Without a doubt, I’ve been a highly blessed and favored woman wallowing in the joys of sweet, sweet happiness throughout 2010. It is as if the universe positioned all the key ingredients for an awesome year right in the palm of my hand. Before I take my annual stroll down the year that was, I should provide some disclaimers to the secrets of my abundant joy. First one being, I’m broker than a church mouse. (That’s something my mama might say.) Yep! I did NOT expand my bank account with $$$. I did NOT tuck a little extra into my 401k or increase my stock options. I have neither. (But I do have Jesus!) I can’t even say I made any major career advancements. (Nada – Although you said it would happen Ms. Susan Miller. It didn’t.) Another side note: My children’s book “Isaac and the Bah Tree” didn’t soar the top-sellers lists, but ya’ll can still support a sister and get your copy here.

On the flip-side, I managed to suck dry every mile in every frequent flier program I’m enrolled with which lead me to some fairly exotic destinations. And don’t let me fool you into thinking my very merry matrimony to the most amazing man in my life took a back seat to my usual globe gallivanting highlights. (P.S. I got married this year in case I missed getting the memo to everyone. Click here if: A. You missed the memo. B. Are seriously nosy. -OR- C. Wish to know about our forces combined.) Aside from my husband’s love and affection, I was able to be surrounded by the good company of friends near and far.

So that’s the summary. Just beyond these type-written words is the 2010 full-shebang accompanied by pictures, links and more. (I did my best to keep it flowing in chronological order.)

Let’s hit it!

January, February and March were pretty dull. Can’t recall anything spectacular that occurred. Those cold Florida wintry days were consumed with the following: A. Working 40 hour weeks on a temporary assignment. B. Planning my elopement ceremony. AND C. Crafting up ways to visit places outside of Tampa.

In sticking to my usual theme of par-taking in activities, events and social-networks that the average Black American chick usually does NOT par take in, I did recite a poem in Farsi during Norooz this year. My most awesome tutor at the Infinite Edge Learning Center here in Tampa put me up to the challenge during a local Norooz celebration. No footage/pictures exist of my moment there, but you are welcome to hear me recite the poem here. Strange cookie – midoonam.

Flash forward to April. After fulfilling my commitment with the temp agency, it was time to have some fun. How so? By going to Kaua’i (a small tropical island mass belonging to the state of Hawai’i) with my then-fiancee. You might recall at the end of 2009 my being victorious in a Trazzler ‘Island’ Writing Contest, which landed me and my lucky dude an opportunity to va-cay in the Aloha State. (Sumo size Mahalo to everyone who voted once more!) Safe to say we had an incredible time.

Revisit my 2010 Kaua’i experience here.

Upon my return from Kaua’i, I was summoned by the U.S. Census Bureau. On I went for another stint as an office clerk at a new local LCO. If you’ve ever seen an episode of ‘The Office’ or better, worked at a government office – you can imagine what the environment was like. I have to say that I met some really unique individuals during my short employment there. Because they made the job so enjoyable I am going to give them a round of sound right here and right now. (Jhessye, James, Sandra, Michelle, Tracy, Ray, Flor, Lyon, Patricia, Dan, Linley, Elaine, Eric, Carol, Trish, Jonathan, McPhail, Chris and even Mr. Dixon — it was a tremendous pleasure being your colleague from April to August. Thank you for the song, cakes, laughs, flexibility, energy, patience and more. Thank you.)

Moving onward into May, my elopement planning was pretty much complete which only meant one thing: party time! I opted to mix and mash my birthday and bachelorette fiesta into one so twice the amount of fun could be had. I was fortunate enough to have most of my best gal-pals come from out-of-town to celebrate with me. As one can imagine, we did the manicure / pedicure thing, visit to the bridal shop, beach, club, dinner and made a trip to Orlando. Thank you to all my gorgeous girlfriends for being part of this.

Revisit my 2010 Birthday/Bachelorette weekend experience here.

June was all about wedding bells. It was about counting down the final days of being a semi-unclaimed and unhonest woman. It was also about answering the question: Why Montana? On Thursday, June 17th, 2010 – I proudly became Mrs. Abiodun. With that being said, don’t let me forget the amount of time I spent in June getting people to say the new surname right. Still in need of a how-to yourself? Reference the July video blog.

Revisit my 2010 Marriage in Montana experience here.

July was snoring boring so I’ll bypass the details of cleaning house and clipping my toenails since those are fairly uneventful happenings. August stood for Argentina. This is the trip I did not truly plan for, did not budget for or probably should not have even gone on, but I am glad I went. Natalie and I always have a good time when traveling together, so I’m pleased she made the suggestion of going somewhere before children appear in our freshly married lives. We ate well, met some awesome people (Celina, Pablo, Nazeli and Solana) and did what tourists do when in Argentina. What we did not do well was speak Spanish. We should really get better at that.

Revisit my 2010 Buenos Aires & Salta, Argentina experience here.

Enter September where I spent a few days in my favorite U.S. state – California. This trip was purely pleasure (for the majority) and consisted of going out with friends, visiting family and the tour of babies! Very many thanks to my amigo Quar Brown for taking these deliciously vibrant photographs of me in the Artists District in downtown L.A.

Revisit my 2010 California experience here.

Later in the month I ran a full 26.2 marathon in Toronto, Canada. You’ll notice I didn’t seem very happy after crossing the finish line. I wasn’t. Let’s just say disappointed THEN and thankful for the good health and experience NOW. I’m also very thankful when moments like this are captured in photos. Not everything I do or go through ends with a big cheesy smile. This was one of those moments.

Revisit my 2010 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon experience here.

Come October I was back in Ethiopia leading my third Habitat for Humanity GV project. I spent ten days in Debre Markos working on the last seven plots of houses and a few days relaxing in Addis. From Ethiopia I went on to Zanzibar, an island situated off the coast of Tanzania. Visiting an island in the Indian Ocean was something I’d been hoping for forever. If you’ve got this on a bucket-list some place, get to it! Allow me to suggest Zanzibar. The place is simply stunning. The people are friendly and the food is delicious. The air always carries the smell of fragrant spices.

Revisit my 2010 Global Village Ethiopia experience here and my Zanzibar photo gallery here.

Last month I started temping again, so life took a slight turn for the unexciting. (You know I’m just being a brat.) Aside from finding my 40 hour 9-5 work groove again, I made some successful efforts at just cooling it around the house. Hung with the fam-bam, my friends and so-on. EJ and I scoped out the larger than life sand castles and carvings at Siesta Key. FUN! I celebrated my friend’s last fling the weekend before her wedding. Both were bucket loads of fun. I always love hanging out with a group of drama-free, fun and intelligent ladies. Two cheers for girl power. They were also great sharing the camaraderie of being a bridesmaid or simply part of the party. My friend married during Thanksgiving weekend and it was quite an event. I am thankful to have been invited and I wish the happily shackled couple an eternity of love. The photos below were taken by Akada Studios out of Atlanta.

Revisit my 2010 Naija Wedding Bridesmaid Experience here.

This final month of the year was/is much like the rest of the year in theme. A little hard work, a lot more play and 12 times the laughter. Although the winter solstice was greeted by an amazing lunar eclipse, I’m still hating the weather these days. It slows me down almost to sloth like speeds. I only wish to stay indoors and hibernate like all the smarter species do during times of coldness. Because I am a lowly human being I am forced to be productive and make the most of every breathing moment. Huzzah & Hooray! If you are a regular reader here you probably just read about the quick weekend warrior trip to Troy, Alabama where I went with my mom and hubby to surprise my bestie during her 3rd decade born day celebration. She’s actually a Christmas baby so I suspect she’ll be celebrating more this weekend.

Aside from that I’ll be spending these last dog days of 2010 gearing up for 2011. More on that to come.

Other noteworthy moments:

Previously I dedicated August to Argentina. Well, I should also dedicate it to African Ancestry and the anticipation of my paternal ancestry test results compliments of my father. I now see Cameroon and the Tikar people as a future journey worth taking. I cannot thank my father enough for this wedding gift. There is so much research to be done though before trip to the country can occur.

Hmmm… I went kayaking for the first time in Kaua’i this year, but my swimming skills have not improved. Perhaps I’ll toss it on my list of resolutions once more.

My analogue cameras got more play than ever this year since I started with my Lomography addiction in 2003. They challenge me in more ways than others and I’m just starting to pick up speed. I just wish film and photography wasn’t such an expensive hobby like traveling. To conclude this year end journey, I leave you with a gallery of some shots taken with my toy cameras across the globe.

Enjoy and have the happiest of holidays. Here’s to many good years to come and the ability to be strong in the years that test our spirits the most. (Trust me, I’ve had my share of those.)

Cheers,
Adrienne

This is me after the race with my medal at the apartment. I finally stopped having a pity party long enough to smile for the camera.

I started the morning with the typical marathon jitters. I was both excited and nervous. I was feeling good about my race bib number (2024) and I was also amped that this was the 21st anniversary of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. (21 is my favorite number.) When I entered my corral, I found the pace bunny I wanted to run with and made small talk with some of the other runners around. One guy had just signed up the day before, hadn’t done any training and hadn’t run a long run in quite some time. Everyone around gave him the crazy eye. I turned my attention to the weather thinking it should all work in my favor. Two minutes before the gun went off the had announced that is was a crisp 10 degrees Celsius outside. (I believe this is about mid 50′s.) I was chilly, but I knew it would warm up once we started. Two minutes later the gun fired. It was time to start moving.

My favorite and least favorite parts of the race all start at the corral. Trying to break past several other runners trying to break past as well seems a bit chaotic, but there is beauty and inspiration in all that early A.M. movement. This was a pretty big race (approx 20,000 runners) and the down side is it gets a bit jammed. I started out very comfortably though. Keeping the 4 hour and 15 minute pace bunny in view I kept my own pace a couple of feet away and went strong until the half way point when I completely lost it. Sure my legs started feeling like 10,000lb weights, but that wasn’t my problem.

My mind was the problem. 21k down the road and my focus went running somewhere else. My mind was divided between making it to the finish with a great time and completely sabotaging my own self. In retrospect, I think I got way ahead of myself. I didn’t set the small markers as mini goal points to make it to. I had already started imagining the finish at the 5k point. In my vision I had the medal and I had actually managed to out run my pace bunny to get a time of 4 hours and 10 minutes. Then I thought about how wonderful of a Facebook status that would be! “Hey guys! I finished the race in lightening speed and I’m a rock star! Now go out there and do it too!!” All this was in my head before I crossed the finish line. Before I knew it I was completely scatter-brained and walking waaaay more than I should have been. The 4h 15 min pace bunny was far ahead and the others were on my heels. Because of the frequent walking breaks I started taking after the 21k it was harder for me to get going again when I mentally wanted to. I tried and surely almost pulled something I knew I wouldn’t want to. It was in my best interest to complete the race walking to the finish. And that’s how I finished with a time of 5 hours and 10 minutes.

My race bib.

Wait. Next time…? Let’s just say I hate saying “never,” but I don’t see another race here anytime soon. For now I am going to enjoy some non-running time with activities less grueling and time consuming.

I’ll be totally honest. My training went straight to the commode these last four weeks. I started tapering in Argentina although I didn’t intend to. I did a few handstands on the beach over Labor Day weekend that caused me to strain my hammie a little and was a great excuse not to run. Then there is the never ending boob / sport’s bra / chaffing battle going on. 99 problems, right? Well I know I can do this. I can run this race with my all. I can run it seriously, laughing or a combo of both. I’ll probably be doing a little of both. If the words I say are true, “This will be my last marathon, EVER,” I should be enjoying some of the scenes the SWTM has to offer. Oh and my goal is to score a time somewhere between 4:15-4:20. It’s ambitious considering my training, but not impossible. Afterall, I did get a lot of mileage in this training season.

It’s all mental from here. So let’s go & OM!!!

P.S. Virtual cheers, prayer and encouragement is greatly appreciated. Merci!

Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body. -Lynn Jennings

Race day is quickly approaching and I’d like to think I’m completely prepared, but I don’t know. Last time I mentioned training I believe I did more moaning about the not-so-glamorous side of this whole ordeal; blisters, chaffing, etc. I’m still having some problems with all of the above, but that isn’t a major concern at this point. I know I can finish a race because I’ve done it before, so that isn’t a concern either. I’m simply trying to make sure I have my head in all the right places. It is all about focus and prayerfully, no injuries.

I totally bombed on my training while in Argentina. I got three runs in the entire 13 days I was away. It should have been 10 runs total. This isn’t a major surprise as I often struggle with managing my runs in foreign destinations. I did manage to get my long run in, so I am letting myself off the hook there. The key now is not to focus on the days that have passed, but on the next 25 days ahead. Eat right, get ample sleep and enjoy every run up to the end when I cross the finish. That includes my third and last 20 miler this coming Sunday. Wish me luck!

I will push through all of this. With 72 days, 9 hours and 25 minutes between me and the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, I have to remember to stay focused. That, of course, is easier said than done. Shaving 18 minutes off my previous marathon time is very important. More seriously is running this thing with my mantra always in mind:

“Without ego, without injury & without external competition.”

Some obstacles currently troubling me are all found in the gear. I’m uncertain whether it is my Mizuno Wave Rider 12 or socks causing all the blistering, but I’m not a fan. The socks are high quality running socks and the Mizunos were fine during all my low mile runs. This Friday I plan on purchasing the Brooks Trance 9. I ran in this shoe three generations ago and had zero problems during and after my race. If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it, eh?

Last month I purchased a new running bra top from the Nike outlet and that worked fine. At least I thought it was working fine, but apparently it was rubbing my breast and only my left boob. Placing a band-aid over the area being rubbed seemed like a grand idea, until the Nike sports bra and all the others rubbed the band-aid causing it to rub a new area on the breast raw. :/ This is the main reason I decided not to run today. The breast needs a moment to heal. It’s pretty obvious that I will be avoiding the Nike bra top on future runs.

With 8 miles scheduled for this Saturday and 17 miles for Sunday, let’s hope I can find some comfort in my sole and threads. Next week is the half-way point.

I thought I sort of had trip planning for Argentina all worked out, but I think Nats and I will be letting the winds carry us in country. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing and we’ve done it before in Costa Rica. Problem with Argentina is that we’d REALLY like to go to Patagonia, but I don’t think it would be very practical. For starters my amiga only has 10 days to work with where I have 13 total in country. Getting to Rio Gallegos or El Calafate by bus would take us about 38 hours / 2 days ride. (The key is shoestring travel folks.) Secondly, we’d like to see penguins and go ice hiking on glaciers, but neither looks HIGHLY probable until mid or late September. Would it be worth it to go all the way to Ushuaia, freeze, get our bragging rights and then make the long journey back to B.A.? Eh… Not so sure.

So the question now is aside from Buenos Aires, where should we go? The guidebooks suggest heading north or northwest, but should we follow? If so, where exactly other than Iguazu is worth visiting? Any tipsters out there?

I think I have enough B.A. ideas. Examples: Looking into tango classes at Darcos and other locations, dancing at one of the many milongas (social dance), checking out various neighborhoods like La Boca & San Telmo, sipping Malbec and chomping on juicy Argentine beef at a parrilla…

Oh, and for those wondering about where I’ll be resting my head. Two words: Couch Surfing. In the process of securing our hosts. All the fun!

When we checked in last night my co-worker inquired about fun things to do in Eugene, Oregon and the gent behind the front desk told us that the town was all about track and field. They breathe it. Not being a huge fitness addict she quickly turned the subject around by asking where the closest mall was… (Oregon is a sales tax free state.)

I, on the other hand crawled out of bed this morning and went down to the fitness room for a little while. I spent 45 minutes on the bike and I’m really starting to see the effect the biking has on the abs. I didn’t before, but now I do. Which is probably why people think I do core work when I don’t – not on purpose at least. Once I completed my time on the bike I decided to do some intense stretching and then I just danced it out to some track from my Ibiza compilation CD. I retreated back up to the room with my nice gym after glow and with all the good energy thought I’d take a walk down to the 5th Street Market area to check out the shops and soak up the good weather. This wasn’t my original plan, but the weather was just incredible. The market area is about a 1.71 mile hike according to mapquest and took no time to reach my final destination. I spent only a little amount of time checking out the Nike store/museum and some of the shops. Had I stayed nay longer I’m sure I would have spent some dinero I didn’t really plan on spending. Plus, I have to go back down to the area tomorrow.

From the shops I strolled back down to the hotel where I spent a relaxing afternoon organizing receipts, refreshing the resume and chatting with close pals. As nice as it is to go outdoors and “Just Do It,” it can also be very nice just doing little to nothing and something at the same time. Run that food for thought around the mind a few times.

Adrienne

The following morning at the store we began discussing yoga. She’d mentioned she just purchased some DVD’s to help stay fit and active on the road. I told her I had been thinking about buying some and BOOM! There she was in action again. She pawned off to me her Kundalini Yoga with Gurmukh DVD to borrow the next few days and recommended some others. By the end of the day I was too exhausted from working and driving to our next location that I decided to wait until morning to give yoga with Gurmukh a test drive. And when morning came it was time. I felt like a caterpillar that had inched its way out of the bed and transformed into a butterfly free of tension and stress. Okay, I shouldn’t make it sound that easy. I actually felt like Gurmukh had set out on a mission to kill me. She kicked my butt! Kundalini focuses on breathing techniques helping to unlock energy and strengthen the body. My breathing was fine in the beginning as we warmed up into things, but as the DVD progressed I found my self working up a sweaty mess and struggling to control my breath. I was exhaling when I should have been inhaling and vice versa. A workout it was indeed. I will be purchasing this soon.

My alarm is set for 4:15 AM every morning and on occasion I do hit the snooze. Today was an exception. I woke up and prepared for another round. Yesterday, I was so whomped that I didn’t even make it the whole way through and with a taste of what was ahead I knew today I could. In the early morning hours I felt very relaxed and knew there would be minimal disturbances. Gurmukh’s soft voice instructed me through each movement, each breath, offering gentle words of encouragement… It was still tough though. I am using other parts of the body that were definitely not used running and I feel sore from working these muscles, but with time I am sure Gurmukh and I will become great friends. Once the workout is completed there is a soothing mediation at the end. I laid on the floor of my dark hotel room, eyes closed, letting myself slip away with an extremely relaxed state of mind. I have to say this is probably my favorite part of the video, because one deserves to zone out after such an incredible experiment with the body.

I’d recently purchased a new body scrub from Trader Joe’s with a grapefruit scent and to say the very least it is the perfect way to cap off any workout in my book!

P.S. I love grapefruit. It is so invigorating.

Adrienne

My morning kicked off with the Rockland sun in my eyes. Uphill and down I went at an easy pace. It was the first time I ran the full distance without stopping though my knee did present some troubles mid-way through. I tried to think about the pain. Was it really pain I was feeling or simply my body readjusting to the very easy three weeks I’ve recently given to only working out on the bike and elliptical machines? Thankfully and without my programming my iPod shuffled and selected songs that were slightly down tempo ensuring my pace didn’t go beyond where I needed it to be. Remember easy like Sunday morning. It was a chilly 11 degrees out, but it didn’t feel too bad. In fact I felt great. It felt great to be out there running. Being in Massachusetts and only 25 minutes away from Boston, home of the Superbowl of all marathons I suppose I felt somewhat inspired. I’ll probably never run the Boston marathon which is fine by me, but I do really want to run at least one more in this lifetime. I completed my run feeling awesome despite the pain at the mid-way point. Paula Radcliffe congratulated me for running my best mile yet with an average of 9:04 min/mi completing 5.02 miles in 45 minutes. I still think something is a little off-beat with the Nike training kit, but today I’ll accept that.

This is my first time in Massachusetts. The first few days started off shaky with the company van acting sort of stank. I had the opportunity to have a tow truck driver carry me and the van over from Marlborough, MA into Norwood, MA where the only Dodge Sprinter dealer and service folk were waiting for me on what was supposed to have been my day off. I’m glad that whole issue is over. The weekend has been pleasant however and today I’ll have the opportunity to check out Boston. No big walking tours or museum excursions are planned. Boston only came into the picture when I found I would have to take my co-worker to the airport and pick another in exchange. I’ll probably drive the van around for a little, check out a movie (VOLVER) to kill time between the departing co-worker and the arriving one and stop by a bookstore.

Tonight I’ll be tuning into the Grammy’s. I’m rooting for Gnarl’s Barkley all the way.

Where I’d Like to Be:

Two words: Trinidad Carnival.
After talking to Merlana about Jumbie this n’ that, reading this SaucyTrini blog on everything carnival and listening to Trinibashment Radio online I’m ready to jump n’ wave a flag again. I see as much as I didn’t want to get addicted to this type of thing I can now that I must join in on a festival before the year is out. Mr. Bermuda phoned me to see what I was up to and let me know that he was attending for the umpteenth time this year. Ron is missing Trini Carnival too, but he is surely making me think Miami in October must take place! Oh, and then there is Mz. Funchilde who is on her way to Brazil soon enough and a carnival too! I’m going to go ahead and say it… I’m a hater.

The picture above is from Tribe’s Bat frontline and regular sections. Tribe is doing the old time carnival thing this year and as skimpy as this one looks I’d probably rock it… I mean a girl can have her dreams right…

Where I’m Planning to Be:

March 2 – 9 I should be tacking Hispaniola. Trip planning is in effect, but so far it looks like urban jaunts through Santo Domingo and starry night outside the beachside cabana in Coretecito. I’m not going to bog the blog down with countdowns as I have in the past. This is the only advance warning. Next time to you hear me say D.R. expect photos.

Bless up all!
Adrienne

I’m told I can post my number up for grabs/sale to get some of the money I paid for the entrance fee back, but I’m not the type to have someone run under my bib number for the sake of getting $90 bucks back. I’ll just call it a donation for now.

Just thought to pass on the news to anyone who may have been following my progress or lack of…

There is still plenty of time and I’m not going anywhere.

Signing off,
Greta the Great!