Thankful Thanksgiving

Chris and I traveled to Kearney, NE on Wednesday to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family.  This trip was long over due, as the last time we were visited Nebraska was last Christmas.
We arrived in time to have some dinner, and get reconnected.
On Thanksgiving morning Chris and I did our very first Turkey Trot.  I've always wanted to do one, and although it was freezing, I'm so glad we did it!  They offered a 2 mile option or a 5 mile option.  I wasn't comfortable doing the 5 miler, so we opted for the 2 miles, which I'm happy we did, because it was pretty cold and windy. 
We jogged a lot of the first mile, being at a lower elevation, and part of the first half was downhill made it easy.  The second mile however, was much more difficult.  We were walking into the cold wind, and it was all pretty much uphill.  Not fun.  But we did it, and it was a great memory for the both of us.

 We enjoyed a huge Thanksgiving spread courtesy of Mary (my mother in law) and Aunt Mary (Chris' aunt, and his Dad's sister).  Aunt Mary came to celebrate with the family from Kansas City.  We enjoyed all the Thanksgiving fixings, and shared our blessings.  My main blessing of course, is being pregnant, and carrying a happy and healthy baby!
Throughout the trip there was a lot of visiting and conversing.  This is a big difference in Chris' family that I love.  At Chris' house people gather in the living room and just talk.  It's so nice, compared to at my parents house where my dad is always in the living room watching TV, my mom in her room watching TV, and usually with me in my old room watching TV.  At my in laws house the only TV is down in the basement, and during our trip there was only about 30 minutes of TV watching.  I'll admit that Chris and I are big TV watchers, we probably watch too much TV.  But it's the exact opposite at his parents house.  Although it can be overwhelming at times, just sitting and talking is truly a wonderful family experience and memory. 
We did some shopping, and Marty (my father in law) took us on a tour of Kearney.  I believe he said Kearney is currently about a population of 30,000, but it's growing in every direction.  So we went to all corners of the little city, to see the expansions being made with both commercial and residential growth.
We played many games with Aunt Mary and Alice (my sister in law) on a couple of days.  And just had a great time.  Lifelong memories were definitely made.
Overall it was so relaxing.  We hung out with a couple of Chris' friends, and lost track of the time and day.  A vacation is truly a vacation when you don't have to keep track of time.
One morning we went on a family walk with the family dogs: Grace and Hope.  It was so beautiful.

Overall a great trip.  To have so much family and relaxing time made it a perfect Thanksgiving holiday.  As we drove away Sunday morning I started crying as I realized the next time we see them we'll have a baby, and they'll be grandparents.  It's so overwhelming to think about, that when I do, I can't help but get emotional. 

I'm beyond thankful for Chris' family.  I've been truly blessed to have some pretty awesome in laws.  Marty, Mary, and Alice are all so excited for this little baby, and I'm so excited to be apart of this exuberant family!

Catch Up: September 2013

September was a pretty low key month.  Started out the month with Labor day weekend, which was nice to have that extra day off after my parents left at the end of August. 

In mid-September my friend Kim was in town.  Kim is someone that I categorize as one of my good Facebook friends.  Which might seem weird to say, but if it weren’t for this crazy social media site we wouldn’t really be “friends”.  I met Kim in the summer of 2009, when my HS friend Vanessa and her came up to Denver for a concert at Red Rocks.  They had a little BBQ get together that I was invited to, mainly to catch up with Vanessa, as she was the only one I knew.  And there I was introduced to her friend Kim.  When trying to think of a word that describes my friend Kim, the main word that pops out is: friendly.  She’s just so nice, and social, and beautiful.  Very warming.  From there we became Facebook friends.  Over the past few years she’s moved from Albuquerque, to Portland, gotten married, and had a baby.  I saw most of this unfold during my not so hot single years, and often I would email her with congratulations and advice.  I remember one time specifically asking her: “You’re always going out, what do you?  How do you meet people?”  Knowing that we were in the same age group, and also knowing that as you get older it’s harder to meet friends, but she was always posting pictures out and about having a good time, and I wanted to know what her secret was.  Simply, she stated: I don’t say no.  If someone asks me to do something, I say yes.  Seems simple, and ever since then that always stuck with me.  And why I clung onto my gym friends once I finally got out of my “funk”.  When she moved to Portland I inquired about the move, and she told me of her love story with her now husband.  That left me hopeful that I too possibly one day would find my prince.  Then shortly after she got married, she emailed me announcing that she was “with child” a through in through honeymoon baby!!!  I was immediately excited for her, and knew she would make a great mom.  Then I met Chris.  I remember emailing her my special news, and she was so happy for me!  I felt so lucky to have this friend to share my “happily ever after with”.  Anyways, the internet is just great for keeping in touch, and I’m happy to have this unique friendship with Kim.  We’ve definitely shared our growing up stories (over the past few years anyways).  So at the beginning of September when she messaged me and all of her Denver based friends that she was coming into town, and was planning a get together I was super excited.  Not only to see her face to face again, but to have her meet Chris.  It was great to connect with her again, and although the group was big, she made time to talk with Chris and I which I truly appreciated.  Another thing that Kim is great at is taking pictures.  She makes it easy for you to keep up with her life, because she always posts these outrageous status updates on her FB and always updates the latest happenings and events with current pictures.  That’s another reason I was so excited when she told me she was pregnant, because I knew she would take us on her journey of motherhood with pictures!  And I always appreciate pictures!  She’s witty and funny, and she REALLY needs to start a blog!  Anyways, it was just great to see her, and I always love reading what she posts, or our own private emails.  She’s someone I’m glad I met.

the beautiful Kim and I

Chris bonding with Denali

 A big event occurred on September 26^th: Chris’ 34^th Birthday!  The day itself was pretty low key, but we did got to breakfast together in the morning, then celebrated the following Friday night with a dinner downtown at Vesta Dipping Grill.  This is actually one of my favorite restaurants, but we had a gift card to use, so that’s where we went.  As usual we had a great meal celebrating my husband!

the super hot birthday boy

Denver's Race for the Cure

The last Sunday of the month was Denver’s Race for the Cure 5k.  As always I as super excited for this race, and for Chris to experience it with me.  The morning was magical, and emotional.  I just love this race for so many reasons.  We mostly walked with a few jogging spots.  Afterwards we walked around all the vendors and enjoyed the atmosphere.

September was also the month when I decided to start blogging again.  I’m so glad that I did.  I’ve definitely missed it, and it feels great to be back.  To document and remember the important things going on, regardless if they are good or bad.  Overall I feel great, and am in a happy place! 

Catch Up: May 2013

May was another fun month.  We started out the month with a visit from my parents.  This was the first trip my dad had taken to come visit since I’ve met Chris (excluding the wedding, but my dad was only in town for the actual day of the wedding, so that doesn’t count).  So it was great to have both of my parents here and in our element.  I can’t remember how long they were here, but it was pretty rainy during their visit.  The purpose of the trip was a Rockies vs Yankees baseball game.   Which unfortunately was a dud, because there was a 3 hour rain delay and my dad got a sore throat. 

We did have a great dinner at Linger, which I’m so happy my parents enjoyed!  They left the Saturday before Mother’s Day, and that morning we went to Sassafras, which was a great breakfast place before heading to the airport

At the rainy Rockies game

 On Mother’s Day I picked up my friend Andrea for the Mother’s Day 5k at City Park.  This was the 4^th time of done this race, and I truly enjoy it because I know exactly what to expect. This was Andrea’s first competitive race and we both had a great time.  If I recall we had good weather, and the atmosphere of this race is always nice. 

Mother's Day 5k

 We had a fun night out in the middle of the month with one of Chris’ old co-workers Matt and his wife Karen.  We’ve gone out on a handful of double dates, and they are a super fun couple.  We went to eat at the EDGE and then to see Ron White.  Chris actually introduced me to Ron White who’s a comedian when we first started dating.  We had a great seats, and it was super funny show!

Chris & I waiting for Ron White

Denali playing with catnip that my MIL found in our backyard!  The cats love it!!!

 Over Memorial Day weekend Chris’ parents were in town.  Mary my MIL has a super green thumb, so her and Chris went crazy in our backyard.  We got a ton of plants, herbs, and a whole new garden going in our 3 gardening pods on the side of the house.  I myself don’t have a green thumb whatsoever, but I did plant some pretty things in one of our planters in the front of the house.  We had some nice meals, and we took them to the improve comedy show at Impulse Theater which is always fun.

Chris & Mary shopping the plants

This is my contribution

Getting ready to do some major gardening!

BolderBoulder 2012

 Last Monday I got up early and headed to Boulder for my second ever 10k race, the BolderBoulder.  Compared to last year I wasn't ready for this ready.  I wasn't really ready in any aspect; emotionally, physically, mentally.  But I did it anyways, and for me that itself was a big accomplishment.  Emotionally I just wasn't ready to run 6.2 miles, physically I'm 13 pounds heavier than last year, and mentally I was not in the state of mind. 
The night before I didn't sleep well, so I got up not wanting to get up and prepared to say good-bye to Marty, Mary, and Alice and head to the bus to get to Boulder for my 8:40am start time.  It was to my big surprise when Chris got up with me, and told me he was going to join me to cheer me on!  Completely unexpected and 100% welcomed.  We said good-bye to his family, and headed out the door.  We got dropped off in Boulder right at around 8:20am and was perfect timing for me to find my wave and have Chris follow me to the start.  Chris got the below picture of me at the start, and it was a great feeling knowing I would see him at the end. 

The first mile wasn't easy, as my music wasn't working on my phone, and I let that irritate me a little bit too much, as I was worried I would have no music at all during the race.  And the thought of no music just messed with my mental state.  So during majority of the first mile I was fiddling with my phone trying to get it to play music.  Once I started mile 2 I had music and felt more prepared.  Although I knew my pace wasn't what it was at compared to last year.  Like last year, they had all of the same entertainers, water slides, marshmallow throwers, Doritos's, and beer along the way.  The other big difference comparing this year to last year was the heat.  I remember last year it sprinkled a couple of times throughout the race and was cool.  This year it was hot.  And I definitely think the heat effected my pace as well.  I had also forgotten how much of this race is through residential areas. 
After crossing the finish line at 87 minutes (7 minutes added from last year) I felt happy that I did it, and happy to find Chris and go home. 

Mom's Day

 I've spent the past two Mother's Day with my Mom so to be honest it's a little bit weird not having her here to hang out with.  But this year is different, so our time together is being spread out differently.  And just because my mom isn't here doesn't mean I don't get to celebrate all the wonderful and beautiful things about her.
I pretty much think my mom is the greatest mom ever.  And I know that most people think this of their own mom, but that just because their mom isn't my mom.  One of the things I love the most about my mom is the friendship that we have.  We're extremely close and is easily one of my closest friends. 
If there is someone who is more excited about me getting married, it's my mom.  She is seriously ecstatic!  She is always offering to come up to Denver for anything wedding related.  And if I did need her, she would come at the drop of a pin. 

Back in 2010 mom and I started a tradition of doing the Mother's Day 5k at City Park.  I really enjoy this race.  We did it together last year, and I completed it again this year.  Not a lot of runners (I think registration closes at 1500) and a beautiful, easy course makes this fun race for me.  The weather this morning wasn't ideal, as it was pretty cold, but still enjoyable.  Crazy to think that the last 5k I did was this one a year ago.  My time was right on point at 40 minutes, but now I'm exhausted.  My body doesn't have the endurance that it used to.  I did 60 minutes of cardio at the gym yesterday, then the 5k today, and I'm pooped.  It's not a feeling I like, and one that I'll have to build upon by getting in some more workouts!
This afternoon I had a nice long conversation with my Mom.  About her days events, the weekend, and of course the wedding.  It was one of those nice and leisurely conversations that are always enjoyable. 
I know many Mom's out there, and I hope them all a beautiful and blessed Mother's Day!

warrior dash pics

these pictures are all over the place. so just sorta follow along and read the descriptions. i realized that in my previous post i forgot to say where the race was. we were in copper mountain, and from what i did see it was very pretty. much like a miniature vail. the village area was lots of fun, and that was the start/finish of the race, along with some live music and hanging out.

the view from our condo

post race: hanging out
me, christina, and annabelle

my friend brandi has 3 kiddos, the middle on avery has taken an attachment to chris, and at one point in time came up to him and said "hold me" in which she just fell asleep on his lap.

chris and avery

chris and sleeping avery

chris and avery playing

leaving lunch, post race, avery getting a ride from chris

our tank tops:
the buff and the beautiful

pre race: the group on the shuttle to the start

friday before the race:
kortny, chris, april, charlie, and justine

post race:
me, brandi, denise, april, annabelle, christina, kortny, justine

post race:
robbie, daniel, charlie, bobby, jerry, john, chris

during the race:
chris and i

pre race:
me, annabelle, april, justine, kortny, brandi

pre race: the group

post race: the group all muddy

post race: chris and i

i am proud of completing this race, and once i finished the race a friend reminded me of this quote "no matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everybody on the couch." true true.

not my idea of fun

the proof

this past weekend i sorta completed a race called the warrior dash. i registered for this race back on march 8th. 5+ months ago...thinking in my head this would be a great race to do 20 pounds lighter...especially since i figured losing 20 pounds in five months would be no problem. and well that subject is whole different post, so instead i'll focus on the race.


i did this race with about 15 of my friends, including Chris.


Chris and i drove up to the mountains friday afternoon. have i mentioned how much fun we have together? our conversation on the way was a great mix of serious conversation and god awful laughing! always a good time with this guy!


we had an early night friday night as all of us ran in the first wave of the race at 9am. we had group tank tops that read "the buff and the beautiful" and with a shot of fire the race began.


i was nervous going into this race because i knew some of the obstacles i wouldn't be able to do. and i didn't know if i would be "forced" to do them, or if i could just run around them.


the first portion of the race was just a run, which lead to the first obstacle of running through hanging tires. no big deal.


second obstacle was going up a wall with a rope at about a 45 degree angle. again not that big of a deal, although chris did have to push my a$$ up over the last edge of the wall. (thanks baby!)


third obstacle was a high/low. jump over a wall, squat under barb-wire. i had no desire to do the "up" part, but did do the down part.


the terrain between obstacle's three and four was a bunch of unevenness. i didn't like it, and at this point in time my right ankle was bothering me because of the strange gravel and the feeling of walking sideways.


the fourth obstacle was the mud pit, again with barbwire, forcing you to actually get in the mud. i was thankful that my friends advised of wrapping duck tape around my shoe so my shoes stayed on. needless to say i did do this obstacle, but i didn't "swim" in the mud, rather i squatted under the barbwire which got caught on my bib/tank a couple of times.


the fifth obstacle was a web of rope you had to crawl through. accomplished.


the sixth was i can only imagine of a dark hot tunnel. this one i didn't do.


following the sixth obstacle was what i assume was the seventh obstacle they titled "the summit" which is just a god awful uphill climb. it's this huge U-turn of a hill that you do that just seems it might just last for forever. at this point in time my knee's starting hurting. no bueno.


upon the decline are the rest of the obstacles that i didn't even attempt. they included but are not limited to:


a rope wall, crawling over a rope blanket, a balance beam, and climbing up a wall. all of those i didn't do, and just happily ran around.


the twelfth obstacle was two jumps over fire! oh yes, i am that hott!!! ;) ok, not really. accomplished.


during the race i kept thinking how nice it would be if i could look up and enjoy the beautiful scenery that surely surrounded me. but i was too scared of tripping and falling. ...i mean really, what is the point of having these races at a beautiful locations when you can't even appreciate where you are?! the other thing i was asking myself was: am i having fun? i knew that once i completed the race that's what my friends would ask me. did i have fun? the answer to that question is, no. this race is not my idea of fun. this race is something that i did because my friends invited me to do it, and i like to do stuff with my friends.


am i glad that i did it, yes? but then i didn't really do it, because i cheated. i didn't do all of obstacles. but if someone asks if i've done the warrior dash i will say yes. and i suppose i am happy i can say that i did it, but i doubt something like this will happen again in my future.


i'm super happy Chris was there to do it with me. like me, he basically did the race to spend time with me, not because it is his idea of fun.


stayed tuned for more pictures!

BolderBoulder Part II

here's the proof behind the race! my official pictures from the BolderBoulder 2011!

julie and i pre-race

the below images courtesy of brightroom:



since we have the official photos, here are the official stats:

bib number:

NC245

overall place:

32228

location:

Westminster, CO

division:

F31

division place:

523 out of 728

gender place:

15534 out of 26938

mile 1:

00:11:55.37

mile 2:

00:12:50.38

mile 3:

00:13:21.04

mile 4:

00:12:49.33

mile 5:

00:12:24.37

mile 6:

00:13:46.00

net time:

01:19:40.38

pace:

12:49 (based on net time)

outdoor run 50min

my first 10k!

today was a big day. it was a good day. an accomplished day. today i did my first 10k. ...one of the biggest most popular 10k's in the country, attendance for this race averages 50,000+. today i did the BolderBoulder! woot woot!!!
i first heard about this race in the spring of 2003 when i heard some people talking about it. it immediately peaked my interest, and at that point i told myself i would do this race at some point in time. eight years later, i finally did it! honestly, this race has been in the back of my mind for the past two years. i knew i was on this journey to lose weight, and i knew this race would be a great goal for me. it's been a big focus of mine, to actually feel like i could do this race. this year was that year!
unfortunately i didn't get hardly any "training" in to feel like i would feel fully prepared for this race, but as everyone told me i would do fine. and you know what? i did great! i had hoped to do some more outdoor runs to prepare for this race, but the last time i ran outside was for the mother's day 5k, and i have spent some more time on the treadmill and increasing my running time. but, that's about it.
this race is huge, and consists of many many waves. i registered for a jogging/walking wave with a predicted end time of 90 - 100 minutes. my own personal goal was 85 minutes. i knew that i could do a 5k in 39 minutes, and i also knew that i would slow down greatly for the second half, so i gave myself 2 extra minutes per mile, which is where i got 85minutes. well i did not slow down! my official end time: 1:19:40, which i'm rounding up to 80 minutes (but really it is technically 79!), which is a whole 5 minutes off of my goal!!!
i only took a few photos, all with my camera phone. i did meet up with my friend julie whose sister took a picture of us, but i don't have it. and the event does have a sponsored photograph team, once i get those pictures i do plan to purchase and share those with you.
for all things BolderBoulder click here.

walking to the start line

getting closer

this race is very entertaining. bands, and dancers, and performers throughout the whole thing, and water stations every mile! one house was throwing out marshmallows, another gave you dorito's, one had a keg stand, and one had a slip 'n slide. the people were also entertaining. i saw a group of college guys in green sequins leotards, and another group of people all painted purple. 6.2 miles around Boulder and you are bound to see a little bit of everything!

finish line @ folsom field

i expected to be emotional at the end of this race. but i wasn't. i think i'm coming to the understanding that this is my life. that yes it is a big deal, but that it is now what is to be expected of me. that i'm this healthy, active, person who does 10k's!
i would say that i jogged about 75% and walked 25%. the second half wasn't nearly as difficult as i thought it would be, i could feel my endurance and feel that it was doing fine. that i could keep on going. if i told myself i needed to be jogging, i didn't really think about it, i just did it.

bolderboulder 10k 80min

mom's visit

alright, you've been patient long enough. now for the details of my mom's visit.
first let me say, that i was so ready for a couple of days off. i think total this year i've only taken 4 days off from work, 2 of which were yesterday and friday. so having some time off from work was well deserved.
thursday i only worked a half day to prepare and finish cleaning my house for my mom's arrival. once she arrived we went home, changed, and headed to strike! what a trooper my mom is. this class is intense, and she kept going the whole time! she even did a few mountain climbers! i was super impressed.
friday was all about food. we ate a lot. we started out at turley's in boulder. this stuff is good. all organic and homemade goodness. yum yum and yum. just as we were finishing up our meal my mom decided to get a banana walnut pancake to share. again ~ yum!
after turley's i registered for the BolderBoulder! i can't believe i'm really gonna do this race! no backing out now.
the adventure in boulder continued with a hike around wonderland lake. it was beautiful out, and created a great atmosphere to have some good quality mother/daughter talks.

wonderland lake, boulder, co

after our hike we enjoyed an afternoon snack at ripple. now i'm not much of a yogurt fan, but this stuff is some amazing frozen yogurt. it more so tastes like ice cream. you get to make your own frozen yogurt creation with all of the toppings you could imagine!

i <3 me some ripple!

after our day in boulder we ran home to get ready for a night out at ocean prime a brand new seafood place downtown. some more quality conversation was had about my life, and what's in store next. my mom is very much so connected to what is about to happen in my life, and throughout our conversation we were close to tears as to the change coming.

mom and i at ocean prime

a-mazing dessert ~ peanut butter mousse cake!

saturday was a pretty lazy day. we slept in, had a good breakfast, played a round of miniature golf in the afternoon, followed by some shopping at old navy.
sunday started off with the mother's day 5k. mom and i did this race last year, and decided to go at it again this year. the weather was beautiful. perfect running weather. for some reason i can't seem to get past the stupid 39 minute mark for my 5k. i know i can push myself harder, and get a better time. mentally i just don't do it. i don't know why, but i need to work on it. although i will say that i'm proud as i compared this year's time to last year's time. and last year's time was 42:54, this year's time was 39:13, so almost a full 4 minute difference.

mom and i @ city park for the mother's day 5k

after the race we went to see my friend milena and her newborn baby boy, who is just 2 weeks old! so precious.

mom and gavin

after the race we went to elway's for some mother's day brunch. this restaurant is super nice and inside the ritz-carlton hotel in downtown denver. first class all the way around.

nothing but the best for my mom

after brunch we did some more shopping, then went to go see "water for elephants".
monday morning was jam-packed. we started the day at the mixx! this was perfect time as this is sarah's last mixx class pre-baby T-nuts. after class we got ready and had some brunch with sarah and other mixxer's. then sarah and i went for a pedicure while my mom got a manicure. perfect timing just to head off to the airport.

my mom is beautiful inside and out, and having her here for mother's day was perfect. we had a great time!

barbell strength 60min