Hanging Tough, Staying Hungry

A few weeks ago I was in the car on the way home from lunch with Debbie and a rotation student, Sean, just chatting and listening to the radio. I don't remember what the song was, but somehow we ended up talking about personal theme songs. Without even the slightest of hestiation, I told them that my theme song has always been "Eye of the Tiger," one of the songs from Rocky. (Also, gotta love "Gonna Fly Now"). No matter what kind of mood I'm in, hearing that song always gets me pumped up.

Who doesn't want to run/train/exercise after seeing this?

Background: Every year before the fall semester starts at Purdue, freshman have the option of going back a week early to participate in an orientation week called Boiler Gold Rush. All week there are different events, including shows, social activities, and opportunities to meet people from all over campus. (I'm not really doing it justice, but you get the idea.) Different residence halls (aka dorm) pair up and fight against other pairs to be the most spirited, creative, and enthusiastic team on campus. As you can imagine, this was right up my ally. (So much so that I got involved and was a leader of a group of freshman the next year.) Every group generally comes up with a theme to rally around for the whole week. Shreve and Earhart's theme in the fall of 2003 was.... (wait for it)..... Rocky. I ran around singing the theme song and punching the air for an entire week, and it was the time of my life. I was so excited to be at Purdue and be on my own... I was ready to take on the world. I had never been so excited to be anywhere in my life. (Not that I've changed much in six years, but if you were there, you know what I mean.)

Despite loving the whole underdog theme of the series, I have never actually seen any of the Rocky movies. So when Balboa came on the tv tonight, even though I was planning on going to bed early, I couldn't say no. (Note: I actually cancelled my cable over a month ago. The cable company's customer service is just so good that they decided to giving me cable tv for free.) People say the first movie was the best, so I'll have to watch that one sometime in the near future.

Either I need to be a pro with my camera's timer or have someone help me, but I definitely need a picture of myself doing this, dont you think?

I am writing this while watching it (only during commercials, of course), and they've been having a few facts before some of the parts of the movie. Sylvester Stallone, at 60 years of age, actually did most of the fighting himself. (Click here for some trivia on the 1976 Rocky movie.) While I was watching the part of the movie where he is training, I seriously contemplated going for a run, but since it was already almost midnight, I decided that probably wasn't the best idea.

If you're like me, you love to sing at the top of your lungs with the windows down on the highway. When you are doing this, it doesn't matter if you don't know all of the words. (I usually mumble through some of them on quite a few songs. I mean, it can be really hard to tell what they are saying!) However, for your sake (and mine), I''ll include the lyrics to Eye of the Tiger.

Until tomorrow, don't trade your passion for glory.

Eye of the Tiger

Risin' up, back on the street

Did my time, took my chances

Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet

Just a man and his will to survive

So many times, it happens too fast

You trade your passion for glory

Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past

You must fight just to keep them alive

Chorus:

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight

Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all with the eye of the tiger

Face to face, out in the heat

Hangin' tough, stayin' hungry

They stack the odds 'til we take to the street

For the kill with the skill to survive

Chorus

Risin' up, straight to the top

Had the guts, got the glory

Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive

Chorus

The eye of the tiger...

Run Up the Sail, Run Down the Shore

I started thinking about different exercise programs I could do a couple of weeks ago when mini marathons came to mind. I had initially planned on running the Indy Mini in May of 2008 but that plan was foiled. Just a month before the race I was playing in an intramural soccer game (I heart Rx United!), I collided with a vet student and hurt my knee. I'm not exactly sure what happened when he ran into me (I mean, of course it was all his fault!), but I do remember hobbling around campus on crutches. I was only on them for less than a week, but it was not fun... up and down stairs, in and out of the shower, in the dining hall. It was a miracle I didn't drop anything or hurt the other leg. (Sorry about that- I got de-railed for a moment.)

Rx United: Back-to-Back, Open Co-Ed League, Outdoor Intramural Soccer Champions!

Completing a mini marathon has been on my list of things to do for several years. It's not just about attaining and keeping physical fitness. For me it's more about mental strength. Once you get past 1.5 miles (well, it's that far for me anyways), the rest is all in your head. I am currently on week 3 of Hal Higden's training schedule, although I will have to shorten it a little bit. (Funny story- I was waiting to write about it until I was sure I could make it! Wouldn't want to count my chickens before they hatch.) I'm going to be running in the Newport Mini Marathon on October 18. The weather should be brisk but not cold, and the scenery will be beautiful. My only problem is that the website says you're not allowed to use iPod's, and right now I depend on it to keep me going sometimes (especially since I am not training with anyone else). So, I am either going to have to find a way to 1) hide the iPod or 2) learn to run without music. I also need to look into a local park... I have much run around Slatersville so much that people are starting to look at me funny, as if I were lost. I'll keep you updated as I progress through my training.



Tomorrow I have CPR training in the morning (it's required to give immunizations by my company... good idea if you ask me), and then I am taking the Indiana MPJE in the evening. Hopefully it will be my last pharmacy test for some time.



Other side notes: My favorite pair of black flip-flops broke tonight! I was going to get some gas (because, let's face it, there is no such thing as "running early" in my book) for the trip to Stoughton, MA tomorrow when I almost fell down in the hallway after the strap broke loose. I went back inside to get my other black flip-flops only to discover that I am missing the leftie! (Which stinks, because I can't even find them right now online- will try again later.) I've been told bad things happen in three's, so I'll cross my fingers that nothing happens to my shoes tomorrow. I may wear my least favorite pair just in case. (FYI- the first pair of flip flops links to J.Crew, who has some absolutely *gorgeous* shoes this fall. Unfortunately, I will only be looking this year. Click here if you want to have style envy.)

X Marks the Spot

One of my favorite things is to PLAN. (Think: binders full of ideas, multiple lists of to-do's in multiple places, and several books that recommend places to see all over the world.) Over the past couple of days, I've taken three different online quizzes that are designed to determine the best place for you to live. They ask all kinds of questions on climate, culture, hobbies, demographics, transportation, taxes, etc. and magically come up with a list. I would give you all of the websites, but don't waste your time.

By a landslide, my favorite website is Find Your Spot. It's very thorough, easy to use, and gives detailed information about the top 25 cities in your results. Yes, it does make you give your e-mail address, but it's only so you can log back in later if you'd like. I've taken it several times, and I've never had any spam as a result of giving them my e-mail. My only disclaimer is that just changing one answer can change your results. After I took it the first time, I thought there were too many cities in California, so I tried to change just a couple of answers at a time until I got the cities I wanted. Then, of course, I realized that this was ruining the whole point of the exercise. So, I'll just chalk it up to being cold that day, and take it for what it is.

I'll list the cities in the following format:

Name
Motto (Given by the site, not by me)
Population │ Average Home Price │ Precipitation │ Snow


Drum roll, please......



Sarah's Top 24 Cities

1. Chesapeake Bay-Virginia Beach, Virginia
The Southern Tidewater Region
624,000 │$252,000 │ 45" │ 1"

2. Oakland, California
East Bay Living
2,465,000 │ $450,000 │ 18" │ 0"

3. Norfolk, Virginia
Heart of the Hampton Roads
1,606,000 │ $182,000 │ 45" │ 1"

4. San Francisco, California
The Golden Gate City
751,000 │ $720,000 │21" │ 0"

5. Charleston, South Carolina
Cosmopolitan Southern City
603,000 │ $285,000 │ 52" │ 0"

6. Augusta, Georgia
Georgia's Garden City
500,000 │ $236,000 │ 42" │0"

7. San Diego, California
California's First City
1,266,0000 │ $607,000 │9" │0"

8. Orange County, California
Live the California Dream
2,958,000 │$685,000 │ 12" │ 0"

9. Long Island, New York
The Great Island
2,230,000 │ $495,000 │45" │ 27"

10. Atlanta, Georgia
The Best of the South
462,000 │ $291,000 │ 51" │ 2"

11. Tampa, Florida
Paradise on the Bay
2,500,000 │ $230,000 │ 49" │ 0"

12. Houston, Texas
City of Excitement
4,420,000 │ $180,000 │ 48" │ 0"

13. Long Beach, California
LA's Ocean Playground
475,000 │$500,000 │ 12" │0"

14. San Jose, California
The Silicon Capital
898,000 │$747,000 │ 16" │ 0"

15. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
The Cajun Capital
603,000 │$159,000 │ 61" │ 0"

16. Orlando, Florida
Florida's Entertainment Capital
1,650,000 │ $272,000 │50" │ 0"

17. Baltimore, Maryland
The Sparkling Harbor City
650,000 │$310,000 │40" │ 18"

18. Little Rock, Arkansas
Where America Comes Together
595,000 │ $177,000 │ 48" │ 5"

19. Los Angeles, California
The Dream Factory
3,820,000 │ $520,000 │ 12" │ 0"

20. New York City, New York
The City That Never Sleeps
8,086,000 │ $460,000 │ 41" │25"

21. Washington, D.C.
The World's Greatest Capital
572,000 │ $572,000 │ 39" │ 16"

22. Boston, Massachusetts
America's Walking City
3,400,000 │ $461,000 │ 43" │ 41"

23. Charlotte, North Carolina
The Queen City
1,335,000 │$232,000 │43" │ 6"

24. Jacksonville, Florida
Florida's First Coast
773,000 │ 291,000 │54" │0"


Don't worry, I have plenty of comments, but I'll add them tomorrow. Let me know what some of your cities are!

Happy Birthday, Troy!

Hope the strawberry cake turned out!

It Makes Me Wanna Wag My Tail...

MAIL!!! (Ok, so I was never a fan of Blue's Clues, but who could not love that jingle?)

Who doesn't love to get something in the mail? Even if it is something random (a catalog you didn't order) or expected (catalogs you ordered to have something show up in your mailbox), I love the feeling I get when I open my mailbox to find some kind of surprise. My mailbox isn't very big, so if you get a package that wont' fit, they put a key in your box that opens a larger compartment at the bottom of the row of mailboxes. After work one day, I opened my box to find that key! Mrs. K sent me a house (apartment)-warming gift. It is a salad bowl and tongs (seperate fork and spoon for serving) from Crate and Barrel. She did a great job of picking it out, since I have it circled several times in their catalog. (Yes, even if I don't buy something, I circle in permanent marker what I would get if I could buy anything I wanted and money wasn't an issue. I sometimes add these things to my "house book." House book, you ask? I'll save that for a rainy day.

It's made of mango wood- how cool is that!

I also got not just one, but two issues of Rhode Island Monthly! Debbie was nice enough to order those for me as a welcome gift, so that I'd know the ins and outs of happenings in the state. One of the issues is actually "The Best of Rhode Island," and I found a few things I am going to explore.

My first thought... that cupcake looks delicious!

And if that wasn't enough, I got letters from Chelsea and Nick, a CB2 catalog, and a shampoo and conditioner sample from Procter and Gamble. (I will fill you in about my quest for free samples and coupons another day.) What I *didn't* get was my benefits package information from work. When I first moved in, my apartment number was listed incorrectly, and, unknown to me, HR sent it to that address. I've been waiting this whole time for something to come but thought it was just taking a while or that I needed to do something about it. So, I talked with Debbie and learned about my package being sent to the wrong address. I went to knock on the door of that apartment a couple of nights ago, and, *shocker*, no one answered. On Thursday, Deb contacted them and gave them the correct information. Yesterday, I received a call from the HR/benefits people to confirm the correct address, and she assured me they would be sending it out immediately. Just a few hours later, the HR/benefits woman called me back to inform me that my address was "not able to be located" and that they would be sending my package to the office. Sending it to the office is all fine and dandy, but *why* they can't locate my address a second time is a mystery to me, since the only thing that is different is the apartment number!!! I would have dug a little deeper into the situation (read: argued), but I was having an extremely difficult time understaning the person on the other line. (She was calling from the other side of the globe, so of course it is going to be a little fuzzy.) It looks like I'll be able to get coverage when originally scheduled (Sept 1), but thank goodness I have temporary coverage just in case.

California Dreamin'

Hello, friends! I apologize for yet another absence... I've been in the sunny state of California since Monday. I went with Mike to help teach 2 classes of pharmacists to give immunizations. We arrived in the early afternoon on Monday and went to a nice restaurant that night. Mike uses Open Table to find good spots to eat ahead of time. If you make reservations through them, you can earn points that can be redeemed for gift certificates.

The apple pie I had for dessert- yum!

There were lots of beautiful pagodas (?) along the streets

On Tuesday, we caught in Dublin, CA, and I had the most wonderful surprise! When I was helping set up the projector and laptop for the presentation, I looked up to see my friend Hellen walking in the room!!! Needless to say, I was just over the moon. Hellen is a friend I know from pharmacy school at Purdue. It never even crossed my mind that she might be at the training. We had a chance to catch up and swap pharmacy stories, which is always fun.

Yay for Hellen!

Serious focusing going on here

Mike sharing his immunization wisdom

After class we drove to Roseville, CA, which is somewhat near Sacramento and woke up the next morning to do a second day of presenting. The extra practice is great- it is helping me to depend less and less on my notes while presenting. Wednesday night we drove back to San Francisco, and--another first-- flew home on my first red eye flight. We flew both ways on Virgin America. I highly recommend them if you have a chance to fly with them-- plenty of leg room (even in the regular seats!), free wifi (as I call it, weeee feeee), and screens for every seat that let you play tv shows, movies, games, or listen to music. I tried to sleep as much as I could on the plane, but it's always hard to find just the right spot to be comfortable. I am highly considering the following...

Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce SkyRest. It's an inflatable pillow that you can actually customize to whatever size you need. While their main product is the SkyRest, they also have pillow for putting your legs up (an ottoman, anyone?) and reclining while in bed. I may get some initial laughs from my neighboring travelers, but I'm sure they'll secretly be jealous. And if you're wondering, no, I do not know the man in the picture.

Live Free or Die!

Okay, it is already 10:45 PM, and Mike is picking me up at 5:30 AM to head to the airport for a business trip to California. I am putting these pictures up now for the sake of time, and I'll write more about my adventures with Dan in New Hampshire when I get to my hotel tomorrow. Cheers!

Fresh Stems

On Thursday, I was sitting at my desk when my phone rang. I looked at the display, which read, "Security Desk." First thought to pop into my head... "Uh oh.... what did I do?" They are always handing out parking tickets at work if you aren't parked in a real spot, but a little bird told me that they don't do anything with them. Needless to say, I was a little nervous to pick up the phone. I don't always have the best of luck (more to come on that later). Anyays, the security guard was just calling to say I had a package! My Mom and Dad sent me a *gorgeous* floral arrangement as a congratulations on passing my boards. I love these colors- so bright and cheery!

The vase is actually green glass, so I'm excited to take it home and use it for something else.

It even had one of my favorite greenery pieces in it (yes, I have favorite pieces of greenery... are you surprised?)... hypercium berries! They are gorgeous in bouquets, arrangements, wreaths, and boutonierres. Here are a few of my favorites...

What girl doesn't love fresh flowers? :)

Kiss the Cook

Guess who is *officially* a pharmacist?! Yours truly! I tried to call the Board of Pharmacy on Friday, but they were closed (taking a long weekend for VJ Day, perhaps). Then, a few people asked me if I had found out my results this morning. I was a little reluctant to look, simply because I wasn't sure that I passed the RI MPJE. So, I finally broke down, called the Board, and got the good news. It's funny- I wasn't as excited as I thought I would/should be. Maybe it's because it doesn't radically change my work life (or pay schedule). Either way, it's a huge relief.

I had a wonderful weekend in Indy (no nights in the airport!), but it sure did go fast. On Saturday, Nick and I rented a Sunfish and went sailing on Eagle Creek Reservoir. The weather was beautiful- lots of sun and just enough wind. No casulties except a couple of cuts on my foot from when I slipped while trying to get back on the boat after swimming (my middle name is definitely not Grace!). We *almost* tipped over... Nick and I looked over as a boat that left the dock at the same time we did tipped over 180 degrees. Nick said something like, "Good thing that's not us!" No sooner than the words left his mouth did the wind change, almost causing us to lose control. We won't be laughing at others' bad luck any more, that's for sure. Here are some pictures from the day:

Nick setting up the Sunfish...

From Boyscouts to sailboats to surgery, Nick knows knots

On Saturday afternoon, we did some shopping and walking downtown. Would you believe that the only thing I bought for myself was a piece of chocolate? Our mission was to get Nick's sunglasses fixed, and it's probably best I didn't do too much shopping. Gap does have some great sales on men's t-shirts ($6 for super soft, short-sleeve shirts!) if anyone is interested.

I'm sure I looked like a tourist when I took this picture. It reminds me of some of the backdrops Erin Hession uses for engagement pictures. Click here to visit her blog- she's by far my favorite photographer in Indy. Lots of positive energy, thoughtful, and a great eye for unique shots.

This was almost as big as my fist!

On Saturday night, Nick made me dinner. Well, he actually made me breakfast, lunch, *and* dinner- how wonderful! Blueberry pancakes (my favorite) and bacon for breakfast, BLT's and strawberries for lunch, and shrimp, salad, and sweet potato fries for dinner. I took a picture of the the dinner spread, but it didn't turn out very well. Nick made salmon for himself and used the rub I got him for his birthday in April (along with grilling accessories and a coupon for a cooking class at Kiss Z Cook in Carmel).

How cute is this! You can find it at Sur La Table- it's one of their top-sellers

After dinner, we went to Nick's favorite downtown spot- The Rathskeller. It's an indoor/outdoor German biergarten that has live music and a great atmosphere. Plus, they are the only bar in Indy that has Weihenstepaner on tap. I tried the Kristall version, which is their summer beer- nice and light; I definitely recommend you give it a try. (This is coming from someone who normally doesn't like beer.)

By far my favorite picture from the weekend (Special thanks to Mike Ha!)

Nick and I spent Sunday with our families. His nephew, Andrew, was getting baptized. Andrew is the son of Kathy and Ryan, Nick's sister and brother-in-law, and was born at 26 1/2 weeks at the end of December. He was in the hospital for several months, but they have been blessed to have so few complications for someone born so young.

And to top it all off, I picked up my Colts tickets this weekend! A *huge* thank you goes out to Joe who got the tickets for me- you're the best, Joe! My brother and I are splitting the tickets so we both get to go to a few games, which works out nicely. I'm hoping to make it to at least 2 games this season.

Woo hoo! Go Colts!