Once in a Lifetime?

Earlier this week, Jay & I looked at a cabin we are interested in purchasing. On the back deck, I snapped this picture.

The property overlooks a river, and has beautiful surroundings. My intention was to make this my "best shot" I shared this week.

HOWEVER

Odd as it may seem, I've owned more real estate than cars in my life. Heck - I've owned more houses than cars!! (That is assuming that my car that I brought into the marriage is mine and his cars are his.) 

Yesterday, I had to pull over on the side of the road and take a picture of something so rare, I've never seen it in my lifetime. Discussing it over dinner with my parents, its not anything they have ever seen either. Not to say, of course, that I'll never see it again, but Quinn will always be my first.

The first car I ever paid for,

My first brand new car,

and now

My first car to ever hit 200,000 miles.

Thanks for the memories babe! 

And cups up to another 100,000!!

A Lesson in Hospitality - Trophy Wife 101

Hospitality.

A gift for some, a chore for others.

For this trophy wife it can often seem like a second job.  Most of his sales are rental properties or second homes, so when the clients-turned-friends come back into town, they often want to meet up with us for dinner.

Last week was one such opportunity. But first, some back-story.

Picture it - 2008. A new married couple return from their honeymoon early and attend a real estate auction. A 5.55 acre lot is their first piece of real estate and also their first joint debt. They planned to build their forever home there.

Skipping to the point, we ended up selling it. Only shocking to those who don't know about the nomadic life we've had the past 5+ years. We are currently living in our 3rd house, and have a date scheduled this evening to consider a prospect for #4.

The couple who purchased it from us is from out of town, but visit the area often. Whenever they are in town, they let Jay know and we try to get together. This past week was such a time. They have built a gorgeous home on the land and invited us over for a champagne toast to celebrate.

Okay now I'm really to the point - they don't have furniture in their home yet. Their grill isn't hooked up. . The burgers were cooked in the oven, we sat in lawn chairs, and used a 5 gallon bucket for a table. Yet I've never felt more warm hospitality than I did that evening.

I experienced another example over the Mothers Day weekend. I offered to take my mother and grandmother out to lunch, but neither wanted to bother with the crowds. Instead, my mom hosted us at her house. We ate burgers and potato chips off of paper plates.

Hospitality has less to do with fine china and a perfectly set table, and more to do with the heart of the host. Opening up my home shouldn't have to be a big presentation, but rather a time of good conversation. Enjoying friends and family, even if the house isn't spotless.

I'm slowly learning that its okay to say "don't take off your shoes, my floor is too dirty" when guests arrive. Chances are, their house isn't spotless either and my admission will make them feel right at home.

Law Enforcement Memorial 5k - Race Report

As with the SMARM 5K, the Law Enforcement Memorial Run 5K is one I try to participate in every year. With a time so close to my personal record last week, I knew the terrain of the LEMR would allow me the opportunity to best it.

And what fun a race without a costume? Kelly made us each a convict tank with "Inmate No." on the front - just above our bib number and "Out for Good Behavior" on the back.

Kelly has been doing a lot of reading about proper warm ups and cool downs, so after pictures she and I headed out for 20 minutes of warming up pre-race. Once again we ran a bit, walked a bit, ran some more, did 3 strides. The plan was to do more, but we realized we were pushing it a bit close to race start.

Kelly's husband Bob was also racing, and he lined up at the start with me. He and I ran most of last year's Crazy 8's race together, successfully for us both. He stuck with me well the first mile. We went out a tad fast, but the hill at the end of the first mile kept us very close to the 8:10 pace we were trying to hit.

Mile 1 - 8:08

My race plan called for negative splits, and I was able to pick my pace up for the 2nd mile. Bob fell behind by a hair but I felt fast and strong.

Mile 2 - 8:01

By the 3rd mile mile, I was starting to feel it. My pace struggled at the start of the mile, including the one little bump of a hill. In this mile, Bob caught up to me and passed me. Thankfully I was able to pick it up enough to stay just behind him. I think seeing him motivated me to keep on pushing.

Mile 3 - 8:07

I tried to kick it up the last tenth of a mile, but didn't find much there. There was a dude just a few steps in front of me, and I heard my buddy Joe yell at me to pass him. Unfortunately, I just didn't have anything left. (Or maybe that means I raced smart?)

Final 0.1 {8:13}

I found it very amusing dude picked up his pace when he heard Joe, and ended up just past the finish line heaving over the guard rail. If he's gonna beat me, at least he had to work for it!



Chip time: 25:16

I ended up with a race time 34 seconds faster than my PR! I also walked away with some bling - taking home the 2nd place medal for my age group.

Overall place: 60/397
Age group: 2/26

Landscaping Laziness

Since neither Jay nor I have the patience to deal with the maintenance of landscaping, he came up with a genius fix that still allows us to have curb appeal.

Instead of mulching and weeding, he ordered a truck-full of rocks to spread around the perennial bushes which came with the house.

He laid it all (with a bit of help from a buddy and my father) over weed barrier to help save on labor costs.

I'm pleased with how well it turned out! He had quiet a few rocks left over. Next week I hope to share pictures of the creative ways he finished up the pile.

If you'd like to link up, hitting us with your best shot, check out Nancy's blog.

The Root of My Problems

In college, I was an English major. My high school classes centered around my honors level history and literature classes.  I graduated top 10% of my graduating class, a member of Beta Club, National Honor Society and all those other smart kid things used to fluff up my college application.

Math, however, was never my strong suit. 

Okay let's skip all that. I'm struggling blogging these days because I set out to write one thing and end up going down a tangent. Like and episode of LOST, I feel like everything should be a back story. I end up spending an hour or so carefully crafting my paragraphs, until the blog doesn't resemble my thesis idea.

squirrel!!

The point of this blog? I was going to do a "Thankful Thursday" blog about how I'm so close to 3,000 gifts I can almost taste it. My last entry was number 2804, so I planned to pick a dozen or so from the 2700-2800 range to post.

 

I turned a few pages back to find the start of 2700, only turning back one page took me into the 2900s. What? This trophy wife doesn't do math, but something about didn't add up. Somehow in the course of my entries, I skipped from 2956 down to 2756. 

 

this has nothing to do with anything but its my view on the drive home

and its gorgeous - trophy life indeed!!

So this evening, I'll be updating my 1,000 gifts journal, but not in the traditional way. I'm just thankful a 7 can easily be made into a 9.  And that I didn't get too far into the 2800s (again).

What unconventional something-or-other

 are you thankful for this week?

SMARM 5K - Race Report

As I've mentioned in the past, the portion of Veterans Boulevard where the SMARM 5K is held yearly makes for a challenging race. I wasn't sure quite how to set a goal for it - beyond the standard PR goal.

Given the "Superheros and Princesses" tag line, the girls and I decided to dress up for the occasion. Who am I trying to kid - these were costumes Christal had lying around. She would have wanted to dress up even if no one else had!! As the only brunette in the crew, it went without saying I would be Wonder Woman. Kelly went as Batgirl with Christal as Robin.

I've never done hair and make-up before a race, but this time I made an exception. Big hair comes very naturally for me, and this day and age I try to fight it. Saturday morning, however, I just went with it.

The weather was a bit chilly, making it perfect for running. Kelly and I did an easy 15 minute warm-up before heading to the start line.

I made the choice to go watchless for this race. Kelly & I had done some reading about 5K racing plans. One suggestion called for ditching the watch and pacing by feel instead of time. I wasn't sure how to wear the watch AND the wrist cuffs, so I decide to try to race naked. (At least electronically speaking)

The first mile of the race, I kept Kelly & Christal directly in front of me. They are each a bit faster than me. Trusting Kelly's pacing plan, I ran a comfortable first mile behind her. We started to separate just a bit on the big hill, about a half mile in. Give her lap paces, I'd guess my first mile to be an 8:20.

The second mile was mostly down hill for the first part, then the turn, then back up the way we came. I started to feel my breathing in this section. Kelly pulled away quite a bit at this point, so I have no frame of reference for this mile. I know I passed a few people on the up, though, and I was feeling strong.

In the last mile, I didn't feel as strong as I probably should have. Its a significant downhill followed by a flat. I'm not sure if my mind wandered and I didn't focus as I should. Or I could have blown too much on the 2nd mile, not leaving me with steam to finish hard on the 3rd. Without Garmin splits, there is no real way for me to know.

By the time I got close enough to see the clock, I knew I would be dangerously close to a PR. I gave that last little stretch all I had, but it just wasn't enough. Gun time was 25:54. My 5K PR is 25:50, so it was kind of painful to see my chip time of 25:51. I feel like had I known, I could have found 2 seconds out there somewhere.

I was happy for Christal and Kelly to each place in their age group. (I was 4th in the 30-39 category, but far enough from #3 to be okay with it.)

Its hard to stay disappointed for very long though, in a fun race environment. Especially with the promise of another 5K next weekend - significantly flatter - giving me another go at besting my PR.

Did I mention there were post race pancakes? 

Paradise

Every week, Nancy challenges her readers to "Hit Me With Your Best Shot." I'm not a photographer, so every entry of mine has always been of a goofy/cool subject matter. I'm gonna switch things up this week.

Courtesy of the good Lord, I have a picture work sharing. Not because of the camera I used (my phone) or my (lack of) photography skills, but a subject matter so beautiful it was impossible to screw up.

Several comments on past blogs have suggested I live in paradise.  I'm inclined to agree.