January 10, 2020

Frothing Friday Favorites

I spent last night coughing instead of sleeping so it became clear that I needed to talk to my doctor. I tend not to like to see a doctor about colds and flus because there isn’t anything that can be done about viruses but this one was pretty bad and really my lungs haven’t felt right since this summer. I was diagnosed with bronchitis so now I get to take an inhaler, steroids and a z-pack for good measure. Fingers crossed this cocktail of meds help quickly. Today’s run will be extra easy as I let my body recover.

It’s Friday so it’s time to share some favorites:

Most days I like to walk the kids to school, they ride nice and cozy in the Thule stroller but it quickly became apparent that I needed something to keep me warm in the snow and wind. I picked up this Universal Thread parka from Target and have loved it. It’s very warm, water and wind resistant. It’s the perfect length and even cuter in person. There are great colors and it’s not a bad price.

We got this milk frother for Christmas and coffee is even better now! I think the down side is I drink even more coffee now, I love it so much but I don’t think I needed more coffee.

We try to take the kids swimming around once a week. They love it and we want them to develop good swim skills and be comfortable in the water. We got them both these swim jackets. They never slip down and really help the kids float in the water.

A huge favorite for me is to Netflix and Treadmill, it helps get me moving in the morning if I have something I am binge watching something. We just finished The Mandalorian (on Disney+) and it was pretty good. Have you watched anything great lately?

What are some of your favorites?

January 9, 2020

Thursday Randoms

Some random things from our day:

Not that random but I ran on the treadmill again…. I am just not feeling up to getting out in the cold and dark this year. Last year it was the exact opposite, I couldn’t get myself to run on the treadmill and ran mostly outside in the dark.

Cannon has been getting up extra early, between 5:00 and 5:30 AM. This is not a fun development.

I loved this post by Kara Goucher!

Cannon doesn’t have school, and I don’t teach on Wednesdays so we often go to story time at the library. Emmy LOVES it, dances, sings and sits up front for the stories. Cannon is all in for building towers.

Emmy has started putting on her own shoes. she only has one sock and the wrong feet #superadvanced

For dinner we had salmon cakes from Run Fast Eat Slow and Costco kale salad. We love this recipe and so do the kids.

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What is something random from your day?

January 7, 2020

Into the Lottery – Mt Hood 50 Mile

While clearing out my inbox a few days ago I noticed an email with the title Mt. Hood 50 from Go Beyond Racing.

I grew up in the shadow of Mt. Hood on the east side of Portland. I love that mountain, the PCT trail and have family in Oregon still that we love to visit. I got excited thinking about running in the lush rainforest with views of Mt. Hood. We were planning a trip out to Oregon this summer anyway and Cory agreed that July seemed like I fine time to go.

I mean…it’s kind of pretty 😉

I was pretty bummed when I went to go check out registration and the 50 miler was only open as a lottery. I have no idea of the entry rate, but I will find out on January 11th if I am in or not.

After the lottery registration for the 50k opens up with no lottery so that is worth considering if I don’t get in….

Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

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Ever entered a lottery for a race?

January 6, 2020

My Early Morning Run Routine

Happy Monday everyone! It’s our last day of winter break so I am planning a fun day with the kids. My energy is low in the evenings so early morning is my best chance to run.

My alarm is usually set for between 4:00 and 4:30 AM depending on how long I am planning on running.

I try to get out of bed without using the snooze option as I have read it’s really bad for your sleep cycles and can leave you more tired.

I always have coffee before my run, it’s something I really enjoy and my stomach handles it just fine. The trick is to not let myself have more than one cup, I could easily waste the morning away drinking coffee and scrolling. On mornings that I am running more than an hour I will eat something simple as well, but I had planned to run for an hour so I just had the coffee and some water.

I always set my gear out the night before and leave it downstairs so I can get ready without waking anyone who might be sleeping in our room (lately that has included Cannon a lot). This was pretty easy since I I was running on the treadmill that morning.

It’s a lot more work when I run outside in the dark.

This morning I was on the treadmill from 5am to 6am just running easy and watching Brittany Runs a Marathon on Amazon Prime, I haven’t finished it yet but it was pretty good and made the time pass!

When I was done running the kids were still sleeping so I got to have some more coffee and power clean for 20 minutes.

When the kids were up we all had some quiche that Cory made last night.

Then we went for a morning walk just like we do for school, hopefully getting back into our routine won’t be too difficult.

Cannon wanted to walk with me instead of riding so he could get some energy out too.

We made it home in time to help get the recycling out, there was so much left over from Christmas!

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Every morning is slightly different but follows a similar pattern.

Are you a morning runner?

What do your mornings look like?

January 5, 2020

CANNON – 3 1/2 YEAR CHECK IN

Our precious little Cannon is now three and a half years old . Time is flying so fast and he has changed so much in the last year. We were watching videos from last year and it made my heart ache missing the tiny little baby in the video and loving the big boy he is growing into.

Even since the summer he has grown and changed so much!

With so much change coming we spent the summer enjoying Cannon’s favorite things:

playing in the backyard, playgrounds, popsicles and adventures in the mountains.

Eating, doughnuts, splash pads, biking, hiking and pools!

In August it was time for Cannon to start school.

Cannon has grown so much since starting school. He sings songs, recites his ABCs and can count past 20. He follows directions better now and loves his teachers and friends. It was hard for me to see him go but I am so glad we sent him.

In the fall we took the entire family to Europe for almost three weeks. We had a blast and Cannon seemed to really enjoy exploring the castles and seeing the sites in the cities. (travel logs HERE)

We transitioned Cannon from his crib to a toddler bed to a twin and sleep has not been the same. Cannon has been the best sleeper basically since birth but now he is not sleeping through the night. He gets up every night scared of something. Anyone know of tips to help a three year old sleep through the night and stay in their bed?

When we got home from Europe, we got to start celebrating Halloween.

Cannon fell deeply in love with Halloween and enjoyed it all so much. He is still taking about it. I thought the excitement of Christmas would help him move on but clearly his favorite holiday is Halloween.

Cannon also loved all the Christmas traditions.

And clearly loved opening gifts!

Cannon really started to get into the elf on the shelf and Santa this year. It’s been so fun seeing him understanding more and more things.

So much has happened and Cannon has grown so much in the last six months. I can’t imagine what things will be like in six more months when he turns four!

Past Updates

January 4, 2020

Project 366

I have been thinking a lot about my goals, mindset and things I want to leave behind in 2020.

While I have some big, check off the list, goals for the year (more on those later) I also want to focus on daily habits to improve my life.

I read The Power of Habit last year and it was really interesting, I plan to read it again.

With this in mind the idea of project 365 was born and then morphed into project 366 when I realized it was a leap year.

So with that I decided that I wanted to attempt to add things that I do every day. Even with selecting simple things it will be challenge to be consistent every day for an entire year. But with challenge comes change.

My project 366 consists of doing the following things every day for all of 2020:

Run – can be as short as 20 minutes but the idea is to move everyday #runstreak
Core work – After two back-to-back pregnancies, my core can use all the help it can get
100 oz of water – because hydration is everything
Write – this little blog has been the definition of inconsistent over the years. I would love to be able to look back and see what changes happen over these 366 days.

Just like my runs some posts may be very short the idea is consistency and building habits.

January 3, 2020

Baaaaaaack to Reality

And just like that, the holidays are over. Today meant back to work for both Cory and I. I teach an accelerated prep-course that helps students be prepared for college level math that starts now to prepare students for spring semester.

It was a pretty uneventful day other than the kids were not happy about Cory being back at work and they were a little salty after two late nights.

I tried my best to keep them happy, we went to the gym to play, we ran around the house, nothing….I guess we all are over winter already. It’s sad to be dreaming of summer and it’s only January, LOL.

I didn’t get up early again because of our late night so I decided we all needed some fresh air in the afternoon.

I piled the kiddos into the double and pushed them around for a couple miles.

The down blanket in the stroller is key to winter runs

We stopped in the middle for a park break and everyone was happy.

Then it was the evening dinner and get ready for bed hustle.

I teach my class in the evening, and to be honest, working at night is not my favorite. But this schedule allows me to spend so much time with the kids so I can’t complain (too much). Cory has to put the kids down on his own on nights I teach so he gets a gold star too.

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Have you ever had a non-conventional work schedule? Did you like it?

January 2, 2020

Cheers to the New Year!

We spent the first day of 2020 doing all the best things, we had a lazy morning as a family after staying up way past all our bedtime the night before. Then we did a little shopping and I grabbed a short uneventful run on the treadmill, we will be good friends this winter.

Later we met Cory’s cousins for some sledding in Evergreen.

I just love this family so much and even though we see them fairly often I always wish it was more.

They have two girls one who is just a few months older than Cannon, I love seeing them play and bond together.

All the kids loved sledding which was a surprise because sometimes they are not into it. Having friends there helps!

We then all went to Evergreen Brewery where I had a fantastic burger, I wish I had taken a picture. All of their food was really good, you should go if you are ever in the neighborhood.

We stayed way too long talking and enjoying our food so the kids got to bed late again, but it was well worth it!

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How was your first day of 2020?

January 1, 2020

2020 – A Fresh New Decade

I can’t think of the new year without saying it (in my head) in Barbra Walters voice. I hope this fades as it’s starting to wear.

We spent the last day of 2019 hosting parties, hanging out with friends and relaxing at home.

We hosted a Noon Year’s Eve party for a bunch of Cannon and Emeralds friends.

The kiddos had fun playing, making noise and counting down to the “new year’ at noon. It was fun to catch up with my friends while the kids played.

I did my best to come up with my “best 9” for 2019, but it was hard to just pick 9, it was a good year.

We then went to our friends house for a New Years Eve party. They had delicious food and lots of kids to play with.

Emmy was really into the watermelon. Thank goodness for friends with kids who have amazing kid friendly parties.

They set off fireworks early to celebrate the new year and so the little kiddos could get home to bed.

After getting the kids down, we stayed up watching movies then said cheers to the new year! Pretty big deal for me to stay up until midnight I don’t think I have done that since 2014 or 2015 ( I have either been pregnant or had a newborn).

I hope you had a wonderful time celebrating and are enjoying the fresh new year.

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Did you make it until midnight?

Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman