Friday, November 30, 2007

Final Exams Approaching...

Well, final exams will be here in one more week and actually I have a test every night next week and then three final exams the following week. I'm still fighting this virus, especially at night when the coughing starts which makes sleeping difficult.

My weekend will be filled with trying to study for the tests next week and my final exams. I decided to only take one class next semester which will give me more time for family and workouts. Much more manageable then three classes! I have to say that my favorite class is the Anatomy & Physiology. The human body is such an amazing thing. I'm especially intrigued by the brain and also the heart and I'm looking forward to learning more.

Last night I got a really good 20 minute HIIT session on the elliptical before class and a great medicine ball workout after class. I used a 12 pound ball and did variations of the squat, lunges and presses which lasted about 30 minutes with a good warmup and cooldown included. I've been really trying to incorporate some balance and flexibility into my workouts and I'm finding these different ways to build my health and skill-related fitness levels. My flexibility is horrible and I'm really working to improve that by incorporating a good static stretching program. For balance I'm finding the BOSU ball works really well and one heck of a workout!

My diet is still not totally dialed in yet but not terribly bad. Diet and nutrition is a daily battle for me and something that I have to pay very close attention to. I will be working very hard to keep myself in check every day.

I did start a
new blog for pictures and will continue to update with new pics when I can, check it out if you want. The slideshow out there is from Thanksgiving and the recent pics were some random stuff just playing around with the new camera trying to get it dialed in, enjoy.

Hope everyone has a great Saturday. - Jason

Monday, November 26, 2007

Feeling Worn Down...

Had a great Thanksgiving holiday with the family. We went up to my sister Connie's house in VA. We ate like kings and I my nephews beat me up outside playing football.

The only downside to the long weekend was when I woke up on Thanksgiving morning I had a terrible sore throat and almost no voice. It only seem to get worse as the weekend went along. It progressed to a really bad cough and just a general worn down feeling. It probably wasn't smart playing football outside in the cold but I had fun with my brother and nephews goofing around. We got back in to town on Saturday night, Gracie slept the entire way home and crashed when she walked in the door. All day Sunday I struggled with this virus and was up all last night coughing so I decided to stay home from work today and will probably miss my class tonight. I gotta get myself better.

We did get some good pictures of the fun weekend despite me not feeling 100%. Early in the week Ashli purchased a new digital camera that takes amazing pictures. She got the Olympus EVOLT e-510 dSLR. This is something that she has been wanting for quite some time. She takes really good pictures but never really had a good quality camera and now she does. We are looking forward to using this camera and so far all I have to say is wow, amazing. I will post some pictures this week once we get them downloaded. We got a really good two lens group, case, and 1GB compact flash card, everything you need to get started. After researching the dSLR cameras out there we decided on the Olympus because it has some features the others did not have like "live view" and image stabilization, plus Olympus has an amazing set of Zuiko lenses that you can build up too. Gracie and I have been told to keep our grubby fingers off!:) I can't wait to see the pics that Ashli takes once she gets this camera dialed in.

My nutrition this weekend was just horrible. I planned on cutting loose on Thanksgiving day but I just carried that through the entire weekend, it was disgusting! Back to healthy eating and workouts this week. Workouts were limited to the back yard football games and just running around with the dogs. Worked up a good sweat several times as my 10 (David) and 12 (John Edward) year old nephews tried to catch me, they did a good job! My older brother Alan, 41 year old, was smart and was always all time quarterback, limited running in this role!:) Anyway it was fun and I had a blast.

Gracie played with her cousin Ellie the entire weekend, they were inseparable and played really well together even though Ellie is 8 years old. I think my sister Connie was probably enjoying the peace and quiet in her house yesterday after three days of us all being there!

Well, after milking this extended weekend one more day due to this virus it's back to the grind of work and school. I have at least two tests this week and I've done very little in the way of studying. Make it a great week! - Jason

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

TURKEY DAY...


Happy Thanksgiving!! I'm so thankful for many things but one that comes to mind is my family. I have the best family in the world.

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving thanks.

1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his [
a] ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.


I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving day! - Jason

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

I'm Tagged....

I was tagged by my good friend Mendy.;)

Rules:-- link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog-- share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird-- tag 2 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs-- let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. In middle school I flunked three classes...

6th Grade: Reading - Went to summer school and got an "A".
7th Grade: Math - Went to summer school and got an "A".
8th Grade: English - Went to summer school and got an "A".

Guess I liked spending my summers in school then!

2. I ran a pool hall when I lived up in Pennsylvania and competed and did well in several 9-ball tournaments. I also played in several 8-ball leagues one of which won first place out of 100 teams.

Anyone want to play maybe for a little cash, maybe some "one pocket", or "straight" pool.:)

3. I was a first chair alto saxophone player in Middle school.

4. My dad is an ordained minister...yeah that's right I'm a "PK", (Pastor's Kid). We're the worst ones I know. He's now a chaplain at a large retirement community in Lancaster, PA. Love ya Dad! "REVDAC"

5. I watch Hanna Montana...and I like it! :)

I tag....

Ashli
Rob

Well, I'll just tag the two! Peace Out! - Jason

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Life Goes On...

Another week in the books, literally. The work week went well as did the school week. Gracie is doing really well in school, but they've been passing this nasty virus around that has Gracie coughing, sniffling, and sneezing. She seems to be doing better now though.


This weekend was our 6 year wedding anny! Ashli deserves a gold medal for putting up with me for six years!! Love ya hon. We really didn't do anything special, we did go eat at our favorite mexican place last night and had a good time. Hard to believe its been six years! Ashli is one lucky girl....I mean...I'm one lucky fellow....yeah that's it!:) I'm sure that will bring a comment from Ashi!:) No, really, all kidding aside I am the luckiest guy in the world!


Yesterday morning I headed over to my buddy Russ's house to help swap the carburetor out of my father-in-laws 71 Buick GS. Russ has two other 71 Buicks one of them being a GSX. Once the carb install was complete we decided to take some pics of the three Buicks. I've been a car enthusiast since I was probably 7 years old. I especially love the classic cars and this was a good opportunity to line them up and get some good pics. It was a good time hanging out with friends and goofing off. Russ is also redoing a 72 Firebird in honor of his son "Rusty" who passed away earlier this year. For those that have been reading my blog for a while you may remember when I posted about that terrible day. Russ and his son were restoring that car together before tragedy struck. It will be a sweet day when Russ completes that car. Anyway, here are a few pics I thought I would share.



I'm looking forward to the short work week. We are headed up to my sister Connie's house for Thanksgiving. It should be a fun time and I'm looking forward to running this 4 mile flat trail that I ran last Christmas right down from her house. Depending on the amount of food I eat I may need to run it more them once!:) Gracie is looking forward to playing with her cousins, should be a good time!


Have a great Sunday! - Jason

Saturday, November 10, 2007

A little Sad...

Well, I should be in Richmond right now fast asleep getting ready to run my marathon...but...not to happen this year. I'm still very disappointed but know I made the correct choice.

I can't believe how fast a year has come. I signed up for tomorrows marathon 1 year ago today. Man how time just flew on by. Well, one of the reasons I'm still in South Carolina and not Richmond is because of the decision to head back to school. This week was especially difficult with two mid-terms and one lab test. I escaped with some really good marks and overall I'm very pleased, just wish I was in Richmond. Work was especially busy this week too, with no shortage of work the days are short. Hence the reason that year flew by so fast!:) Hopefully things will start to slow down after Thanksgiving.

Gracie's cousins from LA are in town until next week and she is having a blast. I haven't been able to visit with them too much due to my busy schedule but should get some good time this weekend. We did all go out to eat tonight and we had a great time. I had some frozen yogurt with peanuts that was really yummy!:) Ashli has yet to download the pics from Halloween but hopefully I can convince her to do that this weekend so I can post some good pics of the fun time we had.

I have yet to get any good running in and this is by far the longest I've gone without any mileage in a year and one month. I've been doing a good job of getting in at least 3 days a week of strength/core work and flexibility, I'm lacking in the flexibility department and decided to work on a 3 day a week flexibility program. My diet has been less then perfect but overall not terribly bad. Just trying to maintain until Thanksgiving and then I'm going to really buckle down and work on some very specific weight loss goals to get myself in gear for 2008.

Well, I wish all those that are running tomorrow best wishes for a great race and a solid finish. I will be there in spirit and will run that race in my mind. I know the course well and will be thinking about it all day tomorrow. Just wish I was there, man I'm bummed out! Oh well life goes on and the next race will be here before I know it.

Peace Out - Jason

Monday, November 5, 2007

October In The Books...

This week seemed to really drag for some reason. Had a good time taking Gracie trick or treating, she was a fairy this year and got lots of candy. Will post pics this week.

This weekend I spent some time actually working. I had a large report that had to be completed by this morning and I didn't get much time during the week to work on it. Glad that is done. I also got some good quality time with Gracie. Saturday morning we got up around 8:30 and went down to McDonald's and had breakfast together, what fun. We then went down to the local auto parts store to just look around, she loves the auto parts store, too funny. I enjoyed the daddy daughter time very much.

Playing hookie from school on Thursday night means that my midterm is going to be tomorrow night, which I'm not ready for but then again I never feel ready for test. I did some studying this weekend but not nearly enough, somehow the time with my family was just more important to me. Looking forward to getting some good studying in tonight in my other class since we do have another test on Wednesday. Shouldn't be too bad though.

My diet on Saturday and Sunday was horrible. Sunday being worse the Saturday. I pigged out on Pizza last night while watching football. I also dove in on the candy and had a nasty McDonald's breakfast. Oh well back to the healthy eating this week. No worries. I have yet to get any kind of decent running in but hopefully that will change this week.

As far as workouts this week just two strength training sessions again. Been working on muscle strength and endurance utilizing different modalities. One that I found real challenging was using the BOSU ball. Man, what a workout that was, I was whipped after that one. It really works on your balance and you can do strength and endurance muscle training with it. I thought I had some strength until I did that workout!

Well, off to start another week of fun. My brother-in-law, his wife and two kids fly in from LA on Wednesday and Gracie is excited about paying with her cousins. Two test and a full week of work are on my list of things to do. I'm going to try and get two 3 mile runs in this week, gotta start back somewhere. Make it a great week! - Jason