Pictures of My Beautiful Daughters

Here are some pictures of the girls.

Here is one reason I am glad we moved out of the old house and into our new old red house. The yard. The backyard at the white house was dirt and this is what happens when you give a 4 year old and a 1 year old a dirt back yard.

Here is a picture from Mikayla's 4th Birthday party this weekend. The weather was perfect and everyone had a ball.

We went for a quick hike on weekend. Here is my little model.

This is a picture the babysitter took one day and then photoshoped it.

While I was busy packing up the white house Lily decided to go into the laundry room and mop the house!

Running and Mountain Biking

Due to my foot I have been told no running for one month. The past two weeks it has not been an issue - I have not had a free second to consider a run. Every day on my lunch hour I have been cleaning the old house and in the mornings I have been busy packing and unpacking. Now that we are settled I am ready to exercise. Today I did a wonderful mountain bike ride at lunch. It was tons of fun - I do love mountain biking. I am missing running but I am really trying to be good to my foot. I hope that on June 3rd I will be able to go for a run and not be in pain. If my runs still hurt I will be seeing a foot specialist in Denver. I don't want to drive to Denver - it is over 3 hours away.

This week my plan is to mountain bike, swim and focus on my weight workout. That reminds me - gotta go work on those abs!

Computer is Up - Back to Blogging

The house is put together and the computer is up and running so now I am ready to get back to blogging. I have really missed it.

Here are a few of pictures of our new old house.

This is where I am blogging to you right now and this is my view from the computer.

This is our living room. We have a long living room. This is looking from the kitchen into the living and our bedroom and Lily's bedroom are at the other end of the living room.

This is the view from our bedroom, down the living room and into the kitchen. (Notice Skylar still sitting there. I told her to sit and stay and she did - for quite awhile.)


Here is Mikayla's room. She has a super big room so it is also the playroom.

Here are a couple pictures of parts of our yard.

Birthday Party, Moving, Biking and Fox Family

Sorry I have been away for so long. We have completed our move and the old house is nice and cleaned (I have been busy cleaning it in my spare time – what spare time!!) We also had Mikayla’s 4th birthday party on Saturday and it was a success. It was so much fun to see all of her preschool friends at our house having a blast. The weather was WONDERFUL. 80 degrees, sunny and very little wind – what more could I have asked for!

I have also been slacking in the exercise department as well. I have tried not to be too hard on myself because I have been packing, unpacking and cleaning which all burns a lot of calories. I was exhausted every night. I did head out for a 35 minute bike ride early this morning. It was great and I even saw a fox family with a very cute baby fox that was so tiny!

Win a Laptop and a Carrying Case

Head over and visit Metropolitian Mama and leave a comment so you too can register to win a Toshiba Portege M750 laptop computer AND a Small Phantom laptop bag from STM Bags. Also check out her blog while you are there. I LOVE it.

Recipes

My husband does most of the cooking in our house. I find it hard to come home after working all day, tired, still have to get things together for tomorrow, straighten the house, do laundry, get the girls to bed and cook dinner. Joe is also wonderful at opening up the kitchen cabinets and throwing together a meal. I keep telling him that he needs to go back to school (when we can afford it) and become a chef.

Don’t get me wrong I enjoy cooking. I love watching Food TV, or going through recipe books and planning wonderful, healthy meals. On the weekends (especially if we are having friends over) I love to cook dinner.

That said I am going to start posting meals that I have made with pictures and share them with you on a weekly basis. Maybe (if I can get Joe to share his recipes with me) post his pictures and recipes from his meals as well. Since we are in the process of moving this week I have not had time to post the recipes that I had wanted to this week. Hopefully once we get settled in this weekend I will be able to post some wonderful dinners I have made lately.

Tomatoes

One of the attorneys that I work with has a great sunroom in front of his house. His wife decided to plat a bunch of tomato seeds. Because this sunroom has lots of sun (and she has a super green thumb) they all took and she gave me four of the starters.

I have a large window in our living room that faces East and gets a ton of sun as well. The four tomato plants have doubled in size and yes that is a Poinsettia from Christmas in the picture as well. It loves that window too! Next year I won't have to buy a Poinsettia at Christmas time.

I cannot wait until these tomatoes plants are producing tomatoes. Once we move into the red house I plan on re-potting them into larger pots for hopefully that many more tomatoes. We will see.

When I wrote this blog entry about a week ago this is what my tomatoes plants looked like.

Now in less than a week this is what they look like!!!

The abs, the abs are so not the same.

I am now down to 135, only 2 pounds away from my pre-baby weight. It has been a long and hard journey and it has taken me longer than I thought to get here. I have not been running or working out much the past 8 days due to my foot and the funny thing is, is that this was when I lost the last 2 pounds! I think when I am running I overeat because I know that I need more calories but I eat too many.

Now that I am getting closer to my pre-baby weight I am really noticing that my stomach is not the same. It looked much better at this weight after I had only one baby than when I have had two. I don’t remember from before I got pregnant the first time – that was too long ago.

I guess I really gotta up my running (slowly and carefully – maybe through in more cardio with more mountain biking) and MORE ab work in order to get a flatter belly.

Frogs Croaking, Birds Chirping, Streams Trickling

Today I headed out for my one mile run to see how my foot would handle it. My foot did great and the run felt wonderful. It was great to get that heart pumping again.

In Gunnison there are ditches everywhere. These ditches carry water from the rivers to the ranchers hay fields for irrigation. (The Island where our Red House is located is created in part by these large ditches. In the City of Gunnison there are much smaller ditches (maybe 1 foot across and 1 foot deep versus 4 to 5 feet wide and 4 to 5 feet deep) running in your front or back yards parallel to the street. When the City turns the ditches on you can water your lawn from this water for free.

The reason I am telling you about our ditches is that this is time of year when they turn them on and some of them are flowing. The run I went on today is a trail that is only a few blocks from my house and I have never run it this time of the year. I had water flowing on both sides of the trail and I could hear the frogs croaking, birds chirping and the stream trickling. The sun was out it was warm and wonderful. I could not have asked for a better run.

Wanted: Good Long Run - No Pain

I can't run, can't mountain bike, can't even walk the dogs. I am going stir crazy! It is Spring and getting beautiful outside - I just want to get out and enjoy it.

I tried taking the dogs for a walk this morning and after about 10 minutes my foot started getting sore and I had another 10 minute walk to get home. I am telling myself to take things easy for a few more days but I just want to run. As I drive around town I see people running all over and get jealous. Then I hear a favorite running song of mine on the radio and I just want to run.

The doctor told me to wait a week before I tried anything so on Wednesday I am going to go for a one mile run and see how it feels. Of course I will let you know. Until then I will go sit on my bum - oh yeah and do some physical therapy. Tomorrow I am going to do my normal weight workout.

Mikayla is Turning 4

Mikayla will be 4 on May 7th and Joe and I have only talked a little bit about what we should get her for her birthday.

When she turned two we got her this:She hardly rides it and says she has trouble peddling it.

When she turned 3 her grandparents got her this:

Which loves and she goes on all of the time. Even in the winter when she needs snow pants, boots, hat and mittens on. Her and Joe spend a lot of time jumping the evenings away.

We have considered getting her this for her 4th birthday:

But I really don't think she is ready for her first bike yet. She tried to ride a friend's bike a few weeks ago and did not like the peddling part and quickly gave up.

We are considering this:

At preschool they have scotters and she loves riding them around the playground.

We are considering this:

As I was looking for the bike trailer above for Mikayla I found this for Lily:

I would love to have the bike setup with Mikayla on the back and Lily in the front.

Finally as I was cruising around around Amazon.com I found some Arts and Crafts for Mikayla. She loves coloring, stamps, drawing, making necklaces - any kind of art project that I bring home she is all over. I found this:

Also, I love Melissa and Doug products. They are high quality for a great price. I found this stamp set.

Or this puzzle. We have an undersea puzzle like this and love it.I do have to decided very quickly what I am going to get for her birthday because it is next Thursday! Oh boy - what am I going to do.

Books Books Books

When Mikayla was a baby I read to her every night before bed. I would often read her to sleep at night when she was Lily's current age, 15 months.

I never really got into reading to Lily. I have tried but instead of sitting there and listening she would grab the book, turn the page, get fussy, etc... But lately that has all changed. I bring out a book to read to her and she starts to laugh because she gets so excited! Also, in the past when I get her up from a nap or in the morning she wants to cuddle, now she looks for her books for me to read. She won't me read for long but I am excited that she now looks for the books and she wants to read them.

Not Healthy

Who this this girl looks sexy? Everyone who thinks so raise your hand up high!

I was browsing the Internet the other day and came across this article with this picture. I was so disgusted. Not only does she look like her average daily calorie intake is oh about 100 calories a day but she looks like a perfect actress for a WW2 movie about the Jews in a concentration camp and to believe that she is Miss Australia. She needs to check into a health clinic and put on about 20 plus pounds! This is not the type of role model I want my daughter to see.

Morton's Neuroma

Yesterday I decided to go ahead and have an MRI to see if I have a stress fracture in my foot. It is just not getting better. This week even riding my bike bothered me a lot more than it did last week. Today I met with the doctor to see what was going on with me foot.

Well, it is not a Stress Fracture it is a neuroma. Take a look at the link. Basically it is the swelling or enlarging of the never that runs between the toes along the ligament that connect all of the toes or bones. (Does that make sense?).

It is very common in women because most women wear high heel and narrow shoes. That does not apply to me. I have a couple of pairs of shoes with maybe a 2 inch heal but only one pair is narrow. My shoes of choice are very comfortable, roomy and flat. It is the running that caused it. The doctor I saw this time is Gloria Beim. She wrote The Female Athlete's Body Book, she has been the team doctor for the US Cycling Team as well as the US Olympic Team. (She knows her stuff!)

Dr. Beims says I have two, one is where it is on the picture and a smaller one is developing on the other side of the same bone towards the outside of my foot. She knows I really want to run a marathon and get active as quick as possible so she is treating me aggressively. She gave me a cortisone shot today and I see the physical therapist tomorrow. She said to stop doing anything at that hurts (but I can still ride my bike to work since it is .75 of a mile each way). Dr. Beim said in about 1 week to try running a short distance and see how it feels. If it hurts, stop if it feels good then the next day try to go a little further.

Dr. Beim also said that I might need 2 or 3 shorts of the cortisone and the worse case scenario would be surgery to remove the nerve all together. For now I think I will hit the pool instead of the road and the trail - at least for the next week.

Red House

We have decided to move back into the red house. The house we are currently renting is under contract and closing on May 14th. The renters who were under a lease option decided they need a bigger house (I thought 4 bedrooms and 2000 square feet would be enough!) but they also have a house in Colorado Springs that has not sold as well. The renters are moving out at the end of April so it is perfect timing for everything.

I really have enjoyed many things about our rental, forced heat with a programmable thermostat, great windows, 3 houses down from preschool, fairly new, less than one mile to work, 1/2 mile to the grocery store and rec center.

But there are MANY things that I love and do miss about the red house, privacy, large/HUGE yard, river, large kitchen, personality, beautiful yard. I cringe every time the girls go outside in our current back yard to play. It is dirt and just awful. I can't wait until they are running around the beautiful lawn that Joe has spent many hours getting perfect and playing in their sandbox. I will have to keep a VERY close eye on Lily because she is an explorer - Lily will be outside before I can count to 2.

My biggest reason for not wanting to move back into the red house is how expensive the mortgage is. It has been great financially. I did tell Joe that he is going to have to work hard at either selling houses this summer or finding a part time job. I am already cleaning his office on the weekends and doing some of their books part time. I am also not looking forward to winter in that house because it is colder and since it is bigger that means it takes a lot more time to clean.

I really can't wait to grow my summer garden in a spot just a few feet away from this picture. Lettuce, carrots, garlic, onions and potatoes.

Wonderful Weekend

This weekend was great. Saturday we had friends over for dinner and they have a little boy a few months younger than Mikyla. The two 3 year olds played and Joe and I got to hang out with good food and adults!

On Sunday we decided to head over to the Salida Hot Springs Pool. We have a number of hot springs within 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours from us and Salida is my favorite with kids. It is inside (which really helps with kids when it is super cold or snowing outside) and the pool starts at 0 inches. This way Mikayla and Lily can sit and play in the super shallow section and we don't have to hold any kids. Lily was great on the drive over (which for her is huge - she is not a car baby), swimming in the pool, out at lunch and then on the way home she slept for about 45 minutes. Overall it was a great weekend.

Stress Fracture - Maybe

I have been noticing some pain in my left foot around my toes while running. Not enough pain to stop but just to take notice of it. When I did my 8 mile run two weeks ago at the end my toes were sore like I had been running downhill for miles and were pushed against the front of my shoe (this is the first time I had noticed this type of pain and I have been wearing these shoes for a month or two so I know that my shoes fit). Then on Sunday I felt some pain again while running but not much. When I hit mile 9 of my 10 mile run the tip of my middle toe really hurt and I would feel it as I put my foot down. So for the last mile I was careful how I want landing my foot but still running. On Monday of this week I decided to go to the doctor to have him check it out. He took an X-ray to see if there was a stress fracture and nothing showed up but he did say that even though it is not showing up does not mean that it is not there. He said to reduce my miles and if I am running and it hurts to stop and if it does not start getting better then to call him back. The doctor did not want to do an MRI because that is a lot of money and I don't want to spend it if I don't have to.

So now I am stuck in a spot. My foot still feels the same as it did on Monday, it is not getting worse in pain, nor is it getting any better. It hurts and is sore most of the day, walking normally does not bother it, but it does get sore from standing on my feet for a long time. I did not run on Monday or Tuesday. On Wednesday I went out on a slow and easy trail run. I did 1.3 miles and I felt my foot but it was not painful. Today I did 2 miles and I ran faster and I felt it more and it is more sore now than before my run but not so bad that I need to stop. Tomorrow instead of doing 4 or 5 miles I am going to go for a 3 mile run and see how that feels. I wish either my foot would stop hurting or at least feel better or just get worse so I know what is wrong.

4 Year Olds

You gotta love a 4 year old. Joe asked me to go into Mikayla’s room to see something and he wanted to see the expression on my face when I saw it. I walked in there and they had pulled of the nest out of the Easter Baskets and spread it around. I asked did Mikayla do this herself or did she have help. Joe was giving me the "no I did not help" and Mikayla quickly spoke up and said Dad helped! You gotta love how honest a 4 year old is.

10 Miles

I did a 10 mile run today and it went great. With my long runs I tend to push myself too much, such as trying to keep my pace at 10 minutes per mile for as long as possible or doing a lot on hills (like last weekend). Today I did a true long run where I kept the pace easy. I did a very flat run (yes in Colorado we do have very flat spots!) I did one quick mile around the neighborhood with both dogs and then I dropped off Teo at home. Teo is only good for 1/2 or 1 mile. Then Skyler and I set out for the other 9 miles. I kept the pace easy the whole time and in general I was running from 10:30 to 10:45 per mile. My overall pace was 10:50. When I got home I could have done another mile or so which is what you want to feel at the end of a long run. I am so happy I did this and next weekend I am going for 11 miles. I really want to do the 15.5 mile race in May and I think I will be ready for it.

Running and No Back Pain

I am so glad that so far I am running with NO back pain! I did 8 miles yesterday and felt great. My hips, IT bands and legs were tight at the end but I stretched out and felt great all evening and today. Today I did one fast mile (9:21 pace - fast for me) and then I biked for 2 miles and still felt great. I hope the back pain in behind me and I am going to keep stretching.

My feet are still bothering me - some days more than others - some mornings more than others. I have been keeping a tennis ball at my desk and work and I will roll that around twice a day and that feels so good and really helps get out any tightness I was feeling in my feet. 25K in May - Here I come!!

8 Miles - Feeling Great

Today I headed out for an 8 mile run. It was great and I felt strong the whole time. My average pace wwas 11 minutes and 25 seconds. This is a little bit slower than what I was running on my long runs about 2 months ago but this time I had some big hills. Since I did an out and back I had a 1 mile climb each way. The first time I climb the hill I was fresh and feeling great so it went much faster than on the way back. I also tried a little bit of trail running but this really slowed me down due to the trail being way to wet and muddy and in one part so steep I had to walk up it!

I had a great time and loved it. I even enjoyed getting snowed on at the end!

Snow

I love living in the Rocky Mountains and I really love being so close trails, hiking, mountain biking, skiing and so much more. But there are a few things I don't enjoy about the mountains.

On April 1st it snowed 4 inches, on April 2nd it was a beautiful day and all of the snow dried up and went away. On April 3rd it snowed 5 inches but then it got warm and it is quickly going away. In fact on the 3rd I went for a run in the nicest weather in a long time in a short sleeve shirt.

I want beautiful Spring days with no more snow! I am ready for everything to dry up so I can go trail running. At this point I would rather have rain than snow because snow means winter is still here.

What is the weather like where you are?

I'm Still Here

I am having trouble finding the time to blog lately. I spend my day on the computer at work and when I get home the last thing I want to do is get on the computer some more. I do miss blogging but even now I am at a loss as to what to write about. I also really want to get caught up on everyone’s blogs but I just haven’t. I'm sorry.

I have been running. I did 6 miles the other day and I also decided to try the hill behind the local collage. I wanted to see how dry it was. Well – let’s just say that it needs to dry out some more! I had to give Skylar a bath because she was so muddy afterwards and I had mud up to my knees! It is time to start making sure I am getting in 4 runs a week.

Another thing I noticed today was the my diet does affect my running. I had a breakfast burrito and then some jelly beans and then some chips. At lunch today I was going to head out for a 5 mile run. I did 2 miles and I was not into it. I hit a wall. So I walked did my lunges and squats and then I ran another mile back to work – at this point I was finally feeling better. No more junk food before a run anymore!

This weekend Joe went back to New Jersey to visit his family. I am going to see if I can get a friend to watch the girls for a couple of hours on Sunday so I can go for a long run. There is a local race that is a 25K Trail Run (15.5 miles). It is on May 23rd at Hartman Rocks. It will be close as it if I am ready for it or not but for now I am keeping it in the back of my mind.

The Long Bike Ride That Did Not Happen

On Sunday my plan was to go to Crested Butte with the family. Mikayla and Joe would go skiing while Lily and I hung out with a friend. Then on the way home, I would ride my bike while everyone else drove home. Crested Butte is about 30 miles from Gunnison and sits at 8800 feet. This means I would go down to Gunnison which sits at 7700 feet.

I was worried a little bit about the wind as I started out especially when it almost knocked me down but I kept with it hoping and hoping that it would stop. Finally after 11 miles of fighting the wind and fighting to stay on my bike I had Joe stop and I hoped in the truck. As we started heading home we passed a guy on his bike but he was going to Crested Butte so the wind was pushing him instead of going against him. Maybe next time I will ride from Gunnison to Crested Butte instead.

Back to Running - Maybe

As you know my back caused me to stop running for a little while. About two weeks ago I ran into a local Naturopatic Doctor at the local rec center. Our kids were playing together and we started talking. I asked her if she was good at dealing with backs and told her what I had been dealing with. She automatically said it must be the iliacus psoas.

This ligament runs from deep in your hips around the outside to your lower back. I decided to go in and see her. (I would love to her see all of the time but in Colorado Naturopatic Doctor's are not licensed and therefore not covered by health insurance). I visited with her for about 45 minutes and boy was it painful! By pushing, massaging and moving my legs she showed me that the psoas was what was causing all of my pain. She gave me some stretches to do and said to try and get a massage to help.

She also said to lay off the running for about two weeks and then start slow to see how it goes with lots of stretching before and after I run. Also, I carry the girls on my left side, creating a shelf on my hip. After doing that for over 3 years I have shortened that ligament but when I run I try and focus on really good posture and make sure the left and right side on even - you can see where this is going. The right side has a longer ligament than the left side which has also led to my back pain. Now when I carry Lily I try to either carry her right in front or on the other side, which is really hard since I am right handed.

Today my plan at lunch was to go swimming. I rode my bike to the pool during my lunch break only to find out that it was closed! I quickly rode back to work trying to decided it I wanted to go for a bike ride (not really) or try a run. I decided that I wanted to run. I walked for the first 5 minutes and then stopped to stretch, then I took off running. I was going to run slower than I did but I was having so much fun and loving it. I ran 2.14 miles in 20 minutes for a pace of 9:22 per mile! It was great. After I finished running I walked around for a couple of minutes and then I sat down and stretch for about 8 minutes or so.

I know that my back could start bothering me any minute now but something else I have noticed is that it no longer hurts when I wake up in the morning. I am going to stretch some more at work so my muscles don't tighten up from sitting at my desk all afternoon. If I still feel good for the next week I think I will run 2 or 3 miles every other day. If that goes good I plan on running more starting the first week in April.

Pictures

I have not posted any pictures of the girls in forever. I am actually suprised that my mom has not said anything to me about this. Here is a hodge podge of pictures.

Bath time with Lily! Mikayla has lots of fun taking baths with Lily.

About 2 or 3 weeks ago we headed out to Hartman Rocks for some family fun. I had Lily in the backpack and Joe pulled Mikayla on the sled. We headed out their again today but there was a lot less snow. Joe and Mikayla were still able to get in some great sledding.

We have taken Mikayla skiing a couple of times this year. Last time we forgot to get any pictures of her actually skiing!

As bad as they are Lily LOVES Spaghetti Os!

Joe's parents got Lily this car for her 1 year birthday. It is took big for Lily but Mikayla loves it. Here she is fixing the car. Lily likes it when we push her around in it and she loves to beep the horn.

Joe went out one day for a hike by himself with the dogs. Teo loves to stick his head in the snow when he gets hot.

Scrubbing Bubbles

About a year ago I signed up to be a Bzz Agent. A bzz agent receives products for either free or a reduced price. When I sign up for a campaign I receive either the product or coupons for the product and information. My job is to try the product and spread the word. I send emails to the Bzz regarding who I have contacted and what they thought about the product. This is actually the first time I have blogged about the product.

I was recently sent some products from Scrubbing Bubbles. I received the Automatic Shower Cleaner, Toilet Cleaning Gel with Wand and Flushable Bathroom Wipes.

I have used the Automatic Shower Cleaner before and the one thing I noticed was that I still felt the need to clean the shower once a week. It was nice, in that I felt like it was getting cleaned everyday when all I did was push the button. But once a week I was still cleaning the shower to get the soap rings from the bottles or dust or dirt. This time I was excited to give it another try because they have improved the formula. The problem this time was that it would not fit on our shower head. We have a shower head that you can pull down, move around, bathe the dogs with, etc... The Automatic Shower Cleaner would not stay put. I did put the Shower Cleaner in the girls bathroom but since Joe is responsible for bathing the girls it does not get used as often as it should.

The next product I tried was the Toilet Cleaning Gel. I love this product. I scrub the toilet a lot less often and it stays clean all week long and then some. I would definitely buy this product again and again.

Finally, the Flushable Bathroom Wipes. I received one trial wipe and loved it so much I went out and bought a full bottle. Then I did not like them. It took multiple wipes to clean the bathroom and they always fell apart in less than 1 minute of use. The wipes are made to flush down the toilet but I was using so many to clean one bathroom I would have been flushing the toilet every minute or so and I did not want to waste the water.

If anyone wants to try the Automatic Shower Cleaner I have 5 coupons to offer. Each coupon is $5.00 off the starter kit. I also have 1 coupon for the Toilet Cleaning Gel. This coupon is $1.00 off. If you would like a coupon please leave me a comment. First come, first serve.

New Job

I started my new job today and it went great. I think I am really going to enjoy the people I am working with. This is also the first time I have turned a job into a career. It is the first time that I have done what I am doing now before. I don't have to be trained from the beginning. This was really nice today because after a bit of training office polices and how they do things I was ready to go.

New Job!!

As soon as I got laid off I called the attorney who left the law firm that I was working with and let him know that I needed a job now. After 6 weeks of bugging him and his new firm getting things together they called the other day and hired me! I start on Monday and of course next week is Spring Break and also the only week in the whole year that I don't have daycare. I have been busy trying to get someone and I might have that worked out. The pay is a little bit less but since they pay better with insurance I am only taking a pay cut of about $200 per month.

I have enjoyed my time off with the girls but I really need the 1 - money and 2 - adult interaction. I am excited to be heading back to work. I have also enjoyed subbing but since I am in and out of the building you don't have a lot of time to develop relationships with the other teachers as I would if I was a full time teacher.

Wish me luck in finding a great babysitter for next week and that will keep the girls super busy.

No More Marathon - At Least For Now

Every since I ran 10 miles back on February 1st I have been dealing with a lot of lower back pain. I bought new shoes and I have been focused on strengthening my back but the pain is still there - even on normal day to day activities. Two weeks ago I did do some fast short training runs (4 or 5 miles) and in general I felt great while running but the back would flare up later that day. Then last Thursday I started out for a long run but I had to stop after 2 miles because my back started hurting again.

So for now I have stopped running and training for my marathon. I am going to take the next 4 weeks off from running all together and then starting on April 1 I will start doing slow, short, easy runs for the next two weeks. If that goes good with no back pain I plan on training again in mid April.

Don't worry, I have just decided to stop running. For the next 6 weeks I plan on lifting weights at the local gym, walking, biking and swimming. This morning I week to the gym for a weight workout and I also plan on walking for at least 60 minutes tonight after the girls are in bed.

I do have some races I want to compete in - the 1/3 Marathon from Gothic to Crested Butte on July 4th. Then I will have to decide between one of these. The Imogene Pass Run sounds like a fun, but really hard trail run on September 12th - 17.1 mile race that starts in Ouray, Colorado at 7810 feet to Imogene Pass at 13,210 in 10 miles and then down to Telluride, Colorado at 8820 feet. The other one is the MountainAir Marathon on September 13th. This is a point to point race starting in Crested Butte and running down to Gunnison. The really nice thing about this race is that it is local and I won't have to travel anywhere but the bad thing is that it is all highway running.

Yankee Candles

I absolutely love Yankee Candles. It is a good thing that the closest Yankee Candle Store is at least 3 hours away because if it was closer I would be spending way too much money there. In general I love all candles that smell like flowers, Gardenia and Lily of the Valley are my absolute favorite (and no I did not name Lily for the Lily Candle!)

I have always been a candle nut. As a highschooler I would place at least 4 or 5 in my bedroom and burn them all at the same time. I love candles, the smell, the flame - everything. I still have candles in every room in our house but I don't burn them as much because I don't have nice ones and Lily gets into the ones that are lower.

This is my last post on my absolute favorite things. I am sure that I have more but these were the ones that I really like. What are some of your absolute favorite things?

Body Balance

I have blogged here and here about Body Balance and how much I love it and how much healthier and more energy I have because I am taking it. So I won't bore you with details but I love the stuff and I think everyone should try it. Send me an email if you want to try it to!

Watermelon

I love watermelon. It is so yummy, refreshing and filling. One cup of watermelon is only 50 calories but it feels like a lot more. This is the one food I could eat everyday. The funny thing is is that Joe hates it so I end up not buying it as much as I use to.

What is your favorite fruit?

Gym Teacher

Yesterday I got to sub gym today. I had to much fun.

I was the only teacher and the only sub that would actually warm up with the students and run laps with them around the gym. In one class I told them they had to run the outside of a line and if they cut the corners then they had to do another lap. They did not like that but then I told them that I would be running with them they quickly perked up.

After that I did the butt kicks, high knee kicks and stretches with them. I did not do the activity because some of the games I did not know what to do and in the weight room I was having too much trouble focusing on my work out and supervising the class so I gave up on my workout.

I did do about 10 minutes on the bike and 10 minutes on the treadmill while they were weight lifting. Then I used my planning period to do a total body weight workout.

Mary Kay

I know everyone out there is saying what??? I never talk about makeup or skin care products but ever since I hit 30 I have really been noticing my skin. I have a few fine lines around my eyes, I am getting skin discoloring and my skin just seems more red than it has in the past.

I use to use and loved Arbonne's RE9 line but I stopped using it because it is really expensive.

About a month ago I went to a Mary Kay party and tried their line called Timewise.

I loved it and I bought the big set which includes a daily cleanser, day solution (with SPF 25) and night solution, eye cream, moisturizer, and microdermabrasion set. In about a week I had noticed that my skin was not as red anymore and my skin color seems more even. I love it and I truly think it was money will spent. It was about $200 for the set and it seems as if most of the products will last at least 4 months or longer.

If you are looking for anti aging skin care products I would highly recommend these. Give your Mary Kay lady a call.

What are your favorite skin care products?

Runner's World Magazine

My absolute favorite magazine is Runner's World. My mom got me a year subscription to this magazine for Christmas and I LOVE it. This is the first magazine that I will read cover to cover. Normally I skip some articles in a magazine but this one I read every last one, including letters to the editor. It is also a good way to get me motivated to run again. My only thing is that I wish it came out twice a month instead of only once!

Their website also has great information as well. For example on their website right now they have an article called Fast Abs. This article is about strengthening your core without doing the normal crunches. A strong core and back is important but this article focuses on exercises that strengthen your core to help you run faster and longer. Most of these exercises I have added to my core routine.

What is the one magazine that you love to read every month?

Garmin 305 Forerunner

I am going to be blogging daily for the next week about my list of favorite things. I would love to be like Oprah and give all of my readers all of my favorite things but I am not Oprah. This list of favorite things is in no particular order.My first favorite thing is my Garmin 305 Forerunner. I never leave home for a run or a walk without it. I love how as soon as I turn it on it will tell me how far I have run, what my current pace is, what my overall pace is and my current heart rate is. The current is what I use the most to make sure I am running at the pace I want to be. With one quick look I can tell if I need to speed up, slow down or stay at the same pace.

Other features it has but I have not used mostly because I have not taken the time to really figure it out is that is will tell me my current calories burned. I don't use this because I have not programmed my weight into it. You can also use it for other sports such as biking. If you use it in a gym or on a treadmill you do need to purchase the foot pod because you are not using the GPS to calculate mileage.

The only downfall about the Garmin 305 is the size. The screen of the watch is huge but it does make it easy to read.

This is the one item that I cannot run without. What is the one item you must have to workout with?

Mikayla's Gets Glasses

For the last year we have been taking Mikayla to a special pediatric eye doctor in Grand Junction. Mikayla has Strabismus - it is like lazy eye in an adult. If you catch it soon enough as a kid you can try to fix it with patching (instead of surgery - which we are really hoping to avoid). Which we have been patching her right eye, which is the better of the two eyes, for the last year or so.

We recently went 6 months with no patching because the prior patching was working. Around the New Year we noticed that we would be looking at her and her right eye was giving us really blank stares. On President's Day we went for our six month check up at the eye doctor and now we are back to patching (except this time we are patching her left eye instead of her right eye), and the doctor also said that she has a astigmatism in her right eye. I know all about astigmatisms because I have one is both eyes. Joe also has horrible eye sight but no astigmatisms.

I took Mikayla to get a pair of glasses on Tuesday of last week and as soon as she gets them I will take a picture for you.

Week of Favorite Things

I am starting a week of daily blog posts about my favorite things. Items I can't live without.

Stayed Tuned for the First Thing.

Running and Losing Motivation

Last week I did some great runs. I did a total of 3 runs and I was able to keep my pace at under 10 minutes.

Ever since I have been running (over 10 years now) I have been wanting to accomplish a 10 minute pace. This week I did one 4 mile run and two 5 mile runs and even with a hill thrown in I was still able to keep it at 10 minutes or under!!

The losing motivation part is the fact that I did not do a long run this week. I was set to do one on Sunday but my back was bothering me a little bit due to carrying Lily in her sling on Saturday while Mikayla went skiing and I watched. I was also worried because the last time I did a 10 mile run my back hurt so bad later that week I could barley walk.

Instead of going for a long run the whole family, including the dogs, headed out to a recreational area called Hartman Rocks. We went hiking in the hard packed snow. Joe pulled Mikayla on the sled while I carried Lily in the back pack. We had a blast. I might try to run out here as long as it does not snow again it should work. Opps - it is dumping today and we have already received at least 6 inches that I will need to shovel - there goes that idea.

I am also losing motivation because I am sick and tired of the cold, snow and running on the streets. I want summer to get here so I can go trail running again. Unfortunately this won't happen until at least mid to late April.

What do you recommend that I do to stay motivated?

Django's - Crested Butte

Joe and I never go out alone (well very rarely) and he made a comment that the last time we went out to dinner was about 2 years ago. For Valentine's Day (well the day before) we got a babysitter and went up to Crested Butte to go out to dinner.

We went out to a new restaurant called Django's (the D is silent). They do an appetizer menu so you can sample a lot of their dishes. Most people order 3 to 5 dishes per person. The food was wonderful and affordable (for Crested Butte). We spent just over $100 (without tip) for 6 dishes total, 2 Quartinos of Wine, desert and one after dinner drink.

My favorite dish was "Date with Pig" - dates wrapped in prosciutto. They tasted like candy. My second favorite was the Butternut Squash and Mascrapone Ravioli - heaven! Everything we had was wonderful and the service was great as well. We knew the bartender and he has been serving Joe and I drink for the last 11 years - everything he recommended was excellent - even the Brussels Spouts, which I have never had before.

Something else they do is offer wine in the Quartino, which is about 1 1/2 glasses. Joe and I were able to try 2 different types of wine. We could have tried another type but I wanted an after dinner drink. The waitress recommended both wines based on what we where having and they were excellent. I even asked to take a wine menu home so I know what I should buy next time I am at the liquor store.

This restaurant is locally owned and this is their first year in business. I know how hard it is for new restaurants but this restaurant has what it needs to make it, GREAT food, GREAT service, and GREAT atmosphere.

Next time you are in Crested Butte - please check it out. One little FYI - it is not the place for kids.

Obama's Stimulas Plan

Dear President Obama,

I know that you are trying to do everything you can to help get us out of this recession but the stimulus packed you have created will not really help me andnor will it help your normal middle class family. This package will not create a job for me in small town America, which is what I need right now since I was laid off about 3 weeks ago. Nor will this package give me any extra money to spend.

The type of stimulus package that will get Americans spending again is to deliver a check for at least $2500.00 to every tax payer. With that type of money I would be able to pay some bills down, save a little, and be willing to take my family down to Ouray, Colorado, spend the night in a hotel enjoying their hot springs and dinner and breakfast out on the town. If there was still some left over I would even by some plane tickets and go and visit my family in Kansas.

Very truly yours,
Tiffany - An average middle class American.

Runner's Injuries

Well I am not 20 anymore and I am more susceptible to injuries. Nothing major so far but a few small ones.

I was reading my Runner's World Magazine a few weeks ago and they did an article on injuries but since I did not any of those I was not worried. Then I picked up The Marathon Method by Tom Holland. This is a book I ordered months ago and read it but last night I decided to re-read it again. I came across his injury section and I have two of them.

Last week I was complaining about my back pain here. Tom mentioned back pain and it seems as if I need to focus on my core and stretching. I am really bad about stretching and I do need to do more core exercises.

The next injury I though was just because I was running a lot and it was something I was jsut going to have to deal with. When I am running a lot of miles in a week I have noticed when I get out of bed in the morning my feet hurt to walk on - sore - so I limp around the house for a couple of minutes and then it goes away. Well Tom said it is Plantar Fasciitis. This is a band of connective tissue that runs from my heel to the base of my toes. His explanation was exactly what I have been experiencing. He says I need to ice my feet first thing in the morning (this is hard to do because my normal alarm clock is Lily telling me to get her up), check my shoes (it is probably time for a new pair), and to stretch my calves.

I have been taking it pretty easy the last 2 weeks but if I am going to do my marathon in mid May I really need to get back to it. I have decided to take it easy until Monday with plenty of stretching and core exercises and then on Monday get back to it BUT with more stretching and weight training and core work. I am also going to start looking for a new pair of shoes but I really don't want to spend the money even though I need to.

State of California Forces Employees to Take 2 Unpaid Days Off a Month

I am a little upset at this article in which Governer Schwarzenegger's ordered most California state employees to take two days off a month. My biggest beef is shouldn't these people who are forced to take time off be glad that they still have a job?

If my office had told me I could 1 - take two days off a month unpaid or 2 - lose my job all together I would have quickly taken my first choice of the unpaid days off - even if it meant a lose of about $250 per month. I could not put the kids in daycare and then I would only be losing $170 per month. I could tighten the budget for that.

Marathon Training Week 15

I am glad that I have gaven myself plenty of time to train for my marathon in May but I am slowly wondering if I will even make it.

My back has been bothering me all week and I am now starting to wonder if it is related to my running. Yesterday we went to Crested Butte. Joe took a few runs on his snowboard while I played with the girls then we switched parenting duties and I ran from Mt. Crested Butte (where the ski area is) to the Town of Crested Butte. With some extra loops I was able to make it a full 4 miles - with most of it down hill. I also pushed myself so that in the end I averaged 10 minute miles!! Unfortunately, today my back was bothering this morning but I was proactive and put a heating pad on it for about an hour and it has been much better.

Also since January 12th I have been focusing on eating right, not drinking as much wine in the evening, and getting up early to get in strength training workouts in addition to my runs. Since then I have lost about 5 pounds but I really think the first 3 were water weight since I would go from 141 to 144 on a weekly basis. But now I am staying between 139 and 140. I love seeing the 130's on the scale instead of the 140's.

I did register for the Run Through Time in Salida. It is a half marathon on March 14th - wish me luck!

I Just Don't Get It

We all know that the government has given our tax dollars to these multi-million dollar banks and what not so that they do not go under. First - I have a huge problem with that (but I understand that by us giving them the money it is saving a lot of the "little people" a job). Second - I applaud Obama for forcing these bank presidents to take a pay cap. I mean why on earth should my tax dollars to go a bank president so he can make over a million dollars a year when I am barley making $30,000 a year.

I just don't get what the issue it? Why should my tax dollars pay a bank president a million dollars when his/her company is close to closing down? That bank president should be the last one to be paid. That is the way small business works you pay everyone else before you the owner gets paid.

Back

I don't know what happened (well I think I do) but my back was hurting so bad this morning I was almost in tears.

I did a weight workout on Monday that focused on my lower back and it has been bugging me since. I was careful with the exercises but I guess I messed something up. Then yesterday afternoon (with a bad back - but not too bad) I subbed in preschool so that meant up and down from the floor all afternoon. This morning I could barley walk Mikayla 2 blocks to preschool (it was either that or stay home with Lily for 10 minutes when I could not pick her up or anything). Finally Mikayla was at school and Lily sleeping and I could sit on the hot pad for an hour. It helped but it is still bothering me.

I did do a slow run yesterday - my back was not bothering me but in general the run felt as if something was off.

Maybe tomorrow I will be able to do a slow run or at least weight train since today I did nothing.

10 Miles!!!

Yesterday I did 10 miles and it felt really good. Sometimes on my long runs I feel as if I am just going through the motions, waiting until I hit my turn around point and then I will be done. My biggest reason for this feeling is that I am tired of running the roads and the cold (it was below zero when I set out and not much warmer when I finished) and I am ready for warm days, wearing less clothes while I am running and I am REALLY ready to hit the trails.

I did explore a new area with some hills and I managed to make a loop instead of an out and back and I was really enjoying it - I even saw some bald eagles on my run! Around mile 6 I was getting tired but mostly because I was thinking, "I still have 4 more miles - can I do it without back tracking?"

My time was 1 hour, 48 minutes and 48 seconds for a pace of 10:58 per mile.

I also looked back over my running log and noticed that my long slow run pace or marathon pace has improved about 30 seconds! I was very excited to see that. I have also noticed that during my shorter runs it is much easier to keep my pace at 10 minutes per mile or faster. Originally I was hoping to run my marathon at 11 minute pace but now I am shooting for 10 minutes or even 9 minutes!

Updates

I know I have not been blogging much lately. I was called in to substitute on Monday for Kindergarten and Tuesday for 6th grade. I had so much fun each day with the kids. Both teachers left full lesson plans so I was busy all day long. Normally teachers have students, take a test, watch a movie or other work that does not require me to teach. - so I had a blast!

I still have no job and I cannot afford to substitute full time (even if I were to get called in full time), after daycare I would be taking home less than $200 per week. I am still struggling as to what to do. I think for now I am going to collect unemployment, substitute one day a week (which I can still do and still collect) and look for a better full time job. I am worried that I will go crazy at home (in Gunnison we don't have a lot of activities for kids to do in the winter) especially with Lily. Lily is a challenge but I love hanging out and spending time with Mikayla - I know that sounds bad but Lily is well Lily (screaming, fussing, not napping, demanding all my attention, Lily).

I had a great week of running last week but this week I am really lagging. I did finally get up early and workout this morning but not running. I was going to go for a long run today but it was cold, windy and nasty outside.

Body Balance Giveaway

Since only two people entered my Body Balance Giveaway - Carrie from Newlywed Girl and Lisa from Workout Mommy - I have decided to give each one a Body Balance for them each to try. Everyone else - you missed out this stuff is awesome.

Also just an update on me I did 2 long runs last week, one at 8 miles and one at 9 miles. My 8 mile run was a little bit faster than the 8 mile run I had done before so yea! The 9 mile run was not too bad either.

I am signed up to substitute (very few of you know that I actually have a teaching license but I am not using it for many reasons). I got called into substitute for kindergartner today and had a blast and then they asked me to sub for another 3 days so I will be busy this week.

Everything Happens in 3's - Walmart.com - the enemy

As you know I lost my job last week well everything happens in 3's. This is a full recap of everything that happened last week.

First - We are currently leasing out our house to a potential buyer with a lease option and we are renting another house in town. We did this because out mortgage payment is huge and the renters are almost paying the full mortgage while we are renting a much cheaper house in town. This is really helping us out financially.

Last Friday the renter called Joe and said that they are going to be having all four of their kids living with them now and they will need a much bigger place since they will have 6 people in a house. I thought a 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2 living room and 2000 square feet would be big enough of a house but I guess not. We decided to end their lease at the end of May which is when our lease ends. We were really hoping that they would buy the house so that we could be done with it.

Next - We had $1000 stolen from our savings account. Our savings account is connected to my paypal account. I go online about every day or so to balance my checkbook. I noticed that are savings account was negative and there was no reason for it. I did some research and saw a paypal transaction going out for $1000 to walmart.com. I called my bank and let them know that I did not authorize that transaction. I had to do some paperwork but luckily they were able to stop it. I also called paypal and they are doing their thing. The kicker is that I called walmart.com (which it is very hard to find a number to call them and very hard to finally get a person on the line). I really got upset at walmart.com because they said that paypal would have to contact them with a police report before they could do anything. WHAT!! Walmart.com was not willing to do ANYTHING to help me, not even contact the other person, take her name and information, ANYTHING. In my mind they were knowingly allowing someone to purchase merchandise with stolen information. They will get an email from me. Oh - we did get the money back.

Third - I lost my job - I think that says it all. I guess since that is the third thing nothing else bad can go wrong right?

The thing that really sucks in this whole mess is that financially we were finally where we wanted to be at the end of each month. I am just really hoping that I find something very quickly (which is hard to do in this market) and that job is paying the same or close to what my other job was paying.

New Year's Resolution

In order to accomplish my New Year's Resolution I vowed to do the following things:

• Get out of bed at 5am to do a Jillian Michael's strength workout each day
• Write down what I eat and consume less than 1100 calories before dinner
• Not drink any wine or liquor
• Not snack after work

Well this was going great until Friday when I got laid off. I was suppose to go for an hour long run at lunch and I eventually went for a run but only 2 miles - I just was not feeling up to it and I did not do any running this weekend.

But today is a new week and I am starting it up again. I lost 2.5 pounds last week but my weight varies from 144 to 141.5 so it was not a big shock.

This week and I once again writing down what I eat and planning my food for the day and I also plan to get a lot of working out in, since I have no job why not exercise!

I have to admit though my arms are sore. We went to the rec center with the girls yesterday and I decided to do some rock climbing. I only climb for about 15 minutes but I sore! Well - off to my strength workout.

Home Made Laundry Detergent

This is another recipe from the Today Show Saving Money with the Duggars. This is how to make home made laundry detergent.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups hot tap water
• 1 Fels-Naptha soap bar (or other bar of soap)
• 1 cup washing soda
• ½ cup Borax

Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

Fill a five-gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (It will gel.)

Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per two gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons. Top-load machine: 5/8 cup per load (approximately 180 loads). Front-load machine: ¼ cup per load (approx. 640 loads).

I talked with my mom about this because she had recently made her own laundry soap as well. She noticed that she was having to pre-treat some minor stains more often with her homemade laundry soap than with the store bought. With that I mind I added one container of regular store bought laundry detergent (Arm and Hammer) to the recipe to give it some added strength and that seems to have worked. I have not had any problems with the recipe. And I have a ton of it and I have no idea when it will run out!

Home Made Fabric Softner

I am always looking for ways to save money on normal every day expenses. I found this recipe for fabric softener on the Today Show - Saving Money with the Duggars (the family that has 18 kids -I would think they would know a thing or two about saving money!)

This is the recipe I use and so far I love it. My dryer takes 1 1/2 cycles to dry the cloths so when I re-set the dryer I through another sponge in - but even the days I haven't the clothes still come out with no static.
Recipe No. 1: 1 container of name-brand fabric softener 4 inexpensive sponges, cut in half Pour a whole container of softener into a five-gallon bucket. Fill empty softener container with water twice (two parts water to one part softener). Add sponges to softener/water mixture. When ready to use, wring out extra mixture from one sponge and add to the dryer as you would a dryer sheet.

The reason I don't use this recipe is that I can never remember to add the vinegar to the rinse cycle.
Recipe No. 2: Add one cup white vinegar to rinse cycle. Works great. Removes residue and odors. Also helps to keep washing machine and hoses fresh and clean too.

Tomorrow I will post the laundry detergent receipe.

Help Wanted

In December I found out one of the main attorneys was leaving the firm. I started to worry about my job. My co-worker and I thought eventually one of us would be leaving but not for 6 months or so. Well the news came earlier than I thought and I lost my job today. I was luckily enough to get paid through the end of the month but right now there are not opportunities out their for what I make.

I wish they had let me ago about a week or so ago because there were some positions available but not anymore. I am starting to get worried and I have no idea what we are going to do. This also comes at a point were we have finally got our finances in order that we are not negative any more.

So if you want to help post my blog everywhere and link so that maybe I can earn some money with my BlogHer ads. Or pass any writing opportunities to me.

My Runner Mikayla

Tonight Mikayla and I took the dogs for a quick walk - well I thought we were going to walk but Mikayla decided to turn in into a run and boy was she fast. We did 1 mile in 17 minutes and when she was running she was running at about a 12:30 pace! She is only 3 1/2! I was so proud of her.