I'm starting a new segment on the blog called "Things I Love". I have done some product reviews in the past, but I wanted to expand upon that and just tell you about all the things I love. It could be running related, it could be baby related, it could be whatever.
Today I am going to talk about my favorite blogger, Amy.
I used to read a lot of blogs. I had the time. I had the patience. I don't have time or patience anymore. Also, I get really tired of the "super-popular" blog that is philosophical, supposedly a resource of all things running/triathlon, and gets free stuff all the time to review or giveaway. I like to read about real runners, with real jobs and real lives.
I have been reading Amy's blog, 26point2ers, since it was Amy and April. I loved reading about their race adventures from 5Ks to ultras. Soon the blog became just Amy's and the snark was awesome. What I love about Amy is that she isn't afraid to hide behind her blog. She says what's on her mind and it usually involves a four letter word and an amazing animated gif. Amy's also real with her running. She has gone from being a participant to being a runner to be reckoned with. Amy has tried and tried and tried to qualify for Boston and has come so close. I root for her from afar and my heart breaks for her when she falls short. I tell her all the time, she's gonna get it. And she will and I'll be cheering loudly.
Amy and I got to meet a few years ago when we both did the Bourbon Chase. After 24 hours of running and a little bit of awe on both sides of the meeting we had a short awkward chat. I'm convinced, though, if we ever lived remotely close to each other we'd be total BFFs. :)
I nominated Amy for Salty Running's Greatest Women's Running Blog. She's up against a heavy hitter, one of those blogs. Please go out and support Amy. Read her blog, cheer her on, and vote vote vote!
Love you Amy!!!
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Motherhood is Hard
This weeks marks a year since we welcomed our little boy into our lives. It has been a great year and I love love love the little boy Anderson has become. But I'm not going to lie, motherhood is hard.
This has been the longest winter of my life, which I'm sure most of you can attest to. It has been cold and snowy since November and even today we got another dusting of snow. Good grief. My days consistent of going to work until 8:30am and then spending the rest of the day stuck inside. While it is warm inside, I am tearing my hair out with boredom. What do you do with a baby while stuck inside all day?? I can only watch so many episodes of Sesame Street, Daniel Tiger, and Bubble Guppies. We have played with every toy he owns and we do it every day. And there is lots of snuggling. While we have fun, I'm tired of the monotony. I want to play outside. I want to take Anderson to the park. I want to take family walks. And I want to take Anderson out in the bike trailer and running in the BOB.
Let's talk about running and motherhood. It's difficult. I start work at 6:00am, which means I do not have the luxury of running in the morning while everyone is still asleep. If I want to run by myself I have to wait until after the husband gets home from work at 6:00pm. By that point in the day I am exhausted. I have gotten up early, I have worked, and I have endured the very physical job of motherhood. Which leaves me the only option of the treadmill. I love the treadmill, but you can only take so much. Sometimes I wish I could quit my job and be a stay at home....
...And on the subject of working, ugh! I work part-time: 2-1/2 hours in the office and an hour and a half at home. I actually really like going into the office and having some adult interaction, but as I said earlier, I start at 6:00am. That's just WAY earlier. No matter what time I go to bed, 5:00am is just painful. I cannot get used to it and I don't like it. Working from home is so crazy hard too. It wasn't so bad when Anderson was a BABY and could sit in the swing and be content. Now he's mobile and needs entertained. I usually have to work in little segments while Anderson watches Bubble Guppies or runs around in his walker or hangs out in his bouncy seat. Almost every week I have to work on the weekend to make up time and frankly, I don't remember the last time I actually got in all my hours. I am an hourly worker; no work, no pay. The husband works full time for the same company as me (hence why I work early early hours - so we don't have to put the baby in daycare) and also consults for another company a few hours a week. He makes good money. Why do I have to work? Sometimes I find myself mad or jealous of Dave because he gets to go to work all day. Does this make me a bad mom?
Don't get me wrong, I love my little bug and I love being a mom. I waited a LONG time to have a baby and knew what I was getting myself into. Some days are bad and rough, but most days are absolutely awesome.
Mothers out there, how do you manage motherhood?
Do you work outside the home?
Does it get easier as the child gets older? (hahahahaha!)
Whatever possessed you to have more than one child? (hahahahaha!)
This has been the longest winter of my life, which I'm sure most of you can attest to. It has been cold and snowy since November and even today we got another dusting of snow. Good grief. My days consistent of going to work until 8:30am and then spending the rest of the day stuck inside. While it is warm inside, I am tearing my hair out with boredom. What do you do with a baby while stuck inside all day?? I can only watch so many episodes of Sesame Street, Daniel Tiger, and Bubble Guppies. We have played with every toy he owns and we do it every day. And there is lots of snuggling. While we have fun, I'm tired of the monotony. I want to play outside. I want to take Anderson to the park. I want to take family walks. And I want to take Anderson out in the bike trailer and running in the BOB.
Let's talk about running and motherhood. It's difficult. I start work at 6:00am, which means I do not have the luxury of running in the morning while everyone is still asleep. If I want to run by myself I have to wait until after the husband gets home from work at 6:00pm. By that point in the day I am exhausted. I have gotten up early, I have worked, and I have endured the very physical job of motherhood. Which leaves me the only option of the treadmill. I love the treadmill, but you can only take so much. Sometimes I wish I could quit my job and be a stay at home....
...And on the subject of working, ugh! I work part-time: 2-1/2 hours in the office and an hour and a half at home. I actually really like going into the office and having some adult interaction, but as I said earlier, I start at 6:00am. That's just WAY earlier. No matter what time I go to bed, 5:00am is just painful. I cannot get used to it and I don't like it. Working from home is so crazy hard too. It wasn't so bad when Anderson was a BABY and could sit in the swing and be content. Now he's mobile and needs entertained. I usually have to work in little segments while Anderson watches Bubble Guppies or runs around in his walker or hangs out in his bouncy seat. Almost every week I have to work on the weekend to make up time and frankly, I don't remember the last time I actually got in all my hours. I am an hourly worker; no work, no pay. The husband works full time for the same company as me (hence why I work early early hours - so we don't have to put the baby in daycare) and also consults for another company a few hours a week. He makes good money. Why do I have to work? Sometimes I find myself mad or jealous of Dave because he gets to go to work all day. Does this make me a bad mom?
Don't get me wrong, I love my little bug and I love being a mom. I waited a LONG time to have a baby and knew what I was getting myself into. Some days are bad and rough, but most days are absolutely awesome.
Mothers out there, how do you manage motherhood?
Do you work outside the home?
Does it get easier as the child gets older? (hahahahaha!)
Whatever possessed you to have more than one child? (hahahahaha!)
Thursday, March 13, 2014
#tbt
Exactly one year ago I was 37 weeks pregnant and big as a COW!!!! I was uncomfortable and OVER being pregnant. Now, I only have two weeks until my baby turns one. I've actually struggled quite a bit knowing he's turning one. I've shed quite a few tears. I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone. It's been a great year, though. It's been fun to see this little baby, who was like a little alien, develop a personality, learn to play, "talk" a lot, and just all around become a cool little dude. Being that big cow above was sure worth it.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Beautiful Sunset Run
Some people like to run at sunrise; I like to sleep in. :)
After grumbling and stomping my feet all day yesterday about not wanting to do my run, I finally got my buns out the door around 5:45pm...for an hour and 40 minute run. Even with the time change, I was probably going to run out of daylight.
Dave and Anderson joined me for the first 4.3 miles of the run. We've experienced a heat wave around here, mid-40s wooo hooo!!!, so Dave put together the bike trailer. We bundled up Anderson really good and they came along for moral support. Unfortunately, it was too cold for Dave (Anderson was just fine) so that's why they didn't join me for the whole run.
After grumbling and stomping my feet all day yesterday about not wanting to do my run, I finally got my buns out the door around 5:45pm...for an hour and 40 minute run. Even with the time change, I was probably going to run out of daylight.
Dave and Anderson joined me for the first 4.3 miles of the run. We've experienced a heat wave around here, mid-40s wooo hooo!!!, so Dave put together the bike trailer. We bundled up Anderson really good and they came along for moral support. Unfortunately, it was too cold for Dave (Anderson was just fine) so that's why they didn't join me for the whole run.
I started out the run pretty conservatively, 9:45s. My only instructions for the day were to run easy so that's what I intended to do. But with each mile I kept picking up the pace. And I felt terrific!!! Mile 9 was an 8:05; mile 10 - 8:03. I ended the run with 11 miles in 1:34:04 before I ran out of daylight. But not before I got to see this:
Friday, February 28, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
DNS
Last week was just cray cray!
The new owners closed on our house. We closed on our new house. We packed up our belongings and moved Friday and Saturday. We had until 5:00pm to get out of our house. We left the driveway at 4:56. Holy wow!
Each day I tried to fit in a workout but by Saturday I still hadn't done any running, cross training, or strength workouts. And Sunday morning I was supposed to do a 5K race. After two days of moving I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I was sore, irritable, and super tired. Needless to say, I didn't do the race. I didn't even go and pick up my packet. I slept in and then started to unpack.
I did not do a single workout last week. I felt awful about it but there was nothing I could do. There's always next week.
The new owners closed on our house. We closed on our new house. We packed up our belongings and moved Friday and Saturday. We had until 5:00pm to get out of our house. We left the driveway at 4:56. Holy wow!
Each day I tried to fit in a workout but by Saturday I still hadn't done any running, cross training, or strength workouts. And Sunday morning I was supposed to do a 5K race. After two days of moving I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I was sore, irritable, and super tired. Needless to say, I didn't do the race. I didn't even go and pick up my packet. I slept in and then started to unpack.
I did not do a single workout last week. I felt awful about it but there was nothing I could do. There's always next week.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Columbus Winter Run 2014
My schedule this past week had a one hour hilly run. Wouldn't you know there happened to be a race nearby on a hilly course that was 7.5 miles and would take me about an hour? I consulted with coach and she let me sign up for it. There were instructions, however. First two miles ease into it, next three miles steady, rest of it let 'er rip.
Truth is, I haven't done a whole lot of running outside this winter. I have just become a pussy about the cold weather and snow. I have tons and tons of miles on my treadmill but very, very few outside. Yesterday, of course, was a super cold day. It was snowing and windy and bitterly cold. I had no idea what to wear. I chose tights, a base layer top, a short sleeve shirt, and a light jacket, hat and gloves. When I got to the race site I was freezing. I had worn a puffer vest for before and after the race; I was so cold I actually contemplated wearing the vest for the race.
The race starting downhill, into the wind, on a slippery, snow covered road. I was freezing, but the running felt very comfortable. This is a hilly course (see below) but I was following the plan. I hit my first mile at 8:17, second mile at 8:05, and third mile at 8:10.
{Yes I know, I owe a graphic here. Maybe later today when I get internet at home and can get on my computer.}
Mile 4 had an out and back. This portion was directly into the cold wind. I was working! But I was catching people and cruising right along, building speed. I was able to count that I was in the top 10 women although I had no idea who was running the 15 miler and who was running the 7.5 miler.
Mile 4 - 8:05
Mile 5 was now with our backs to the wind down a flat country road. I felt like I was flying at this point. I caught two or three more women during this point and a couple dudes too.
Mile 5 - 7:39
Mile 6 had a short, steep uphill. I remembered this hill from the last time I ran in this race as a 15 miler. It sucked but this time it didn't seem so bad. Coach has had me doing a lot of hill workouts and they seem to be working.
Mile 6 - 7:54
Finally the last mile and a half and I was mustering all the strength and speed that I could on the long rolling uphill to the finish line. I had my eyes fixated on the two gentleman ahead of me, trying to pull them in.
Mile 7 - 7:55
The last half mile was the long driveway back to the school where the race started. I was right on the heels of a guy at this point and he DID NOT want to be chicked. Yeah I got him anyway, pushing my way to a 7:22 pace for the last half mile.
We stuck around for the awards. I thought maybe I might place in my age group but wasn't sure as it was 10 year age groups and unbeknownst to me, they were only giving out first place in age group. But, first place overall was only 4-1/2 minutes faster than me and the girl who finished ahead of me was in the 19 and under age group. So, I did win my age group and walked away with a $10 gift card to Road Runner Sports.
This is the first race since before I was pregnant that I felt great and felt like I was really racing. I'm not quite to the pace I want to be or was, but I'm getting there and I'm feeling fierce!
The race starting downhill, into the wind, on a slippery, snow covered road. I was freezing, but the running felt very comfortable. This is a hilly course (see below) but I was following the plan. I hit my first mile at 8:17, second mile at 8:05, and third mile at 8:10.
{Yes I know, I owe a graphic here. Maybe later today when I get internet at home and can get on my computer.}
Mile 4 had an out and back. This portion was directly into the cold wind. I was working! But I was catching people and cruising right along, building speed. I was able to count that I was in the top 10 women although I had no idea who was running the 15 miler and who was running the 7.5 miler.
Mile 4 - 8:05
Mile 5 was now with our backs to the wind down a flat country road. I felt like I was flying at this point. I caught two or three more women during this point and a couple dudes too.
Mile 5 - 7:39
Mile 6 had a short, steep uphill. I remembered this hill from the last time I ran in this race as a 15 miler. It sucked but this time it didn't seem so bad. Coach has had me doing a lot of hill workouts and they seem to be working.
Mile 6 - 7:54
Finally the last mile and a half and I was mustering all the strength and speed that I could on the long rolling uphill to the finish line. I had my eyes fixated on the two gentleman ahead of me, trying to pull them in.
Mile 7 - 7:55
The last half mile was the long driveway back to the school where the race started. I was right on the heels of a guy at this point and he DID NOT want to be chicked. Yeah I got him anyway, pushing my way to a 7:22 pace for the last half mile.
We stuck around for the awards. I thought maybe I might place in my age group but wasn't sure as it was 10 year age groups and unbeknownst to me, they were only giving out first place in age group. But, first place overall was only 4-1/2 minutes faster than me and the girl who finished ahead of me was in the 19 and under age group. So, I did win my age group and walked away with a $10 gift card to Road Runner Sports.
This is the first race since before I was pregnant that I felt great and felt like I was really racing. I'm not quite to the pace I want to be or was, but I'm getting there and I'm feeling fierce!
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Power to the People!
One of our local TV stations has the worst newscast. I try not to watch it. I don't think their on-air personality is very professional and they constantly have typos and misspellings. Drives me insane! But I happened to catch the start of the news yesterday and a little surprised to see the reporter standing in my neighborhood.
She was reporting on snow plowing in Columbus, or lack thereof, and some of the neighborhoods that had not yet been done after the nearly foot of snow we received A WEEK AGO!!! I know the reporter; she lives in the same town. She mentioned a friend of hers who lives in our neighborhood had called her, she called the city, and the city had come out that day to plow our neighborhood.
What a bunch of crap! Here was this reporter, standing in the middle of our very snow covered street, saying our streets had been plowed? What kind of reporting was this?! Yes, the city had come out that day with a truck (more like a pickup truck) but it did not have its plow down nor was it spreading any salt or anything.
The reporter also claimed that our homeowner's association was having private snow removal services done. That was absolutely not true.
I was livid.
I immediately sent a message to the local news station. I also went onto Facebook and complained about the state of our neighborhood street, making sure to tag our homeowner's association.
The next day our HOA put out a post on Facebook that there had been another complaint about the snow plowing in our neighborhood (I'm claiming that as my complaint). They had called the city and filed a formal complaint about snow removal. That afternoon the city snow plow was out and it was doing its job. I saw them make at least three passes on the major streets: using both the plow and spreading salt. Unfortunately, after a week of cars on top of the snow it didn't really make a huge difference as it was just tamped down, but at least they did something.
And I feel like my voice was heard. Power to the people!
She was reporting on snow plowing in Columbus, or lack thereof, and some of the neighborhoods that had not yet been done after the nearly foot of snow we received A WEEK AGO!!! I know the reporter; she lives in the same town. She mentioned a friend of hers who lives in our neighborhood had called her, she called the city, and the city had come out that day to plow our neighborhood.
What a bunch of crap! Here was this reporter, standing in the middle of our very snow covered street, saying our streets had been plowed? What kind of reporting was this?! Yes, the city had come out that day with a truck (more like a pickup truck) but it did not have its plow down nor was it spreading any salt or anything.
The reporter also claimed that our homeowner's association was having private snow removal services done. That was absolutely not true.
I was livid.
I immediately sent a message to the local news station. I also went onto Facebook and complained about the state of our neighborhood street, making sure to tag our homeowner's association.
The next day our HOA put out a post on Facebook that there had been another complaint about the snow plowing in our neighborhood (I'm claiming that as my complaint). They had called the city and filed a formal complaint about snow removal. That afternoon the city snow plow was out and it was doing its job. I saw them make at least three passes on the major streets: using both the plow and spreading salt. Unfortunately, after a week of cars on top of the snow it didn't really make a huge difference as it was just tamped down, but at least they did something.
And I feel like my voice was heard. Power to the people!
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Home/Moving Update
Back in November I mentioned we accidentally bought a new house. Purchasing this house was contingent upon selling our current house and the people gave us 45 days to get it done. Now, houses in our neighborhood do sell very quickly but it's winter. And we're having an awful winter. Who'd want to go out in this winter and buy a new house.
Our house went on the market at the beginning of December and we had an offer within four days. The offer was a lowball offer; we countered quite high; and the buyer walked away. We continued to high traffic through the house the whole month of December but people didn't like it for this, that, or the other. Generally it was things like the layout of the house, the small backyard, didn't like where the kitchen was located in the house...all things we could not fix.
We were starting to feel the time crunch and didn't want to miss out on our potential dream house. We dropped the price by $5K and had a full price offer just three days later. Then the fun began. We had inspectors come out to our house four times. They supposedly found a bunch of things wrong with our house but the buyers just wanted money. We countered with a little bit of a lower number and they accepted. The closing time was short: just over 30 days.
Things got moving on our end. We started gathering all our documentation we would need for buying the other house. We found a lender. Closing dates were set, which is next Thursday by the way. And we started packing. Packing packing packing. The basement is full of boxes and there is still so much left to pack and do.
We have utilities to switch over. We have addresses we have to change. We have to schedule a carpet cleaning before we can move as the previous owner had cats and Dave is allergic. We have to hire a specialty mover for our piano and treadmill. We have to rent a truck (thank goodness we're only moving four miles). And we still need to beg friends and family to help us. All of this is going on while we're still trying to maintain normal life while working and having a 10 month old.
In just over a week we will start anew in a house that could be our dream house. The thought of moving scares us both but that house is exactly what we've been looking for: in the right part of town, near the bike trails, close to work, a big yard for the baby and the dog, and the privacy we've been looking for. I can't wait!
Our house went on the market at the beginning of December and we had an offer within four days. The offer was a lowball offer; we countered quite high; and the buyer walked away. We continued to high traffic through the house the whole month of December but people didn't like it for this, that, or the other. Generally it was things like the layout of the house, the small backyard, didn't like where the kitchen was located in the house...all things we could not fix.
We were starting to feel the time crunch and didn't want to miss out on our potential dream house. We dropped the price by $5K and had a full price offer just three days later. Then the fun began. We had inspectors come out to our house four times. They supposedly found a bunch of things wrong with our house but the buyers just wanted money. We countered with a little bit of a lower number and they accepted. The closing time was short: just over 30 days.
Things got moving on our end. We started gathering all our documentation we would need for buying the other house. We found a lender. Closing dates were set, which is next Thursday by the way. And we started packing. Packing packing packing. The basement is full of boxes and there is still so much left to pack and do.
We have utilities to switch over. We have addresses we have to change. We have to schedule a carpet cleaning before we can move as the previous owner had cats and Dave is allergic. We have to hire a specialty mover for our piano and treadmill. We have to rent a truck (thank goodness we're only moving four miles). And we still need to beg friends and family to help us. All of this is going on while we're still trying to maintain normal life while working and having a 10 month old.
In just over a week we will start anew in a house that could be our dream house. The thought of moving scares us both but that house is exactly what we've been looking for: in the right part of town, near the bike trails, close to work, a big yard for the baby and the dog, and the privacy we've been looking for. I can't wait!
Monday, February 10, 2014
Monday's Menu: Worst Edition
With following a new "diet", Dave and I have tried out a lot of new recipes. We have bought some cookbooks, Googled things, and even tried out recipes from Pinterest. We have loved the plantain recipes we have tried and have made some good meat dishes in the crock pot. But the other day we tried a recipe that was just disgusting.
We were having chicken for dinner and I wanted some barbeque sauce for it. If you haven't noticed, all BBQ sauces have sugar and/or honey in them. Big no-nos on the Whole30 diet. So, we found a recipe that seemed simple enough and thought we would try it out. Without giving away the website, here is the recipe:
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
10 tablespoons tomato paste
4 tablespoons shallots, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon coconut oil
I followed the instructions as they were given. I tasted it and it tasted like tomato sauce that someone had spilled orange juice in. So I added some cayenne pepper. Still all I could taste was the orange juice. I threw in some red pepper. Still orange juice. I tried some seasoned salt. I had Dave tried it. He said, "Ew! Tastes like orange juice!"
We threw it away and just ate the chicken without any topping. And it tasted just fine.
We were having chicken for dinner and I wanted some barbeque sauce for it. If you haven't noticed, all BBQ sauces have sugar and/or honey in them. Big no-nos on the Whole30 diet. So, we found a recipe that seemed simple enough and thought we would try it out. Without giving away the website, here is the recipe:
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
10 tablespoons tomato paste
4 tablespoons shallots, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon coconut oil
I followed the instructions as they were given. I tasted it and it tasted like tomato sauce that someone had spilled orange juice in. So I added some cayenne pepper. Still all I could taste was the orange juice. I threw in some red pepper. Still orange juice. I tried some seasoned salt. I had Dave tried it. He said, "Ew! Tastes like orange juice!"
We threw it away and just ate the chicken without any topping. And it tasted just fine.
Sunday, February 09, 2014
Week in Review
Man, I feel like I worked out a ton last week and yet I still missed three workouts and "only" got in about 26 miles of running.
Monday -
Planned: Rest Day
Actual: Made up my long run from the previous day. One hour 15 minutes with 6 x 1 minute at 10K pace. Treadmill, treadmill, treadmill for 8.15 miles.
Tuesday -
Planned: 45 minute run, strength
Actual: 30 minute run on treadmill before Anderson's swim lessons
Wednesday -
Planned: 45 minute run with strides (not allowed to do on treadmill), strength
Actual: 30 minutes on bike trainer (~5.5 miles...Garmin died 3 minutes into workout), 30 minutes of strength
Thursday -
Planned: 30-60 minutes cross training
Actual: Rest day
Friday -
Planned: Treadmill hill workout
Actual: Another rest day
Saturday -
Planned: 25 minute easy run, strength
Actual: Treadmill hill workout from previous day (6.5 miles) and 15 minutes of strength
Sunday -
Planned: Long run
Actual: Long run on treadmill. Yep, didn't do a single run outside this week. Damn winter! There were intervals and hills and whatnot. 8.73 miles.
Totals:
Bike - 5.5 miles
Run - 26.53 miles
Strength - 0.75 hours
Monday -
Planned: Rest Day
Actual: Made up my long run from the previous day. One hour 15 minutes with 6 x 1 minute at 10K pace. Treadmill, treadmill, treadmill for 8.15 miles.
Tuesday -
Planned: 45 minute run, strength
Actual: 30 minute run on treadmill before Anderson's swim lessons
Wednesday -
Planned: 45 minute run with strides (not allowed to do on treadmill), strength
Actual: 30 minutes on bike trainer (~5.5 miles...Garmin died 3 minutes into workout), 30 minutes of strength
Thursday -
Planned: 30-60 minutes cross training
Actual: Rest day
Friday -
Planned: Treadmill hill workout
Actual: Another rest day
Saturday -
Planned: 25 minute easy run, strength
Actual: Treadmill hill workout from previous day (6.5 miles) and 15 minutes of strength
Sunday -
Planned: Long run
Actual: Long run on treadmill. Yep, didn't do a single run outside this week. Damn winter! There were intervals and hills and whatnot. 8.73 miles.
Totals:
Bike - 5.5 miles
Run - 26.53 miles
Strength - 0.75 hours
Saturday, February 08, 2014
Bittersweet
The husband and I have owned a photo booth business since 2008. When we started the business we were only the second photo booth business in town and we quickly built up business. We quickly had two photo booths four other employees and work every single weekend. We were flying high. We made enough money to redesign our booth (designed and built by yours truly) and upgraded to the best equipment. We had and still have the best booth and pictures in the business. We truly stand by that promise. We even encourage couples at bridal shows to go and test out all the booths and we really think they'll come back to us. Most of them do.
Soon everyone owned a photo booth. They were easy to buy over the internet. (And looked like giant tents. Would you want that sitting at your wedding?) Everyone wanted a piece of business and prices dropped. We were not making much money, as evidenced by the fact Dave and I both kept jobs, and we wondered how these other businesses were actually in business. But what we had found out in the wedding industry is that everyone wants a bargain. I was probably asked by 80% of people if I could offer a discount. People wanted cheaper and were willing to sacrifice quality. We decided to go down to just one photo booth and stop having employees besides just the two of us.
For a while, this was great, but we quickly grew tired of working on the weekends in addition to all week long. I began hating the weekends. I, literally, would throw temper tantrums as time grew later on a Saturday and I had to go work yet another wedding. Don't get me wrong, I usually enjoyed myself at the wedding, but I longed to sit at home in my pajamas by 8:00pm.
Late in our pregnancy, I knew I didn't want to do it anymore. We still had lots of events planned for 2013 so obviously the business was going to have to continue after Anderson was born. Our first event was 5 weeks after he was born and it was actually great to get out of the house. But it was tough to work until midnight or later and know that we were going to be woken up two or three times during the night. Plus anything that we scheduled had to be run by my parents for their availability to see if they could watch the baby.
Finally, in October of 2013, I said enough. I started turning down requests and contacted my accountant telling her we would be done as of January 1st, 2014. Yes, we have closed our business officially.
It was a great five years. We have attended 100s of weddings, met cool and powerful people, we have worked with charitable organizations, and we even got to have the MLS cup and championship Columbus Crew team in our booth. We would have loved for this business to go on forever. The reality is, though, that our life was changed when our son came along. We want to spend our weekends with him. We want to be able to say, "hey I want to do a 5K this weekend" and not worry that we will be up until 2:00am working the night before. As I've gotten older I've lost a little bit of competitive spark from my younger years and I just don't want to compete with the other photo booth companies. I just don't think it is worth it.
This decision was bittersweet but I also feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Dave and I can now be normal people, with normal Monday through Friday jobs, and spend our weekends with our family. Thank you thank you thank you for your years of support. We have loved being part of your lives.
Soon everyone owned a photo booth. They were easy to buy over the internet. (And looked like giant tents. Would you want that sitting at your wedding?) Everyone wanted a piece of business and prices dropped. We were not making much money, as evidenced by the fact Dave and I both kept jobs, and we wondered how these other businesses were actually in business. But what we had found out in the wedding industry is that everyone wants a bargain. I was probably asked by 80% of people if I could offer a discount. People wanted cheaper and were willing to sacrifice quality. We decided to go down to just one photo booth and stop having employees besides just the two of us.
For a while, this was great, but we quickly grew tired of working on the weekends in addition to all week long. I began hating the weekends. I, literally, would throw temper tantrums as time grew later on a Saturday and I had to go work yet another wedding. Don't get me wrong, I usually enjoyed myself at the wedding, but I longed to sit at home in my pajamas by 8:00pm.
Late in our pregnancy, I knew I didn't want to do it anymore. We still had lots of events planned for 2013 so obviously the business was going to have to continue after Anderson was born. Our first event was 5 weeks after he was born and it was actually great to get out of the house. But it was tough to work until midnight or later and know that we were going to be woken up two or three times during the night. Plus anything that we scheduled had to be run by my parents for their availability to see if they could watch the baby.
Finally, in October of 2013, I said enough. I started turning down requests and contacted my accountant telling her we would be done as of January 1st, 2014. Yes, we have closed our business officially.
It was a great five years. We have attended 100s of weddings, met cool and powerful people, we have worked with charitable organizations, and we even got to have the MLS cup and championship Columbus Crew team in our booth. We would have loved for this business to go on forever. The reality is, though, that our life was changed when our son came along. We want to spend our weekends with him. We want to be able to say, "hey I want to do a 5K this weekend" and not worry that we will be up until 2:00am working the night before. As I've gotten older I've lost a little bit of competitive spark from my younger years and I just don't want to compete with the other photo booth companies. I just don't think it is worth it.
This decision was bittersweet but I also feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Dave and I can now be normal people, with normal Monday through Friday jobs, and spend our weekends with our family. Thank you thank you thank you for your years of support. We have loved being part of your lives.
Friday, February 07, 2014
Thursday, February 06, 2014
Operation: BAMF!
One of my biggest worries before I got pregnant was totally selfish...would I be able to lose the weight and get back to the size and shape that I was? I was happy that I didn't gain that much weight during pregnancy (30-35) pounds and did not get any stretch marks. I was ecstatic that I was able to fit in my pre-pregnancy clothes just a few weeks after having Anderson. But I've had a hard taken off the last 10ish pounds and my body is not the same. I've got love handles and my thighs are bigger now and rub together when I run. I didn't get to breast feed which magically drops weight and makes people faster and seriously, I love food. Bad food.
In the last few weeks, though, I've gotten my act together. I was inspired by Sonja on her first Whole30 quest. I started doing some reading, found recipes, and tried it myself. I quickly failed, though. And then failed again and again. A goal of 30 days without alcohol, sugar, grains, dairy, legumes, etc. is just too big of a goal for me (us) while we were traveling and moving (more on that in another post). So Dave and I have started basically following the Whole30 idea for about two meals a day and then relaxing the rules yet eating something nutritious for the third meal. It's working too. In the last two weeks I've dropped three pounds and I noticed my abs again.
I'm also trying to be better about sticking to my training plans and doing ALL workouts. Each workout I feel stronger and faster. Hopefully by the spring/summer everything will come together and I'll be back to one badass chick!
In the last few weeks, though, I've gotten my act together. I was inspired by Sonja on her first Whole30 quest. I started doing some reading, found recipes, and tried it myself. I quickly failed, though. And then failed again and again. A goal of 30 days without alcohol, sugar, grains, dairy, legumes, etc. is just too big of a goal for me (us) while we were traveling and moving (more on that in another post). So Dave and I have started basically following the Whole30 idea for about two meals a day and then relaxing the rules yet eating something nutritious for the third meal. It's working too. In the last two weeks I've dropped three pounds and I noticed my abs again.
I'm also trying to be better about sticking to my training plans and doing ALL workouts. Each workout I feel stronger and faster. Hopefully by the spring/summer everything will come together and I'll be back to one badass chick!
Saturday, February 01, 2014
Groundhog Run Race Photos
I found some official race photos from last weekend where I didn't look like complete death! Here's two of them I borrowed from the website.
Looking sporty. Starting to look fit. Still have some work to do.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Groundhog Run 5K 2014
I ran one of the most unusual races this past weekend.
Dave, the baby, and I took a trip to Kansas to visit family over the weekend. Of course, when we travel out of state we always look for a race to run. We already have done a race in Kansas, but we were able to find an underground 5K in Kansas City, Missouri while we were going to be there. Yes you read that right - underground. There is an old limestone mine there that has been converted into storage and businesses and whatnot. It is so big that they were holding both a 5K and a 10K. And this race is popular! It's been going on for 30+ years and had almost 5000 people in it.
Dave, the baby, and I took a trip to Kansas to visit family over the weekend. Of course, when we travel out of state we always look for a race to run. We already have done a race in Kansas, but we were able to find an underground 5K in Kansas City, Missouri while we were going to be there. Yes you read that right - underground. There is an old limestone mine there that has been converted into storage and businesses and whatnot. It is so big that they were holding both a 5K and a 10K. And this race is popular! It's been going on for 30+ years and had almost 5000 people in it.
Although the race is run in waves (and we were in the first wave - 24:00 and under), we had been warned that it got crowded in the tunnels. I wasn't expecting to go fast. I wasn't expecting to race.
Dave and I took a little warmup and then lined up. Surprisingly, there weren't many people in the first wave. We took off pretty quickly, staying side by side for most of the first half mile. Then I started to slip back. Things just felt awful. I felt heavy and winded and my arms were hurting. I hit the first mile in 7:11. Ugh, that's not even as fast as I wanted to be going. Still, I needed to back off. I kept Dave in sight but mile 2 was just horrendous. I missed the mile marker so I have no idea how fast/slow I was going but I knew it wasn't pretty. Mile 3, things started to perk up and I tried by hardest to catch Dave but he was just out of reach. He wound up finishing just 21 seconds ahead of me.
My finish time was 23:13 which is nearly 30 seconds slower than my last 5K. What the heck? I was disappointed. I could have done better.
We milled around for a while and waited in line to get our official results. To my surprise, I finished third in my age group (35-39) out of 122!! Well, shoot! Now I couldn't be disappointed. I walked away with a third place medal and checked off state number 17 in the process.
Next 5K....4 weeks!
Friday, January 17, 2014
Foto Friday
Anderson and I keep to a pretty good schedule every day. I work in the office form 6-8:15, meet Dave, take the baby home, and work from home again until about 10:00. At 10:00 we snuggle and watch Sesame Street. That snuggling usually leads to a small morning nap. I've started Instagramming the nap pictures.
#ssnt (Sesame Street Nap Time)
#ssnt (Sesame Street Nap Time)
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Swimming Lessons
Man, I started off so strong in the new year with blogging every day. I had ever intention of keeping that up and then BAM! I'm like a week and a half behind. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
We put Anderson in swim lessons as soon as we could, which for us was after 6 months old. He goes to a parent/child class at the Y once a week for a half hour. Dave and I both attend with him. For the class we sing a bunch of songs that have motions in the water, like "I'm a little teapot", which gets the kiddos to stick their ears in the water. We also work on kicking and scooping our arms. Anderson looks like he may be pretty good at butterfly or breaststroke. Finally, at the end of each class the kids work on jumping off the wall and going all the way under.
Anderson has loved swim lessons. He hasn't cried at all. He does get a little fussy every once in a while but that's mostly because swim lessons butt right up to his bedtime and he gets pretty tired. He doesn't fuss when he goes under the water and has even started sticking his face in the water when he "swims". I'm hoping this is a lifelong love of swimming.
We put Anderson in swim lessons as soon as we could, which for us was after 6 months old. He goes to a parent/child class at the Y once a week for a half hour. Dave and I both attend with him. For the class we sing a bunch of songs that have motions in the water, like "I'm a little teapot", which gets the kiddos to stick their ears in the water. We also work on kicking and scooping our arms. Anderson looks like he may be pretty good at butterfly or breaststroke. Finally, at the end of each class the kids work on jumping off the wall and going all the way under.
Anderson has loved swim lessons. He hasn't cried at all. He does get a little fussy every once in a while but that's mostly because swim lessons butt right up to his bedtime and he gets pretty tired. He doesn't fuss when he goes under the water and has even started sticking his face in the water when he "swims". I'm hoping this is a lifelong love of swimming.
Friday, January 10, 2014
Foto Friday
We get asked a lot who Anderson looks like. He's got my eyes. He's got Dave's chin. He's got my family's ears. We have no idea how he has darker hair as both Dave and I were blondeblondeblonde as kids. A lot of time I stare at him and all I see is my mom and my sister. So, I put together a little picture proof that my kid looks just like my sister. What do you think?
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