Momentary Lapse of Sanity

For those curious as to my recent facebook posts mentioning a certain event involving extended physical activity, here is the scoop: I cave to peer pressure.


Well.. sort of. David and I have always talked about running a marathon. We started running right after we moved to Oregon and were living with his parents. But then I started work and he started school and I got pregnant.... you get the idea. No time, no desire, no running.

My sister-in-law, Raina, has started doing some really cool events--a kind of mini tri-athalon, really long bike rides, etc. She and her friend are now training to run a half-marathon. Raina tried really hard, pulling out all sorts of persuasive ideas, to get me to train and do the half with her. However, this was like 3 weeks ago, and the race is in like 5 weeks. I was still a bump on the couch at that point. And going from that to 13.1 miles in 8 weeks was NOT going to happen. No matter how much Raina tried to push. (Love you Rain!)

But, she did get me thinking more about it. David is all for getting me to run A) more often and B) a half-marathon. So in talking more to Raina and David I finally decided to set a goal to run a half-marathon. I even signed a sort of contract, with David, about how often I will work out, how hard, etc. He is also acting as a sort of coach for me, since he used to run track and knows a few tricks. But he is doing it all with me as well, which is really nice.

So yesterday we ran 2 miles--something I haven't done since we moved here, and I felt pretty good about it. But yesterday we also realized/decided that we need an actual date in mind for running the half, otherwise we are bound to just stop and forget about it again. So last night we found a half-marathon pretty close to us, that is just about the right time frame for our training. August 4, 2012 is Forest Grove--The Greater Portland Half-Marathon.

Now, this is something I A) have not had a desire to do until recently and thus B) never thought I could do. But I'm going to do it and I'm actually really excited about! After we decided on the day last night I started thinking about looking up various training methods and schedules and figuring out the right equipment and clothing to have. I'm excited for it now and really want to do it.

So in a little over 14 weeks I will be crossing the finish line of my first half-marathon. Woohoo!

Best Dressed Award

Check out who was the best dressed baby at church on Sunday!

I just love JCPenney clearance finds!

I know, I'm spoiled...

Why do you ask? (Well, my siblings could probably name a dozen or more reasons) My reason: I got to see WICKED again!! Wicked was in Portland this March/April and David and I got tickets to see it with our dear friends the Hornibrooks. We saw the matinee on Saturday, April 7. The show was FANTASTIC!! Now, don't get me wrong, we enjoyed the time we saw it in Boise, but to be honest, this one was SOOOO much better. I think it was the atmosphere, the staging and the production in general. It was just so good! And now David understands (for real) why I love it so much!

We ran into my cousin Sarah and aunt Margaret after the show, as they had been to see it too. That was a pleasant surprise! When they found out that this was my *cough* fourth time seeing the showing, they asked which was my favorite. I have to admit, it is hard to beat the first time I saw Wicked (second day in London), but this one was definitely close. And I just have to say that that actress who played Glinda was hysterical! I've never seen a Glinda soo funny!

It was a fabulous day!

Too good for the Army Crawl

A few posts back I predicted that Eli would probably skip the army crawl and go straight to regular crawling. Well, I was right. Check it out:

Eli made his first crawling steps about 3 weeks ago. During finals week Eli and I disappeared to my parents' house to let David focus on taking tests. (To be honest though, I think he focused on us more because we were gone than he would have if we had been home. Oh well! It was a nice visit). Anyway, just after we arrived at my parents' Eli made his first crawling attempts. A few days after that he put it together and hasn't looked back since.

Since he is so much more mobile, he is now more adventurous and into everything!!! Which is why my house it only clean sometimes. :) ( See previous post) He is also working on pulling himself up to standing. He has figured out how to get to his knees and I'm sure getting to his feet is not far behind. Oy!

"Housekeeping" Revisited

For my loyal readers who are curious, and asked, how my house cleaning plan would and is working, this post is for you.

I'm happy to say that my plan is going pretty well. Of course it's not perfect, but things are much better. My house gets cleaned, and (sometimes) stays that way. :) (Eli has started his reign of mess and destruction so the front room often looks much to be desired :)). The nice thing about my plan is that rather than seeing my messy house and becoming completely overwhelmed that the whole house needs to be cleaned, thus leading to procrastination and it never getting done, I have my one chore/area to do a day. This actually encourages me to get it done, because once it is done, I am done! So the chores actually happen and my house actually gets cleaned.

The worst day is probably Monday because very little gets done over the weekend, so the kitchen is a big mess and takes longer. But other than that, the days aren't too bad. It is nice to feel like keeping my home clean is manageable, and not overwhelming.

So, there it is. And to add to the goodness--since I have a set plan, I'm still doing it. It didn't turn into one of those fabulous ideas that happens for a week and then is over. This is something I'm able to keep up with, and I love having clean home. :)