Gardening in the Fall

Cheyenne and I pulled the weeds from the garden bed. We also pulled the dead vegetable branches. I promise next year, I will master tomato gardening! I promise!  I know my mom and Trey's mom would love that.

The main thing I've learned about gardening is that I can easily maintain the herbs. Last week, I bought lemon grass, lavender and replenished my cilantro and rosemary. A few plants are not pictured because I hadn't planted them, yet.  The other herbs still remain: oregano, mint, thyme, and basil.

I use the herbs often (pretty much everyday) and usually in a big salad. The least used herb is the mint. We'll see if I use the lavender. I honestly don't think I've ever knowingly had lavender. When I think of it, I think aroma therapy.

I plan on nurturing the garden bed until the winter. Actually, I think a few of them are evergreens, so they should last thru the cold weather. Yesterday, it was 92 degrees, so I'm not worried about any cold fronts happening, anytime soon.

Lately, I've been good about hand watering the area, although last night I didn't. Luckily, it rained. It seems like I can get away with not watering the rosemary for days and it still thrives. Also, it's amazing how quick the plants bounced back, especially after I neglected them for a few weeks this summer.

Since I have room, I might plant a few more things, but I'm not sure what else I should add.
Do you have any suggestions?

Thursday Pick Me-Up From Cheyenne

My MacBook Pro Crashed & Burned (Tear)

Sunday evening, without warning, my MacBook Pro died. I didn't freak out because I had a feeling my IT guy at work could retrieve my hard drive. He did (YAY), but the laptop is still messed up (BOO).

So, for the next few weeks I will be without a mobile workstation. It's more of an inconvenience than a life shattering event.

You know some people store their entire life history on a computer. I use to be that way too. The last few years, I've been tedious about backing up my important files, mainly pictures. I use to have a standard Flickr account, but about a year ago I upgraded to Pro. It's worth the investment, assuming Flickr doesn't die (nervous laugh). The only thing I'm mad at myself for is not syncing my calendar more often. I have about two weeks worth of lost events. So, if I forget to go somewhere or do something, please forgive me -- we'll blame it on the missing calendar. Like I said, I have the hard drive, so if anyone is savy with iCal data, please let me know. It may just be a matter of locating the events on the hard drive. I've been looking, but with no luck.

Do you back-up important computer data? I use used my laptop all day, everyday. I will miss it. One of my favorite spots to work at home is in the dining room. I like to spread all my gear out and get to work. I also like to snack while I work and the fridge is only a few feet away. How convenient.

Occasionally, I would use the MBP when I would workout. I'd have P90X going on the MBP and that way I could watch the morning news. Now, what? I'm not sure. I think work will fix or replace the laptop.

When I Rush I'm Sloppy & Serena's Baby Shower

First, I want to say I spent my weekend rushing from one thing to the next. When I rush, I get sloppy and clumsy.

Example 1
Saturday, evening I went to the Enduralab BBQ. I wanted to make broccoli and carrots and share with everyone. I was in such a hurry--- rushing to make it--- I burnt my hand pulling the pan out of the oven and carrots fell to the bottom of the oven. Oh, and a few carrots got jammed in the oven door hinge. Yeah! On a side note: I'm not doing the Enduralab training program, but if you are interested check out their website. I run with them occasionally. I'm so glad they invited me to the party, lucky me. Cheyenne and I had so much fun.

Example 2
Sunday, I was rushing from the grocery store to Serena's baby shower. Somehow, I dropped a huge container of cherry tomatoes on my garage floor. You better believe, I picked them up and soaked them in water.

Okay, I learned my weekend lesson, don't rush. I won't be banking extra time. Okay, got it...moving on. So, the Baby shower for Serena. Yes, gifts, gifts, gifts. What a lovely shower.
 
The Hostesses: Donna, Heather, Krista, Serena, Leah, Erin, MK

Erin made these.

Hey, what do you think about my baby wipe, gift wrapping? I'm trying to save the earth, give me a break!
 
 Serena was opening my make believe "wrapping paper"--- Erin is not impressed. 
I printed out several pictures from the maternity shoot and pinned them to the wall. (right side of the room)

I'm so happy for Serena!

Leah, what's with the look? What are you writing?
My coffee bud and I are taking a break, instead of meeting for caffeine, we've been meeting once a week and taking the kids to music class. We'll be back to our coffee meet-ups in a few months, when the class is over.
 
 Decor
 
Treats
 
Fresh fruit, now we're talkin'
I couldn't resist: marshmallows and chocolate

Cowboys Decor & Taper Time

How 'bout them Cowboys?! What a great game, last night.

For the past few weeks, Trey and I have been participating in a bible study with a small group of friends, but this week it was just Dave, Heather, their kiddos and the Anderson's. After dinner and the study they stuck around and watched the game with us. It made for a long night and a rough morning, but it was worth it to see the Cowboys win. Now, a picture flashback....

Speaking of the Cowboys, I found a blue and white colored shower curtain to put in our Cowboys theme bathroom. Now, I just need to find a plush rug and some towels. What do you think? I like it. I had been eye-ballin' this curtain for a while, but didn't want to spend that much on it. Last week, I saw it on sale for 13 dollars. I'm glad I waited.

Guess who is tapering? ME! What does tapering look like? At the moment everything still looks the same, except my long runs will gradually decrease. This is the time when I should be getting more sleep and dialing in on my nutrition. Sleeping is what I struggle with the most. I need someone to make me go to bed at a reasonable time.

Here is my training from last week. Sunday, instead of running I took the bike out for a 6 mile fun ride. I should ride more often. HEY! Maybe after the ultra I'll find more time to do that.

Snakes & Recovering From a 22 Mile Run

My husband is a total prankster. You knew this, right? He has a giant-toy snake and he's been planting it around his friends and clients to scare them. I saw this (see picture below), as I was pulling out of the driveway. I said out loud, "What the ....???!!!" I pulled back into the driveway to get a closer look.
 
SNAKE. A fake snake.

22 MILES: LONG RUN
Don't ask me why or how, but a miracle occurred. Jayme agreed to meet me at 4 am and run with me. Jayme will be running Chicago Marathon in a few weeks soon and she's going to do great. This picture was taken last spring.

From the beginning, we had planned on keeping the pace around 10 - 10:30 per mile. We started with some light stretching, a swig of water and we were off. We were busy chatting it up and our first mile was 8:50. Ooops!!! We had to reel it in. Eventually, every mile got slower. 9:10, 9: 14, 9: 20...etc....Eventually, we settled into a 10 minute pace. Jayme planned on running 20 miles with me, but due to stomach issues, she called it quits at mile 10. I was fine. I was just grateful to have company period.

So, I said goodbye to her and completed 12 more miles. I ran to the lake and it made me so sad to see how dry the lake is.  The white shaded area is where water should be.

Rain! We need buckets and buckets of rain!



A few bottles, near the shore.

Great Advice for Long Distance Runners 
My DailyMile friend, Travis, said he elevates his legs after a long run to aid in recovery. So, as soon as I got home I propped my legs up against a wall for 5 minutes. I woke up this morning and thought: Wow, it feels like I ran 14 miles, not 22. I'm sold. Do any of you guys do this after a long run? A few years ago, I read this in Runners World, but I never did it. When other runners give me advice, especially a boston qualifier -- I listen. You should too or at least try it and let me know what you think.

Progress. Moving Forward.

How is your weekend? I wanted to show you some recent pictures of the truck, but first let's look back and see what condition the truck was in when Trey first got it.

And this is what it looks like today.
 






I'll leave you with this picture of Cheyenne. Okay, have a goodnight. I should be sleeping right now, but I'm awake. Note, it's 9:18 pm, but I woke up at 3:30 am. Night-night.

Fall into Fall & Goodbye Summer

This is what excites me about fall: sweaters, running, crisp mornings, drinking warm drinks and not sweating, jackets, hats, walks with Cheyenne.

To welcome fall, I have to say goodbye to summer. Even though it was one of the hottest summers, I have ever experienced, I will miss it. Here is the last batch of photos from our Port Lavaca trip. Goodbye pool time.

Hotel Pool

 
Hey, Bella it's not so bad, if you jump right in...
Like this...



My child stole the hotel toliet paper.
Why? Why not.

Major Progress on The Truck

Sometimes I forget, not everyone who reads the blog talks to us every week. I'll post snippets on Twitter or Trey will post snippets on FaceBook, but I've realized, I've failed to update our blog readers about some exciting things happening.

The main thing is the F-150 truck. Trey has been working on this truck for months. I want to say, since February. If you've been following his progress, you know he did a complete engine overhaul.

Well, the new engine has been installed and Trey is driving the truck. It's new home is our driveway. Trey has more work to do, mainly body and interior -- but he is so happy to be driving it. I'm extremely impressed with Trey's mechanic skills. It took hours of dedication and he even missed a few football games. That sould give you an idea about how important this truck is to him. Trey, congratulations on the progress!

Our First Experience at Main Event

The other night, Chey and I met up with friends at main event entertainment. You can bowl, arcade, laser tag and play pool. It's basically, a giant playground.

A+ for black lighting

This was my first experience at MEE and Chey's first bowling adventure.

They had extra small bowling balls, for the kids. We'll have to take her bowling again, but next time with Trey. He was working late, so he couldn't join us. Booo!

I was giving her pointers, since I took a bowling course in college.
Obviously, I learned nothing from that class because even the babies beat me.
SHE = Cheyenne. DOM = loser

Merriah is celebrating because she knows I suck at bowling. And Heather had a terrible game, but at least she wasn't dead last.
 
Even the baby was happy.

Dave and Merriah

The kids had bumpers, next time I'll have to request those.

Someone wanted to drive the ship.
Now, I want to go back and play to show I can do better than a 41 score. RE-MATCH!