Family Pics 2013

Some pics from the fabulous Emily Megan!

Running

I've been meaning to write this post for awhile so I am finally getting the chance.

I'm excited to talk about running!  As in me and running are now friends.  I've always wanted to run but just never had the motivation to stick to it.  I even started working on it last summer while we were living with my parents.  I would get up EARLY and run before work and was aiming for three times a week.  I was doing good until we moved and then the time changed and then I stopped.

But one of the perks of my new job is that we have a gym downstairs in the lobby so I've gotten back into working out.  Right now I work out 4 to 5 days a week and I take two days off.  Depending on what my schedule is determines what day I take off.

My company encourages "wellness" so that's been a motivating factor.  Right now they are hosting classes where we can work out to the "Insanity" DVDs.  I have been doing this for two days a week and then doing weights and running on the other 3 days.  I usually try to do a long run on Sundays when I have more time.

How I run:

1.  I don't usually stretch to warmup because my body usually hurts worse later.  I did learn that I need to "jumpstart" my nervous system before I run so I'll do some jumping jacks or something just to wake my body up.

2.  I always, always walk for five minutes as a warm up which usually equates to 1/4 of a mile in distance.  I read an article once from the Cooper Clinic and this method was recommended.  It's always stuck with me plus it eases my brain into "get ready because you're about to run" mode.

3.  When I actually start running after my warmup, the voice in my head goes like this:  "Legs tight, shins hurt, did I eat enough, do I need to pee, why am I doing this, this really hurts, this sucks, this song is too slow."

4.  If you've ever experienced this when you've tried to run, keep going!

5.  After my body gets conditioned to what I'm making it do, I feel like Rocky sometimes.  I find a groove as I run in pace with a song and then I start wanting to do fist pumps as I run, like Rocky did.  This is when it feels great to run.  Although I don't know if this is the runner's high or not.

6.  When I decide to slow it down and end my run, I always walk for another five minutes as a cool down.  After I'm done I stretch.

7.  Then I eat!

What I've learned about running:

1.  Running shorts with the built-in undies are the way to go.  Trust me, you don't want to be messing with a wedgie while you're running.

2.  Music is a must have.

3.  Before I run I eat a snack about an hour before I go out.  Usually a banana.  When I used to run early in the morning I didn't eat anything and was fine.

4.  Rest days are essential.

5.  Sleep is essential.  I can tell when I haven't had enough sleep because my body just doesn't want to go.

5.  I started out with the Couch to 5k philosophy.  I would run for a little while and then stop and walk when I needed to.  I just made sure that when I stopped to walk it was no more than 30 seconds or a minute.

6.  It's been 3 months of consistent running (1 to 2 days) a week.  I can now run 30 minutes without stopping.  Don't really know how fast I'm going but I'll take it.  Doing the Insanity DVDs two days a week has really helped my endurance so when I do run I feel conditioned for it.

Below are the running shoes my mom got me.  Yes, they are super bright.  She said it's because I would go run in the dark when I lived at her house so she wanted to make sure I was seen.  LOL

I ran my first 5k in April with my dad!  I was so nervous but I didn't stop once!

March 2013 Recap

Just a quick recap of our month:

It was my birthday and my family came over to our house so we could celebrate.  I set the dining room table with a runner that was wrapping paper from the $1 aisle at Target.  The green and white napkins were also purchased at Target on clearance.

 I requested lasagna and my sister obliged.  Mmm...see those squares of provolone?

 And an awesome salad.  She is our salad queen!

 Every year I request my mom's famous Italian Cream Cake.  This year she made it into cupcakes.

 Here's me on my birthday!  You know you're getting old when you have to hold things up to the light just to read them.  LOL

I got to do an impromptu photo shoot for this little guy, my nephew.

We celebrated Easter at my parent's house.  We went to the sunrise service at church but didn't see much sun when the storm rolled in.  Here, Hunter is getting ready to find easter eggs.

My mom enjoying the Easter egg hunt with Hunter.

I don't remember what rolled under the bed but I caught Hunter trying to fish something out.

And out of order...but this was the delicious ham my parents had for Easter lunch.  Yum!

Cuteness

I had a work even last week where I and my family were invited to go bowling.  After fixing Hunter's hair I just had to capture his cuteness!   And just ignore the bump on his forehead.

Pirates and Chores

On the days that Korey and Hunter are together all day they try to make something fun.  On this day in particular they made pirate hats.

One afternoon I was in the grocery store with Hunter and we happened upon the toy aisle although I didn't realize it.  Hunter started yelling out for a yellow toy and when I finally saw what he wanted it was a $6 toy.  Now this is not that much money but it wasn't on my "list", I was in a different store so everything was backwards, and the store was crowded.  I was ready to go and did not feel like spending the money on this toy.  So I tried to compromise with Hunter by letting him get a $1 Hot Wheels car.  Well he was still complaining about the yellow toy after we walked away so I made the hard decision not to let him have any toy "just because."  I told him we would go home and talk to his daddy about it because it was time the boy started earning his toys.

So Korey drew up a chore chart for Hunter.  Sorry it's sideways but the chores are laundry (I hand him the wet clothes and he puts them in the dryer), coffee (he gets it out of the freezer), trash, behavior in general, and dinner time (not asking to get down before we are done).  These are all things that we already had him helping with around the house so we told him that he could get stickers whenever we saw him doing these chores and then he could get his yellow toy.  He was excited! He understands that when you go the store and get something you have to "pay for it." So we told him that when he got enough stickers he could use them to pay for his yellow toy.

And...Hunter earned enough stickers to go and get the yellow toy!  Although we didn't have a set numb he had to get but we waited until Daddy got back from Africa so we could all go together.

Smart kid that he is picked out the multipack of Hot Wheels so he could have many cars to play with.

We laughed at how he picked out the pack with the camper van and the truck carrying the boat.

He lined them up on the windowsill so he could play.

We've started a new chore chart.  Don't know what his prize will be for this second round but we like this method.  The other night we finished dinner without commotion and Hunter wanted a sticker but I told him no because he had been rude to me before dinner.  Well, he immediately apologized when he realized he wasn't getting the sticker (which we still didn't give him).  This boy has attitude some days so we have to keep that in check!

Mommy's Makeup

Ooops!  I must have gotten in a hurry one day when I came home and failed to put my purse in the closet.  I was working in the kitchen and turned around to find this little boy digging through my makeup case.

Thankfully he didn't try to put any on!