We had a wonderful time.  Getting away from the stresses of school, work and every day life was just what we needed.

We ate so much delicious food, spent time relaxing by the pool and on the beach, went rafting down a river in Jamaica and enjoyed all the amenities of the ship.

I think the best part was spending time with the husband with no distractions and nothing projects or to-do lists to steal our attention.  We were focused on each other and relaxing.  It was so nice!  Just what we needed.

I’ve been pretty busy since we returned from our trip.  I transitioned into a new position at work, which I am just getting settled into now, and also took on an additional freelance position to bring in some extra cash.  Top that of with various law school functions for the husband and spring cleaning and I am just busy, busy, busy!

Oh, one of the fun things that we did while on vacation was do yoga on the beach!  It was a lovely class and I totally felt like I should have been in an exercise video with the warm, salty breeze, bright sunshine and crashing waves!

I have been doing a lot of yoga since we got back home… Maybe that’s why.  I’m trying to recapture yoga on the beach!

But I am going to be getting back into running very soon – the running group I was part of in the fall is starting back up this Wednesday.  I can’t wait!

Oh wait!  I do have something I can tell you…  or show you, rather!  One thing that I have been pretty busy with is crafting!  Here are a few of the things I recently made for my etsy:

Crocheted flower headbands

Earrings

Various styles of scarves

Now you may you wonder about the 12 days in my title.  12 days until what? 12 days until spring break, baby!  Yes, we did eventually figure out our spring break plans!

We eventually decided that a cruise would be the most bang for our buck and we will be heading out on a 5 night Caribbean cruise!  We’ll be making stops here

and here

and I am EXCITED!

We didn’t book any excursions for either of the stops due to the cost (our budget is very limited)  but really I am perfectly happy to just get off the boat and go lie on the beach and swim in the ocean.  Perfectly happy.  I actually don’t even know what excursions are offered.  I’m sure we’ll take a look at some point but we can’t afford anything expensive and I am content to do our own thing.

And the ship looks a-maz-ing! Check this out – It has a rock climbing wall, ice rink, in-line skating track, a mini-golf course, fitness center with classes and a basketball court and (of course) a huge theatre, casino and food 24 hours a day.  And pools, of course! I cannot wait to check out this ship.

Oh and we have an ocean-view room! I am literally counting down the days until we leave!  It’s going to be so , so nice to get away together.  The husband has been so stressed recently between school, trial team and law review.  He deserves some relaxation!

Anyway… ahem…

I have kept up the morning workouts and have done very well getting in 6 workouts a week most weeks. (There have been 2 or 3 days where I just couldn’t drag myself out of bed.  I wanted to rest more than I wanted the exercise and sometimes you have to listen to what your body wants!)  I’m running on the treadmill, doing yoga and also taking advantage of some of the other workouts that I have access through via OnDemand through out cable company.  It’s so nice to have so many different kinds of workouts at the push of a button!  I definitely feel best when I keep myself active!

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Have you ever been on a cruise? We went on one for our honeymoon and loved it, so this will be our second!

I have actually lost 3 pounds since the beginning of the year.   I have been paying more attention to what I eat and I have been working out 6 days a week.  I am really excited to have kept up my workout routine so well! I take Saturdays off and that’s it.  I also walk to work every week day.  I have continued to do yoga but I have also started getting back on the treadmill for some running.  It feels good!  I have been sticking to the treadmill because it has been very snowy and icy here lately.  I slip on ice just walking to work, so I don’t want to take the chance to injure myself running in these conditions.

Recently I received information on the Humane Society’s 5K Run/Walk for the Animals, which is taking place on May 21 this year.  Last year’s Run/Walk for the Animals was the first 5K I ever ran.  I am definitely going to plan on running it again! I’ll have to set up my fundraising page soon!

The husband and I have been working on getting our house organized and cleaned out.  We’re going through out things and donating/getting rid of the things we no longer need or want.  We need to simplify in preparation for our move this summer! We’re also attempting to plan a vacation for the husband’s spring break.  He graduates from law school in May, so this will be his last spring break!  We have a very limited budget, so tracking down something that works for us has been a bit stressful but I am sure we’ll figure something out!  These last three years of law school have been difficult in a lot of ways.  A vacation is just what we need.  Keep your fingers crossed that we can make it happen!

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What has been your  favorite vacation that you have taken?

We are encouraged to take part in the program with a $50 quarterly “bonus” in our paycheck as well as randomly-drawn prizes. The nice part is that spouses taking part also get entered for prizes and we will received $50 for them taking part as well.

The first step is to take a health assessment, after which the program recommends courses and such for you to take part in.  I scored a 90 on my health assessment, which is in the excellent range.  Oh yeah!  The assessment recommended I focus on my weight, physical activity level and stress for areas that i could improve on.

I don’t place too much stock in the health assessment since it was just a questionnaire you fill out on the website but I do think that the idea of this WellConnected program is a good one! I’ve never worked some place where they encouraged their employees to develop healthy habits like this and actually rewarded them monetarily for taking part.  I think it’s great that some places have programs like this in place!

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Does your employer have any kind of program to encourage employees and spouses to develop healthier habits?

I did make a couple of goals for 2011.  Here’s my list!  (I like calling them goals more than resolutions…  they seem more defined and concrete!)

1. Run 3 or 4 more 5Ks and train for a 10K, run a 10K is possible
2. Lose 10 lb. or so (I’d like to be between 130-135.  I’m probably between 145-150 right now…  maybe a little heavier than normal due to lack of exercise at the moment.) and maintain the loss
3. Read 100 books
4. Knit/crochet a hat and scarf set from yarn that I have spun
5. Learn to knit with my circular needles
6. Before we move, go through our closets and basement and… well, the whole house… and sort through everything and donate/giveaway/sell/throw out the things that we do not need or use
7. Get pregnant
8. Travel some place tropical and beachy
9. Organize the files on our external harddrive
10. Try my hand at 12 new recipes

Pretty doable overall!

I still haven’t gotten back in to running but I have gotten back in to the habit of getting up early and doing yoga before work.  Oh, and I have been walking to work still.  If I can convince myself to get to bed earlier in the evening I would like to start getting up a little bit earlier and do a short run before doing some yoga.  That would be pretty ideal for me.

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Did you make an New Year’s resolutions?

Whew!  December has been and continues to be a whirlwind of activity for the husband and I!

I hope all of you that celebrate it had a very merry Christmas!

The husband and I certainly did.  We were back up home once again to spend the holiday with our families.  It was lovely.

And this weekend we’re off to celebrate the new year with our friends.  We’re going to ring it in proper!

What has been the best part of your holiday season?

It has been must too cold for me to think about running outside. I don’t have the cold-weather running gear (nor the inclination, to be honest!) to run in such chilly temperatures.  I guess it’s time to hop back on the treadmill more regularly!

I actually haven’t done a lot of running since my race on Thanksgiving (but I have been doing yoga).  I ran one day the week after the race but had hip pain that day and the following day and haven’t gotten on the treadmill since.  (And to be honest, I didn’t get in ANY exercise at all last week…  Ooops?  At least I did a lot of walking in NYC on Sunday and Monday?)  But I have been getting back into my morning exercise routine this week.

Yesterday and this morning I got up and got in some yoga practice.  Ahhhh.  So relaxing and yet stimulating.  I am totally loving on the yoga again. Pretty hard.  It’s a great winter morning workout for me.  It gets me out of bed and gets me moving and warm.  It works and stretches my muscles and I feel great afterward.  I don’t need a lot of equipment.  I just need myself, some comfortable clothes, my yoga mat, a video and I’m ready to go.

In addition to my morning exercise, I also walk to and from work every day (Yes, even in the cold.  A walk I can stand.  ), so I get in a 2 mile walk every week day.

But I swear I have a good reason!

See…   Sunday, December 5th, was my 30th birthday!

And we were, once again, out of town this past weekend.  In fact, I didn’t even see a computer Friday through Monday because my wonderful, amazing, fantastic husband surprised me with an overnight trip to New York City at my family birthday party on Saturday.

Not only did he surprise me with an overnight trip to NYC but he also had tickets for us to see The Lion King on Broadway! (Which was amazing, by the way.  The costumes and sets and puppetry…  just incredible.)

We headed to the city on Sunday morning and stayed over into Monday. My mom and aunt joined us on our adventure.  We didn’t get home until late Monday night but it was so worth it!

What a way to ring in 30!

And we had to do some traditional NYC things, of course. Like eat hot corned beef sandwiches and cannoli.  Yum!

We went to see the tree at Rockefeller Center.

And we also went for a carriage ride in Central Park!

I am now working on getting caught up on the blogs that I read and some of you might notice some late comments appearing from me. 

Anyway…  I know you’re all waiting in breathless anticipation to hear how the Turkey Trot went, right?

Waiting at the start (you can't see me in this picture, I'm mid-pack)

On Thanksgiving morning, I ran my second ever 5K race. It was 29 degrees Fahrenheit and snowing.

There I am (in the grey and white fleece jacket and black pants), waiting to get started.

I FINISHED IT IN 30:04! 30:04!

I know the clock says 30:03 but my official chip time was 30:04. (Oh and I got hot and took off my jacket and tied it around my waist, I am in the blue long-sleeve shirt.)

My goals were: 1) To have fun – check! 2) Finish faster than my first 5K (33:53) – check! 3) Finish at or under 30 minutes – While I was over by 4 seconds, I am going to say check for this one! 30:04 is damn close to a 30 min. 5K! (Particularly in those conditions!)

Just after I finished. Hahaha.

I finished my first mile in 9:25, which is the fastest I have ever run a mile! I hit the 2 mile mark at 19:02. My average pace was 9:42, which is so, so, so awesome for me!  Remember I usually struggle to even run a 10 min. mile?  To have an average pace under 10 min., I can’t even hardly believe it!

At first I was disappointed by missing my goal by 4 seconds but I am very proud of myself. I worked very hard and I ran well and I knocked almost 4 min. off my old time. I did fantastic.

My mother-in-law, step-father-in-law, grandma, grandpa, mom and the husband were all there to watch me. My grandpa missed seeing me come in to the finish (just didn’t recognize that it was me when I ran by). I feel sad for him. I saw him and thought he saw me. I should have waved. Poor grandpa.

My grandpa was really excited.

I hope all of my American friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

This morning I got up and did and hour of yoga before getting ready for work and it felt so good. I love yoga.  I’m sure I’m going to be doing more and more of it as the weather gets colder.  I am going to try to keep up with running as I can but I find running on the treadmill much more difficult since transitioning to outside and I just don’t have the gear needed for running outside when it’s very cold.

Better get back to the project currently on my needles!

I am looking forward to relaxing with our families, playing with our niece and nephew, visiting with friends we haven’t seen in a long time, seeing my grandparents, going to the local Christmas parade and eating lots of good food!

I’m also looking forward to the Turkey Trot 5K Thanksgiving morning!

On Saturday I did an quick 2.08 miles before we headed off to the farmers market.

Check out my splits.

Look at mile 2.  Oh yeah!  That’s right!  I ran a mile in under 10 minutes!  First time ever! I was pretty excited.  Heck, I’m still pretty excited.  I think I went home and did a dance.

Yesterday I did 3 miles at an 11 min./mile pace. I took it easy and didn’t try to push it too much.  I knew it was going to be my last run before the race and I just wanted to get some miles in.  It’s all hydrating and yoga from here on out.

Despite specifically trying to not over do it, my right knee started to hurt right after my run. I don’t really know why because I didn’t have any real pain during my run.  Unfortunately my knee still hurts today.  I am going to baby it today and ice it tonight and hope that it starts feeling better soon.  I don’t want a sore knee for the race!

Other than dealing with my knee pain, I think I am as ready as I am going to be for this race.  I need to wash my running clothes (picked up a long-sleeve moisture wicking shirt and fleece zip-up on Saturday) and get everything packed.  I think that’s really all that’s left.

My first goal for this race is to have a good time.  My second goal is to beat my current (and only) race time of 33:53.  And my third goal is to go for broke and try to finish under 30 minutes.