For the Love of Dolly

It's no secret that I love me some Country Music, the twang is in my soul y'all. While it is not mandatory to love this specific brand of music if you're from Oklahoma, many of us do and I'm proud to be in the slightly redneck club.

 There are many singers that I enjoy, some more than others, but there is one that holds a special place in my slightly southern beating heart. 



from dollyparton.com



I personally don't understand how you cannot love this lady, if I ever had the chance to meet her I would most likely pee my pants and/or pass out. 

I'm not afraid to admit that I've been to this glorious place a few times...



from dollywood.com



A 'dirt poor' girl with 11 siblings born into an economically depressed region in the United States went on to write over 3,000 songs? Really? And I get upset when I can't find a cardigan to match my dress? Kinda puts some things into perspective a bit. 

Here is a list of lyrics and quotes from a lady that I think is one of the neatest (if you don't consider my mom, grandma's, etc) in the whole wide world.

"But they didn't understand it
And I tried to make them see
That one is only poor
Only if they choose to be"

Coat of Many Colors

"I look just like the girls next door, if you  happen to live next door to an amusement park!"

"Find out who you are and do it on purpose."

And years before Gaga said it was okay, you were born this way...

"God made me for a reason and nothing is in vain

Redemption comes in many shapes with many kinds of pain

Oh sweet Jesus if you're listening, keep me ever close to you

As I'm stumblin', tumblin', wonderin', as I'm travelin' thru"

Travelin' Thru

I could honestly go on and on, but you have to give mad respect to the lady that wrote "I Will Always Love You", right? I personally still like her version best, but I guess Whitney did an alright job with it too.  I guess...

Thanks for reading about my love of Miss Dolly, I'm sure you're quite annoyed.

Running Update! 

New Jersey Running

July 25, 2012 - 2.5 miles - 27 minutes 34 seconds

July 29, 2012 - 4 miles - 42 minutes 7 seconds



Oklahoma Running

July 26, 2012 - 2.75 miles - 32 minutes

July 27, 2012 - 4.5 miles - 56 minutes
July 29, 2012 - 4.5 miles - 55 minutes

New Jersey Total Miles - 35.21

Oklahoma Miles - 35.75

As you can see, I am clearly getting my rear kicked by father. This means war! 

Dad is doing really well considering it's like a million and a half degrees in Oklahoma right now, I'm happy to have temps in the 80's!  I've noticed the past few runs that once I get to around a mile and half I hit a really good stride, like I could run for forever! I was so upset on Sunday (the last run) when it started pouring rain...I had planned on doing at least 5 miles and I felt awesome!

Winning at Life

I had this long insightful post prepared, then I read it and realized I had no idea what I was even talking about. Ever happen to you? Eh, you win some and you lose some. 

Over the past few weeks I feel like I'm channeling crazy tiger blood Charlie Sheen, minus the all night ragers and hookers.  I just feel like I don't make any sense and I'm all types of scattered.  Let's hope the next few weeks take a turn for the better, or I'm gonna have to take a trip to the loony bin.

We have had a number of enjoyable moments since my last blog post.  We took a day trip to Chester and Morristown a couple of weeks ago and last weekend I took a ride to PA with the MIL and SIL for some outlet shopping!  See, life ain't all crazypants.

Another piece of exciting news...we have a new family member!  My parents have a brand new lady in the house, Miss Emma Julianne Marrs!  Isn't she just adorable?!  I can't wait to meet her in person!

Now, onto the running report...

I seem to hit a wall every few days where I really hate to run, but about a mile in I remember why I love it. We made it through 'Heat Wave #4', as our local weatherman called it. The temperatures are much more enjoyable now! My dad has started forwarding me his running info! He doesn't run with a tracker, but approximate is better than nothing!

New Jersey Running

July 9, 2012 - 2 miles - 20 minutes 23 seconds

July 11, 2012 - 2 miles - 21 minutes 31 seconds

July 16, 2012 - 2.5 miles - 25 minutes 7 seconds

July 17, 2012- 2.26 miles - 24 minutes 12 seconds
July 22, 2012 - 2.5 miles - 26 minutes 48 seconds
July 24, 2012 - 2.5 miles - 25 minutes 45 seconds

Oklahoma Running

July 8, 2012 - 3 miles - 40 minutes (Mom reported run!)

I'm sure some runs happened during the week...

July 14, 2012 - 2 miles - 21 minutes

July 15, 2012 - 4.5 miles - 52 minutes 30 seconds

July 17, 2012 - 2 miles - 20 minutes
July 20, 2012 - 4.5 miles - 55 minutes
July 22, 2012 - 3 miles - 37 minutes

New Jersey Total Miles - 28.71 miles

Oklahoma Miles - 24 miles

As you can clearly see, my father is kicking my rear end when it comes to running consistently.

Many more miles to go and lots of room for improvement!  Happy Running!

Red, White and now very Blue

I made a trip to the airport on Tuesday afternoon and picked up a nice lookin family!!

The first official visit from my Okies occurred over the past few days.  My parents were here in December of last year, but that was for our 2nd Reception.  Yep, we are that flippin cool, nbd.  Since things were kind of stressful during that visit I'm counting this one as the first. 

We made the drive back from nasty Newark to relax for a bit then head into NYC to visit the September 11th Memorial.  It isn't completed yet, but it's phenomenal. 

Walking toward One World Trade

Old headstones at St. Paul's

Alexander Hamilton's Grave at Trinity Church

The reflection of One World Trade in Four World Trade

One of the pools

After we completed our tour we took a stroll down to Battery Park.  It's a great place to just sit and look...to your left is Brooklyn, start scanning to the right and you'll see Governors Island and in the distance is Staten Island.  Keep going and you can see the ports of Bayonne and then the skyline of Jersey City.  As you enter the park you'll see this...

The Sphere


It's quite a site really, to think that is survived everything that happened. 

Here are a few shots of the Jersey City Skyline...Hey! I live there!  Cool!

July 4, 2012 - 2.0 miles - 22 minutes 52 seconds

Dad and I went for a run on Wednesday morning, by 10:30am it was already nearing 90 degrees!  I think we did quite well for our first official run of our training program!! WHOOP WHOOP!!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and cooking out, until we headed over to Hoboken for our 7:30pm dinner reservations.  Most people probably don't eat German food on such an American holiday, but we do and it was YUMMERS! 



<Instert Picture Here>




We took a nice photo at dinner, but I can't seem to find it on my phone.  oops.  We're a good looking bunch, believe me. 

A short walk to the water and we were ready to watch us some New York City fireworks! 

We had prime seating, truth.

We were directly in line with the group of fireworks being shot off on the south end...when you looked left, you could see all the other groups too! 

After the longest and hottest walk in the history of mankind, obviously I need you to feel sorry for me, we made it back to the extremely crowded PATH train.  When we got back to the apartment we watched the TV version of the fireworks we had just witnessed.  WAY. BETTER. LIVE! We couldn't hear the music or anything, but there is nothing better than the rumble feeling of massive fireworks! 

July 5, 2012 - 3.0 miles - 32 minutes 59 seconds

Thursday morning we made our way to Liberty State Park to knock out a 3 mile run in the blazing sun.  Straight up brutal y'all.  Dad and I were joined by the husband as we started on the south end of the park and made our way to the Communipaw Terminal.

I think that Lady Liberty was rather impressed with our physical fitness!

We got cleaned up and were preparing to make our way into the awesome double decker tourist bus, but had to make a minor detour since my car was towed.  Fun times.  Word of advice to my fellow JCers...DO NOT park in the BJ's lot and run into the Double Tree Hotel.  They have security guards that are bored and protect their 300 open spots.  Not that I'm bitter. 

Anyway, Mama, Dad and I hit the uptown loop of the tourist bus and learned a lot from our new friend Stewart.  Odd fellow really, but he knew his stuff.

Let's get this party started! It's quite difficult to take a decent picture in a large moving bus with your hair blowing in your face, but a managed to grab a couple...like this one of The Dakota where Mr. John Lennon was shot. 

We passed by the beautiful and large Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine

Tried our luck at the Apollo, or just drove by...imagine what you will...

Stopped off at this place, they don't serve Ice Cream...well then why is your building shaped like this then?!

This concluded our fabulous bus tour!  We made our way back to Jersey and out to my in-laws for dinner.  Fun times had by all!

Bright and early we gathered up our beach gear and made our way DTS, apparently this is cool kid lingo for going 'Down the Shore'.  I learned me somethin new today!

I didn't break out the phone on the beach, but it was a blast!  I have a rockin sun burn and there is a high possibility that there are still bits of sand in my hair somewhere.  I've washed it 5 times since this trip btw, I'm not a dirty skank. 

After the beach and a stop off at the most under populated outlet mall in America...the Trio of bus riders made their way to Times Square to enjoy the Night Loop!!  I, of course, answered all of the trivia questions correctly and impressed our Met fan tour guide! And I've officially been to Brooklyn now, keepin it real.

A photo as we departed Times Square...

Why hello Mr. Flatiron!

A rather blurry shot of the Brooklyn Bridge...

A close up of the Brooklyn Bridge...

Lower Manhattan from Brooklyn

Empire State Building in all White

And back to the brightness!!

The adorable, slightly sunburned people that kept following me around.

Time flew by and the trip was ended with a teary goodbye at the airport.  I'll see ya in October and miss you every day in between!!

So, yes, we only ran twice and ate lots of food...the healthy eating plan started again today and I plan on busting out 2 miles this evening.  Let's do this! 

Total Running Miles - 14.95

Laundry and Poison

Since I'll be using this as my 'running diary' going forward I'll write this in order of the miles I have completed thus far.

My first official run, noted in my last post, was on June 19th.  I had promised myself that I would ease into this in order to avoid burning out or hurting myself.  So, I didn't run on the 20th! Go ME!

June 21 - 1.25 miles - 12 min 54 sec

As you can see, I'm not exactly up to warp speed just yet.  I've been watching the Olympic trials over the last couple of weeks and I've realized that while my organizational skills may be mad awesome, my running skills are not.  But hey, I never said I want to run a mile in 4 minutes...because my legs would immediately fall off and I would die.

June 23 - 2.0 miles - 21 min 50 sec

Mr. E had to do some more work on his car.  I was corrected and told that he does have a name, it's The Count.  I don't love it, but he is 10 and I don't think he would appreciate a name change at his age.  Anyway, the fuel sensor went out and needed to be replaced.  I spent the day/night cleaning the apartment, squeezed in a run, and prepared some food while he spent the majority of the night and early morning in the trunk of 'The Count'.  With the help of our normally intoxicated downstairs neighbor, of course!  Fun times friends. 

My next run was put on hold a little bit because Miss Sophie Jean thought it would be a fantastic idea to eat a big block of rat poison!  For all those pet owners out there, if your furry friend goes #2 and it’s the shade of a green apple Laffy Taffy or a lime flavored Mike and Ike...you have a rat poison eater on your hands and they need medical attention ASAP!  We rushed our pet daughter to the Animal Emergency center in Lyndhurst, NJ.  She was treated by a wonderful Oklahoma State Grad, Dr. Jeff.  We were very pleased with how quickly and well she was treated.  Of course, my puppy is the one in 100,000 that has an allergic reaction to the injectable form Vitamin K so we actually made two trips to the hospital that night!  I'm so happy that she is on her way to a full recovery, only 3 weeks of tricking her into taking her pill twice a day and a blood test at her normal vet...and hopefully she will get a clean bill of health!

We are those crazy people that think that our dog is actually a mini person, so we were extremely upset with our landlords over this issue.  You see, we don't have any memory or documentation that the nasty rat poison was put into our home!  The claim they told us and unless we want to fight them in court we just have to accept it.  The vet bill was $380...it lands in the category of a lot of money, but not enough money to sue someone over.   

June 26 - 1.0 miles - 9 min 59 sec

Let me tell you, I had to sprint out the last tenth of a mile or so to get that number under 10 minutes.  I had set out to do a longer run, but the heat was getting to me so I opted to run 1 mile as fast as I could. 

June 28- 1.5 miles - 16 min 58 sec

About this time we have officially started to prepare for our 4th of July visit from my Mama, Dad and Bro! WHOOP WHOOP!  I have been stocking up on fun things to eat and decorate with to celebrate this wonderful holiday!  We hit the streets on Saturday to pick up a new swimsuit and new shorts for the mister; first stop was Old Navy...MISTAKE!  There was literally a line for those damn $1.00 flip flops!  We abandoned that idea.  Instead we hit up DSW and Target, met the Mother and Sister-in-Law for lunch and then visited two grocery stores for some awesome deals! That's what you might call a nice little Saturday! 

June 30 - 1.6 miles - 17 min 21 sec

Not bad after a day out and about if you ask me!

Our Sunday was intended for fun so we made a trip to Bayonne Park.  30 minutes into our whiffle ball game Sophie got way too hot and had to be taken home.  While at home I threw in a load of laundry.  For those that are unaware of our current lease agreement...we pay an extra $50 a month to use the washer and dryer located just outside our apartment door.  A fee that is totally worth not having to drive and sit at a Laundromat, right?  The only problem is that we share it with our landlords and, for some reason; they do laundry almost every day.  When we spoke with them about the rat poison/vet bills we mentioned this frustration and they said that we would have at least one full day on the weekend to do laundry.  Also, we would have at least one day during the week as well, if we needed to do an emergency load on another day we would just have to send a text message to let them know. 

So, remember that load of laundry I threw in?  Well, I switched it to the dryer and then we took the cars to the car wash and ran a couple of errands.  When we returned our laundry, which was still WET, had been removed from the dryer and was replaced with load of their laundry!  I WAS LIVID!  After I calmed myself down I sent a text to them regarding this unpleasant situation, apparently one half of the couple didn't know about us having laundry in there and apologized.  So, let me ask anyone that has made it this far in my very long post...would you continue to pay the $50 a month for this inconsiderate situation?! 

July 1 - 1.6 miles - 17 min 6 sec

I must go now and prepare for my visitors! 

Total Running Miles - 9.95