Father's Day

For Father's Day this year, Heidi wanted to surprise Bill on Saturday night, by having all of the kids show up to their weekly bowling night. All of the kids and even Haylee were able to make it! Bill was definitely surprised to see us all - Heidi's gift was a hit!
Sunday morning was Father's Day breakfast at Dom, Chris and Haylee's place. Haylee was spending the day with her Daddy, so it was just the 6 of us (PK has been experiencing some health issues, so was unable to make it). We brought some goodies, but Chris prepared the majority of the breakfast. We had toast, eggs, chili, sausage, fried potatoes and fruit. Full bellies were had by all afterwards!
As for the gifts, Heidi gave Bill a few new shirts, Dom made her dad a shirt, and we bought him a new "over shirt" and a Blu-Ray "Battle Los Angeles". Probably Bill's best gift was that after the breakfast was over, they bought a new PUPPY! Her name is Callie and she is so freakin' adorable. She is a pure bread Rottweiler. Unfortunately the week before Father's Day Bill and Heidi had to put both of their dogs down- so the added addition really helped heal some broken hearts.

We failed to take any pictures on the day of the evening, but right before we all headed out, Heidi managed to get two:

After breakfast we headed over to Taylor's Grandpa Johnston's house to visit with him. It's always fun to hear Grandpa's war stories, and his comparison's on the costs of things today from when he was young. After our visit, I called my Papa to see if we could meet up with him, but he was headed back to Elma. He said that our family had a Father's Day/Graduation breakfast and then helped my Aunt move; I hadn't heard of the event so was unable to meet up with him there to give him his Father's Day hug, kiss, and gift. He promised he'd call me the next time he was in town and yesterday, he did! Taylor was working, so I headed to The Blvd. We visited for a couple hours and he even let me get two pics! It truly did my heart good to see him, as it has been quite a while. He means so much to me.


The sun was RIGHT in our eyes!



My handsome Papa

Grandpa Fred and I are getting together for lunch for his Father's Day gift. I didn't get the chance to see him, but I will at lunch! Where to go, where to go...

Me and Gpa Fred

Grandpa Johnston with his Grandkids

Papa giving me away

Happy Father's Day to all the Grandpa's, Dads and Dads-to-Be. Your commitment to your families is so appreciated...we love you!!

Sunday

I just had to add, not to take away from my Honey's truck, but I did manage to get my hair done today. Kevin, my hair dresser, took 4-5 inches off!!!! I'm sad it's gone, but it does look healthier. He put in some very summery highlights as well, which look beautiful! He's such a great hair dresser. I'd recommend him to anyone!!

On top of getting my hair done, I also managed to get veggies planted in the garden! I'm a little nervous and anxious as to if they are going to grow, but this will be a learning experience! We picked up some chicken poo, which Taylor sweetly put down and mixed in for me. It was pretty stinky, but it's supposed to help! I planted:
Green beans, sugar snap peas, lettuce, pumpkins, zucchini and flowers. I hope SOMETHING comes of it!!

I have some more cleaning to do- so I didn't get all of my to do list accomplished this weekend, but I got quite a bit done.

Here's to what I hope is a fabulous week, full of decent weather so I can run run run in preparation for this upcoming Saturday's race!!!

I love the weekends!

I had quite a week last week...one I wouldn't want to have to go through again unless I had the knowledge of what was to come beforehand! So of course the weekend took forever to arrive, but it finally managed to grace me with it's presence. I just wish it was longer. This next week WILL be better. I'm sure of it.

On Friday I downloaded this awesome FREE app called, iMapMyRun. I used it after work to check out a new route I've been wanting to try to see if Angel and I could conquer it at lunch time or if it would be an after work run. The route ended up being 3.29 miles and it took me 31:26 to complete and the app even calculated my pace at 9:35min/mile! It was so awesome! I did feel like I could have ran it faster, but I didn't know how long it was so wanted to pace myself. Probably not quicker than 9min/mile, but possibly close. Going for the jog after work really helped burn off some stress and as always, aided me in clearing my head. I just LOVE running. I swear I'm constantly trying to figure out how I can squeeze a run into my day! I suppose that's not a bad thing!

We ended up having Meconi's for dinner, which really didn't sound good but tasted awfully good once I got my chef salad home and started scarfing! I also picked up a pint of the Toll house cookie dough ice cream and had a little for dessert....SO yummy! I just can't believe an entire container is 800 calories! UGH!

Saturday I had planned to work in the garden and plant all the goodies I've picked up. I also had a hair appointment at 1pm, planned to go for a run and clean the house. NONE of which I actually finished...Why you ask? Because my sweetie bought a new truck!!!!!!!

Chevrolet Silverado

I can't believe that buying a car can literally take up the majority of your day! We left at about 11am and didn't make it back into town until close to 5pm! But, we drove into town in his new truck! We bought it for $3000 below the retail value! Probably because no one wants full size trucks these days with the price of gas. But fortunately Taylor carpools the majority of the time, so driving to and from the meet point shouldn't be too bad. Of course we drove all over the place yesterday, running every errand possible; kind of like being 16 again and just getting a driver's license! But Taylor really loves his new truck, and I feel better knowing he's driving something so much more reliable. His little truck could have broken down at any moment!

So I didn't get all of my stuff done but it was well worth it to see the excitement in my husbands face. He deserves SO much more than he has...he's such a giving person and expects nothing in return. I love and admire him so much.

Congratulations sweetie, on your sexy new ride! You are really going to be turning heads!!! Love you

Veggie Time

After months of working in the garden, slowly but surely clearing it out, I've FINALLY finished! I am finally ready to start planting! As I've mentioned before, I've NEVER gardened before. In fact, I absolutely hate bugs. Working the garden has toughened me up a bit: I wasn't even scared to kill a crane fly I found in the shower this morning! Baby steps!

This was a picture I took May 20th. I I was excited that I cleaned out this section of the second row. Many wheelbarrows FULL of the old roots, grass and weeds.

This is what I saw when I went out there yesterday. We rented a rototiller to help me finish the job. It was really really hard work using a metal rake to break up the soil and all the other growth, and not only break it all up, but then load it into the wheel barrow and then take it all to my dumping grounds. I might sound like a baby, but really and truly, this was tough work. Blood sweat and tears were involved!

Taylor hasn't really helped me at all with my garden project. Once he knocked down all the grass inside the garden, but as you can see, it's all grown back. I can confidently say he has done minimal work to get this garden going. That is, until yesterday. HE wanted to use the rototiller, and I'm so thankful he did because when I tried, I realized it was actually a challenging tool to use!

Another before pic

Sweet Husband



Magic



Taylor asked if I wanted to try, which I actually really did! Had it not been so difficult, I would have wanted to do it all myself! How thankful I am to have such a studly husband who puts up with my miniature muscles.

I thought Taylor was just taking pics, but I guess he took a video too! Unfortunately he turned the camera sideways and I can't figure out how to post the video with it turned the correct way. Perhaps this will make you laugh...

The rototiller about jumped out of my hands! At one point, I had to let it die, just so I wouldn't lose it out of my hands and see it going flying across the garden! haha

I had to return the rototiller by 5:00pm so after a couple of hours in the garden, I called it quits. I only had the 3rd row to clean out which I knew could wait until today.

You can see how the third side is lumpy...all the root systems and what not that were torn up by the rototiller



Heading in for the afternoon: still a lot of work to do



I headed out to the garden at 8am this morning, trying to beat the heat. (That really didn't ever come). It was nice and cool and the sun wasn't too hot.



VOILA!!

 And VOILA! The third row all cleaned out! I am officially finished! Well, with that tedious project anyway. There were a few exposed roots that I'll eventually go out and pull, but for now, I'm fine them being there. Now I just have to finish my research and make my decisions on what I want to try to grow! This season will definitely be a learning experience. I'm a little fearful that our little bunnies will get into the garden and eat any goodies that might start to grow, where the fence is down on the backside.

Here are a few pictures of my final work:

Don't mind the neighbors house or his overgrown garden area behind ours

Taylor even knocked down the grass growing upon the fence for me this morning!

Can't wait to see what I can start growing!!!

7 Mile Run

Well this past Saturday, June 4th, I participated in the Goldsbourough Creek Run in Shelton Washington. I guess there is a Mason County Forest Festival, and the run is part of that event. All of the proceeds of the run went to benefit Mason General Hospital Foundation. I am in no way affiliated with any of the sponsors or the event itself, but simply came across this race and wanted to participate because it was 7 miles! 2 miles longer than my first run.

Angel was not feeling well, so I ended up running alone. I have never been to Shelton before, at least not to my recollection, so I was trying to figure out where registration was. Once I finally did, and after parking in a 2 hour parking spot, I realized the start line itself was a couple miles down the road. I could have made it by walking, but since I really didn't have a clue where I was or where the start line was, I was SO thankful to learn that the hospital was shuttling participants by school bus. So, I found my way to the bus line, did some stretching, got my iPod setup, and boarded once the bus arrived.

I like to chew gum while I run: it could be mental, but it seems to help prevent  my throat from drying out and help with my breathing. I'd say the majority of the time I do not chew it, but I think it just helps me salivate. Anyway, I realized on the bus ride that I forgot GUM! I kept telling myself not to worry about it, that everything would be fine, to try to get the panicky feeling to go away. It's funny in hindsight, that the thought of not having gum had such an influence on my feelings, but at the time, I was actually worried!  

Drug of choice

So the bus pulled off to drop us with the rest of the runners who had been dropped off previously. To be honest, I was thinking this would be some what of a hillbilly event, simply because it's "Shelton", which I really know nothing about. But when I got off the bus, I was surprised to see some very serious looking runners and some very trendy runners! I felt a little out of place, but thought "it doesn't matter...you're not here to compare yourself with anyone here.." It did make me laugh to see SO many of the women wearing very fancy running clothes with their hair all done up and loads of make-up. Sure, I put on a little touch up cover-up to hide my lingering red blemishes and some mascara - But had I known I was entering a runners beauty contest, I'd have spruced myself up a bit! ;-) So with my wet pony tail, dry mouth and butterflies, the shotgun fired and I took off.

The first part was a pretty long and a progressive decline...which made me worry about the incline that was sure to come! But my Britney, Fergie and other ladies helped me stay focused and go go go. I was passed quite a bit, but by a mile and half, I was passing them! hehe

I had no idea what type of course this 7 mile run was going to be. I guess I never even thought about it. Boy was I in for a surprise. It was running on back county roads, which were not closed off to drivers- so it was imperative to keep looking ahead, around corners, and to especially be looking up on the many, many hills, to ensure no vehicles were coming!

The toughest part of the whole race for me was at mile marker 2.5 - We were told there would be water there and when I saw the little table, I thought "I'm only at 2.5 miles?!" My throat was SUPER dry and my saliva was gross and thick. My throat was the type of dry that you have to collect your spit for at least 4 different swallows, just so it doesn't feel like stabbing when the saliva goes down. The stretch right before the water stop was in the direct sunshine, which felt nice at first, but the water stop was in the middle of a pretty steep hill. I slowed down, picked up a glass of water and chugged the WHOLE thing. I trucked it up the hill where we were directed to turn a corner. As I rounded the corner, all I could feel was my stomach churn, some nastiness enter the back of my throat and I kept thinking "don't throw up, don't throw up, don't throw up..." I stopped running and began walking VERY slowly. A few runners passed me and I thought "What if I have to have Taylor come get me? Should I turn around and walk  back?" NO! I just COULDN'T! My nausea subsided and I picked up my pace. I ran and ran and ran and never stopped again until....THE FINISH LINE! Woot woot!

As I crossed the finish line, I was SO proud of myself, I had even forgotten about not having gum, or wondering if the new pants I was wearing ($2 Gap running pants I scored at Goodwill last weekend that I did not have to adjust ONCE) were showing off any sweat marks (if you know what I mean). I just took in the moment, grabbed some water, walked it all off and mentally patted myself on the back. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures because I didn't have my camera and I didn't want to ask a stranger to take a pic. Once I thought about asking someone, I realized there wasn't even a Finish Line banner. LOL!

I made my way to the results board, and saw my time posted as -   1:07:43! For some reason I thought this time reflected more than 70 minutes, so was a tad bit disappointed. I even sent Taylor a text message that read " Not bad for all those hills!!! I'm so proud! I was hoping for 69:?? Oh well YAY!!" I really and truly did not realize until about an hour after I got home that I actually finished in 67 MINUTES and 43 SECONDS!! Once it dawned on me, I was SOOOOOO thrilled!!! Even now, just thinking about how I felt yesterday, makes me smile. Sure a tad bit less than a 10 minute mile may not be super impressive, but it was for me!

My number, my new shoes which served me very well
1:07:43

"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use." Earl Nightingale

Heck yah Earl, I even had about a minute to spare!



 

Memorial Day Weekend

No camping for us this year: Instead, Taylor agreed to replace his Aunt Laura and Uncle Art's deck! Not exactly the long weekend we were expecting, as the deck took ALL weekend long to complete. Taylor priced the project, ordered the materials and completed the project in 2.75 days. Very hard work, I'm telling you from experience!

Old decking (entire area not shown)

Saturday, I drove out to lend moral support by providing some refreshing beer and a smooch. Sunday, I decided to actually go help. Bill, Taylor's dad, came and helped for a few hours. Fortunately Uncle Art packed in the majority of the materials: and even with the help, it took that many days.
After about 12.5 hours of labor on Sunday, we decided to just finish it up Monday. Our goal was to have Monday to spend together, perhaps BBQ or simply relax, but no such luck. On my way home I picked up an Old School Pizzeria pizza (our first date pizza) and once we got home, we scarfed the pizza and slept like little babies!

Monday, I only spent about an hour or an hour and half finishing my assigned job. Taylor was there for several hours finishing up. I ran our weekend errands, went for a jog, picked up the house and by the time we sat down to enjoy our 3 day weekend,  it was about 8pm.

Yes, some good did come out of the long weekend:




The beautiful finished deck!


Not only did Taylor acquire some new skills, he treated himself to:




HUSQVARNA Chainsaw! (His new pride and joy!)

  I got a little treat too:

Brooks Adrenaline GTS 11
New Running Shoes that are absolutely AMAZING!

So our weekend didn't turn out so bad afterall. We can't complain too much as it did not rain on us at ALL, as was initially predicted. I don't know how Taylor gets up every single day and works so freakin' hard, rain or shine. I am so thankful to have such a strong, dedicated man in my life who takes care of us. I am constantly in awe of him and his devotion in all aspects of his life. When he got home Monday, he found the following:

Love Note

You're probably thinking: "Goldfish?" - well Taylor absolutely LOVES goldfish and since he has been working really hard to eat healthier, we never buy these types of snacks (because he'll sit and eat them all in one sitting!) so this was a special treat for him. It was really the VERY least I could do- ;-)

All in all, we had a very productive Memorial Day weekend. Maybe next year we can go camping.

On a side note, we learned on Saturday that Dominique and Chris are tying the knot! Chris proposed to Dom and she accepted!!

To be Mr. and Mrs. Meyers

Congratulations you two!

Well the weather is supposed to be absolutely gorgeous this weekend, so hopefully we can get some outside chores caught up on. Angel and I are running a 7 mile race Saturday morning! I'm excited! I'm sure I'll have pics and results to post soon!