Motivation

Ok, as many of you already know, I'm trying to get better at running. I have never in my entire life been able to run long distances. I get extremely winded and my legs hurt. I know that all I need to do is whip myself into shape and build up my endurance but it's so difficult sometimes.

I need motivation.

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Here's my plan. I am going to update my blog weekly with how many total miles I've run that week. It's not going to be many at the beginning since I can pretty much only run a half mile outside without feeling like I'm going to collapse. However, I think that if I do this I will have accountability, and I won't slack off (like I sort of maybe tend to do). 

I also need your help. Any tips or words or encouragement you can offer me will help me immensely! 

Oh, How Pinteresting - Sun Dresses

I need to go shopping. It's been a while. What I need are work clothes... what I want are pretty sun dresses to wear all spring and summer.

Source: modcloth.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

 

Source: shopruche.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

Source: shopruche.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

Source: urbanoutfitters.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

Source: freepeople.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

Weekend Away

Jeremy and I took a weekend trip to see some great friends who live in Franklin, TN. They had a baby in December and we finally got to meet baby Skylar!! She is absolutely adorable. It was nice having some baby time. Anyways, we spent alot of time just hanging out and catching up and baby snuggling. A perfect relaxing weekend, just what I needed.

On the way home, Jeremy and I did some sightseeing in West Nashville. I had never seen this part of the city and it was such a gorgeous day, so we walked around a bunch.

So there's a lifesize replica of the Parthenon... seems pretty random hah but it was actually kind of a cool thing to see!

We walked around Vanderbilt University's campus as well. We even got to see a tiny little bit of a baseball game until the ticket guy told us to leave because we didn't have any tickets. Oh well. 

Looks like Spring is here! The tulips were so open and so bright!

Getting Lucky in the Apple Store

Ok, our Apple store is not nearly as cool as this one...

The beginning of this week I started noticing my phone was acting all funny. I would be talking to someone on the phone and all of a sudden they would start saying "hello? hello?" and I would say "hello? can you hear me?" and then they'd hang up. I could hear them but they couldn't hear me. So frustrating.

I went to AT&T to see what they thought. They said maybe it was the microphone, but this still happened when using bluetooth or the headphones. What the heck was wrong with my phone?!

The AT&T lady made me an appointment two days from then at the Apple store. Well, I couldn't wait that long. I went to the Apple store the next day since I pass it on my way home anyway hoping that maybe, just maybe, they'd cut me a break. This is where I got lucky. 

I didn't have an appointment with the genius bar, mine was the next day, I just happened to start talking to the employee who had had the same problem I was having! He squeezed me into the schedule. 

When I finally got to my Apple genius person, she ran a diagnostic test and said that I would either be covered under warranty or I'd have to buy a whole new phone for a couple hundred bucks. 

I was nervous.

When the diagnostic tests were done, it turns out I was still under warranty and only was.. for nine more days. Nine days!!! If my phone started acting all weird just a few days later I would have had to buy a whole new phone!!! The employees couldn't believe it, they said they'd never seen anyone cut it that close. The iPhone gods were smiling down on me.

I got so lucky. And now I have a brand new phone that makes calls perfectly :)


PS. Have you entered my giveaway!? You could win some amazing Oreos anddd other surprises...

My First Ever...

GIVEAWAY!!!

Blog Positivity Week: A very fun aspect of blogging is all the giveaways. Ok, sometimes I think there may be a little too much giving away going on in the blog world, but most of the time, I think giveaways can be fun. It's a great way to promote a business you may support or simply do something nice for your followers. I have found numerous new blogs through giveaways and have even won some myself! I have formed bloggy friendships just by winning a giveaway- it's like an instant bond.

So, want to know what I'm giving away? Here's the story:

Captain Ahab had his white whale. 

Indiana Jones had the Holy Grail. 

Frodo Baggins had to destroy the ring. 

And I had... Birthday Cake Oreos.

As many of you already know, I have sort of been obsessing over these Oreos. You can see the original blog post here. I literally could not find them anywhere!! Everyone was telling me where they were finding them, but I never could. My mom even sent me a picture of my brother, all the way in New Jersey, with a package (such a tease). Then, out of the blue, a friend of mine (ehemmm Dustin) sent me a picture of the Oreos.. right here in Memphis!! It was late at night, but we ventured out to Kroger and to my surprise and complete happiness - there they were!

It was like I had found the treasure. I had completed my quest. I guess it really is the little things that make me happy. Well, there was a sign on them saying that if you bought 10 packages you got a discount... so I bought 10 packages. I was living in the moment!

I was happily munching away on my ten packages of Oreos when I got a package in the mail... from my Mom. She had sent me three more packages!!! So now I have 13 packages of Birthday Cake Oreos and I want to share the wealth!

Now I know this may be sort of a lame giveaway since you all could just go to the grocery store and get your own. So, to make this more exciting, I am going to alsooo be giving away a surprise along with the Oreos to the winner!! Anddddd, depending on how many people enter the giveaway, I might even choose more the one winner. I know, I know, so exciting!

Here's how to enter

Please leave a comment for each of the following (the comments are your entries):

Mandatory entry: 

Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect

Additional entries:

Follow me on Twitter

Like me on Facebook

Follow me with Bloglovin'

Follow me on Pinterest 

Follow me on Hellocotton

Follow me on Instagram

Tweet about the giveaway

Yeah, there are about a million ways to enter - what do you have to lose!!! Who doesn't love some free oreos?

PS. Oreo is not endorsing this in any way - I just want to share the ridiculous amount of Oreos I have - and they are amazing and so are my followers.

Oh, How Pinteresting - VW Bugs

Blog Positivity Week - Today, I am focusing on Link-Ups! Link-ups are a very fun aspect of blogging. There are all different kinds depending on what your interests are. Personally, my favorite part about them is that we all link our blogs to the host blog and you can visit all the other bloggers participating. I can't tell you the amount of new blogs I've discovered through link-ups. They're a great way to find new blogs and to put yours out there.

One of my favoritest link-ups is Oh, How Pinteresting over at The Vintage Apple. 

I think I have an obsession with VW Bugs. I have for as long as I can remember! When I was a little kid, instead of a little electric Barbie car, like all the other girls had, I had a Herbie car.. you know, Herbie, the love bug? I remember being in middle school dreaming of driving a VW Bug when I eventually got my drivers license. I have always loved them! I just think they're so cute - the old ones. I love the old classic ones. Because of this, I pin a lot of them....

Source: tumblr.com via Staci on Pinterest

Source: sweetmomentscaptured.tumblr.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

Source: sundayinbed.tumblr.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

Source: classiccarmagazine.s3.amazonaws.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

Source: samanthahahn.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

Source: tumblr.com via Staci on Pinterest

Support

Blog Positivity Week - One of the things I love most about blogging is all the support. Ever single comment I receive means so much to me. When I'm going through a tough time, I'm always getting words of encouragement. It's nice knowing people are actually reading what I have to say, and I love hearing what people think!

Are you a secret blog reader?

Before I started my own blog I read blogs. I had my favorites that I read every single day. I never left comments. I didn't even follow them with Google Friend Connect. I just had some bookmarked and visited them when I got a chance. 

Now that I have my own blog, I know how important my readers and comments are.

Don't be a secret blog reader - let your favorite bloggers know you enjoy reading their blogs. Follow them, so that they feel the support even when you might not have anything to say. But to be honest, I simple comment goes a long way.

This is Blog Positivity Week, so I want to stress that blogging isn't all about the number of followers - not for me at least - but it is encouraging watching that little number grow. Knowing that people are out there supporting me and what I have to say.

I have seen several bloggers talk about this before - it's important. One of the best things about blogging is the support and love. Without comments and followers it's easy to feel like nobody is out there reading. Support bloggers you love and let them know they mean something to you. 

A Very Memphis St Patty's Day

Blog Positivity Week - I started my blog so that I would have a place to record all the new experiences and things I was learning living in the South. Sort of like a public scrapbook that friends and family back home could also keep up with. This blog has turned into something so much more than I could have ever hoped. Not only do I have a place to record all my memories, I have also met truly wonderful people. I feel like I always say that around here, but it's true. Through blogging I have made so many friends and am inspired everyday. 

With that being said.. want to see what I did this weekend?

Definitely had one of the most interesting - and fun - St. Patrick's Day. 

We started the day with some free french fries at Burger King. Not the healthiest choice but hey,  we love a good deal anddd it was a holiday so it's all good. Bonus, there was green St. Paddy's Sauce for dipping - aka green ketchup.

Then, as if we didn't have enough fast food, we went across the street to get shamrock shakes!!!!! I was so excited, we finally had found a McDonald's that had them... and it was St. Patrick's Day so it was pretty perfect. 

Jeremy had never had one before. He loved it!

andddd I'm pretty sure this is the most liked picture of mine on Instagram - it's the simple things that make me happy.

We then headed downtown to catch the St. Patrick's Day parade down Beale.
It turned out to be a gorrrrgeous day and downtown was packed!!

I learned that Memphis has all these crazy societies with names like "The Secret Society of Boll Weevils"and "The Noble Krewe of Ptolemy".

I have no idea what any of this means. I am going to have to do some research.
I want to be in a secret society!

This apparently is a boll weevil --- what was going on?!

After the parade, we wandered around downtown for a while. There was live music everywhere, sunshine, and great people watching.

We eventually ended up at the Flying Saucer, which is a bar with a great atmosphere. We were just hanging out, having a beer, and of course a parade of bagpipers marches through the bar.

It was a festive and extremely fun day. I'm not even Irish but I had fun celebrating Irishness this weekend. I hope you all did too :)

Love & Life

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I am zero percent Irish but there's something about today that's exciting! 

I hope you are all having a wonderful green-filled day :)

Blog Positivity Week

Ashley over at After Nine to Five is organizing a little thing called Blog Positivity Week.

"One week dedicated to reminding us all that the blogging

community is an awesome thing to be able to be a part of."

Personally, I think this is a brilliant idea. I feel like sometimes we forget why we are blogging and all the things that make the blog community so wonderful.
Let's take a week to get things back in perspective.

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No matter how big or small your blog is, or even if you don't have a blog at all, there is so much to gain from this world of blogging. There's support and inspiration and it makes the world not seem like such a big place. I have met so many wonderful people through this and am excited to see where this tiny little blog of mine will take me someday.

So, who's with me!! Let's take a week and reflect on all the positivity found in blogging and remember and appreciate how lucky we are to have such an amazing community of people.

Wednesday Wishes (8)

Let's make some wishes with Brooke :)

1. My bracket to be awesome

Maaaaarch Maaaaadnesssss!!! Ok, so this is the first time I can remember that Villanova wasn't in the NCAA tournament. What makes it worse is they're not even in the NIT tournament... anyways, at least the Tigers are in it this year! Go Memphis!

2. Get more blog reading time

I'm still adjusting to working full time and I need to get back into a routine. My blog reading (and writing) has really been slacking. I know that once I get really into the swing of things I'll have to time to read them. For now, I can't wait to snuggle up with your blogs and play catch up! Maybe this weekend?

3. Run more

I feel like a lot of my wishes revolve around running. I need wishes I guess to make it come true. I must run more. The boy is totally beating me. He can run so many more miles than me. Ah!!

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All I Want

is a shamrock shake and some birthday cake oreos!

and I can't find either of them anywhere!!

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I'm not too worried about finding a shamrock shake before the end of March because honestly we haven't looked too hard.

However.

These oreos are nowhere!!! Did they stop making them already? Does anybody know?! 

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!

Be Still

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TGIF

Ahhhh Fridayyy... when I'm working I appreciate my Fridays and weekends so much more.  Here's some randomness to start off the weekend.

I survived my second week at my new job. Here are some things I've learned:

- I love when little old people call to make appointments - they're so sweet.

- People need to enunciate their words more. The mumbling is so bad!
- I am not a morning person. (I already knew this - but yeah, I'm definitely not)
- I drive over the same train tracks THREE different times on my way home from work - I get stuck at a train at least twice a week - why do they have a giant freight train going through a busy town during rush hour?! Rant over.
- People don't necessarily care that I have the same birthday as them. hah.

This job is so different from anything and there is a TON to learn, but it's all starting to click and I'm really enjoying myself.

I'm loving this song lately: 

At Music Fest last year Jason Mraz was good.. not great.. and that made me sad. 

He's back in my good graces again though.

Have you watched the KONY 2012 video yet? No?! What are you waiting for?!

Happy Friday, friends!

K O N Y 2 0 1 2

KONY 2012

This video says it all.. I was finally able to watch it.

If you haven't - you should. You won't regret it.

Awareness is good. 

Oh, How Pinteresting - The Beach

I think it's always about this time of year when all I want to do is go to the beach! It's not even that the weather is particularly wintery, I just am ready for summer, I guess.

Source: tumblr.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

Source: stylemepretty.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

Source: tumblr.com via Jordan on Pinterest

Source: tumblr.com via Jordan on Pinterest

I think I need a vacation.