1...2...3

snugglebugs

It's summer in Texas.  ugh.  We have it down to a routine.  Get up, play outside for as long as possible, usually until lunch time, then we eat and nap.  After nap we do some of this....

always in mommy's bed too.  Can't say I don't love it.  It is probably my favorite 30 minutes of the day.  Then they re-energize and we are all over the place again.  But those 30 minutes- they are snuggly, sweet, and calm...  such bliss.

strawberries...

We LOVE to eat strawberries around here...

 also can we just take note of how HUGE the little dude's hands are..  I mean they are like the size of a baseball mit.

a few shots I took of a beautiful 13 year old girl...

 sticking her tongue out at her mama...

spot on...

I found this on pinterest...  my thoughts exactly.

Wheeler

My little dude... man is he cute or what?

Hutson and I were playing around with the remote for the camera- we had some interesting shots and definitely a LOT that were completely blurry... but this one was pretty cute.  Even though you can't see his smile, you can see it in his eyes...

 and after having played with the camera and computer a bit, I have decided I definitely like photos of me in black and white....  hides a lot of little wrinkles!

It's nap time now, so I really should be doing something productive around the house and then we are off to the gym- it's SPRINT day!    Happy Wednesday!

Cat fish fishin'

The Little Men gave daddy some Spiderman fishing poles for Father's Day so that they can all go fishing together.... Jer had them practicing casting in the yard and the pool this evening- they couldn't have been happier.

doing a little gardening with daddy...

Macie

I 'borrowed' my neighbor girl the other night and we went down by the lake to take a few pictures.... Love this girl- super easy to work with and adorable.

Happy Monday!

Running...

Well I did it... I signed up for another Half Marathon at the end of September.... yikes.  I am the kind of person that needs an end goal to continue to work out on a daily basis- I need something to train for.  Maybe it is because I was an athlete for a long time and there was always something to train for... games, tournaments, races etc.  I find working out with no goal boring and eventually I just stop.  So I guess I'll just have to do a race every 3-4 months to keep me going.  I have never done a race so close to summer, where the majority of my training will be in the hot months of the summer... in Texas.  eeek.  I am thinking water is going to be my new best friend.  

For every Half I run, I pick up a new pair of running shoes to train and run the race in.  I just got my new pair, they are like running on the clouds.  I love new running shoes.  I never realize how worn out my old ones are until I put a brand new pair on.  For those of you wondering- I run in Asics Gel-Nimbus.  The new ones I got are the Gel Nimbus 13's... I have been wearing these shoes since they had gel nimbus 6's.  Love them.

First sprint day at the gym below.  Not too bad.  I do one sprint day a week... usually on Wednesdays because then I am fully recovered by Saturday's long run.  I only run quarter mile sprints.  Walk for 5 minutes, run for 5 minutes at 6mph, then .25 miles at 8 mph then I bring it down to 4mph for .10 miles, and then .25mi sprint again.  Repeat.  First sprint day this week, I did 8x .25mi sprints and then cooled down with a jog for another mile.  It felt great, and it shreds calories which we like.

Snacks that have been keeping me going...  Pistachios are my new obsession.  They are extremely addicting.  My little habit has gotten so out of control that the Jerbear bought me a couple of pistachio trees- hopefully they will produce next year.  Yogurt- I joke that we are on the Michael Weston diet around here.  (Burn Notice reference)  All four of us eat A LOT of yogurt.  Plain yogurt, yogurt with fruit, yogurt with honey, yogurt with granola, frozen yogurt, greek yogurt.... you name it we have it. 

If anyone wants to run/train with me for a Half Marathon let me know!  I'm always up for workout partners.  

I'm off to feed the Little Men some lunch, that will probably include yogurt of some sort...

Have a great weekend!

****Update****

I have had a few people ask about training schedule.  I am following week 1 this week.  I have pulled the training schedule from the book 4 Hours to a 4 Hour Marathon by Dave Kuehls, and modified it a bit to fit my needs. 

phone pictures

Just pulling some pictures off of my phone... These are from April on...

Some photos from Portland and Hawaii...

color or b&w...

sometimes I just can't decide what I like best...

but either is better than the original...  It took me a long time to want to use a digital camera- I always felt like it was cheating.  Plus I really like the act of developing film... but now I wouldn't go back.  With film if you wanted black and white you had to shoot with black and white film, but now I can change everything with just a few clicks on the computer, and as someone who likes efficiency- this is it.

the before and after panel in lightroom.... I like my photos on the warm side so things are brightened and warmed while editing...

a little shout out....

We had to give a little shout-out to my Grandpa (probably the only one who checks our little blog on a daily basis for any new posts...), who is turning 80 years old today!  While unfortunately we couldn't make it to Minnesota for the little par-tay... we did get the chance to have a nice long visit with them when they came to Texas a few weeks ago.  

Papa- We love you, we wish you Happy Birthday and we miss you!  Have a wonderful day!

It also happens to be my brothers birthday today as well- so Uncle Jeffy Have a great Day!  Happy Birthday!

bookworm...

One of the things on my list of 30 before thirty was to read 30 books.  I have started a list to see where I am since I have a month to knock out some more books.  Now that it is summer time and we have more time at home and just relaxing I should be able to get at least 5 more books down before d-day.

This list is from memory since I didn't write any down, so just consider it all the books that stayed in my head because I really loved them or hated them...

In no particular order...

1-3. The Hunger Games series...  seriously the best books of the year.

4-6. The Fifty Shades of Gray series...  There is/was so much hype over this series that I had to check it out.  Eh... it's ok.

7. The Witness by Nora Roberts

8. Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson

9-10. The Digital Photography Book Volumes 1 & 2 by Scott Kelby

11. 4 hours to a 4 Hour marathon by Dave Kuehls

12. The Tigers Wife by Tea Obreht

13. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

14. The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 book

15. Creative, Inc. by Joy Cho & Meg Mateo Ilasco

16. Lethal by Sandra Brown

17. Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts

18-20.  The Mysterious Benedict Society books 1-3 by Trenton Lee Stewart.  ...I fell in love with the cover art.  They were definitely a good read.  It is a young adult series, so relatively easy, fun read.  All three books were really good.  About really smart kids that are recruited to do a little spying for an eccentric old person.  I think there is a fourth book out now too.

21. Into the Woods by Tana French

22-23.  Overbite and Insatiable by Meg Cabot

24-34.  The Undead Series by Mary Janice Davidson

35.  Dracula by Bram Stoker

Currently reading...  

Prague Winter by Madeleine Albright

On Deck...

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Paris Wife by Paula Mclain

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame Smith

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

I guess I can mark reading 30 books of my list... Didn't realize I had read that many this year, and that isn't even all of them, those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head.  Also- going back over my list it looks like I may have had a small obsession with Vampires this year-13 books that have vampire characters, and one more on deck.  I tend to find something I like and then read every book that is similar to it until I get annoyed, and then move on.

I love the act of going to the bookstore or library and actually picking out books and holding them, and the smell of a new book is heaven.  However, I broke down and bought myself a Kindle this year.  I got tired of lugging a book with me everywhere, and then forget traveling... I would have a layer of books across the top of my suitcase which adds significant weight.  The Kindle is wonderful, I have about 10-15 books on there now and it is so easy to take with me, it lights up so I can read in the dark while Jerbear is sleeping, but also has different settings for reading outside in the middle of the day.  Love it.

Off to enjoy some hot, hot sun.