Marathon fun stuff + what I ACTUALLY do all day + girl stuff is lame…

I started my morning with these two cuties! One of my besties, Katie, was out of town, so I got to hang out with her babies for a little bit. They’re the sweetest!

Then it was back home to make a breakfast burrito.

I lounged in bed for a little bit yesterday morning after I ate and responded to emails, then I knocked out a little bit of work and watched another lesson about my marathon training.

Here’s one example of a long run! He gives (from Runners Connect) a couple more that are more advanced, too. I’m enjoying these videos so far! One thing I appreciate about learning more about training is that everyone has different approaches that work for them. These lessons talk about how people don’t necessarily need to run the 20-22 miler in their training cycle. I definitely think this approach to training would work, but I’m such a mental runner. I think for my first full, I’m going to go ahead and do the long run, but try this approach for my second marathon – if there’s a second!

My Magic Bullet actually worked yesterday! I was pumped. The picture on the left was before I stirred the two halves together.

Both halves of the smoothie blended perfectly AND I didn’t cut myself! Win-win. Much better experience than Tuesday afternoon…

Okay, so I realized I’m always saying, “computer work” and “edits”, but I never really explain what this whole process looks like. So, here’s a little glimpse into the editing process that is working best for me. These are kind of out of order, but it worked best this way to explain. I think.

The picture on the left is from the head of my committee. She marks all over each of my pages, then, when she has a comment, she writes the number on the page, see the 19? At the bottom of the pages with a circled number, she types a note to me. Once I get these marked up pages back from her, we have a meeting and go over each one. So, this side-by-side screen is how I work through each of those comments AFTER we have talked.

Before I start my actual editing, we have our meeting. Here are my chicken scratch notes about her comments on my draft. We go page by page and talk about each comment and I bounce ideas off of her. I then try to frantically write down every genius thing she says. My committee head is brilliant. I’m SO thankful I get to work with her. I was telling her the other day that as hard as this dissertation is to write, it’s a bummer we only write one, because I finally feel like I understand how to write one. She laughed and said a dissertation is it’s own genre and I’ll probably never write anything like it again, but that she totally agreed – once we learn how to write it, it’s over.

It’s so crazy that I’ve spent over a year learning how to write this type of paper and I’ll never write a dissertation again. It’s nuts, but I’m not complaining! One of these is good enough for me.

Okay, back to the process. So, after I get the original feedback from my committee head and we have talked about it and I’ve taken notes, I go back through and make a To-Do list. This To-Do list is what I use as I go through each page and make revisions. I usually start with items I can finish quickly, then I highlight ones that will take me a little longer or that need to be researched. I address each of her comments as I make this To-Do list. It might seem like more work than is necessary, but it’s the only way my brain can keep track of all the edits! So that’s what I’ve been doing! Just add lots reading and research in there and that’s basically my day-to-day.

I worked on some edits (see, now you know what I’m talking about and you can see how FUN it is! ; ) ), then I took the recycling. We had kind of forgotten about taking it, so I had a pretty big load to take.

After I took the recycling, I stopped by the grocery store and the pet store to get the girls more food. I thought this little dog bowl by the drinking fountains was adorable.

Then it was home to finish up some edits, have a snack, and feel sorry for myself. I get the WORST cramps. Sometimes they’re so bad I can’t stand up straight. It’s miserable. Yesterday was one of those days. So I popped some medicine and got out my cornbag. I needed to workout, but I definitely didn’t feel like it. At all.

Here’s a nice graphic showing some of my favorite arm movements. I ended up working out about 7:30 last night. I only did arms and abs, but I knew doing something was better than nothing. Our highest dumbbell weight is 10. I want to get some higher weights!

Before I worked out, we had dinner. I made salmon and salad. The sauce is from a cookbook from Skratch Labs called, Feed Zone Table – you can read about it HERE. Everything was delicious.

Chocolate was a must.

Jake and I relaxed and watched some Netflix. Jake has been working crazy hours since he’s on call and I didn’t feel great, so it was nice to just chill. Lu really wanted us to feed her.

I sipped on some Nuun electrolytes and enjoyed the sunset.

I did my arm and ab circuit while we were watching TV. Jake had an orange while I was doing my little workout and it smelled so good, I had to have one when I finished.

You know you’ve got the best husband when he will watch Gilmore Girls with you while you sulk on the couch about being a girl. ; )

Lu passed out as soon as we fed her. She’s such a precious angel.

This lash fell out last night. Look how long that extension has been on my real lash! So crazy. The extensions get glued onto the base of my real lash, so this has been on for a long time!

I WILL finish Chapter 4 edits today. That’s my goal! I slept in, went for a run, and am about to make breakfast. Then it’s on!

Happy Friday Eve, friends!