tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19416497739769069402024-03-18T20:21:58.304-07:00Random Thoughts from the ZooLife is never boring with nine kids in towCateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.comBlogger822125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-90185316329406899282014-11-26T20:23:00.001-08:002014-11-26T20:23:46.686-08:00Steve Harvey Road Trip - part oneSeriously, still reeling from this entire experience. Really. Just...wow.<br />
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I'm having such a hard time even starting to put it in words, though if you talk to me face to face I'll likely go on for an hour!</div>
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I guess I should start at the beginning...<br />
<br />
As I mentioned, we were contacted by a producer for The Steve Harvey Show back in the summer. Gotta be honest, I kind of figured it wouldn't actually turn in to anything because I was contacted by a handful of people after I did the Hapari thing and it never went anywhere. <br />
We were asked if we might be interested in being a part of an awesome segment that Mr Harvey does called Family Bucket List, where he sends families out on these super fun activities to allow them the opportunity to spend time together since that is often a challenge for many families.<br />
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But we told them we were interested, filled out their questionnaire about our family and some of our "bucket list" items, and kept in contact. After verifying our availability for some dates in August, we did a Skype interview with them and they told us they would be in touch. We sat all the kids down and made sure they weren't getting their hopes up and planning on it going through, just in case, but Aaron and I did chat about how fun it would be if it did work out. <br />
After a couple of weeks we heard back, and they told us they were going a different direction for the dates they had checked with us. It happens. But we were surprised when they asked if we would be willing to be a part of something they wanted to orchestrate for our family a little later in the year. Sure! <br />
We had no idea just what they were orchestrating...<br />
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After some back and forth over the next couple of months, they asked if we would be willing to be left in the dark about things, if we (Aaron and I) would be willing to have it be a surprise not only for our kids but for us as well. Sure! Surprises are fun!<br />
Wow, one heck of a surprised was established!<br />
<br />
We did a little arranging to be available for some dates on our end, they did one heck of a lot of arranging for the Ultimate Family Bucket List experience on their end.<br />
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All we knew was that we would be traveling (they had us make sure we had ID for travel for everyone), and that at 8:00am on October 26th we would get further information. That was it. I was totally enjoying the surprise factor, especially as the date grew nearer and the anticipation heightened. Aaron was a little more on the going crazy side. He loves surprises, when he doesn't know they are coming. Sitting and wondering on things when someone says "I have a surprise for you!" drives him nuts! Not going to lie, I kind of enjoyed watching that play out. Any good wife would, right?<br />
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I did ask for info on packing, since with 12 people-especially little ones-it's kind of a huge undertaking, and I was doing nearly all of the prep on my own since Aaron works out of town. We were told that since it is Fall and weather can change, be prepared for warmer weather, or cooler weather. And that we would have the opportunity to do laundry, so pack as lightly as we could and not worry about trying to cover 12 full days with our packing.<br />
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So there we sat, bags packed, blinds closed, all ready to go on the morning of October 26th, at 7:55am. Just waiting, waiting for....something. <br />
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As I sat on the couch I saw something moving across our front yard through the closed blinds.<br />
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That's when the doorbell rang...</div>
Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-29663806512970542442014-11-18T00:30:00.000-08:002014-11-18T00:30:04.674-08:00Tuesday is the day, and Dad's View take two...and three...Part one of our Steve Harvey adventure will be airing today!<br />
I know I said Monday, but the airing schedule got changed. <br />
And then I can start telling you all about it!<br />
<br />
In other news, while you're waiting on pins and needles to tune in (that's at least two of you, including my mom), have a peek at Dad's View episode 2. The one where mom is gone.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/u15TgwHQRp0" width="560"></iframe><br />
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If you need to kill five more minutes, here is episode 3.<br />
(I know, I know. I'm so behind.)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Pq8F1i_uDdo" width="560"></iframe><br />
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His attempted interpretation of Emily cracks me up. Spending all day with her I can totally understand her, his frequent traveling denies him that opportunity. He'll get there. Eventually.<br />
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He cut the part where I asked if the kids liked dinner. And the part where I was relieved that only a couple of them liked it because I thought it was gross...along with the part where he agreed with me.<br />
Also, I swear Malia gets dressed in more than a giant T-shirt occasionally. And we give the boys hair cuts. <br />
But yes, it's pretty much just loud here a lot of the time.<br />
<br />Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-58126298545498933592014-11-10T20:47:00.000-08:002014-11-10T20:47:05.575-08:00An Epic Family AdventureWe have just returned from 12 days out of town.<br />
Twelve epic days.<br />
<br />
I know the word epic is overused, but it applies here.<br />
<br />
A few months ago we were contacted by The Steve Harvey Show. A simple email turned into an amazing opportunity for our family! <br />
<br />
The kicker-<br />
We can't say much of anything publicly until it airs! <br />
And it's SO HARD not to share things about everything that we were so blessed to experience!<br />
<br />
Aaron and I were able to post a couple of little things on Instagram, but still have to stay very vague per our agreement with the amazing producers we worked with. If you happen to follow Steve Harvey TV on Facebook or Instagram....well....you might find little snippets of hints there...<br />
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What I can tell you is that I am blown away by the amazing people that work for Mr. Harvey. Every person we had the pleasure of meeting and working with was just wonderful! I truly cannot say enough good about all of them. We spent time with some truly awesome people who will forever hold a place in our hearts!<br />
Then there is Mr. Harvey himself. The guy is just as funny in person as he is in all of the clips from his show and from Family Feud. Above that he is an incredibly kind, and generous person who does so much good. It really was such a treat to meet him!<br />
<br />
With the first of the episodes that involve our family airing next Monday, details aren't too far off. <br />
Check out <a href="http://steveharveytv.com/">steveharveytv.com</a> to find out when it airs in your neck of the woods, then tune in Nov 17th and 21st for all the fun! I'm so anxious to see the finished product!<br />
(and I hope I don't look like too much of a goof on air....)Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-65310217724515305392014-09-28T14:46:00.004-07:002014-09-28T14:46:51.070-07:00Dad's ViewOver the years we've had a number of people say "I wish I could just peek into your house and see what goes on during your day." The proverbial fly on the wall to our typical chaos.<br />
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There have also been plenty of times that Aaron and I look at each other in the middle of dinner, amazed at the randomness of conversation, or the ridiculousness of something happening at the table, and wondered why we weren't filming it. Because some of it has definitely been worth preserving.<br />
<br />
For years Aaron has suggested we set up a camera so that we can sit back and laugh at it later. If you're a parent you know there are plenty of things that aren't so hilarious when they are happening, but with a little bit of time and a perspective shift become pretty funny.<br />
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Thus we give you, Dad's view. You always hear from me, so now here are a few minutes of a peek into an evening in our family from Aaron's view. A little taste of the random weirdness that happens here.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/SFm8AU_iUNA" width="560"></iframe><br />
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A few thoughts; Yes, the musical chairs bit was real. If you ever have kids fighting over who is sitting where at dinner, I highly suggest it to diffuse things a little. And yes, the table is a little cozy right now, we're working on a fix that doesn't include buying new furniture. We finally figured out what we want to do, now it's just a matter of getting it done! The kids are super excited about the prospect of not sitting at corners. Also, I swear I do actually wear makeup, real clothes, and do my hair. At least occasionally.Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-9153407346105961812014-09-24T21:27:00.003-07:002014-09-24T21:30:12.371-07:00The big Wednesday newsLast October I ran the St George Marathon for the second time. <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(and never blogged about it. whoops.)</span><br />
It was the perfect day to run a marathon.<br />
Unlike the first time I ran St George when it was pretty darn warm, last year it was freezing at the start. Literally. It was right about 30 degrees. Sitting in sweats and wrapped up in a foil blanket next to a fire and snuggled up next to Aaron, I was still cold!<br />
<br />
Though all that time sitting there waiting for the start was pretty uncomfortable, it made for nice cool weather for the next few hours, and an amazing race.<br />
A race that landed me a new marathon PR by over 20 minutes, and a Boston Qualifying time of 3:38:47. I just squeaked under the cutoff of 3:40 for my age group. But considering that a couple of years ago I truly never thought I would ever run that fast, it was pretty dang thrilling! Qualifying for Boston was really never on my radar until a matter of weeks before St George last year, and even then it wasn't something I was willing to really seriously consider. <br />
Like not seriously considering it until near the end of the race when I realized that it could actually happen if I could just hold on to what I had going.<br />
<br />
Last week I was able to apply for the Boston Marathon with all of the rest of the people who qualified by less than five minutes. I've been waiting for a week and a half to hear if I made it in, knowing nothing more than the fact that more people applied than there were available spots, and that last year if you didn't qualify by more than 1 minute and 38 seconds faster than your age group's qualifying cutoff, you didn't make it in.<br />
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Knowing that it would be announced today, and knowing that my friend Heidi qualified by over a minute more than I did, I was periodically checking the entrants list at the BAA website to see if *her* name was there. Because if she didn't make it after qualifying with 2+ minutes to spare, I definitely hadn't made it.<br />
And then this afternoon, I found her name.<br />
And braved searching for my own.<br />
<br />
And I found it.<br />
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I'm in!<br />
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This lovely little email dropped into my inbox a short time later.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiih5ffjTgUSS3w178Ah6edj_MuJRhEiwrQbk46koBjF60k0rmcTC_5gzwjOksWrEzSDdiq4EdBxrrPBb8pkoBuUQGJk_dEfp4kSOHqwWzkWu0pepcnI0sToaJJvm8929pERWVR9zR9Rqff/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-09-24+at+10.08.34+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiih5ffjTgUSS3w178Ah6edj_MuJRhEiwrQbk46koBjF60k0rmcTC_5gzwjOksWrEzSDdiq4EdBxrrPBb8pkoBuUQGJk_dEfp4kSOHqwWzkWu0pepcnI0sToaJJvm8929pERWVR9zR9Rqff/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-09-24+at+10.08.34+PM.png" height="156" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I'm going to Boston!!! <br />
By 11 seconds, I'm going to Boston.<br />
Wow.<br />
They had about 2000 more people apply this year than they had spaces available, so those who qualified by over 1 minute and 2 seconds made the cutoff for available spaces. I qualified by 1 minute and 13 seconds. ELEVEN seconds cleared me. Count out 11 seconds. Over the course of a 3 1/2+ hour run, 11 seconds is a blip. 11 seconds is just a few steps of walking at an aid station. A bathroom stop would have been well over 11 seconds. Stretching my calf for just a tiny bit longer around mile 18 would have stolen 11 seconds. Letting my mental monkeys get the best of me in the last mile instead of pushing till the end would have killed those 11 seconds. <br />
<br />
I'm excited.<br />
I'm excited to do some base building over the next couple of months. I'm excited to pick through training plans again and choose one to use for this next 26.2 experience. I'm excited to sneak away for a few days with Aaron for this little adventure! I'm excited to (hopefully) meet up with a few online running friends who are also going to be there. I'm excited to experience first hand this epic race that I've watched from home for the past couple of years and cross that famous finish line!Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-8798727806874576102014-09-21T19:48:00.002-07:002014-09-21T19:48:15.586-07:00And then six months went by....People sometimes ask me if in the chaos of daily living I ever reach a breaking point. Sure. I definitely have triggers. Wednesday alone often does it for me. <div>
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Apparently my blogging breaking point was being pregnant with my tenth child and having a husband that traveled 100% of the time for work. Going through a transition of learning to do everything by myself between Sunday afternoon around 3:00 until Thursday night around 11:00 was slightly challenging! Solo parenting is no joke. With the pregnancy exhaustion on top of that, I was in survival mode much more frequently than I would have liked. When Friday and Saturday rolled around every minute was consumed with trying to spend time with Aaron and chipping away at the big to-do list of things that I couldn't do without him. </div>
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This left little to no time for dumping my thoughts and experiences here. </div>
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Thank goodness for Instagram! At least I have a photo journal and little pieces of thoughts and stories that I could jot down in a minutes or so. </div>
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I miss blogging. I keep thinking "I'll get to that this week!", and have even left a browser window open on the computer with this blog up and waiting for me to jump back in, all to no avail. Life just keeps happening. </div>
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Then this weekend a couple of my kids started talking about something I had completely forgotten. A day when they got in the powdered sugar and strung it all over the house and then tried to tell me they hadn't been in the powdered sugar. We all had a good laugh while I dug through the deep recesses of my brain trying to remember the incident. I had completely forgotten about it. Then as they kept talking I remembered that I had <a href="http://randomthoughtsfromthezoo.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-sweet-it-is.html">blogged it</a> way back when. </div>
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That's when I realized that I REALLY need to be blogging. Because this mommy brain just isn't what it used to be, and there are a number of things I am sure will be lost in the oblivion if they aren't jotted down here. That makes me sad. I have written down random things in notebooks and on a list in my phone, but usually that is a quick little snippet to remind me of what I need to write down, and, well...yeah. Let's just say that there are about ten snippets that were written down as blog titles and saved as drafts with the intention that I would come here and tell the whole story, and looking at them now I have no clue what I was talking about. And the notebooks? I may or may not ever see them again. At least the little things I have on my phone might stick around long enough for me to do something with them! </div>
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<br /></div>
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Now life has settled into another new routine, Aaron's job has changed to significantly less travel (yahoo!!), and I have found my motivation, it's time to dust off the old Zoo here and pick back up. Lots of missing pieces to fill in (um, the baby is almost three months old?!?), and lots of adventures coming up I have no doubt. So many fun and exciting pieces of life to share, and many mundane and senseless things as well I am sure. Because that's how we roll. </div>
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Welcome back to the crazy! </div>
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Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-15364474319534981252014-03-31T15:22:00.002-07:002014-03-31T15:24:02.850-07:00The nesting projects beginI'm sure it's been covered before, but I don't nest like a normal person. Normal pregnant people clean and organize and things like that. I do things like build patios, stock up on running shoes and repaint most of my house. At least we've come to know that this is normal for me. <br />
<br />
I've been itching to hit a few house projects for a couple of months, but with the crazy of life and adjusting to Aaron's travel, it just keeps getting put off. Enter a rapidly approaching third trimester (27wks today! yay!), and "let's get this done!" has kicked into high gear.<br />
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First up, the main bathroom.<br />
<br />
Oh, this poor bathroom. <br />
<br />
It's seen a couple of changes over the 8 1/2yrs we've spent here, like <a href="http://randomthoughtsfromthezoo.blogspot.com/2010/10/no-turning-back-finished-product.html">painting the vanity</a>, and little things like changing the shower curtain. But it had been beige in there for way too long. <br />
<br />
I found a rug I loved a couple of months ago, so I bought it with changing the bathroom in mind. Slowly stocking up on the things I would be using to change it up in there got me to the point where it was go time. <br />
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And so two weeks ago I went for it. <br />
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Bye bye beige! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9To_7ACW7JcsmEuds8Jin0bMPrIZAr7Qap-VQ15zc1fBPhHaVix-fxZBk45SkwOCYR7F96YYAICc0PBfOU7Ku3q5WLDf6JvnYiL4tFyN1RNXfY7Gju9HPFsSqtW7OBkiTlJ44TxMZNtsr/s1600/IMG_2564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9To_7ACW7JcsmEuds8Jin0bMPrIZAr7Qap-VQ15zc1fBPhHaVix-fxZBk45SkwOCYR7F96YYAICc0PBfOU7Ku3q5WLDf6JvnYiL4tFyN1RNXfY7Gju9HPFsSqtW7OBkiTlJ44TxMZNtsr/s1600/IMG_2564.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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It always takes me longer than I anticipate to finish these projects, but this time, it was done in just over 24 hours. Ten people using one bathroom is some serious motivation! <br />
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Painting, replacing hardware, repainting the vanity...plus way more deep scrubbing than I expected. It was harder for me to deep clean the shower and tub than to run 9 miles the weekend before. Not sure what that says about me. Or about the bathroom. I'm just going to ignore that and move forward.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg59zjBxHFNh2MrwfTur9h2XbRKoe7fceOfTht7m5JrZoB_jCt0RvGj64rzKof4a1BurPROP07tV0vxPSii-PCIOxs-n-n4dX03pvPZEcwpcRV24eAy-KSdpT9huacAOdrPCSWaLw_7TwK3/s1600/IMG_2565.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg59zjBxHFNh2MrwfTur9h2XbRKoe7fceOfTht7m5JrZoB_jCt0RvGj64rzKof4a1BurPROP07tV0vxPSii-PCIOxs-n-n4dX03pvPZEcwpcRV24eAy-KSdpT9huacAOdrPCSWaLw_7TwK3/s1600/IMG_2565.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Went a step further than I anticipated and the light fixture as well. Good choice, long overdue. Super happy with how it turned out, loving the change! <br />
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And yes, I restricted my children from using it the day I finished so that Aaron could actually see it done, and still super CLEAN, when he got home. <br />
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Especially loving the hooks behind the door for towels, for some reason my picture of that won't load. huh. I'm having all sorts of blog upload success lately. Anyway, similar to this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjt3Qj92t9sKDbeC80ISkP9qaFEpXcyn77w7myRYUhFbCeBLTQEqAPcxVuhq9wCWciJpG2lmX-eJAsi_Lv8tAp1W8nNdPwqjVbTvCFDU-OvQXOYLVWlLC6K75Wlj9LGP_wmEaq3hExU0yf/s1600/hooks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjt3Qj92t9sKDbeC80ISkP9qaFEpXcyn77w7myRYUhFbCeBLTQEqAPcxVuhq9wCWciJpG2lmX-eJAsi_Lv8tAp1W8nNdPwqjVbTvCFDU-OvQXOYLVWlLC6K75Wlj9LGP_wmEaq3hExU0yf/s1600/hooks.jpg" /></a></div>
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We have tried a number of different hooks in the bathroom and in bedrooms to keep kids' towels from piling up all over the place. The 3M hooks that work great in our master bathroom keep getting broken in the main bathroom. I hate the over the door hanger things. This has been fabulous! Granted it's been a whopping week and a half, but it is super sturdy and provides more places to hang than any other alternatives we've tried. Not to mention it looks a little nicer! <br />
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Big project number one crossed off the list, and now, on to the next one!<br />
<br />Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-43077885892735198022014-03-26T08:54:00.001-07:002014-03-26T08:54:39.181-07:00Slowly getting things back up and running....Nothing like a random smattering of posts as far back as August. About half of the posts stuck in draft mode for so long have finally published (yay!), though some have weird placement, especially where pics are concerned. <br />
Huh.<br />
Hopefully the rest will cooperate before too long. <br />
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I'll have to add it to my list of nesting projects.Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-88018901572660714872014-03-26T08:40:00.000-07:002014-03-26T08:40:23.042-07:00Run for the Fallen It's race season again! <br />
Though I should probably say "race" season, because let's face it, I may be running races but I'm not doing any actual racing this year for obvious reasons.<br />
<br />
This past weekend I had the privilege of running for an awesome cause. <br />
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Though the city I live in isn't exactly a small town anymore (30-something thousand people now? maybe closer to 40,000?), there is very much a small town feel here. Very much a sense of community, where neighbors know each other and a number of people who work in our schools also live in our community...for the most part it is really a fairly close knit area out here. <br />
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On January 30th, one of the officers that worked for our local Sheriff's office was killed on the job. He had stopped to check on a car pulled over to the side of the highway to see if it was an abandoned vehicle or someone who may have needed help. He was shot twice without warning while he was still sitting in his car. <br />
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I didn't know Sgt. Wride personally, but have always been grateful for the fabulous officers that serve our community. Whether it was working with them in helping with local events, talking to them about neighborhood concerns, or just having them wave each time I'm out running, they are a very welcome presence in our community and we are incredibly grateful for their service here. <br />
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A 5k was put together to celebrate the life of Sgt Wride and as a fundraiser for his family, a small way for our community to thank them for their sacrifice and service. <br />
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I wasn't sure what to expect as far as race size, as when I had registered just a couple of weeks ago there weren't even 100 people registered. The turnout was amazing, with approximately 700 people there. <br />
While I often get emotional during our national anthem, the pre-race ceremony and color guard were particularly humbling and emotional. There weren't many dry eyes left after the national anthem and hearing from Sgt Wride's wife, seeing the dozens of officers there, and the many people lining the course. <br />
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As to the race itself...<br />
It was a morning that was colder than we've had for the past couple of weeks, wind chill from the nearly 40mph winds pushing the temp down to mid 20s, but people seemed to mostly deal well with waiting an extra 40min at the start while waiting for three busloads more than were expected to arrive at the start. (Although I was glad I didn't have kids with me, as there were a ton of frozen and crying little ones trying to keep warm.)<br />
<br />
Aaron and I were both running, though the cold really started to get to him after standing around for over an hour, so he headed off to run the course on his own before the official start. (we have great paved paths out here, so he just ran along that since the road wasn't patrolled yet) I forget how easily he gets cold with the bald head! It was a good thing he went ahead though, it took him nearly an hour after he finished to start getting feeling back in his hands and feet again, as it was a much colder morning than anyone expected it to be. <br />
<br />
The course was almost the same as my favorite local 5k, so I was excited to run it, and hopefully snag a relatively quick finish time. It started a little bit back from the start of the other 5k that runs along here, which unfortunately put the first 1/4 mile uphill. That was not something I anticipated. Between that and my legs being frozen, I had a slow and stiff start, and didn't really feel like I found my groove until the very end. <br />
I was able to maintain a decent pace, but could tell it wasn't going to be as quick as I hoped. It was also very obvious that my body has made a shift from a month ago when I last "raced", and that things are going to just slow down from here on out. <br />
Then my shoe came untied at about 2 1/2 miles. Which was ironic because a friend and I had discussed shoe tying at the start line and I mentioned that I had only ever had my shoe come untied twice, both times in a race. Go figure.<br />
After having to stop and tie my shoe, apparently I was irritated enough to kick into high gear, as I found a little speed left in my legs after that. The course was a little long at almost 3.3 miles (darn uphill start!), but my pace after mile 3 was a 7:08 pace! Nice to know I can still negative split and have a finish line kick. <br />
Aaron had made it to the finish before the actual race even started, thankfully it was a few degrees warmer on that side of the valley than on the start side. Despite the fact that his fingers were frozen he was still able to snag a couple of pics of me coming in, which was fun. He happened to get one that is one of my favorite running pictures ever, which is even more fun. My running pictures always seem to be snapped at just the wrong time, making it look like I'm fake running or out for a slow jog or something. I never end up with those pics that make it look like you're floating. <br />
But now I have one.<br />
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(I don't even mind that it is frightening just how much my backside has spread over the past 25 weeks.)<br />
<br />
Finish time by my watch was 26:47, 8:15 pace for the (slightly long) course. Official finish times/places still haven't been published, but if I counted correctly I should have been about 10th female. Though I'm totally good with that finish time, it is hard to be slowing down. Considering that just a couple of months ago I logged a 5k over 4 1/2 minutes faster than that, the ego does take a hit. Which feels odd to say because a few years ago I would have been thrilled to be able to run that pace at all. Perspective is an interesting thing.<br />
<br />
The race itself was good, but above everything else, this race made me very grateful to live where I do. What a blessing to be surrounded by so many wonderful people who really care about the community and about those who serve us so selflessly! One of those days where your faith in humanity is bolstered and you are grateful to be even a tiny part of something good. <br />
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For a peek at the day, you can go here: http://www.kutv.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_10130.shtmlCateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-22224485804986682392014-03-13T08:34:00.000-07:002014-03-26T08:35:08.847-07:00One day she'll be my running buddyBut until she's old enough for that, she sits and watches me when I'm on the treadmill. <br />
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Aaron picked the right dog.Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-26216999856204077572014-03-11T09:26:00.000-07:002014-03-26T08:44:12.689-07:0024 week check inThe breathe a sigh of relief week, because even a podunk hospital will take you seriously if something seems to be going wrong. The big magic widely accepted viability cutoff week. <br />
<br />
Even when everything is flying along and is totally peachy, there is always a bit of reassurance once you pass this point. At least for me there is. <br />
<br />
And here is your fair warning that if you're offended by bare bellies, you should stop now. Or cover your eyes and scroll quickly or something. I'll spare you a weekly update, but I have enjoyed looking back over the past couple of pregnancies at the updates I've blogged, so every few weeks or so until the very end I'll update.<br />
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<br />
<b>24 Weeks</b><br />
<br />
<b>Total Weight Gain</b>: by my scale I'm up about 15 pounds. By my dr.'s scale at my appointment last week, 12. I'm going with mine being more accurate since I'm always wearing the same thing and it's the same time of day when I weigh in here.<br />
<br />
<b>Maternity Clothes:</b> Nope! Yay! Well, ok, I have a couple of long shirts that are technically maternity shirts that I've worn once or twice, and when I have a hankering for skinny jeans I do have a pair of those with a panel that I have to break out. Real skinny jeans stopped happening a while ago. But in general, low waist jeans a little bigger than normal are still doing the job.<br />
<br />
<b>Sleep</b>: Meh. Some nights are better than others. Overall I really can't complain, usually I'm only up once in the night, but some nights include a lot of tossing and turning. I find that usually on the nights when Aaron is home I sleep like a rock. It's so nice.<br />
<br />
<b>Miss Anything</b>? Some of my clothes. And some running related things; I do miss running fast (well, my version of fast anyway), I miss speed work and fast hill repeats. I think I miss hard workouts in general. I do miss really long runs as well, and am a little envious of my friends who are in marathon training mode right now. But I think that is partly due to the days being a little warmer...if we were stuck in the polar vortex here, I'm guessing I wouldn't be longing for a 3 hour run! <br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Movement:</b> Baby isn't as constantly active as most of my others have been. I have an anterior placenta, but have with the last couple of kids as well and it didn't seem to make a difference in what I was able to feel as far as their movement, so apparently he's just a pretty chill kid? I will admit it causes a little paranoia when I haven't felt him for a number of hours, but on the flip side it makes me appreciate it that much more when I do feel him being particularly active! LOVE watching him jump around in there.<br />
<br />
<b>Food Cravings</b>: Strawberries<br />
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<b>Making me sick:</b> Red meat, as is the case in most of my pregnancies. And I haven't been able to stomach pita chips since I got pregnant. Weird.<br />
<br />
<b>Showing</b>: Yep. For sure. The belly isn't huge, but I have thickened up a ton everywhere. I see these cute little ladies who don't look pregnant anywhere but their belly-like that pregnancy Barbie from a few years back where you could just pop off the belly and she looked normal again...total novelty to me because my thighs/hips/butt/waist thicken from the very beginning!<br />
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<b>Gender:</b> Boy! <br />
<br />
<b>Wedding ring on/off: </b>On<br />
<br />
<b>How are you <span style="font-style: italic;">feeling</span>?</b> Every pregnant woman's favorite question! Honestly, pretty darn good. Feeling very blessed to be healthy and strong and not struggle through pregnancy the way so many do. It definitely makes the hard work to be in shape between pregnancies worth it! I will admit that at the end of the day I am pretty wiped out, and I get tired more easily than I would like to, but considering that this is my tenth baby, I appreciate how awesome that is! Especially now that I'm officially medically "old" to be doing this.<br />
<br />
<b>Looking forward to:</b> Eventually figuring out the right name for this child. Since none of our kids' names start with the same letter, we figured we'd stick with that route, so any A, C, D, E, J, L, M, S, T names are out. You'd think that with 17 letters left to choose from it wouldn't be that hard. Our last name makes it a little bit tricky, we have to project ourselves to childhood and how any particular name could be twisted to be obnoxious and/or inappropriate with our last name. We have a list of about 20 names that are up for consideration, but none of them seem to fit just right. This may be the first time that one of our babies arrives without a name! Plenty of time still, but weird to not know yet. We've found the right name by this point with all but one of our kids in the past. <br />
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<br />Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-49324096787037935142014-03-09T14:38:00.000-07:002014-03-26T08:44:03.477-07:00Sweet Tooth SundayIt's baaack! <br />
<br />
It's been entirely too long since Sweet Tooth Sunday was happening.<br />
It's also been entirely too long since regularly blogging was happening, but I digress. <br />
<br />
Since I'm in an indulgence phase at this point in time, I'm back to lots of baking and treats and all of those things that I cut out when I'm working to get down to a trimmed out place where I run faster. <br />
<br />
I'm not up too terribly many pounds at this point, and I'm past halfway, so I'm good with a little indulgence. <br />
<br />
This evening I needed something good, but not too rich, and super simple. <br />
<br />
Found the perfect fit.<br />
<br />
Go back with me a few years to the <a href="http://randomthoughtsfromthezoo.blogspot.com/2009/05/sweet-tooth-sunday.html">Coconut Cake</a>. Still completely delicious and ridiculously easy. (There are pics there. I'm lacking pics tonight.) <br />
<br />
Since I was feeling the coconut vibe, but didn't want the heavy frosting, I whipped up some cream and added coconut extract. Coconut whipped cream is fabulous. You can actually whip coconut cream (like out of the canned coconut), but I had open cream hanging out in my fridge which saved me from jogging back downstairs to the storage room for another can of coconut milk. Yes I was feeling lazy this evening. <br />
<br />
Then the berries. I'm loving berries right now. Not super convenient when it's still winter, but at least strawberries are getting easier to find and a little less expensive. <br />
I used our frozen mixed berries-blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Because the frozen ones tend to be a little tart, I let them sit in a little sugar for a bit while cupcakes were baking. 4 cups of berries and between 1/4-1/3 cup of sugar. Just mixed it all around and let them sit and get soft. <br />
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I did have to taste it and make sure it was acceptable of course.<br />
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And then it all got thrown together. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(I'm super irritated that my external flash isn't working, please excuse the horrid shadows.)</span></div>
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Oh my goodness it hit the spot. And the way the juice from the berries soaked into the cake...mmmm...delicious. <br />
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The kids all loved it, Emily (literally) screamed for more. I genuinely felt bad for Aaron that he wasn't here this evening to partake. <br />
<br />
But wait. There's more. <br />
What? <br />
<br />
My friend brought over some pineapple jam. <br />
Stay with me here. <br />
Her son is living in the Philippines and sent her the recipe. Equal parts pineapple and sugar, with a little vanilla. It's not thick like jam, more like a pineapple syrup.<br />
Being a pineapple lover, and especially a pina colada lover, my brain instantly went back to dessert. I couldn't *not* try this. <br />
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Coconut + berries + cream + pineapple goodness = almost inappropriately yummy.</div>
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Yes I had dessert twice tonight. <br />
It was totally worth it.<br />
Good thing my appointment with a weigh in isn't until Thursday!<br />
<br />Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-76132649960431419142014-02-15T22:08:00.000-08:002014-03-26T08:35:08.855-07:00Valentine's Day Date Dash 5kTime to start racing again! <br />
<br />
I can't even begin to express how excited I am that Spring racing is here, despite the fact that it's still winter. No complaints on my end, I have running friends who are having races snowed out at this point. Others who are snowshoe racing because they have so much snow. <br />
<br />
Today, in mid February, I got to race in shorts. <br />
Unreal! <br />
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It was a little windier than I would have chosen, but with as warm as it was (nearly 40!), the wind was doable for sure. <br />
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I talked Aaron into doing this race last week. What a good sport.<br />
I also may or may not have signed him up for a half marathon with me in June as a Christmas gift. <br />
Good thing he loves me! <br />
<br />
With his working out of town currently, I actually was left wondering if he would even be here to run with me today. His flight was supposed to get home Thursday night around midnight, he got stuck in Atlanta overnight, and then the weather was bad there leaving us wondering if he would make it home at all this weekend before he had to be back in Tennessee on Sunday night.<br />
<br />
I told him if he really didn't want to race he could have just told me no in the first place instead of going through all of that hoopla to avoid it.<br />
He didn't find that as funny as I did.<br />
<br />
Hey, grasping at straws when the whole weekend schedule gets bumped and you play single parent all week to nine kids is completely understandable, isn't it?<br />
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Thankfully he did make it home for a fun Valentine's night with the kids, and for the race on Saturday. <br />
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We had to have our traditional arm's length photo for all of the races we do together.<br />
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<br />
The race was good, course was nice. I could have done without the uphill in the last mile, but I played the mental game I do on hills ("I am a strong hill runner! Keep pushing!"), which seems to work well and let me pass two people. <br />
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I didn't set out to really race this, as with every pregnancy race my first priority is baby and how my body is reacting. I happened to be blessed with a very comfortable running day and a little speed in my legs, which was a fabulous treat! I realized at about mile 2 that I would at least be in the top 10 women, and toyed with the thought of being able to pull an age group placing. Am I the only person who tries to gage people's age group from behind in races? This is a much easier job in triathlon than it is in running. <br />
I was able to pick of a few more people before the end, which is always fun.<br />
<br />
Finishing a little quicker than I thought I would, especially with the uphill (25:10) was a treat. <br />
I ended up taking 4th overall female, and 1st in my age group, which was even more of a treat! <br />
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Before I go, your fetal trivia of the day, at 21 weeks baby is now approximately as long as two tubes of Nuun. And is poking out to say hi.<br />
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<br />Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-89407447279873276792014-02-04T21:28:00.000-08:002014-03-26T08:35:08.862-07:00Proof that God has a sense of humorI'm going to need a new picture on the blog.<br />
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This one.<br />
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<br />
Ok, so back in October we had that fun <a href="http://randomthoughtsfromthezoo.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-rumor-mill-is-grindin-away.html">uterus rant</a>. It really was good natured at that point. Hopefully it read that way here. <br />
Heck, my friend and I even tried to have a little fun with it, and tried to spin the rumor in the neighborhood into her being a surrogate for those twins I was supposedly expecting. Even though she has had a hysterectomy. It got a few people talking but didn't catch on as well as we'd hoped. Dang.<br />
<br />
Things got a little hairy when my kids started getting approached at school that very day questioning whether or not I was pregnant. They had friends, and kids who were merely acquaintances, asking on behalf of their parents to find out if there was any validity to the rumors. Come on people. <br />
At that point I got irritated, and ended up throwing that out on Facebook. While I'm not typically one to rant or throw personal issues on Facebook, the fact that my kids were being bugged at school multiple days in a row really bugged me. So I put that out there. Told people to suck it up and ask me if they had a personal question about me, and to leave my kids out of it. That was also mostly good natured, a little obnoxious in my attempt to use the word uterus as many times as possible in the actual post and in the comments, but apparently a lot of people read it as me being very angry and mean. Irritated, sure. Angry, no. <br />
Apparently my overuse of the word uterus-it was in the post/comments 26 times-made a number of people uncomfortable though. My apologies if you were one of them, because when I learned that I laughed. Hard. <br />
<br />
ANYWAY.<br />
<br />
Life is funny. So all we could do was laugh when we found not too long after all of that hoopla that I was actually pregnant. <br />
Well, laugh and make a pact that this would stay a secret for as long as possible. <br />
<br />
Aaron has a hard time not sharing exciting news. Like the man can't keep gifts hidden away for intended occasions because he can't <i>not </i>share! <br />
I really wanted to hit the halfway point before spilling the beans, and I got close. He was a good sport and kept his lips zipped even after finding out it was a boy back in January. That was even harder than just keeping the pregnancy a secret! <br />
<br />
I pushed for a February spilling of the beans, and though I would have loved to have held off a couple more weeks, he was beyond ready to tell, and I am getting to the point where it's harder to keep it hidden, especially at night. <br />
<br />
So there it is! Baby boy on the way, due in July. <br />
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(Though if I were putting money on it I'd bet he's out by the end of June. I could be wrong. We'll see.)<br />
Yes we are excited, even if we are a little overwhelmed some days. Some days we were overwhelmed with one kid, two kids, three kids....kids can be overwhelming sometimes! Anyone who has kids understands that! The kids are also very excited, which was kind of a relief to me as I was honestly a little nervous about how the older ones might react. Thank heaven for great kids who appreciate a big family even though some days it is hard.<br />
<br />
And to answer the question that I'll most frequently be asked regarding this pregnancy, yes we were planning on another. The follow up, "is the the last one?" will, I'm sure, be asked nearly as frequently. While our first thought is yes, this is our caboose, time will tell if we are still missing someone after this little guy's arrival. We'll see. I never thought we'd have more than 4 or 5 kids to begin with; life is often full of twists and turns we didn't expect!<br />
<br />
I am still running and hope to run to the very last day of pregnancy this time like I was able to do last time around. Baby already has three races under his belt (two 5k's and one half marathon), with a handful more "races" planned before his arrival. I say "races" because let's be honest, there isn't much actual racing happening with a baby on board! I love participating in the events and soaking up the race atmosphere, and even though I'm not going out to be speedy (a big change after last year!), I sure enjoy every minute of it! It is good mental training for me to really listen to my body and adjust my efforts accordingly, and to be willing to not pay as much attention to the numbers. Good therapy for the number obsessive side of me! <br />
<br />
And as always, belly pics will be happening. Weekly for me, not sure how frequently I'll subject you to them. We shall see. For the squeamish folks (example: you can't handle the word uterus), know in advance that I will be taking pics in a sports bra and my beloved Roga shorts each week. If that's too much skin for you, I apologize. <br />
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Also look away now.<br />
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Almost halfway, baby #10. <br />
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<br />Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-63676228021199943852014-01-14T14:19:00.001-08:002014-01-14T14:19:24.776-08:00Good News, Bad NewsGood news: I did not actually fall off the face of the earth after a rant about my uterus! Yes! <br />
<br />
Bad news: Every post I have scheduled for the past 2+ months has not posted. Lots of awesome things are missing.<br />
<br />
Good news: Most of the them are still actually in existence, just stuck in draft mode.<br />
<br />
Bad news: Still working on fixing that.<br />
<br />
Good news, I think: once that's fixed things will post with the dates they should have! <br />
<br />
Bad news: if you subscribe by email you'll get flooded like they all posted in one day. Sorry in advance.<br />
<br />
Good news: 2014 has already proven a year of big new adventures! So many exciting things to share!<br />
<br />
Bad news: I'm leaving that as the end of this post, so you're stuck waiting to find out about our newest adventures. <br />
<br />
Good news (I can't end on bad news!): it's a beautiful sunny day here in the middle of the January thaw! And more importantly, one day closer to spring, which means one day closer to warmer sunny days more often. Hallelujah.<br />
<br />
(also, if you're really hard up for entertainment, or just morbidly curious about the crazy that is my herd on a daily basis, Instagram is a happenin' place to be!)Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-21011965388274516272014-01-06T09:40:00.000-08:002014-03-26T08:35:08.844-07:00On to a new adventure!Sometimes life throws unexpected things your way. <br />
<br />
Like your husband is content in his job (which hasn't always been the case), isn't actively looking to see what else is out there (which he had been until very recently), and then opportunity comes knocking at your door.<br />
<br />
Or rather he gets a phone call, then another, then another and finally decides, "ok, let's see what this is all about."<br />
<br />
And then it turns into a job offer that sounds too good to be true.<br />
So we tell them that once we have everything in writing, we'd be happy to consider it. <br />
And then get everything to you in writing. In less than an hour.<br />
<br />
Uh....<br />
<br />
Big changes!<br />
New year, new job! In a new state.<br />
<br />
Aaron was offered a contract position for a company based in Tennessee. Obviously this makes for a long commute when you live in Utah. <br />
<br />
It was interesting how it all went down, and admittedly, how quickly it all went down. He has been offered contract positions before, but they weren't things we were interested in for a variety of reasons. At first glance this also seemed like one of those that we wouldn't be interested in for some of those same reasons. But as we looked at it more seriously, talked about it and prayed about it, neither one of us could deny that it felt completely right. <br />
<br />
So now we shift our routine again. <br />
We are already used to Aaron being gone a couple of nights a week because he worked a couple of overnight nursing shifts each week in addition to his regular day job. Now we just get used to a couple more nights without him. It will be a blessing for him to not be working two jobs anymore, as it made for some incredibly long weekends for him on very very little sleep. This job will allow a little more breathing room, and ironically despite the fact that it is a contract position and not a long term full time position (for now), a little more security. <br />
<br />
Everyone's big question was of course about our moving to Tennessee, but that is not in the plans. Will it be in the plans in the future? Possibly. If this turns into a full time job that is worth moving for then we would certainly consider that. But for now we get to stay where we are, where we love the community, the neighborhood, the schools and our friends. Could we love another place this much? Maybe. If moving becomes a real possibility, I certainly hope we could.<br />
<br />
As the job kicks off it will mean a lot of travel, a lot of solo parenting for me, some working from home when he can, and some sacrifice from everyone for at least the next 6 months. Are we nervous? Sure, a little bit. But we are very grateful the possibilities that lie before us, and look forward with excitement to what the next year will bring! <br />
<br />
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<br />Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-22206458709641058102013-10-21T07:10:00.002-07:002013-10-21T07:10:41.971-07:00The Rumor Mill is a Grindin' AwayI keep trying to catch up on the past month to no avail. Which is a bummer because some super awesome stuff has been going on! Which I suppose is part of the reason I never make time to sit down and type about any of it. Huh. I was going to jump back a month and move forward, but I decided today to go the opposite direction and move backward. <br />
<br />
So let's start with last week.<br />
<br />
I don't know if it's sleepy town syndrome or just plain curiosity, but when life gets slow around here funny stories get out. <br />
At this point it might just be that everyone is so tired of the local elections that they needed something else to chat about.<br />
<br />
Back in May we had something amusing happen. My next door neighbor grabbed me and asked if I was expecting. Usually we cross paths quite often, as happens when you live next door, but life had been crazy and we hadn't chatted for a while. After I had a nice laugh and assured her that I wasn't, I asked where she got that idea. Apparently another neighbor a few houses down-one that I hadn't met previously-told her that I was. Huh. No idea where he got it from, but we had a good laugh about it.<br />
<br />
Now to last week. I got a text at 10:30pm as I was getting ready to finally crash into bed.<br />
(I know the pic says 7:55am. That's from the screen shot this morning.)<br />
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What the?? <br />
Where did THAT idea come from?<br />
<br />
Funny thing-the guy who was passing the May rumor on moved during the summer. The new rumor? From the guy who moved in to rent that house. What?!?<br />
Dear James and Esche, can we build it into your rental contract that rumors about my uterus cannot be spread by the occupants of your house? <br />
Just kidding. Kind of.<br />
<br />
Apparently he was talking with another neighbor who was delivering something to his house and mentioned "the lady down the street with a lot of kids who is expecting twins now too!". <br />
<br />
Well shoot, apparently that's me! <br />
I know, you'd think "the lady down the street with a lot of kids" would be applicable to a bunch of people here in my corner of Happy Valley. Oddly, not on my street. There is one friend of mine down the street with 5 kids, but she was there when people were chatting about it and ruled herself out.<br />
At a church activity last week that I was not able to attend people were obviously trying to figure out if there was any validity to the idea. Someone reasoned that I just ran a marathon two weeks ago, and then someone else pointed out that I ran a marathon while pregnant with Emily. Then it was pointed out that Emily is the oldest baby I've ever had without another on the way. Hmm.....<br />
It's fun to keep people guessing.<br />
A little strange that people enjoy discussing the state and occupation of my internal organs, but hey, to each their own I guess.<br />
<br />
So, to clear the air publicly, I am not pregnant. And certainly not with twins.<br />
<br />
But yes I have gained a few pounds in the past two weeks. Standard post marathon procedure for me. Totally normal, totally expected. And I plan for them to be there for a few months while I give this old body a break. So if I'm looking poochy, it's due to decreased mileage and more lax eating.<br />
After a Superfantastic-with a capital S-running season coming to a close it is obvious that my body is tired. I've been building mileage and intensity for over a year, pretty much since Emily was born. It has paid off and it's been fun to see those results. But after racing a 5k this past weekend it was painfully obvious that my body still isn't 100% recovered from St George two weeks ago and that it needs a little less intense routine for a while. <br />
<br />
So neighbors, you will see me out running less. There isn't a mysterious hidden reason why. It's just time for an off season. <br />
<br />
And rest assured, if there is another addition to our family at some point, I'm sure you'll hear about it. Likely from someone who has met me.Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-40363861193153324652013-10-01T12:45:00.002-07:002013-10-01T12:47:41.915-07:00Taper Catey vs Normal CateyI've been on vacation for the past week. Well, actually we got back late Friday night after being gone for a week, but my brain is just starting to shift back into reality mode. <br />
<br />
Vacation was a fabulous break. It was an epic week away for a number of reasons, good...and bad. Let's just say it cost about $20,000 more than we expected it to. Plus there were a million little things that happened as well. But that's another story for another day. Today I'm inviting you to hop aboard and enjoy the view from the crazy train.<br />
<br />
One of the reasons getting away was fabulous was that it was the perfect distraction from taper crazy. If you've tapered, you likely know what I'm talking about. <br />
If not, allow to me sum up quickly. For four months I've been training and increasing my mileage in prep for the marathon this weekend. My body got used to running around 40ish miles a week. For the last couple of weeks before marathon that drops a lot. Last week I had only 24 miles on my schedule. While running less is a little bit of a sigh of relief for a tired body, it's a challenge for a mind used to running a lot more. Thus it can make one a little crazy. <br />
<br />
Hanging with friends in Vegas, then spending time at the beach and at Disneyland with my hubby, kids and parents, as well as the treat of getting my shorter running done where the weather was beautiful and I was surrounded by palm trees was amazing at keeping any crazies at bay. <br />
<br />
And then there is this week.<br />
<br />
Aaron got sick while we were on vacation. We left Friday, by Sunday night he succombed to it. He was still well enough to enjoy all the things we did, he was just doing it with the mother of all sinus infections, which brought with it a host of fun symptoms. <br />
Well, before the trip was over, I picked up the loveliness. I felt it creeping in on Wednesday night. By Thursday it hit me full force. <br />
At first I was all little miss sunshine about it. "Aren't you glad this is hitting us now instead of a week from now?!" "Thank goodness it's just a sinus infection and not something dropping down into the chest, that would be awful." "It should just work itself through our systems and be gone by next weekend. It could be worse!"<br />
This is the approach I typically try to take. I know, it's annoying a lot of the time, but hey-complaining never helps anything, right?<br />
<br />
Then we got home. <br />
Aaron sounded worse on Saturday so we got him off to see a dr who confirmed nasty sinus infection as well as double ear infection. Super. Since I was just a couple of days behind him and was feeling progressively worse as each day went on instead of feeling at least a little tiny bit better after steaming out in the shower and getting up and going for the day, I figured I would suck it up and go see the dr as well.<br />
You need to know that's a big deal for me. I am not a big fan of meds and firmly believe that too many drs are just pill pushers to satisfy people. I am very much a champion of letting the body work through things on its own whenever possible. I don't visit the dr often, and I can't think of a time since I got my tonsils out (almost 4yrs ago after major strep issues) that I have been to see a dr or been on meds other than the occasional allergy pill or a couple of ibuprofen after having a baby. For this I am very grateful!<br />
<br />
So it took a lot for me to actually go in to see a dr and admit that I might need meds. <br />
I wandered into the clinic on Saturday afternoon after putting it off for just a few more hours in case I might have started feeling a little better. I was going to wait until Monday and see my regular dr, but thought I would err on the side of caution and be proactive instead of waiting until 48hrs closer to marathon. Yay me for admitting I'm not invincible and being willing to ask for help!<br />
Thankfully there was no one else there so I wasn't picking up anything else other than what I already had.<br />
I get taken back and through what is left of my voice I hoarsely croak out my symptoms and their duration. If you've talked to me in the past couple of days you know how ridiculous I sound. The dr checks my ears, nose, throat, we go through the regular rundown of questions. <br />
Then he takes a step back and says "well, you definitely have a huge sinus infection! It's a mess."<br />
Oh goody. <br />
"Buuuut...let's wait it out a little bit. Hopefully your body will just kick it on its own. If you're not better by Thursday, give me a call and I'll call in a prescription for you. I know it doesn't give you a lot of time before your marathon." <br />
Ya think?! <br />
Normal Catey would have agreed, glad that this dr isn't a pill pusher, glad in his confidence of a strong body overcoming the infection on its own. <br />
Taper Catey wanted to tear his head off. Thursday?! Are you kidding? You want me to wait until 48 hours before the marathon I have been training for for the last 4+ months, the marathon I've been looking to for redemption from what happened with Ogden in May, the marathon that I'm lined up to snag a huge PR in? 48hrs?! Don't you see how big of a deal it is for me to even come in to see a dr? To admit that I might just need meds after all? Do you not understand that I can't breathe, can't talk, and have what may just be the worst headache I've ever had?! <br />
<br />
Then to add insult to injury he looked at me and said "So a marathon huh? Don't you have a long jog today or something?" <br />
Um, no. I don't have a "long jog". I had an 8mile run on the schedule that wasn't happening because I felt like I'd been run over by a truck. Props to me for having enough common sense to know that I needed rest over the run, but being sick enough that it hurt too much to run just messed with my head even more.<br />
<br />
I know I'm in crazy mode. After I came home and was explaining it all to Aaron I told him that I knew how irrational it was to be so upset. So at least there is the upside of still having enough connection with the rational side of me to realize that this is crazy mode taking over, and having enough coherent thought to censor my feelings about the dr's idea of waiting it out instead of telling him what I thought at the moment.<br />
<br />
The next fun round of crazy hit last night when I couldn't get attachments onto an email because my head hurt so bad I couldn't think straight. I was almost in tears. <br />
<br />
It's more fun than a barrel of monkeys around here!!<br />
<br />
So to anyone who happens to cross my path in the next few days, I apologize in advance for any crazy you may be unfortunate enough to encounter. <br />
The good news is that when I'm not on the crazy train, I am really very excited for this race on Saturday. I haven't been nervous until I got sick, and unfortunately I <i>am</i> still sick, but the rational side of me is still holding out hope that my body will kick this infection within the next four days somehow. <br />
If not then...well...we'll see how a marathon with a sinus infection goes. Neither of my other two marathons have been under optimal conditions (1st-pregnant and it was 80+ degrees before I finished, 2nd-back issues and pouring rain with occasional bursts of sleet), so it fits right in, right?<br />
But hey, the weather for Saturday is looking absolutely perfect, so there's that! It would definitely be worse that weren't the case. Plus I get to carb load very soon, and that my friends, has happy written all over it! <br />
And if any of you happen to have any magic cures for sinus infections, please feel free to share.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-47351912481225772042013-09-19T20:42:00.002-07:002013-09-19T20:42:45.763-07:00Hood to Coast - The RaceTomorrow...two weeks....pretty much how things are working out here lately. Yowza.<br />
On to the good stuff.<br />
<br />
Friday morning started nice and early for us van one people. <br />
The three other ladies in my room were all van two people, so they were planning to sleep in a little while I got up early. Well, mostly. Allison is a super early riser anyway, so for her getting up at 5 something was sleeping in! When my alarm went off all three of my roomies were sleeping. The winner part here is that I forgot to switch my alarm, so it was a duck quacking. Who *doesn't* want to hear that super early in the morning? Nice. Though quite fitting after the whole Ride the Ducks thing. <br />
<br />
I was smart enough to get all of my things into my backpack so that I could quietly sneak across the room-by the light of my phone-grab my backpack and get to the bathroom so I could get ready without disturbing the sleepers. Without disturbing them anymore than the duck alarm did anyway.<br />
Thinking ahead, good! Forgetting that I left my clothes for Friday morning laid out separately and not in the backpack, bad. <br />
I snuck back across the room and grabbed my clothes, nice and quiet. <br />
I snuck back across the room to the bathroom, went to gently set my backpack down just inside the bathroom door aaaaand knocked over the metal bathroom garbage can on to the tile floor with a big crash. Not so quiet. <br />
<br />
And don't worry, after getting myself dressed and ready to go, I snuck back out of the bathroom and grabbed my suitcase to drop off at Nuun HQ, was doing great with the being quiet again....until I was getting out the door and dropped something and crashed again, slamming the door to boot. Superfantastic.<br />
<br />
Dear Roommates,<br />
I'm sorry I'm a super klutz who has a weird alarm. Thank you for not hating me (I hope) because of it.<br />
<br />
I would have felt defeated with that kind of start to the day, but it's pretty typical for me, so no biggie. <br />
<br />
Met up with all of the other van one people in the lobby, and after a few minutes of chatter we were loading up in the vans and on our way out! <br />
<br />
The drive to Mt Hood was fabulous. I wondered how the personalities in our van would mesh. They were all fabulous people (which should go without saying at this point) but none of us had spent much time together so we didn't know each other terribly well yet. It took all of about 23 seconds for us to jump right into conversation and I don't think it stopped the entire drive. It was so great! We talked about little things and big things. We talked about <a href="http://runfargirl.com/">Sarah</a>'s Jack and everything they have been through in the last year (check out <a href="http://runfargirl.com/2013/09/09/goal-accomplished/">the amazing things she is doing</a> to raise funds for CHAD), which naturally led conversation to everything with Sam. Having told his story so many times over the past few years, it's usually just part of the conversation. I was a little taken aback that I really shared <i>every</i>thing about his story and ended up crying too. (at least I wasn't the only one teary, right?) Obviously I felt super comfortable with all of these wonderful people to let that out. <br />
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Before we knew it (but after a Starbucks stop of course) we were at the point on the road where we were driving through where we would run our first legs. <br />
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I got butterflies as we passed the iconic Safeway where my first leg would end. We started seeing runners on the road. Each exchange closer to the mountain got a little more exciting!<br />
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And then, there it was. <br />
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I am so glad I was in van 1 and got to go up to Mt Hood!! So exciting to actually finally BE there!<br />
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We hung out and killed time,<br />
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Best Team Ever</div>
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Took plenty of pictures,</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nd6lplQmqrW9KfjSBG27KQWc6oywzRs1MoDU_5lGx6a0jRgtb9n7y6PheQyLUHh5qnYnQsI5LF4JBPQhmPVoPoqSgUlHRvDs2AglOwJsLTrWVbk2rIFlEVfOghoMX93jqaWk97M1UfWC/s1600/IMG_5417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2nd6lplQmqrW9KfjSBG27KQWc6oywzRs1MoDU_5lGx6a0jRgtb9n7y6PheQyLUHh5qnYnQsI5LF4JBPQhmPVoPoqSgUlHRvDs2AglOwJsLTrWVbk2rIFlEVfOghoMX93jqaWk97M1UfWC/s400/IMG_5417.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Amazing view</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6fTM2MXocXTwPL_X7j1Av8kjcNtbDEasAWnTMqyERYTZfqr_4cRL0qlTzP-ZExAlIPYo6uAqhpmVAtJ3cBA3SWBjuH0g3yxaYibfrSIkPTM9rFiShTMj4s7guyzBn64lIkYJEvnVuJj37/s1600/IMG_5416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6fTM2MXocXTwPL_X7j1Av8kjcNtbDEasAWnTMqyERYTZfqr_4cRL0qlTzP-ZExAlIPYo6uAqhpmVAtJ3cBA3SWBjuH0g3yxaYibfrSIkPTM9rFiShTMj4s7guyzBn64lIkYJEvnVuJj37/s400/IMG_5416.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Met some legends.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0vFDD-07hnc1-pi4whbihlo3X0sgJ-IQjJyrhqc4J5a0GU93qlkDI5IglmHuaVjMPEtIYgeRt_9FofJdiGRSwzAwxhkra59O97GtLR_9DfXFvCt8lOKbojDe62mMFaKRgSDF_4j9G_Mf6/s1600/IMG_5420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0vFDD-07hnc1-pi4whbihlo3X0sgJ-IQjJyrhqc4J5a0GU93qlkDI5IglmHuaVjMPEtIYgeRt_9FofJdiGRSwzAwxhkra59O97GtLR_9DfXFvCt8lOKbojDe62mMFaKRgSDF_4j9G_Mf6/s400/IMG_5420.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
As far as I know we retained our first place spot on the Dead Jock fashion board. <br />
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Best legs on the course? Of course.<br />
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And before long it was time for Megan to set out on the first leg screaming down the mountain.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYyVVpLIQyGrdYvbO4CsK_zE2V4Lw0PrjH-v1PmjqEX4C7WeS4-w2U4l49rpgerEOZQDgKpExVRjJ5V52KAuzvQ6hzqPAtsRQ3kxTFc1VBxebJr2S8XbRu-FmBdynFxT06e3ni2hsWxzzP/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.31.01+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYyVVpLIQyGrdYvbO4CsK_zE2V4Lw0PrjH-v1PmjqEX4C7WeS4-w2U4l49rpgerEOZQDgKpExVRjJ5V52KAuzvQ6hzqPAtsRQ3kxTFc1VBxebJr2S8XbRu-FmBdynFxT06e3ni2hsWxzzP/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.31.01+PM.png" width="308" /></a></div>
Just look for the green sparkle skirt.<br />
It was amazing to me how quickly everyone's first legs went by. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTpaxQi9z6zuYp9SrB4assQ1RozkBEIj6CqCljHGqLfgSIntUfWuI-8vCHHmsJEQRpH5gGhAmHCWP1WPp-TReLpA_pTjCssE6q0RvD7RuS_0cNpCbwdYByqH6oYV_DaMGYuanPkUI9XsNJ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.31.14+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTpaxQi9z6zuYp9SrB4assQ1RozkBEIj6CqCljHGqLfgSIntUfWuI-8vCHHmsJEQRpH5gGhAmHCWP1WPp-TReLpA_pTjCssE6q0RvD7RuS_0cNpCbwdYByqH6oYV_DaMGYuanPkUI9XsNJ/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.31.14+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
Plus everyone was maintaining great paces so they were going even faster than was expected.<br />
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Mallory flew.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqO0xJz0WH9MaErOyMDIHTZVAqo619YqJMopyJuLnVm0L29tAF5hVpt_r3PILLBYwvpG8gv-UDc5i7zvKQKsDj0cXtCKyLyalMU_7Qwbyqi-ve-sHjZ9rtlvw7Pr3XqOLqqzMorjKLMNz/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.32.34+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqO0xJz0WH9MaErOyMDIHTZVAqo619YqJMopyJuLnVm0L29tAF5hVpt_r3PILLBYwvpG8gv-UDc5i7zvKQKsDj0cXtCKyLyalMU_7Qwbyqi-ve-sHjZ9rtlvw7Pr3XqOLqqzMorjKLMNz/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.32.34+PM.png" width="306" /></a></div>
Kara flew.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgsimIi_4sL2BuGBULgHss4wBXBVl-vBTCDtU6YjDAPKJ830YSg6-yWD6xNVkjSXekUL1CUIuM9VF1tfrfjecM32daBVldgjN6sJ7_yUGvLFMO9-shm6Li6vDzO-hz9Tx7NjSinQFOrCMg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.32.49+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgsimIi_4sL2BuGBULgHss4wBXBVl-vBTCDtU6YjDAPKJ830YSg6-yWD6xNVkjSXekUL1CUIuM9VF1tfrfjecM32daBVldgjN6sJ7_yUGvLFMO9-shm6Li6vDzO-hz9Tx7NjSinQFOrCMg/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.32.49+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
And then there was Hannah who finished her first leg...oh...only FOURTEEN minutes faster than expected! Hello! Sarah was actually still in the bathroom when we could see Hannah come flying in toward the exchange. <br />
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Sarah took off and my legs were starting to get really antsy. After sitting in the van all day and watching everyone else head out, I was so ready to run! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXo5nzHPpNVfyOtU0ZV2cirInAroFq5uexxaxxFkgMUYGBdgGMsxa1Zgr4KeNxBMWC1C-YLWDVh5L_-ktQvmPH8DpHTYhP9zpn9B8tHcKW7_KYLgO1yyt6UWm_vMpCv_D6VPfD3fKoqlSv/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.32.17+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXo5nzHPpNVfyOtU0ZV2cirInAroFq5uexxaxxFkgMUYGBdgGMsxa1Zgr4KeNxBMWC1C-YLWDVh5L_-ktQvmPH8DpHTYhP9zpn9B8tHcKW7_KYLgO1yyt6UWm_vMpCv_D6VPfD3fKoqlSv/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.32.17+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
The exchange that I started from was in a weird spot along the highway so our van had to kind of park in the traffic line along the highway. I got out and headed up to the lovely Honey Buckets hoping that I would be out before Sarah came cruising in.<br />
Thankfully I had enough time to loosen up my legs a little bit before she got there, and I was ready to fly when she did! <br />
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Please note, this pose is not indicative of my portapotty experience. It is just the signature pose, and me super pumped to go run. <br />
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Fun moment in the few minutes I had before starting my run-I was walking over to the exchange chute and another team was scrambling to get their runner 6 over as their 5 came in sooner than expected. As she was running over she turned around and yelled "Are you Catey?! I read your blog!" I felt all special. Though I never caught up to her on the run I was able to meet her at the next exchange, so that was super fun! Hi Heidi! It was great to meet you!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh5eG48BnPlCsPdsYrBiQFUlDaPx6apyOI5ZscxBMux0WxE83_vb7n1F8xnvirkU110hWcfUJPXO4cV5fgN_d4wQNsh5PQH9y6CSU0LGEhlVkNBVmJSFZKT7uB_5_2IBYS1sFyy2I9gMyg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.33.14+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh5eG48BnPlCsPdsYrBiQFUlDaPx6apyOI5ZscxBMux0WxE83_vb7n1F8xnvirkU110hWcfUJPXO4cV5fgN_d4wQNsh5PQH9y6CSU0LGEhlVkNBVmJSFZKT7uB_5_2IBYS1sFyy2I9gMyg/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.33.14+PM.png" width="271" /></a></div>
Sarah came in and I took off. I knew I was running faster than normal (which was the goal), but I was trying not to pay too much attention to the Garmin and just run by feel. Bonus to living at 5000ish feet and running much closer to sea level=faster running. The first mile ticked by at the fastest speed I have ever officially clocked (I think), and was even uphill! Mile one-6:55. Um, wow! Talk about a boost! My first leg felt much more uphill than the map made it appear, but thankfully I was able to hold a pretty darn good pace over the whole thing. That first mile time made me a little nervous that I'd crash and die in the last mile. Teams along the side of the road cheering were a blast. Dancing on the roof of the vans was super. Dude offering me buffalo wings was super (even though I declined). And then I recognized the road and knew I was getting close to the first big van 1/van 2 exchange. Super excitement that I was almost through my first leg. Quashed by the traffic lights that always turned red just as I approached. Stopping at lights toward the end of that was torture. Traffic lights in this situation are the devil. I finally just got tired of standing at one red light when there was no traffic coming through so I took off running again in hopes of getting stopped at the next one. (It worked)<br />
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Personal quirk; I really hate the feeling of the slap bracelet (that is passed off to each team member at each exchange) on my wrist. So I wrap it around the top part of my shirt. It doesn't bother me there. This does make for some awkward pictures as I come in to exchanges though. For example: </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiddDHnIwwxSYinck__4z7kDq0qTTeR6lP0O-lqBFSXu_2wr58vjOgEAr8v1xinrx7sTDDsSRzUpyIyYk3cXttNAG6EJ-CiwSFmkI2UIeHTnFsBsvXY1KsAev9Nuk3V-OStZSNk795t06EZ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.31.28+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiddDHnIwwxSYinck__4z7kDq0qTTeR6lP0O-lqBFSXu_2wr58vjOgEAr8v1xinrx7sTDDsSRzUpyIyYk3cXttNAG6EJ-CiwSFmkI2UIeHTnFsBsvXY1KsAev9Nuk3V-OStZSNk795t06EZ/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.31.28+PM.png" width="216" /></a></div>
and:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTn09YAVu6_v9gsqN-OOYMxcZvbveS8ebRhq_qxbLCKnxUL5UZS8d0VmEn50YqHWZFxIeUvGKT-h4nJZAkzVV_wt05zxN3bY5j8EcA8cpyeR0Ist5p0uVkscp3DaYtYVSlCVgqhOl2cWiT/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.31.44+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTn09YAVu6_v9gsqN-OOYMxcZvbveS8ebRhq_qxbLCKnxUL5UZS8d0VmEn50YqHWZFxIeUvGKT-h4nJZAkzVV_wt05zxN3bY5j8EcA8cpyeR0Ist5p0uVkscp3DaYtYVSlCVgqhOl2cWiT/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.31.44+PM.png" width="218" /></a></div>
But the quads are looking good!<br />
And look-I was so fast my leg was blurry. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh30NQeETFZQynVHzdzNngHBpsn-wXdYR1Hecofv6ezbd6JJ-moXvW1k_jmW5l-alQi1UWmE2EdPsF2cChsHTZBVaia_GoevFOPcrMXOvxUxEibCwXRPgo8PlcIIUggFkrDvb0WZYl4gg-_/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.31.51+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh30NQeETFZQynVHzdzNngHBpsn-wXdYR1Hecofv6ezbd6JJ-moXvW1k_jmW5l-alQi1UWmE2EdPsF2cChsHTZBVaia_GoevFOPcrMXOvxUxEibCwXRPgo8PlcIIUggFkrDvb0WZYl4gg-_/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-09-19+at+8.31.51+PM.png" width="216" /></a></div>
Nice.<br />
And then there was the cheering, and the next green sparkle skirt up ahead.<br />
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Run 1: 6.7miles, 49:19 (7:22 avg) 4 roadkills too. Just in case you were wondering.<br />
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We hung out there for a little bit getting everyone situated, sending the van 2's off, and then headed to Portland for dinner. The hardest part of that was deciding what to eat! I was hungry and knew I wouldn't be running for a lot of hours (I want to say it was 8ish when we got there and I was set to run around 3am), but was also afraid of eating too much and making myself sick. I settled on a big salad with chicken (yes this is important to know), knowing that it would be a quicker order than the calzone I was eyeing as we realized we were short on time.<br />
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We scarfed down food and hit the road again, heading off through the dark. <br />
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After sending Megan off on her second leg and climbing back in the van, I realized it would be a good idea to attempt some sleep before I was to run again. <br />
Bonus to being a mom: you've been so tired at so many awkward hours, and grabbed sleep in all sorts of weird spots in effort to keep a newborn/infant/toddler/preschooler asleep, that propping yourself up in the back corner of a van and dozing off really isn't as challenging as it once may have been! <br />
I have a few fuzzy memories of people heading out on their runs in the night, but I will admit that I slept pretty well considering the circumstances! <br />
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As we pulled in to the exchange where I would begin my next run (also a Safeway right there ironically), I awoke to find that a couple of other ladies in the van were not feeling well. Stomach problems were taking over. Aside from feeling absolutely awful for them, I got worried. Had it just been one person I would have chalked it up to bad luck. But since it was multiple people, and everyone happened to have eaten salad at dinner....I was a little nervous. I was looking at the ladies curled up in the fetal position on van benches and felt so bad for them! I hoped it wouldn't last too long for them (and honestly, hoped it wouldn't hit me as well!), and stepped out into the misting rain to wait for Sarah. <br />
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All suited up in my nightgear I headed out for 5ish miles uphill. Thankfully it wasn't the brutal uphill that awaited the van two runners on their night legs, but it was a nice steady incline for the whole leg. I pretended I was at home running my favorite gradual uphill stretch (except I was running through civilization here instead of fields like at home). <br />
I started out feeling good, and kept on feeling good. The misting rain felt great, and the temperature was nice. Such a great middle of the night run! I really do love this part of relays-there is something so liberating about running through the dark. <br />
I passed a few people in the beginning, one being a woman that caught up to me again about halfway through. At first I was annoyed because at that point she was trying to push a little ahead of me, then would drop back just a step or two behind me, then back up a step or two....I don't love leapfrog. But after leapfrogging a handful of times, she finally settled in just beside me. At first race mentality kicked in as I realized that she was breathing hard and would struggle to keep that current pace so I was thinking I would hold her there for a bit and then take off. But then I realized that I would lose some of my push to keep my pace if I dropped her, and running with company in the dark was kind of nice. Plus her headlight was much brighter than mine. <br />
So we hung together for the rest of the run. Neither of us spoke, except to thank the volunteers and offer encouragement when we passed others. Until the last quarter mile or so when I realizes she was starting to drop back. I turned around and encouraged her to hang in because we were close and I needed her to keep pushing me. She obliged and we both kicked it up a notch. Running in to the chute together was great, she grabbed me immediately and thanked me for staying with her. I returned the thanks for motivating me to hold my pace and for keeping me company. It was exactly what we both needed.<br />
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Run 2: 5.2 mi, 41:08 (7:55avg), 11 roadkills and no stomach problems. Hallelujah! <br />
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I channeled my inner "it's the middle of the night and I really don't care" and changed out of my nasty sweaty clothes in the middle of the field/parking lot. Well, not the middle, I was kind of hunkered down in front of the van to stay out of headlights and satisfy my prude side. Then I climbed back into my little back corner of the van and fell asleep again. I was getting more sleep on this trip than I do in a normal night at home! Yes! <br />
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We awoke in yet another field (notice a pattern?), parked next to this loveliness.<br />
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Really a pretty great thing actually, this little tent city. <br />
After an epic wait for a bathroom-yes, that is just part of the line<br />
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(I timed my lining up perfectly with the trucks there to clean out the portapotties), and spotting Frank Shorter coming out of the bathroom (would have loved a picture with him, but that was a little awkward! And I didn't want to get out of line), someone from van 2 came hunting me down because we had to get on the road asap. We had looked at the time chart incorrectly and were off on when our runners were supposed to be ready for this last leg. Megan was already on the road and we had to get to the next exchange! She blew through it and wrapped up her running.<br />
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We made it in time and send Mallory off on her last leg. Thankfully she was feeling better. She killed it again.<br />
She finished up and Kara was off...this poor girl was not feeling better. Well, she was I guess, she wasn't puking anymore so that was good. But poor Kara had been sick all night and was literally running on empty. She tackled her last run like a champ despite the dry heaves hitting her midway through. She was a trooper and still was only a couple of minutes off her projected time! Props.<br />
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(hanging out in...wait, wait...a field! while Kara toughed out that run)</div>
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Hannah, as with her other legs, just completely pummeled her projected times. </div>
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Girl is so much faster than she realized! It was so awesome.</div>
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And then there was Sarah's last leg. Brutal Hill. Killed it. Killed. It.</div>
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And then as she was out there killing it, we hit the traffic jam. Vans lined up for a long, long time. I was eyeing the clock and the road, and realized that I was going to have to get out and hoof it to the exchange because there was no way the van would make it there. Shortly after I got out and started walking down the road my van shouted out to me that Sarah was coming up behind me! We were not that close to the exchange yet! And she was flying down the hill! I kicked it into high gear hoping just to stay in front of her until we got to the chute. It was a challenge! She handed off the slap bracelet to me as we hit the exchange and I just tried to maintain the awesome pace I was holding.<br />
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This leg went mostly downhill, a few quick uphills in the first two miles, before it veers off for a real uphill before the big down starts. This was such a beautiful leg. <br />
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SO green. <br />
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Such a beautiful place to run! <br />
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I really enjoyed this run. Not that I hadn't enjoyed all of them, but this one was just fabulous. I wish my Garmin would have been working through here so I had actual numbers from this other than just the overall time because I know one of the downhill miles was really quick for me. I'm sure it was faster than that first mile. <br />
There was a super long line up of vans again and I passed our van probably a mile from the exchange. I was just hoping van two was already there waiting for me! <br />
Thankfully they were, and I handed off to speedy Meghan. Run 3 done. Great feeling.<br />
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Run 3: 5.35mi, 38:48 (7:15 avg) 22 roadkills. Yes I was counting!<br />
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And that was it. Our running was done. The rest of our team still had 6 legs to finish up to bring us to the finish line of course, but our part was done. So wonderful. So much fun. <br />
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We headed off to Seaside where we would meet the rest of our team and the other Nuun teams to gear up for the big finish. <br />
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(after stopping at Starbucks on the way of course)<br />
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One more installment...too much fabulousness to cram into this. <br />
<br />Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-69868045884244019472013-09-05T23:25:00.000-07:002013-09-05T23:25:21.820-07:00Hood to Coast (part one)After over a week I am still trying to come up with the words. <br />
Or perhaps it's that I'm trying to pare things down. Short of signing a deal for a three installment series of books it wouldn't make any sense for me to say everything that I could and would like to say. <br />
<br />
There are moments in life that change you. Sometimes they are huge, sometimes they are simple. <br />
Sometimes they fall nicely in the middle of the spectrum, not altering your course in life, but certainly making a difference in who you are. Hood to Coast is one of those for me.<br />
<br />
I am shy. I am an introvert. I have a hard time putting myself out there, especially in big groups of people! I am easily intimidated, even when there is no reason to be. <br />
I know, ironic considering I throw my life out here in the online world.<br />
I guess my efforts at trying to change it all started when I made the new year's resolution a few years ago to step out of my comfort zone. Who knew how far reaching those effects would be! <br />
<br />
I started rewatching Lost recently (stay with me here for a second), and in the first episode there is a moment when Jack asks Kate to stitch up the slice in his back. They talk about fear and he recounts a story of his first surgery and having something go wrong. He says that the fear was overwhelming, and that he let the fear in, but only for five seconds. After he counted to five, he moved on. <br />
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I had a little pep talk with myself as I was waiting to board my flight to Seattle. I prepped myself to get over my fears and doubts and insecurities and embrace what was certain to be incredible experience that lay before me. When I landed in Seattle it was time to put it into action-I was due to meet up with Jolene there at the airport! I counted to five, and off I went.<br />
Despite my nerves, I was so excited to meet up with her and have some time to sit and chat.<br />
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We got to spend a couple of hours just hanging out at Nuun headquarters waiting for the next group of ladies to get in. <br />
Behold the wall of happiness.<br />
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What an awesome company Nuun is. Their office was totally chill, everyone was more than welcoming. I have liked the product for years, and the more I have learned about the company the more I have liked it. But wow, meeting these people and seeing them in action...now I really, really LOVE it. To meet these amazing people behind it all and be blessed with their generosity was more than I imagined. Mason, the president and CEO of Nuun is amazing. Absolutely none of the stuffy, weirdness, or superiority that often comes from the people in charge. He made everyone feel right at home. Hearing him talk about how Nuun does things-the fact that they would rather put their time, effort and money into people as opposed to dropping big dollars on magazine pages advertising the product-was awesome. They get it. And they have a great enough product to let it speak for itself. <br />
Then there was Megan. She is the one I met in SLC back in June. The woman is magical I tell you. She coordinated 36 women coming in from all over the country, plus the awesome guys who drove for all of us crazy women who are Nuun employees also from all over, plus accommodations, entertainment, awesome swag...not to mention she personally transported almost every single person from the airport to the office. Wow. Totally in awe of everything she put together. <br />
And I would be remiss if I didn't mention Casey. A blast. Genuinely great guy, and a decent bowler to boot. Also the magic behind making sure that I went home with enough quackers for the whole family. Explanation, pictures, and video, to come.<br />
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After basking in the glow at Nuun for a while, the next round of ladies appeared and we set off to explore Seattle. <br />
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Heading out in a city I'm not very familiar with, with a bunch of women I've never met before was awesome. So unlike me, and completely awesome. We headed down to Pike Place Market for lunch and just to roam around. <br />
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I ordered soup from some little cafe and was seriously craving bread, so I figured I'd grab a "mini baguette" to go with it. She handed me a loaf of bread longer than my arm. So I then roamed around Seattle eating a loaf of bread. The ocean and ridiculous amounts of carbs=happy. <br />
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We enjoyed the view of the waterfront and then Meghan mentioned that she wanted to meet up with a friend of hers who she had previously worked with and recently relocated to Seattle. He also happens to work at Brooks headquarters. Hello! So the other 4 of us tagged along and got to tour it! <br />
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We got to see fabulous things, like giant shoes<br />
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and runners made of pasta. <br />
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It really was pretty dang cool to get to roam through their offices and see the design areas, all of the colors and fabrics and sketches that they use in creating these shoes. I'd share it all with you but for obvious reasons we couldn't take pictures of those things. Dang. We also got to see Moving Comfort's line of fabulousness for next season-some super cute things coming there! <br />
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After our little tour there and raiding their candy drawer, as well as snagging free tshirts, we headed back to Nuun to meet up with everyone else who had flown in through the afternoon so we could go to The Garage where we would spend the evening stuffing ourselves with food, bowling, and trying to remember the names of 40ish people we had just met. <br />
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I have to admit that I wish I could do this night over again. I was so terrified with all of these people there! I feel like I did ok introducing myself to people and not being too incredibly awkward, but there are SO many ladies who were there that I wish I would have made an effort to talk to more than just introductions and small talk. It was a little overwhelming to be completely surrounded by so much greatness. There were women who are elite athletes (like world class elite), women who are mega bloggers, and women who I am just totally in awe of. Which pretty much covers everyone there. It really was a blast to hang out with everyone though, and get a chance to meet the guys who would be chauffeuring us around in big vans for a couple of days. I know I've used the word awesome probably a dozen times already, but really, it was just a giant room full of awesome.<br />
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After all of that awesome we headed to the hotel where we met up with our roomies for that night and the next. I was blessed to be set up with Allison, Karen and Devon, three incredibly wonderful ladies. Allison and I have a mutual friend, so it was super fun to get to know her a little more after hearing so many great things about her from said mutual friend. <br />
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First day-incredible.<br />
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Day two started out with a run around Green Lake, which was gorgeous. <br />
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I am usually a solo runner so running with a group of ladies was a fun change! <br />
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We headed to Oiselle headquarters after the run and met the amazing people behind their greatness. <br />
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After a fabulous morning we headed out to tour Seattle on The Ducks. I will admit I was skeptical about how exciting this would be. Seemed cool to do the whole land/water thing, but I'm not necessarily a huge cheesy touristy kind of person. It was great though, such a blast! <br />
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Aside from the novelty of the whole driving in to the water thing, our tour guide was fun and funny, and the atmosphere with this whole group of people was a riot. <br />
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Good times. <br />
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Also this is where the quackers originated. <br />
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That evening we all gathered back at Nuun for dinner and a little pow-wow,<br />
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a lotta swag (Christmas in August anyone?),<br />
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and van decorating.<br />
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Oh, the vans.<br />
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Relay decor done right! <br />
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I had the privilege of being in a van with <a href="http://www.dailysweatblog.com/">Megan</a>, <a href="http://runeatruneat.com/">Mallory</a>, <a href="http://www.welcometokaradise.com/">Kara</a>, <a href="http://fitgirlhappygirl.com/">Hannah</a> and <a href="http://runfargirl.com/">Sarah</a>, with the fabulous <a href="https://twitter.com/JeantelFloyd">Jeantel</a> at the wheel. We made up the first van of Team Watermelon. <br />
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The rest of Team Watermelon was chauffuered by Casey, and consisted of <a href="http://shoenerd.wordpress.com/">Meghan</a>, <a href="http://megrunnergirl.com/">Megan</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/laural0613">Laura</a>, <a href="http://www.runwiki.org/">Lisa</a>, <a href="http://twistedrunning.com/2013/08/26/to-nuun-hood-to-coast-with-gratitude/">Lindsay</a> and <a href="http://devonrunning.tumblr.com/">Devon</a>. Such an amazing group of ladies! <br />
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By the end of the night we were anxious and excited to get to the running part of this trip! <br />
Which I'll share with you tomorrow. Because this is already way too long.<br />
<br />Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-78900661056439752852013-09-01T13:12:00.000-07:002014-03-26T08:35:08.857-07:00Happy AnniversaryAugust 5, 1997 feels like forever ago. <br />
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Feels like we've always been together. <br />
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Feels like we were custom made for each other. <br />
Yes, I know how cheesy that sounds. <br />
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I'm grateful it feels that way.<br />
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Spending forever with your best friend is such a treat! <br />
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We rarely get away, because life is crazy, the budget is tight, and let's be completely honest, finding anyone to take care of this many kids-especially overnight-is a huge challenge. Even if they are split up into smaller groups. <br />
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A number of months ago we found out that Joe Satriani was touring again, and that he'd be in Vegas in August. Aaron has been waiting to see the man perform live since before I met him, which means it's been over 20 years. <br />
Suddenly I feel old...<br />
It was a good excuse to go as an anniversary treat, even if it was a couple of weeks later.<br />
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We decided we'd take the leap and book a quick weekend getaway and worry about sitters as the day approached. <br />
Thankfully we were able to get the kids taken care of (in multiple locations with multiple people involved), and off we went. <br />
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The road trip selfie:<br />
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We scored a killer deal at Mandaly Bay, and ended up in THEhotel there. It was fabulous. Two thumbs up for the room and the hotel. Super extra bonus points for a hotel in Vegas NOT smelling like an ashtray, even while walking through the casino. I'm ridiculously sensitive to smoke (have you seen America's Sweethearts? "Kiki? Is someone smoking within 6 miles of me?!" Seriously.), so I was floored that I didn't have to hold my breath walking through the hotel like I usually do when we go anywhere down there. It was great. <br />
The view wasn't too shabby either.<br />
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I can't say the same thing about walking through The Pearl to get to the concert hall, where I was holding my breath and trying not to choke, but thankfully the concert hall was smoke free. I was worried for a minute! <br />
The concert was fun, not as great as Aaron had hoped after waiting so many years, in fact I actually enjoyed it more than he did. Very interesting crowd, some people who were old enough to be our parents who had obviously never grown out of the rock and roll party hairband stage. I was embarrassed for them. A number of other people (also old enough to be our parents), who looked like they were dressed for church more than a concert and who I never would have pegged for fans of this amazing guitarist. And yes, there were people our age and younger....a wide variety that really kind of surprised me. <br />
Aside from the people watching, the music was fun. The stage was fun, one of my favorites being this whole underwater thing. <br />
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The next day we enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in, and hanging out by the pool for a little bit before we had to get back on the road. <br />
Aaron enjoyed the wave pool (he's the bald head in the middle).<br />
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Bonus points for a hotel where I can stick my toes in the sand.</div>
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And we had some good laughs.<br />
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It was a quick trip, but a lovely getaway if only for one night.<br />
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<br />Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-10153246497140177192013-08-29T17:48:00.003-07:002013-08-29T17:48:35.621-07:00And the winner is....Kerri! <br />
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Congrats, enjoy getting foamy and muddy! :)<br />
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Everyone else, you can still get $25 off with code FOAMYFUN, go to the<a href="http://info.5kfoamfest.com/saltlakecity/landing?gclid=CLvyrKbQm7kCFaNxQgodWm8AMw"> Foam Fest</a> website to register! <br />
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<br />Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-78291866993794033782013-08-26T11:17:00.000-07:002013-08-29T17:49:46.338-07:00Wow (plus, win a race entry!)A little after midnight I returned home from what can only be described as an Epic event. So many things to say, but so hard to find the words. <br />
While I'm working on that side of things I have something for you. I just had an amazing running experience, but while I work on recapping those incredible days of awesome, YOU have the chance to win your own amazing running experience! <br />
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There are so many fun options out there for races now! <br />
If you are going to be in (or can get to) the Salt Lake area *this weekend* you have the opportunity to win an entry to one of the most fun races out there; the <a href="http://info.5kfoamfest.com/saltlakecity/landing?gclid=CLvyrKbQm7kCFaNxQgodWm8AMw">Salt Lake 5k Foam Fest</a>! <br />
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The foam fest is a 5k filled with all sorts of fun.<br />
From mud<br />
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to foam<br />
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to inflatables and obstacles. <br />
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Seriously-check out the drop on this slide. <br />
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Oh my word. Pure awesome.<br />
Check out the video <a href="http://info.5kfoamfest.com/saltlakecity/landing?gclid=CLvyrKbQm7kCFaNxQgodWm8AMw">here on their site</a> to see all the fun in action! <br />
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And even better-you can register for specific wave starts. You don't have to get up at the crack of dawn for this one! You can start as early as 8am or as late as 12:30. Grab a group of friends and register for the same start! What a blast that will be-the perfect way to wrap up the summer. <br />
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Want in??? <br />
I'm hooking you up! <br />
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One of you gets a free entry for Foam Fest!<br />
You know you want to have as much fun as this guy.<br />
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A few things to take note of: this race is <b>*THIS*</b> Saturday, August 31st! Make sure you are available! Also, this is being held at This is the Place Heritage Park up in Salt Lake, make sure you can get there! If you're open or wanting to ditch whatever you got roped into this weekend, scroll down and enter via Rafflecopter!<br />
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For those who are ready to register now, Foam Fest is hooking everyone up with a $25 discount code! Register with code<b> <span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">FOAMYFUN</span> </b>to get $25 off your registration. Grab a whole bunch of friends and make it a party!<br />
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You know doing this will be more fun than cleaning out the garage or mowing the lawn on Saturday morning.<br />
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Four easy ways to enter, but just three days to enter so do it NOW!<br />
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*giveaway closed*</div>
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Enter today, Monday Aug 26th, through Wednesday Aug 28th at 11:59pm. Winner will be announced Thursday and must contact me within 24hrs or a new winner will be chosen! Entries will be verified, so please be honest. </div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Disclaimer: I was provided with one free entry-which I am giving away to a reader, and a discount code to share with my readers in exchange for this post about the Salt Lake Foam fest. I do genuinely think it looks like a blast. And that it will absolutely be more fun than cleaning the garage or mowing the lawn this weekend. I will be out of town so sadly I will not be able to participate in the foamy goodness, otherwise you bet your sweet bippy I'd be there! Next year for sure! Now go! Enter!</span>Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-43076498117194117492013-08-20T10:20:00.003-07:002013-08-20T10:20:58.779-07:00By the numbers0 - Days until school starts. Yep, today was the first day back. *sigh* Happened way too fast.<br />
5 - Kids I sent off today<br />
3 - Kids in Jr High this year. Alaina, Taylor, and Malia are covering all bases; 7th, 8th, and 9th grades.<br />
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2 - Kids in Elementary school today. Dallin in 3rd grade, Lincoln in 1st grade.<br />
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1 - Homeschooler! Jacob is home this year for 5th grade. I'm hoping he stays as excited and happy about that all year long as he is now. Off to a good start, I am excited for what this year holds for him, and for me as his teacher.<br />
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1 - One more child waiting for school to start. Kindergarten doesn't start until next week, so Charlotte is home with us for a little longer. Chomping at the bit to get to school! <br />
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753 - Pictures taken by Alaina when she and Malia went to Yellowstone with my parents last weekend. The girl bought herself an iPod touch. She is using it as much as humanly possible. Obviously it makes a good camera. I'd share some pics but she hasn't uploaded them yet. Maybe I'll let her guest post about it. That could be...interesting.<br />
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24 - Hours until I am on a plane flying to Seattle for Hood to Coast. Holy cow! It is almost here!! I can't believe it. I am beyond excited to go and meet these amazing ladies and run my little heart out! <br />
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0 - Things packed. I should probably do some packing today. Ought to happen around 10 tonight I'm guessing.<br />
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3 - ladies that are running on the Nuun teams I have already had the pleasure of meeting. Thanks to Ragnar Wasatch Back, I got to meet <a href="http://www.hollysleapsoffaith.com/">Holly</a> and <a href="http://www.runwiki.org/">Lisa</a>,<br />
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(stole your pic Holly. Thanks. :P)</div>
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And I happened to run into Megan at the airport-totally unexpectedly-when she flew in for WB and I was there picking up Aaron for a business trip. </div>
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It was awesome timing.<br />
Also, yes those pics were both taken the same day, thus I'm wearing the same thing. I do wash my clothes.<br />
<br />
5 - Days I will be gone. The longest time I have been away from my family. EVER. Wow. I'm kind of freaking out about that honestly. Especially with the timing of me leaving as school is starting. I have no doubt that things will run as smoothly as they possibly could, and odds are they will be so busy with the first week back to school and having fun with Dad that they won't even notice I'm gone. But wow, five days! Mom guilt.<br />
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4 to 6 - Days that Aaron is on crutches. Oh yay. How fantastic. Which is part of the reason I'm worried about leaving. Best timing ever. <br />
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5 (and change) - miles run barefoot that caused Aaron to be on crutches. Not barefoot shoes, completely barefoot. He was 2 1/2 miles into his run last Saturday when he was uncomfortable enough that he just kicked off his shoes and ran without them. Kudos for keeping on. But when it's 85 degrees outside and you're running on blacktop and you haven't exactly eased in to the whole barefoot thing, it's really not a good idea. <br />
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The good news is that dr's suspicions were wrong and he did not actually crack his heel. Just some serious bruising. Imagine ten times worse than the ball of his foot seen here. And the biggest blisters I've ever seen. They covered the balls of his feet entirely on Saturday. Plus the pads of his toes. Plus his heels. It was amazing. The picture above doesn't even do the bruising justice. It's crazy. His comments on the whole thing: "I learned a lot on my run last Saturday."<br />
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20.56 - Miles I ran last Saturday. In to real long run territory again.<br />
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46 - Days until St George Marathon. Excited.<br />
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6 - weeks into the T25 fitness challenge I'm doing. I'm going to have to repeat this week since I'm going to be gone for most of it and don't see myself getting the workout in today, but it's been awesome. I'm reminded again that clean eating makes a world of difference for me. Dang. At the halfway point the abs were shaping up nicely though, so it's hard to argue.<br />
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I know that's an odd picture. Trail running, feeling tough, that's when I realized my midsection was looking pretty decent. Had to capture the moment.<br />
1.75 - the number of inches off my waist, off my hips, and off each thigh. In 5 wks. <br />
2.5 - the number of inches off my chest. Ouch. Oh well.<br />
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Moving on.<br />
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11 - Little bags of some of my favorite things for my Team Watermelon teammates.<br />
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I figure that way even if people think I'm crazy (not a stretch) and don't like me, at least I gave them fun stuff, right? I'm kid. Kind of.<br />
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10 - Watermelon toes, ready to run<br />
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10 - Sparkly Watermelon green fingernails<br />
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9 - Loads of laundry I have done in the past 24 hours. Sadly that's not too far from normal. Only 3 more to go for today and then I will feel caught up enough that I won't feel as bad about leaving.<br />
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837295 - Number of other things I feel like I need to get done before I leave tomorrow. Most of them won't happen. But hey, my bathroom is clean and my laundry is done, so I'm good, right? <br />
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If you'd like to follow along on the fun adventures of the Nuun Hood to Coast teams, check out #nuunhtc on twitter and instagram. My pics will also be tagged with #teamwatermelon. <br />
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And now it's time for me to be functional before I take off! <br />
Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1941649773976906940.post-69247698089663903102013-08-12T22:28:00.000-07:002013-08-12T22:28:05.213-07:00JulyI know, it's August. And it's already almost halfway over. Geesh-already?!<br />
<br />
But since life is flying by at breakneck pace, and one day I'm going to wonder what we did this summer because I stink at keeping an actual journal, let's revisit July! <br />
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I've been oaking up every moment of summer with early mornings-typically so I can get my run in before the minions awake. Makes for some awesome views like this:<br />
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And this:<br />
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Emily has just been hanging out, staying cool.<br />
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Sam wants to be the next Robin Hood.<br />
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And I found this in my cupboard.<br />
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Apparently it moved to this house with us 8 years ago. Huh.<br />
On the 4th we headed up to the Uintah's with my parents and hiked in to Ruth Lake.<br />
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It was gorgeous.<br />
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We had a blast,<br />
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And sat back placing bets on which kid would fall in the lake first. I think 3 of them "slipped" in.<br />
(note the fabulous garbage bag rain ponchos. A must when in the Uintahs if you ever visit.)<br />
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Then that night we had a little neighborhood gathering. <br />
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With fireworks, a dj, and dancing in the street while getting sprayed with a hose.<br />
What? These things don't happen in your neighborhood?<br />
<br />
I prepared to embark on a new fitness challenge by enjoying the perfect cookie.<br />
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I took before pictures of the cookie and me. Not together. Well, except this one. I'll share mine with the afters in another 5wks.<br />
<br />
We've been soaking up the sun,<br />
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Had <a href="http://randomthoughtsfromthezoo.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-hobbler_31.html">that one race</a>,<br />
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and there was some crazy running in circles as well.<br />
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Why? I have no idea.<br />
<br />
Time to get in a little bit of painting.<br />
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We got to spend a day at Lagoon<br />
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And I get to run with this view every morning! <br />
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Seriously. So blessed to live here!<br />
<br />
Charlotte turned 5<br />
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Sam put his tomato to good use.<br />
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I got to sneak in one more half marathon...<br />
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What is that look? Intent? Race kissy face? Who knows. <br />
But hey, who can refuse a free race entry? Especially when the race is on a Wednesday morning?! <br />
I love having a state holiday. Even if I did leave home at this hour:<br />
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Um, yeah. That says 2:56am. Wow.<br />
<br />
We had our Pioneer Day dinner at my parents' house<br />
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(I ate bison. I didn't love it. Thankfully a few of my kids did.)<br />
<br />
Aaron and I learned that we must consult each other before getting dressed now, otherwise we end up matching. <br />
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Is this the sign you've been married for a long time? Are we leprechauns? Am I always eating? (yes)<br />
<br />
And Charlotte started packing her backpack for school. <br />
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Cute, but also so sad, because it means that summer is drawing to a close. Just one more week before kids go back to school. Dang. I am so not ready for summer to be over! The one upside to that is that Hood to Coast with Nuun is only about a week away! <br />
Hope your July was fabulous and that you thoroughly enjoy the last days of summer! <br />
<br />Cateyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04313815726428345524noreply@blogger.com3