Two Great Concerts in One Week (Parachute and Casting Crowns)

It's been such a busy week and I was so excited to share why last night... Then I left my phone at the pharmacy. Unfortunately my phone held all the pics that I wanted to share, so I had to wait till today.

Sunday night Brad and I went to the Orange Peel to see Courrier, Kate Voegele, and Parachute... So fun. I am such a sucker for live music and some of my favorite groups have made their way through Asheville lately. The Orange Peel gets lots of great performers (Adele was actually scheduled to play here but she had to cancel) and it's so great because it's a smaller, you get a more intimate feel.

There weren't a lot of people, I guess because of it being a Sunday night.

Wow that's really not a good picture at all, but it's all I have. Anyways, the show was SO GREAT. I love me some Parachute. I listened to their albums while training for my half this year. Will, the lead singer even came down into the crowd to sing with us! I was really impressed and felt like they put on a special show for us because we were out on a Sunday. They kept thanking us for coming out. LOVE.

And if one concert wasn't enough, we also got to see The Afters, Sanctus Real, and Casting Crowns on Tuesday. I love some many of their songs and it was such an uplifting concert. 

As you might have guessed from my new blog header I'm loving the Casting Crowns song 'Courageous'. They did it first thing and it was just as good as I hoped. But the best part was during the song 'Glorious Day' (ps if you haven't heard this song, please go listen to it immediately, along with courageous they will really touch you). While they were singing this crazy powerful song, an artist was painting with his hands only from three buckets of paint. Sometimes he just threw it onto the canvas and paint splattered everywhere. But the end result was AMAZING.

What an awesome blessing.



Our Last Couple of Days in Maui

Yeah this is super late. Sorry. But anyways, I wanted to record the memories. [Quick Tangent-- do you find it hard to remember things from like, 5 years ago?? Wondering if I'm the only one.]

So we drove back from Hana and made our way to the Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea. We scored an amazing deal for this hotel [they are renovating]. It was super nice but very upscale. Even during happy hour the drinks were like 10 bucks a pop. Brad and I of course improvised...

Umm yeah. The Hana condo owner left us this complimentary bag, so we put it to good use. And you better believe we marched our butts straight to the pool and killed them. It was a little awkward walking through the lobby because the bag was definitely dripping. Nothing but class.

The hotel was really nice. We got lei's (sp?) here!

The room was awesome although it was hella far away from the pool and everything else (but like I said we got a huge deal). I really wanted to steal the pillow from the room.

One nice thing was that they had a suite that we got to use when we first got there (and on our last day) because our room wasn't ready. We got to change into our suits so we could enjoy the day. On the last day we had a super late flight, so we got to enjoy the pool and beach all day, then shower and get ready in that room. Super nice.

The only lame thing was their gym. It only had 3 or 4 treadmills. Our room was bigger than the gym. On the last day I didn't want to workout, get sweaty, then have to put my stinky clothes in my bag. So again, I improvised.

Yeah, I showered in my clothes, then hung them outside. Looking back, I guess I coulda washed them in the sink, but where's the fun in that?

We ate at Spago (Wolfgang Puck) one night and we also went to the spa at the Grand Wailea (amazing!!). We usually like to eat pretty cheap (the whole first week we cooked at the condo) then pick one or two nice restaurants. Spago was great and like all the restaurants, amazing open air seating.

I LOVED this trip and was so sad to come home.

Five Things Friday

1.  So I'm happy to report that after the Nyquil debacle, I have successfully gotten up and worked out before work for the past two days! Once I make it out of my warm, comfy bed, I actually do enjoy working out early and it's not that big of a deal getting ready at the gym. It takes a lot of planning, but so far so good and I've actually been early to work!

2.  I am in super planning mode for 2012 and am trying to scout races and see which ones I want to run. I'm trying to make my mind up about a RnR race today because you can get $20 off a race registration if you sign up today (and Lord knows those races aren't cheap!). I'll share more when I know all the details but I'm joining up with Jill over at Life...As I See It to run 12 half marathons in 2012, so planning will be a necessity!

3.  I love, love, love my new job. It sounds crazy but it's like oh yeah, this is why I wanted to be a pharmacist. I'm actually getting to use what I learned in school and I'm not just there to dispense pills and be verbally abused. I don't want to jinx it, but I haven't been yelled at in 2 weeks. It's a good feeling!

4.  I cannot freaking wait for my Erin Condren planner to get here. Counting down the days in my soon to be retired ugly, plain, black planner. It's getting super jealous.

5.  I just realized that I never recapped our last stop in Mauii... That was in August just in case you were wondering. But it's too good to not share. And I have lots of pictures to prove it. Here's one and you can start trying to guess where this went:

More on that mess coming later! Hope you all have a great weekend and good luck to those of you who are racing!!!!

Question:  Give me your tips on strategy for 12 in 2012. Should I aim for one a month (but I don't know how I'd do in the cold weather, BRRRR) or double up in some of the nicer weather months (don't want to overdo it or burn out)? Decisions, decisions!

If you're coming from FF, it's great to have you!! And thanks as always to Jill for hosting!

Epic Fail

Just in case you were wondering how operation work out in the morning went...  Horribly, thanks for asking. I woke up just in time to shower and get to work. I don't remember snoozing my alarm. I blame this guy:

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Round two starts tomorrow. I've locked the Nyquil up with the tequila and wine. Fool me once!

Does 21 Days a Habit Make?

So from what I can tell, the consensus seems to be that it only takes 21 days to make a habit. And I know for a fact that I can do almost anything for a month (back in pharmacy school I did a trauma surgery rotation = I got up at 4am every day, including Saturdays). Where is this going?


Monday I started a 21 day challenge:  To workout first thing in the morning.

Why do I want to do this?

• To get my metabolism going first thing.
• To feel those endorphins all day long
• To get the workout out of the way so it's not looming over me all day
• To hopefully help me eat better (I've already put the work in, don't cancel it out by eating crap!)

How I'm planning ahead to make this happen:

• Get at least 7 hours of sleep each night = help me get up in the AM
• If I have to work, pack my gym bag, work clothes, and lunch the night before
• If I don't have to work, pick an early class so that I get up and get going

Do you have any tips? My biggest obstacle will be the days I have to work (Gym is on the way to work so it makes no sense to come back home in between). I have to shower after I work out so that means packing shower stuff, clothes, hairdryer, etc.

Have you ever tried to make something a habit? How did it go?

Today's workout:  40 minutes of elliptical while watching How to Make it in America.

Love this guy. But let me just tell you, it is SUPER AWKWARD when there are sex scenes (it's an HBO show). I feel like everyone in the gym is thinking I'm watching porn while working out. AWKWARD.

Spartan Sprint Carolinas 2012

So I've already had some people email me about joining up with us for the Spartan Sprint (YEAH!) so I figured I'd better get this post up!

Spartan Race offers various levels based on your fitness (and your, well, guts):  Spartan Sprint, Super Spartan, Spartan Beast and Spartan Death Race.  



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Pretty much anything you want to know about the race can be found on their website. [Except a list of obstacles that'll be found on the course. I've noticed a lot of other obstacle type races will list the obstacles or show the course map. Kinda scary, but okay. ] So go check out their site and see all the reasons why you should join us at this awesome event!

Are you ready to sign up? I was too after getting all geeked out about the race. Then I saw the price tag. Honestly the price is right in line with most other challenge courses. It stinks, but you get what you pay for. What do you get with sign up? T-shirt, medal, and a free beer.

Want to know how you can get the best price?

• Join my team
• Just because you're on a team you do not have to start/stay with/or finish with your teammates.
• What this means is you can compete as an individual but if you sign up on a team you will all get discounts based on the number of people on the team. [you will get a credit to your account a few days before the race based on the final team head count].
• Go to the website and enter your email address so they can send you the 'workout of the day' [WOD]
• You will be given a coupon code for 10% off right then!

If you want to join my team or have ANY questions, email me at 3xacharmrunner@gmail.com or you can go to the website and search for our team name:  'Fear The Beard' and the password is 'ncspartan'. No, I obviously do not have a beard, but my little brother does. Think King Leonidas in 300.



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Yeah he's a beast and he's my hero (Matthew, not Gerard). I'm going to try to find shirts something like this:

If you sign up I'll keep you updated on the shirt situation and can order you one if you'd like.

*Disclaimer:  I was given a free entry to this race. All opinions and general riduclousness are mine and mine alone.

Let's Start Over... My name is Courtney

To those of you who are still reading or forgot to delete me from your google reader... I'm Sorry and Thank You. I have been a craptastic blogger lately, but today is a new day and I've got lots to share! It's weird because usually I don't post because there's nothing really going on, but lately I've been overwhelmed busy and I keep thinking that I need to do some catch up posts. So that'll start now and I'll quit making excuses!

1.  So first, I've signed up for something awesome. May have bitten off more than I can chew but that seems to be how I get stuff done. Are you ready?

I don't know if I'm more excited or scared... I have been dying to do one of these races but something is always getting in the way. So I jumped all over this when I saw it and am rounding up as many people as possible to be on my team. It's in Charlotte, NC on March 24 and you know you wanna join me!!! Email me at 3xacharmrunner@gmail.com if you're interested. I will be doing a post with more details in a few days.

2. Brad and I went to Nashville, TN this weekend to watch the Bengals play the Titans. Since we've been married we have tried to pick one Bengals game a year to go to. We've seen them in Baltimore, Charlotte, and twice in Cinci. I've never been to Nashville and I loved it!! Loved all the live music and the line dancing. [Quick tangent: They were having a Ragnar Relay! I was sooo freaking jealous of all the cool kids walking around with their medals. Made a decision on the spot:  I will run a Ragnar in 2012! ] The game was great the and Bengals won!! WHO DEY

i love wayfarers but i hate the way they sit all high on your head like that when you aren't wearing them. dumb.

it was a little sunny

our new QB1, Andy Dalton

my crush, #40 bryan leonard. don't tell brad just kidding he had to listen to it the whole game. he left in the 4th with a knee injury, hope he's ok!

3.  So I started my new job last week (part of the reason I've been so crazy). It's going to be a great change, but as with any change I get a little worked up. I felt like I didn't know where anything was or how to do anything (which is really hard for me, I like to know what I'm doing and do it well). But I know that part will come with time. It was hard for me to leave CVS because I'd been with them for almost five years, but I'm very excited about my new job and think it's what God wants for me.

4.  I went to the gym this morning (yes, I got up at 730 on my day off, this is an accomplishment in and of itself!) and did a 50 minute spin class followed by a 50 minute body pump. I've missed group classes so much! It's weird though, I feel like our gym has majorly cut back classes. I'm going to look into that and also look into my contract with them. I go to the Rush now, but the Y is a lot closer and who knows, maybe they have more classes.

5.  It's almost time for the HBBC!! Have you signed up yet?

6.  Thanks to this awesome chick and her amazing shopping skills, I have an erin condren planner headed my way. Why am I so excited? You need to go see for yourself. That is, if you're a huge planner, nerd, geek like me. I am so picky about planners and this one has everything (and yes I'm really this excited about a planner): it has tabs for each month, weekly and monthly views, lol I could go on and on but I'll spare you. I saw these a few months ago but despite my desire to have one overnighted to me immediately so I could begin color-coordinating my life, I had to check myself before I wrecked myself. They're 50 bucks. Then Jenn comes along and shows me a way to get one for $7.50. Customized and delivered. Love her.