Dear Diary.

Do you keep a diary? I've never been very good at keeping up with daily entries, so I've never kept a diary for more than a week. For awhile there I came to think of this blog as sort of my diary and in a way it still is.... only to be honest I don't share all my deepest secrets with the internet. But even my blog has at times been difficult to keep up with. I just sometimes feel like I don't have anything to say. The other day I was staring at one of my bookshelves trying to decide what I wanted to read next (I'm trying not to buy any new books until I at least finish one book from my shelf). I noticed a little book in the corner there. It was a five year "One Line a Day" Journal. My cousin Katy had given it to me as a birthday present and I had never started using it, probably because I wanted to start on January first. But I was inspired so I've started all the way at the end of the year!

I think it will be very fun to see what I was thinking or doing on any particular day five years from now. Since it only gives you enough space for a sentence or two the commitment isn't a big one.

Since I know I haven't blogged everyday I can't go back to Nov. 8 2011 or 2010 and see what I was blogging at the time... but I can get close...

Nov. 2011
I didn't even blog a single time in November of 2011.... so this comes from September.

Nov. 2010
Really big surprise here.... I was talking about being burned out on reading...

When I look back I can see how much I've changed in some ways... and how little in other ways. I will forever be trying to read, blog, and run more!!

Vote.

Yesterday, November 6, 2012, was Election Day here in the USA. While many stood in lines for hours around the country I had already placed my vote days ago via absentee ballot. To be honest I felt done with this election months ago. I don't even have cable and I was sick of the political ads, roadside signs, as well as all the election talk. I feel like in the past few months our country has been slogged down by our differences. All the money that was spent on negative campaign ads is disgusting. Neither side is better than the other when it comes down to the hate that they spewed at each other. I feel like the day after a presidential election we have to start picking up the pieces.  It doesn't matter if you voted blue or red. Now is the time to start working together. There should be no sore losers or sore winners. There is too much at stake to not come together to work it out. I don't really like to talk politics. Mostly because I get angry and feel really small, but if there is one thing I believe in it's this: if we work against each other no one wins. America isn't going to be in shambles four years from now if we can work through our differences. I really think most Americans feel this way. We are sick of politics. We are sick of both the Democrats and the Republicans. So anyways... that's enough of my incoherent ramblings...

Yesterday I had a thought. I was at work, frustrated and wanting to go home. I thought to myself, "Gosh, I want a glass of wine." Then I had another thought, "I used to let out my frustrations with a nice long run.... not a glass of wine." My knee injury has of course been an issue for me lately.... but I need to get back to NEEDING to run. I hope my thought doesn't lead you to thinking I might have a problem with consumption... while I enjoy a glass of wine from time to time I didn't think to myself, "I NEED a glass of wine."

So off I go right now... The sun is shining, my ipod is charged, and my running shoes are on!

November.

Welcome to November. Wow, where has the year gone?! Time seems to be flying by at a ridiculously fast speed lately. I feel like I can't keep up! Wasn't I just celebrating the coming of Summer?! Now it's time to start thinking about turkey and Christmas present. This weekend is the start of the holiday bazaars in town and although I alway enjoy them, I just can't seem to wrap my mind around the fact that this year is only 60 days away from being complete.

I haven't been very good about my resolutions this year. To be honest I've failed spectacularly..... but I'm not letting that get to me. 2012 has been an amazing year, one of my best yet. I have no doubt that the last few months will be just as fantastic.

Since it is the first day of the month I think I will do something I haven't done in a while... set some goals for the month!

November Goals:

1. Cook dinner 3 times a week.
2. Run 3 times a week. Any distance, just get out there!
3. Try to have a majority of my Christmas shopping done by the end of the month.
4. Try 3 new recipes.
5. Make an effort to show my loved ones how special they are to me.

Ok... five goals for the month! Wahoo! I'm excited. Some of these goals are connected to my year-long resolutions and are meant to save me money, get active and lower my holiday stress level!

I guess the holidays sort of started last night with Halloween. We had a great time walking downtown as my nephew Buzz Lightyear (Callen) trick-or-treated. The rain almost held off for the first hour then the black clouds rolled in and let out buckets of sideways rain. That was when I was grateful my costume included an umbrella!

Mary Poppins.

Cowgirl (Josephine)
Buzz (Callen)
Witch (Madeline)

Bert and Mary Poppins

Cute Family!

The Bean Trees.

Sometimes I finish reading a book that I've enjoyed so much that I want to read everything the author has printed.  In the cases of Markus Zusak, Emily Giffin, and Anita Shreve to name a few, this has been a great way to find new books that I've loved. But lately I've been left wanting when it comes to reading other works by the same author. The last two novels I've had to really push through to even complete. The most recent being, The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. Back in the days of trying to complete 100 books in a year I read The Poisonwood Bible also by Kingsolver. I devoured the book, in fact I would even go so far as to say it is one of my top five favorite books I've ever read. So when I went to pick up another Kingsolver novel, lets just say I had some high expectations. Don't get me wrong The Bean Trees is well written and Kingsolver tells an interesting story that causes you to think about some deep ethical issues.... but I wasn't captured by this book. I was looking for a novel that would wrap me up in its pages and not let go until I finished reading the very last page. 

I'm feeling very disconnected from reading. I need the next book I pick up to really capture my attention so I can feel like a reader again!

In other news....

Brian and I took a little weekend trip to visit my oldest brother Marcus in Yakima. We had an awesome time exploring central and eastern Washington. The weather was still summery and we were blessed to have the smoke from nearby forest fires clear for most of our trip. I always have a relaxing time when I visit Yakima.... It is the Palm Springs of Washington after all...

A day of wine tasting!

We came back with some amazing peaches.... so Carly, my Mom and I spent a day canning!

It was so much fun... really, it was!
Great girl time!

We also brought back a couple of bottles...
It is really difficult to leave a tasting room without buying a bottle!

Since then Fall has fallen here in Western Washington and we again begin our countdown for Hawaii!!
62 DAYS!

The Angel's Game.

I don't know if you've noticed, but the same book has been featured in my, "What I'm Reading Right Now" column since.... oh... January. I started The Angel's Game on my trip to Hawaii. After getting about half-way through I just needed to read something a little more beachy than this gothic mystery. Since then I've started a few more books, some of which I have even finished! But a few others that I haven't. I began to feel a little weighed down by all of my bookmarked novels. So I did something about it. I finished a book...and.... I'm going to review it!

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

You know when you read a book and you fall in love? It feels like you were meant to read that particular book at that particular moment in your life and that the author wrote the book just for your eyes? That was kind of the feeling I had when I finished The Shadow of the Wind, also by Ruiz Zafon. Read my original book review here: The Shadow of the Wind. So I had some pretty high hopes for The Angel's Game. 

I originally purchased it as a Christmas present for my Dad in 2011. We had both Enjoyed Ruiz Zafon's writing so I thought it would be a nice present.

I have to say that I did not have the same deep feelings this time around. The Angel's Game is a mystery full of dozens of characters all with Spanish names. I think I lost some of the magic (and possibly understanding) by not picking the book up for so many months. When I finished the last pages I felt like I missed something.... that some major theme or plot was lost on me.

I suppose I can't recommend this book to everyone.... If you've read The Shadow of the Wind and enjoyed it... then please read The Angel's Game and then call me so we can discuss!

In other news.... I'm so proud of my Papa! My Dad is a homebrewer and won Best in Class at this year's Kitsap County Fair for one of his beers! Since this is one of the beers I watched boil I'm taking a little bit of the credit!

There Ya Go.....

It seems to be a common theme with me... I make all these resolutions, I succeed on a few but overall I feel a little disappointed with myself. I feel like I need to spend more time baking, reading, cooking, blogging, gardening, scrapbooking, running, or taking photos. I want to be able to be better at all the things I call my hobbies AND keep up on chores around the house, family time, as well as pinterest time. What I found when I was attempting to read 100 books in a year is that you can't devote yourself 100% to something without the other things suffering. This year seems to be the year of 'a little bit of everything.' 

So, when I finish a book, try a new recipe or even just cross something off my bucket list.... I get really excited!!! 

If you read my last blog then you know I road The Duck in Seattle!!! Not a difficult thing... but is still something that has been on my list for a while now! Wahoo!

I also tried a new recipe!!! I feel like I should get another pat on the back for the fact that it came from Pinterest. Never heard of Pinterest? I'm hesitant to tell you about it because it will become the biggest time-suck you've experienced since Facebook. But... I'll tell you about it anyways and just not invite you to join! It is an online bulletin board. A bunch of pictures (weddings, recipes, exercise ideas, quotes) that link to the original website where you can find the full information or in my case the recipe! You find something that you enjoy then save it to your board. Most of these things are then never looked at again.... certainly never created.

About a week ago one of the cooks at my work was talking about how amazing his garden was and that he had a million zucchinis. I exclaimed, "I looooove baking zucchini bread!" So we made a deal that if he brought me the veggies I'd bake the bread! 

Blueberry Zucchini Bread!

I ended up making three loaves and still have several zucchini left over! I shared some at the Stella and Dot party and it seemed to be a success. Here's a link to the tasty bread.

Look at me, I'm so productive right now..... I even went for a run today!!!!

It was my first solo attempt at my walk/run strategy. And I must say it was a success! I've decided on a run 4 minutes/ walk 1 minute ratio. I did this for several reasons. Partly because I want to run as much as possible.... but mostly because it is easier to remember when to run or walk when you stay on a five minute schedule rather than a 4 minute one. Run on the 5's and 10's and walk on the 4's and 9's. I did this for 3 miles. My pace was painful.... around 10:30 ( I was down in the 9 min/mile range!) but my knee wasn't in any pain even after the run. If I can finish this marathon under 13 minute miles I think that would be awesome.... we'll just have to see how my speed walking goes!

So there ya go on my most recent updates! I'm going to leave you with a photo I took recently that has turned into a new favorite! Just a jar with some corks in it.... but there is something about it that I just love.... maybe it's the strategically placed anniversary cork?! 

Happy Birthday to You.

We all know how much I love my birthday. Since it is a national holiday I would be surprised if it didn't come printed on your calendar. ;)

Well it turns out I also like celebrating other people's birthdays!

Last weekend (August 12, 2012) was Brian's 30th!!! (Which just so happens to be the day after my half-birthday.... but I only brought that up a couple of times!)

Since it is a pretty important birthday I wanted to make it extra special, something he'd remember forever. So I started scheming and planning a surprise for him. The problem was... I'm awful at keeping secrets and I started planning waaaaaay too far in advance. By some miracle I was able to keep him mostly in the dark about what we were going to do. He knew we were going to celebrate his birthday on the 11th.... and he had the idea that we might be going to the Seahawks preseason game vs. the Titans. I tried my best to throw off his guesses and had him somewhat confused about what we were going to be doing. Especially when he found out we were going to be on the 8:45 ferry to Seattle (the game was at 7 p.m.).

Throughout the day he opened a series of cards that told him what we would be doing next.

His first card told him to get to go on the ferry! 

Me and the birthday boy on the ferry!

At the end of the ferry ride he got to open the second card.

Took him a minute to figure out we were going.....

....On the Duck!

It was fun to be tourists in our own city.

It was also fun when Brian had to do the chicken dance in the middle of Lake Union!

The third card....

Ride the brand new Seattle Great Wheel!!

I recommend buying your tickets online in advance like we did, you skip the 20-30 minute wait at the ticket booth!

It was such a perfect beautiful day!!!

Turns out I over planned! We had a ton of time before the next part of our next adventure!

We walk around awhile until he opened the next card & present from my parents....

Tickets to the Seahawks game!!!

He then got to open the fifth and final card....

Dinner at Pyramid Brewery!

Mmmmm beer!

The biggest surprise for him?! 

His friends were there and going to the game with us!!!

It was so much fun setting up the day for him and I was so relieved when it went off without a hitch!

And I'm not going to lie I enjoyed it probably as much as he did!

Check out the mug I painted for him at Dancing Brush in Downtown Poulsbo!

Happy Birthday Boo! Love you.

The New Workout Plan.

Running is hard on your body. It seems to be even harder on my body. I am more than a little injury prone. My most recent injury has me thinking that perhaps I need to rethink my training plan. In a perfect world I could run everyday as far and as fast as I like. We all know we live in a less than perfect world and my training is even further from perfect. I'm constantly learning how to train smarter for my body. The first step was to have rest days between runs. I then incorporated cross-training into my training. But even a smart runner can become injured simply from the constant pounding incurred from running every other day at a moderate pace. So what's a gal to do? Not running is not an option. Not racing is also not an option. So I've been researching other training programs. Programs that don't just have you adding miles to your long run every week. So here is the new plan I'm going to be using for the remainder of my marathon training.

http://www.rundisney.com/training/#disneyworld-marathon

If you know me at all... then you know I love me some Disney. I've looked into this method before, but always felt it was a little bit wimpy. Run/walk/run..... I just want to run! But reality is a funny thing and I'm not laughing about all the injuries I've had in the last two years. This seems to be the easiest on your body. And let's be honest... I'm much too young to feel this damn old. 26.2 miles is going to be incredibly difficult no matter how I complete it.

The time limit of the Bellingham Bay Marathon is 6 hrs. That is the only time constraint I'm willing to put on myself. I just need to be a little under 14 minute miles. Run 3 minutes at 10 minute mile pace walk 1 minute. Easy does it.

I ran 3 miles straight yesterday (after my motivational blog post) without pain. I was a little sore the rest of the day, but I'm taking this as a sign of improvement.... that all the resting is paying off!

Finish.

The most common theme of my blog is obviously me writing about how lazy I feel. No, I haven't been running enough. No, I haven't been eating well. No, I don't really have any books to update (except some smutty romance novels). No, I haven't been working on my resolutions.

Pretty much I feel like this is the most depressing post I could possibly start my morning with!

I could either do the easy thing and keep on having my lazy summer or today could be the day I start to make a change. 

So here is the deal. There is no more, "next week I'll get back to training," It's now or never. I'm running (pun intended!) out of weeks here! The marathon is soooooo soon. Am I ready? No. Will I be ready? No. It doesn't matter. I'll never be ready. 26.2 miles is insane. I'm fairly certain I don't have enough self discipline to train hard enough to run the entire way. I've tried. It doesn't matter what time of year I'm training or if I have a boyfriend or not. I'm just not willing to dedicate my entire life to running. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE RUNNING. I love the way it makes me feel. I love the way it makes me look. I love that it is one of my hobbies. But here is the thing, I stand on my feet 6+ hours a day and going for a 15 mile run after that isn't always appealing. So what am I trying to say? Am I just not going to do the marathon I signed up for in Bellingham? Am I wimping out?!

No.

I'm going to do it. I'm just readjusting my game plan. The goal has always been to finish. But in the back of my head I always had this idea that I would run the entire way, you know, keep pace with my half marathon time and finish with glory! 

Here is the new plan, a plan that takes reality into consideration.

Run/walk/run/walk/run/walk/run/walk...... to infinity and beyond!

I know, it's not a really fancy plan, but it's not something I really considered before. It is still going to be hard to complete 26.2 miles even doing this, and I'm going to hate myself for my lazy training, but it's doable. 

I even have an updates mantra..... 

Run.

Walk.

Crawl.

Roll.

FINISH.

Conquer it!

So there you have it. I feel a little bit less lazy just from blogging! 

IT

Give or take a few missed photo opportunities, the last post was everything I'd eaten Monday-Friday of last week.  I'd like to make this a more common challenge for myself. It keeps me VERY aware of the food on my plate.

I haven't really done a book update in months. To be honest I've been a very lazy reader. Twelve books. That's it. That is all I've read this year. I don't remember the last time my number was so low. I'm kind of embarrassed about it. What makes it worse... is that three of them are smutty romance novels! I just don't feel like committing myself to books right now. I'm reading.... just very slowly. So for now I'm hoping that soon I will feel inspired to spend more time reading!

Maybe if the sun came out I'd feel the need to spend all of my free time hanging out on a beach blanket in my bikini reading book after book. Looking outside that seems like a dream further away than winning the lotto.

I'm actually willing to bet some of my hard earned money that if the sun came out I'd be more inspired to do lots of things on my to-do list!

Like run more?

I'd love to!!!!! But.... I've been having some knee pain. It wasn't a big deal until last week when it stopped me mid-run. I was at mile three and suddenly running wasn't an option. I took a few days off but it is still kinda bugging me. I haven't been able to complete my long run in two training weeks. I'm freaking out a little. Yesterday the chiropractor told me that it seemed like I had strained my IT band. A tendon that runs from your hip to your knee. A very common running injury. Ok tendons, here's the deal. I'm sick of you getting warn out! This running thing puts a lot of strain on the body! So for now I'm taking it easy for a few more days... stretching like a maniac.... busting out my foam roller and praying for the best.

The marathon is less than three months away. There is no time for injury!!!!

That's a lot of food.