Here I go!!

Wow!!! A whole year and only 1 posting. 2010 I guess was just way too busy for me, hahaha. Ok so this year I hope to do a bit more with my blogs. I promise!!! (This is for you Cindy and Jodi).
So here goes: My promises ( not resolutions) for 2011:

I promise to post at least once a month on my blog. I will honestly try to do it more than once, but I promise to get on here at least once. And I will even try to include a picture here and there, I know it's not a difficult process so there's no reason why I can't do it more often, but I figure monthly is a good start.

I promise to get more debt paid off. I did pretty good last year getting everything except my visas paid off. And I've done a good job and not charging on the cards that I did pay off. But Will and I are hopefully planning a trip to Hawaii this year so I know one of the cards will get that added to it, but at least the other one can get paid off.

I promise to keep healthy. Everything in moderation. I know I can't consume the whole pan of brownies, and I know I need to hit the gym at least a couple days a week, but I will not dwell on fallbacks, and I will not punish myself if I don't go out for that run. I know I won't have the body of Halle Berry but this is the body God gave me and the only one I have so I best take care of it.

I promise to be more patient. Patience is a virtue, and it's not a virtue I have been good with. So I will learn to take a deep breath when needed and accept things more graciously.

So there you have it. My first post for 2011. Quick and painless. My next one will have pics. I promise!!!

Half Marathon Training

Ok, so I'm putting it out there!!!! I want to run the Salt Lake Half Marathon next April!!!! I am upping my running schedule to try to get to running the 13.1 miles without feeling like I'm dying. Currently I'm up to doing 4 miles 3 times a week. So I think that in 4 months I should be good. And now that I've officially put it out there, I feel that I will HAVE to complete it. Cindy has mentioned that she would like to join me, so here's to Team Sista getting it done!!!!

Love Your Body 5K

So I can finally cross off "run a 5K" from my bucket list. Today was my very first 5K race. I have been doing the C25K (couch to 5K) training for the past couple months. It slowly works your endurance up to doing a run the length of a 5k (3.1 miles). Becky asked me a couple weeks ago if I would be interested in doing this with her. I loved the idea but was a bit unsure if I would be up to it. Even during my training runs, I really have to push myself to go longer than 3 minutes at a time. But I decided that it sounded like fun, so sign me up!!!

We did the Wasatch Woman's Love Your Body. It was for women only, no boys allowed!! What a great one to start with. It took place at Sugarhouse Park. Becky had asked if my family was going to come and root me on. I didn't really think about it. I figured it would be boring for them to sit around for 15 minutes waiting for me to come along and go past them in a few seconds.
They had what they call Diva night the night before where we got to pick up our t-shirt and running number and even a timing device that we had attached to our shoes. Wow!!! A real race with real times!!!

So we got to the park this morning, they had a lady on top of a van helping us all do our stretches, then they called the 10k runners to the line and they headed off. We had to wait about 8 minutes for our turn. So we stood in our groups waiting for the release. When we were finally able to go, Becky and I were doing a nice smooth kind of slow pace. But it was perfect. I had my watch on just in case I needed to check my timing, but I tried to just listen to my music and not pay attention to the time. We made it to the 1st mile when I realized that we hadn't stopped once yet. We hit that first mile at just past 13 minutes. There were a lot of families that were not only cheering on their own runners, but everyone else, that really helped. Then as we started coming down a hill, I mentioned to Becky that it would have been nice if my family had come to cheer us on. She said I should just visualize them on the sides. But as we got to the bottom of the hill, I looked over to the water station and there they were!!!! My husband Will and daughter Jodi were standing there with our dog Carlie and cheered me on. It almost made me cry, but I was already getting sweat in my eyes, tears just would not work. So Becky and I trudged on!!! We only had to walk 3 times when we hit the hills on the 2nd lap, and they were only about 20 second walks. I was so proud of us!!! I have NEVER been able to run for that long before. When it was over, I felt like I could keep going. We promised that next year it would be the 10k we would be doing.

I finished 346 out of 741 runners for the 5k. I was 141 in my age group out of 288. My finish time was 36:50. WOOT WOOT!!!!

How bout this pedi??

I went for my spring pedi. I usually just get a color on the tip with a pretty flower on the big toe. But the lady doing my pedi said since I have big nail areas, I should get a ****. I thought she was saying flag. (they do flag designs, too). I liked the flags but it's sooo Julyish, and I like my pedi designs to be around for a few months. But then she showed me the plaid and I absolutely loved it!!! So I jumped at the chance. Here's how they turned out.

Take me out to the ballgame!!

My sister Cindy got tix to the Buzz game (minor league baseball), so I took Jodi with me. There we met up with Cindy, Chris & their daughter Anna, then a bit later mom and sis Tanny came. The game was fun, but it seemed we spent more time just chatting and visiting. Anna got to meet the Bee so we got some pics while she was waiting for an autograph.

Our seats were in the 13th row, so we were really close to the action, even closer than these pics seem.

Here's Cindy and Chris.

And here's the rest of us. Anna, Me, Jodi, Mom & Tanny.

My cheap Home Depot Amaryllis Plant Has Bloomed

I bought a couple Amaryllis bulbs from Home Depot a couple years ago for Christmas. I followed the directions, but nothing every happened with them. All I got were these long green leafy things, but never a flower. Then I went to Western Gardens and they had a whole bunch of the plants that had flowers, so I asked what I did wrong. They gave me some new instructions, that included not watering them at all, and letting the leafy things die back, this gives the energy to the bulb itself so it can produce the flower. They I was to put them in a darker area away from the natural light. I didn't do this part, but I got a flower anyway. The leafy part started to get a bit thicker and started to stand upright. (See pic #2).A few days later we saw the beginnings of the flowers start to appear. And within a week, we had 2 very large flowers. They are so pretty and pink. I love them, now a 3rd one has appeared. I can't get the other bulb to do this, so I'll have to try putting it in the dark and see if it will snap into action.

Here's my star flower!!!

Cuddlebuggin'

I just love it when my animals all get along. But I do worry when they really really "get along". On days when I just can't locate one or another, I can usually end up finding them cuddlebuggin together. And it doesn't matter if it's feline with feline or feline with canine. I really don't know if they know they are different.

But at least they all get along great. Huh??