OOO Baracuda...

This song  has been in my head for the past 6 weeks and very prevalent in my life the past 2. I mentioned Sing last week and it is now over....bittersweet. The picture above is all the Baracuda from our act with our Queen (Julianne). Being a senior extra for this year's act was definitely the right choice. In order to graduate on time, since one of my summer classes was cancelled, I am taking 19 hours...no I'm not crazy. I definitely had my moments where I was VERY VERY sad (aka cried) because I wasn't doing full time, but my stress factor would have been out of control. I mean I'm already one big ball of stress, so the addition is not needed! Anyway, we wrapped up our performances this weekend and the top 8 that will perform in PIGSKIN were announced late last night...

Me, Chelsi, Julianne, Jenni, and Nicole all anxiously awaiting the results...

Lets just say that this year the results were a little odd...by that I mean everyone was a little confused by the judges judgements. We are soo very thankful we made PIGSKIN!! First they announce the People's Choice Awards (we won BEST CHOREOGRAPHY, our Sing Chairs Rocked!!), then they announce the top 8 (in no particular order) of who will go to Pigskin. We were the last group announced and with the way things went this year, we were pretty terrified. Even though things turned out a little differently than we had hoped, last night was such a fabulous night. My parents and oldest sister, Katie, came to watch me and I cannot even express how much it meant to have them in the audience. It's soo fun to perform for someone and they are soo special to me that it was 10x better! 

We had such a fun night together...Food for Thought (yumm), LOTS of wedding talk, Sing and the Announcements!! I LOVE THEM SOO MUCH!! I also got to share my last performance with soo many of my closest friends. They could not have made it more special!!

Here are some more fun pictures from Sing---

Some of my favorite senior baracudas!

A little bunch of our Spring Break group!!

2 of my very bestest friends...Jenni (the middle) is actually my Maid of Honor and Chelsi is in the House Party!!

Christine has been one of my best friends since kindergarden. I do not know what life without her would be like...she is also in the House Party!

All-in-all, starting with Thursday (cuz lets be honest, that's when college kids start the weekend), this weekend was pretty superb! I think I aced my presentation and test on Thursday and even squeezed in a short 30 minute workout before our Sing performance. Ben was driving through Waco on his way to Lake Zapata on Thursday, but because of Sing I didn't think I'd get to see him. I left some baked goods on my front porch for him to pick up, but I was very pleasantly surprised to find that they were still there when we were finished with our performance. He got caught in traffic so I got to see him!! What I thought was gonna be a quick "hello, goodbye" turned out to be an hour and half hang out...soo wonderful! I absolutely adore that man! Afterwards I got to run to the SLC and finish up my workout that started earlier in the day. Then, on Friday, despite my tired lag, I had a wonderful run in my Aerobic Running class in the morning. You know when you have a run where you just feel strong? That's how I felt...my body felt soo strong and it was wonderful! Last year, when I was training for the Bearathon, I became sort of a lank. Now when I'm running, it is good to feel like I'm still strong and athletic. After my classes ended I had the most amazing trip to Barnes & Noble. I am absolutely obsessed!!! After finishing The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks on Thursday, I went nuts...I purchased 3 new books!! 

1. The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers

2. Trading Up by Candace Bushnell

3. Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult 

My first read....drum roll please....

I cannot put it down!! 

I even got a very rare, much needed nap in before our Sing performance. Afterwards I was able to eat dinner with some wonderful friends that have graduated, but came back for the big weekend. Since I was feeling strong I got another quick run in because nothing was going on. Saturday started off with a few errands and then a playoff soccer game. My soccer team was soo wonderful this year and we made it to playoffs!!! Unfortunately we did not end on a victory, but we had tons of fun! 

We decided to go with the elementary school soccer pic! I felt so honored to be this team's captain...Berlian even brought me a flower (my favorite, Gerbera daisy) to Sing practice later for being a "great captain." Lets be honest, I didn't do anything special besides e-mail the team, but the gesture totally made my day!

Saturday was such a beautiful day and it was wonderful to get to play outside. I was hoping to get in a long run before my family got to town, but my left knee was giving me a little trouble and then about 10 minutes into the game I was brutally dead-legged. I haven't ever really been dead-legged and it kills. I was severely limping all day long. It was pretty pathetic. For some reason my left knee is still giving me a little trouble. I'm not really sure what it is since my right knee is my bad one (I had to have a couple surgeries in high school and was left with no meniscus), but hopefully it's just been overworked a little and needs some rest. I'll stick to the elliptical for now. Due to my recent knee issues and overbooked schedule, I made the executive decision to not run the Bearathon this year. :( 

Me and Jenni excited to have completed the race under 2 hours! 

I know a lot of people who care about me will be pleased with this decision since I usually have a tendency to push myself to the very limit, but I cried. It's probably the best decision for me right now, but running has been a big part of my life for the past 4 years and it kills me to know that I might have to give it up one day. Even just pulling back a little bit is a real struggle for me. I'm a horribly competitive person and finishing my first half marathon in a time I would have never imagined (1:56) was such a high for me. I was hoping to keep running lots of halfs and continually improve my time. Right now, my plan is to keep competing, but in smaller races such as 5Ks and 10Ks. Hopefully I'll run the Bearathon 5K and maybe even run another in April in Dallas. I'm soo sad not to run with Jenni again, but we can still go on shorter runs together and focus on planning the wedding. 

This morning I slept in just a little bit and made myself some amazing/healthy pancakes. I don't know what was wrong with me, but I forgot to take a picture. You could definitely taste the healthy in the pancakes, and by that I mean that they would never be something I would make for Ben, but I really enjoyed them. I needed to wait a bit before working out to let things settle, so I went shopping. No better way to pass the time! There's not too much shopping in Waco, but I made a trip out to Old Navy and when I didn't make a purchase there I walked across the shopping center to Ann Taylor Loft. I LOVE THIS STORE!! If only everything in this store were on sale I would buy it all!! I made a couple good buys and then ran home to grab a protein bar to hold me over during my workout. OHMYGOODNESS--how could I forget to mention my protein bar purchases? I made a trip to the good HEB on Saturday after my soccer game. I went to the one with a fabulous organic section and made the find of the century with these protein "bars." 

Sweet Mother of All Things Delicious!! I could eat these for all of my meals!! This one is the Triple Chocolate, which I haven't tried yet, but the Cookies 'N' Cream is to die for!! I spent some time at Starbucks yesterday just reading The Atonement Child and I planned on only eating half the bar, but before I knew it it was ALL gone...WHOOPS!! 

Back to today--after my quick protein bar (today I had a Luna Cookie Dough), I had a great workout. I wanted to take it easy on my knees, so I did a good 50 minutes on the elliptical and then a couple leg strengthening exercises. By the time I was done I was ready for a good lunch. I talked to Ben as I finished up my lunch and to my surprise he was only an hour and a half away from Waco! Soo excited!! I got to spend another couple hours with him before he headed back to Denton. This was perfect since we won't see each other for 3 or so weeks. Of course, we did some good hunting/fishing show watching. I actually really enjoy watching the outdoor channel. I have to keep that a little on the DL so I can still watch my shows when we get married, but I love the outdoors, so it's not hard to watch others enjoy it. Plus, most of the things they're doing I think would be pretty fun to try out. Don't worry, we got some girlie things in too...like officially deciding on our wedding invitations and catching up a on the Bachelor before tomorrow's big show. We should have a GREAT convo on the phone tomorrow night after Jake picks his girl. Who do you think it's gonna be? I'll be honest-- I would be happier if he picked no one than if he picks Vienna. I adore Tenley, but I don't think he'll pick her. They never pick who I want them to. They also never work out, so maybe I should be a counselor on the show or something and guide them in their decisions...good idea! Anyway, my time with Ben was wonderful! It will be a hard 3 weeks, but we'll make it. We always do and then it's soo wonderful when we see each other again!! Only 3 more months til we live in the same city!! Cannot wait! I'm off to get some rest, but I might just have to make another post tomorrow after the big show!