Watch Out Long Island...

 ...we're coming for you!
13.1 on 5.6.12
This half doesn't stand a chance.

Summer Cleaning

In preparation for our European vacation, Dan and I went through his clothes this past weekend to determine what he had that still fit and looked good, what needed to go to the tailor, what could be donated and what could just be retired to the trash.

Somehow the stars aligned and we were both fully gung-ho about going through his entire wardrobe! It's a good thing too, since I don't think we've done a major clean out in the entire 7+ years we've been together.

We took some breaks to really admire some treasures from Dan's college days:

But overall we stayed on course and ended up with a huge donation to the local Goodwill :)

Now we know exactly what he's got, and where we need to focus our efforts on the shopping front :)

Poor Monty!

A few weeks ago Monty had to go for a little ride to the mechanic.

It turns out that when you're 11 years old, things start to fall apart a little bit.

Don't worry, he's back up and running now, but not exactly good as new. We have some upgrades to make on the poor guy and we may be trading Dan's car in and letting him drive Monty exclusively in the next few months. Which means, I'm in the market for a new ride.
I've already let Dan know that because we are saving for our future beach house I will sacrifice for a few more years and avoid putting myself in a Cayenne.

I'm pretty sure that makes me girlfriend of the year, right?

Seriously though, what should I get? I think I am leaning toward a lease and I kind of like the idea of a smaller SUV, but since I have not been thinking about getting a new car at all, I am sort of open to anything.

It Tastes Like Summer!

At the grocery store on monday I saw two things that mean summer to me and had to pick them up for that nights dinner.

Cherries and Corn on the Cob!!

Dan and I have found a new recipe for Buffalo Chicken Wing Sandwiches that we've pretty much had once a week for the past month so I thought I would share. It takes about 10 minutes to put the whole thing together and it's really yummy, so that makes it a winner in my book.

I found the recipe in one of the past few month's Real Simple magazines and have modified it slightly so that it's a little less caloric.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 Rotisserie Chicken, shredded (if you can get one from Costco, then you'll probably have enough for leftovers)
• 1/2 Cup of Hot Sauce (we use Wingman's Buffalo Style Medium Sauce)
• 1-2 tablespoons butter (I tend to use less butter)
• 1/4 Cup Blue Cheese Crumbles
• Bread/Bun of your choice

And here's how to make it:

First heat the butter in a skillet and then add the chicken and mix it up. Then drop in the hot sauce and mix it again. Once the chicken is warmed through you're done! Just place it on your bread, which tastes even better toasted and add blue cheese.

This dish is normally awesome, but with cherries and corn on the cob off to the side, it was a perfect start to summer meal!

My First Half!!!

I did it!

Here's my bib that I picked up on Friday at the expo. It's the first one I've gotten that has my name on it. I'm pretty sure that it means that I have entered into the big leagues of racing.

The race started at 6am and this is what the view looked liked from outside of my hotel room when I got up. Do you see that glare? That my friends, is rain. Not the best of circumstances if you are going to run your first half, but I just layered a lot and tried not to think about it.

Here are my friends Randi, Chrissy and Shannon at the start of the race.

The course was pretty flat overall and took us around the Denver area.

I'm not going to lie. It was hard and far! The longest run I had done in my training was 11 miles and I was hurting a lot at the end. The best part about the route was after mile 7 when we got to run through a fire station. It really helped motivate me to go faster. While I had a stretch goal of coming in under 2 hours, I knew that coming in under 2:05 was going to be hard for me, so throughout the race I pushed myself to run 9:40m/m or under. I was able to do that for all but four of the miles and I came in just under the 2:05 mark!!
Here we are at the end of the chute that leads out of the finish! I am so proud of us for running our first half!

Now for the results! I did end up running .09 miles more than I had too, but all in all, I am really happy with my numbers. My splits from my garmin looked like this:

Split    Time     Distance    Avg Pace
   1       09:32        1.00           09:32
   2       09:28        1.00           09:28
   3       08:57        1.00           08:57
   4       09:21        1.00           09:21
   5       09:01        1.00           09:01
   6       09:14        1.00           09:14
   7       09:44        1.00           09:44
   8       09:27        1.00           09:27
   9       09:47        1.00           09:47
   10     09:49        1.00           09:49
   11     09:18        1.00           09:18
   12     09:19        1.00           09:19
   13     09:49        1.00           09:49
   14     01:52        0.19           09:39
Sum  2:04:46      13.19          09:27

My official time was 2:04:42 and I had an average pace of 9:32!!
Overall: 1385/3779
20-29F Div: 227/774
Females: 650/2409

My muscles are so sore tonight and I am super exhausted because I didn't sleep very well last night. But I've taken it easy today and had my fair share of Advil today and hopefully tomorrow I'll feel closer to 100%. Now I'm off to bed :)

Shredding It

Over the holiday season I found Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred DVD for around $6 at Target and picked it up. In February, right around the time that I started my training I decided to give it a try, but I only lasted a record-setting one day! I think that my heart wasn't in it, but still... one day out of 30 does not bode well for traits like consistency and dedication.

Last week I decided to pick it up again and stick with it. Today is day 8 and I've only skipped one day (Sunday). Dan told me that Jillian would tell me, "No Excuses", but I feel like the 9 mile run I did that day was a good trade off.

I plan on doing 10 days on each of the three levels. Since each workout is about 25 minutes, I have been able to do one before I get to work each morning. Charlie gets really confused during the ab portions when I am down on the floor. It took me about 5 days to teach him not to come stand over me during those parts of the work out.

While I'm pretty sure that my abs won't be looking like Jillian's at the end of 30 days, I am getting better at doing push ups. What's most important to me though, is sticking with it for 30 days. Since consistency isn't really my thing, this is a good challenge to take on. Now I am off to Shred it!

I was on such a roll!

I can't believe I haven't posted on here since January 24th! I was doing so well for the year up until then, but now I am back! Whenever I stop blogging for a while I always find that I miss it. It helps me to keep tabs on what is going on in my life and it's even more fun to look back on older posts to see how things have changed.

Plus, what else am I supposed to do with the bajillion photos that I take each year? :)

I'm blaming this hiatus on my new running hobby. Or more specifically, my 1/2 marathon training plan that kicked off at the end of January. I'm pretty new to this whole running thing, so it was a huge awakening to see all of the hard work that it actually takes to get into running shape.

Besides my training, I got promoted at work, went to Breck, ran a 5K with Dan, joined a running club, went on Spring Break to San Diego with D, and generally just started to get way more into health and fitness. Also Dan started doing yoga and loves it now! It is pretty much one of my favorite things to do with him at the moment.

It has been a busy two months, but I hope to start posting more regularly now that I am a bit more used to this whole health and fitness no matter what else is going on mentality :)

Back at it

This weekend I got back into running again. It's the first time I've run since the end of 2010 and it felt really good to test out my new running gear from Christmas, which I'll cover off on in another post. I did a quick run with Charlie on Saturday, which was rough. But my run with him today was the best because Dan came along! We had never run together before and it was fun. I'm not sure that Dan would characterize it the same way, but with a regular running habit, I think he might.

My training plan for the half marathon kicks off the week of 1/31 and it has me running 11 miles the first week. Since I have not been running any, it's time to get my butt in gear.

2011 - 315 N. Goals

Last week I posted a list recapping all of the projects we were able to complete at the house in 2010. Here's a look at all of the things I'm hoping we can accomplish in 2011.

1. Paint our fence... (I referred to it's current state in this post, and it has not changed much since)
2. Hire a tree trimmer to take care of some tree branches outside of our expertise
3. Hire an electrician to remove some old knob & tube wiring that's still in our attic
4. Have insulation added to the attic roof
5. Remove wallpaper from the 2nd bedroom and paint
6. Have the remaining carpet removed downstairs and refinish all of the wood floors
7. Paint trim in dining room
8. Touch up paint in our bedroom and the sunroom
9. Paint wall under the stairs
10. Have front porch steps fixed and apply stone veneer
11. Remove rotting wood under front porch and replace with lattice
12. Install shelves in the downstairs linen closet
13. Pick out new paint colors for house exterior and paint
14. Have quote done for kitchen renovation in 2012

It's a lot, so even if we just get half of this list done I'll be happy. With a house as old as ours, I'm surprised I could keep this list to only 14 items!

2010 - 315 N. Improvements in Review

Every year I start off by making a list of all of the things I want us to accomplish on the house as the year goes on. This year, we may have diverged from that list a bit, but really made a lot of headway nonetheless.

Here's a recap of what went down throughout the year.

February: Installed a new garbage disposal and a new bathroom faucet
May: Bought and installed a new water heater after ours died suddenly
May: Started a service to rid our lawn of ant colonies so they don't start coming inside
June: Trimmed trees around the house, cleaned out the garage and cleared the dog run
July: Painted the sunroom
May-October: Cleared out and revamped the right of way in front of the house (this deserves a post in its own right, which I will try to get to soon)
September: Bought a rug for the sunroom
October: Routed the sewer line and had the furnace inspected
November: Scraped the popcorn ceiling out of the 2nd bedroom and tore up and removed the carpet from the room.
November: Had insulation added to the attic eaves
December: Bought a new couch!

As the year goes by I never think that we are doing enough (I have big goals), but when I look back I feel like we actually managed to accomplish a lot. I'll share our 2011 goal list in the next few days. It's pretty optimistic, but I'm a glass half full kind of person and can't help myself.

2010 Books in Review

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Aug 09, 2010 [edit]

I try to make a goal each year of reading at least as many books as I did the year before. This year, I made it by the skin of my teeth. I had to throw in Bridge to Terabithia last night in order to make it, which is kind of cop out, but still resulted in matching number of books read in 2009, so I'm okay with it. In my defense, I'm in the middle of about 5 books, so I blame being easily distracted to the last minute goal completion.

The books above outline what I read last year. I track everything on Goodreads, which if you have not been to is a great site that allows me to keep track of what I read when, and what I thought of books overall.

My favorite book of the year was Born to Run, but The Help and the Steig Larsson trilogy were also really entertaining reads. For 2011, I am going to try to diversify my reading a bit to include some new genres.

Here's a quick recap on my thoughts on the books above (as a general rule, I only give really horrible books 1 or 2 stars):

Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall: Fascinating book about a serious group of runners, featuring the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico. Whether you are into running or not, I recommend the read. It was really interesting and I learned a lot. (5 out 5 stars)

The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown: This is the third Robert Langdon installment and is pretty consistent in tone and pace with the other books. This one focuses mostly around Freemasonry and takes place in Washington, D.C. I liked it as much as I liked The Da Vinci Code (4 out of 5 stars)

Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Patterson: A book from my childhood. It doesn't hold the same appeal to me now as it did then, but still a good read for a young adult book.... and a really quick one. I think I blew through it in an hour. (4 out of 5 stars)

City of Thieves, by David Benioff: This is what I'd call a comedic tragedy. It takes place during WWII in Leningrad and follows two unlikely heroes, as they go off on a seemingly impossible hunt to find eggs in order to secure their freedom. It's definitely the most unique war story I have ever read. (4 out of 5 stars)

Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins: The third and final installment of The Hunger Games series. I thought it was just as good as the other two books and was surprised by how much I liked the series. Sad to know that the series is over. (4 out of 5 stars)

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett: I'm definitely not the first person to have read this book in 2010. As I'm sure most of you have heard of it, I will keep it concise. Loved the characters and the writing in this book. (5 out of 5 stars)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who Played with Fire, The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson: Same as above, I'm sure most of you have heard about this series as well. I loved it. You definitely have to get through the first few chapters of the first novel to get into it, but once you do, it unravels into a really fascinating story. The last two books are pretty intense from a pace perspective. There were many times when I did not want to put the books down. (5 out 5 stars)

Shelter Me, by Juliette Faye: I started this book in August and did not finish it until the day before yesterday. It centers around a woman in the year after she is widowed unexpectedly with two small children. I think the premise of the book was good, it just never really kept me interested. I think it was well written, but perhaps to sad overall to really keep me engaged. (3 out of 5 stars)

Second Chance, by Jane Green: The 1st of two Jane Green books I read this past year. She is a british author, who pretty much writes a lot of chick lit. This was my favorite of the two books I read of hers. It follows a group of friends who are reunited through a loss after years apart. It was a quick read and entertaining. (4 out of 5 stars)

The Other Woman, by Jane Green: My least favorite read of the year, but a quick beach read if you need one. It follows the relationship between a girl and her soon to be mother-in-law, as they move through engagement to wedding and beyond. (3 out of 5 stars)

Junky, by William S. Burroughs: Dan brought this one home and I picked it up one day and finished it pretty soon after. If you ever need a reason not to do drugs, you should read this book. While it's a little to anxiety producing for my liking it was well written and an interesting look into 1950s drug culture. (3 out of 5 stars)

Barefoot, by Elin Hilderbrand: A fun beach read that takes place in Nantucket. I loved the scenery of this book and would recommend it if you're looking to remind yourself of Summer. I also like the characters although the story could have had more to offer. (4 out of 5 stars)

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons, by Lorna Landvik: This story spans a group of friends' relationship over a series many decades. I liked to see how the times effected each character and really liked how each developed. A fun book that reminded me of the Ya Ya books. (4 out of 5 stars)

Shanghai Girls, by Lisa See: While I liked Snowflower and the Secret Fan more than this book, I still found it to be good. It focuses on two sisters' transitions from wealth in Shanghai to being immigrants in Los Angeles. It was somewhat sad overall and dragged at times once they were in the US. (4 out of 5 stars)

Walking the Talk

If you know anything about my working life, you most likely know that a good portion of my time is spent working on the advertising needs of a large utility client (said client will not be named in an effort to avoid Google alerting many of the people I work with on a regular basis). Regardless, a lot of our messaging revolves around the efficiency products and programs that this utility offers to their customers and the benefits that people can reap by investing in efficiency efforts. 

If you know anything about my personal life, which you do if you are reading this blog, you know that I live in a 106 year old home, with it's original octopus arm gravity-fed furnace, original (and completely beautiful) wooden windows, old appliances and many other idiosyncrasies that make this house one of the least energy efficient homes around.Suffice it to say our utility bills each winter can be astronomical.

So, when the opportunity presented itself, I decided to take advantage of a 2010 tax credit for adding insulation to your home and had blown in insulation added to the eaves in my house early this week!

Charlie was very involved in this process, so it's a very good thing that the guys who were doing it liked dogs. Here he is on the sidewalk outside my house right next to their truck. He took an opportunity when I wasn't watching to go through the open gate and help out.

So after a little bit of work to get the process started on our end, we are now looking at glowing R-values in our attic crawl spaces. Our actual attic is another story though. We need to have some old wiring removed before we can have insulation added there. However, in the short term I am giving myself a big pat on the back for actually doing something that I tell others to do every day! I think my own local utility will thank me, and hopefully in the long term my wallet will too.

Am I the Tortoise or the Hare?

Since I've started running recently, I've been feeling like I need something bigger to work towards than just a time on a treadmill. So, I've signed up to participate in two different races.

The first is a 5K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.

The second is a half marathon in May of next year!

I've managed to get a few people to sign up to run both of these races with me which is great! Dan's still holding out, but I think I'll be able to at least get him to run the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. Running sounds a whole lot better to him than making a motivational poster and cheering from the sidelines ;-)

I haven't really gotten to a point where I have actual time goals for these races yet, but yesterday I sent a personal distance record and ran 4 miles in just over 44 minutes. Yes, I know that's not very fast, but I'm getting better, which is what matters to me.

Hopefully, these races will keep me motivated to maintain a regular running schedule. I'll be using this blog to track my progress so that I'm being held somewhat accountable :)

Life...

It is feeling really busy right now. I'm not really sure why, but I've been pretty motivated for the past month and have started about a million projects and set a ton of goals for myself that are taking up a ton of my time. It's a really good thing, but when I think about all of the things that I want to get done with in a day it can be overwhelming.

I have to admit that I am not loving my tumblr snapshot blog as much as I thought I would. In the past week I've kind of fallen of the wagon with it, because I feel like it is too disconnected from this blog and I'm feeling like I'm neglecting both. I am currently toying with the idea of merging that blog into this one and just using this from now on.

Besides my blog dilemma, I have also gotten into a pretty good fitness routine and started running.. which, if you know me (which you probably do if you are reading this blog), is a really strange thing for me to be into. Before this month I could barely run a mile and now I'm running over 10 miles a week!

We've also been doing a ton of Fall maintenance at the house and getting in over our heads on to many do it yourself home improvement projects. My house is kind of a disaster right now, but I think all of it will pay off in the next few weeks.

I have big plans to do a bunch of posts on everything that has been going on. I just need to find those additional hours in my day.. they've got to be hiding out somewhere.

Rumor Has It...

I recently turned 29. I won't confirm or deny this rumor, but I will let you know that I've made a plan to document this next year of my life through a Tumblr blog... which is somewhat of an addendum to this blog. It mostly just allows me a place to put a ton of pictures that I take each day, but I also think it will be a fun project... if I can keep up with it. Anyway, if you're interested, you can follow me here: http://delightedtobehere.tumblr.com/

The only parameters that I have for it is that I place at least one photo up each day. Some days, there will be more, some days there will be less. We'll see how it goes.

Instant Puppy Tears Come from This Place....

 ... The DOG RUN! Yes, beneath all of this shrubbery is an actual dog run. It sits at the side of our house and really does not get much use because a) it looked like the above photo, and b) Charlie hates being locked in it. He starts crying and barking immediately and pretty much bothers the entire neighborhood. What can I say, he is a party animal and needs to be a part of the action. Here he is in the action while I tried to photograph the space...

Anyway, we finally decided to spend some time and take care of issue a, which resulted in a dog run that looks like this....

 I know It looks so much better! Charlie still wants nothing to do with it unless someone is in there with him, but with a house as old as ours, just crossing a project or two off of our list is good enough for me. I'd like to put some sort of ground covering down around this so we don't have a ton of weeds popping up, so I'm on the look out for something pet-friendly and aesthetically pleasing. Let me know if you have any suggestions.