V for Victory.

So this weekend I had my second 5k (3.2miles) ever! It was the Spirits 5k, which is a local restaurant in town! It was such a beautiful day for a race and it was more of a jam because my boyfrannn came and ran it with me -sorry there were no photographs of boyfrannn-!! My ultra pals Alice', her mom, and bethany came to cheer me on!
So now i will tell you about the race its self.
Everyone gathered at the starting line


Then we ran and ran and ran! I ran the entire first mile and was feelin good other than the fact my hammies were killin me (Real athletes call hamstrings, hammies) bc i did an intense work out on thursday consisting of suicides and squats and other savage things. I like to think this will help me in my training! So as i was running i thought to myself... self.... surely this has to be like a solid mile and a half i have gone. No worries... i got the the line that said MILE ONE. ugh! So none the less i did what i went there to do and kept going and going and going.... until finally i got to mile two!! there was hope yet!!! I got so thirsty and usually in my runs i run to what i like to call the waterhole and then i run to the finish line.... there was no waterhole and i was SO SO thirsty! I kept going.. only i had walked a little bc my hammies were killin me and i was thirsty and hot! Then finally I made it around a corner and saw the crowd!!! So then i ran because that was all i could do to get there faster and get water! I finished in 37 minutes and some odd seconds which after a few hours i decided i was pleased with it! Those two shirtless guys you see in the photo above... no worries they finished in 17 minutes!
Jonathan finished a few minutes before I did because I told him he didnt have to wait on me because naturally boys run faster than girls! I like to be considerate sometimes and i did not want to slow him down!

Here i am running across the finish line, hold up a "V" for victory bc alice' asked me too! Now i cant wait for the next one! Until then i just train and train for the 10k i am hoping to do in march!




Thank you alice' for the lovely photos! :)

She loves me, She Loves me not.

So my BFF megan from mackey madness made ultra pals with a blog friend Michaela at michaela noelle designs who does that post called she loves me she loves me not which consist of things you are loving and not loving in the current week! So I decided to do one as well bc im kind of obsessed with it and wait for that post weekly!! So here is my rendition of it, with help from my pal HannaH!

SHE LOVES ME:

Dark Wash AE Boyfriend Jeans

Nalgene Water bottle (i carry it everywhere, HannaH does too--- i converted her :)

self serve Frozen Yogurt-- we have this new place called Splurge and its frequented like 3 times a week at least

Lunch Time -- oh my gah we get to work at seven and by ten we are ready for lunch even though we just ate breakfast!!

Lady Antebellum Station on Pandora has been rocking our world! You should totally check it out!

SHE LOVES ME NOT:

Ghetto Staplers-- Ours at work can staple like 5 papers but it hurts your hand. This is the one we have but black DONT BUY IT!

Cold Weather--- Its seriously time for shorts and t shirts!

New American Idol Judges--- Seriously who in their right mind picked these guys?!

Our tiny cube for three people at work-- its really NOT this luxurious.

Human Trafficking (modern day slavery) ---- its a big issue that happens in countries all over the world Including the United States. You should research it and learn for yourself. Take a stand to end Injustice!

Hope you guys enjoyed!

NEW!

hey guys!
why yes i do have a new ultra cool background/blog set up thanks to my jam boyfrann!!
whatcha think?!

I've found it!!

Growing up, I was never really good at any sport and I have been on a quest for finding a hobby. I tried clarinet in 5th grade... i always got in close to last chair. There was choir which i did up until college bc i was tired of the awful performance dresses. I did Youth praise team in high school too but i am out of high school so that ended. I started guitar.... uhhhh im not so good at strumming and i know five chords so everything i make up sounds the same. I did some latch hook things too. You know that thing that makes a picture out of little pieces of thread. Then lets not forget water coloring... it was fun... until someone said to me "that is the worse painting i have ever seen" it was my rendition of Bridge to Terabithia's ending scene. It was creative art. Then there were some abstract paintings but my creative juices ended and it was expensive. Im not good at fashion but i know what looks good and what i like. It usually never matches but always flows. Its nothing like a t shirt though!! I even did intramural sports and believe me, i was intimidating. I love sailing, but i do not have a boat and its expensive!!

there were food contest.... that would be 100 corn nuts.

there was gymnastics on the side....

there was rock climbing... but i had to get lifted all the way up.

there was paintball but none of my friends like it... prob bc it hurts. I still enjoy it though! its a rush!

There has always been dancing.... well since my college years

After all of this... or in the midst of this....

I FOUND IT!!

running! Its my new found love!! I usually just go anywhere from 1 to 3 miles a day but this past weekend i did 6 and it was glorious!! I did my first 5k a couple months ago and hope to do another in about 2 weeks! I love it because my boyfriend(jonathan) enjoys it and some of my friends do as well so I dont have to do it alone!! I want to do a half marathon sometime in the 2011 year so we shall see how that goes!! Im really just thankful i found something that I enjoy a lot!! I enjoyed all the other stuff and still do, but this is it!

Letter to the President.

Lately Human Trafficking has really been on my heart! I have been researching it like a crazy person and get annoyed when the internet at work is too slow and I cant fully look at something. Through my research I have found that it is an issue that many people are unaware of and I think it should be heard of! So i wrote the following to the president in order to attempt to make this happen!

Dear President Barack Obama,
I am a 22 year old with a bachelors in Social Work. Lately I have been following the A21 Campaign which keeps people updated on Human Trafficking, also known as modern day slavery. Did you know that there are 27 Million people involved in modern day slavery around the world? Or that one million children are exploited every year and that 80% of all victims are female? Trafficking has made an estimated 32 billion dollars in a year. In the United States alone, the average age for a victim is 12-14 yrs old and that there are 244,000 children at risk of being sexually exploited. My reason for telling you all of these facts is not just to push my knowledge on you so you think I'm smart, but to let you know that this is a big issue that so many people are unaware of even happening. This is injustice and I think that something could be done about it. People need to be aware and since you are the president, i have every reason to believe that you can do that! Maybe not to end it, but to reduce the statistics drastically!
Please take my request of this topic into consideration throughout your terms of presidency and take a stand! Take a stand against injustice!
Thank you for your time

Sincerely,
Shannon Smith

http://nhtrc.polarisproject.org/materials/Human-Trafficking-Statistics.pdf <------ pretty solid statistics.

http://www.thea21campaign.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=132&Itemid=305 <----- the campaign that i have been following. You should check them out on twitter as well!

a trip and a fire!

Okay, so i decided that my blog was really lame bc i never have enough access to internet to upload a blog with pictures. And i dont really know how to do anything fancy with it, so its just kind of an average blog. But i write stuff, so i mean give me a break!! Do not be alarmed though, because i hacked into internet on what was suppose to be my day off but i just got called in. Ill give you a blog first though bc i know thats what you really want!

Before we get to the blog, i have a story. Last night i took a shower. i got out of the shower and my roommate said oh no worries im just putting out a small housefire. I look over and the oven is totally sparking flames that will not stop. So i say, uhhh let me go put some pants on and ill come, bc thats obv more important than the house burning... or whole apt complex for that matter! So i put pants on and help. I got to do the fun part. I pulled the pin on the fire extinguisher and blasted that mug! Then there was a big mess to clean and out of control fumes, but hey the fire was out and today we got a new stove!!! JAM!

okay. the point of this blog.

A couple weeks ago i went to Tennessee with my friend bethany and her family to visit their family. We drove there in two days bc there was no rush! But when we got to TN it was snowy bc they just had a big storm. It was so much powder it was unreal! We went sledding and everything! But my favorite thing was when we went to kentucky to see a waterfall! My FIRST waterfall to ever see. They are such a wonderful work of the Lord.

The picture does not even do this thing justice!! it was SO much bigger!! Its the biggest one this side of the niagra!!

Here is bethany's family and i in front of it! We have been friends since sixth grade so they are pretty much like my parents as well!!!

Since creepin is a habit, we found this perfect little tree!!!

Its really tough to be rule breakers like beth and i, but someone has to do it!

We did learn though that we have zero clothes for this type of weather and TN people didnt understand that. We dont need that stuff bc in Louisiana the weather is so bipolar!

have a good day guys!!