Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Photo a Day...Week 4...

Day 22:  Apparently I was missed while I was at Chemistry.  Poor Ken, he is so used to me cooking that he burned his pizza!

Day 23:  45 pound Husky being held like a baby?  She is so embarrassed.  I am pretty sure this is her, "I hope she does not put this on her blog" face!

Day 24:  I sent this photo to my new boss, who lives in Dallas.  He promptly responded with a photo of the temperature reading 56.

Day 25:  A little snuggle time in the guest room

Day 26:  Ken took me to Jazz for a little Cajun.  I, of course, had to have a hurricane!

Day 27:  We took Kya to the Arboretum for a hike.  This is her with her friend the fox.

Day 28:  Since it was 12 degrees just a few days prior, I thought it was completely appropriate to show that it was 76 degrees on Monday.  In January.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

No One Ever Lands on Boardwalk...

Remember back a year ago when us girls used to have our monthly game night?  Well, I decided to host last night and actually play a game!  What game you ask?  Well, none other but Monopoly!

The theme of the night was when Michelle sold Erinn Boardwalk for $1,000, because no one ever lands on Boardwalk!

My girl and me

The best part of the night was when Michelle swore we were all cheating and grabbed the rule book.  Clearly Jill is not impressed.

All of us girls

Thanks for a fun evening ladies!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

A Photo a Day...Week 3...

Day 15:  My first day of classes!  Ken made me take the traditional first day of school photo.

Day 16:  Lots and lots of studying to do

Day 17:  Is it bad that she sometimes runs from me when I grab the camera?

Day 18:  These two were obviously being abused.  And yes, that is my Ironman medal hanging on our basement door.  I would wear it everyday if Ken would not make fun of me.  :)

Day 19:  Bless you Target for putting out part of your Easter candy!  Let the obsession begin!

Day 20:  Apparently running 11 miles makes someone sleepy.

Day 21:  Guess what is in the cup?  Yep, a Pumpkin Spice Latte.  The Starbucks by my office still has it and it does not expire until March.  :)

Sunday, January 20, 2013

St. Louis Marathon Training...Week 3...

Not only was this week three of training, this was also my first week of school.  Certain weeks I have class twice a week and others only once.  The days when I have class twice a week, definitely shortens my runs, but that is perfectly okay.  

I am knee deep in Chemistry and Anatomy and you know what?  I kind of like it!

Monday - 3 mile run with Kya
Thursday - 6 mile run with Kya
Sunday - 11 mile run with Kya

Can you tell my husky is obviously in very good shape?  The weather was so nice here on Saturday, but I knew 34 degrees would make a long run easier for Kya.  So, what does a good husky mom do?  She runs on Sunday so her favorite running partner can join her.  Don't worry, she thanked me.

From our run today.  I am bundled up and cold, she is hot and panting.  

Thursday, January 17, 2013

A Photo a Day...Week 2...

Day 8:  Jill and me after dinner at Cactus Grill

Day 9:  Was a rough day at the office, so a bottle of wine was in order.

Day 10:  My Anatomy book has arrived!

Day 11:  We attended the 70th birthday party of a great friend and role model.

Day 12:  Michelle and Melissa bowling on Saturday night.

Day 13:  I caught someone basking in the sun.  This girl cannot get enough sun.

Day 14:  Ken had a surprise for me.  He bought me all the supplies he thought I would need for starting school the following day.  Super, super sweet!  My favorite item is the Elmer's glue or maybe the Crayons!  

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Strike!

I have a confession to make.  I realize that you are probably going to think less of me after this, but I have to get it off my chest.  Ken and I used to close down the bowling alley when we first started dating.  There, I said it.  In our defense, he had just moved to Kansas City and really did not have any friends.  We were dating long distance, so it was hard for me to make us friends. 

Hopefully, I have not lost too many cool points.  It also used to be Cosmic Bowling, you know the kind with the neon lights and the loud music?  Surely this makes the whole thing sound a little cooler. 

Michelle had organized a group of us to go bowling on Saturday night.  You know you are getting too old when Cosmic Bowling seems way too late and instead of starting at 10:00 pm, you start at 6:30 pm.  That way, you can be safely at home in bed by 10:00.  

All of the boys.  Sweet Thomas is one of the best kids I know.  I cannot believe how tall this little guy is getting.  We enjoyed hooting and hollering for him every time he bowled!

All of us girls

I had no idea that Melissa captured this picture of Ken and me.  I guess we do still really like each other!

A group shot at the end of the night.  Ken was so close to getting a turkey (three strikes in a row), but missed it by one pin.  Maybe next time!  Thanks for the pictures Melissa!

Monday, January 14, 2013

St. Louis Marathon Training...Week 2...

Week two is complete!  I had a few doubts on getting my long run in over the weekend with the very cold temperatures we had over the weekend, but never fear, I ran it on the treadmill.

Monday - 4 mile recovery run with Kya
Wednesday - 3 mile run with Kya (I had planned on doing speedwork, but I had a horrible day at the office with my boss being let go)
Thursday - 4 mile run with intervals
Sunday - 10 mile run on the treadmill

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Girls...

On Tuesday night, I might the girls for dinner to celebrate Michelle's birthday.  It was a fun time catching up with everyone and telling some fun stories of what everyone has going on.  


Wednesday, January 9, 2013

A Photo a Day...

I am planning on taking a picture a day and posting them once per week on my blog.  These pictures will be totally random, but I thought it would be a fun way to make sure I always have at least on post per week with all of the craziness that is about to start. 


Day one:  Nothing like starting off the new year with a game of Monopoly.  Kya was the banker!

Day two:  Someone was just lounging on the stairs.

Day three:  I caught these hooligans sleeping in the guest bedroom on my guest bath towels.

Day four:  I used my Christmas money to treat myself at Sephora.  So far, I am loving it!

Day five:  With Jill

Day six:  I had made this red velvet cake, from scratch I might add, a while back and it was time to toss it.  I had to get a photo of how cute it was!

Day seven:  Kya and me heading out to go for a run!  Her eyes look evil in this picture and she looks grump, don't worry, she was so excited and was irritated I made her sit for a picture.  I am a mean mama after all.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

A Little Canasta Action...

On Saturday night, Brian and Jill invited us over to play a game of Canasta.  We used to play Canasta with them years ago and decided that we need to reinstate Canasta nights as a form of entertainment.  It allows us to see the Brian and Jill more since they can put the kids to bed and stay up until the wee hours of the morning playing a card game.  Yes, I am fully aware that we party way too hard.

I had made cookies and Miss Avery was a huge fan.  Her eyes lit up and she was clapping.  This girl was in heaven!

Jill is clearly not into Brian's shenanigans!

Ken is soooo into the game!

Jill and me
If I am completely honest, I must admit that Jill and I lost.  Actually it was quite the butt whooping, but we do not really like to discuss that!

Thanks for a fun evening Brian and Jill!

Monday, January 7, 2013

St. Louis Marathon Training...Week 1...

Even though I have not registered yet, I am 99% certain that I am going to run the St. Louis Marathon in April.  It is kind of hard not to run this race since it is only four hours away, and we can see family and friends during the long weekend. 

My running last week was thrown off a little with the snow and the gym being closed on New Years, but I made it work. 

Side note:  I usually only run 3-4 times per week.  I am a big believer in quality over quantity and managed to break four hours with this training method.

Wednesday - 6.0 miles at the gym with intervals
Friday - 3.0 miles with Kya
Sunday - 8.0 miles with Kya

What do I do on the other days?  I usually walk Kya, sometimes swim, ride my bike on the trainer, or my new favorite - Turbo Jam!

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Negative, Negative...

Since it is very cold here in Kansas City and we have snowy sidewalks, I went to the gym last night for my run.  I am so not a fan of the gym this time of year with all of the New Years Resolution folks, however, I will not complain and dis them like many others do.  Yes, they are annoying, but they have to start somewhere!  My only complaint with them is that most of them do not stick with it.  I am sure there is a statistic, but I am too lazy to Google it at the moment.

Anyway, I was at the gym and I needed to do a little speed work.  I decided on .25 repeats and .50 repeats.  The first two felt really difficult and I felt sluggish.  I can tell that my cold was maybe having an effect on how I was feeling.  I also like to put the treadmill on a high incline and run a few .25 repeats at a slower speed.  After I did this, I put the treadmill back to zero incline and finished off my normal repeats and felt like I was flying.

I was running those repeats like it was absolutely nothing.  I instantly start thinking about what a badass I am, running so quickly with little effort.  Before I knew it, six miles was over and I was cooling down.  I shut the treadmill off and walked over to get a wipe to wipe it down.  When I arrived at the treadmill, I realized that it had the incline at a -2.  -2.  No wonder I thought I was flying and running with no effort, I was running downhill. 

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

A Look Back at 2012...

I cannot believe that 2012 is over already.  When it started last year, I had no idea what the year would bring, but it was certainly a fabulous year for us.  After a less than stellar year in 2011, we were ready to take 2012 and make it count.


We started the year off in an apartment after selling our house in 2011.  We were miserable, but managed to do a lot of hiking around Kansas with our husky.



We closed on our house on Valentines' Day, which also happens to be Ken's birthday.  It was such a wonderful day!  Happiness to the full extent.





We had a visitor in our backyard that Ken quickly took care of.  I also really kicked up my Ironman training.

Eww...


We had another visitor in our backyard that Kya tried to befriend.  Our house was quickly turning into the funny farm!  I also started setting records each week with my bike mileage.



We took a weekend trip to St. Louis to watch the Cardinals play and visit with friends and family.  Ken and I also celebrated three years of marriage on May 26.


And yes, I had to post this picture again just in case someone missed it.  I am a lucky lady.


We made one of our favorite annual trips to the Grand Canyon to hike Rim to Rim to Rim.  I also set a new half marathon PR.  






On July 3rd at approximately 11:00 am, I had my braces removed.  This was such a highlight of my year.  It came very close to being my favorite day of the year.  



I also completed my first open water swim ever and rode my bike over 100 miles for the first time.  I started to really think that I was going to make it to the finish line of becoming an Ironman!


With all of my big training weekends behind me, I started to enjoy a little free time with Ken, Kya, and my friends.  

Celebrating Heather's 40th Birthday

Oh and let's not forget the biggest moment of my year that happened on August 26.  I will never forget this day as long as I live.  It quite honestly was one of the best days of my life.  My race report may just be my favorite blog post ever.






I spent the month of September being spoiled by my friends with a lot of post Ironman celebrating.


Ken and I also traveled to Lake Tahoe for a wonderful vacation.




We spent the October celebrating the beautiful weather with Pumpkin Spice Lattes and pretty much everything else pumpkin.  We also spent an afternoon at our favorite local winery

.
On top of all of the pumpkin fun, we also had a memorable camping trip.



My birthday was on November 10th and it ended up being quite the busy day.  I ran a half marathon, celebrated at Heather's baby shower, and had dinner with Brian and Jill.



We also made a trip to Mexico with Rob and Michelle.




We spent December celebrating Christmas all month long.  I was so excited to decorate this year, that I decorated the weekend after Halloween.  We spent the month watching Christmas movies, listening to Christmas music, driving around looking at lights, and going to dinner with friends.  December was a perfect end to such a wonderful year.



I am very much looking forward to what 2013 has in store for us.  I hope you have a wonderful New Year!

Happy 2013!