Tom Cruise Run

Excuse the blog absence.  I've been "Tom Cruise running" for weeks.   You know how everyone's favorite action star runs with hands extended, arms pumping wildly, determined grit on his face?

Like this:

Side note:  That crazy ass scientologist may jump on couches and talk nonsense about post partum, but he sure is watchable in movies still.  I think he's made a deal with the devil so that he can still look young and hot.  See Night and Day if you don't believe me.

Anyway, I stole the phrase "Tom Cruise Run" from a recent episode of Cougar Town, where they joked that everyone looks like they can outrun a truck when they pump their arms frantically like Tom.  I've actually kidded to Dan that I do the same thing when I jog, even though I barely clock a 10 minute mile.

My really bad metaphor is that I've been Tom Cruise running: 

Not. Stopping. To. Catch. My. Breath. 

It's my own fault because I said yes to too much, running myself ragged with tutoring for extra France money, signing on for mentoring, applying to graduate school, in addition to normal teaching stuff.  I've also been literally running "Tom Cruise style" to get in shape for today's 10K.  This is a pic of me from last year.  Notice that one of my palms is outstretched like I'm running from an exploding car:

Things have calmed down a bit, so I finally have time to post about my birthday, upcoming trip, and New Year's resolution soon.   More on the 10K once I get pictures (Dan ran it too! So proud of him because he went from the couch to running 6.2 miles in under four weeks).  It's nice to be able to breathe a bit!

  Just for fun, I thought I'd share one of my running playlists.   You know, in case anyone is doing a little Tom Cruise running themselves.I actually have songs I never really listen to in any other occasion, but they're catchy enough to keep a steady pace to.

Tom Cruise Run

Song List:

"A-Punk", Vampire Weekend

"American Girl", Tom Petty

"Animal", Neon Trees

"Are you Gonna Be My Girl", Jet

"Bathwater", No Doubt

"Beat It", Michael Jackson

"Best of You", Foo Fighters

"Bullet with Butterfly Wings", Smashing Pumpkins

"Cheers", Rihanna

"Dog Days Are Over", Florence and the Machine

"Forget You", Cee Lo Green

"An Honest Mistake", The Bravery

"Howlin' for You", The Black Keys

"I Believe in a Thing Called Love", The Darkness

"Marry You", Bruno Mars

"Mr. Brightside", The Killers

"Paper Planes", M.I.A.

"Paradise", Coldplay

"Pump it", Black Eyed Peas

"Sabotage", Beastie Boys

"Stupid Girl", Garbage

"Vagabond", Wolfmother

"You Get What You Give", New Radicals

"Yeah", Usher

Other ideas for running songs? 

Volume I

La Vida Lista Encyclopedia: Volume I

Every so often, I do a blog post inspired by a letter. Without further ado, here's letter I!

iPhone, MyMy old phone broke last week. I went into the Verizon store fully intending to demand my free upgrade and nothing more because what does this girl know about technology? Case in point: Just the other day, Dan and I were just trying to figure out what these things are:

What can I say? I've never been a gadget girl. Somehow, though, the Verizon salesperson talked me into the upgrade to an iPhone. When I protested that I would never learn how to use half the apps or whatever the hell they're called, he deadpanned, "My grandma has one. I think you'll be okay."

I totally understand the hype now! I've already downloaded an app for Finding movies (Flixster and Redbox)- Dan and I are boring most Fridays, so we need easy movie selection before we fall into an exhaustion coma by 11:00, and TripAdvisor, which I stalk even when I don't have a trip planned. Still haven't figured out how to scan those weird squares though or what they do exactly, but Rome wasn't built in a day.

Anyway, all this techie talk brings us to my next "I":

Instagram

Love how it makes the everyday look artsy. I've been playing with the settings (Toasted! Hudson! Blue steel!) non-stop.

Fair warning: The rest of the pics are probably mundane details from my Sunday to anyone but me. Dan and I met my family half-way in Fredericksburg for brunch.

My sis:

Dad:

Mom would kill me if I put the photo of her with her eyes closed on here, so I'll move on the yummy salmon benedict:

It almost looked like a heart. :)

Really cute bookstore where we sat and chatted:

Ethereal vibe, right? Instagram rocks my socks.

Then, Dan and I had our first snow day of the year today (March 5th!! In Virginia!!), so we did nothing all day and it was everything we dreamed. Our local coffee shop couldn't kick us out.

Of course, this meant more Instagram:

Moving on to another "I":

Ireland

When I was twenty- two, I did my first teaching practicum in Ireland for about three weeks. There is something about that country that is so beautiful and mysterious. Here's just a bit of eye candy from my trip ten years ago:

Notice the hokey Ireland sweatshirt and the frizziest hair I've ever had. Love that country's scenery and beer, but hated what that mist did to my do.

Oh by the way, I'm going to post kind of a funny story about my stay in Ireland around St. Patty's Day, now that I finally have the pics scanned. But time to move on to another country:

Inappropriate item from Italy
I've already told you about our trip to Italy, so instead of all those pictures and re-caps, I thought I'd just leave you with one you've seen before.

Dan and I were trying to find the cheesiest souveniers we could for family members. He bumped into a vendor outside of the Academy selling gear with The David printed on it. Dan couldn't resist this apron:

Immature souvenier? Yep! Just a little more "I" candy for you. :)

letter I from here, square from here