Friday Sawyer Videos

Here are a couple new Sawyer videos I wanted to share as a weekend kickoff.
Yes, we will probably regret showing Sawyer how to feed our dog but it just cracked him up so much we couldn't help it. He also recently learned how to climb my parent's stairs and he is super fast!


 FEEDING BOWIE



CLIMBING STAIRS

Anniversary Getaway

John really impressed me this past weekend. He planned a sweet little anniversary trip, just the two of us, to Branson. If you know John he isn't always the best at surprises. After a botched proposal plan (read story here), Branson is where John popped the question in April of 2010. The trip he planned this past weekend was in memory of that. We stayed at the Hilton like we did that night 3 years ago, had dinner, shopped, visit the Piano bar and even had breakfast at the same cute little café the next morning. It was exactly what we needed. This time thought we also visited Stone Hill Winery for their tour and tasting, we had a great time.

Thanks John for being so thoughtful and planning a getaway for us, I loved every minute!

Sawyer's send-off

Stone Hill Wine Tasting

Margarita toast before we head out for the evening

Dinner at Cantina Laredo

Drinks at the Piano Bar

Breakfast at Farmhouse

We may have over-shopped :) Mostly for Sawyer

Was pooped after a weekend at Grandpa & Grandma's

SUC Training: Week 2

SUC Course Map

Week 1 is complete and went way better than anticipated. On multiple occasions I thought  “I can do way more that this”, but knew I should pace myself as to avoid injury with 9 weeks left. My cross training for this week was Body Combat which is a mix of high cardio, kick boxing and martial arts. Saturday I did Hot Yoga (http://www.sumitshotyogasgf.com/) which is a mix of stretching, balance and strength. I was sore most days but not too bad. For my running, I did 3 days of  interval running  (3 mins fast walk, 5 mins. fast run for 3 sets)  which added up to 2.5-3 miles.

Week 2: This week will be similar with just more running of course. I ran yesterday for Day 1 and plan to run tonight and Friday. And I will cross train on Wednesday and Saturday. Resting days will be Tuesday and Thursday. I bought some new workout gear this weekend and I am in love with Gap’s new Fast Compression running pants. I wore them for my run yesterday and had zero knee pain, hopefully this wasn’t a coincidence.

To End my training post I want to share Gandi’s 10 fundamentals for changing the world that my yoga instructor shared on Saturday. I found it very inspiring and motivational, Since I have 10 weeks of training, I thought it would be perfect to focus on one for each week of my training.   

1. Change yourself.

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

2. You are in control.

And as you realize that no-one outside of yourself can actually control how you feel you can start to incorporate this thinking into your daily life and develop it as a thought habit. A habit that you can grow stronger and stronger over time. Doing this makes life a whole lot easier and more pleasurable.

3. Forgive and let it go.

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

4. Without action you aren’t going anywhere.

“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”

5. Take care of this moment.

“I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.”

6. Everyone is human.

“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.”

7. Persist.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

8. See the good in people and help them.

“Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men.”

9. Be congruent, be authentic, be your true self.

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

10. Continue to grow and evolve.

”Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.”

Year 2.....going strong

love!

John and I celebrate our 2nd year of marriage today!! Last year we celebrated with me being about 9 months pregnant unaware that our son would be entering the world in just 3 short weeks. This year we have an almost one year old and our life together is the best it has ever been after 13 years together. I am so happy with how parenthood has strengthened our relationship and taught us how to love each other even when we are going on 1 hour of sleep and covered in spit up and snot. We have learned that you have to be unselfish or you just won't survive and that sweating the small stuff only makes life harder. Seeing John as a father has made me love him even more as a husband, I love his sensitive side and the way he gleams when Sawyer says "dada".  John had planned a surprise trip for us this weekend to Branson to celebrate, unfortunately I found out we were going but am still unaware of the details. I can't wait for our little getaway.

John - thanks for all the support, love and laughter, for making me love everyday together and look forward to many more years hand in hand. We have so many more amazing memories to make and I just can't wait!
Love you dearly!

Sawyer at 4 days old, one of our happiest moments yet.

We're MARRIED!

First look

First Dance as husband and wife.

Best Day Ever!!

Our Honeymoon in Cabo

Engagement Photos 

Cabo 

Tortola!!! 

Never a dull moment

Embrace the SUC

This is one intimidating moto

I have always loved a challenge; usually the ones that scare me are the ones that give me the most motivation. A coworker had asked me to join his team for the Springfield Urban Warrior Challenge (a.k.a. SUC) a few weeks back and at first I thought “no way can I be ready for that after taking so much time off “ but after a good week of thinking about it I changed my mind to “What’s the worst that can happen?” Plus, I have this new belief that if I can go through 12 hours of labor I can do just about anything I put my mind to. I still have fears of failing and letting my team down but decided this was a challenge I can take on. For those of you that don’t know, the SUC is a 12.4 K adventure race that involved challenges/obstacles throughout the course. MSU’s Army ROTC designed it and it is no joke going to be intense. We have a team of 4 (2 girls 2 guys). Thanks Team for asking me to be a part of this, I am excited to see how we do. Here is the site for more details: http://www.embracethesuc.com/

an obstacle from the website

I have run lots of 5Ks and even trained for a full marathon through Team In Training in 2005. Although, I ended up only being able to run the half marathon at the advice of my doctor due to my knee/plica issues, I finished the St. Louis Half Marathon at 2 hours and had no issues at all But that was 7 years ago, so I have a lot of training I need to do but at least I know I can set a goal, train and finish.

another obstacle option

I have 10 weeks until the race on April 6 and I decided blogging about my training would hold me accountable and help me stick to my plan. I stated yesterday and it honestly wasn’t as bad as I thought. My plan is to blog each Monday about my training the week before and how it went and with my goals for the current week. If anyone has suggestions or recommendation I would love to hear them. Plus I could always use the support. Luckily my husband has been amazing, agreeing to keep Sawyer when I go to train and even said they would be at the race cheering me on.

MY GOALS FOR WEEK 1:

I will do 3 days of running (between 2.5-3.5 miles) and 2 days of cross training (yoga, body pump, cycling, etc) for week 1.

Yesterday for my first day, I ran 2.5 miles at a steady 6.0 pace. Then did stretching, sit-ups and pushups. John, Sawyer and I also got outside and went for a 45 minutes trail walk since the weather was so nice. I am just a little sore today but not too bad. My knee gave me a little trouble when we were walking hills on the trail but it feels fine today.

I am planning on my week going a little something like this:

Tonight:  Run

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: Run

Thursday: Cross train

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Cross train

I’ll give a full update next week!