Q&A #2

Time for more Q&A!

There are actually a few questions that were posed on my Burning Questions post that I’m working on…they’re just taking a while to get my thoughts together and typed out. But they’ll be worth the wait!

For now, I thought I would go through some of the easier ones to answer.

Ready?

 

Janetha saidit would be fun to hear more about where “in here” is.. i am not quite sure since i am a fairly new reader!…

and related to that…

Anne, Kacy, and Becky also asked me what my job was/what I did that I could work from home.

Nick and I work and live in southwest Virginia. Except for 2.5 years that I was at school in Arkansas, I’ve lived in Virginia my entire life.

I was born in Portsmouth, grew up in Chesapeake, and now live on the other end of Virginia. My parents and Nick’s parents also live in the state, so we’re pretty happy being here. Plus, it’s beautiful – you have ocean on one side and mountains on the other.

As for my job…I don’t want to get into too many details, but I’m kind of a mix of an Admin Assistant/Specialized Assistant in my office.

I don’t do a lot of the normal admin assistant tasks because I work specifically on one side of my office.

Most of my day is filled with processing applications/submissions, corresponding with people, and sending letters from our office.

So…not super exciting, but that’s why I get to work at home 2 days a week now. Everything I do is on the computer: our database is online, everything is done through email, and I can access my work desktop from home so I’m not missing anything when I’m not in the office.

 

Missy saidI would love to know about your racing/running. I know you do it but are you training for a race or do you just enjoy it.

Ah, running  :)  What a question for me.

I actually never ran growing up, unless I was just playing around.

I did not start trying to run until early last year, and I ran my first ever 5K in April 2008.

I’ll be honest – it was horrible at first. I hated every minute of it.

I couldn’t run longer than 1-2 minutes at a time…I felt like I was dying…I couldn’t breathe…I had horrible side stitches, my ankles hurt…it was bad. And I was a big baby. Nick can vouch for that.

I remember being so mad and upset with myself at first that I seriously would have fits out there, start crying, and just be horrible!

I finally signed us up for the 5K that April and figured…I’m going to have to start doing this for me if I want to finish this race. So I did.

And it was hard. Every day out there was rough.

But I remember the first day I ran 4 minutes at one time before having to take a break!

And I remember the first time I ever ran 15 minutes before taking a walking break.

And then I started to love it.

I still have bad days – I still get side stitches…a lot, actually, but they’re not as bad as they used to be.

And it’s something I wanted to do and I got through it. I pushed myself through the hard days and now I can run 30 minutes or 1 hour without stopping, even when I do get a cramp or it’s just not a good run.

I just love being able to tie my laces and get out there. You don’t need anything but a good pair of shoes, and you’re set.

In answer to the training part…

I’m hoping to run a 10K later this month if it works out and I’ve been following a training plan for a half marathon that I’m hoping to do in November.

I haven’t registered for it yet (the registration wasn’t open yet the last time I checked) and it’s actually kind of freaking me out.

I think I can do it? I want to do it – it just seems like such a stretch from what I can run now.

So…as for the training…I guess I’m training for a half?  I’m not 100% sure yet. Now I’m just thinking that I need to find one later in the year, but we’ll see?

Is that a good answer? No? :)

 

Tracey asked today…I’d really like to try the carrot cake oatmeal but I wasn’t sure if you put water in the oats. I would assume so but you don’t have water listed and I saw today for your oatmeal, you do list water. So, when you have a chance if you could let me know besides the yummy crushed pineapple, grated carrots, ginger, salt and cinnamon if you add H2O.

For any oatmeal, I just about always use water to make it.

I think I forgot to list the water in the carrot cake oatmeal recipe! But, yes, I did use water also. Thank you for noticing that!

Since the recipe I based mine off of used 4 cups of water, I started with 2.5 cups of water plus the juice from the pineapple and let it go from there. While it was cooking, I just kept adding a little water if it looked like it needed more. I think I ended up adding another 1/2 cup or so – I just wanted to make sure there was enough liquid for them to cook, and having the pineapple kept it from needing as much plain water as usual.

 

Stay tuned for the next installment of the Q&A – they should be good ones!

And make sure to send in more questions!

 

 

Do you use milk, water, or a combo for your oatmeal/hot cereals?

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26 comments

  1. thanks for answering! it would be awesome to be able to work from home.. and my dogs would love it ;) sounds like a nice, flexible career which is awesome! i use water in my oats!

  2. I love Virginia. I am from NJ but I used to drive down to VA with my best friend every summer to visit her family. I always loved it there and the people as so nice (especially compared to NJ :) ) I get to work from home a few days a week too and it is so nice to have some flexibility!

  3. O0o great answers! Thanks for sharing. I too, was wondering about your job a lot.

    And I feel the same way about running. I’m running my first 5K in 2 weeks (ahhh!) and I remember when 1.5 miles was killer…now it’s just the half way point :)

  4. I love Q&A’s! I think it’s great that you can work from home a couple of days a week. I would KILL for that – even one day a week!

    I put water in oatmeal. Believe it or not, I have never tried milk because I’m not a milk drinker! Wonder if it’s a lot better?

  5. I second verablriot’s comment about running!

    I recently starting running a lot more – up to 5 miles and hopefully 6 this weekend (fingers crossed). I plan to do a 5K and 10K at some point before the year is over. Maybe even a half marathon one day… (scary!)

    It’s exciting to see all the progress that we make when we take things slowly and believe that we can do it. :)

  6. I usually cook it with water, but if I’m in the mood for creamier oatmeal, I’ll stir in some silk. Same with farina (cream of wheat).

  7. This was fun! You are lucky you get to work from home for 2 days a week. I’d love to do that!

  8. Gosh i love this post. its great to get to know you better! :)

    http://saladdiva.wordpress.com

  9. I use a milk and water combo :)

    thanks for the answers !!

    XO

  10. Whoop whoop for Virginia!! I’ve been here all my life as well, and I totally agree with how great this state really is… I mean we have mountains to cities to beaches to quaint bayside towns all within a drives distance! Fantastic :)

  11. …plus LOTS of wineries. Can’t leave those out!!! ;)

  12. Very interesting! I think it’s great that we get to know a bit about other people in blogland, even if for obvious reasons, we don’t get into too much detail when it comes to certain subjects. But this was a great read! :)

  13. I love that you aren’t a natural at running. WHen I first started I had a hard time running a minute. Now I can run for about 5 miles without stopping (about an hour). I love it and I do it for me. So when my doc told me I can do it even after surgery I was stoked.

    I always use water in my oats. I like the flavor better for some reason. I may add a splash of milk at the end after they are cooked to make the creamier or less solid.

  14. aww working from home sounds so nice :) more QT!

  15. Awesome! I loved hearing a little more about your life. Good work on persevering through the rough few months of running! It’s not an easy sport – but a very enjoyable one once you get into the rhythm.

    I like my oats with water – they seem “fluffier” to me when made with H2O. Sometimes I add milk after they are cooked so I get that “creamy” taste.

  16. I do 20 grams oatbran, 20 grams oatmeal, and 160 grams water. i’ve so got it down to a science at this point

  17. Great post Brandi! My parents are both from Virginia, so we have tons of relatives there.

    Richmond, Mechanicsville, Newport News, Virginia Beach – you are right – it is beautiful!

    I always use water, just to save the calories though – since I usually make savory oats and add cheese! :D

  18. I love Virginia! It’s so much prettier than Oklahoma!

    Glad to know a little bit about your job :)

  19. great Q&A.. I really appreciate you taking the time to write out such thoughtful answers :) you the best girl!

    usually I put water in to my oats (or tea infused water.. the best!) but recently i’ve fallen in love with almond milk — so creamy and nutty. I recommend!

  20. Great answers! I am jealous that you can work from home some days! I think I would love that! Your running story is also very inspiring since I am at the point where I struggle to make it 3 miles!

  21. I just use water for my oats but I add a splash of milk after they’re cooked. Ohhh oats, how I love thee…
    Nice to hear all those q’s answered. I am with you on the running. When I started I also could only run like 1 mile and would be dying! haha! And I also still get really bad side stitches! What is with that?! Seriously, do you have any idea why? Ugh.

    Have a great evening lady!

  22. Love the Q&As!! I’ve always wondered about your job, it sounds nice being able to work from home sometimes :)

    I need to try those carrot cake oats! Delish!! I’m a water girl!

  23. Lovin’ the Q&A posts! So fun to get to “know” other blog friends! I have never been to Virginia–it sounds like a beautiful place though :-)

  24. very interesting! good to know more about you. it’s so cool that you can work at home! it makes eating well much easier I guess.

  25. Nice B!!!! I’m doing the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer 5k Run next weekend. I haven’t ran in a long time so I hope I can do it!

  26. I loved hearing about where you grew up :) That’s something that I always wonder about. We always start with the “here and now” on blogs and forget the history!

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