And Here Are the Pics

I guess when running in WA you have to be ok with getting wet in the rain!!! It does help keep body temp down which is nice, I was still WAY too hot by the end of the race though.

Us waiting around in the rain for the race to start.

Shirts...I would rather have gotten them at the end of the race so as not to have so many layers on, I didn't really want to carry it while running so didn't have much choice but to put it on over the other layers I already had.

Our bibs.

My shirt and bib.

Fun Run For Tina

I am so irritated with blogger right now. I can upload the video but none of the pics. Whatever!

The race was great! We finished in 30.15, don't know if that is good time or not, but we don't really care about that. Our goal was to run the entire race and finish and we did that, even with a nice hill climb thrown in. We ran the whole way and I still felt really good crossing the finish line!

We are going to stick with 5K's for now, once we are totally comfortable with that we will move up in mileage.

A few things I was not expecting:
-The energy from being a huge crowd of people running like that
-It was hard to pull back and pace with so many people running faster and wanting to keep up with the pack
-How good it felt to hit the top of the hill and know that I just ran it and felt pretty good doing it
-Michelle's high 5's were perfectly timed
-The little kids marking the course along the way were amazing!!! They cheered for us and yelled at us to keep going
-Crossing the finish line and not wanting to stop running
-Trail shoes were the bomb, so glad I had them!

I had a blast and can't wait for the next run!

I will upload pics once I can get it to work.

Finish Line!

For some reason I can't add any more photos, so here is the video of us crossing the finish line.

It's Race Day

I'm so excited, today is the day! We check in at 8, race starts at 9. They have around 600 people participating, the trails are going to be crowded! I guess that makes my sisters advice that much more important...Don't Fall! I don't want 600 people trampling me!

I am excited to see how we do with the hills etc, see what our time is and at the same time remember a fallen officer and support a cause that was important to her.

I am running with my camera so will post pics later today.

Baby Update

Looks like we will have to wait until 2/1 for the ultrasound. She had an appointment today, but no ultrasound was done. The exciting news is she may be further along than thought, so baby could be here the end of April/beginning of May!

As soon as we know anything on the 2nd we will let you all know!

Excited Steeler Fans!

Thought I would share a few pics from Sunday. We always have so much fun watching games with Joey/at his house. Perfect set up for watching our favorite team!!!

Steelers!!!!

That's right...they are headed to another SB!!!


HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So happy...I have not stopped jumping around and yelling yet!

New Shoes

After my running post I received a phone call from my Dad asking if I would like running shoes and that he would send me a check if I did. Well I was not about to turn that down since we are now saving money for adoption legal fees and me not working for 3 months! While I was waiting for the check I was having on ongoing debate in my head do I get running shoes or trail shoes? I train on pavement, but my first race is a trail run, what to do.

That is where my sister, a marathon runner, comes in with some much needed advice! Since the majority of my running is on pavement running shoes would be best and would still work on the trails. Trail shoes are heavier and not as "nice" to run regularly in if you are a pavement runner.

Since I care more about my health and comfort while doing daily runs vs the occasional trail run, I decided regular running shoes was the way to go.

Turns out that Nike and New Balance just don't work for my feet, while there are other brands out there they don't feel great on my feet either, Asics have always been the only gym shoes I can wear, and it looks like they are the only running shoes that work for me as well.

As I was able to get a great deal on the above pictured shoes I was also able to get trail shoes (no picture of those) so now I am set for any kind of running I decide to take on!

Michelle and I are still doing great on our runs, and our last run (first one with my new shoes) felt great and was a faster pace than we had done before. We both felt great after and I'm getting excited for next weekends race!

I do find it a bit disturbing that I have more gym shoes now than I do dress shoes!

Steelers Football/American Idol

This is a two part post...trying not to get behind in my thoughts!

Steelers:
This post is a bit delayed...with all the excitement about meeting the birth mother and thinking about baby stuff the Steelers vs Ravens game was overshadowed, which I'm fine with. Baby/adoption stuff is MUCH more important!

I do have to say though that I am so excited we put the Ravens in their place!!! All the trash talking and shirts with obscene gestures on them served the purpose of firing up the Steelers and while the game was ugly it ended in a win.

Now we just have to get past the Jets and it is SB time again. I can't tell you how excited I was the Jets beat the Pats. I was not feeling confident about our (or anyone else) ability to beat the Pats, but once again trash talking and media hype served a purpose in that game as well and the Jets were the ones that came out fired up ready to prove something.

While the Jets are a good team and they did manage to beat the Pats, I still feel so much more confident in the Steelers ability to beat the Jets at home! I'm looking forward to game time Sunday!

American Idol:
Mark and I usually watch the auditions and then we stop watching and if we do start again it is only after the top 10 have been decided and we are hit and miss at best. The last few years I couldn't care less about AI.

This year that is all different though. Now that Steven Tyler is one of the judges I will be watching every Wednesday and Thursday night to fuel my long standing crush on him.

I was a little afraid he would not look so good in high def, after all he is getting up there, but oh my did he look good last night! He still has that naughty sense of humor and great smile. I enjoyed every second of watching him last night during the auditions. He is hilarious and he knows what he is talking about when he gives the contestants feedback.

I was a little surprised actually at how much I liked him and JLo as judges and think that this year is going to be a lot of fun to watch!!

Sorry Mark...you have to put up with me watching ST twice a week. :)

Recipe of the Week - Cranberry Pork Tenderloin

This is a recipe we received with a bottle of wine through the Sunset magazine wine club. Love the wine club and love every recipe I have tried so far! This felt like a dinner that would be great around the Holidays. I'm going to try and remember it for next year!

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. Olive Oil, divided
1 pork tenderloin (about 1 lb)
1/2 tsp each kosher salt and pepper
1 small red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce
2 tsp minced fresh rosemary leaves
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large frying pan, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium-high heat. Season pork with salt and pepper; brown lightly all over, about 5 minutes.

2. Transfer pork to a foil-lined 9 by 13 baking pan. Add remaining 1 tbsp oil to frying pan, reduce heat to medium, and add onion. Cook, stirring often, until softened, 3 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute, then pour in chicken broth, cranberry sauce, rosemary, and vinegar. Cook 2 minutes.

3. Pour hot cranberry sauce over pork and bake, uncovered, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of meat registers 160, about 20 minutes*. Let pork rest 10 minutes, then slice and serve with sauce.

*It took about 30 minutes for the pork to reach 160.

Adoption Update

I think I’m still trying to process that Mark and I are going to be parents soon! We have been in the adoption process for two years and have had a few opportunities that ended up not working out. Most of the time has been spent with no news, no paperwork, nothing going on other than waiting.

At times is has been frustrating, exciting, and heartbreaking. Through it all I have maintained that it will be the right baby, the right birth mom, at the right time. And, now it seems it finally is the right situation for us all the way around!

Mark and I were able to meet the birth mother that we have been in contact with for the last few weeks. Through email we had asked and answered a lot of big important questions and a lot of getting to know you questions and answers that were not so “big”. I have enjoyed exchanging emails and getting to know her so much. She has a wonderful outlook on life and people and has very similar beliefs and values to us.

While I was a little bit nervous to meet her, I was more excited than anything. It felt like we were catching up with an old friend due to all the emails we had exchanged. We visited with her and her mother for 3 hours and I could have easily stayed and talked all day with them. They are both amazing people and I feel so very fortunate to have this birth mother in our life.

I feel fortunate that she thinks Mark and I will be good parents to her baby, and is trusting us with the responsibility of raising this little person. I feel so honored and humbled at the same time.

We hope to know this week if it is a boy or girl, and have a better idea of the due date. I so look forward to the updates that she gives us about the baby kicking, music it seems to like etc.

Blue Friday

I find it interesting that today is Blue Friday, and MultiCare gave permission for people to wear Blue or wear their Hawks stuff, yet not a single person in the building I work in is wearing anything Hawks related or anything Blue.

What kind of fans are they?! If it were Black and Gold day I would be in head to toe Steelers stuff and waving my Terrible Towel all day!

Pathetic I tell, simply pathetic!

Most Important Thought About Running

I left off the most important thought about running, and I feel bad about it, because without Michelle I wouldn’t be running at all! I would not have registered for my first race or gone on training runs if Michelle hadn’t agreed to do it with me.

My most important thought is that I love running with Michelle and spending time with my best friend! She is perfect to run with because for one I like spending time with her and we get to talk and vent, about work not about the husbands, we run at the same pace so we aren’t leaving each other behind, and neither one of us wants to set any time records or whatnot. We just want to run, have a good time doing it, and at the same time work up to bigger and bigger challenges.

We certainly spend a lot of time partying and having fun together, so it is nice to spend time doing something healthy just the two of us, and sometimes with the kiddo’s, but us running with them in the strollers is a whole other story.

Thank you Michelle!

Thoughts on Running

-I am shocked every time I run at how much I'm enjoying it!

-Runners are super friendly! Especially when I'm running alone I always get a wave or a quick Hi.

-I prefer running in the rain and/or snow! Way less people out and let's face it I feel pretty bad a$$ running in the snow! (Michelle and I got caught in the snow last night and loved it!)

-My legs are sore All. The. Time. Just when they start to feel "normal" I go for another run.

-I would much rather run up hill than down, and actually walk most of the steep down hill's...it bothers my bad knee too much to run them.

-I love how much ground I can cover in my head when I'm running alone. Lot's of time to think and daydream or just clear the mind and enjoy putting one foot in front of the other.

-I feel a bit smug when I pass others on the trails.

-I also realize that I'm only running a 5K so the smugness is really not warranted. It is not like I'm super fast and/or running long distances. We are talking a little over 3 miles.

-Didn't realize how good it would feel to hit race mileage in a training run for the first time.

-I have gotten to the point that I'm willing to replace the Y with running, for 3 months anyway. I will suspend my Y membership this summer so I can run, walk, and bike to stay fit. Plus workout DVD's at home.

-The race the end of the month is a trail run...I don't want my shoes to be covered in mud! They are white, and are my gym shoes!

-Am I at the point that I need dedicated running shoes?

-Already wondering what our next race will be! :)

Adventures in Babysitting

Mark and I had Kiera and Grace Friday night so that Bob and Michelle could have an evening out/sleep in for their wedding anniversary. I love having the girls over and this was a treat because it is the first time we have had both girls overnight.

We had a great time, Grace is the best helper in the world when it comes to cooking and dishes. She wants to do it all, but is quick to tell me that she can't touch knives and she probably shouldn't touch the wine glasses. She also LOVES to help Mark. He is usually working on "boy" stuff like cleaning up the yard, in the garage or this weekend putting his winch back together. Grace was right there with him doing whatever he could find that was safe for her to do.

Thankfully both girls are great sleepers even if the do get up earlier than we do. Mark was smart enough to have us in bed by 9:30 though so that the early wake up call was not bad at all.
Kiera's funny moment: I was changing the 3rd or 4th messy, full to the brim diaper. I undid it and gagged and Kiera says "uh oh" and smiles.

Grace's funny moment: She must still think it is Christmas because she sung Santa Clause is Coming to Town for 30 minutes in the car and then at around 1 or 2 in the morning she was singing it in her sleep. The only reason we heard her is because she decided she wanted to sleep on the floor in our room so we had an early morning serenade.

Little Known Facts

There are a zillion odd facts about me, not sure why I feel like sharing them, but here you go. I probably shouldn't admit to some of these things, but oh well...I don't mind losing the few cool points I have left.

-I watch the new 90210
-I giggle at speed hump signs
-I want a zu zu pet
-I think there should be an announcement when I walk through the doors at work letting people know that I have arrived and my theme song should play
-My theme song is different almost every day and is usually an Aerosmith song
-I like watching wedding shows
-If I were a musician I would want to be just like Pink...a lot rock, a little pop, totally doesn't care what people think, but cares a lot about being honest and being a good person, and has a much better voice than people give her credit for
-I hate getting dressed every morning
-I still watch Friends when I find it on TV
-I still have no idea what my true dream job would be...it changes every few months
-I totally don't feel like a grown up
-Justin Bieber has grown on me (I really should not admit this one!)
-My super power would be morphing into a black panther at will
-I paint my toenails every two weeks because I was once told that my feet were ugly without polish
-While the Steelers are my fave team I pick who I want to win other games based on which teams DO NOT have cheerleaders
-I get motion sick on boats, elevators, most rides, sometimes trains and escalators, I also get air sick when I fly yet I LOVE flying
-I listen to Eminem way more than people would guess
-I have names for the spiders that randomly show up in the shower and I get sad when they get close enough that I feel like I have to kill them
-When I'm driving on a curvy road I pretend I'm a race car driver
-My fave number is 7
-I like songs that have the word satellite in them
-Yellow is my least fave color
-There is a part of me that wants to move to Montana and live so far out that we drive to town once a month for supplies
-If I had to choose only one thing to watch on TV the rest of my life it would be sports
-I wish I could stomach blood and guts better than I do
-I can easily go a whole day and not say a word to anyone
-I'm the most satisfied with my body when I'm at the gym/after a run tired, sore, and dripping sweat
-It stresses me out to be in the wrong lane while driving. Even if the turn is miles up the road I have to be in the right lane as early as possible
-I will only sing in the car to myself when I have the music up enough that I can't hear myself singing
-Would love to give roller derby a try just once
-I knit when watching movies
-The #1 reason I don't wear my glasses more even though I love them...my eyelashes hit the lenses when I blink
-I love watching our new washing machine spin
-I still hope that I will be able to do the splits someday
-I am terrified of clowns
-I don't like my food to touch on the plate
-Sometimes when I get up before Mark Saturday morning I watch cartoons
-I still color in coloring books
-I find Chad Ochocinco equally annoying and amusing
-It weirds me out to hire doctors that are my age or younger!
-I wish Mark and I spoke our own language so we could talk about people in check out lines without them knowing what we are saying
-I don't like bark dust as a landscaping option
-I love walking barefoot on grass
-It makes me smile when Roxette songs come on the radio

I could keep going...but won't.

Running into the New Year

A lot of people are fans of New Years Resolutions, I am not. I feel like being the best me possible is too important to think about once a year. I continually look at who I am and what I'm doing and tend to make "resolutions" every couple of months to keep myself on the right track.

I decided a month or so ago to run a 5K the end of January, and I have gotten several training runs in, two of them being much tougher than I was probably ready for realistically, but I managed.

So, for the first time ever I sort of have a resolution, and that is to keep running for now. I am finding that I like it WAY more than I thought I would. I am also in great cardio shape so my body does not hurt like it has in years past when I tried to run.

Mentally I have no desire to run for long distances so you won't catch me doing any marathons, but Michelle and I are already talking about finding more 5K type races that we can do.

So I guess you could say my resolution is to run the race the end of this month, and then after that pick another and keep on running.