Running 'Round in Circles

I'm not sure why I just wrote that as the title.

I think it's because I have been missing my Daddy lately and he always sings that.

"Running 'round in circles, running 'round in circles, running 'round in circles"

That's how it goes.

In case you were wondering.

I think the other reason I thought about that little song is because of the word "running".

If you keep up with my blog you already know so I'll try not to repeat myself too much.

AC, Butler, and I ran the Elvis Presley Run, Walk, Rock & Roll 5K this past Saturday.

It was great!!

Here we are after arriving at Graceland.

All bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Butler, me, AC

Yes, we matched on purpose.

This turned out to be a good idea (thanks, Butler) because we could easily keep up with where the other 2 were when we got separated during the race.

I'm sure you can expect this next comment, but it was so flipping HOT!!

My personal favorite part of the race was the wet paper towels at the halfway mark.

I've never been so happy to see a paper towel.

My goal was just to run the whole thing.

The recent heat wave has prevented me (how's that as an excuse?) from training like I should.

Just running the whole race, not worrying about my time, was what I needed as motivation to continue on this journey towards the St. Jude Half in December.

And I accomplished my goal!

As a non-runner (I guess at some point I'll begin to call myself a runner), this was quite possibly the farthest I've ever run at once.

No.

I take that back.

It was definitely the farthest/longest I've ever run at once.

Here we are after the race.

Same position, just a lot sweatier.

I wish we had some pics of some of the individuals at Graceland that day.

It was a fabulous people-watching opportunity.

As you can imagine.

Graceland

'Nough said.

Now I have to get back to one of my favorite shows:

Love and miss

For Real

Here we go!!

Pictures of my new apartment in Memphis and Anna's wedding weekend.

Our living room

Rachel and I are pretty proud of our lights on the counter.

This is my view when I wash dishes.

The view from our balcony

One day I looked out at the gazebo and a guy was doing pull-ups on it.

The 1 Mile marker for the trail that runs around the lake.

And by trail I mean sidewalk.

But it works for me...makes training for a Half easier.

Emily and I figured out it's 1.2 miles around.

(We had to "figure it out" because this 1 Mile marker is the ONLY marker on the whole thing.)

Our balcony...which I have been calling the porch.

No chairs or table or twinkly lights yet, but it's going to be an awesome place to sit and look at the lake when we do get it put together.

And when it cools off a bit.

My room...much bigger than my room in Starkville.

View from the bathroom

My view every morning when I open the blinds.

The view from Rachel's room.

Pretty awesome.

Me and AC at Anna's rehearsal dinner in Jackson, MS.

Butler and myself :)

Here's the Bride!!

Anna and myself at the Bridesmaid Brunch.

The beautiful bride right after she got ready.

Best friends

Anna's college buds:

Libbie, me, AC, Butler, and Lori

Just chilling before the ceremony.

Have fun in the British Virgin Islands!!

Memphis is great so far.

I (obviously) love where I live.

I'm one week into the new job. So far so good. Learning the ropes of a new hospital is always somewhat overwhelming, but I'm encouraged by the fact that I did it with every new rotation during the internship. Catching on quickly is something you get good at as an intern.

The people I work with are extremely friendly and encouraging.

There are even dietetic interns!!

That's sort of weird since I was just in their shoes a couple of months ago.

Having so many good friends here is making the transition from school life to the real world much easier.

I'm excited and praying over finding a new church home here.

Getting completely settled will take a little while, but I'm getting use to the fact that this is my new home.

I do miss me some Stark though. :)

Mary in Memphis

TEASER

haha

That was for all of y'all who are dying for me to update about Memphis.

I bet you got on your Google reader and were like "oh my gosh, Mary finally posted about life!! YAY"

Right??

Sorry, but this is all I have time for right now.

A REAL post is coming soon. It will include pics of the new apartment, job details, and Anna's wedding!!

Get excited. :)

Love and miss

Flashback

So I got on Facebook this morning and an old friend had posted these REALLY old pics.

I wanted to share.

I'm the one in the dress that resembles something a sailor would wear.

Some of you have heard me say that I always had a bow on the side of my head which in turn made me tilt my head to one side 99% of the time.

Here is proof of that:

This is my first dance recital!!

I LOVE it.

Those were my two best friends, Jessica and Johanna (they're twins if you can't tell), and I'm pretty sure we were 4 years old here.

(it's pre-the glasses years)

I still have that costume in a box at the top of my closet at home.

One day my little girls will surely argue over who gets to wear it first....seeing as it is extremely awesome.

I think the matching tap shoe ties are a big plus.

I only took tap for the first 7 years...I later claimed it gave me a headache and didn't want to take that class anymore. haha

Hope you laughed a little today!!

Change

Big post!!!

The last 10 days have been pretty significant.

First, I have decided to be a poser in the runners' world. AC and I decided we wanted to know the joy of accomplishing a half marathon. Actually this all started when Stacey posted the link (while on her honeymoon btw) to the Disney Princess Half Marathon on our Facebook walls. We got to seriously thinking about it and came up with the following schedule.

We started training Monday (Day 4: check!) and will be running in the Elvis Presley Run, Walk, Rock & Roll 5K in Memphis on August 14th. And Butler has decided to train with us too!! The three of us will be decked out in Elvis sunglasses at Graceland that morning. If anyone else feels inspired please join us!

Then we are planning to run in the Vulcan Run 10K on November 6th in Birmingham. We're setting smaller goals within the ultimate goal in order to work our way up and stay dedicated.

(Okay, this is all of a sudden underlined and I can't figure out how to ununderline it. Have you ever noticed there is no "U" on blogspot?? At least not on mine. Oh well. You'll just know I'm emphasizing everything I say today.)

And the ultimate goal would be this: the St. Jude Half Marathon on December 4th. The day we can put one of those 13.1 stickers on our car and know what it feels like to finish a half marathon. As people who are not runners, we can't imagine finishing it at this point in time. Every day will be an accomplishment, and that day will be one for our personal history books.

Then the Disney Princess Half Marathon is in February. Sounds like a plan to me.

I'll be spending a week at home next week. Learning how to function in the adult world and relaxing in the house my family has lived in for almost 30 years. It'll be the last time I'm there in who knows how long.

That's because I'll be moving to Memphis in a couple of weeks! I'm starting my first big girl job at Baptist Memorial Hospital as a Clinical Dietitian. I'm excited about getting into my first job and learning all that I can. Just can't get use to the fact that I'll no longer be the student.

God has been so incredibly faithful in all of this. He opened the door to this job before I even thought I was ready to look for one (man, does He know best), and He's also given me a roommate and a place to live before I could settle in to stress-mode.

But before I move I have to have one final weekend with my best friend, Anna. She's getting married the weekend after I start my job. Big changes in both of our lives. We decided to get together and be as silly as humanly possible before it's time to act like adults.

Anna and I met when we were roommates at Mississippi's Junior Miss in July of 2004.

We look like babies!!

She is 95% of the reason why I decided to go to MSU. I had 2 other schools at the top of my list. She told me I didn't want to go to either because one was too liberal and one was too expensive. haha

Six years later, we've been roommates 2 more years, laughed our heads off countless times, cried over each other, prayed over each other, and made more memories than I can even think of.

Love and miss...and sorry for all the underlining.