Life, I tell you.

Woah! Has it really been so long? How does that happen? Life, I tell you.

Speaking of life, it's been busy!

Family visits.

 

 Titi Jen and cousin Christian. SO cute!! Their visit was TOO SHORT!!

Picking blueberries.


A chipped tooth and dentist appointments. Yes, plural.


Bailey's first trip to the Zoo.

 She totally liked the tiger the best.

Lots of walks.


Cancelling a credit card I pretty much forgot I even had (whoops).


Spending time with friends.


Registering for a race!!!

It's a local 5-mile race. Not a half-marathon or anything, but hey-- it's something!

The Hubs working late and going on work trips.


Job interviews. Oh, and ya know-- trying to decide if I want to go back to work or stay home with Bailey for longer.


Life, man.


Sometimes being an adult isn't really all it's cracked up to be. So many decisions I never even imagined I'd have to make. So much responsibility. But, you can also eat cereal for dinner if you want to and drink all the diet pepsi you want, so I guess I won't complain too much.

I'll try to be a better blogger, I promise. I can't promise I'll succeed, but I'll try.

Weekend Highlights

Phew! Can you believe it's Tuesday?? This weekend FLEW by!

While everyone else was celebrating a crazy long 4-day weekend, I was at work Friday. Boo!

But, it wasn't all bad. Backing up a bit...

Wednesday I had to drive the Hubs to O'Hare, as he was flying out to Idaho to visit his best friend for a man-weekend (he LOVES that term).

The drive to the airport was less than stellar.

Bumper to bumper traffic took the usually 2 hour drive to almost 3 hours. We got to O'Hare with less than an hour before the Hubs flight took off. Whoops! Luckily, he made it and only had to knock one person over as he ran for his gate and was in Idaho in no time!

While he was flying to the land o' potatoes, I got to have dinner with one of my BFF's who lives in Chicago.

Me and M at our other BFF's wedding this past June.

I was STARVING by the time I made it (after getting stuck in traffic AGAIN!) and devoured an enormous steak dinner. YUM!!

After fighting a bit more traffic (thanks for that, Chicago!), I finally made it home Wednesday night to these waiting for me...

Awww! The Hubs is so sweet!! There may have also been some candy that was eaten before it knew what was coming. Sorry I'm not sorry.

Thursday morning I was up at a ridiculously early hour (think: the 5am hour), ESPECIALLY for a holiday! But, it was for a good reason... the Schoolcraft Firecracker 5 Mile Race with this kid.

Amy and I stuck together through the race, thank goodness! It was H-O-T and, like I already mentioned, my knee wasn't cooperating. We took it easy and kept the pace slow, so it was OK. Confession: I enjoyed just chatting with an amazing friend WAY more than running and it made it feel like no time at all. I could have run 5 more if I got to keep chatting with her.  

Combining running and amazing friends?? What more could you ask for!

After the race, Amy and I grabbed a super fancy McD's breakfast and then parted ways. Someone help me convince her to come live with me so we can hang out everyday?? Thanks!

The rest of the weekend (minus working Friday-- BOO!) was a blur of errands, cleaning the house, spinning, and long walks.

Luckily, I had this girl to keep me company all weekend.

 

Seriously. That face gets me every time. can we please talk about the fact that her "eyebrows" on one eye are dark and on the other white? Love. I'm obsessed with her.

 

Oh! And, I made a decision!!! With all of your help and words of "get-your-shit-together-and-just-quit" (though all of you said it MUCH nicer than that), I did it. I quit. Well, I signed my stupid 30-day notice. Seriously, why do you have to give notice to a GYM? It's not like they have to do anything for you to stop coming except stop charging my credit card every month. Anyway, I signed the cancellation form and will officially no longer be a member as of August 6. GO ME! Now... let's hope I don't regret this decision... :/

 

I headed back to Chicago (and, yes-- HIT MORE TRAFFIC!! Arrrrrgh!!) Sunday to pick the Hubs up. I made a pit stop at Ikea (was a bust... didn't really get anything) and Trader Joe's (got so much good stuff!!) before his flight landed. Luckily, after getting him we were traffic free on the way home. And, that was the weekend! We didn't get home Sunday night til almost 9pm, so after a quick snack (I've been SO HUNGRY lately-- I think this lil' bean is having a growth spurt or something) I hit the hay.

Fun, busy, and exhausting weekend! I'm definitely glad the Hubs is home!! Oh! And, he brought me a treat from his treat...

Nothing but class at our house. :)

Weekend: Chicago is WINDY!

Hi!!!!

It's Tuesday already! Can you believe it?? I've had 1 too many cups of coffee this morning, so this post might be WAY too hyper. Consider yourself warned and stop reading now!

So, this weekend I went to Chicago for one of my very best friend's bachelorette party (round 1... round 2 is in a few weeks) and bridal shower!!

I took off Friday right after work and was crazy surprised not to hit ANY good ol' rush hour traffic. 

Don't worry, Hubs-- I was stopped when I took this pic. I PROMISE. I didn't text or do anything on my phone the WHOLE drive.

 

 

It was actually a super nice day, so the drive was nice.

 

The party started at 6:30pm CST, but since that's 7:30pm EST (my time zone) I knew I wouldn't make it without a little snack.

 

Try these. They're good. ALMOST like a candy bar. I don't really think ANY granola bar tastes JUST LIKE A SNICKERS (or any other candy bar), but this is a close second. And, even if it doesn't taste like a snickers, it's still damn good.

 

Anyway-- I got to the party in PLENTY of time (again-- thanks to no traffic). The rest of Friday night was spent bachelorette partying it up! A few too many glasses of wine, LOTS of great food, and ammmmmazing friends. Love, love, love.

 

I have pretty much NO appropriate pictures to show, except this one.

Our ONE "nice" pic of the night where we're not acting like lunatics. The bride is in the middle. LOVE these girls.

 

All the rest of the pics from this night may or may not have a blow up doll in them. I can neither confirm nor deny.

 

I stayed with one of the other bridesmaids, who also happens to be one of my BFF's too (in the yellow in the pic above). She and I got back to her house WAY too late and I crashed immediately.

 

I was up the next morning bright and early and out the door by 8am to head downtown. I had BIG plans. See, the bridal shower wasn't scheduled til Sunday and the friend I was staying with had ANOTHER shower that Saturday for her cousin. So, I had ALL DAY Saturday free. What's a girl to do??? RUN!

 

I got downtown and got off Lake Shore Drive at Montrose Beach and immediately found FREE parking! SCORE. I was a little nervous for the run because Mother Nature wasn't looking the happiest...

Rain and windy? Oh yay.

 

I set out and immediately got hit with that wind. HOLY COW. I heard later wind gusts were over 20mph that morning. I felt like I was running in place it was so strong. But, I kept running. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, minus the whole wind thing. The temps were pretty perfect and there were a TON of people running all over.

 

 

I LOVED the change of scenery. It made the run FLY by. I started at Montrose Beach and ran to Navy Pier. This whole leg was AGAINST the wind.

Told you-- WIND. Check out that hair. WOAH.

I didn't look at my Garmin the whole time. I felt like I was CRAWLING and going ridiculously slow and just didn't want to see it on the watch. I also didn't bring any fuel or water.... whoops. I did find 1 working water fountain, so got a drink once... but, that was it. Not the smartest move I've ever made, but I survived.

Anyway, I turned around at Navy Pier and finally had the wind to my back, though I swear the wind died down a bit the whole way back.

 

Ok-- maybe not. PS- are my eyes even open in this pic?!?!

 

Anyway-- I finished 13.5 miles in 2:03:45 for a 9:09 average pace. Definitely my slowest run in a while, but I did still manage to get the half in under 2:00, so I was OK with it. When I checked out my splits later I found out the half against the wind were all 9:15+, while the half with the wind were all 8:45ish. Thanks, wind.

 

After the run I changed clothes (in the car... NICE!) and did a SUPER quick babywipe down and then walked to meet two of my former staff members from when I worked at my previous job. LOVE them and it was SOOOOO GOOD to get to meet them for lunch and catch up. It was about a mile walk to the place we met, so it was a nice shake out for the legs too. After lunch I made it back to my car (another mile walk!) and then fought some nasty traffic back to my friends house.

 

The rest of Saturday night was spent running some last minute gift-errands, dinner, and getting our b-shower games ready while watching Pitch Perfect (LOVE that movie!!). Oh, and there MAY have been s'mores. DELICIOUS.

 

 

Sunday was bridal shower run!

 

Congrats to the Bride-to-be!!! LOVE you girls!!!!

 

 

So, that was the weekend. Bachelorette party fun, a crazy windy long run, reunion lunch, s'mores and a chick flick, and a bridal shower. A crazy busy weekend, but so, so fun. Can't wait for the wedding in May!!!

Basketball, Babies and Burpees

Well, my weekend did not start off the greatest foot thanks to my dearest Illini.

Wah, wah. Oh well. Next year.

Anyway, the rest of my weekend was pretty fantastic.

Friday night started with a Baby Gender Reveal party for a friend of mine. It was super fun to have all of us together and to get to find out if our friend is having a boy or a girl. Possibly the best part of the night?? When the Hubs realized he was wearing TWO DIFFERENT SHOES.

Who does that?!?!? How did he not notice when he put them on?? Even more-- he didn't notice til we were walking into the party. We drove over an hour to get there and he didn't notice. GOOOOOOF. And, of COURSE, I walked into the party telling everyone "Look at Matt's shoes, look at Matt's shoes, look at Matt's shoes". Poor Hubs. :)

Anyway, the night was great.. good surprise, good food, good friends, goofy Hubs, great night.

Saturday started with a trip to the gym. I know-- shocker. To be fair, I was going to do my long run Saturday, but when the weather looked like this, I opted to move the long run to Sunday.

I'll take 1 degree warmer and less of a chance for snow/rain ANYDAY.

 

Anyway, my Saturday gym session started with a few miles on the good ol' treadmill and then the 9am Unleashed class.

Love, love, looove this class lately. We did like 8 trillion burpees. I swear to all that I know I thought my legs were legit going to fall off.

 

Saturday continued with our biweekly shopping trip. $120 later, we are STOCKED for the next 14 days.

Note: This is about HALF the bags... maybe not even half. We went to THREE different stores. 

 

I have a confession... I kinda love grocery shopping. However, surprising no one, shopping on Friday night, which the Hubs and I normally do because we're so cool, is MUCH less crazy and MUCH more fun than shopping on a Saturday afternoon. Good God, the number of screaming kids and women who ran into me with their carts was too many to count.

The rest of Saturday was spent on the couch with my 3 current loves... ok, 2 forever loves and 1 current love: the Hubs, Sadie, and Dawson's Creek. I'll let you decide which are forever and which is only current.

Sunday was long run day! I told the Hubs I was going out for 10. Yeaaaaah. 10 didn't happen. FIFTEEN did!!!! I really have no idea how or why, as I was dreading the run and practically had to force myself out the door, but by 10 steps in, I knew it was gonna be a great run.

 

I know that says 13.1. It's lying. Stupid Garmin took 1.5 miles to catch satellite. Luckily I run the same route and have it basically memorized, so I knew how much distance to add. I stopped to snap this pic so I'd know what I did the half in even though I had 1.5 miles before this, so it wasn't exactly a half, but I still wanted to know what the time for 13.1 was. I'm a freak. I know. Anyway, after taking this pic I did .4 more (sloooow, cool down) to make it an even 15.  

 

LOVED this run. Loved every step. The weather was great... a little cold and windy, but great. Every step felt amazing. I finished with a freaking 8:45 average pace and I never really felt like I was running HARD. In fact, I even thought I was going SLOW at some points (I never looked at my watch so during the run I had no idea how fast/slow I was actually going). Crazy talk. WHO AM I?!?!?

 

Anyway-- after those glorious 15 miles, the Hubs and I took Sadie for a quick 2 mile walk.

How could I not have taken her for a walk when I got home and she was just sitting there waiting for me like this?? TOO CUTE.

The rest of Sunday was spent lounging around, doing some food prep for the week, and the Hubs and I even started a puzzle. PARTY ANIMALS over here. Be jealous.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FRIEND!!

Just wanted to take a quick time-out from our regularly scheduled programming to wish a very, very dear friend of mine a very, very happy (belated) birthday.

 

That's right! It's THIS GIRLS birthday!!! Ok, ok-- fine. Technically it WAS her birthday yesterday. But, I think she gets the WHOLE week, so we're still to celebrate.

 

 

Amy, you're one of the biggest reasons I got into running. You helped me find this huge passion area and I love you for that. More so, however, I love you for being YOU. You're so funny and sweet and loving and kind. You're an amazing friend and I feel SO BLESSED to be able to call you MY friend (and you KNOW I'm pretty possessive of my friends!)

 

Looking through some pics of you and I, I'm not surprised that SO MANY are of us running and sweating together. You're my FAVORITE running buddy! Remember when we ran my first ever half marathon together??? Now... when are we running a FULL together??

 

 

I only wish I had started running when we lived a bit closer so we could be running together more often.

I love you, dear friend. You amaze me. You inspire me. Happy birthday.

Weekend!

HAPPY MONDAY!

I'm actually feeling pretty good today. It's warmer (albeit rainy and gross) and today's an active-recovery day, so no 5am alarm! WIN.

This weekend went by in a flash! I can't believe how quickly the weekends fly by.

Friday night was what has now become the norm: dinner at home and then grocery shopping with the Hubs. The night did end with a little TV with my favorite girl.

Saturday I was up EARLY to work. I was proctoring a pre-ACT test.

I was set to read trashy magazines and read lots of blogs via the good ol' iPad. Easy money. I will say-- those poor kids who had to take the test! I had a room full of 3-6 graders who were SO NERVOUS! One girl even raised her hand to ask me "I have a tissue in my pocket, is it ok if I use it to blow my nose?" YESSSSS!!!! They were adorable. The exam went by super quick and I was outta there by 11. PLENTY of time for a quick workout.

I did an official speed workout: Yasso 800's. Sorta.

When I first got there my favorite TM was taken (c'mon... you have a favorite too), so I started with a .5 mile (unpictured) warm-up in a 9:30 pace. My favorite 'mill became free so I quickly scooted over to it and started the workout. I couldn't follow the idea of Yasso 800s exactly, but I think I was pretty close...

4 minutes (.5 mile) at a 8:00 pace

4 minutes, 9:30pace

4 minutes, 7:53 pace

4 minutes, 9:22 pace

4 minutes, 7:47 pace 

4 minutes, 9:22 pace

4 minutes, 7:41 pace

4 minutes, 9:31 pace

4 minutes, 7:30 pace

4 minutes, 9:22 pace

4 minutes, 7:30 pace

Then I just kinda played around randomly with the speed for the last .75 miles or so to make it an even 6 miles for the day.

 

 

So, I finished the workout with 6 miles in 50:55 for a 8:29 average pace. 8:29 doesn't sound that fast... but, those 7:XX intervals were KILLER. I was DYING by the last one. I ended up doing 6 intervals. The idea is that if you do 10 800's at your goal hour/minute marathon time in a minute/second pace, consistently through a training cycle, you'll be ready to do a marathon in that time. So, for example, if I could do 10 800's with each one being in 4 min 00 sec, I could do a 4 hr 00 sec marathon. Does that make sense? Prob not. Google "Yasso 800s". There's a million explanations way better than mine.

 

Anyway, after a quick shower I met up with some girlfriends (including this girl) for a girls night including a paint-your-own pottery place and pizza. PERFECTION.

 

Sunday I woke up early and somehow convinced myself to go on a long run. I think the key is to get out the door within 10 minutes of waking up so your mind doesn't know what your body is doing. No time to think or talk yourself out of it.

It was COLD out there! See that FEELS LIKE 13*?? That's COLD! And, it was WINDY and there is still a crap-ton of snow on the ground here.

I was fully expecting my pace to be around a 9:45/mile, since my legs were SO TIRED and stiff from the speed work the day before and because it was so windy and I was drudging through snow a lot of the time.

 

Imagine my surprise when I stopped to pee and saw that I was on pace to do a sub 2:00 half!

I sped up a bit to break the 2:00 mark, with my last mile clocking in at 8:30, but I did it! 13.1 miles at a 9:08/mile average pace!

Felt GREAT! HUGE runner's high for the rest of the day, although I was BEAT. Long runs didn't used to take quite so much out of me, but MAN! I was dragging ass for the rest of the day. Maybe it was a combo of the Saturday speed work and Sunday long run? Either way, the rest of the day I was laaaaazy. The Hubs and I went to brunch (best buffet evvvver!) and then to see Argo. GREAT movie. Go see it. SOOOO good! I ended the night and weekend in the best possible way.

Feet up, Sadie next to me, One Tree Hill on Netflix Instant, the Hubs on his computer behind the couch making fun of One Tree Hill, a delicious beer, and blogs on the iPad. Absolutely perfection.



2013 - Let's Do This

Well, I suppose it’s that time again. The New Year is just around the corner, so I guess it's time to make the much loved (and rarely completed) New Year's Resolutions.

As I think about the upcoming year, it's hard to predict where life will take me. I foresee many changes, though I don't really know why and I have no real idea what they will be.

Looking forward to 2013 there's many things I hope to accomplish. I want to challenge myself and I want to grow as a person. Woah-- that sounded so phony and scripted. Meh... hokey? Yes. But, true. So, without further adieu, here's are my Top 10 2013 Resolutions...

#1: Run another marathon. I still haven't registered for #2, but will soon, I think. The "I WANNA DO ANOTHER ONE NOOOOW!!!!" feeling has faded a bit, but I know in the back of my mind that I want to see how I would do in another one.

 

 

#2: Try a new recipe at least twice a month. This may seem like nothing to some, and while I like to cook, I tend to get in ruts and cook the same thing over and over. Hopefully this will help me branch out a bit.


#3: Talk to the sisters at least once every other week. Sucks that we all live in different places so we don't get to see each other that often. I really wanna make an effort to TALK to them (texting is an added bonus but doesn't count as talking) at least once every other week.

#4: Strength train more. Yeah, yeah. It's so good for you. Bleah. I just prefer cardio SO MUCH MORE. But, I'm gonna try. I really am. I'm going to try to go to at least one Signature Strength class each week. I also want to try to do 8-minute Abs and 8-minute Arms at least once a week.

 

#5: Save more money. The Hubs and I are actually really good about this, but I think we can be a bit more intentional and do even better. I know I can. I can cut back on the random Starbucks runs and stops at Target. I can stop and think about if I REALLY need (or even want) that new shirt or if I'm just getting suckered into a sale.

 

#6: Visit at each of my BFF's at least once. One of my best friends lives in Kentucky, one lives in Ohio, one lives in Chicago, three live in Michigan... they just live all over!! I am seriously blessed in the friends department. They are the gratest girls out there. Seriously. Be jealous. Anyway, some of these amazing women I get to see relatively regularly, but I wanna be sure to go out to see each of them at least once this year.

 
#7: Try Crossfit. I don't think I'll drink the crossfit Kool-Aid (see #4), but I want to at least try it.


#8: Eat out less. It's hard to put a number limit on it because shit happens, but I'd like to TRY to eat out  NO MORE than 1 lunch during the work week, 1 dinner during work week, and 1 meal on weekends. This is a big one. The HUbs and I eat out more than we should. Not everyday by any means, but still more than we should. This'll help with goal #5 too. 


#9: Eat less shit. I mean... I'm never going to be an incredibly HEALTHY eater. I'm OK with that. Cheeseburgers and french fries are just too damn good. BUT, I could (& should) eat BETTER and eat shit less frequently. Not never. Just less often.

 #10: Run faster. I think I'm capable of running faster than I give myself credit for and I let myself get away with running slower because I think I'm a slow runner. That makes no sense and I know that. Somehow in my head it comes together. I need to get out of this cycle. I'd like to PR in the half-marathon (with an ultimate goal of sub 2:00) and in the full (with an ultimate goal of sub 4:10). To do these successfully I need to really focus on running and getting in a speed workout in each week.

(source)

And one more-- just for good measure... spend quality time with the Hubs. This is without a doubt the most important thing on this list... but, it's something I'm committed to doing constantly, so I don't really count it as a "New Year's Resolution" kinda thing.


 

 

 

 

So, that's that! 2012 was a fabulous year. But, I have a feeling there's even more amazingness to come. Bring it on, 2013.