Time Flies...

When you're trying to get everything under the sun done!  The last few months have been filled with pre-baby prep, family time, a wedding, and preparing for Hubby to leave soon.  I miss updating on my book reading, and there is so much baby info to share (not really, in a nutshell it's a boy, and we've picked a name). I just feel that things get so hectic that I can't sit here and really get it all out.

With the upcoming major changes though, I need somewhere to spill, and I miss my blogs that I follow.  I feel so out of touch with my own interests that it's frustrating.  Organization being something that I love to reach for, I will hopefully be back soon to start filling in some blanks.  Until later!

News and Reading update

So first off --- I kinda derailed the p90x train....about 2 weeks into the program (which was pretty good, actually) I found out that I'm knocked up.  Coming May of next year, I'm going to have a mini person.  Until then, it's kind of important that I put on a few pounds, so walking the dogs is the extent of my exercise for the time being. 

Secondly, I've done a bit of reading.  Updates to the BBC top 100 are at the original post, and I am 2 books further into my quest.  So Far, BBC 100: 70, Samantha: 30 as of 10/14/2011.

Otherwise, just trying to keep from puking my guts out, and looking forward to the fact that I'll be done with this before its summer and it gets really hot again here in AZ. 

Time to Light the Fire

So I've noticed (as I'm sure most married people may) that over the past couple of years I've gotten...comfortable.  I've always been a slender 5'7", so gaining weight never really shows right away.  But over the past few months, I've really noticed, and become self conscious about the way I look.  135 looks like nothing, but add 15-20 lbs, and while I'm not "overweight",  I have begun to feel a bit- how do I say this- squishy. 

So, due to the kindness of my Bubby, and a firm belief that I want to be fit before I journey into parenthood, I'm dedicating 90 days, starting Monday, August 22nd, to P90x.

Now I know, it's one of those TV things, and I know it's not easy to keep to a routine like this, I'm a great lover of plans, and the feeling I get from checking things off a to-do list. 
Motivation not being one of my strong points, and blogging falling by the way-side, I'm combining the two, in hopes that I can be accountable to something other than just myself (I'm talking to you, internet!). 

I'm out of town all weekend, so Monday is the perfect time to start fresh with a new routine.   Also the day I post my oh so unattractive "Before" picture, for the world to see.  So, anyway, time to cross some fingers, set my jaw, and go about making  the "After" picture something I'm much more proud of.  Wish me luck!  I'll be back with tales of the first workout to amuse with on Monday.

New Goal

So I've come up with a new goal.  The BBC 100 books to read list.   The list is below, and I've highlighted the ones that I've read already.   Looking forward to reading most of the rest...I'll keep you updated on how it all goes.  :)

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien


2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman

4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling

6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne

8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell

9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis

10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë

11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller

12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë

13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks

14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier

15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger

16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame

17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres

20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy

21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling

23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling

24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling

25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien

26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy

27. Middlemarch, George Eliot

28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving

29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck

30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson

32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez

33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett

34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl

36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson

37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute

38. Persuasion, Jane Austen

39. Dune, Frank Herbert

40. Emma, Jane Austen

41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery

42. Watership Down, Richard Adams

43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald

44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas

45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh

46. Animal Farm, George Orwell

47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy

49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian

50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher

51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett


52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck

53. The Stand, Stephen King

54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth

56. The BFG, Roald Dahl

57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome

58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell

59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer

60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman

62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden

63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough

65. Mort, Terry Pratchett

66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton

67. The Magus, John Fowles

68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett

70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding

71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind

72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell

73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett

74. Matilda, Roald Dahl

75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding

76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt

77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins

78. Ulysses, James Joyce

79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens

80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson

81. The Twits, Roald Dahl

82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith

83. Holes, Louis Sachar

84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake

85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy

86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson

87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons

89. Magician, Raymond E Feist

90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac

91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo

92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel

93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett

94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

95. Katherine, Anya Seton

96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer

97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez

98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson

99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot

100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
 
 
So I'm 28 in (without trying) and right now I'm in the middle of  The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.   So, this list will start after I finish those books (great short chapter reads, by the way), and I'm really excited to start reading things that not only appeal to me, but also those that I wouldn't read otherwise. I'll keep you current as I finish books. 
 
BBC 100:  72, Samantha: 28 as of 4/20/11.

A good cause and a great sign

So,  a couple of weeks ago, I decided to jump start my spring work outs with a good cause.   Every year here in Phoenix, the Pat Tillman Foundation holds an event called "Pat's Run", in honor of the above named Pat Tillman, who gave his life in Afghanistan on April 22nd, 2004.  

Pat Tillman's family founded his foundation to give money to military service members, and their families for education, and give multiple scholarships annually.  Now, some of you may be asking why this guy is so much more imporant than any of the others we have lost in the past 10 years.   And my response to you would be the fair one - he wasn't.  Pat Tillman was just another man, willing to serve his country, whether right or wrong, like all of the other men and women who have done so and are doing so today. 

But Pat Tillman's story got told a little louder, especially after his death.   See, Pat Tillman (as we in Arizona know), was a great football player.  He played for the Arizona State Sun Devils, and was the best defensive player of the year in our conference his senior year.  He was driven in school too, graduating in only 3.5 yrs. And then, he was signed to the NFL by the Arizona Cardinals, allowing those who cheered for him in college to continue rooting in his favor. 

This is what make Pat Tillman's story unique, and yet the same as those he served with, all at once.   Because when the Cardinals offered Tillman over $1M per year in 2002, he turned it down, and turned to the armed forces, feeling a responsiblility greater than that of being a linebacker in the NFL. 

Now I'm not going to preach about what he stood for, or what an amazing sacrifice it was for him - I'd rather dwell on the sacrifices of time and memories that his family made once he joined.  And I'm not going to say that he did the "right thing", as the contreversy surrounding our country's moves over the last 10 years makes it hard to see anything relating to this war through rose colored glasses. And I'm not going to even touch on this man's death, which has its own contreversy that it doesn't deserve. 

This man's life wasn't lived in vain, and neither were the lives of his brothers and sisters in arms who are no longer with us.   If you think otherwise, just realize that 30,000 people walked and ran 4.2 miles yesterday, and paid for the privelege to do so.  Not because we're all fitness nuts (I for sure am not), but because we all want to show our support of a group of people who do what they can to support us every day. 

*steps down from soapbox*

In all seriousness, my first time doing the walk/run was amazing, and I can't wait to do it next year.  It was great to see so many people doing a good thing, and raising money so that people can afford to go to school. 

After the walk, I was on a fitness kick and ordered my bike, which will be here in a week and a half.  Of course, I had to go cruiser bike.  I can't wait till it gets here.

And finally, while out running some errands, I came across the accompanying picture.  Words cannot express how perfectly this capped off my day.   Journey was my cherry on top indeed, making yesterday a Perfect day. 

(If you'd like to donate to the Pat Tillman Foundation, you can do so at http://www.pattillmanfoundation.org/)

Annoyance

So I just posted a full post...Question # 7 of the 50 Question Inspiration, actually.   And Blogger decided that you only needed to see half of it.  

This joins the sudden suicide of my iPhone (it took a dive from my purse at the gas station), and a very tough week so far mentally, so I am not quite up for re-writing the post yet. 

On the plus side?  My new bestie at the Apple store waived the replacement fee, and I adopted a replacement iPhone within 2 hours (Apple=rocking my stockings)

New full post in the near future, I promise.  Until then, I hope everyone else has a silver lining to their day like I have! 

Sam

Soundtrack time!

So, I didn't plan on a 2nd post in less than 24 hours, but Brittney over at LaMidge has inspired me.   I've spent my day off doing a bit of blog reading catch-up, and Brittney had this wonderful list of songs that would make up her soundtrack, which, of course, got me to thinking of some of my favorite songs. 

The songs I love could fill a library, and this blog post could take me 2 days to write, so, to rein myself in a bit, I'm going to go with my CURRENT favorite songs, the songs that I listen to that put me in a good mood (aka, the waking up playlist).   Definitely go check out Brittney's list as well, it has some great songs on it - AND make your own to share with everyone as well!  

10 Songs I <3 Today

• "Ain't So Lonely" - Lucero - Because it makes me grin
• "Redemption Song" - Bob Marley - It's a classic, mellow song
• "Forget You" - Cee Lo Green - Because both versions are great, and the Grammy performance was so fun.
• "Somewhere In Brooklyn" - Bruno Mars - Loving his voice right now
• "Haven't Met You Yet" -Michael Buble - Ditto the above
• "Mexico" - The Refreshments/Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers - Makes me think of warmer weather!
• "Oh Bo" - Bo Burnham - Bo Burnham is not even old enough to drink in the clubs he plays, but he's got comedic genius.  ALWAYS makes me laugh.
• "In The Sun" - She And Him - Zooey's voice is great
• "Cigarettes, Wedding Bands" - Band of Horses - Another catchy upbeat tune
• "Molly (Sixteen Candles)" - Sponge - This is my "Getting ready before going out montage" song.   It makes me want to jump on the bed.