life interrupted

It seems I have slipped a bit again.  So much has happened since my last post and I don't really know where to begin.  On May 12th, Taylor and I ran in the Race for the Cure-Boise.  It was a gorgeous day and I felt really good.  I beat my first race time by 2 minutes and of course Taylor was waiting for me at the finish line again.  She is a speedy little thing.  It was a lot of fun and I look forward to my next one which is probably in August.

Boise Race for the Cure 2012

My friend is a nutritionist and I decided to work with her and try and get my nutrition on track and I am so glad I did.  I also took progress pictures for the first time since last September and all I can say is I was so shocked at how much my body has changed for the better since then.  I attribute it to beginning weight lifting.  Even though the scale hadn't moved much at all, I have definitely lost a lot of inches.  The first week of working on my nutrition I lost 5 pounds.  Its a 30 day program intended to help me become a "cleaner" eater and eliminate added sugar and processed foods.  It has been challenging and I will have to incorporate a lot of this for the rest of my life but I am happy with it so far.  I am officially coffee-free and have been drinking green tea instead.   For anyone that knows me... this is HUGE! I can't wait til the end of the 30 days so I can compare it again.

My garden is doing wonderful!!  I have four types of tomatoes, jalapenos, bell peppers, cucumbers, Lemon cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, summer squash, lettuce, scallions, spinach, wax beans, green beans and carrots all growing now.  I have room for two more cucumber plants and then they will all be full.

My first radish

The radishes I have picked since this are a bit bigger and the plants in the beds are a lot bigger now.

Mother's day this year was great.  My husband (and children of course) thought of the perfect gift.  When we bought this house, the front landscaping was a MESS.  There were three huge nasty rose bushes and I wasted no time digging those up immediately and I pulled out all of the myrtle that had taken over.  I uncovered a truckload of river rock and listed it on craigslist for free so it would get hauled away.  The bed has sat empty for over a year now.  On Mother's day I woke up to this beautiful sight-

Mother's day 2012

This wasn't enough to fill the area so the next week I went and bought some more to fill the space.  I am so happy with how it looks.  It is different than most people have around here with their bushes and daylilies.  I wanted lots of color so I have it now.  Now all we need is some mulch and it will be complete.

Summer has officially started and we are going to have a busy one.  My son graduated from kindergarten, my oldest is officially a middle schooler, we have two kids in tee-ball and games or practices 4 of the 5 days a week.  I have decided to cut back on work so I can be more available at home.  It was a hard decision to make but one that was needed and I think it will really help on many levels.  As it was before, I would have missed every single game of theirs and that was just not acceptable.

I am sorry I was neglectful and I hope I have been able to play a little catch-up with this post.  Thanks for visiting!  

Run, Forest, run!

Last year I had signed up for a 5K and was unable to participate in it when I injured my foot. I stayed off my feet for a few months and it began to heal.  When I resumed exercising at the beginning of the year I learned to read my body's cues and when I felt my foot was beginning to hurt I would lay off it and let it rest.  It seems to be working because since getting a real pair of running shoes and resting when needed, I have very little foot pain.

A week ago our little town held a Fun Run, which consisted of a 1K or 5K through town.  The best thing was that it was FREE.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do it and my oldest two girls were excited to go too.  Anytime there is a social event where they might see someone they know from school is too good for them to pass up.  Oh the joys of having tweens.  Registration was at 8am, and the race began at 9.  We got up bright and early in order to get there and register.  Because of this, we were registered numbers 1,2 and 3.  We all decided to do the 5K.  I have ran/jogged/waddled 3 miles  before so I knew I could do it.  I had a personal goal of making it under 40 minutes.

The weather was great and when the gun went off at 9, we were off.  I had told the girls not to worry about staying with me.  That they needed to go at their own pace.  I know from past experiences that the first part is hardest for me.  I have a hard time regulating my breathing for the first mile or so and slow down frequently.  I had my Runkeeper app going so I knew my pace the whole time.  Surprisingly my pace was quicker than any I had done before.  Taylor was out of sight by the first mile and Bridget started to lag behind me.

As I neared the end of the race, Taylor was waiting for me and already eating her finish line snack.  Bridget was somewhere behind me.  I ended the race at 42 minutes.  Just barely over my goal.  Taylor said she was finished in 35 minutes.  I think Bridget came in about 5 minutes behind me.  I was very proud of all of us.  It was a good race and it was fun to do it with my girls.  Now I have a new personal record to try and beat.  And this will happen sooner than later.

Post-race with the girls

Next week is the Komen Race for the Cure in Boise and through work, registration is paid for by the company.    I will be doing this one alone though and all I hope for is to beat my last time.  I have three more races lined up for the summer and now that I finished one, I know I can do it again and just improve with time.  I don't care about finishing the fastest, I just like knowing I can finish and not be last.