he said, she said.

cat's out of the bag. I got engaged this past weekend. and it couldn't have been a more wonderful surprise (+ weekend).

nick and I both decided to draft emails to family/friends as we were out of cell range yet wanted to tell our loved ones. below, the result.

he said...

subject: dunton

yesterday morning eissa and i got engaged. now we are in dunton. we plan to find a telephone later to call and say hello.

mom, i'm sorry i missed your calls yesterday. below is my excuse demonstrating that i was busy. i'm fairly sure i can say this will not happen again.

we went for a morning run at 6:30 or around sunrise. after showers, coffee, prosecco, and egg sandwiches, our car to newark airport was diverted to the downtown heliport. after looping over midtown, somewhere north of 59th st, slightly eastish, probably a couple thousand feet over the central park reservoir, i hit her with the sucker punch (nice words, ring, blah) and she acquiesced.

after that it's hard to say. we saw some other things from above; baseball stadiums, bridges. this part was blurry for everyone but the pilot. landed in newark, landed again in denver, and after being shaken like the object of divine wrath, thankfully touched a 16-seater down on runway in telluride.

drove an f150 pickup south-southwest from there 50ish miles, around the base of a closed high pass, and back north again till the road lost pavement and then 9 miles more to dunton. dunton is a mining camp that suffered from isolation and lack of good transportation. everyone left by 1918.

enclosed please see the last memory of my single life.

she said...

subject: it started with a bike ride... 

it started with a bike ride. then a helicopter trip into an obscure town in guatemala. I was immediately taken. fast forward nearly 2.5 years. I have fallen so deeply in love with the guy I first spied in spandex.

yesterday, we took another helicopter ride. this time over manhattan. right near the top of the park where we first met on bikes, the love of my life proposed.

I am the happiest engaged girl around.

a new PR (but not the type you think)

i did something yesterday that was a total first. a total milestone. totally awesome.

i opened my first investment account.

for some, this isn't terribly exciting or even worth the words. for me, however, it's like setting a PR. actually, it is a PR.

i was very fortunate to do, experience, learn and accomplish a lot in my 20s. but it came at a price. i didn't have the funds to go to grad school, complete two ironmans, run 19 marathons, travel a ton of places AND save. so, I made a choice.

when I turned 30 last august, I had zero in savings, but also nearly zero credit card debt (I still have loans from grad school, but these are an "investment"). so, I set out to abolish the remaining debt and save. and because I don't do much in my life without vigor, I went at it with all my heart.

i was frugal, often spending only $2-$3 per day. i packed my lunches. i rarely ate out. i avoided buying anything unnecessary or superfluous. i was a saving queen.

it wasn't easy. setbacks game in the form of surprises. doctor's bills. unexpected expenses. small splurges. but i kept my resolve.

i obviously knew how much debt I had left. and, i paid it off in november. (i will pay off an account in my name that's NOT my debt next month...this is an entire story in itself...)

as for savings, i had an approximate number i wanted to save before i could open an account. I charged ahead. head down, straight into the wind.

december (the holidays). january (deprivation). february (finally).

at the end of last month, i hit my goal. i was there. and man, did it feel good.

yesterday, i pulled the trigger and transfer my hard-saved money into the hands of a company the bf invests with (if he invests with them, it has to be good.)

today, i received an email confirming the creation of my account and a notice of my "transaction in process."

i did it. i am the proud, proud owner of an investment account and a new PR.

up next? topping it times two. look out world, i am a girl on a mission.

finally 2011. (+ a new post)

I have mentioned this to several people over the last several months. and it's evidenced by the date on my last post (april 4th): I've lost my writing mojo. I didn't even post about my second ironman! yeah, bad...

I attribute this malaise to one thing only: my job. it has destroyed my confidence for and love of writing. really sad for someone who used to love putting pen to paper. now it just makes me cower (not to mention wake up nightly with horrific work dreams.)

but that was 2010...a shit year in A LOT of ways. I am not, however, going to dwell on that here. this post is about the best of last year. and a look forward to the new year...because it is going to be and HAS to be better than the last year.

so...goodbye 2010. we didn't get along, but I didn't let you steamroll me either...I fought back and can say with fondness that I showed you who was boss more than a few times. my favorites:

-kicking mono, a b12 deficiency + a minor knee injury in january
-learning to ski in february. I'm not great, but I adore it...another expensive hobby.
-making it through the madness of march. aka indoor ironman training. TOUGH.
-forgetting about april. it was an ugly month.
-conquering my ironman training in may while switching jobs.
-becoming an ironman AGAIN in june despite hypothermia after the swim and some trying moments on the bike (killed the run...would you think otherwise?)
-july was uneventful. nothing to see here.
-turning 30 in august with a smile on my face despite being on an island off of maine with no luggage and sans my beloved running shoes.
-running a surprisingly solid half marathon (1:30:58) in september despite thinking I wasn't that fit.
-not quitting my job in october when I really thought I couldn't take anymore of the sexual harassment. PLUS finally paid off all my credit card debt (nearly $7k-- all done in 2010)
-dominating the NYC marathon (3:18) in november despite being horribly ill for days before.
-making sure I made it to the new year with my sanity intact in december.
-ending the year with great mileage totals: 3875 swim.bike.run total. 48 miles of swimming. 2395 miles of cycling. 1417 miles of running.
-having a really awesome best friend and bf by my side. he has definitely been one of my favorites of the year.

so see ya 2010...I totally beat you at your own game...and hello 2011.

a few goals to get me moving into the new year:

1. it almost goes without saying: new job. pronto. I've been working hard at this for months...hoping I secure something in january.

2. ski! it's hard, but I love it. looking forward to a number of fun days on the slopes in the northeast and hopefully at least once out west.

3. run a great boston marathon: this will be the first time in YEARS and YEARS that I have the opportunity to focus solely on running. no coaching. no grad school. no ironman. nothing but being smart, getting fast and smoking boston. goal is sub-3:10 and I am more than confident that if I put in the training, I will have no trouble.

4. pay off debt that someone else accumulated in my name. I could go into detail, but I shouldn't because I need to remain positive. (let's just say I learned the hard way that lending money to a family member is a bad idea.) regardless, with her help I should have it paid by june. hallelujah.

5. start saving and investing...it seems like I'm late to the party at 30, but when you pay your way through three degrees, you don't always have a lot of money left over. 2011 is my year to kick start something for the future.

6. maybe do a 1/2 ironman. but this isn't do or die. I want to save money by not racing the expensive ones, so this pretty much rules out a 1/2 iron. otherwise, maybe have fun doing a few sprint or olympic tris at harriman...cheap and close!

7. celebrate my 10th anniversary of marathon running by returning to columbus (hometown) to run the same course as my first (october 21, 2001). also would like to be aiming to run sub-3:05.

8. I would be thrilled to get engaged. nick is truly my one (after being engaged before and then giving back the ring to the guy I knew wasn't right, I feel like I know this time).

9. just.be.happy. not sweat the small stuff. spend more time with friends. laugh a little more. cry less. cry a lot less. embrace the bumps. gain confidence. take life less seriously.

happy 2011 all...