Four Corners Water Day

Last weekend our small group at church did a water day for the kids in a neighborhood near the church and had a blast. We slip-n-slided, had a couple of huge water fights, soaked each other with water guns, played a bunch of group water games and then grilled hot dogs for lunch. The weather was beautiful, the kids were great and we're looking forward to going out there again to hang out with them!

Thanks Rachel, Matt and Brittnie for the group effort to get some good pictures...here's a couple and the rest are in the slideshow below!

Marathon Training Week Sixteen

This week was an easy week...only 12 miles. That makes me laugh to type that because I never thought I'd say that 12 miles was a light weekend run, but compared to the 18 miler we have coming up next weekend, 12 definitely seems like a walk in the park.

Landon and I both were on pace this week for the whole 12 miles, which was fun. All of his miles were around a 9:10 mile and all of mine were under 11 minute miles--ranging from 10:30 to right under 11 minutes, which is good for me since my marathon goal pace is 10:53. I finished about 2 miles behind Landon and he was so sweet to again cheer me on as I finished and even run my last 1/4 mile or so with me, to push me. I love him so much. And I love that this marathon thing is something that we are doing together, because I honestly don't know if I could do it without him. He pushes me and encourages me and makes me feel like I don't suck, when I'm going way slower than him.

This week Landon finished the 12 miles in 1 hour and 51 minutes and I finished in 2 hours and 7 minutes, which is cool because our half marathon time from last year was 2:35, so for both of us our pace was quite a bit better today. I was on track to run about a 2:18 half marathon and Landon to run a 2 hour half marathon. Improvement is always fun. :)

We made our weekly stop at Smoothie King on the way home and thoroughly enjoyed the thought that our long run for the week was done, we were actually feeling ok and we didn't have anything to do until 9:30 that night, when we went to meet some friends from church at this guitar bar in our neighborhood to hear one of his friends' band play. We spent our afternoon sleeping and lounging around the house, watching movies and editing pictures and basically doing nothing. Those kind of Saturdays for us are few and far between and it was beautiful. :)

Pray for us next weekend. We're going to be running in DFW because we'll be up there hanging out with friends and going to a wedding and I know I'll need an extra dose of mental strength to run my 18 miles strong and not give in and slow down when it gets hard or when I get tired. After those 18 miles, we have a 14 miler, a 20 miler, 2 taper weeks and then...the marathon!!!

marathon training week fifteen

We both ran the whole sixteen miles! Woohoo! SO that means in the race, we'd only have 10 miles left to go afterwards...

Landon did awesome, as usual. He really has his pace down and he ran all sixteen miles in under two and a half hours, around a nine minute pace. I am so proud of him.

I finished right around three hours--which was cool because on our thirteen mile run it took me about three hours to run the thirteen miles, so I was able to keep my pace better this time.

The first 12 miles or so I was close to my pace, but the last three or four I was fading. Landon finished when I had a little under 3 miles to go, so he sat there and cheered me on and actually ran my last 2 laps with me, which was so sweet.

All in all, it was a good run. I wasn't dizzy or light-headed or feeling dehydrated like last time, thank goodness. There is such a difference between feeling like that and just feeling tired at the end, like I was this week. My pace and time wasn't perfect, but I was on pace to finish in under 5 hours, and I really think running with a pace group at the marathon will help me keep pace.

And, the best part is that the only 2 longer runs we have left are 18 miles and 20 miles before our taper weeks! Yay! :)

Year Four

The room is ready, the lessons plans are written...bring on the kids!

READING GIVES US SOMEPLACE TO GO when we have to stay where we are. --Mason Cooley

Completed Summer Book List (so far...)

Last summer, though I taught summer school and was gone a lot more, it seemed I had infinitely more time to read, whether it be with my kids in summer school, on the plane, in the car, in the airport, at home before we went to bed... This year though, I had a to do list a mile long (in a good way :) ) and only managed to squeeze reading in here and there. But, I have managed to read some good ones, mostly from the stack I pulled of popular ones from my classroom library that I had yet to read.

1. The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez by Alan Lawrence Sitomer
2. Dear Zoe by Philip Beard
3. All-Bright Court by Connie Porter
4. Petty Crimes by Gary Soto
5. Black and White by Paul Volponi
6. Copper Sun by Sharon M. Draper
7. Always Running: Gang Days in LA by Luis J. Rodriguez
8. Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas
9. Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton
10. Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
11. Dark by Kenji Jasper
12. Invisible by Pete Hautman
13. Played by Dana Davidson
14. Fallen by Paul Langan
15. The Dream Where Losers Go by Beth Goobie
16. The Pledge by Chandra Sparks Taylor
17. Freak The Mighty by Rodman Philbrick

Big Days and Birthdays

Last night we got to celebrate 2 birthdays (Landon's and mine) and one big day--Michael's last night at home before moving to Oklahoma City to go to college at OCU. He was all packed up and pretty much ready to go. I cannot believe that my baby brother is moving out to go to college, but I am so excited for him.

We got him a little college grab bag complete with laundry detergent, hilighters, snack food, a camera, a laundry basket and some little fun things to take with him to his dorm.

And, he and Matthew got Landon and I a "date in a box"--a long standing tradition in my family that we used to make for my parents for Christmas some years growing up. It was good fun--and we're so looking forward to using it and actually having a date night.

After a big bowl of gumbo and numerous slices of tiramisu and good conversation, and after all the presents had been exchanges, we headed out to the pool to try out Matthew's new canoe. It was so fun--I can't wait to go out to the lake with him in it. It was huge--all four of us fit comfortably in it, though we were riding a little low in the water, haha!

And, while we have yet to go out together to celebrate our birthday's together because there literally has not been a night we've have free since before Landon's birthday 10 days ago, we've managed to cram in a little celebrating between out other obligations--and are planning to one day in the near future, celebrate properly. :)

On his actual birthday last Tuesday, we began the morning with breakfast in bed from the bakery down the street and his presents.

After work we jumped in the car and went shopping for the rest of his present. We tried to eat a nice dinner a Pappasitos, but ran out of time and had to grab Wendy's instead on our way to play practice. His mom was so sweet to grab a cookie cake and bring to practice though, so we all got to sing him and celebrate a little there too.

When practice was over we headed over to the gym to get in a quick four miles and then we ended the night at home with the Speights' family "I love you" pie, the Cherry-O pie. It's tradition for me to make it once a year for him, on his birthday!

On my birthday, Landon surprised me with something I've been drooling over--a Le Crueset Dutch Oven--as soon as the clock turned midnight.

I absolutely love it--doesn't it look good in my kitchen?? :) I can't wait to cook with it!

We spent the rest of my birthday night running another four miles and then heading out to my parents house to be with Michael and have some time together as a family.

We are so blessed. It's been a great year so far and we can't wait to see what the future holds for everyone.

It's Football Season! :)

For the last 4 years, this time of year would always mean that Landon's life would get a lot busier because he would be back on the Houston Texans' game day staff, getting up at a ridiculous hour on game days and working the games. This will be the first year that he'll be watching the games from the comfort of our home with me, instead of on the sidelines at Reliant Stadium.

Even though he won't be working game day stuff this year, we got to go up to Training Camp last week and hang out with all the Texans staff, his friends up there, and catch up with them. The weather was actually really nice and cool and it was a lot of fun. Hopefully we'll still get to go to a game or two this year!

James Casey, one of the Texans' new players, signing autographs after practice

one of the photographers for the Texans--I'm jealous of his lens. :)

practice

the tents set up to keep all of the fans happy, cool and fed.

A good time was had by all, for sure!

Marathon Training Week Fourteen

This week was a little rough because, well, I just was not back in work mode yet. My sleep was off, my eating was off, I wasn't drinking like I had been this summer and need to be. Our mid-week runs went ok--I was a little tireder than usual, but ran them at the pace I wanted to--but our long run was particularly rough.

We ran from about 11am-2pm, which I'm coming to find out doesn't work well for me. I was starving the whole time and we're pretty sure I was a little dehydrated and at mile 12.5 out of 15 I had to stop because I was feeling dizzy and lightheaded and it was work just to put one foot in front of the other.

Landon was done with his 15 miles at that point because, despite some muscle tightness issues, he was able to hit his time goal really well, so we went and got smoothie king and some lunch and about 2 hours later, I was out again, running the rest of my miles. I was tired, but I felt much better, like I was able to run normally again. I was going to just finish my last 2.5 miles so I could at least say I ran the miles, but made myself do 3.5 instead of 2.5 as punishment or something for stopping early.

Part of me is really mad that I wasn't able to do all 15, but the rational side of me says that sometimes it's like that. And one bad run doesn't determine how I'll run on the day of the marathon, thank goodness. And it made me more determined to get back on track with my sleep and eating/drinking habits, because unlike my husband, who's pretty much just awesome, sleep and what I eat and how much I drink really affects how I run.

Next week, I'm determined to run much better and run all 16 miles consecutively.

And on that note, I'm going to bed. Because it is way past my bedtime and morning will come early, I'm sure.

One last getaway before the summer fades away

This last weekend we got to spend in New Braunfels at Schlitterbahn with the Speights--it was a fun little vacation before reality set in on Monday and I had to set an alarm to get up for work.

We stayed in a house right across the street from the waterpark and spent all day Saturday and part of the day Sunday there and had a blast. The weather was beautiful--it was actually cloudy at some points in the day--and though it was crowded, we didn't find ourselves waiting hours for any of the rides. And, Abagael was able to go on all of the tube rides and loved it, which made it all the more fun.

all the ladies

the manly men

Landon and his dad in the lazy river

cutie pie Abagael all decked out in her life vest, ready to hit the rides

Abagael and I in the lazy river

James getting ready to race Kenna down a slide

Logan, Elizabeh and Abagael

chillin' in the beach chair

BFF :)

After a long day at the waterpark, we also enjoyed...

a lot of good food

celebrating Landon's birthday with a red velvet cake

and a couple of games of Apples to Apples.

Thanks Pam and Wes--we had an awesome time!!

Marathon Training Week Thirteen

So, in an effort to get caught up on here and resume my normal disposition about life--I am hereby declaring my bad attitude about feeling overcommitted over; I made the decisions and I don't want to wish away the next 2 months just because they might be busy; I want to enjoy them--I thought I'd start with my weekly update from last week, as we prepare to run 15 miles (gulp) tomorrow morning.

Last Friday we only ran 10 miles again, and then headed to Schlitterbahn with Landon's family, so we had to get up early to run before Landon had to head in to work for the day.

I had something to prove to myself on Friday--that I could run all 10 miles around my marathon goal pace (which is a 10:53 mile) and I pretty much did it. I started off a little faster than that and gradually slowed down to a little slower than that, but still had enough in me to pick it up to a little under a 10 minute mile for the last mile, and I wasn't completely dead at the end or totally out of breath or anything, so that's a good sign. I ran them at an average of an 11 minute mile, which is close enough to goal pace for me. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't unbearable--and I was able to run then at almost a minute faster per mile than the very first time Landon and I ran 10 miles together in our neighborhood, where I very much did feel like I was going to die. So, there's progress. Yay. :)

Digging my way out...

I have things to post. I really do. I have pictures driving me crazy because they're just sitting on my computer and on my camera. I have posts swarming around in my head, thoughts I want to write about and things I want to write down, to remember.

But right now, I can't. It's like my brain is on overload. Life hasn't been this crazy, this busy, since we were both in grad school. The long days, the nights that don't end until we get home at 10pm. The stress that's always there, right below (and sometimes right above) the surface. I'm working on figuring out how to teach effectively (with an ESL class, two Vanguard classes, a Dyslexia pull out group and being the 8th grade team leader, coaching other teaching in their room with their students 3 days a week, most of which I've not done before), keep running 30-40 miles a week 5 days a week and go to play practice 4 nights a week. And not lose my mind . Just kidding. But kinda not.

On Tuesday, we got to the gym to run and I discovered I didn't bring my running shoes.
We spent Landon's birthday working, at the gym running and at play practice.
Yesterday, we got to the gym to run and I discovered that instead of packing a shirt to run in and shorts to run in, I packed 2 shirts and no shorts. I ran 7 miles yesterday in jeans. Ridiculous.

I might already be losing my mind. I'm trying hard to get it back though.

And, keep reminding myself that after October 10th, when we run the marathon, life will be smooth sailing again.

And hopefully I'll get up a few blog posts before then. I'm not making any promises though. :)

Happy 26th Birthday, Landon!

I love you more than I ever thought possible, and truly do love you more with each passing year. Even though it's hard to believe a year has passed, since this day last year, so much has happened. And there is no one on Earth that I'd rather travel through this crazy (and b-u-s-y) journey of life with than you.

I hope, despite the business and the circumstances, that you felt how loved and celebrated you are, because you are. And one day in the near future, when we get a free night, the celebrating will continue. :)

I love you. You make my life richer and more fun and full of laughter. And when things are hectic without the end in sight, I am so lucky to have you by my side. Actually, always I am so lucky to have you by my side.

This is the German Coast Guard...

this commercial made Landon and I laugh so hard when we first saw it and has become a running joke in our household right now, anytime one of us uses the word "thinking". Enjoy!

B-R-I-C-K

So, Landon and I did our first brick workout today. The pool always looks so inviting as we swim laps around it at the gym, so we brought out swim stuff today and after our 3 mile run, we swam a 1/2 mile. Swimming was way harder than I remembered, haha! I was so out of breath--it's so different than running.
We did 2/3 of a super-sprint triathalon tonight--we were only missing a 12 mile bike ride. Fun!

Monday already?

It's weird how some weekends just absolutely fly by. They're filled to the brim and it's almost like before I know it, we're in bed again on Sunday night, setting the alarms clocks for Monday morning. This weekend was definitely one of those weekends, but it was so worth it.

After our ten miler on Saturday, we stopped at Home Depot to buy some wood for Landon to rebuilt part of the doggy door/ramp that had broken and headed home. Instead of relaxing for a few hours (like we like to do after a long run, but usually don't get to) the rest of the day was jam packed. After lunch Landon headed off to a poker tournament with some friends from work and I made some homemade pasta and sauce for a potluck/celebration event my whole family was going to for a meditative fitness program my brother is in. Though it was hectic getting there and my feet were tired from running, it was so nice to be there with my whole family and see what Matthew's been up to. It was also good to visit with my parents and Michael and his girlfriend, Ashlee--who are both about to leave to go to Oklahoma Christian University in about 3 weeks. I can't believe they're leaving so soon, but am so excited for what is in store for them--freshman year is so much fun and I know they'll have a blast together there!

One of the coolest things about the night is to see how clearly Matthew has taken a stand for Jesus and how clear he has made it that his goal for his life is to be more and more like Jesus--because out of all the people in his class in the program, he is the only Christian. And, when they gave out awards Matt got the most inspiring life vision/goal, which was so cool since he talks about his life goal/vision being more like Jesus. Both of my brothers are such amazing guys and it's cool to see them living out their faith like that, in situations when it'd be really easy not to. I'm so proud to be your sister, Mateo!

Sunday was even more packed, but just as fun. Landon was doing the communion prayer during first service at church, so we headed up there for church and class and then came home and changed and went down to Impact to serve the meal, which I love. I just love being there. Period.

Lauren and Brady, all decked out in aprons and gloves, ready to serve lunch

Landon and I, all ready too!

filling up the plates

the food runners waiting for plates to take out to people

part of the Impact congregation during lunch

Ben, Brandon, James, Tommy, Landon and Andrew serving up the seconds

James, Tiffany, Andrew, Brittany, Ben, Becky, Landon, me, Brandon, Brittnie, Tommy and Bryce about to head out and go to lunch

After all the food was gone and everything was clean, a group of us went to lunch at Freebirds (still not as good as Chipotle, but it was good), back to our house for a bit and then to see Harry Potter, which was awesome. Ben and Becky and I had rented the fifth one last weekend and watched it, so we were were all ready for this one! The book was way better and there was SO much they left out of the movie, but it was still really good. I can't believe we have to wait 2 years for the next one! Ahh!!

After the movie we went by Kroger and picked up some food for dinner/dessert and spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing and eating and playing Wii with Ben and Becky. When they ended up leaving because some people actually have to go to work on Monday (crazy), Landon and I sat on the couch and played Wii for another hour or so, which we never do anymore. It was the perfect ending to a really nice weekend.

We are so blessed by our family and our friends and this weekend and I so aware of how God has given us those good gifts, not to be taken for granted.

Marathon Training Week Twelve

Well, with week twelve of the marathon training behind us, we are officially almost in the single digits--only 10 weeks until marathon day! YIKES!! I've been online reading a lot about the Chicago marathon and pace groups and what to do during training and what to eat and how to make your time goals and all that kind of good stuff. We've been experimenting with gels and bars and sports beans and shot bloks (which are both of our favorites and the only thing that doesn't give me a stomach ache). And I think I've finally decided that finishing in 4:45 is my goal. I think it's pushing me some pace-wise, but doable for me and I'm going to really keep working on that pace for our long runs and for out longer Wednesday runs to train my body to keep that pace, because it's not my natural pace yet. Among other things, that's one thing Landon is awesome at, is knowing his pace and being able to just run at it--he's around a 9 minute mile pace, which I'm so jealous of. I've been struggling lately with feeling like I'm such a slow runner (my goal race pace for a 4:45 finish is 10:50, which I hate because it sounds SO SLOW) but I just keep telling myself that that's where I'm at right now and as much as I wish I could run with Landon and my dad and manage 9 minute splits, it's just now where I'm at right now. I just hope that when I finish the race in Chicago I'll finish knowing that I ran the best I could and be happy with that, even if it is slow. :)

It all makes me both excited and nervous about October 11th. A little more nervous than excited though--I mean, as much training as you do, 26.2 miles is still a really long way to go and, in all honesty, it still seems really far from where we are right now. But, I'm starting to feel like I can do this.

This last week was both a step up week (we increased our mid-week mileage) and a step down week (we only had to run 10 miles on our long run to prepare/rest for next week's 15 miler). We kinda did ourselves in though, because we did our long run last Sunday afternoon, instead of Saturday morning like normal, and it was 13 miles, our longest run yet, so basically we were still tired from it when we began our training on Tuesday. On Tuesday we just walked our 3 miles instead of running, trying to recover since our legs/feet were still feeling it. On Wednesday night though, we ran 7 miles ( a mile up from what we'd been running) and both pushed our pace--I managed to hold around a 10 min pace for the whole 7 miles, which is the fastest I've run that distance at since we started running at our own paces, which was exciting. And I was tired after, but neither of us were dead, which was nice. We had four miles on Thursday (a mile up from our usual 3 on Thursdays) and basically did the same thing.

We also measured the track that we're running on and figured out that it's just a little over a .1 track (.1046) which means little, unless you're running long distances around it, like we sometimes are. Basically, we figured out that for every mile we run, we're running 30 seconds faster than our watches say, because we're running a little further than a mile. So, we're not changing the amount of laps we run on it, but for us 30 seconds is a lot per mile, and it just gives us a little cushion knowing that we're actually running a little further than we think we are (or a little faster, depending on how you think about it). Hopefully that will help us with our paces on race day. Better to be running a little faster than our pace now, than a little slower!

By the time Saturday morning rolled around our legs were still a little tired and our feet were still a little sore from all of the pounding, but we got out there and ran 10 miles--it's funny how 10 miles has become a "short" long run! Ha! I had trouble finding my pace this time--I think I have this huge fear that I will start too fast and not be able to finish, but that's silly and I just need to get over it. My first mile I ran right around an 11 minute, then I dropped steadily over the next 3 until I was running a 13 minute mile and getting passed like crazy by my husband. At some point something clicked in my head and I knew I just had to kick it up and actually run. So I did and for miles 6-9 I was basically running at my race pace, which was cool. I was tired, but not dying, and I was able to use Landon to pace myself around the track and it helped A LOT, which gave me hope that the pace groups we're running with at the marathon will help a lot. I slowed down a little on mile 10 after Landon finished his run and then he was so sweet to come and run my last 1/4 mile with me to the finish. I ended up with an average pace close to my pace group time, as did Landon! And, we were still walking and talking and functioning, albeit a little tired, at the end. Now we just need to do that twice and add a 10k to the end and we're good to go!