This is the Title of an Uncreative Violinist.:)

  * Edit to original post: I made a mistake- Beethoven's 5th Symphony will be played--not the 9th! Woops! Finally dragged my sorry butt downstairs this evening to our rowing machine to do a 5K.  Pretty comparable to my running speed: 3.1 miles in 28 minutes. I looked up some rowing workout schedules online and found one that gives you 5 rowing workouts a week.  Maybe I'm being overly ambitious here, but I'd really like to follow that plan AND throw in some runs (yes! two workouts a day!) throughout the week, as well. I have no races scheduled in the future, although there is a Beethoven 5K happening next weekend that I kind of wanted to do.  I haven't really been into 5K's lately, but I'm intrigued by this one since, you know, I'm into Classical music and all.  The local classical music radio station will set up ten huge speakers throughout the race and blast Beethoven's 9th.  Anyone who crosses the finish line before the piece ends gets a ticket t

Our weekend in Cincinnati went by fast!  We went to the museum to see the Pompeii exhibit on Saturday (no pictures, although they were allowed, I simply forgot my camera at home:( ), had lunch at Zip's , and then stopped by the Greek Festival going on in Middletown.  We had hoped to go to Aglamesis Bros. for ice cream right after Zip's, but my brother and sister-in-law were itching to get home and get their boys in for a nap.  I was slightly annoyed as I had really looked forward to it all week, but it's okay!  We were fortunate to get Reds tickets this Friday and I'm hoping I get another chance at Aglamesis.  Hopefully. I totally missed the London opening ceremonies for the olympics on Saturday:(  I've been tuning in here and there for swimming, tennis and gymnastics.  I caught a glimpse of some canoeing (which I had no clue was part of the Olympics!) and later this week, I'll have to see if I can watch some wrestling. I'm actually not into wrestling, but

Sometime last week, my friend, Sandra, and I made plans to go to the pool at my condo clubhouse.  However, as this week rolled around, I kinda dreaded going to the pool and the thought of just LAYING there being lazy, especially when it's really been months since I went on a good run.  So I called my friend and left a message saying so, and she agreed that the next best thing was to just go for a run early in the morning!  We met yesterday morning at Sharon Woods, where I've run many times; however, she led me to a wooded, dirt trail I had never noticed before and we ran 4.4 miles.  We encountered 3 hills (yes, 3! Am I still in Columbus??), hardly any people on the trail, and towards the end of the run, 5 wild turkeys! Ohhh, it felt GOOD.  We were incredibly slow, as we're both out of the running game, and it was also uncomfortably humid.  We were soaking in sweat by the end.  But I loved how it felt. After stretching, we got in my Mini and drove to The Best Breakfast a

As July is coming to a close and August is fast approaching, the thought of Fall is really getting me excited and I've found myself looking at races again.  I was about to make a list of races to do when I stopped myself and thought, "Uh, maybe you should try a 3 mile run first before jumping in after taking such a long break!"  While our recent vacation to Colorado was pretty active, it also made me realize how not-in-shape I actually am (more than I care to admit).  As I've mentioned before, my husband had his own journey to personal transformation a few years ago and has done a pretty good job of keeping himself in check and staying fit. I, on the other hand, have hidden behind the easy excuse of being the girl that's "never had a weight problem".  I still don't really have a weight problem, but I also can't say that I'm "cut".  Definitely not that.  I've been thinking more and more that I should take it to the next level an

You know what? I'm kinda sick of writing separate posts of each day of my vacation, so here's a compilation. Wheeeeeee!!!! Day 3:  Maroon Bells, ghost town of Ashcroft, and visit to Aspen Music Festival grounds (no pics of the festival, just a bunch of boring practice rooms and cabins.  Ryan just wanted to show me where he spent 5 or 6 summers and how torturous it was to be locked up in a practice room with a taunting view of the mountains!) Crater lake Have I ever mentioned that hubby lost 40-50 lbs two years ago and has maintained it by running, rowing and P90X? My hero! Day 4/5:  We went whitewater rafting and there are no pictures b/c the guides recommended not bringing anything non-water proof. Boo!  But it was fun!!  Husband fell out of the boat, which was exciting, lol.  The next day was a "rest day".  We stayed in our room, watched movies, went out for lunch and dinner (which were both excellent at Venga Venga and The Edge at Timberline).

I found this  article both inspiring and deflating at the same time.  Inspired by how damn hard this guy worked for the audition of his life...and deflated by--well, I don't want to give it all away, but you can guess what the outcome was. I could go on and on and on about auditions, but I won't because a) I have to leave to go teach b) There's no point in mulling over what we musicians already know and c) Sometimes, it's better to just not go there .  You do what you have to do and move on to the next thing.

On Sunday morning we drove into town to start our hike up Aspen mountain via the Ute/Ajax trail.  Initially, I was pumped as I naively thought I was prepared from the previous day's hike at Hanging Lake.  Wrong.  Aspen mountain was 20 times harder.  I'd say the first half was harder simply b/c of the narrow dirt trail that had me slipping and nearly tumbling down the mountain several times.  Ryan kept pushing me so we passed a lot of locals who were taking their time on the trail.  I still thought we were slow, but when we got close to the top and started a conversation w/ an older couple who were experienced hikers, they seemed impressed that we finished the hike in under 2 hours.  I'm not sure if that's average or not.  At any rate, it did feel great to reach the top!  We took some pictures outdoors and then went inside the restaurant to check out the bluegrass band that was playing and just rest for a bit: Taking the gondola back down! Once we got

Hi, there!!  My apologies for delaying updates.  We arrived late, late Saturday night from Aspen and the next two days back were slightly stressful.  Does anyone else ever come back home from vacation just to encounter unexpected stresses? No, just us? Don't worry, it's nothing life-changing or tragic...just a bunch of petty annoyances that we'd prefer didn't exist, and especially as soon as we arrive from a relaxing vacation. ANYWAY.  I'm going to do a recap based on each day we were there.  Some days were busier than others, some days we didn't even take pictures (or at least, I forgot to take pictures, but those were mostly of some meals we had), so I'm hoping it doesn't take me too long to recap. We flew into Denver really early as we left Ohio around 6:30am, and b/c of the time change it was still pretty early when we arrived.  We got our rental car and started driving toward Aspen, which is 4 hours away from Denver.  Halfway we stopped for our

We've been here in Aspen, CO for 3 days so far and loving it!  I plan on doing a more detailed recap when I get back, and I'll probably break them up into each day of our stay.  We really haven't been wasting any time during our stay; in fact, fresh off the plane and into our rental car, we did our first hike of the trip which was surprisingly hard for me.  It was a big punch in the gut (and a piece of humble pie) to realize that hiking, indeed, can be a workout!  I went into the first hike all huffy and puffy thinking, "You're a runner! How easy is THIS going to be?!"  Yeah, well...I was ready to call it quits half way, and we hadn't even done a mile! Anyways, more on that with pictures when I get back.  We are having the time of our lives, creating special memories and already dreaming about the next time we can come here.  In fact, we're thinking (God willing) that this could turn into a family tradition; it would be amazing to come here every sum

This unbearable heat is having its effect on my motivation to post anything.  I've been feeling very sluggish:(  I got back from Nashville last Friday, and as soon as my parents and I stepped into the house, the power went out!  We didn't realize it at the time, but the last few miles before we arrived home were spent driving slightly ahead of the derecho that caused millions to lose power in the midwest. We were without power the entire weekend and it wasn't restored until 4am Monday morning.  Before the power came back, we even considered leaving town and heading to Canton early since we'll be flying to Denver from there this weekend.  I'm really thankful, though, that we didn't have to do that because there's lots to do before we leave for Colorado! Today was spent having lunch at Skyline Chili and then looking for good hiking shorts.  I don't have any "proper" hiking attire, but I figured I just needed one or two pairs for this trip.  Try