Life According to Megan

Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k Presented By Martins

May 15, 2013 by Megan Leave a Comment

So I realized I never blogged about my 10k experience. Whoops! A month late is better than never, right?

Anyway, the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k was held on Saturday, April 13, 2013.

My friend Shannon and I decided to meet up because getting to the race would’ve been a pain in the ass if we went separately and tried to look for parking. After we met at Target, my mom dropped us off at Kroger, which is right near the starting line. The starting line was at Broad Street and Harrison Street, right by the VCU Siegel Center.

I was in wave WC, so my start time was 9:44 a.m. Shannon was in a few waves ahead of me, so she started about 10 minutes before I did.

The race was alright. I kept wanting to turn back and head towards the finish line, but I knew it wouldn’t be fair. I jogged the first mile nonstop and kept alternating between walking/jogging after that.

Here are my official results:

The first time shows how long it took me to run a 5k. The second time shows how much time has lapsed since the race started at 8:30 a.m. The third time shows how long it took me to run the 10k. My time isn’t that great. I’m thinking about doing it again next year and hope to improve on that. I’d like to finish the whole thing within an hour, if possible.

Shannon finished the race in about an hour and 20 minutes.

Here are a couple of photos I snapped along the way:

There were five people walking together in this “car.”

I feel so hot for these people.

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: 10k, fitness, running

Book Review: “The Fault In Our Stars” by John Green

May 9, 2013 by Megan Leave a Comment

Rating: 5 out of 5

I started reading “The Fault In Our Stars” on Tuesday and finished it Wednesday night. It was that good that I just couldn’t put down.

(There are no spoilers int this review.)

Synopsis: ”The Fault In Our Stars” is about a 16-year-old girl named Hazel who developed cancer at the age of 13. As a result, Hazel’s mom thought it would be a good idea for Hazel to go to support group, which is where she meets a boy named Augustus Waters.

Throughout the book, their relationship develops into “something more,” and before you know it, they become inseparable. They go through so many ups and downs. Dealing with death is a constant topic in their relationship.

Thoughts: I thought the plot was excellent because John Green just told it how it is. He didn’t sugarcoat anything and showed that everything’s not going to have a happy ending. The writing was impecable. I loved the poetry he brought into Augustus’ speaking style. Everything flowed together so beautifully.

Although I didn’t sob like most people, I felt a connection to these characters. I wanted to know what was going to happen to them. Are they going to die or will they make it? What Hazel and Augustus had made such a beautiful love story. This book is so much more than just about cancer.

If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it.

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Book Reviews, books, The Fault In Our Stars

Segway tour through Richmond

April 28, 2013 by Megan Leave a Comment

Today, I did a Segway tour through downtown Richmond with my mom, Michelle, and my cousin Garrick. The tour we did was an hour long, but they also have two hour tours as well.

We stopped at Christopher Newport’s cross off of Canal Street. Then we went to Brown’s Island and then the State Capitol. Whenever we stopped somewhere, our tour guide Matt would tell us something interesting about whichever landmark we’re looking at.

It was fun riding around town on a Segway, but it was scary at first. When my sister and I first stepped onto the Segway, Matt asked us to spin around in a circle. Halfway through, I grabbed onto my sister’s handle bar because I was terrified. Then Matt asked us to go up the hill. I screamed “Help!” because I was going backwards on the hill. It turned out I wasn’t leaning my body forward enough.

I recommend getting a Groupon deal, rather than just booking through Segway of Richmond, because the tours are pretty expensive. Tours cost between $48 and $68, but we paid $22 for an hour tour through the Groupon deal.

Click here for more information.

I’m not affiliated with this company.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Richmond, Segway, Segway of Richmond, tour

Boston

April 21, 2013 by Megan Leave a Comment

Woohoo! I can finally update my blog again! I couldn’t update it before because of a DDoS server attack.

Anyway, this week was crazy, especially with the Boston Marathon Bombings. I can’t believe that there are some people in this world that would kill innocent people. Three people died and hundreds of others were injured. What has this world come to? I’m glad police FINALLY found one of the suspects (the other died in a shootout). I’d love to see what charges and jail time this guy will face.

I can’t even imagine what the residents of Boston and its suburbs went through this week. Stay strong, Boston!

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: Boston

GRE studying

April 4, 2013 by Megan 2 Comments

Lately, I’ve been slacking off of my GRE studying. I’m not sure why exactly. I think I just let other plans get in the way or I just procrastinate, which isn’t good. I was following a plan, but I finished that. I had to change things to adjust according to my schedule.

My test is on June 12th at 12:30 P.M., which is only a little more than two months away. I started studying on and off since about this time last year, but then I stopped for the summer and then again for the holidays. I’ve been doing alright with reviewing vocabulary words thanks to Brainscape, but I have only taken two or three practice tests so far. Most of the time, I skipped the writing section.

Not good at all. I hate studying for the GRE.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: GRE

Trip to Atlantic City and Philadelphia

April 3, 2013 by Megan Leave a Comment

So my mom, my sister Michelle, my cousin Garrick, my aunt and I went to Atlantic City this past week. We left Sunday morning around 10 and drove through the rain all day. Poor Mom. She was the one driving. We didn’t get to Atlantic City until close to 5 p.m. It shouldn’t have taken that long.

We ended up staying at the Borgata because my aunt got two nights free. The Borgata is nice, let me tell you. If you ever go to Atlantic City, you should definitely stop by The Borgata. The building has an amazing interior design and awesome artwork.

While my aunt headed to the blackjack table, my mom and I played the slot machines. She won $11 and then ended up losing most of it, and I lost $2.50. Then we just walked around the casino. My mom and I aren’t big gamblers.

On Monday, my mom, Michelle, Garrick and I drove to Philadelphia to look at apartments because Michelle is going to move there in the fall for optometry school.

To sum it up:

First apartment complex: Newest out of all of the complexes we looked at. Built in 1991. Your average apartment complex.
Second apartment complex: Quiet. Retirement home, but spacious. The leasing lady said the apartments underwent some renovations. I noticed some of the renovations, but I expected it to be a heck of a lot nicer. Living with a bunch of old people in the building may be weird.
Third apartment complex: We didn’t schedule an appointment with this complex, but my sister heard some “not-so-great” things about it, like dealing with rodents. The apartment complex was built in the 1950′s. Old. Gross. Weird layout. The two apartments we saw had an angular room. One apartment had three bedrooms, but we had to walk through one bedroom to get to the other bedroom because that bedroom didn’t have a door to the main hallway.
Fourth apartment complex: This was the furthest away from the school, but it’s located right by the mall, grocery store, etc. Really nice clubhouse with a home theater. Apartment complex was built in the 1960s though. However, they had really spacious floor plans and BIG walk in closets. This apartment complex was everyone’s favorite.

We also stopped by the school, which looked like an office building. I was expecting a full blown college campus, but at least it had a pond, a gazebo and some pretty walkways.

After that, we went to Drexel University because Garrick wanted to check it out. He got accepted there but isn’t going because of the tuition. It was a really nice school. I liked the whole city campus atmosphere. It’s like VCU in a way, but all of the buildings are right there, and Philadelphia is better than Richmond anyway.

We went to the Tanger Outlets when we got back to Atlantic City. It’s basically set up with stores on each block, not like an enclosed mall. Click here to see what I mean.

Later that night, we were planning on casino hopping, but it turns out that you have to pay $2.50 each time you want to go somewhere on the Jitney. It would’ve been $10 for the four of us. Bummer. I wanted to go to Harrah’s and the Taj Mahal. Instead, we basically spent the night chilling in the room and walking around The Borgata.

Before we left yesterday, my sister and I got our dad a shirt that said, “Live Life and Play Hard” from The Borgata gift shop.

Tips:

Bring a lot of cash and change because you’ll pass through a lot of tolls, depending on where you’re coming from. Or you could make things a lot easier on yourself and get an EZ-Pass. Thank goodness my mom got one a long time ago. The most we spent on a toll was $4.
This may or may not be possible, but try to avoid I-676.
All New Jersey gas stations are full service.
Don’t even bother driving from casino to casino. Who wants to pay for parking anyway? Most of them are right by each other, except for The Borgata, Harrah’s and The Golden Nugget.
You should never rely 100% on the GPS to get around. Stupid GPS got us lost in Philly. Thank goodness Garrick had a 3 GB data plan on his iPhone.

Filed Under: Trips Tagged With: Atlantic City, Philadelphia

Organizing

March 12, 2013 by Megan Leave a Comment

So this year, one of my goals is to become more organized. Becoming organized means developing systems, getting rid of things that I no longer use or no longer function and being productive.

Earlier this year, I came across a YouTube channel called HomeOrganizing, which is run by a woman named Alejandra. She posts all kinds of organizing tips and comes up with new ideas on how to spice up a room. After watching a few of her videos, I headed over to her website and signed up for her 7 day program. After reading all of her tips, I eventually decided to sign up for her Power Productivity Program (PPP). I was hesitant to sign up because it was $97 (eek!). Then I figured, what will happen if I don’t get organized?

Alejandra has definitely given me the motivation to get organized. Today, I donated a lot of things I didn’t use, like CDs, old toys, dry erase boards, and I donated my shoe rack. My shoe rack was slanted so all of my shoes (especially flip flops) would fall off. The shoe rack was made for high-heels.

This organizing process hasn’t been easy though. My family has gotten mad at me for donating my stuff because I didn’t ask them first. Or they want me to keep it because they bought it for me. It’s frustrating. I can’t keep everything. My dad and my sister flipped out because I donated my shoe rack. They keep on saying there’s nothing wrong with it, but they didn’t realize that my shoes kept falling off of it. My dad kept on saying that he could’ve used it in the garage or found another use for it. We were in the middle of a store, and I got so angry and frustrated (childish, I know.) I don’t want our house to end up like the ones on “Hoarders” because people in my family want to claim another person’s junk. In that case, the house is never going to get organized.

A while ago, I donated a bike my dad bought me when I was in the 5th grade. He was livid when I donated the bike. The bike has been sitting outside for at least 10 years and accumulating rust. It was barely rideable. Plus, I’m 25, so obviously, it’s not going to fit me anymore. I just didn’t see the point of keeping it outside. He kept saying that he could’ve sold it. Yeah, like that’s going to happen. Not in a million years. Although, since he paid for the bike, it’s TECHNICALLY his, but I don’t know why he expects me to keep everything he’s given me.

In the end, I’m just trying to help out.

Filed Under: Goals Tagged With: organization