Long Overdue Update...Monument 10K is almost here!

I just finished baking and icing strawberry cupcakes for a work friend's birthday tomorrow and I remembered that I haven't posted anything on here since Dad died, so I figured a new post was long overdue. On that note, it doesn't seem possible that he's been gone for a little over 2 months now....we miss him soooo much :(  Everyone says it gets easier with time, but I'm still not convinced. It's true that the tears don't come quite as often, but even thinking about the happy memories makes me sad when I realize that those are the only memories we have to hold on to for the rest of our lives until we see him again in Heaven. Sometimes when I don't feel like being sad, I try to push the thoughts out of my head, but then I realize that it's good to think about him as much as possible, since those memories are the only ones we have and I never ever want them to fade.

On a happier note, I'll be running in the Monument Avenue 10K this Saturday in honor of Dad! Feel free to check out my Massey Challenge page here. After a couple of decent training runs last week, my "good" knee decided to start giving me problems, so I took the past few days off to hopefully give it a rest so it will be fresh for the race this weekend. As usual, Mom keeps telling me not to push it too hard, and that I shouldn't run if my knee issues continue flaring up, but she knows I'm a stubborn one and when I sign up for a race, I'm going to finish it, even if I have to limp across the finish line. Hopefully that won't be the case though! Haha. Of course, next Saturday is going to be an especially epic day for Richmond, since now in addition to the 40,000 runners making their way down Monument Avenue that morning, VCU will be playing in the Final Four of the NCAA Tourney!!! Obviously, I'm a lifelong, dedicated JMU fanatic and my allegiance will always be with my beloved Dukes no matter what, but living in the middle of Richmond amidst all of the VCU hype is kind of contagious! Plus, it makes perfect sense to support the only Virginia team in the Final Four! This city has come alive with VCU fever....walking down the street in the Fan, bypassers shout "VCU! VCU! VCU!" Cars drive past with the windows rolled down, honking their horns continuously while the driver shouts "Go Rams!!!" All of the restaurants and storefronts are decked out with VCU banners and Rams' horns. Richmond is just buzzing with basketball fever and it's a blast!

In other news, my good friend and former D.C. roommate flew up from Georgia to visit me several weekends ago. We had a blast doing some touristy things that even I hadn't done yet, as well as spending time at some local Richmonder hangouts that I've grown fond of over the past year.

 Carytown!

 Maymont Park

George Washington statue in the Capitol

Another Carytown shot

Speaking of that, it's crazy to think that I've lived in Richmond for over a year now! Even though my long-term job stability is entirely dependent on the voters of Virginia (among other factors), and I have no idea what path my life may take in 2.5 years, if things work out, I could definitely see myself staying in Richmond for a while. My neighborhood is awesome for running, super convenient for walking to all sorts of great restaurants, and only a short drive away from Downtown. I've made some wonderful friends here, and I've finally found a church that seems to be the right fit for me. The only downside is being 2 hours away from my incredible family and friends back home, but luckily that's close enough to allow for frequent weekend drives back to the Valley.

For those of you who chose to give up something for Lent, you probably know that we're just about halfway through. One of my good friends at work and I share an addiction for ice cream, and before the Lenten season began, we had a tendency to be bad influences on each other by taking afternoon field trips to various ice cream shops (not to mention our unsuccessful quest to find Shamrock Shakes in Richmond....luckily both of our respective hometown Mickey D's came through for us and we were able to enjoy our favorite March treat during the weekend before Fat Tuesday). In the midst of our ice cream ventures, I started feeling guilty for completely reversing any minuscule results that I should have been achieving at the gym, so he suggested that it would be appropriate for us to give up ice cream for Lent, and I agreed wholeheartedly. However, I had already intended to give up chocolate, which I did successfully 2 years ago. So, deciding that I couldn't bail out on my original plan, I decided to combine the two and gave up ice cream AND chocolate. I figured it wouldn't be too hard...just have to keep both of those items out of my kitchen and desk and I should be fine. Sounds easy enough, right? On the Thursday after Lent began, unaware of my decision to give up chocolate, my boss walked in to the office and put a full carton of Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans on my desk (there is almost always a supply of these on my desk, thanks to my obsession that one of my favorite people instilled in me right after I moved here, and that I have since shared with several of my friends in the office). As if this wasn't enough temptation, he completely restocked his candy dish with Hershey's miniatures (including my fave dark chocolate!!!). And then, several days later, when I was convinced that my will power was stronger than these temptations, my boss plopped two boxes of Girl Scout cookies on my desk! The Thin Mints tormented me for the few days that they lasted, but I was good and didn't give in. Lucky for my friend and I, a new frozen yogurt place just opened up in Carytown about a month or so ago, so we can still get our frozen dessert fix without cheating on our Lenten promise. Sweet Frog is by far my new favorite guilty pleasure (but most of the flavors are non-fat, and I top it with fruit so it's not too terribly unhealthy...or at least that's what I keep telling myself haha). They have a whole wall full of flavors from cake batter (my absolute fave!) to bubble gum to mango. 

The best part about Sweet Frog, aside from the delicious yogurt, is that it is a Christian-run business! FROG stands for "Fully Rely On God." Love it!!!!

Well, on that note, I should probably sign off and get some sleep. Gotta get up a tad bit earlier than usual to go decorate someone's office for her birthday! :)

Have a wonderful week, y'all!