SMU CROSS COUNTRY IS TULSA BOUND!

Today we left for the 4 and a half hour trip to Tulsa because we have the Conference USA championship meet on monday!  On the road trip I watched "Fight Club" because I have to for an English Paper.  I must admit after watching it I am extremely confused.  Hopefully my brother can explain it to me!  Once we got here we went straight to dinner at Carrabas!  Now we are in the hotel about to go to sleep for a nice relaxing day tomorrow before race day!  I am about to watch "The Ugly Truth" and go to sleep!

Goodnight :)

Halloweekend!

Friday morning it was freezing here in Dallas, I whipped out my northface for the first time!  The Chiropractor was good, I felt much better after.  He fixed my tailbone because he said it had shifted?  Then I went to class all day and then came back to get ready for an epic night!  First we went to the Delta Diner and had coffee, IHOP catered pancakes, a band was there, and we got to talk to a lot of cool Tri Delts!  Michelle, an old friend from high school, was there so it was nice to talk to her since I never get to because of all the crazy sorority rules!  Here is a picture of girls on my floor before the Delta Diner

NEXXXXXT It was time for Halloween party!  I dressed up like a mouse, I basically bought the ears for four dollars and made the outfit cheap since I was only going to be in town for one night.  My roommate though hand made her costume as a chicken and I must say she did a very good job! 

We went to lizard lounge with Kappa Sig frat.  It was such a fun party, I would say it was the best night out since I have gotten to college!  I didn't get to bed until like 2 am, which is EXTREMELY late for me!

   

Saturday morning I had practice at 8:30am but it was an easy interval practice.  Then I gave a tour of the school and my dorm to a possible SMU Cross Country recruit.  Then I had to rush and get ready to leave  for Tulsa at 2!  

What a thrilling thursday!

This morning for practice it was COLD!  I wore gloves, because the park we go to is 10 degrees colder than the actual temperature for some reason.  Today felt like I got my first Christmas present because workout was extremely easy!  We had our 12 minute warm-up and drills, 18 minute tempo run with NO HILLS, and then 4 x 20 second strides with a 12 minute cool down.  Then for afternoon practice we only did one set of weights and only 10 minutes on the bike, it only took 30 minutes when it usually takes an hour!  It was nice to have the break.  The only bad thing about the day is I felt sick to my stomach all day, I don't know what it was from, but i feel much better tonight.  After practice me and two other girls went to the grocery store.  I bought apples, bananas, cantaloupe, turkey, raisins, yogurt, bagels and a couple other things.  It was only 20 bucks, so not too bad for stuff that will last me a while, besides the fruit.  So I am all set for the weekend in TULSA!  Then after it was time for Grace's Birthday festivities with our small group, we went to Penne Pomodoro.  I wasn't a huge fan of the place, but Im sure if i ordered something different I would have liked it more, there were many things on the menu.  This was my first time going there so I was a rookie on what to order.  It was a ton of fun, I love my small group girls :)

 Me, Kelly, and Grace (THE BIRTHDAY GIRL)

Our small group minus about half of us 

Our half of the table

The other half of the table

Tomorrow we don't have practice, but I have a Dr. appointment at 8 am so I cant sleep in.  I never can anyways on our off days.  My Doctor's appointment is for a chiropractor for my hip, Coach casey thinks it just needs to be popped back into the right place so that should be interesting.  Thats all for now :)

Fashion with a Passion!

The Chi-O fashion show was amazing! It was supporting Make a Wish foundation which is such a cool organization.  At first I was hesitant because I didn't want to spend ten dollars on a fashion show, but after hearing the stories of three people who had gone through the Make a Wish foundation, it was all worth the money.  It is such an amazing organization!  The fashion show was so cool too, it showed local boutiques around the SMU area.  My favorite were the clothes from stella and dot.  Afterwards there was a salsa dancing party and we crashed it and stole fruit from the chocolate fountain, yum!

Kelly and Laura and Fashion with a Passion

Jennie! My favorite Chi-O :)

So I come back to the room, to find my lovely roommate sewing her Halloween costume!  She is way too into this holiday! But thats why I love her! 

Now its time for bed and practice in the morning!

Shine Bright, Shine Far, Dont be shy, Be a Star!

The last couple days I have just been concentrating on homework and going through the normal routine of the week.  Tuesday morning I had practice.  We did 5 1,000m runs at Norbuck Park plus 4 by 30 second sprints.  I had to catch up on a lot of laundry, its crazy how many clothes a runner goes through.  I always seem to run out of running socks so I'm constantly doing laundry! Then we had weight lifting practice in the afternoon, but it wasn't too bad because we are tapering this week, which means practices are not so hard because we have conference on monday, this is the first time we have tapered all season, I can tell my body needs it.  After A.R.T My glutes have bruises on them from the pressure so sitting has been an issue the last couple of days.  Luckily I can get two ice packs wrapped around my hips with saran wrap, it looks very attractive walking back from practice with them I might add.  Tuesday night I had Bible Study.  We learned a lot about dealing with conflict in a healthy way.  Its crazy how much we don't deal with conflict in the right ways! We looked at Ephesians 4.

Wednesday we had practice on our own, usually we get Wednesday off, but this week we are getting Friday off instead.  So this morning all we had was ab workout, a 30 minute run, and 4 strides in our spikes to practice.  After my workout I went to class then made a lunch creation using the meal plan here at SMU.  I made a salad with hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, cucumber, tuna(need my protein), and Panera brand Poppyseed dressing (sold at target)  It was very yummy!

Tonight I think im going to the Chi-O Fashion Show that supports make a wish foundation! Hopefully I remember to take pictures, im trying to get better at that.  As for now I am studying and writing a paper due on Sunday so I don't have to deal with it while I am in Tulsa.  

Shine Bright, Shine Far, done be shy, be a Star is from the movie Life Size.  Me and my roommate watched a video about it and ive had it stuck in my head ever since.  I think its a good philosophy to live by though, Shine so others can see your happiness which in turn turns other peoples day's happier! When I was younger I was always known for smiling, on the court, at home, anywhere I just seemed to always smile.  I need to continue that!

Love,
Smiling Stephanie Wright (my basketball nickname freshman year, very intimidating I know, maybe thats why i was unofficial water girl?)
:)

Its the wonderful season of Fall!

After my very productive day of studying, my mom came down to SMU and took me to dinner and brought me the movie, "Fight Club" which I have to watch this week for English class.  It was nice to have a good talk with her and talk about my weekend.  Going to college has made me so much closer to my family, I miss them like crazy though!   I already can't wait for Thanksgiving! I found out I will be able to come home Monday night before Thanksgiving instead of Tuesday!

Monday morning:

This starts the week of easier workouts since we have conference in a week.  Ab workout was easy today and we just did a 40 minute run with 4 strides.  The picture is of Mary and Klara (two swedish girls on my team) after practice studying, eating, and stretching!  After practice Monday I went back to A.R.T.  and I feel so much better! My right hip and Glute are extremely tight which is causing more pressure on my knee, but he gave me some good exercises so hopefully It will be all better soon! I had a full load of classes today with Microeconomics, English, Wellness, and Philosophy.  Tonight outside of our dorm we had a pumpkin carving and painting party and me and my roommate Hilary are all ready for Halloween now.  Hilary decorated our door and we have a pumpkin patch in our room now!

Sunday = day of homework

This morning I had practice at 7.  We ran around white rock lake, I did 65 minutes.  Sunday is always our long run day.  This week practices should not be too hard since we have a big meet in a week.  Which I am excited for a week of easier practices, since I feel like I have just been going since school started!  Today I am going to catch up on homework!  Since I will be gone all next weekend I need to make sure I can get as much done as possible today so I don't have to stress about it.

Rain, Rain, Go away.

Woke up this morning for practice at 8:30.  Our workout was 12 400's on the track.  After the first four hundred we saw lightning.  I thought we were going to have to stop but the rain held off and we got through all 12.  It was extremely windy though which was not fun for 400 meter workout.  Then I had to hurry and get ready for boulevard.  I missed the parade but I heard it wasn't that cool, plus i still got to see the floats.  We just went to the game and it got rained delayed after like 10 minutes, so we just came back to the dorm.  For tonight my small group is going to dinner at buca di beppo and going to see the movie life as we know it.  After that i'm not sure what i'm doing.  Now i'm going to get some homework done before dinner. One plus to the rain is I get to wear my rain boots!

The festivities of yesterday!

So yesterday was crazy busy but a lot of fun also.  I went to practice and got amazing news from my coach.  I am Competing in the Conference USA Championships in Tulsa on November 1st!!!!!!!!! I was in shock! Here i am this freshman walk on who was scared to talk to the coach in fear that she would not make the team, then i go from that to only thinking i would be competing in two meets this whole year.  Now I have competing in all but one meet (4 total) and I will be competing again.  Its crazy to see how I am getting so much better with the amazing training, who would have ever thought I would be in the position I am in now, defiantly not me!  Its such a God thing that I am even going to this school, and even more of a God thing that I am competing for SMU Cross Country.  Count my Blessings, I think so!!
That means this whole week I need to be taking care of myself.  I need to be eating heathy (which i basically already do) but i need to be getting more protein in me since I hate meat and stuff high in protein, but coach has me on a protein shake (which kinda tastes like the milk you drink after cereal...ew) Also I need to be taking care of my body meaning getting enough sleep and fixes the muscles on my body that hurt which is why I went to A.R.T. yesterday.  This place basically streches you and pushes on muscles that I didnt even know I had! It was so incredibly painful, but felt amazing afterwards.  I am a little sore from it though.  Then the chiropractor came in a popped my back, O my goodness that felt amazing! He said my lower back was out of place, so he fixed it! :)  It was all free because of being an athlete which was a nice plus!
Then after that I had to quickly get ready for the concert! We got to the concert and our lawn seats were still really good, we could see and it was perfect.  The first act came on and it was this australian guy.  He wasn't the best singer, but his music was still preety good.  My roommate was kinda talking about him not in the best way, then this guy sitting next to us asked us if we liked him.  We said yah hes preety good, and then the guy said thats my friend/ old roommate.  We didnt really believe him because if it was  his close friend why is this guy sitting in lawn seats, wouldnt his friend get him an actual ticket.  Anyways then once maroon five came out the guy who was the opening act came and sat with the guy sitting next to us for like 30 minutes!  We were shocked.  So we got to meat the opening act and took a picture with him.

Then One Republic came on and they were amazing! The lead singer had such a great voice.  He defiantly outshined the lead singer of Maroon 5.  Maroon 5 was good too because they have so many amazing songs, its hard for them not to be good.  We didn't get home too late probably 11:30 so i still got some sleep in before practice this morning.  Practice was only a 40 minute run, plus four strides in our spikes.  We had abs before.  Then i came back and cleaned my room and did some homework and now I am about to go to class.  My first two classes were cancelled for today which was nice! I have wellness and philosophy today.

Goodmorning!

This morning I had practice.  We did 12min. warm up, drills, 4 strides.  Then a 25min. tempo run (with hills :/)  Then a 6 x 30sec. sprint up a hill. Then 12 minute cool down.  Stretch and ice bath.  Contrast bath Thursdays though!!! Which means 5 minutes in ice, 3 minutes in warm pool, 5 minutes back in ice.

I have a crazy day ahead of me! Thank goodness I don't have much homework for the next couple of days!   I have two classes back to back today (psychology and English for minorities)  Then right after I have to hurry up and go to my second practice of the day which is weights, so I can be done with weights and bike at 4:15 to go with Lovisa (a girl on my team) to A.R.T.  Im not positive what that entails but from what I heard the guy just fixes everything that hurts on your body.  Should be an interesting experience.  Then right after that I have to hurry back and shower because I am going to the Maroon 5 concert tonight!  I don't know how im going to make it through tonight without a nap!  Im going to the concert with my roommate and two other girls on our floor.  Ill upload pictures of the concert tomorrow!

TheBreathofSteph - First Blog Post!!

My name is Stephanie,  first I will tell everyone a little about myself.  I am from Carrollton, TX which is a Dallas suburb.  I have a mom and dad and older brother.  Here is a picture of my lovely family.

I am a freshman at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.  I am planning on majoring in Business (possibly Finance).  I am a Christian and love God more than anything.  I also love my family, friends, and running.  I run Cross Country and Track and Field for SMU.  Here is a picture of my amazing team that I LOVE!

That is just a little bit of random information about me, I'm sure through this blog you will find out much more.  For some of you who know me well, Im sure you will think it is extremely random for me to have a blog, which it is, but I am going to explain what my purpose is for this blog and why I decided to do it. 

First there are some girls on my team that blog and I always love reading their blogs, so I hope I this blog  brings people entertainment also.  I am also sick of facebook, so of course I needed something else to distract my study time with :).  I also have realized since being in college I keep my thoughts bottled up inside of me, but when I do get the chance to get them out I feel so much better.  I feel like a weight is lifted off of me.  I had a rough senior year where I lost a lot of close friendships and since I felt I had no one to talk about things with, I started to deal with things inwardly which can be dangerous.  I feel like I have not recovered from that, I feel like I don't want to open up to people in fear of what happened my senior year. (I know thats a little deep for a first post, but it just explains a major purpose in this blog) So I hope this blog could be somewhat therapeutic for me in some sort of way and help me open up to people.  

I also have another aim to this blog, this week in our small group we talked about staying connected with God.  In high school reading the bible was more like a chore, it was something I had to do for school instead of something I enjoyed doing.  I realized it is hard to stay in the word and in quiet time in college so every couple days I am going to share with yall what i learned from my time spent with God over the last couple days.  I hope this will hold me accountable and it will also find me searching for things in the Bible or other religious messages that I feel worth telling yall about.  Also I hope something I say could even help a reader find things out about God along with me!

Lastly, this is going to be my favorite part about my blog.  I just watched Julie and Julia so that inspired this.  I LOVE to cook! I love to try new recipes.  I actually have a itouch app called "Betty Crocker Cookbook" and in my free time I look for new recipes to cook.  I unfortunatly dont have a kitchen in my dorm room, so this part of the blog cant start until I go home for Thanksgiving and Christmas :(.  But I am going to make dishes and take pictures of them and put the recipes on the blog if I think you should try them too!

So there is a little bit about me and what my purpose is for this blog.  Tomorrow after practice I will start the blog about whats going on in my day-to-day life! Get excited! Tonight though I will sleep for 7am practice tomorrow.