13.1

Today I completed my second half marathon and it felt great! I have been working my way up on my runs on the weekends but the most I've done since last May is 10 miles and that was last Saturday. The whole race atmosphere is so exciting and I love the cheering and good vibes that go along with it.

I finished with a chip time of 2:07:07, which is just about 1 minute faster than my time of the San Jose Half last year. When I was finished I was thinking to myself....I'm just gettin' warmed up! Now, four months until the L.A. Marathon!!

Slimy

I love Zach's face in this. Neither of the boys like to scoop out the pumpkins so I end up doing it each year.

Halloween 2009

Halloween has come and gone again. The boys loved it and we had fun having Grami and Papa join us this year for trick or treating. We waited until the morning of Halloween to carve the pumpkins because we've found in the past that they quickly go bad in our warm So. Cal. weather. Kevin was very determined to carve his all by himself. He really wanted to use on of the patterns that come with the carving kit, but in the end he came up with his own cool design. The pumpkin carving saws that came with the kit both broke so Kevin very carefully used a sharp knife for the first time this year. It was hard even for me, but he stuck with it! Zach let me do most of his, but he did help me poke holes in the tracing paper for the skeleton design that we used.

Playing a little Dodge Ball before trick-or-treating. Girls vs. Boys!

Ready to hit the streets!

Zach, the mummy

(a last minute costume since he changed from wanting to be a ghost)

Kevin, a.k.a. Harry Potter

Trick-or-Treat!!

Harry Potter casting a spell on the Mummy!

Lots of candy, lots of fun. I'm sure they will be counting down the days soon until next Halloween!

Weight Loss Wednesday

I'm still posting on Wednesday, even though it's late. I skipped last week because of being to busy. I thought my hectic week would help me out in the weight loss area but turns out it didn't. I'm not sure I trust the Wii for my weigh ins anymore. It seems like it just is a consistent up and down on that thing.....or maybe it's just me. I am going to go get another real scale though.

I finally found a breakfast that I can consistently eat and it keeps me full until lunch. Good old plain cheerios and a banana. I was enjoying my Total cereal with blueberries and pomegranate until I saw that it had as much sugar in it as my kids "special sugar cereals". So I bought regular cheerios and have been eating them almost every day for the past week and a half. I've also been making kale smoothies with my lunch and including kale, oj, yogurt, and frozen strawberries. I could drink smoothies every day, but the weather is getting a little colder so they don't always feel the best when I'm already frozen. SO, I'm gonna stick with what I like and try and stay away from the junk.....that's my diet. (And then comes Halloween candy :)

Whirlwind

My body always has a way of telling me to slow down. Sometimes I listen, most times I don't. Today I'm feeling a cold coming on and I am trying to ignore it.

I've been barely keeping me head above water this past week. Didn't even get around to posting on my weight loss wednesday! Thankfully, the whirlwind is starting to slow down. Popcorn is nearly almost over and I will be so glad when it is all out of our house an I don't have to deal with it again next year!

We are closing in on our 3-day walk. I think there are about 25 days left before the walk! All of my teammates and I have met our minimum goal! This past weekend we had a bake sale out at Lombardi Ranch and raised over $1000. We had so much stuff baked for us by all of our friends. We were able to sell consistently from about 8:00 to 5:00 and still went home with a few bags of chocolate chip cookies.

Following my time at the bake sale Garrett, the boys, and I went to meet Paula and Jeff for a Pirate Adventure dinner. It was a lot of fun and quite a different eating experience.

Of course we are still having fun getting to know Raven. She is a sweet dog and she and Dodger are getting along a little better. I've been taking her with me on all of my walks and runs and I think she's probably thinking, "Geez, a walk around the block would be ok. You don't HAVE to take me on these long adventures!"

I guess I better take care of myself this week so that I will be ready for the weekend. Halloween is the boys second favorite holiday. They can't wait and I can't believe it's almost here!!

Raven

We added a new member to our family yesterday! Her name is Raven and she's a beautiful black labrador. I'll take some more pictures tomorrow, maybe outside. She really is beautiful though!

Through the wonders of Facebook, Garrett saw a post about a family looking for a new home for their dog. We had been tossing around the idea of getting another dog and Garrett REALLY wanted a black lab. The family who owned her had a baby a few months ago and felt that they didn't have the time to give to her. She is already partially trained....knows how to sit and stay. She's house broken and crate trained to sleep in a crate at night. Perfect, right. So we went to meet her in Huntington Beach yesterday evening and ended up bringing her home last night.

Dodger has not been the most welcoming to Raven, but that's to be expected after this has been her family for 12 years. Last night it was all Dodger barking at Raven, today Raven is starting to fight back. Hopefully this will not last too long!! I hope that they become friends and can keep each other company while we're at work.

Stay tuned for some better pictures tomorrow. I am planning on taking her hiking tomorrow (steering clear of the tar pits). She took a 10 mile walk with me this morning and still had energy afterwards. Yay, I have a new running partner too!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

How did I get to be 35? In my mind, that's old. In my heart, I still feel like I'm just out of high school. I am happy with how my life is a 35 and I think it's just about how I imagined it would be. Except I never imagined I would have climbed Mt. Whitney or ran a marathon in my 34th year. These are just added bonuses and I hope to add more on to my list as I continue to age.

We had a fun weekend full of celebrations. On Saturday Susan and Namie came up and joined us, along with 3 couples of friends for a BBQ. It was a fun afternoon and Garrett even got to enjoy watching the Dodger game. Then on Sunday Paula, Jeff, and Mindy came up and we got to go out to Wood Ranch Grill for lunch. I only have pictures from Sunday because Paula is so good about taking them. I was just too lazy to get my camera on Saturday, but it doesn't mean it was any less memorable. I was taking "mental pictures" throughout the day.