The Only Time It's Acceptable to Write on The Walls & Focus Update

Sometimes, we don't brush our hair.
Sometimes we wear easter clothes in December.
Sometimes we write on the walls.

It had been a while since we measured the girls. Like we expected, they are still growing. :)

Dakota has a lot of catching up to do.

Chey wanted to hold hands and Dakota wanted no part of it. PS Cheyenne dressed herself.

Ford Focus Update
Good NEWS!!!! I got my car out of the shop, yesterday. It was an electrical issue. Trey tried to tell me that the dealership caught my car on fire. He's such a prankster, I knew he was lying. The electrical problem should be fixed now. Instead of renting a car for the two days it was in the shop, I payed Amanda to pick me up and drop me off. I've appreciated the help so much, especially since the roads have been icy. Transportation is important and even though you give someone gas money, it's not exactly convenient for them. I'm still a little concerned about my Ford Focus and Trey is still motivated to sell or trade it for another vehicle. I told him, he could do all the negotiating and the girls and I could stay home. I'd rather not be a part of that process. It just leaves a bad taste in mouth. What do you think? Do you enjoy car shopping or would you prefer to have someone else do all of it for you? I'll pick the vehicle and then I'll say bye once they start talking numbers. haha! Who knows if we will get another vehicle. Honestly, I really like my car…but I'm concerned about it's reliability based on the last two episodes we've had with it. Trey said, "We should've never strayed away from Honda." I'm starting to feel the same way.

My Week in Photos

This past week, my weekly training was right on target, but my long run was not as long as I wanted it to be. I'm hoping to have a better long run weekend, coming up. Thursday, I added cross training to my schedule. In addition to running, I rode a few miles on the bike and 3 miles on rowing machine.

My Week in Photos the late edition:
Last week, was ladies night out. My sister, Natasha won this handmade wreath. It was a door prize drawing. Instead of taking it and hanging it at her apartment, she let me borrow it. It's sooo massive.

I took "my  famous" banana pudding to share with the ladies. We had leftovers. Tasha help me buckle it in the car. We wanted to make sure it got home, safe to Trey. Sad thing is, he never got any -- we ate it before he could eat the leftovers. Sorry. I made him another batch this week, so he would stop crying.

Chey in the kitchen, while I was meal prepping for the week.

Grocery shopping with the girls.

We are getting so close to Halloween. We thought it was time to bust out Halloween clothes that Nana got us.

Running Before Dawn in Order to Get to a 9 am Showtime

How was your weekend? My weekend was filled with running and recovery.
Saturday, my morning started early at 4:45 am ---- that's when my alarm went off. In order to run 17 miles and get back to the house at 8 am, I had to get up before dawn.

Afterwards, I hurried to get out the door and get the girls to the 9 am movie to watch  Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. I love going to the movies at 9 am (really). Can you tell I'm an early bird?
 
I spent the rest of the afternoon in compression socks with my legs propped up.

Lately, the girls having been spending more time outside playing with chalk. It's nice since the cold front came through, I don't have to worry about the wasps outside. In the summer, the wasps, like to linger near my back porch.

This morning, I ran 4 miles on the treadmill. It was easy. I wasn't even watching the time. I just ran and took breaks, when I needed to -- well, when Dakota demanded.

For lunch, the girls and I ate at the mall food court. Subway for me (Foot-long, black forest ham!!!), Chick-fil-A for the girls. I sat at the kiddy table with them. It was actually, really comfortable and I didn't have to worry about hunching over to feed Dakota, since I left her in the stroller.

One last thing...this is my favorite song on the radio, right now! I've gotta add this to my run playlist.

A Compact Vehicle Brought Us Closer Together & A Weekend Wedding

This past weekend, we spent over 12 hours in the focus. We drove to Port Lavaca to visit my family.
It was a long drive....I'm so glad we took the focus and not the truck. We averaged 38 mpg on the highway.

For about an hour I rode in the backseat with the girls. I was sitting directly behind Trey and had zero leg room. It makes me laugh thinking about it, but when I was pregnant with Dakota, Trey insisted we consider buying a fiat. We test drove one and everything. Although they are super cute cars, they are not practical for our family.

I finally got around to customizing the Sync Wallpaper, so I had pretty girls to look at during the trip - wether I was looking towards the front or back of the car, I could see my girls.

My cousin, Raquel got married this weekend and I recorded the ceremony. There was a dance at the reception and Cheyenne kept dragging Trey out on the dance floor. She freaked out when the played Taylor Swift's 22 song! That's her jam. When Trey and I were younger, he would tell me no to dancing, but he can't resist a 4 year old! How sweet is that??!! And he couldn't just dance with one girl. Hi, Dakota. We see you too.

On our way out of town, we visited my grandmother. She gave Dakota her baby blanket. She makes all the grand babies in our family blankets. Dakota freaked when she saw her name weaved-in! It was jaw dropping, impressive.

Other than the exhausting drive, we managed to relax and I slept in both mornings.
Yesterday, as soon as I woke up, I got Trey donuts for father's day. He was still in bed sleeping, so I served him donuts in bed.

Here is my training from last week. I missed my long run. Oops!

The I* Word - *Injured & My Week in Photos

I'll cry about my injury later, but first this...

The day my complimentary sirus subscription ends, is going to be a sad day. As much as I'd like to renew it, I don't see that happening. I don't recall what the exact numbers where, to keep it, but I remember thinking, no way, am I going to pay that each month for radio. 

But I can enjoy it, while I still have it....At the moment, my favorite station is ALT Nation. It's alternative music, I rarely hear on the radio. Shins, Silversun Pickups, Matt and Kim, and more.

It's been a photo-tastic week, at home and at work.

This week, I've been taking headshots of faculty and staff. I don't have a studio, so this is my make-shift studio. It gets the job done. At the end of the day, I put my equipment away and the area is used as a skills lab, for nursing students.

My Ankle's Giving Me Grief
When it comes to running, I've dealt with sore muscles, cranky pain that has lasted a few days, and I've had to sit out for a few months because of pregnancy. but I've never had a full blown injury ===== WEll, not until now. 

I'm going on two weeks with my ankles feeling like crap. I think it's a combination of two things: 
1. Getting back into running, after having to take time off (pregnancy) 
2. My running shoes

I got these shoes right before I stopped running. However, I used them all the time for cross training, but I don't think they agree with my running feet. The other week, I ran 10 miles (not all at once, over the course of a week) in them and that's when the problems started. 

When I get to the point, when I'm feeling well enough to run again, I'm going to go back to using my old running shoes. They have a ton of miles on them, but I think it will be better than wearing the Altra's. In the meantime, I need to heal and decide what kind of running shoes I will buy next.  

New Car Smell: I Got A Ford Focus

Something I always use to say, "I'm going to drive the ELEMENT until the wheels fall off." I meant it too, however Trey and I have been talking about getting a new vehicle for about a year. Everything seemed to be directing my mind to purchase a new vehicle, despite my overwhelming commitment to my ride for life, ELEMENT. Oh, and it doesn't hurt that Trey is the king of persuasion.

So, I went from this SUV, which gets 23 miles to the gallon, (highway)....

To the Ford Focus, which gets 40 miles to the gallon (highway)...
4 days a week, I commute to work and my estimated gas savings will be approximately $100 a month.

Originally, I had my eyes set on the Ford Fiesta and I actually test drove one about a month ago. It's a great car! Ultimately, we decided to go with the Focus because it's slightly bigger and the price difference wasn't a huge step-up. The Focus model we got is called an SEL.

A nice perk is the Ford Sync Touch Screen. YES, my nerdy-side is overjoyed! I can't wait until I have time to play with it. Yesterday, I worked a full day and went straight to the dealership and didn't leave until 9:45 pm, so I have't had any time to play with my new toy.

The drive this morning was interesting. It's going to take some time to get use to driving a car again. For over six years, I've been perched up high driving an SUV, now I feel like a low-rider in this compact car. Another thing I need to get use to is a car payment. It's been almost 4 years since Trey and I have had to make one. We're hoping to pay this baby off early, just like we did with the ELEMENT.