Sunday, September 29, 2013

Two Weeks Away...

The Chicago Marathon is two weeks from today.  It is hard to believe that it is almost here.  It seemed like I had like eight months to train for the darn thing and then bam!  it is here.

Am I in as good of shape as I had hoped to be?

Nope.  

Am I worried about it?

Nope.  

It is funny how after being all uptight about training for an Ironman, how your perspective changes a little bit when it comes to training for a marathon.

My longest long run was 16 miles.  I ran 16 miles three or four times, I cannot remember.  Two of those times was in the 80 degree weather, which has to be good since each time I run Chicago it is a billion degrees.

That brings up another point.  What are the chances of a nice Fall like day on October 13th?  My long run today with Susan was 48 degrees when we started.  

I bet you a Pumpkin Spice Latte it is not that cold on October 13th.  Since I am running Chicago, it is bound to be unseasonable warm in Chicago that day.  

80 degrees or not, I will still be wandering around downtown Chicago in my knee high boots during my trip.  
A girl has got to have priorities.  And cute clothes to wear.   

Friday, September 27, 2013

Throwing in the Towel...

I am caving.  

Giving up.

I am done with the photo a day for 2013.  

I just cannot handle it anymore.

Do you know how much better I feel now that I am done?

Like 1000 times better.

I started to feel like the whole thing was holding me hostage.

I ended up getting so far behind with it, that I started to forget what pictures were for what day.  

Now that it is over, here are a few pictures that have been hiding on my camera/phone.

This is now my favorite picture of Kya.  Does she look like she loves her backyard or what?  Such a gorgeous husky girl!

My boy Theo

Angel is T-R-O-U-B-L-E

She still hates taking pictures with me.

Jill and me at Brian's birthday party.  These pictures with long hair make me glad that I cut it off!


Monday, September 23, 2013

Weekend Fun...

It was a fun little Fall weekend!

It started off with dinner with Rob and Michelle at Pig and Finch in Park Place.  My opinion is that this is more of a happy hour kind of place.

On another note, the name did make me sing the Pig in a Poke song from National Lampoon's European Vacation.  Does anyone else know what I am talking about?  Ken had no clue.

Michelle and me at dinner

Ken had a work function all weekend, so I was flying solo.  I got up on Saturday, had coffee in my new coffee maker, and then went for a 16 mile run.  I love running during the Fall because I can wake up at 8:00 am and run whenever I want and not die in the heat.  This was my last long run before the Chicago marathon.  It is quite possible that I have not mentioned that I am running this race, but I am!  I am trained and ready to go!

Kya ran 6 of the 16 miles with me.  Lucky girl.

This is the face of a happy husky

This is the face (and rather odd sleeping position) of a tired husky


On Sunday, I spent the afternoon shopping with Jill.  It is safe to say that we had a good time.

She is way too cool.

Do these sunglasses look too big???

I am not sure I have any words for this photo.

My tribute to Sally Jesse Raphael.  A child of the 90's over here!

Rocking the accessories!

Such a fun weekend!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Happy Fall!

Yay for Fall!

I have really been celebrating Fall since September 1st, but I thought it was necessary to show off all of the signs of Fall around our house.

Pumpkins are all over the house.

I am burning my Fall scents.

Fall M&M's have filled my candy dish.

Mums and pumpkins are on our front porch.

Not one but two Fall Southern Living magazines have arrived

Fall coffee creamers fill the fridge.

We had a super cool 60 degree day, which caused me to turn on my heated seat.  I may have been a little dramatic about it.

A cool day meant leggings and my new boots!  I was so excited.

Cool days means someone sleeps on the deck all day with her feet up against the house.

My favorite thing is that on Labor Day, our neighbor asked Ken what was with the pumpkins on the porch.  Ha!  Apparently he did not get the memo that Fall starts when Pumpkin Spice Lattes start being served at Starbucks.  That Joe.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

I'm Back...

I had an appointment today to get my hair highlighted. 


I walked in looking like this:




Then there was this:



6 1/2 inches later, I left looking like this:



Who would have thought that I would ever have hair long enough to cut off 6 1/2 inches!

It feels good to be back to the bob.  It fits me so much better.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Sunday Explorations...

Yesterday afternoon I was upstairs, wrapping up my homework when I heard Ken shout that he was bored.  I went downstairs he had his car keys in hand and wanted to hop in the car and go on an adventure.  

What is in adventure in our house?  Well, yesterday it was going to Missouri.  

The state line is about a mile or so from our house.  We crossed over and headed South.  Ken kept threatening to drop me off on Prospect.

For those of you not from Kansas City, Prospect is the scary street in Kansas City.  

Isn't he funny?  

It turns out, the side of Prospect that is near our house is rural instead of gangsta.

As we were driving along, we saw a sign that said Cider Donuts.  I have never seen someone flip a U-turn as fast as Ken did at that moment.  

Apparently someone needed a donut.  Or 12.

Dunn's Cider Mill, home of the best Cinnamon Cider Donut ever.

We grabbed a dozen of cider donuts and a cherry cider slush and were on our way.  As we drove away stuffing our faces full of donuts and slushies, I told Ken that this is just one of the examples of why we do not have children.  Eating a bag of cider donuts when you have kids, just does not seem like a logical option.

We saw a sign for a BBQ place called Snead's and Ken decided that we should go by there for dinner.  As if the donuts were not enough right?

Snead's BBQ, since 1956

It was kind of a cross between a VFW Hall and a bingo parlor.

The menu

The food was really good and the people watching was unbelievable!

We made our way back toward our house and we passed by a road that had a road closed sign that I used to see last year while I was on my bike rides.  Ken drove down the road to show me what was at the end.

An old wooden bridge

Ken was trying to get me to walk out there, but there was no way I would hope on that thing.  

It was a fun little afternoon of exploring hidden treasures that are just a few miles from our house.

Until next time.  :)


Sunday, September 15, 2013

He Read My Mind...

One of the things that I love most about Ken is that he just gets me.  He usually knows when I want something.

Yesterday I was descaling our Keuring, aka Hazel.  I was silently thinking that it might be here time to go.  

I know, it is a sad thought.

I cleaned her up wished her another great six months and was done. 

This morning I woke up to a husband that was already a cup of coffee ahead of me.  Which by the way, is quite odd because he was not a coffee drinker before I got a hold of him.  

Anyway, I made my coffee and sat down to watch a little TV with him when he changed the channel to QVC.  (I know, why would he do that?)

Guess what they were featuring?  The brand new upgraded Keuring Vue Brewing System.

We both sat there in Awe.  I was thinking how bad I wanted the damn thing.  

I was waiting to see who would say something first.  

Ken jokingly told me to order it.  I laughed.  I told him I thought Hazel had another six months in here.  

He laughed.  There was a discussion about how long we have had Hazel.

Almost four years.   That is approximately 3,000 cups of coffee brewed by Hazel.

I looked at Hazel and realized that she does look tired.  I mean, it is almost like she is asking for me to put her down.  She is just not brewing as fast as she used to.  

In that moment, Ken insisted I pull the trigger.  

So I did.  You do not have to tell me twice.



This little beauty will be arriving this week.


To celebrate, I had Hazel brew me another cup of coffee.  She seems relieved that retirement is upon her.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Colorado Trip: Day 5...

We decided to load up and head home so that we could enjoy our Labor Day relaxing at home.

 
Good bye Mountains.

Hello Pumpkin Spice Latte!  It was a little bit of Heaven in a cup.

We had such a great time!

Friday, September 6, 2013

Colorado Trip: Day 4...

On Saturday we loaded up and made our way to Estes Park to meet up with our friend Renee and her family.  We had not seen them in two years or so, so it was so nice to get together.  Renee moved to the area a little over a year ago, so it was nice to hang out with a local.

Our first stop was Rocky Mountain National Park.

Longs Peak from inside RMNP.  I would have loved to have hiked up the thing, but I am not sure anyone else was in agreement.

We had decided to take a short hike to Cub Lake.  I took a lot of pictures and below are some of my favorites.









Ken and our crew stopping to take in the view.

Ken's new thing is to try to take pictures of everyone behind him while he is hiking.  

Unfortunately for him, they usually look like this:

Bless his heart.

As we got closer to the like, we realized that this area was part of a fire the year prior.  It was sad and really cool at the same time to be able to see.



The lake was really pretty with lily pads everywhere.  I searched all over for a frog on one of the lily pads, but never found one.

I did spot these ducks though!

Even with everything that the fire destroyed, these pretty flowers were growing.

There is a 99% chance that I am looking for frogs out on the lake.

Our crew relaxing by the lake


With my favorite guy, who for the record has since shaved off his beard.




The view of the lake going down the other side of the trail

It was unbelievable to see the damage the fire had done.

Our group

There I am standing next to Ken in all my 4'10 glory

You had to know that a picture of Ken and his signature pose would appear at some point, right?

I could not believe all of the charred trees.

Hanging out at the pools at the bottom of the mountain




On our way out of the park, we saw this guy.

After our hiking adventure, we went into downtown Estes and did a little shopping.  My favorite part of the day was when Ken and I were joking with an elderly lady at one of the shops.  She looked at us and told us that she can only imagine the fun the two of us have together.  It was so sweet.  

After shopping and dinner, we went back to Renee's to hang out by the fire.  I ended up making a new friend that probably misses me so much.

Me and Tiny Tim

We had such a wonderful day!