Spring is Synonymous

...with motivation.

There's nothing like a good Spring day to make a person want to accomplish *something*.

A great outdoor run? Heck yes!
Doing dishes and mopping floors with windows and doors open? Sign me up.
Buying potting mix and flowers and actually INTEND to plant them? You bet!
Blogging for the first time since that bastard Old Man Winter hit? Now we're talkin'.

There's a plethora of things I want to accomplish before the humid, blistering midwest Summer hits us full force, and there are grown-up habits I really, really want to instill in myself that really have nothing to do with Spring and Summer, but everything to do with acting and fuctioning like the 26-and-a-half adult I am.

1. Plant flowers. Learn to grow plants outside and not let them die.

2. Keep the house clean. I know, I know, everyone's house becomes messy at times; our house is not large, it does not take a small army to clean, though it feels as if we have a small army living in it's quarters. I want to keep the house clean for two weeks. That is not too lofty of a goal. That also includes laundry: folding and putting away after being dried instead of leaving in a laundry basket.

3. My vehicle is ridiculous. That needs to change, asap. Clean it well, once and for all. Enough said.

4. Cook on a more regular basis. Try two new recipes a week. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just something new, different, healthy, and satisfying. (This includes attempting to make Sweet Corn Ice Cream, thanks to No Meat Athlete's website.)

5. Kick my own butt in the Lincoln Half Marathon, two weeks from yesterday. Coming up May 1st, 2011, I'll run my second half marathon. Ideally, I want to run a sub-2 hour Half. As long as I break last year's 2:06:8, I'll be a happy girl.

6. One blog a week. That is all. Running, love, planting, health, spirit, goals, accomplishments, succeeding, failing, aspirations, desires, wills, wants, time, family, friends... The list is endless.

Happy Grateful Monday.

Today, I'm grateful for such a wonderful weekend and the ability to make what I want to of this week. <3

Thy will be done?

I did it.

I didn't even remember I wrote that last blog... Seeing it today, I remembered, of course, but everything...just...clicked.
For the last couple of three weeks, I've really been jonesing for some ink. Nothing too extravagant; I was debating between two works, actually.
1: A scripture on my ribs/back: "Let us run with perseverance, the race marked out for us."
- or -
2: "by Grace" and "through Faith".

I came back to my blog today, thinking it was just about time for the quarter-annual blog session. My last post... Well, it is flipped a little bit, but, Thy will *was* done. And I'll tell ya why...

Driving home from the gym on a lovely Saturday, I decided to head to an ink shop to find out if they'd be able to squeeze me in. I had one shop specifically in mind. As I was driving, I took a different way home with no real reason why. I decided to swing around and come back up the other way on a street I knew I could take. On this certian street, there was an ink shop I've heard rave reviews about, but also heard they were a little pricey, and it was tough to squeeze in if you've not been scheduled in the books for a while.
Eh - trying couldn't hurt anything, right? Right.
We try, we find out.
We found out. I was getting inked within half an hour. Why is this so awesome? It is awesome because the dude to inked me, Ray, had a *framed* picture of Jesus Christ right behind his iPod stand...and set to do his work on me while we listened to Casting Crowns, Third Day, and Lifehouse.

I've never, ever, ever been a repeast tattoo customer to any shop. I've now found a home for my ink to be done.

Thy will be done? Heck yes.

Goodness, gracious.

"Though grace, by faith."

That is going to be my next tattoo.

That's one thing that was discussed at church on Sunday. I love church. I love the feeling I get when I walk through the doors into church, and I love the feeling that I walk out the doors with. It is a happy, content, calm.

You can't do anything by yourself. Nothing. At all. That is an unbelievably hard concept to grasp, but once you do, once you finally let go - it is a kind of free that one cannot understand until it is personally felt. Whew. There's nothing a person can do on their own - everything is 'through grace' and only 'by faith'. By His grace, through our faith.

We walk.
We stumble.
We fall.
He picks us back up.
We walk again.
We stumble, again.
We fall...again.
Through His grace, we're picked back up...again.

Unwavering.
Amazing.

Everything in this life is for Him. Everything. That's a haaaard thing to wrap a mind around, no?

When I go run in the morning, the afternoon, at night - I thank God that I'm able to. I thank God my physical body is well enough to exhaust itself time and time again. I thank God my test two years ago has only fueled the fire. I thank God for the fresh fruits and vegetables I'm able to nourish my body with. I...thank...God. For everything.

"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." One of the most quotes scriptures, Philippians 4:13.

When I want to quit, His love keeps me going.
Thank You for the strength.

Who's got the time?

No time for tea, no time for riddles, no time for blogging, no time for reading, no time for collaging.

No time, no time, no time.

And, just when I thought I'd have a couple moments to sit down and write a few lines, time's up! Off to meet a friend for dinner, then swing into the gym (because there is always time for running).

I'll be back, sooner rather than later. I promise.

<3

Would having a watch help?

Lights out, guerilla radio.

Hi.
I'm Nikki.
Just joining the world of blogging, thanks to my good friend Green Teeny.

[Insert shameless blog plug here: www.teeneygonegreen.blogspot.com. She's quite the lady, I'll tell ya that.]

Do I tell you about myself? I watched 'Julie & Julia' yesterday. Julie created her food and life blog. She had followers. Lots of them. Will I have followers? I don't know. I'm okay with that.

I like Googling things. I do it all day long--basically get paid to do it. Right now, I just Googled what should be in a blog? Results show how to make money by blogging, but that's not what I want to read about.

Here we go (from About.com: Web Logs)
"Top 10 Reasons to Start a Blog: Why Should You Blog?"
1. To Express Your Thoughts and Opinions
2. To Market or Promote Something
If this is marketing or promoting happiness, wellness, passion, excitement, love, music, rainbows, unicorns, all things great, then, YES!
3. To Help People
4. To Establish Yourself as an Expert. (Ha...ha....ha)
5. To Connect With People Like You
6. To Make A Difference
7. To Stay Active or Knowledgeable in a Field or Topic
8. To Stay Connected with Friends and Family
9. To Make Money
10. T0 Have Fun and Be Creative

Almost all of those reasons I completely agree with for my blog.
Do I like expressing my thoughts and opinions? Of course. Who doesn't? Marketing/promoting? Well, that's already been covered.
Helping people? Most definitely, even if it is just reading and commenting.
Myself...as an expert? Laughable, at best. I delve into many things, but am not an expert at anything by a long shot. I've come to terms. Maybe one of these days, though...
Connecting with people with similar interests who I can learn from? Bring 'em out!
Making a difference - isn't that what we're all here to do? In small actions and in big ways, most definitely.
Staying connected with friends and family (isn't that what Facebook is for? Ha ...also meeting new blogger friends).
To make money? Chyea right. This is just for funzies.
It all boils down to point numero diez: having fun and being creative. That's what everything should stem from.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

So, now I guess it's time to give a little information, and why I want to do this, aside from the aforementioned reasons.

(I, I, I, me, me, me. Ugh.)

I'm 25. My name is really Nicole, but only a select few call me that. I've always been, and probably always will be Nikki. I'm blue and red and green: A liberal vegetarian (those exist?!), living in a small, conservative community in Nebraska.

Graduated from Wayne State College with a bachelor's in Mass Communications and Mass Broadcasting, which landed me a full-time OAT (on-air talent) gig at a radio station, hence the living in conservative northeast Nebraska.

I love many things. Really, I do. Small, little, minute things bring me the most joy. Hearing a song that I absolutely loooove? Going to a show? Not a whole lot gets better than that. Music is my ultimate passion in life-the reason I chose the career I did. I didn't want to rollout of bed everyday, dreading going to work. That's just not the way life should be lived. Find something that gets you excited--and do that.

Excitement =
work,
new music,
old music,
my love,
the gym,
my family,
old friends,
new friends,
recipes,
blogs,
books,
quotes,
lyrics,
new running apparel,
everything.

Life.


With that said, pretty sure it is time to end this inceptive blog.

When I started writing this morning, I was listening to a station online and Rage's 'Guerilla Radio' was streaming. Like I said earlier, I love lyrics. This was on--and is incredibly apropos, I do believe.

"It has to start somewhere, it has to start sometime.
What better place than here, what better time than now?"

Touche.

-Nikki