Ten on Tuesday (10)

I know I've been absent from the blogging world recently. Excuses are lame but I have been ridiculously busy with school work. Like seriously...I think I've gotten less sleep over the past few weeks than I ever have before in college. But now it's spring break so I'm making a come back...kinda.

Might as well start it of with some ToT! I kinda feel like I'm cheating, though, because the questions this week are the ones I submitted. It feels funny answering my own questions. Ha! Oh well...

Go to Chelsea's blog to join in!

1. How did your parents decide on your name?
It's a modification of my mom's old roommate's name. She really liked it but didn't want to name me directly after her so she changed it up a bit. My middle name is just one of my mom's favorite names - I love it too!

2. Do your initials (First, Middle, Last) spell out anything fun/funny?
They don't spell anything fantastic, though it could be pronounced as a word. No, "KEZ" is not my initials. 

3. Did you take your middle name from childhood or did you take your maiden name as your middle name? (If unmarried, what do you plan to do?)
This is something I've been thinking about a lot recently. No, I'm NO WHERE near getting married...but I have a bunch of friends getting engaged and married so it has come up a lot. I definitely intend to take my husband's last name, no doubt about it. But I also want to keep my middle name AND my last name. I love love love my middle name and I've grown quite fond of my last name - it's unique and I've gone through a lot with it. My solution? 4 names! No, I won't be one of those silly people who hyphenate - that's just ridiculous. I think I'll keep my current middle name and eventual maiden name as middle names. Why not?

4. Are you or will you name your children thematically (ie. same first letter, all of same origin…)
Probably not a strict theme. I've thought about choosing names from my or my future husband's heritage/origin. But who knows, I like unique names so they may be invented or at least completely random. Stick around for another 20 years and maybe you'll find out! Ha! (I hope it doesn't take that long!!!)

5. Did you decide on baby names as a little girl? Did you stick to them or change your mind?
Oh man. As a kid I really wanted to change my name to Crystal, Gem, or Ruby. Apparently my little-girl self wanted to be a SLEEZE. (Err, no offense to anyone out there named Crystal, Gem, or Ruby). After a while I fell in love with the name Layla. I still like it but am thinking about spelling it Leila...and maybe pronouncing it Lee-la instead of Lay-la. Who knows. Maybe my future husband will hate it or I wont have a daughter to use it on. Only God knows.

6. Does your family have any names that have been passed down through generations?
Yes. Gag me. Norman. I am not a fan. Thankfully little girls don't go well with a name such as Norman so I didn't get stuck with it. Whew. 

7. Do you look at the meaning of the name or just the name itself?
Biblical names are cool. I think meanings are interesting but not defining. Meaning, to me, is secondary to sound and spelling. I don't think a meaning will convince me into not using a name unless it's something weird like child possessed with evil spirits and is doomed to be sacrificed in idol worship. That would just be creepy.

8. Do you name pets with human names (Sally, Henry) or with pet names (Fluffy, Mr. Bo Bo)?
My family has had both. My dog growing up was a Brittney Spaniel whose name was...*drumroll*...Brittney. We called her Britty. My cat's name is Fluffy. Yes. I'm not kidding. I named her when I was 8. It was between that and Purry (she purrs a lot!!). She now goes by Fluff, Fluff Ball, Fluffer-Nutter, Fluff Meister, or Das Floof. And my parents' new dog is Domino. 

9. Are there any names that you have an affinity or dislike for based on a childhood experience/someone you once knew?
Oh gosh. There is one particular name that I abhor. There was a boy who used to pick on me a lot in middle school. He rode the school bus with me and never left me alone. I've grown up and have forgiven him but I still can't get past his name. I'll never like it. It was also my Ex's middle name. He hated that I hated it. Ha!

10. What are some of your favorite names? Why?
Well I still love Leila. I also like Bethany and Theresa. For boys I like Vincent and Jackson. They just have a ring to them. =)

Ten on Tuesday (9)

Joining in with ToT again! Go here to Roots and Rings to join in on the fun!

1. What are your thoughts on Valentine’s Day. Do you love it? Hate it? I'm rather impartial actually. I'm definitely one who thinks that special dates, "I love you"s, and generally appreciation for those you love should be a year-round thing. But if Valentine's day happens to be one of those days, then cool. Just don't limit it to that day.

2. What is your favorite romantic comedy? Um...huh...that's a good question. I really enjoy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I don't know if that counts but let's pretend it does. =)

3. Meg Ryan & John Mellencamp: what’s your first reaction? "What?" No really, what is there to react to. I'm so out of the celebrity gossip loop it's not even funny.

4. All time favorite poem or quote?  "To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” ~CS Lewis


5. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve gone without sleep? (like consecutive hours). I'm not sure but I would guess it's right around 24 hours. I don't do well without sleep. I love sleep.

6. What color ink do you prefer to use? I usually use black but if I happen to grab a blue pen it doesn't bother me. But for some classes I like to color code my notes so I have a pack of 9 different colors.

7. Share with us a blog that you recently found and fell in love with (and link us!) It's not so recent but my all time favorite blog is the Livesay family

8. If you could be on a reality TV show which one would you choose? None. They all suck.

9. Mountains or Beach? BOTH!! If I had to choose I think I'd go with beach (I am a Florida girl after all). But ideally I'd like to be in an area with both. You know, like Hawaii, Costa Rica, or um Haiti.

10. With the Oscars around the corner, what’s your pick for best picture? I don't have an answer for this. Unless Despicable Me is a contender. I think that's the only movie I've seen recently and truly LOVED. I mean Harry Potter 7 would be my pick hands down if it were completed.

StumbleUpon

My newest addiction: StumbleUpon

It's such a huge time waster but I love it! You find so many interesting new websites this way. Some of them are funny, some of them are interesting, some of them are important. It's awesome!

Here are a few things I've stumbled upon recently:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1YNyFG
http://www.upack.com/images/info/population.jpg
http://www.threeavocados.org/
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2FK3Nz
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/30vW5r

Do you stumble? Have you found any awesome sites? Link up some of your favorites!

My First 5k!

So this morning, February 19, 2011, was my first ever 5k race! And I didn't die!

I did the 5 Points of Life LifeSouth Blood Bank 5k here in town. It was a really big event...they even have the half and full marathons tomorrow, too! It went well considering I didn't exactly stick to my "training plan".

So the race started at 8. I got there at 7:40 and wandered around until they told us to go to the start line. I tried to get my nike+ sensor to "activate" and for some reason it just wouldn't. I was so sad that the big race wouldn't go onto my nike account. But I got over it and just turned on some tunes. It was weird starting in a big mass of people. Everyone is running but not really going anywhere at first. The first mile seemed to fly by. I saw the mile marker and was pleasantly surprised. I'm normally starting to get tired and want to walk right around 1 mile. I pushed through but had to stop to walk a half mile (or so) later. That was also the hilly portion of the route so I was glad to walk through that. After walking about a quarter mile I ran until the next water stop. I don't know about you guys but I'm so not talented at drinking while running. So I walked again. But when I finished my little cup of water I started going again. Once again I was proud of myself - sometimes it takes me forever to catch my breath and feel good enough to run again so to take short walk breaks was good thing. Somewhere in there must have been the 2 mile marker. I didn't see it but I'm sure it was there somewhere. I was on the home stretch! I took one more brief walk break and finished the last 3/4 of a mile strong. I got within half a mile of the finish line, saw the crowd, and told myself I wouldn't stop until I was finished. I really wanted to stop but I pushed through all the way to the finish line. Woohoo!

My time was 37 minutes 22 seconds. It's not a super great time but I was happy with it. My goal was to be under 40 minutes. I accomplished that, at least! I was number 257 total and number 23 for my age group. And I don't really care. I wasn't dead last (I was really worried I would be!) and I had a good run, all things considered.

I wasn't sure if I'd want to keep up the running thing after this race but I think I will. I don't think I'll ever be a really serious runner. My pace is slow, I lose my breathe easily, and I have terrible form. But the excitement of finishing and having people cheer for you (as you pant across the finish line) is just so fun! I think I'll keep doing 5k's here and there. Maybe one day I'll run the whole thing without taking walking breaks! But until then, I'm going to be happy with myself. I did it. =)

Pictures to come in a later post!