Keep those fingers crossed!

We had some major news on the house renting front yesterday!! After work, I had a loud, excited message from J.D. on my voice mail saying the house was almost ours!

Let me explain. THE HOUSE, our No. 1 pick, brand new house, is in reach! Someone else had snuck in before us with an application, after the place had been sitting unoccupied since May. Apparently they did not pass the credit check!!!!!!!! SO we're next in line! The property management woman met with our Realtor (J.D.'s cousin) this morning to get the ball rolling for us. We sent in the application, references, employment contracts, etc. She seems really optimistic we'll get the place. But we should know at some point tomorrow.

Keep those fingers crossed!!

In the meantime, here are some pictures of the place we absolutely loooove!

Fireplace.... even if it's not actually wood-burning, it's cute!

Ample storage space in the kitchen and APPLIANCES INCLUDED!

Double vanity in the master bath :)

Landscaped backyard with grass and a water fountain -- so rare in AZ! (Well, in our price range)

And really neat light fixtures!

After hearing the good start to good news last night, we buckled down and continued viciously packing. We did some major damage on the kitchen, but there is much more left to do. Eventually, we had to take a break and cook some dinner. More cleaning out the freezer/pantry, yay.

We went with some home-made takeout. Orange chicken, brown rice, grilled veggies and an Asian salad with ginger/citrus dressing.

I also have some very depressing news to share with you. I may have injured my knee in my determination to become a long-distance runner :(. As you can see on the sidebar to the right, I ran a lot in May and June. July has had a few setbacks because I thought I had bronchitis, then had a severe reaction to the antibiotics I took for it. Then it turned out I just had really bad allergies. And now my knee's bumming me out.

In order to continue on my half marathon training plan, I did an "easy" run last night. Two miles at a 9:00 minute/mile pace. I could tell it'd been a while since I ran. My lungs hurt and my knee throbbed the entire time. Even walking afterward was grueling.

This morning I went in to see on of our athletic trainers. Another perk of working for an athletic department (only two more days, however). She looked it over and said I had some visible swelling on the affected, left knee. I could tell plain as day once she pointed it out. Apparently the fatty shock absorbing sack around my knee is either deteriorating or just super inflamed. So I've been instructed to lay off running for a bit. When I get back in a few weeks, I'm supposed to take 15-20 minute walking warm-ups before my run, ice heavily afterward and also take lotsa ibuprofen.

The half I had originally planned on competing in is the Scottsdale/Tempe Women's Half Marathon on Nov. 7, for my first ever half!!! What do you think? Can I train for it if I take 2-3 weeks off and ease into it? To give you some perspective, it's exactly 15 weeks away. I don't know what to do!! I mean, there's always the Phoenix Rock 'n' Roll in January also, but I don't know if I want to take this long to do a half! It's taunting and torturing me!!

So I guess in the meantime, I'll be using packing and moving as my cardio. I won't be wearing heels much more, since they kill my knee. And once I'm in Arizona, I'm considering reserving the third bedroom for my indoor workouts, such as pilates and yoga. Maybe I'll start working on creating a killer home gym :)

Oh, I can't believe I forgot to share this too!!! Woodstock passed a major milestone in his puppyhood! He passed his puppy class, and only missed one point on his test! So proud of my little wiener :)

Pictures of pictures never work, but I really wanted to display this cuteness :) He even sat still like a good boy with the mortar board!

Alright, two days to go. Lots of cleaning and packing ahead. I also need to start working on a playlist for the 12 hour drive down! We will only get solid radio stations in three places along the drive: here, KROQ in Los Angeles and what I hope will become my new fav radio station in Phoenix, 103.9 FM.

I know for sure THIS is going to be on that playlist:

I'm not sure why the video is so creepy, but it's a good song anyways. Also, I LOVE Katy Perry. Maybe it's because I LOVE Zooey Deschanel and they're basically doppelgängers.

See?

(Source)

Who's your favorite musician/actor?! :)