Thursday, December 20, 2007

Hmmmm....

Hmmm...we just got this picture from Laura and Dan...
I wonder what it means...

Monday, December 17, 2007

But wait! There's More!

sooo....apparently I thanked everyone too soon!
Greg through me a surprise party Saturday night. For those who don't know the story-
Casey and Jannelle came over to our house a little early and we were going to go to Benihanna for dinner. But Jannelle wanted to go to Target first to look for some boots and somehow managed to drag me along. Greg and Casey were going to "work on the water softener".

Lies lies - all lies!

I came back and "Surprise!"
It was a rock star theme- there were temporary tattoos, mohawks, eyeliner on men, rockstar shirts and ridiculous sunglasses worn. I was definitely surprised.

So now, thank you once again to everyone!! I had a wonderful 30th birthday!

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Thanks, everyone...

for making my 30th birthday very nice! I appreciate all the "happy birthdays", singing from a few of you, and good times.

I don't feel older, but it does feel weird to say I'm 30. It just sounds so grown up.

And now it's snowing outside like crazy. Tonight we are supposed to celebrate my birthday with Casey and Jannelle so I hope the roads don't get too bad. Don't want to be shut in!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

It's Official

Erin and I are training for the Flying Pig Half Marathon on May 4 of 2008. She's made it public to her friends and family, so I might as well do the same!

No going back now!

This will be Erin's first half and my third. However I hope for it to be my first enjoyable half. I haven't had a good track record with the previous races. The first was the State-to-State Half, which starts at the University of Miami and goes out to Indiana and back (get it??). Lesson there was not to run in old shoes. The race was really fun until about mile 9, when my knees began to hurt due to my cheapness. Then I did the pig a couple years ago, but was recovering from a bad cold. That race was a struggle to just finish as I was cold the entire time and spent most of my effort on breathing. I wanted to walk to breathe but wanted to run to stay warm! Ha!

This time I know I can train smarter, and hopefully everything else will fall into place. My only goal is to finish strong and feel good the entire time. The race will be a perfect endurance setter-upper for the duathlons I want to do through the spring and summer.

There's a link in the "racing wish list". http://halfapiggy2008.blogspot.com/
So if you'd like, read about our running adventures. (I'll still post stuff about it here too though)

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Jingle Bell 5K

So Erin and I got up on Saturday to do the Jingle Bell Run. I've done it once before and it ranks high in my books for a couple of reasons: 1. You get to stay in the warm No KY Convention Center while you wait to go out and run. 2. You get to use the nice "real" bathrooms in the facility. It's like doing a run from your own house.

We got there a little early to pick up our race packets, pick up free stuff and stretch... oh and also do a nice photoshoot. More to come on that when Erin sends me the pics!

The gun went off while I was tying my shoe. No worries though, as we were only running to run, not to race. There really isn't much to highlight- it was just a nice, cold day for a 5K. Crossing the bridge was rough, but we made it. A train came by when we were on our way back. It was creeping along, but we were creeping along even slower. Had I been in shape, I would have wanted to race it for sure. We saw Sunshine Bear of the CareBears running. There is a costume contest for this race and most people dress as holiday related characters. However Erin was a Fairy Pirate last year.

At the end of the race, we both agreed it was our slowest 5K in history. So... there's only one way to go now and that's up... no wait... down- in time. :)

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Happy Birthday Pat!

Wooooooo!!!!!














Happy Birthday Pat!

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Winter Wonderland

This one is, in particular, for the Swindons. I couldn't let them miss Cincinnati's first snowfall!

















I decided to take a run in the snow from my studio today during my break from the endless photo-retouching project for Luxottica. It was supposed to be 34ยบ all day and as weird as it sounds, with no wind that is great running weather! I tried out my new thermal bike shirt. I was expecting the best from this shirt. Why? Because it originally cost $149.99, but I got it for $40 on clearance at the Trek store. What could a shirt do that is 149.99 you ask? Well, my guess was give me a shoulder massage after I was done.

Anyway, the run was wonderful. I jogged down to the trail to get some pics.

















I wasn't the only one out on the snowy trail today.


















Glad this branch didn't fall on my head.


















Creek running to the river.














That's me outside the studio. After the run I tried to take a picture of me and a gingerbread man. Some people decorated the studio to look, in their words, like a giant gingerbread house. So there are ginger bread people and candy canes and lollipops. It's kind of neat. I ran out of battery before I could center myself with my cookie friend better.
Oh and the thermal shirt did not give me anything more than warmth.