Leprechaun Chase 10k

On March 15th I participated in the Leprechaun Chase 10k with three other friends.  The big issue here for me was the 10k.  I had NEVER ran a 10k before and was super nervous about pacing myself so I could finish.

It wasn't too warm-I think in the range of 35 to 40 degrees, windy, and a little overcast.  We dressed all in the green and Heidi picked up some fun St. Patrick's Day goodies for us to wear.  The premise of the race is to give the ladies a 5 minute head start and then the guys get to start and whoever comes in first, that gender all received a free drink at the after party.  I hadn't even reached the 1-mile mark before the first guy passed me.

And we are off! 

Going into this race I set my goal at an 11 minute mile pace.   I just didn't know how I would do come mile 4,5,6 so I wanted to not push it too hard so I would finish without walking.  Well as we were running my program kept telling me my pace was coming in around 9:30 minutes/mile.  I guess the adrenaline of the race got me going ahead of pace.  I told Heidi at Mile 4 I was going to walk and slow down but Mile 4 came and went and I kept on running.  Finally, right around 4.5 miles I told Heidi I was going to slow down-thinking I would walk a bit but I didn't-I slowed down but never walked.  At the end of the race I came in at 10 minutes 4 seconds a mile-well below my goal.  My final time came in at 1:02:33.  5.5 minutes below my goal time of 68 minutes.  I was pleased.

These pictures were thanks to the race organizers.  The posted tons of pictures for us to download and share as we would like. 

After the race we stayed downtown for a little bit grabbed a few drinks and some yummy food.  It was a fun morning/afternoon with some friends!  I am so thankful for my little group of friends.

I did it! 

31 Years, 31 Goals

So last year I did the 30 Goals for 30 Years.  Overall I think this went well.  I definitely did not accomplish everything but it kept me thinking about my priorities and my goals.  I had a lot of fun doing it.  I am working on an update of which goals were officially accomplished and the details.  So I decided to give it a go this year too.

*signifies a goal that I set last year but did not accomplish so it goes on this years list.

1.  Run 365 miles this year-one mile per day
2.  Family Fun Day Once a  Month
3.  Monthly Date Night-I found this to be so important last year that I want to focus on this again this year too.
4.  *Take camper out 5 times-A big fail on this last year so lets try it again.
5.  *Go to a Twins Game
6.  Read 2 books a month/total of 24 books
7.  Plant a mini garden with at least 5 different types of vegetables
8.  Lose Another 10 pounds-5 of those by Jan 1st.  (Hopefully by the time I turn 32 we will be expecting a new little one so I don't want to focus on the scale this year).
9.  *Spend a Weekend in the Amana Colonies with John
10.  Run a 10k (maybe a half marathon??)
11.  Explore our county parks and trails.  Visit one new one a month.
12.  Complete Photo Books:  Family 2012, Family 2013, Elsie's 2nd Year, Pregnancy Book/Journal, Family 2011.
13.  *Update birthdays of friends and family.
14.  * Send out 12 "Just Because" notes to family or friends.
15.  *Make 5:30 my standard wake up time
16.  *Complete Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon.
17.  *Learn how to use Photoshop
18.  *Attend Church at least once a month-or 12 times throughout the year-not including holidays.
19.  Visit a friend/family member that I haven't seen in at least six months.  I would like to do this twice (two different people :).
20.  Join a bible study group-even if it is online.
21.  Finish transferring blog posts from previous blog to this one.
22.  Do a "Whole 30" or the "10 days of Real Food" or some variation of the sort.  I have done well ridding our house of artificial sweeteners but would love to get rid of LOTS of other junk in our food.
23.  Family Vacation to Duluth
24.  *Set a monthly budget and stick to it.
25.  Upload pictures to blog/shutterfly on a monthly basis
26.  Although I don't drink a lot of soda I would like to eliminate it out of my diet completely.  Maybe drink it for a very special occasion once a month or so but definitely not on a weekly basis like I do now.  
27.  Now that Elsie is getting bigger I would like to do more craft projects with her.  Let's shoot for one a week.
28.  Although I am not super crafty and most of my projects don't turn out exceptionally well I enjoy doing them.  I would like to set a goal for one each month.
29.  Take Ballroom dancing lessons (With John)
30.  Paint and decorate our bedroom.  We have been in our house (for the second time) since March 2011-so almost three years and we have NOTHING on our walls or any decorations...its about time.
31.  Begin remodeling the basement and turning it into and official Family/Play room.  I can't wait!!

Run for the Roses 5k

This past weekend I completed my fifth 5k of the year.  Cross that goal off my 30 goals list!  I am so glad I set that goal because I feel like it has kept me running (kind of) throughout the year.  This summer/fall has been a little inconsistent but it was always on my mind.  I have really enjoyed all of these little races!  I am hoping to maybe get in one more before the end of December, maybe two and hope that I will have more time to run to get my time down.

Sunday was the best morning for a run!  Cool, crisp, perfect.  Although, these are the mornings where I am just not sure what to wear, and of course I over dressed but that's alright. Hey when I got dressed it was in the thirties!   It wasn't too bad.  The race started at 9:00 which was perfect-I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to get ready.  John and Elsie came to this one to watch and enjoy the yummy omelette breakfast that was served after the race.  We met up at Kedra's before heading to Ames for the run.  There we met up with a couple other ladies.

The whole group of runners-Joy, Jill, Heidi, Me, Hillary, Kedra, and Kedra's student teacher (I can't rememeber her name-how terrible am I?)

Elsie all bundled up for the morning. 

I ran the race with Hillary and Heidi.  I wasn't sure how it was going to go because I had rolled my ankle earlier in the week and had just noticed that it was black and blue.  I wished I would have iced it more but played it off like it was no big deal.  However, the run felt really good.  You know how you have some days where it is just a struggle to get your legs moving, well not on Sunday.  It felt good, despite my ankle.  The route was pretty hilly  especially compared to the last race which was completely flat.  I did like how this route was a lot of up and down vs a continuous uphill for the first half and then all downhill for the second half like the Dam to Dam 5k.  It kept things interesting :)  My goal for this run was to do better than the Flapjack 5k that I ran a couple of weeks ago back in September.  Which I believe I accomplished according to my Map My Run app. by over a minute.  We will find out the official time whenever it gets posted.    I plan to update times/pace time in my final 30 goals wrap up which is just about coming to an end!  Crazy! 

After the race, we were served omelettes which were yummy.  Elsie must have been tuckered out because she slept the whole time in a loud, crowded cafeteria with music playing over the speakers.  Oh and we also all received a rose.  My friend Kedra ended up getting first place for our age division too!  I think they said there was 1100 runners which is pretty good for a little 5k in Ames.  

After the race we had another open house for our house so we came home, tidied up the house and then Elsie and I ran some errand while John did cattle stuff.  Another beautiful weekend-I seem to say that every week which makes me feel so blessed!  

Girls Weekend

Last weekend we had our annual girl's weekend with my friends from high school.  I look forward to this every year!!!!  (I am already looking forward to our next one).  This time it was at Mel's new beautiful home.  It was a great weekend full of catching up, laughing, good food, and reconnecting.  We don't all like super close to each other and it isn't too often we all get together at the same time so I cherish these weekends.  

While I was having fun with the girls, Elsie was having fun with Tanner, John, and Bev.  

Tanner sent me a couple pictures throughout the day.  The top one was Elsie excited about how Tanner put "pretties" in her hair.  The bottom one is Elsie taking a morning snoozer during the volleyball tournament.  Tanner and Elsie walked up to the high school which is just a block or so away.  I guess she was tired :)

The later John sent me this picture of a very happy girl who was super excited about the Sundae playset Grandma Bev bought for her when she took her turn "hanging out" with Elsie.  Let me tell you, she has spent a lot of time playing with this all week long!  Gotta love Melissa and Doug! 

I got home around noon on Sunday but ended up going to Dale and Bev's where Elsie was napping.  We had a showing during nap time so we hung out there.  Then we went out for ice cream and headed home for the afternoon.  Elsie and I made chocolate chip muffins and John made Cinnamon Swirl bread in our bread machine (which we absolutely love!).  It was drizzly afternoon, perfect to spend it in the kitchen. 

Elsie had watched me put the muffin liners in the pan so she wanted to do the same thing and she set out all the liners and put a candle in each one.  Then she turned and told me it was "ready".  Oh and don't mind her outfit...while I was folding clothes she decided this was what she wanted to wear.  Silly Girl but I love her so much!  

Once again another fabulous weekend!  

30 Years, 30 Goals-August Update

I accomplished a little this month but I also decided to add an "abandoned" category because I know there are some things I just won't accomplish-these things will probably go onto next years goals :).

GOALS COMPLETED (BLACK):  12/30
PROGRESS (BLUE):  9/30
DIDN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT (RED):  7/30
ABANDONED:  2/30

1. Run 5-5ks (2/5)

1.  Rosy Cheeks Run-February

2.  SCAVMA Scamper-April
3.  Dam to Dam 5k-June
I also registered for a race on September-the Flapjack 10k and have two more races on the books-one for Oct and one for November

2.  Complete Outlander Series by Diana Galbadon.

3.  Get into a consistent routine of exercising at least three times a week.

4.  Take Elsie to a Children's Museum

We went to the Omaha Children's Museum in Febraury

5.  Spend a weekend in the Amana Colonies with John
I actually contacted a bed and breakfast and started to think about the weekend and look at the calendar...however who knows what October/November will look like in our household so I didn't actually make the reservation yet.  

6.  Visit three new wineries in Iowa
1.  Madison County Winery-June

7.  Lose at least 15 pounds

11/15

8.  Send out 10 "Just Because Notes to Family and Friends

9.  Attend a MN Twins game this season
Looks like this just isn't going to happen this year :(

10.  Plan and Carry Out a date night with John once a month

Dec: Dance Club

Jan: Too much snow made us cancel our Jan 30th date night

Feb: Gary Allan Concert in MN-although we were not alone-Marc and Amber joined us

March: San Juan

April:  The Cafe

May:  Well I wasn't the one in charge of this months date night and not to point fingers but we didn't get out :)

June:  Madison County Winery, The Big Steer, and Prairie Meadows
July:  We ended up going out to dinner again at The Cafe and then came home, snuggled with Cinder, and played a new card game "Yhatzee Hands Down".  
August:  Iowa State Fair and Dierks Bentley Concert

11. Enroll in a fitness class:  
I registered and started my yoga class.  I enjoyed my first day so much and can't wait for it this week.  

12.  Become familiar with photoshop so that I want to use it to edit my photos.
I haven't even opened it up yet but I did buy a book about using photoshop...that's a little progress right? 

13.  Set a budget and stick to it
I still set a budget this month but right now it is Operation Spend no Money! now that we have our house on the market, moving incurs extra expenses so for now we aren't really splurging on much.  However, I did spend money the first half of the month buying frivolous items such as new curtain panels for the dining room and family room and new throw pillows for the family room.  

14.  Update window treatments in dining room, living room, and kitchen
I purchased new curtain panels for our dining room and living room.  I really love the dining room ones.  I went with full length panels and they add so much to the room.  (you can check them out in our MLS listing).  I probably won't do the kitchen window treatment because why waste the time in case we won't be living here in a few months.  

15.  Be up to date on photo books
I have started this years books for both Elsie and the family book, have started my pregnancy book with Elsie, and am just about done with our vacation to Michigan in 2011.  Oh and I started our Family 2012 book too.  I just need to get some of these finished. But we are making progress.  

16.  Read 4 non-fiction books

1.  168 Hours:  You have more time than you think

2.  Healthy Tipping Point

3.  How to Talk so your kids will listen and Listen so Your Kids Will Talk 

4.  The Happiness Project

17.  Have an Elsie outing once a month
Well this comes so easy for us...this month we went to the zoo, the science center, the library, the park.  I feel like this is a silly goal since we do so many things with her :).  

18.  Take the camper out 5 times this summer
1.  St. Croix State Park-July
2.  Lake Rathbun-July
Unfortunately the summer didn't go quite as planned and ended up being so busy that we did not get out.  I am hoping to get out one more time before we close it up for the winter but I know I won't reach the goal of five times. 

19.  Finally get rid of all the stuff in boxes that I want to donate.

20.  Attend Church at least one a month (or 12 times throughout the year).

21.  Plan and carry out a stay cation.
Staycation 2013-Day One

Staycation 2013: Day 2

22.  Host a game night at our house.

23.  Work related-Visit a farm site to get a better understanding of the  equipment we sell.

24.  Make the switch to natural cleaning/non-toxic products.
I actually started doing this last month but forgot.  I made up a solution for basic cleaning in the kitchen.  It has borax, vinegar, baking soda, and a tidge of dawn dish soap.  I think it works pretty good.  Also for the floors we swtiched from a swiffer wet-mop (I didn't feel it worked that great anyways) to a steam mop which just uses water.  So happy with the change.  We are slowly phasing out harsh chemicals little by little.  Maybe down the road I will write a whole post on this.  

25.  find a cause I want to support and start a volunteer relationship.

26.  Find and purchase a little black dress that I Love!

27.  Do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.

28.  Make 5:30 my standard wake up time and 10:00 my standard bedtime.

29.  Update birthday information for all family and friends.

30.  Twice a month call a family member or friend to chat.

Odds and Ends

Just some random thoughts I have been having these days

1.  The House Situation
Well our wonderful home has been on the market for a whole week now.  We have had four showings and another one tomorrow.  Not great but no too bad. We have had a lot of positive feedback.  The negative stuff is "the yard is on the small side" - which is true (one of the reasons I like the new house) and for the older couple who viewed the home wasn't much a fan of the stairs (it is a split level home which means stairs are included).  Those two negatives are things completely out of my control.

Elsie on the front porch of the "new"house.

One of the best things about having the house on the market is that we are staying on top of the house work and the house is pretty much picked up and pretty clear of clutter which makes me so happy! We listed that we only needed 2 hours notice for a showing-I didn't want to miss any opportunities because I wasn't ready. So now I leave in the morning with the dishes done, everything piked up and put away, and the floor swept/vacuumed.  In fact, John and I now make our bed every morning.  I just love crawling into a made bed each night! So a clean house makes me happy.

When we put the house on the market I was so worried about someone wanting to see the house after we put Elsie to bed.  The though never crossed my mind that someone would want to see the house during nap time.  Well yesterday that was the case.  So Elsie and I went to Ankeny (30 minutes) away and I knew she would fall asleep so I just sat in the car and read until she woke up and hour and a half later.  Crisis averted!

2.  Books on My Nightstand
I wish I had more time to read.  I feel like I have so many books started but none finished.  Here is what I have been reading or plan to read.

• Outliers: I picked this book for last months Non-Fiction Book Club.  It was really good and really intersting.  It was a pretty quick read.  At least when I was into it.  I flew through the beginning and then crawled through the second quarter of the book.  Then flew through the rest.   I definitely recommend this book if you are looking for soemthing in the non-fiction department.
•  Little Bee:  This is the new book chosen for this upcoming regular book club.  We chose it because it happen to be on a list that I pinned on Pinterest.  Looks and sounds interesting.  Can't wait to start it. 
• Peace is Every Step:  This is this months pick for non-fiction book club.  This is  a super quick read.  I am already half way through it and I have only picked it up to read once.  
• Surviving Your Dog's Adolescence:  I haven't opened this one yet since I have eight weeks before our little puppy comes to live with us (it's still not born yet) but am looking forward to getting some good tips. 
• 7:  An Experimental Mutiny Again Excess:  I am really anxious to start this one but I figured I should get through some of the others first.  

3.  So Over Summer

Even before this week and was really looking forward to fall.  I just love this time of year (beside the fact that it is SUPER busy at work and John is practically non-existent).  But now that we have hit this heat wave and am SO looking forward to cooler weather.  This week has just been no fun.  We dot' play outside because it is so hot and disgusting out which means Elsie and I are both getting restless being inside all day long.  I hope this fall is beautiful with 50, 60 and the occasional 70 degree days.  I can't wait to be able to run in the evenings because right now it just isn't happening.  At least next week it is only supposed to be the eighties vs. nineties.  As you can see from the picture even Elsie is ready for cooler weather.

4.  When They Get Quiet, Start Worrying

The other night I was making dinner and I knew Elsie was right around the corner on the other side of the peninsula in the kitchen.  I saw she was going for my purse but didn't really even think there was anything in but my wallet and keys.  Boy was I wrong.  I heard her get really quiet but thought she was just concentrating on taking the stuff out of my wallet and then putting it back in.  Once again I was wrong.  A minute later I peek around the corner and found her covered in lipstick with her paci in.  I had no idea either of those things were in my purse.  Let's me honest, I never wear lipstick so I am not sure what it was doing in my purse :).  All I could do was laugh!





  



5.  Mornings typically go pretty smooth around our house, mainly because of this guy.  John is so great in the mornings.  He gets up and showers, then if Elsie is awake he will get her out of bed, change her diaper, and get her dressed for the day.  Then they head downstairs where John makes her eggs and fruit every morning.  Then he makes him and me egg sandwiches and his lunch and occasionally my lunch.  It is so nice because then I can get ready without having to worry about that and get us all out the door by 7:15 am.


6.  Back in July I took this picture of Elsie and Allie on this rocking horse.  Well, this past week I was looking through some old photo albums of my parents and came across one of my sister and I on the same horse.  Just a fun/neat comparison.  I bet we are similar in age too. 

Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

Taylor Concert

I have been looking forward to this day, well, since the end of the last Taylor Swift concert two years ago! When I was pregnant with Elsie I went to see Taylor Swift during her Speak Now Tour with my friend Mary and it was once of the best performances I have ever been too.  So I have been keeping a close eye for when she was going to be back in my neck of the woods.  So in February, tickets went on sale and I was quick to get them.  I was so excited!  Amber said she would come with along with Shawna and her little girl Maycin.  So, since February I have been counting down to August 1st!!!!

Amber and I went to dinner before the concert at Buzzard Billy's.  It was soooo good!  Then we walked to the concert.  We were a tad bit late because I kind of forgot the tickets at home and we had to turn around so we ended up missing Florida Georgia Line which I was bummed about.  Ed Sheran was the other person opening for Taylor and he was really good too.  My anticipation level was so high at this point...I was so excited and couldn't wait for that first opening song.  What is sad is at this point I can't even remember what song it was...I think it was "State of Grace".  I do know she closed with "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together".  The song I was most anticipating was "22".

Pre-concert photo!  "Stay Extraordinary" :)

I even broke out the boots for this concert.  Hadn't 

worn these since my days working with the horses at camp

When we got to our seats we met up with Shawna and Maycin and to our surprise, our friend Robbie and her little girl Addison had seats right in front of us! So that was fun!  We got one big group pic.

The whole time we kept talking about how we couldn't wait to bring out little girls to a Taylor Swift concert!  Oh I am already counting down the years...lets hope she is still relavant then ;).  

So all in all it was a WONDERFUL concert.  It was quite the production (rumor has it she has 27 semi loads of equipment for the set/performance--I can believe it!).  She had way more outfit changes than last time (almost one for every song) and I sang my heart out to almost every song!  The only thing that I could complain about is the lack of songs she sang from her previous albums-She has four albums total and she sang just about every song from her newest "Red" album-which makes sense because it is the "Red Tour" but I figure she would do more than four songs total from the other three albums:  She sang "Sparks Fly" and "Mean"  from her Speak Now album, "You Belong with Me" and "Love Story" from her Fearless Album and none from her first album.   But it has to be hard when you have SO many hits :).  I am already anticipating then next album/tour.  Even if that is two years away! 

30 Years 30 Goals-May Update

I decided to do this a little differently this month.  I thought I would list out the goals and then either cross them out if the are finished, Blue if there are updates or are working on them, and red if I didn't even think about it.  So here is how May went and of course now that I am publishing this almost 3 weeks late things have already changed :).

GOALS COMPLETED:  11/30

1. Run 5-5ks (2/5)

1.  Rosy Cheeks Run-February

2.  SCAVMA Scamper-April

2.  Complete Outlander Series by Diana Galbadon.

3.  Get into a consistent routine of exercising at least three times a week.

4.  Take Elsie to a Children's Museum

We went to the Omaha Children's Museum in Febraury

5.  Spend a weekend in the Amana Colonies with John

6.  Visit three new wineries in Iowa

7.  Lose at least 15 pounds

11/15

8.  Send out 10 "Just Because Notes to Family and Friends

9.  Attend a MN Twins game this season

10.  Plan and Carry Out a date night with John once a month

Dec: 

Jan: 

Feb:

March: San Juan

April:  The Cafe

May:  Well I wasn't the one in charge of this months date night and not to point fingers but we didn't get out :)

June:  

11. Enroll in a fitness class

12.  Become familiar with photoshop so that I want to use it to edit my photos.

13.  Set a budget and stick to it

14.  Update window treatments in dining room, living room, and kitchen

15.  Be up to date on photo books
I have started this years books for both Elsie and the family book, have started my pregnancy book with Elsie, and am just about done with our vacation to Michigan in 2011.  Oh and I started our Family 2012 book too.  I just need to get some of these finished. But we are making progress.  

16.  Read 4 non-fiction books

1.  168 Hours:  You have more time than you think

2.  Healthy Tipping Point

3.  How to Talk so your kids will listen and Listen so Your Kids Will Talk 

4.  The Happiness Project

17.  Have an Elsie outing once a month
Well this comes so easy for us...this month we went to the zoo, the science center, the library, the park.  I feel like this is a silly goal since we do so many things with her :).  

18.  Take the camper out 5 times this summer
We better get out one of these days.  Summer is flying by!

19.  Finally get rid of all the stuff in boxes that I want to donate.

20.  Attend Church at least one a month (or 12 times throughout the year).

21.  Plan and carry out a stay cation.
Staycation 2013-Day One

Staycation 2013: Day 2

22.  Host a game night at our house.

23.  Work related-Visit a farm site to get a better understanding of the  equipment we sell.

24.  Make the switch to natural cleaning/non-toxic products.
I actually started doing this last month but forgot.  I made up a solution for basic cleaning in the kitchen.  It has borax, vinegar, baking soda, and a tidge of dawn dish soap.  I think it works pretty good.  Also for the floors we swtiched from a swiffer wet-mop (I didn't feel it worked that great anyways) to a steam mop which just uses water.  So happy with the change.  We are slowly phasing out harsh chemicals little by little.  Maybe down the road I will write a whole post on this.  

25.  find a cause I want to support and start a volunteer relationship.

26.  Find and purchase a little black dress that I Love!

27.  Do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.

28.  Make 5:30 my standard wake up time and 10:00 my standard bedtime.

29.  Update birthday information for all family and friends.

30.  Twice a month call a family member or friend to chat.

SCAVMA Scamper 5k

Yesterday I participated in my second 5k of the season.  It was a chilly (like 45 degrees) overcast, windy morning.  The winds were around 20mph.  This race is put on by the vet med students at ISU.  You are encouraged to bring your dogs to run but of course Cinder wouldn't have made it a 1/2 miles so I ran by myself.  I asked John if he wanted to come and watch and bring Elsie.  She is absolutely in love with doggies these days and I thought she would enjoy seeing them.  I think she was a bit overwhelmed by how many there were.  Even in the pic below we couldn't get her to look at the camera because she kept looking all over at the dogs.  There were dogs of every size there!  It was fun!

The run went really well.  I had set a goal to run it under 10 min/miles and my mission was accomplished.  My reported results were 30 min 30 seconds so 9 min 50 sec/mile.  I am pleased with that.  My last 5k that I ran in February I ran it in 33:46.  So that is over a 3 minute improvement.   I am not sure if that is really as accurate as I think :).  I used my phone/Map My Run App.  I wanted to  know how far I ran/how far I had left to go because I was unfamiliar with my route.  I thought I started it when I cross the start line but didn't.  I looked at it a couple minutes in and realized I never hit the start button :(.  According to my phone for the 2.84 miles it recorded my pace was 9:36 min/miles.  My first mile was my fastest which I could tell because I was running down hill with the wind at my back 9:19 min/mile and my last mile was my worst at 9:41.  Normally when I run my second mile is my slowest because I totally kick in into gear the last .5 mile as I near the finish but yesterday the last .5 mile I was running directly into the wind at an incline.  Ugh I struggled.  So I figure if my worst mile was 9:41 my overall pace would have to be faster than 9:50.  So anyways....I think my pace was faster than the official time but that is okay.  We will go with 9:50 min/mile.

My next one that I am registered for is in June.  I think my goal will be to run it under 30 minutes.  Maybe that isn't ambitious enough.  Maybe I should go with under 29 minutes.  I am hoping to run outside more...I enjoy it way more than the treadmill.  This week is looking up so we shall see.  

30 Years 30 Goals-March Update

Didn't Even Think About It: #5, #6, #8, #9, #11, #12, #13, #14, #19, #20, #21, #23, #29
Completed:  #4, #3

1. Run 5-5ks
No 5ks this month but I did register for two new ones...one in April and one in June.  I have also began running again after taking a short break to do the 30-day Shred. 

2.  Complete Outlander Series by Diana Galbadon.
No progress here...in fact I never even opened "Fiery Cross" this month.

3.  Get into a consistent routine of exercising at least three times a week.
Definitely did this during the month of March I am actually counting this as completed since I feel this has been pretty consistent over the past few months.  

7.  Lose at least 15 pounds
10 lbs down, 5 more to go!  Then I will set a new goal :)

10.  Plan and Carry Out a date night with John once a month
We had a "date vacation" this month.  Our five days away make up for missing it the past 3 months :) Check back soon for some photos from the trip.  

15.  Be up to date on photo books
Shutterfly sent me coupon code for a free book so it motivated me to do one on our trip to Omaha.

16.  Read 4 non-fiction books
I finally finished Healthy Tipping Point this month. I also started two new ones:  How to Talk so Your Kids Will Listen and Listen so Your Kids Will Talk  and The Happiness Project.

17.  Have an Elsie outing once a month
We went to a couple of library story times and the day before we left for our trip I had a day all about her.  We went to a storyteller put on by the library and spent some time at the park.  You can read about it here.

18.  Take the camper out 5 times this summer

Haven't taken it out yet but getting very anxious to do so.  I would like to take some time in the next week or so to get it ready for the summer.  

22.  Host a game night at our house.
Completed this goal this month and it was so much fun.  I hope to do it again!!  Maybe a summer game night or something like that.  You can read about the night here. 

25.  Find a cause I want to support and start a volunteer relationship.
I actually found a place I wanted to volunteer.  This is with the local county conservation department.  I saw in the paper they were looking for volunteers for their trails committee and I contacted them but havent' heard anything back yet.  

27.  Do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.
I completed the "Shred" this month.  I will have to say I didn't do it quite like the video or myself intended but life gets busy ya know.  My goal was to do it until we left for Puerto Rico which was last Wednesday, March 20th.  I did okay for level one and two but only did one level three the Saturday before we left.  You can check out my daily entries.  

28.  Make 5:30 my standard wake up time and 10:00 my standard bedtime.
I did not do so well with this goal this month.  I would say about half the nights I go to bed by 10:00 and half the mornings I am up by 5:30.

30.  Twice a month call a family member or friend to chat.
Yep

30 Years 30 Goals-February Update

This month was pretty good.  Beside all our sickness during the first two weeks of the month I feel like I got quite a bit accomplished.  Not as much as I hoped but some progress was made.  

1. Run 5-5ks

I completed the Rosy Cheeks Run on 2/2/13 with a time of 33:46. See post about the race here. 

2.  Complete Outlander Series by Diana Galbadon.

Still working on reading Voyager...actually I am not sure if I picked up this book to read it at all this month.  Better get moving on this...

3.  Get into a consistent routine of exercising at least three times a week.

The beginning of this month was terrible.  The first two weeks we were hit with lots of sicknesses and only got in a few workouts.  The second two weeks though I picked it up and got in at least 3 workouts. 

4.  Take Elsie to a Children's Museum

Cross this one off the list...We took Elsie to the Omaha Children's Museum this month.  Check out our adventure here.

7.  Lose at least 15 pounds

Down a total of 8 lbs-over half way there.

8.  Send out 10 "Just Because Notes to Family and Friends

I have a couple started but didn't get any sent out.  

10.  Plan and Carry Out a date night with John once a month

Another big failure on this--can it really be that hard to get out with John just the two of us once a month?? We did go to Gary Allen together :)  

12.  Become familiar with photoshop so that I want to use it to edit my photos.

I didn't do anything with photoshop but I did take a basic photography class this month.

16.  Read 4 non-fiction books

No books finished this month-I was too busy watching Downton Abbey ;)

17.  Have an Elsie outing once a month

I would say that our trip to Omaha was a pretty good "Elsie Outing" since the whole weekend was for her.  We had fun too but we really enjoyed seeing her have such a good time.  

18.  Take the camper out 5 times this summer

It obviously isn't warm enough to take the camper out but I did get two reservations made for summer camping-one trip to St. Croix State Park and one to a park near St. Louis.   I am really looking forward to them both.  

27.  Do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.
I did start this. You can see how my first 10 days went here: Days 1-10

28.  Make 5:30 my standard wake up time and 10:00 my standard bedtime.
Still doing pretty good with this only for the fact that Elsie wakes us up normally by 5:30.  I definitely sleep in when I can though ;).  

30.  Twice a month call a family member or friend to chat.
Yep :)

These goals I did nothing with this month:
5, 6, 9, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29

30 Days of Shreddin'-Days 1-10

On February 20th I started the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred program.  Thank you Tami for the DVD for Christmas.  I would have started it earlier but was waiting for the scale that I ordered to arrive.  I wanted to have a scale that I could use consistently use to gauge the change in weight (or at least the change in weight I hoped would come).  The 30 Day Shred is a program where for 30 days you do  a work out video.  It is about 20 minutes long and is a sort of circuit training.  There are three levels.  You do Level 1 for the first 10 days, Level 2 for the next 10 day and Level 3 for the last 10 days.  I know I won't get to day 30 because we will be gone on our vacation already.  I will only be able to 28 days.  My goal is to do at least 2/3 of the days so about 19 days.  Here is how I felt each day...

Day One:  
I decided to do the work out over Elsie's morning nap.  I had everything all set up, TV on and in the right spot on the DVD and I changed into my workout clothes before I laid her down so I would be ready to go as soon as possible since morning naps have been hit or miss lately.  I got about half way through before I had to go up and rock her one more time before she finally fell asleep.  I was tired during the workout but as soon as I was done I knew I was going to be sore.  My legs were tired!   I did Level 1 with three pound hand weights.

Day Two: 
I was actually ready to skip this one this morning.  I woke up tired and not really motivated to do anything but get in the shower and get ready for work.  However, I know I have some goals set and not doing the workout would get in the way of reaching those goals so I threw on my clothes and started it up.  My legs were really what was still tired.  And boy my legs are SORE!!! It hurts to get up from my desk chair and to go down the stairs.  But it will all be work it right?

Day Three: 
Didn't get it done.  We ended up leaving for Omaha when we weren't planning to leave until the following day so I was busy trying to pack/clean to get out of the house around lunch time.

Day Four: 
We were in Omaha

Day Five: 
We were in Omaha

Day Six:  
Totally slacked.  I couldn't get my butt out of bed in the morning and then I had book club in the evening so I ran out of time.

Day Seven
Finally completed my third workout.  Totally slacked and was unmotivated over the weekend.  Not really sore anymore but I definitely did something to my left quad.  I was in pain and not the good pain.  It was really hard for me to do the forward lunges.  Like I couldn't because it was so painful.  So this evening I am going to walk and stretch and hope it starts to feel better.

Day Eight:
I did my workout today at night before I went to bed.  It is starting to get a little boring...I am ready to try something new.  My quad is still bothering me but I can do most of the exercises except I can go down as far in the lunge exercise.

Day Nine: 
I did my workout again before bed...I kind of like doing this.  Then I take a nice 45 minute bath afterwards.  I upped my hand weights from 3 lbs to 5lbs to keep me from being bored.  Quad still hurts but I am not sore at all anywhere else.

Day Ten:
I skipped Friday night so my day Ten is going to be my workout on SAturday.  I decided this was going to be my last workout on Level One...there is no way I could do this 4 more times...I am too bored even with upping the weights.  Monday I will start Level 2.


DAYS COMPLETED:    6/10

Rosy Cheeks Run 2013

This past weekend I did the Rosy Cheeks Run.   I have planned to do this run for a few months and actually started trainin (jogging) for it starting the first week in January.  It had been probably before Elsie was born that I ran as much as I did in January and I did it routinely at least three times a week.  I know this run is what motivated me to do it.

Kara and I at the start of the race

I actually found a "Couch to 5k" app on my phone but it was for 8 weeks and I only had 4 before the run so I tweaked it a little to work for me.  I LOVE that I have a treadmill and I know that I wouldn't be doing any running if I didn't have one but the time can seem to drag on.  The longest I ran at one time was 2 miles straight.  Otherwise I would do some walking to mix things up and keep it interesting.  Seeing as I only had ran 2 miles straight I was a little nervous about doing 3.1 miles.  My friends Heidi and Kedra said that if I can do two miles on the treadmill I will have no problem doing it outside...I wasn't so sure.

Going into this race I was nervous for a few things...
1.  That I would take FOREVER to do it.
2.  That I would be way too cold.  This was something I became more nervous about as the day got closer since it was supposed to be in the low teens at race time.
3.  That I would dissapoint myself.  I know I hadn't ran very much in the last two years but I really wanted to run the majority of this race.  When on the treadmill I was jogging at the 12 minute mile pace.  I was hoping to at least do this but I figured that I would do some walking so if I made it in that 12-13 minute mile pace I would be happy.

Kara and I at the end of the race

Turns out that I didn't have anything to worry about.  It did not take me forever, in fact it took me 33 minutes and 46 seconds to complete the race which is 10 minute 52 second mile pace.  A whole minute a mile less than my goal.  I know that is not a super awesome time but it is definitely a time I am happy with, after all it was faster than my 12 minute/mile goal.  Also, I was definitely not cold.  Actaully after the first mile I had to take my top layer off.  I am actually glad that I had a headband and not a hat because I was a bit warm.

All in all, I had a great time doing this.  I am so thankful that I had Kara there to run with me :)  After we enjoyed a free pancake breakfast for participants and they gave away a ton of drawings.  Kara won a free pizza and I won a free burrito :).  I think this is a race I would definitely do again.