Because I knew you...

I have been changed for the better...

 

 

For Good from Wicked:

(Glinda):

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

(Elphaba):
It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from it's mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you

(Glinda):
Because I knew you

(Both):
I have been changed for good

(Elphaba):
And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I've done you blame me for

(Glinda):
But then, I guess we know
There's blame to share

(Both):
And none of it seems to matter anymore

(Glinda):
Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood

(Elphaba):
Like a ship blown from it's mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a bird in the wood

(Both):
Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better
(Glinda):
And because I knew you...

(Elphaba):
Because I knew you...

(Both):
Because I knew you...
I have been changed for good...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  

Dear Wendy,

Thank you for being my best friend.  

May memories of good and fun times fill my mind 

and may I always feel your spirit in my life.

May you rest in peace with no more pain and
may your family & friends always feel your love in our hearts.  

I love you and miss you my dear friend...

Blogging Break

Dear followers of Cincy Spin,

It has occurred to me that my life has gotten much, much busier over these past few months since I started massage therapy school. It's going absolutely great and I am so happy that I've started on this new path. Between two nights at school and my new job - where I've help launch a new website & some other social media outlets - I haven't been able to commit the time I'd like to posting here on CincySpin. So, I've decided to take a break from updating here on the site. I love this blog & I love the outlet it has provided me for the past 3 years. Thank you for following along my life's journey these past few years & for understanding why I need to make this change.
I will be back one day - full of things to say!

~LJ

Johnny's Po-Boy Restaurant

JJ and I recently took a trip to New Orleans for a few days over the 4th of July weekend and on one of our many days filled with walking around the French Quarter we stopped at Johnny's Po-Boy on St. Louis Street for some authentic New Orleans sandwiches. Johnny's had been recommend to us by a friend who has spent some time in NOLA working with Give Back Cincinnati so I was very excited when we were able to visit the oldest family owned po-boy shop in the city.
We tried to hit up Johnny's on a Saturday around 1pm and we could barley stand inside the fairly small dining room, it was that crowded. So we changed plans that afternoon and hit up the shop the next afternoon when it was a little less crowded. After standing in line for a few minutes and staring up at the big white board filled with Po-Boy options, we decided to split a "Johnny's special" - roast beef, grilled ham, swiss & american cheese, lettuce, tomato, and pickle - all piled up on some french bread.
While waiting for our sandwich, I loved all the people watching. Tons of people were bringing out their phones to grab a photo of these huge sandwiches that they were about to consume. The dining room is small, but I did notice some people where headed to the back of the building so I'm guessing there was some more seating back there.
Johnny's is 1 or 2 blocks north of the Riverwalk along the Mississippi River, so JJ had a great suggestion to get our po-boy to go and head over for a picnic along the river. I once saw a show on the travel channel where some guy was talking about po-boys saying that the way to tell if it's a good one is when the juices run down your arm when you take a bit out of it and let me tell you Johnny's did not disappoint - it was totally awesome!

Check out Johnny's Po-Boy if you ever get to the historic French Quarter of New Orleans. Don't be discouraged if there's a line when you visit - it goes fast and if it's a nice day, then I recommend getting it "to-go" and heading over to the Riverwalk area where there are plenty of benches and open green space for a picnic.

Attention Glee Fans

Check out this video of a mini warbler fan - it totally made my day so thought I'd share it with you - perhaps it will make you smile too!



Maybe not the best lyrics for such a young kid to be singing, but I still thought it was a great video. Love the outfit with his striped tie and matching warbler jacket, love his enthusiasm and how about those dance moves....

Watch out Blaine & Dalton Academy - looks like you've got some competition at Nationals!

Half Marathon Recap

As I mentioned in my last post with the photo recap on my Flying Pig half marathon, it was a totally awesome experience. I trained for 4 straight months with the Running Spot training group for the half marathon. Twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays, I would lace up my shoes and follow the running routes that were planned out by our coaches. All of the gals in the picture below have become some great friends of mine and I'm really thankful my path in life introduced me to them through this experience. From left to right below is Julie, Amy, Coach Carolyn, Beth and myself gathered together right before we lined up for the start of the race:We all stayed together for the first mile or so and it was quite a rush to be among the thousands of runners all lined up in downtown Cincinnati. In the sea of all those people, I got separated from my group of girls, but ended up hooking up with another training group member named Adam. He and I ran together for miles 2-6 and that was great. Having someone new to talk with along the race was a really great way to get those first few miles under my belt without freaking out too much about those miles that were still to come. At mile 6.5 the course headed into a beautiful park in Cincy called Eden Park and that was were the relay switch occurred. So, I follow the path to switch out with JJ so he could start his portion of the 4-person relay run and then I continued on the half marathon course. Being able to share about 1/2 mile running with him was a really cool part of the day. Having him support me in so many ways and seeing him along this journey really helped me push on through the middle miles along the route.

After JJ and I split off on different routes, I did have a bit of mental stuff start to happen. From about mile 7 on, I ran by myself along the route, which was not something I planned on doing. From my first training run, I had my running buddies right there beside me. But on this day, we all got separated and so there I was for 6.2 more miles alone with my thoughts. By Mile 10, I had pushed through some of the rough physical moments with my body, but there were some mental thoughts that started to creep in like "oh lord, I still have 3.2 mile to go", but like I had done on several training runs I dug deep and put my thoughts to good use. Remembering that I could in fact finish this and that I had made it to mile 10 already and the rest of the course was mostly down hill, so just keep putting one foot in front of the other to get to the finish line. These pictures of me below are around mile 11 & 12, so I'm almost about to hit the final straight stretch of the course towards the finish line.
One of the Running Spot coaches spotted me with about .2 miles to go and I did my best to hold together the emotions I was feeling. I gave him a huge "high 5" and smiled from ear to ear - I had done it! With Coach Micheal's encouragement, he told me to pick out someone in front of me and beat that person across the finish line - so that's what I did - set my eyes on a gal in a gray t-shirt and pounded my legs so hard that I blew past her as I crossed the finish line.

The numbers broke down like this:

13.1 miles took me 3 hours and 6 minutes at a pace of 14:13 per mile

The feeling of pride & accomplishment when I crossed the finish line...

ABSOLUTELY...100%...PRICELESS

Flying Pig through Pictures

I had a totally awesome experience with my first (and maybe only) half marathon this past Sunday when I was one of about 20,000 people participating in Cincinnati's Flying Pig Marathon. Here's a quick re-cap through some photos I took along the 13.1 mile course.

Me and JJ at Mile 7

My awesome friends who came out to cheer me on at Mile 11Finish Line with my running buddy Julie and Coach Carolyn
After party at the Running Spot tent with our 4 person Relay Team - Team Swine Flew!

Once life settles down a little I plan on posting about how everything went and some more indepth details about the day. Like I said, it was really great - eventhough it rained the first 5 miles or so, I really embraced the morning and took in all the excitement and emotions that came along with completing this goal I'd set out to finish. I can not thank everyone enough for all the support these last few months and especially the days leading up to the big run. I received tons of shout outs on Facebook and also got many text messages from loved ones cheering me on and all of those mean so much to me. Looking forward to recaping things and getting another blog post up soon with the details and hopefully some of the office race day photos!

It's time for pigs to fly!

After months and months of training runs and prep work, tomorrow morning is the Cincinnati Flying Pig Half Marathon. Tonight we went out for an awesome pre-race dinner with my running buddies to Buca di Beppo and loaded up on some yummy carbs like pasta and italian bread. Here's a quick pick of us before we all went home to get our gear ready for the morning. I'm feeling pretty good about things - I've gotten tons of shout outs and good luck wishes through Facebook and text messages, so it's so helpful to have lots of people cheering for me as I embark on this adventure. A few of my peeps are supposed to be out spectating along the course, so that will be fun to look for them along the run. Got all my clothes ready for the early wake up call, so now it's time for bed for some good solid sleep.Thanks again to all my blog readers for your support over these last few months during my training run posts. I'll be thinking of all those who are behind me while I'm out on the course in the morning!