm so glad its summer break,  even though its almost over for me. I start class on the 21st of May, so I have a little over a week before I go back to Fredericksburg to live with friends.

Also, I'm really glad I don't have a phone. I realize how often I checked it for the time, so now I'm constantly wondering what time it is, but it doesn't even matter... because I'm on break.

Writing

Me: I think I'm going to write a book and try and get it published. I just want it to be really good.
Mike: No one's a really good writer on their first book.
Me: Thats not true- some authors get famous right away, like J.K.Rowling.. or Stephanie Meyer.
Mike: ... like I said.....

Pandora and I are bros.

So Pandora just played two of my favorite songs back to back. Life right now is so brilliant.
Its the little things.

Two favorite study songs:
1. Ebla by E.S. Posthumus
2. Fortune Days by Glitch Mob

I only have two exams left, and I feel good about both of them. Tomorrow, I'm going to spend a majority of the day reviewing for my soil's exam, and then I'm going to try to go for a nice long walk. Hopefully, my legs and hip will behave properly and allow me to walk like a normal person.

My legs have been hilarious lately. It's like they don't know what to do with themselves when I don't take them on runs. Its like I have two hyperactive dogs attached to my legs. Anyway I end up sitting they are like, nope don't want to sit that way, why don't we go all over the place? I'll be in the middle of studying and realize that I'm half standing with my legs in some weirdo yoga pose.

I'm excited to see Eric run this weekend! Go brother go! You run faster than Oprah!!!!

Future Julie's House

Stairs AND a bookcase???? How cool is that. 

Normal kids watch tv and stuff to procrastinate... I look at interior design blogs.

An Itty-Bitty Freak Out

So, this is the last week of classes before we start exams. Luckily, today I finished with all the prep work I needed to do for my Soil Science presentation, which is this Thursday. I know some people in the class haven't even begun their research, so I feel good about that. I haven't started studying really, but I don't have class tomorrow morning, so I'll probably do some of it then. I'm also not so sure about how I'm going to present my topic- I'll be going over that a few times tomorrow too.

 My Environmental Regulations teacher has suddenly decided to make plenty of things due, on top of our final poster presentation, which is, of course, a group project. I hate group projects, have I ever mentioned that?

 My Linguistics professor is off in the cosmos or something, who knows what's actually going on there.

 And then my Global Cities literature professor gave us our take home portion of the exam today in class to finish next Friday, which I'm going to start on soon.

 To top it all off, my Moder British Literature professor proclaimed that she has graded everything, however, she has only graded 8 of the 10 response papers I turned in, so I don't know whats going on there. Also, she gave me a B on my midterm paper, saying she would have liked to see something that wasn't even in my thesis, so I don't know how she could have taken off points for that, but she did.

 Also, I have no meals left, only about $150 left in flex. If each meal is about $7-10, then I only get to eat once a day, unless I steal food from Seaco/make Mike feed me.

 On the plus side, last weekend was SO MUCH FUN. And I'm all caught up on Game Of Thrones, so life is good.

Phew, it all makes sense now

So, I still havent decided if I want to dress up as a dwarf, or if I want to be a Hobbit. Perks of being a dwarf: I get to go "its true you dont see many dwarf women. But were so alike in voice and appearance, that we are often mistaken for dwarf men!", at which Christine can follow me around, and say, "Its the beards" or...

But, if I go as a Hobbit, then I have an excuse to go around Barefoot!! EITHER ONE IS SO BRILLIANT. I woke up this Morning with THIS in my head... I had such a hard time at breakfast trying to explain to Mike what I was talking about..... Time to write an essay!!!!!!!!!!!! Good times.

So, this is what I've been doing instead of work...

So, yesterday I got a POTTERMORE account, which is basically just an interactive Harry Potter site, where you get to see scenes from the books, and collect stuff, and you can make potions and things. The best part is that you unlock little side notes by J.K.Rowling that never made it into the book, so you find out all these little details of things as Rowling wanted it to be. It's basically like fanfiction, where the fan is the real legit author. Awesome.

Anyway, my name is BludgerBronze26046, if you get an account and want me for a friend. I have a pet siamese cat, and I'm a hufflepuff, which pretty much justifies all the time I've spent on this site.

My favorite line of this confusing book

"He turned to me with the directness that compelled me to meet his eyes by means of imbuing them with the most supernatural intensity" - At Swim Two Birds, Flann O'Brien

hahahahhahahahhaaaa, all I could think about

My Semi-Finished Poster!!

Mind you, the poster is 50x42 inches, so it's a good thing you can't actually read the words, or else you would need to stand a mile back, and only really read a sentence (all the text is about cats anyway (not really)).

it's also a lot more impressive when you can see the graphs and SCIENCE that it has.
Also, the red squiggly lines wont be there, obviously. And they're peoples names, not spelling errors. Funny fact, it took me about three tries to just spell errors correctly. silly brain, it's too hot for it to properly work.

Some things that make me happy (and some things that don't)

So, yesterday, that music I was ranting about prior to First World Kittah? Yeha, they were there speaking till about 10:30 about how they could feel the Holy Spirit over the campus, and about how Christians are being discriminated against.. or something. It's not that I have a real problem with religious groups coming on our campus, but I DO have a problem with them setting up loudspeakers and singing/preaching for five hours to the entire campus and not allowing you to possibly block it out, also while I need to work on my powerpoint poster cause I really need to get it done!!!

However, today is the multicultural festival (yay!), which means I wasted my morning/afternoon, and now that I want to get down to business, the library is closing. Go figure.

But I saw the CUTEST greyhound puppy today!! He jumped at me like a little spring.
so. cute.
Also, I looked at cat pictures for about an hour this morning. Win.
And I got excellent Earl Grey tea at Blackstone, and did some of the reading I need to do.
And I got to hang out with Mike, which is always grand.
And I went to the Video Game Olympics, which was pretty hilarious. I kind of left Mike there so I could get some more work done, but I don't think he's going to place because him playing dance dance revolution was just embarrassing (in an adorable, awww you don't know what your'e doing, kind of way).

Anyway, I just need to find some good images for my poster and then I'm done with the draft! EXCITING.

The crappy thing about living next to ball circle

They randomly decide to blast loud music/get live bands, and no matter if you blast you own music, slam the windows shut, or put in headphones, you will hear the music and you will be distracted from your work.
And of course, the library closed at 5.
HATE THIS CAMPUS SOMETIMES.




I just realized how ridiculous this is.... I want to work but there's live music outside.
MY LIFE IS SO HARD.

I think I'm almost done with my paper!!!!!

SO EXCITEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Now I just need to start on the powerpoint poster, start working on my presentations, and study for the final... just for my soils class.
Happy Fun times!!