Relaxation

Beautiful sunset view from the back porch

One of my best friends, Joanie, is turning 29 again this week and since she will be on a cruise during her birthday and can't be bothered to party with me, I threw her a little birthday party at Kentucky Lake last weekend. My Aunt was awesome enough to let us borrow her house on the lake. It is an amazing place to stay. Perfection. It was a small group of Joanie, our friend April, Joanie's sister in law, and me. I had looked into renting a boat, but they were too pricey for me. Maybe next year. We had an awesome time relaxing, eating good food, swimming off the dock, having a few cocktails, reminiscing and making new memories. Hopefully we can make it an annual trip. Thanks to April for the pics!

Joanie was worried about drowning....

Loving the hammock

Joanie and I.....love this girl!

I said we had some good food while we were there. Calories didn't count this weekend. Here's what I made:

Cajun Ranch Chicken Pasta

Crack Rolls (I generally don't like food with the work "crack" in the name, but these were amazing)

Fudge Pie

Flirtinis

I really didn't want to leave. But I had to get back to my boys. If you want to see what they were up to while I was gone, check out my mom's blog!

Mercer County Run for the Pets 15K

Yesterday I ran the Mercer County Run for the Pets 15K in Harrodsburg, KY.  It is my longest race to date. I had seen the course route info earlier in the week and it made me very nervous. It was super hilly. I'm weird...I like hills...to a fault. I don't like 9.3 miles of relentless hills. I was really excited that 2 of my friends were going to ride with me to the race. I ran it with my friend, Katie. She is quite a bit faster than me and I was really worried about holding her back. She said it was fine though, so we did stick together. I ran my first mile in less than 11 minutes. My normal distance pace is 12:30 to 12:45. I knew I was going faster because my shins and calves were really starting to be felt early. Coming out that fast in the beginning probably did hurt me some, but in the end, it was just a really difficult course....and over 2 miles more than my longest run prior. I finished in 2:01:30 (I think that's what the clock said). I had really wanted to finish in 2 hours or less, but I really crapped out on that last mile and a half. My Map My Run app didn't save my run, either...GRRRR! The race was beautiful though and the other runners were so friendly and supportive. Runners tend to be really nice, but these took it to another level. I will definitely be doing this run again.

Be sure to check out Katie's blog for great pics of us!

My legs were super tight the rest of the day, and I was really sore this morning. I actually felt hungover all day yesterday. I got home and didn't really get too much of a chance to rest and recharge. I'm feeling much more normal now.

We will be out of town next week for one of my best friend's birthday party, so no race next weekend. I think the next one I've got on tap is the Mill Creek Run on September 14. I'm hoping Michael can do it as well. I know he's been itching to see if he can get a below 30 minute official 5K. I'm thinking of doing the CASA Superhero 5K on September 21st and then I have my first ever 1/2 marathon in Nashville on September 28th!!!

Manic Sunday?

Sundays are my least favorite day of the week. With the exception of being at church, it's just a stressful day for me.  There's the hustle and bustle of getting 2 small boys ready for church and trying to make myself presentable as well. And while I'm happy to not have to prepare lunch, dining at a restaurant can turn into a lot of: "Joseph, get out of the floor." "Joseph, sit up, please." "Joseph, eat your food!" "James, get your hands out of the beans!"

It can be exhausting.

Then we get home and I usually have housework piled out the wazoo. It's enough to make me want to just sit in a corner and cry.

Today was not so bad though. I ended up taking the boys to Luci Lou's for some froyo. Joseph picked pink lemonade sorbet topped with fruit loops, these pink pop rocks type candies, liquid filled little balls in green and purple....basically any candy that was colorful....and cherries. He was so funny...he kept eating and saying, "This is really really good, mama!"

James had peanut butter. I may or may not have had a few bites.

After that, we went over to my Father in Law's house to pick up my stuff that did not sell in there yard sale yesterday....which was most all of it. I made a whopping $9. I sat outside with them and let the boys play for a while. Then Joseph wanted to go home and watch Mega Mind. So off we went. On the way, I stopped at Staxx, spent my $9 and bought some pulled pork for supper. We got home and I realized that this was the best Sunday I've had in quite a while. I still have lots of housework to do, but it was nice to step back and spend some time with my little ones while not worrying about what needs to be done.

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day! We don't have any plans. I'll be cleaning.