in which the Golden Girls Receive a Special Package

Look, Piper! You got a package from Gypsy, Greta, and Hattie in Mississippi!

Mmmmm, that smells good, better check it out.

Sipsey, of course, needed to see what all the fuss was about.

Red Christmasy Dog Treats?!!?!?!?!?!?!

Delicious green Christmas Stars?!?!?!?!

Gigantic Milk Bones, too?!?!??!?!

Thank you for our delicious treats, Neal Girls!

running - a weekly recap

I went back out on Wednesday, after it decided to rain for three whole days. I invited a friend to go with me, and this may have been a mistake. Not because I didn't enjoy his company, but because he's training for a half-marathon and runs/works out every single day. I've never really been a competitive person, but I really wanted to show Jim that I was good at running. So I pushed myself the entire 2.37 miles, and afterwards, I felt like I was about to puke all over the place. It was humbling.

The next day I was not nearly as sore as I thought I'd be, and then, on Friday, Mary Claire and I attempted to run before work. Like, I picked her up at 5:30 a.m. It's REALLY dark at this time of day, by the way. So we get out on the road, and Mary Claire chooses this time to tell me that she's afraid of the dark. Oh, and did I mention that I had both dogs with me? My first time running with my furry friends was tough, I'm not gonna lie. My form was all messed up from only having one arm free, and I was constantly having to pull back on the leash, because it was their first time out running with me, too. We finished that run and both looked at each other and almost burst into tears. It was awful. I didn't have that shiny, happy, feeling I'd had on my previous outings, and no amount of justification could take away that feeling that I'd failed at running. Brooke reassured me that there will be some runs where you hate yourself, you hate running, you hate EVERYTHING, and, believe it or not, that helped, a lot.

Then yesterday happened, we tried a new route, and were prepared to try our original format of walking for a little ways, running for a little ways, repeat, repeat. We walked the first half mile, then ran the second half mile, and my legs felt like lead. It was awful, it was all I could do to pick them up to keep moving, so we walked a little ways more, and I'm not sure what happened after that, but we started running again, at a slower pace, and we hit our stride and ended up running the last mile with no issues, whatsoever! And guess what?! I'm not even sore today! I think that the fifteen minutes of yoga stretches I did before and after the run helped tremendously!

So here's my issue, followed shortly by it's resolution. I'm having trouble with my diet. Since Dirk's been working at Cantina and my nights haven't revolved around what I'm making for dinner, I've kind of just been eating when I feel like it, and if it means I have cheese and crackers or a handful of pistachios for dinner, then that's what I have for dinner. This is horrible, I know. Add to that the fact that I usually just drink coffee for breakfast, the most important meal of the day, and I realized that things are going to have to change if I'm going to be running and be healthy.

So I went to the store yesterday and stocked up on protein-rich foods: eggs, nuts, tofu, edamame, and I got smoothies to sip on while I'm at work. I went to brunch with Granddaddy yesterday and instead of just drinking mimosas for brunch I ordered this:

It's cheese grits, spinach, butternut squash, and grilled shrimp. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. I'm going to force myself to eat three meals a day plus one snack at work. And to drink lots and lots of water. I love food, I just get too lazy to eat it. Ha! So that's my goal this week! Oh, as well as to take my first solo run on Tuesday!

Giving Thanks with the Young South Amyses

I hope you're ready for the most photos I've ever shared in a blog post before. There's just too much to share from the first time all the Youngs have been together since Dirk and I got married. These photos are all really raw, straight out of camera. Who has time for photo editing these days, anyway?

Mama, Daddy, Dirk, the dogs, and I rented a cabin not too far from the Amyses. It had an amazing view:


Daddy came up with four rules for the Golden Girls: no nudging, no barking, no whining, no begging. Basically, no being a dog.


We watched Peter Pan at least twice a day during our visit:


It's a big joke in our family that Mama always asks whoever is traveling from Birmingham to bring her Savages cookies. And so we carry that durn box across the country and she'll eat one bite out of one cookie and then they'll sit there and get stale until someone throws them away. This year I said a big "NO!" to bringing her Savages, but then Will begged me, so I caved. At least someone enjoyed their cookie that traveled across the Southeast:


Luke likes to nurse shoulders:




The guys tossed footballs in the cul de sac while Brooke worked her magic in the kitchen:








Taylor LOVES her Uncle Dirkee:




There was a game on every single day, so there was a lot of football watching going on:




Taylor and I opted to play princesses:


The spread:


On Friday, Mama and I decided to get out in the woods for a little bit, it was therapeutic:


The dogs loved lounging on the cabin deck:


I enjoyed wandering around, taking photos:


On Saturday we hit downtown Asheville, to spend some time stimulating the economy:






Then the guys took the kids and Mama, Brooke, and I got to go to a fancy lunch, just the girls. You should have seen the look on poor Taylor's face when we told her she was going with the boys. "But I'M a girl!"




We did some shopping. Believe it or not, we couldn't convince her to buy these pants (?)


No trip to Asheville would be complete without a visit to Woolworth Walk. The only place other than Ida Grove's Albrechts Pharmacy that I've ever been able to find Phosphates on the drink menu:


I wish I could afford to have a display of these amazing tiles in my home:




I love Asheville for reasons like this:

Will and Devon's flight left from Birmingham, so after a very cramped car ride to Alabama, we were able to freshen up before heading to Granddaddy's and introducing her to the Blackwell side of the family.

Blair & Sarah were in charge of the brownies. This is a hot mess right here:


The first thing Granddaddy said to Devon was, "What's a lovely young lady like yourself doing with my grandson?!"


Granddaddy with his grandsons:

A memorable holiday, for sure :)

horn tootin'

I thought I'd share some photos from some of the photoshoots I've had over the past six weeks. A wise man said, "If I don't toot my own horn, who will?!"

Jackson:


Alice:


And of course, the Famous Amys Family:






My brother and his adorable girlfriend:


Brit:




Willie:


And a quick look at last weekend's session with Alex (my first completely random photoshoot with someone I had never met before!)

I've got an engagement shoot this weekend I'm super excited for, and so many wonderful things coming up in 2012 for Young South Photography, including a new business/marketing manager, website, price lists, etc.!

run like the wind, bullseye

I've always HATED running, although I've always wanted to be a runner. I'm secretly jealous of the people I pass to and from anywhere in Birmingham who are running. Because I know it's something I could benefit from, if I just knew how to do it in a way that my body didn't completely and totally hate me.

I decided over Thanksgiving weekend that I wanted to learn to run. Lucky for me I have a friend and neighbor who has been a runner her entire life who has been on hiatus from running since the birth of her son and needed some motivation to get back out there. So we decided to be running buddies.

You see, I deal with a lot of stupid idiots at my office. Not my coworkers, they're great, but the patients can be complete ignoramuses. It's gotten harder and harder for me lately to leave all that crap at the office and not take that negative energy home with me. Add to that the acute female condition known in my family as "The Rage", and I was honestly thinking I may need to start taking medication to level out my emotions. So, to me, it was either running or Prozac. I decided to try running first.

Friday afternoon, Mary Claire and I headed to a local establishment, the Trak Shak, to get measured for some new shoes. I told them my limitations: I have scoliosis and one leg is a quarter of an inch longer than the other, I danced for two decades and my knees are shot, and I walk on the balls/big toes of my feet. They found the perfect pair of shoes for me, and I just couldn't wait to get started. MC (Mary Claire), either. We laid out our clothes the night before, I transferred the running mixes my sister made me to my iPod, and I was literally so anxious and nervous I puked last night. Those of you who don't know me well may find this odd, but others will realize that it's completely normal. The puking, that is.

MC picked me up this morning and started giving me the pep talk. The goal: three miles in under an hour. We can do this, right? We started out walking at a brisk rate, which we did for half a mile, then we alternated running and then walking every half mile. At first I was doing great. I felt as if my legs could run forever, it was my neck and shoulders that were starting to feel the strain. So I started wiggling my head and shoulders and arms around like a crazy person to loosen up, and that seemed to help significantly. I've ALWAYS carried my stress in my shoulders, so I made a mental note to be sure to stretch these areas before and after running. After two miles, my right hip started aching a bit, so I started taking longer strides, which helped stretch it a bit. At the last quarter of a mile, MC looked at me and was like, "do you feel the adrenaline?" and I did. I totally did. We started sprinting. At one point, I looked down at my legs and it took me a minute to register that I had control over them, I literally felt like my body was doing it's own thing, completely independent of what my head was telling it to do. And WOW! After that sprin I did some yoga stretches to cool down and limber up, and I could FEEL the endorphins releasing. I could FEEL THEM! It was like I'd just taken a Xanax and drank a glass of wine while laying in a jacuzzi bathtub with candles and a really good book. I still have perma-grin, in fact.

So yes, I know there are other things I could be blogging about today: new and exciting things on the horizon for my freelance photography "business", decorating my house for Christmas, the awesome weekend we just spent as a family in Asheville, an upcoming luxurious girl's getaway to the Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead, Melody's CONFIRMED visit to the Southeast, but THIS, this whole running thing, has really got me so excited about everything else I couldn't help but share!

Any runners out there? I need tips on breathing. All those years of yoga and I really wanted, today, to link my inhale/exhales to my stride, but could not, for the life of me, figure out how to do it effectively. Do you breathe through your nose? Through your mouth? Do you emphasize the inhale? The exhale? Do you try to keep the inhales and exhales evenly spaced? I know my muscles need the oxygen, I just need to figure out the best way to give it to them.

We're aiming towards a 5k in January, and have already got our weekly running schedule and goals mapped out!