Friday (4+1) Five! {link up}

Posted by hellyontherun in About Me, Bloggers, Link Party and tagged with About Me, Friday Five, Link Up January 23, 2015

So one of my faves, Hailey @StridingStrong, tagged me in a fun About Me post where I share 4 things on different topics.

I was looking forward to linking up again with the DC Trifect ladies, Mar, Cynthia, and Courtney, and when I saw their Friday Five topic was an About Me, I figured, why not add a +1 to Hailey’s post?? I mean, you all wouldn’t mind getting some extra Helly info, right?? 😀

Okay, here goes!

4 (+1) Names People Call Me

1. Peke (short for “pequena” which means “little” in Spanish)–I’m the youngest of 3 siblings
2. Helly–My real name is actually Angelica (the ‘g’ sounds like an ‘h’) and my college girlfriends decided it was too long and shortened it to Helly
3. Hells–My name to close friends
4. Mrs. B–My teacher name 🙂
5. Mama–My favorite name ❤

4 (+1) Jobs I’ve Had

1. Tutor–I tutored in high school. It’s like I always knew I wanted to teach.
2. Boot Seller–I also worked at a western store during high school where I sold cowboy hats, boots, and saddles. Yep, I wore Wranglers and the whole bit 😀
3. Sales–I worked at a few high fashion stores in college. I love, love, love dressing up and wearing heels and I had some of the best times working in the fashion industry.
4. Waitress–I got a job working at a sports bar/restaurant and it was the best because I never missed any basketball games working the late shifts.
5. Teacher–Still have this job and I love it so very much.

4 (+1) Movies I’ve Watched More Than Once

1. Dumb and Dumber
2. Tommy Boy
3. Forrest Gump
4. Gone In 60 Seconds
5. Grease

4 (+1) Books I’d Recommend

1. The Last Lecture (great non-fiction book–get your tissues ready)
2. The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns (same author)
3. Anything by Jeffrey Deaver (if you like suspense/mystery/horror)
4. Nothing (good, albeit disturbing, YA book)
5. Where The Red Fern Grows (my favorite book from childhood 🙂 )

4 (+1) Places I’ve Lived

1. My hometown in southern AZ
2. Phoenix, AZ
3. Tempe, AZ
4. Scottsdale, AZ
5. I’ve never lived outside of AZ. You can’t move me from here ❤

4 (+1) Places I’ve Been

1. Italy
2. Spain
3. France
4. Puerto Rico
5. Costa Rica

I’ve been fortunate to travel to some pretty cool places.

4 (+1) Places I’d Rather Be Right Now

1. San Francisco–my husband and went last year and had one of, if not the best, trips ever
2. Ohio–I miss my brother and sister
3. Baltimore, Maryland–Salt. ‘Nuff said.
4. Chicago, Il–the next cool place I want to visit (and race!)
5. Home–I’m currently at work.

4 (+1) Things I Don’t Eat

1. Peanut Butter
2. Ranch dressing
3. Mushrooms
4. Cooked carrots
5. Pecans 😦 This is a new allergy

4 (+1) Of My Favorite Foods

1. Bread. Any kind. That includes tortillas.
2. David’s BBQ Sunflower seeds. The addiction is real.
3. Red chili tamales. Mexican food in general. Tacos.
4. The Caribou sub sandwich from our local sub shop, Silvermine’s (ooh, and their broccoli cheese soup!)
5. Pizza. With just pepperoni.

Story. Yesterday, I went to a local pizza shop near work and ordered my usual, 3 slices and a soda. It was a new guy I didn’t recognize behind the counter and upon placing my order, he says, “Are you sure? That’s a lot of food.”

Um, yeah, I’m sure.

4 (+1) TV Shows I’ve Watched

1. Mickey Mouse Club House
2. Doc McStuffins
3. Octonauts
4. Princess Sophia
5. Mickey Mouse Club House

Our house only has one channel.

4 (+1) Things I’m Looking Forward To This Year

1. My little girl turning 3!
2. My little guy turning 2!
3. Phoenix Marathon
4. Chicago Marathon??? (I hope I get in!)
5. The unknown 🙂

4 (+1) Things I’m Always Saying

1. “Seriously?” (or “Really?”)
2. “I’m hungry.” (like, all the time)
3. “There’s a reason I don’t teach elementary school.” (to my students when they’re being squirrely)
4. “Besitos!” (asking my kids for kisses 🙂 )
5. “It was on sale.” (to my husband, always)

I’m supposed to tag people, but I’d so much rather YOU choose something from the list to tell me!

I hope everyone has a good weekend! I’m supposed to do 20 miles tomorrow –eeek!!!

❤ helly

And the award goes to….

Posted by hellyontherun in About Me, Award and tagged with About Me, Award, Blogging Buddies, Liebster, Personal December 12, 2014

MEEEEE!!!

I was nominated again for the Liebster Awards by some fellow awesome blogging friends

Sara @Life Between the Miles
Hailey @Striding Strong
Ali @Hit The Ground Running
Sarah @Running on Healthy

To have been thought of by these four is truly an honor as they are people I’ve come to respect and trust as I’ve grown to know them and their blogs. Make sure you check each one of ’em out!

While I’m not entirely show what constitutes someone deserving of this award or what it really means, I do know that I have to answer some questions…so here ya go!

1. What is my current health related goal?

I’m really focused on marathon training right now. I have my next one in late February and really, really want to PR and maybe even get a sub 4:30 (that would be the ultimate goal).

With this one, I’m hoping to really nail my fueling. I’ve struggled with fueling during my long runs and previous marathons and think that’s the biggest component I need to focus on. So we’ll see how it goes!

2. What is my biggest irrational fear?

Besides freaking out if something happened to my husband and kids, my irrational fear is similar to Salt’s actually.

I hate the water.

I hate pools, lakes, streams, ponds, oceans and any type of body of water. I refuse to get in them.

I just think of all the unknown that’s involved–germs, animals, creatures, things/people who have been in them that I have no idea who or what they are or where they’ve been. It just majorly grosses me out.

3. Do I enjoy wrapping presents?

I do! I’m old school and actually buy paper and wrap gifts 🙂

4. What’s your favorite cross training activity?

Salt introduced me to Blogilates which are pilate-esque videos on Youtube and I kinda sorta have become obsessed with them. The girl who does the videos, we call her crazy Cassey, is so hardcore. She talks the entire time she doing the moves and I’m barely breathing.

5. If you came to visit me, what would we do?

We’d hike Camelback Mountain!!

You know it’s a steep climb when they add a pole to help you up. So much fun!

6. You have 2 weeks off work and 2 round trip plane tickets to ANYWHERE. Where would you go and who would you take?

Hmmmm…I’m not sure where I’d choose to go but my husband would most definitely be with me. Maybe South America to explore the ruins….

7. What’s the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to you during a run or race?

Ummm….well I mentioned awhile back a training run where I passed by a whole bunch of cows (basically a farm) and the smell really made me want to go to the bathroom. And I didn’t have toilet paper. Yeah………

8. What are the 3 best days of your life?

In order in which they occurred in my life:

Graduating from college. I was the first in my family to go to and graduate from college. I honestly never thought I’d be able to go and to have gone and finished in 4 years–it truly is one of my most proudest achievements.

Marrying my husband. If you’ve been a regular reader you may have noticed how obsessed I am with this guy. I seriously scored. ❤

Having kids. I never really saw or thought of myself as the maternal type but my kids have brought it out in me. I love my little munchkins so much; they truly fulfill my life.

9. You HAVE to eat a fast food meal. What restaurant would you choose and what would you order?

JAJAJAJAJA!!!! I love how this question implies you wouldn’t like having to eat fast food LOL! You guys know I’d choose McDonald’s and I’d order my usual: Quarter Pounder w/Cheese 🙂

Lately, I’ve been eating my cheeseburgers at In-n-Out though so maybe at this moment I’d choose there.

10. Have you ever met a celebrity?

Yup. I used to work at a high end retail fashion store and would see/meet a few celebs. Rihanna came into our store once.

11. Share a pic of yourself in non-workout clothes.

I shared one in my last post where I got all cleaned up for my husband’s work party so I’ll re-use that one 🙂

All cleaned up

I love dressing up! I’m a total girl.

12. If you could choose to do a ‘do over’ and switch careers, what would you choose and why?

Nope. I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. I went to college and was in and out in 4 years. There was no need to think of a major or switch because I didn’t like it. Teaching was made for me.

13. If you won an Olympic Gold Medal how do you think you’d react?

I’d for sure cry. Absolutely, without a doubt.

14. What do you want for Christmas?

I’m going to be a complete cliché and say that I have all that I want. I truly do. Honestly, sometimes I get scared of how truly happy and blessed I am. Like there’s no way my life can be this perfect–something will have to go wrong. (I guess that would be another irrational fear lol!)

15. What skill do you lack?

See Salt’s answer for this question.

(P.S. Can you tell why me and Salt are BRF’s?!?)

I’d love to see answers to these questions from some other blogs I enjoy–

Kristina @Blog About Running
Jeremy @Confessions of an Amateur Athlete
Jennifer @We’re Running a Marathon?

Check out their blogs and tell them Helly sent you over 🙂

I hope you all have a great weekend! I have my last race of the year on Sunday–a 1/2 marathon. Anyone else racing or long running?

Pick one of the questions I was asked and answer for fun!

Very Inspiring Blogger {An Award}

Posted by hellyontherun in About Me, Award, Bloggers, Running and tagged with About Me, Blog, Inspiration, Man vs. Horse, Random Facts, Running, WWE July 3, 2014

One of the things I’ve been loving about blogging is finding other blogs to read. I’m not sure if it was because Colby and Tina commented on a post I wrote or if they commented on my fave, Salt’s blog at one point, but the girls that are It’s A Marathon AND A Sprint are one of my favorite finds.

Last week when I wrote about the awesomeness that is Janji, it was because I had discovered the company through their blog. I love blogs that are informative, honest, humorous, and written by people who care about what they write. You see this in every post Tina and Colby publish.

So it was such a great surprise to find out they nominated me for a Very Inspiring Blogger Award! Surprising because they’re the ones that inspire—not only with their running talents but with the way they write. I’m an English teacher and writing is my thing, so when I read good stuff from good people it makes me want to be a better writer. Thank you Colby and Tina for being such awesome people and considering me for this award.

The Rules:

Thank and link to the person who nominated you
List the rules and display the award
Share seven facts about yourself (I know, I know. MORE stuff about Helly???)
Nominate 15 other amazing blogs and comment on their posts to let them know they have been nominated
Optional: display the award logo on your blog and follow the blogger who nominated you

Alright, I’ll try and make this short and sweet 🙂

1. I don’t like the distance number stickers people put on cars. Nothing against people who do, it’s just not my style. And it’s not just the distance stickers, I’m not a fan of putting any type of bumper sticker thing on my car. You won’t find a stick figure family on the back of my Chevy.

2. I also don’t snot rocket. Again, it’s just not style. Most of the time, I carry a small hand towel or a Runningluv type thing to wipe snot from nose and if all else fails, I’m okay with using my shirt. Gross maybe, but I think snot rockets are grosser.

3. I loved wrestling growing up. My brother and I were huge fans of the World Wrestling Federation (now known as WWEntertainment). I grew up watching Ravishing Rick Rude, The Million Dollar Man, The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels, Bret the Hitman Hart, the Ulimate Warrior, Mr. Perfect, and of course Hulk Hogan. I even went to a few live ones and let me tell you, it was pretty amazing.

I stopped watching shortly after the Stone Cold Steve Austin era ended and when I no longer could smell what The Rock was cooking.

4. My high school job was working at a saddle shop. I wore boots and Wranglers and sold western clothing and cowboy hats. I listened to country music all day and hung out with the the guy who made saddles. It was so cool to see something beautifully handmade begin from just a scrap of leather.

If I ever do a 50 mile race it would be this one only because of the awesome buckle you get when/if you finish.

5. I don’t like soft ice cream. Ice cream from Dairy Queen just doesn’t do it for me. I’m more of a Baskin Robins or Cold Stone type of gal. My favorite flavors are chocolate, chocolate chip, and sherbet. I may even get all three together 🙂

6. Getting lost is my thing. When I was young, I’d always somehow stray away. On summer vacations, it became a running joke that my family would lose me. I got lost at Disneyland one year, at the beach another year, and at our State Fair one October. Luckily all three times I was found pretty quickly.

One time, in my sleep, I rolled off the bed and then somehow ended underneath it! All while still asleep! My parents freaked and even called the police but there I was, snoozing under my bed.

7. I love American history. I know that a lot of people like traveling abroad because of so many historical attractions and don’t get me wrong, I love to do that too, but I love learning about our own country’s beginnings. I’m so pumped for the Marine Corps Marathon because it will be my first time in D.C.

As a teacher, I teach freshman, sophomores, and juniors and I love teaching juniors the best because it’s all American literature. I get to read the The Crucible, Edgar Allan Poe, and The Great Gatsby all day. Heaven.

My nominees (in no particular order):

1. Confessions of an Amateur Athlete
2. The Running Schlub
3. Blog About Running
4. Run Away With Me
5. So Very Slightly Mad
6. This Mama Runs For Cupcakes
7. Black Dog Runs Disney
8. PB&PRs
9. Little Green Running Shoes
10. The Little GSP
11. Life Between the Miles
12. Piper’s Run
13. Running on Healthy
14. Slacker Runner
15. Running Vegetarian

Please check out these awesome blogs!

–What are some good blogs you’re following nowadays?

–Thoughts on my random facts? Wanna share one?

If you’re in the states, I hope you have a great 4th of July tomorrow!!