June 2013

It's summer! Some of the things we did this month:

1. A College World Series game (it was really hot!)
















                                          2. Swimming

3. A night out at the piano bar with friends.
















                                          4. Father's Day

5. I ran the Dizzy Goat run

                                                    6. My first taco ride on the Wabash

7. Charlie turns 9 1/2




















                                         8. A trip to Denver to visit Julie for wedding planning

 9. Charlie goes to football camp at Millard South.

















                                          10. I went to Yoga Rocks the Park with friends. 

11. Doug and I went to see They Might Be Giants with a couple of friends at the Slowdown.

                                          12. Jack gets a new Trek bike

13. A night out for sushi with running friends

                                                  14. Jack finally loses a front tooth!

May 2013

May kind of went like this: run, run, run, wrap up the school year and run some more. The month started off with the Lincoln Half Marathon on May 5th. I had been training for this half pretty seriously for the 12 weeks prior. I had a goal to run it in under 2 hours.  I had gotten faster in early January thanks to running with my neighbor Greg and his friends. When you run with a group of guys, it makes you not want to be the baby and ask to stop and walk. So I sucked it up and couldn't breath well for a few weeks of running and then I was faster. If I had known that's what it would take to get faster, I would have done it a long time ago. I just never wanted to suck it up. About half way through the training program, Greg got hurt and decided not to run the full marathon and that he would train with me and pace me for the half. Also about half way through the training he made me run a 5K at an 8:14 pace, which was a PR for me. It wasn't horrible, but it was hard. It was around that time I figured I would be able to do the half in under two hours.

The day of the marathon was chilly and overcast with a chance of rain. I met Greg at the starting line. I was really, really nervous! The morning was a little rushed and hectic. When the race started, I thought I wouldn't make it to mile 5. I was nervous still and my legs were tired. However, as the race progressed, I felt okay and we were maintaining my pace of 8:53-8:55. At mile 9, for some reason, we slowed down a bit and ran a 9:20 mile. Greg kept telling me, "The race doesn't start until mile 10." So he meant that at mile 10, we would kick it in gear and speed it up. I told him no, but at mile 12, we ended up running an 8:30 mile and finished the race in 1:57. I was so happy and pleased that I actually met my goal. Although, I kind of felt like I would. In any case, it was a great run and Greg rewarded us with some bloody mary's!

I also ran a race called the Diva Dash on Mother's Day. I met a bunch of friends there. Doug and the boys came with to watch. The boys did NOT want to come, but after they kept asking when they could run a race.

Julie was also in town during the month for Nate's niece's graduation. We went to dinner at Lo Sole Mio and looked at wedding dresses.

ALHS had their graduation and a few of the seniors I have known for years graduated. It was a little emotional to see some of them go this year.

I ran at Schramm State Park with some of the GOATz group. We are getting ready for the Dizzy Goat run on June 22nd.




















AND...I tried oysters for the first time this month. Doug and I went to a new restaurant downtown called Plank. We had oysters on the half shell and oysters rockefeller. I loved the Rockefeller!

I also ran a race called the Lemon Chaser. A night with a 5K, hour of yoga and happy hour after!

April 2013

April was pretty uneventful. We had Easter, I ran and it snowed. It was cold through a lot the month, as winter seemed to never end.

April was the last month of training before the Lincoln Half marathon on May 5th, so I got a lot of running in and my nerves were starting to pick up. The Boston Marathon Bombings also happened this month, so there were several benefit runs for that, which I enjoyed with friends, despite the reason behind it. 

With my running friends we started the new tradition of Margarita Mondays. It probably won't happen every Monday, but it's been fun the times we've done it! Who can dislike margaritas on Mondays for $1.99???

March 2013

At the beginning of March, I ran the Leprechaun Chase 10K out at Mahoney State Park with some friends. It was a fun race where the girls get a 5 minute head start and then the boys start. If a girl wins first, all the girls get free beer and vice versa. It was a great day weather wise for a run at the beginning of March. I ran the race in under a 9 min/mile with hills, so that was a great time for me! My time was just over 54 minutes. It was a really tough run with all of the hills. After the run, we had everyone over to our house for food and drink. We had a great time talking and hanging out. The boys were really good and entertained themselves the whole time.

The boys had spring break in the middle of March. I was a little bummed to not have the same break as them this year. I took them each to school with me one of the days, which they loved. They helped me do my inventory by scanning the books. They also helped catalog some of the books. At the end of the day, they said, "Why do you get a job that's so fun? It's not fair." I do agree I have a great job. I also took the boys to Lauritzen Gardens on one of the days. They have a Lego exhibit we wanted to see. It was fun to walk around the gardens, even though there weren't any flowers or pretty bushes and trees. We will head back when things are in bloom.

A friend of ours had a pajama party this month also. We had a good time heading to her house in our sweatpants to watch some of the men's NCAA basketball games. It was a really fun time!

Jack turned 7 1/2 this month! He got a cookie cake and loved it. They love celebrating their half birthdays.



















Easter was at the end of the month. That is when I had my spring break. It was cut short to make up for some snow days, but I still had 6 days off, which was nice. The boys were at school all but one of those days. I kept them home with me the Friday before Easter, so we could hang out and do some Easter crafts. We ended up wrapping small water balloons with embroidery floss covered in a starch and flour mixture. When they dried, we popped the balloons and they made cute little eggs. The boys LOVED doing this. I am glad I had a friend share the idea with me.

On Easter, the weather was pretty good. We were able to do an egg hunt outside with the boys. My parents come over that afternoon for dinner. 

February 2013

February is always kind of a blah month. It's short and cold and we are almost always ready for spring. We didn't seem to do much in February. We went out with my running friends a few times and had fun as always. I ran a very muddy 6-mile trail run out at Platte River State Park with some friends. I love trail running, but have decided that I don't like trail running in the mud. I was more worried about getting my running shoes dirty than I was my time. I slid down a few muddy slopes, but at least I didn't completely wipe out like some people did. Those people were actually trying to go fast. I just tried not to fall.

I also did Trek up the Tower for the first time. I had no idea what to expect. It was rough and tough and a little painful to the legs and lungs. I did it in 8:52. Nine minutes and under qualify for the elite pass for the next year, so I was pretty excited that I qualified when I felt I didn't even try that hard. I walked up the 40 floors. There was no running. It was HARD! I will probably do it again next year to try and beat my time.

Doug and I also celebrated 12 years of marriage. We had dinner at Mahogany Steakhouse and it was amazing. We had martinis, steak, lobster, crab legs and dessert. It was the most expensive dinner I've ever eaten, but it was so, so good. My mom took the boys for the night and they had a great time watching them. They played a few games and I was told the boys were quite entertaining. Doug and I managed to watch The Life of Pi and Argo that night. I slept through Argo, though.

 The one exciting thing that happened in February was that our house renovations were completed! We still have a few things to do like hang pictures and curtains, but the big stuff is done! Next week redo the deck and patio outside! Always something to do.