Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy New Year...

Happy New Year! I hope everyone has a great New Years day. I have so much to be thankful for from 2007.

2007 Achievements:
Two 5k's
One 8k
One Half Marathon
One International Duathlon
40 pound weight loss
First semester of school completed with a 3.0

Very pleased with 2007 and I'm looking forward to what comes in 2008. More weight loss and 26.2 is on the agenda. Should be a fun year. Be safe! - Jason

New PICS posted.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas...

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas. We had a great time today as a family and Gracie was bananas all day.

I updated the pics blog, check'em out.

Enjoy your Wednesday! - Jason

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

The Grades are in...

I was very happy when I logged into the school system this morning and saw my final grades from last semester. I got a "C" in Exercise Physiology, wahoo! My GPA for semester one came out to a 3.0. Very pleased.

This morning Gracie's class had their Christmas show for us and it was really fun to watch all the kids, they did a fantastic job. My little girl is growing up fast and I wish sometimes I could just freeze time. I'm one proud daddy! We took plenty of pics that I will get posted up this week on the picture blog. Ashli and I are so thankful that God has blessed us with such a wonderful child. She is the best kid in the world. We love you bean!!

Only two more days and I'm done work until the new year. I'm looking forward to every minute of it and I will be getting those all important first few runs completed.

Make it a great Thursday! - Jason

Monday, December 17, 2007

Back To It...

The weekend went really well. I did get some things done around the house but for the most part I vegged out all weekend and pigged out. Today it is back to the better nutrition and so far its amazing how much better I feel eating clean whole foods in proper servings!:)

I still do not know my final grades for the other two classes but should find out by Wednesday. Hopefully it's all good news. Completed all my Christmas shopping and have strategically hidden all of Ashli's gifts around the house. Ashli and I also finished shopping for all of Gracie's gifts and the other family presents. Gracie is just going crazy, she wants to know what she has coming. Patience is a hard thing at 4, heck its a hard thing at 34!:) It should be a really fun Christmas this year.

Still no running yet but its coming and I'm looking forward to hitting the pavement. It's been about a month and a half since my last run and I miss it. Last night I had to dust off the Garmin and check to see if it still worked, its been that long! Anyway, the new journey has begun and I'm ready. Bring on the pain, bring on the mileage, bring on the fun!! I need to pick up a few things for this winter of running, one being that reflective vest that I never got, gloves as it looks like I may need it, and shoes. This morning it was 27 degrees, brrr. I actually don't mind running in the cold, feels great. I'm going to start out slow and ease back to it. My first run will just be a short test run to see how I feel and how far down on the conditioning ladder I've gone. I'm expecting a painful experience so will see how it goes.:)

It should be a fun easy week at work. I have to say that since my last final last week my stress level has dropped dramatically. It's amazing how stressed I was even just last week. I think I have a few more grey hairs to show for it too! Feeling much better now though....ahhh! Time for another shot at this marathon thing and this time I will achieve success.

More fun PICS added check'em out.

Make it a great Monday!! - Jason

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Completed Semester One...

First semester is officially in the books. Took my last final Thursday night and it wasn't too bad. The only one I know officially about is my "A" in Anatomy & Physiology. Hopefully I'll get my other two final grades by next week.

When I walked out of there Thursday night it was like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I'm sure glad that first semester is in the books. Next semester will be one class, BIO 240 Nutrition, which will only be on Thursday nights from 6-9. It should be alot less stressful for me next semester and I'm looking forward to the nutrition class. I've done quite a bit of research and studying on my own over the last three years on nutrition so I'm going in ahead of the game. Should be a good class. Still have yet to get out on a run but its coming. I may just veg out this weekend and get some things done around the house. One more week then its a good week off from work.

Thanks for all the encouragement through this first semester it was much needed and appreciated.

Have a great weekend! - Jason

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Falling Apart...

Well, lets see. I was up until about 3am this morning studying and didn't wake up until 8am, which made me late to work this morning.

Work was really busy for some reason today which was probably a good thing because it kept me awake. I'm getting only a couple hours of sleep a night, just having issues trying to get to sleep when I finally do go to bed, not a good thing.

Last night I had my last lab test in Anatomy & Physiology and I'm happy to report I aced it. I also got an "A" average in the class which means I'm exempt from the exam tomorrow night, one less final to study and stress over. Tonight I had my final in Exercise Physiology and I needed to do well in order to pass the class. I got a low "D" on my last test which really brought down my average. In order to pass the class you need to have a 70 average and as of last Thursday I had a 67. I feel like I've been working hard but why do I have such a low average? Well, I'm not the only one in the class that seems to be struggling, it seems others are having similar problems. The problems are with the instructor, hes not well organized and never seems to stay on point. Very hard to follow his lectures, he's all over the place. The book is not well put together which makes reading all the more difficult. In talking with one of my classmates tonight after the final she was telling me that his other classes are really struggling with his teaching and not doing well. So, needless to say I've been really stressed about this final exam I took tonight and I studied the best I could which is all I can do. I feel like I did OK but will just have to see. I'm stressing big time over it and I need to let it go. Because of his poor teaching skills I may take the class again down the road, will see.

So, I'm really excited that I don't have to take tomorrow nights final because my brother is coming into town tomorrow afternoon for the night before he heads up north to see the parental units for Christmas. We'll have a good time!

One more final left to take and it will be finished at least until Jan. It's really a good thing too because I'm really tired and worn out. Tonight I just fell apart, hence the title above, just too much. Besides the family, job, and school stuff there has been alot going on with the homeowners association that I'm in charge of. Its been quiet for the most part since I started classes but just in the last 3 weeks stuff started cropping up that needed attention. I feel like I'm having an emotional breakdown, I feel like things are caving in on me and I have no control of my life right now, just really overwhelmed. I'm really looking forward to some much needed time off where I'm not having to study for a test or worry about deadlines at work. I will be off the entire week after Christmas and will enjoy every minute with Ashli and Gracie. This week has been especially hard because when getting home from work and running around to get ready to run out the door to school Gracie has been crying for me to stay, it just breaks my heart into pieces to pull out of that driveway and see her standing in the doorway crying and waving at the same time. Ahh, thank goodness next semester will be only one night a week, now that's more like the correct balance of priorities.

One thing I'm really starting to miss is running. I can't wait to get back to a normal schedule of running, what a good stress reliever. I miss it and will be back to it very soon, I mean I am the running man for crying out loud!:)

Check out the new pics! - Tired Jason

Friday, December 7, 2007

Blah...Blah...

Tired, worn out, not eating right, not sleeping right, no workouts, and just not fun...I'm burned to a crisp right now. It's 1:30 in the morning and I can't study anymore and I'll be lucky to get to work on time.

All my time has been spent working and studying and taking tests and I'm really tired of it at this point. One more week....just one more week.

I really like the new pics I posted, especially the one of my baby! - Jason

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Brain Hurts...

Tests, tests, and more tests....studying, studying, and more studying.

Lets see, I had a test last night got home around 9pm ate my last meal of chicken noodle soup and my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and watched about 15 minutes of the football game before cracking open the books and studying.

I have another test tonight on 3 chapters in Exercise Physiology and then Wednesday night I have 2 more tests on 4 chapters in my Anatomy & Physiology, well one is a makeup lab test on the cardiovascular system. On Thursday I have a test in my Concepts of Wellness & Fitness that I've not begun to study for. My time has been spent on the other two classes.

I was up until about 2:30 this morning until I decided I could read no more. I will be studying today at work when I can. Then I have final exams next week!!!! One good thing though is I have an A average in my A&P class and if I can keep that through until next Monday I will be exempt from that final! So, I got have A's on the two tests tomorrow night.

This is why next semester it will only be one class for me. Three classes and four nights a week with a full time job and a family is just too much.

New pics added to the pic blog!

Off to study! - Jason