Two Ears One Mouth

For the past couple of years I've dreamed of becoming a weekender, aka those people who seem like they have plans or do something fun every weekend. Ladies and gentlemen, I think I'm doing well so far. Working from home has its benefits for sure but a huge downfall is a lack of interaction with the outside world. If I wanted to I could quite literally never use my car all week. In fact, I could get by with only leaving the house to walk the dog and maybe get the mail. But even for as introverted and socially weird I am I still can't live like that so I make it a point to go out most days. But weekends are another story. I finally have The Colonel home to talk to me AND there's always something to do around here. Saturday was the lazier of our days. The Colonel hurt his foot a little in kickboxing so we kept it low key. He slept late and I got up at my normal time, walked the dog then cuddled on the couch with my book for a few hours. Love. Then we went to a matinee ...

I've been wanting to write a blog for quite a while but was waiting until I was in a great mood so it would be upbeat and fun! Unfortunately the times that I'm in a great mood are when I'm not anywhere near a computer or device and walking along some tree lined path/finding rivers/staring at mountains and incredible scenery while driving somewhere. In short, the Northwest is incredible and I absolutely love living here. BUT location alone doesn't change your entire life (although it seems like it would) so I'm still battling my regular issues of career, my ever changing mood and finances as we work on the moving rebound. Living far away is hard. It's kind of like I died. I don't yet have a busy enough life to distract myself in the day to day so not getting texts or calls or messages from my friends back east makes me feel lonely. The show must go on and I'm sure you are absolutely dying to know what I'm doing right now so thanks to Pinterest I hav...

Well hello there from your friendly neighborhood Oregonian! I think that's what people in Oregon are called. I may need to confirm that or wait until someone says it so I know without having to ask. Anyway, thought now would be a good time to pop in and let you know that I'm alive and well and have been living in Oregon for about a week now. I'm sure some of you think you're interested in a recap of the road trip but trust me, you're not. It was quite long and quite boring. I'm not one who loves a road trip anyway so loading me up for 5 days wasn't exactly thrilling. Here's a quick rundown for you though, just in case you don't believe it happened: Day 1: Louisville to Kansas City We'd hardly crossed into Indiana before I started crying but luckily it didn't last long. It took forever for us to leave and starting out 3 hours behind wasn't exactly how I wanted to begin the journey but it really wasn't a big deal. We made it to th...

We are driving all the way to Oregon so there's definitely planning that has to go into such a trip. We have to make sure we buy enough ammunition, spare wagon parts and clothing at the general store which can be hard on a carpenter's salary. We have to stop and talk to people to get their opinion on what we're doing and how we're doing it and most of all, we have to ready the oxen. Oh wait, sorry, we're taking the trail for real by car, not on pix-elated computer screens by wagon. My mistake. via I'll probably never stop making Oregon Trail jokes so you should just go ahead and accept that. The original OT traveled from Independence, MO (where I almost booked our Day 1 hotel just for kicks) to Oregon City, OR. Our fair city of Tualatin lies just 11 miles west of Oregon City so we're going a bit further than the true OT but we're also in a car and not a wagon so I think we'll make it like the true explorers we are. And there's your...

Let's take the emotions down a notch from my last post and get back to that moving across the country thing. via As of last night we're officially not homeless! Hooray! We got the approval for an apartment in a fun little town called Tualatin which is a few miles southwest of Portland, aka the 'burbs. The apartment is within walking distance of lots of stores (including a grocery store and farmer's market, top priority obvs) and is centrally located to a lap swimming pool, 3 (count em, THREE) parks and 2 hot yoga studios. I'm pretty pumped to say the least. But back to the moving thing. The easiest way to move your stuff across the country is to not have a lot of stuff to move across the country. Seriously. Read any moving blog or website or whatever and they will tell you to sell your shit. Or donate it, or whatever you have to do to get rid of it because hauling it all is expensive and the farther you go the more expensive it is. I can't rememb...

I figure it's about time to put this out there and I'm pretty sure if you know me really well, you won't be surprised by any of what I have to say. I've been having a lot of issues lately. I've been working hard with my counselor to determine who I really am and what brings me true joy in life and it's been surprising, frustrating, difficult, fun, exhausting, enlightening, exciting and hard....to sum it up in a few words. I spent some time in Puerto Rico back in March and finally got back into doing some writing while I was out there. It wasn't anything long and certainly not anything particularly newsworthy but it made me feel good. I enjoy writing. When I was young I used to write short fiction stories on my mom's computer whenever I had free time and though a lot of them remained unfinished, they were always fun for me and surprisingly effortless to compose. Blogging has never quite been the same as my true writing and I've been working hard t...

As self centered as I can sometimes be, I have to say I'm a little disappointed. After spending almost 8 years in Louisville (holy crap has it really been that long!) I was really expecting to have made very close connections. I was expecting to have friends who upon hearing the news would start asking me questions. When are you leaving? Where will you live? Do you have a job lined up? How will you get your stuff there? Do you need help? WHEN CAN I COME VISIT? If I'd heard my friend was moving quite literally across the country, I'd like to think I would be asking those questions. Aside from my sister and 1 or 2 people I honestly haven't known for very long, nobody really seems to be asking anything. That makes me sad because in my sensitivity and dramatics, it comes off as not caring. I mean, surely they don't have anything going on in their lives that could need more attention than my move right? *I'm being dramatic here, I know people have important ...

A lot of things have changed. Like, a lot of them. The biggest thing that has (or at least is about to) changed is my location. In a few short weeks The Colonel and I will be embarking on a real live Oregon Trail and moving to Portland! It's official! We are driving the real live #oregontrail and moving to Portland! #adventure #PDX #PNW #roadtrip A photo posted by Rennay Cooke Marshall (@rnay225) on Apr 17, 2015 at 5:34pm PDT To make a long story short, we've been talking about moving for ages but wanted to do it the right way (i.e. save up money, purge excess crap, visit a few cities, pick one, get jobs etc.). You know what they say about best laid plans right? Turns out The Colonel accepted a transfer to Portland at the end of last week and now we have roughly a month to be moved the 2300 miles to Oregon. Holy moly. Interestingly, a few weeks ago I started watching My City's Just Not That Into Me  on FYI and thought just for kicks to take their My ...

Do you think anyone will notice my #goggleeyes from the swim I just finished? #triathleteproblems #futureironman #IMLOU — Rennay Cooke (@Rnay225) February 3, 2015 Going through wedding photos and my sister and I should be in a magazine. pic.twitter.com/dLCZESpheB — Rennay Cooke (@Rnay225) February 6, 2015 So fitting a #treadmill into a #Chevy #aveo is challenging. #triathleteproblems #runnerproblems #futureironman #IMLOU — Rennay Cooke (@Rnay225) February 14, 2015 After trying Aphrodisioats "Breakfast is sexy again!" @Ocelot110 is wise. @StokedOats @adventuresimon @MelRaeStewart — Rennay Cooke (@Rnay225) February 19, 2015 I wore #hylete compression socks to work because my regular tall socks were dirty. #innovation — Rennay Cooke (@Rnay225) February 20, 2015 Old episodes of @BoundlessESQ are on! Thanks for the birthday treat @ESQTV ! #HappyBirthdayToMe @Brooklyn_North @adventuresimon — Rennay Cooke (@Rnay2...

The other day I sent a text to my sister that went something like, "Remember when I used to write a blog? That was fun." I spend a lot of time nowadays watching my head movies (as RER calls them) and when you have tons of time to think you can come up with all sorts of things to write about. What I'm saying is, my absence isn't due to a lack of material. Since today is my last day as a 26 year old I thought I'd at least throw something together very quickly for the sake of...I don't know, 26-ing. Also yes, tomorrow is my birthday! Here are 26 things I've learned or thought about since beginning Ironman training:  My laundry is finally being done regularly. I only have 4 sports bras and 1 bathing suit so laundry needs to be done all the time . I truly don't have time for things. You know how you say you'll call someone or write that blog or watch that show but you never have time because you're too busy doing some equally unnecessary ta...

Round 2 of Commit to Fit was triple the size of round 1 and just as much fun as the first go! For the short month of February we took a short break but don't fret, Commit to Fit is BACK for March! If you haven't joined in yet, what are you waiting for?  The goal of this challenge is to remember that being active is a lifestyle and not necessarily a specific workout plan. Think ahead and plan to do what you want to do when you can do it. CLICK HERE  for more information and to sign up! There have been some changes for the better this round so please read carefully: All official participants will be required to pay the $15 fee and use the Trainerize software to track their progress. With the size of the program, it has become difficult to manage points effectively through manual tracking. I think it's best to rely on a software system than my tired eyes to make sure everyone gets the points they deserve! People can still play along for free by joining the  Faceb...

Sarah  posted her version of this post just the other day and I thought I would follow suit. It seemed particularly appropriate as I've had an absence of blogging as of late so I might as well do a little explainin'. via I'm a busy bee and I like it that way so here are just a few of the many things I'm doing when I'm not chatting with you fine people. *Cue Titanic reference via Training Myself With that little Ironman race  coming up I've been spending a lot of time trying to get my life in order before training actually starts. In the meantime, I'm getting in 2 solid swim, bike, run and strength sessions in 6 days each week. I started up with my awesome Coach  on January 1st and so far so good. The workouts aren't long but between commuting (I live a good drive from the pool, gym and most safe outdoor running routes), changing clothes, showering and eating it takes up much more time than I realized. Luckily I'll be moving before ish ...