So close I can taste it

I can see the end in site....Crazy that I am so close to the end. Scary too. I am already feeling like I need a new goal when I reach this one.....I should slow down and just focus on what is ahead. Focus.

I won't bore you with the details of my life today. Ok I will.....Slept in, work, ate, work, workout, read.....pretty much it. Trying to get the year end bookkeeping done. Its always a crunch and scramble. One more day....Can you believe we only have like 30 1/2 hours left of 2014? Time to get all those resolutions done you told yourself you would do. And start thinking up some new ones.

Conference Call time!

Workout stats:
Warm up
---
Bench #45 21-15-9
Shoulder Press #45 10-10-10
Curl #45 21-15-9
---
Deadlift #115 5x5
Bent row #20 each arm 10x5
---
Core

Glad I got it done. Worked every part of my body and I can already feel it. I can really tell I only lifted once a week for the last 2 weeks. Feeling weak.

Today would be Moka's 14th birthday. We lost him on March 14th 2013. I still miss that guy more than I could have ever imagined. Happy Birthday buddy. We miss you and love you so much.

Love you boy

Weekend Recap, oh and Monday.....

What a refreshing weekend we had! Awe just what we needed! A trip to the coast does the body good.
Saturday was a nice low key day. Lazy morning with breakfast and lots of football. Bob and his dad bet each other on the collage bowl games every year. Well so far his dad is up and boy did he let him know. It is always a good comedy during bowl season. Judy and I spent some time learning how to use her new iPad. I read a lot.
In the afternoon, Judy headed to work and Bob and I headed to the beach. We took a long drive then checked out the Jetty and the waves crashing over it. Always a good view. We were in search of Elk. Bob and Judy had seen some on their morning drive and he was sure they were not far. We drove all over Fort Stevens with no luck. Then as we were driving through Warrenton, I spotted them, in a front yard. You think deer are bad....try living at the coast with the Elk!
We got thirsty with all our driving and decided to stop in at the Sandtrap - McMenamins. Few beers/cider later and we headed back in for the night. MMMMM I had their seasonal Blackberry Cider and it is sooooo good!

The Jetty at sunset

So windy at the lookout!!

Oh there are the Elk!

Blackberry Cider, so good!

Happy Couple!

After half time of the Patriots game we took off. Stopping off in McMinnville to visit my dear friends. It was a very nice visit and I am so very glad we got to stop in.

Back to reality this morning. Alarm clocks and everything. My day went like this: Breakfast, work, run, work, shower, work, lunch/reading, work, make dinner, give Bob hair cut, eat dinner, clean up, blog, read. :-)

Workout stats:
5.29 miles, 46:41 time, 8.50 avg mile.
35*, light rain.
Pretty good run. It was cold starting out so it took me a little bit to warm up. I am noticing that the bottoms of my feet get really cold and it almost hurts at first. Maybe I should try to warm them up before I head out......hmmmm. The last 3/4 of a mile I really kicked it in and was in almost a full sprint the last block. Feels good to open up. I try to make sure I can kick it up a notch at the end of a run. I can really feel my training paying off. My runs are really pretty easy. And I always know I have more in the tank. Good thing cause this weeks long run is 11 miles. I am thinking I might up it a bit cause this is my last long run, next week is taper and only 8. Crazy to think I am this close to the end!

I made myself a special custom hat this weekend. It has an opening on the back to fit around my bun, and in reflective yarn. Pretty sweet and it worked out great today! Now I think I might need to make another one.

Side view

Back view

Ponytail opening!

Custom hat to fit my bun! #HarvestThreads

Christmas Hangover

Every high has its low. That was me this morning. We had a fantastic week. Lots of excitement. Family time. Loving and laughing. And today the kids had to go to their dads and it all came to an end. 98% of the time, transitions are not horrible for me. They are never fun. Never really a good thing. Sure there are those really tough weeks when I am ready for a break, but lets be honest, those are few and VERY far between. I actually cannot even remember the last time I felt that way.
This morning was tough. They headed out early as they are off to the mountains to spend a few days learning to ski and snowboard. So fun and they are so excited. I am happy for them. Truly. They are blessed kids that have a lot of people who love them more than life. That still doesn't take out the sting of saying good bye. As I was picking up the house and putting their things away it hit me like a ton of bricks. For any of you in a similar situation you know exactly what I am talking about. I didn't have kids to not have my kids with me. It sucks. But its life I guess and I know its not their favorite thing either.
So I had my pity party. Then I had another one. Then put on my big girl panties and went for my run. I pounded out the pain and sadness over the course of 8 miles and when I got home again I was ok. I have this amazing and fantastic boyfriend who tells me "You need to focus on the wonderful week and holiday that we all had together. Focus on the positive." He is right and he was there for me with open arms.

We headed out this afternoon for Seaside to spend the weekend with his folks. Perfect timing. Of course we had to stop off at the Forrest Grove McMenamins for some beer/cider and yummy grub. Its become a staple for us on our trips out here.

Cheers. 

New coaster! I am so excited for this one!

I collect coasters from cool places we go. My favorite ones I have are all from McMenamins. This one is FREAKING AWESOME! 

My snap shot we sent to Moose. Happiness!

I am now cozy on the couch typing away while football is on tv, and both men are sawing logs. It is pretty low key here at the coast.

Post 8 miles, blinded by the sun. YES!

Workout Stats:
7.95miles (was supposed to be 7.5), 1:14:42 time, 9.16 avg pace.
37*, partially sunny.
I felt a bit stiff heading out and a twinge in my calf. Ugh, I thought. But fortunately I worked it out and around mile 2 I was good to go. I took my time and enjoyed the run. Talking to the animals and chasing the birds. I love where I live and the beauty right out side my door. 1.5 miles in and I am fully in the country. No traffic, no people. Perfection.

Merry Christmas to all

I am pretty much just going to document today in photos because thats really what you all want to see anyway!

We had a wonderful day together.

Merry Christmas 2014

Sleeping in and a lazy start was a great way to begin. 

Coffee on and stockings enjoyed

Cinnamon rolls and quiche backing

More gifts

More joy

Merry Christmas!

Beast and her new Cascade Gear

Moose finally got to see what was in the mystery wrapping....

Wait for it....

A Gorilla!!!

And this girl got an IPHONE!!!! She's kinda happy.

So much stimulation he had to chill for a while...on his gorilla!

Setting up her phone took most of the day.

MMMMMMM my Paleo Cinnamon Rolls are amazing and don't hurt my tummy so I ate way to many!

Ducks vs Beavers and a walk in the park

Action shot!

Christmas dinner.....mmmm pork butt.

Here's to a Merry Christmas with the ones we love

Ended the day watching Princess Bride together

Hope everyone found some joy and love on this day. Not all years are as Merry. Not all years are as perfect. The important thing is to find the love and beauty and to appreciate each year as it is. This year was a great one for me.....but I have had my share of sad, lonely, lost, missing my hearts on this day. Merry Christmas all and to all a good night.

Christmas Eve

Ho ho ho, ho ho ho, ho, ho, ho, ho ho....Merry Christmas Eve everyone!!!

I woke up to some horrible sounding weather this morning. I could hear the rain hitting my window and I knew what I was in-for on my run. I bucked up,  got dressed and headed out into the weather. It was just rain and no wind thank goodness!
The road was flooded over in one spot and I had to run through it twice. Obstacles are fun!

The flooding!

WET run!

Workout stats:
4.98 miles, 44.:28 time, 8.56 min mile.
36*. RAIN!
Good run. I kept telling myself how thankful I am that today I can run. And I love it. I love how it makes me feel. I love that I know what it feels like to not be able to run and that I can right now, I appreciate it that much more.
I was freezing when I got home and quickly put on PJs, blanket, heat pack and a cup of Bullet proof coffee.
I worked a few hours this morning. The kids did some chores, I wrapped a few more gifts. Then it was time to get our baking on! Lucy and I made Chocolate Chip cookies 2 ways: Regular and Paleo. Then we made 2 different batches of Cinnamon rolls: Regular and Paleo
I prepped our breakfast egg bake and started in on dinner.
This year I made Pizza Fondue. Pizza bites to dip. The kids and Bob loved it. Yay new tradition!

Pretty much loving every minute with this girl!

Yeah, we are baking.

Happy xmas eve!

Fondue with Pizza. New traditions!

Here are the sites I got my recipes from:

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie
http://blog.williams-sonoma.com/the-perfect-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Nut-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
http://www.primalpalate.com/paleo-recipe/nut-free-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
http://mylitter.com/recipes/homemade-cinnamon-roll-recipe-clone-of-a-cinnabon/

Paleo Cinnamon Rolls from The Paleo Kitchen Cookbook
http://paleomg.com

After dinner and opening a few gifts, we cozyed up and watched A Christmas Story.

Now the kids are off to bed and we anticipate the arrival of Christmas day.

Happy Festivus!

Happy Dec 23rd! Also known as Festivus! Look it up.

Slept in, drank coffee, had a conference call, worked some more, more coffee, and then worked out! We are really enjoying our time together. I love love love having the kids home.

Workout Stats:
Warm up 3 rounds
-15 air squats
-15 push ups
-15 dips
-25 sit ups
-25 supermans
---
3 x 15
-Ball Bench Press #45
-KB Tricep extensions #20
-Incline push up
-Ball Dips (so hard!)
---
3 x 15
-Curl #45
-KB Front raise
---
Core
Felt so good to get a good hard lift in. My arms were shaking like crazy when I was done. Oh it hurts so good. Looking forward to how sore I am tomorrow. :-) I felt the need to make it good since I skipped my lift on Friday. I succeeded.

This afternoon, we packed up and headed out to visit our dearest friends and share in the Christmas cheer! We did some visiting, gifting and more visiting. Awe love them so.

We chilled out with some nachos and The Giver tonight. I liked the movie. Lucy, not so much. She didn't read the book and was confused and irritated by how it ends. She should read the series. Its good.
Well, when we wake up it will be Christmas Eve! EEK so exciting! I still have some gifts to wrap...and food to bake/cook. Looking forward to all of it!

Bet you cannot guess what I am? Hint, its NOT  alive.

Lucy went shopping with me yesterday and we got this for Moose. She spent a good hour in my room wrapping it. She came out with a huge "TADA!!! I DID IT!!!!" Pretty dang good wrapping job my dear.

Happy Christmas Break!

Well if you are a regular follower of this fantastic blog, you may have noticed that I did not blog on Friday and even more importantly, I did not work out. I had some guilt. I thought I would make it up on Saturday. And I didn't. And I felt some more guilt. But then I got over it and moved on. :-)
Friday, my darling daughter woke me up at 5:30am saying she "really didn't feel good". She then proceeded to vomit and have a HORRIBLE stomach ache for the rest of the day. There was some fever involved too. I would have been alarmed, but as it turns out half her junior high was out with the same thing. Bummer.
So this meant some scrambling to reschedule the We Love to Read store we had planned for Friday, as Pea had one kid home sick too.
Fortunately I work from home so I could care for the ill. She was grateful. So was I.
We had a VERY fun weekend in spite of our plans changing due to illness. My MOM came down! We watched Christmas movies, ate delicious food, sewed and crafted and had a great time.

#swagamuffin

Moose got in a lot quality Grandma time!

They were really into what ever Christmas movie was on.....

I did bounce out of bed this morning rearing to go! Ok, so it was 8am.....but its Christmas BREAK!!!!  I had a good 5 miler this morning. Inspire of having 3 days off, I was a bit sluggish and stiff. Took me about 3 miles to really warm up and kick it in gear. Oh well, it was still a nice run and good way to start my day.

Workout Stats:
5.02 miles, 44:06 time, 8.48 avg min mile
45*, damp air.
Good run, feeling strong. I love how a run makes me feel. I am fully aware of the fact that every run is a gift. And I try to enjoy every part of it. I known some you will be laughing at me and thinking I am crazy, but I have taken advantage of my ability to run before and had it taken away from me and I hope I never forget how fortunate I am.
I have a friend who is going through that right now and I know how hard it is to start over and run through pain and I feel for her as she tries to recover. Go Tisha, I am cheering for you!

I spent my Monday working from my comfortable living room, listening to my kids play nicely together and even snuggle a little (what the heck???). I got to go grocery shopping with my girl, what an experience that was! We had a BLAST!!! Seriously, we bought pork butt for Christmas. Cant wait to eat that butt. Guess you had to be there!

The view from my work station today. Happy Mom!

Snuck this pic this afternoon. I love them so much!!!

She got her xmas gift from Grandma in the mail today. Needless to say she was so happy!!!

I am feeling very thankful and fortunate today.




this is lucy and i feel like i should really have an input in this blog.

In it for the long run

My Beast had a great last meet yesterday. She was 2-1 for the day and of the 2 wins, she won with a cradle/pin. Very nice.

Then she threw on her tutu and put on a proud smile! Love that girl!

The Beast

Flexibility was the word for the day. Due to some availability issues, we had to move our We Love to Read store to Friday instead of today. This meant moving my long run from Friday to today. 

My inspiration for the day.

My legs were not as 100% fresh as I would have liked, but they did the trick.

Post 10 mile run. Feeling very proud of myself.

Workout stats:

10 miles, 1:31:51 time, 9.11 avg pace.

40*, slight wind from the East, light sprinkle.

I did a better job of planning my route. I mean it doesn't get any more on the dot than today!

I felt really good and settled into a solid pace for the entire run. I was thankful for lots of zippers on my jacket so I could adjust my temperature as needed. I stopped once for about 10 seconds to snap a pic of this adorable horse who came running out to say hi. I love chatting it up with the animals on my run. I also had some nice cheering/waving/honking from a fellow runner who spotted me, twice. Love that and it got me through that last mile!

I am a bit sore and stiff now......I guess I better start buying ice so I can ice bath after the long runs....

Running in the country is awesome! This beauty came to say hi!

The kids are HOME!!!! I am so glad. Now we can really get into the Christmas spirit! 

And a HUGE GIANT RAD shout out to my brother who is celebrating a Birthday today. I love you brother! You are an inspiration to me everyday!