Menu Plan Monday (Year 2, Week 35)

This is a strange week as we are really busy with various activities and getting in the swing of school schedule, and football! So we may not stick to this plan very well....

8.27.12- homemade pizza and salad
8.28.12- crockpot dr pepper BBQ, coleslaw, potato salad
8.29.12- leftovers
8.30.12- USC vs. Vanderbilt game
8.31.12- date night out
9.1.12- grilling and football watching
9.2.12- Sunday school pool party and helping out with USC bid day!

Race registration & training update

I’ve updated my race training schedule, and I realized I had originally left out the week of Sept 1st! Hurrah for an extra training week! We’re hitting the hills again this weekend. In other news, I’ve also registered for the Habitat for Humanity 15K the week before our half marathon. Originally, I thought I was going to have to do my training run by myself that weekend, so this will be a nice warm-up to the half marathon the following week! Also, I love the Habitat organization and in my opinion, it’s hard to pay for a race if you don’t believe in the cause for which they are raising money. Otherwise, why not just go out and run on your own for free?

P.S. If you’re planning to participate in either of these two races, the prices for registration go up after August 31st! So hurry up and register! Also, both events are offering a 5K, and the Habitat race is also offering a 10K, so there are lots of options for different distances!

Week 1 (08/11): Long Run = 5 miles, Short runs = 3.5 miles each
Week 2 (08/18): Long Run = 6 miles, Short runs = 3 miles & 4 miles hills
Week 3 (08/25): Long Run = 7 miles, Short runs = 4 miles each
Week 4 (09/01): Long Run = 7 miles, Short runs = 4 miles & 5 miles hills – moving long run to Labor Day morning
Week 5 (09/08): Long Run = 8 miles, Short runs = 4 miles & 5 miles – moving long run to Sunday
Week 6 (09/15): Long Run = 9 miles, Short runs = 4 miles & 5 miles hills
Week 7 (09/22): Long Run = 10 miles, Short runs = 5 miles & 5 miles
Week 8 (09/29): Long Run = 10 miles, Short runs = 5 miles & 5 miles hills
Week 9 (10/06): Long Run = 9 miles, Short runs = 4 miles & 3 miles, Providence Presbyterian Habitat for Humanity 15K
Week 10 (10/13): Long Run = RACE DAY = 13.1, Historic Georgetown Bridge2Bridge Half-Marathon!

And our motto for this week....

First day...

It's been a while since I had that first day of school feeling, but as I got ready this morning, I couldn't help throwing out a thousand reminders as I walked out the door.

Well, today is the first day of class for my hubby, going back to school. He’s taking two courses that I took (gasp) NINE years ago. It seems impossible that it could’ve been that long, but I guess if I spent 6 years in college and I’ve been out in the working world for 3 years, I guess that adds up to 9. More than likely, I’ll be doing lots of tutoring, so let’s all pray that I can remember everything, or that I can catch up in a hurry!

This morning Ryan told me that he thinks I’m more nervous than he is, and I believe that he’s right! Here’s hoping for a wonderful semester and baby steps toward a new and much more rewarding career path.

And, he's not going back to kindergarten, but I'm sure he'll be doing plenty of reading, just like Cocky!

Menu Plan Monday (Year 2, Week 34)

Back on track this week finally!

8.20.12 - Taco Salads (never used our frozen taco meat last week)
8.21.12 - Sandwiches/Salads/Hot Dogs/Whatever
8.22.12 - Beef Kebob's
8.23.12 - Turkey Burgers
8.24.12 - Dinner club... Making Cheesy Lime Chicken, Homemade Guac, and Peach Cobbler
8.25.12 - Grilling/Leftovers
8.26.12 - TBD

It's also the first week of school for Ryan, so we should be on a much better schedule over the next few months, so hopefully I'll be able to keep up with my menu plans much better!

crazy hills - 6 miler

We decided to take on some crazy hills for our 6 mile training run this morning.  We ran from my parents' house in Irmo, out of their neighborhood onto Lake Murray Blvd.  We ran up and down and up and down some major hills, until we reached the last 1.7mi of our 6 miles, and I can't tell you how thankful I was to reach this point in our run....

1.7 miles of FLAT trail.  It wasn't nearly as clear as this picture today, either.  It was super foggy, which I think was probably a blessing since I couldn't see too far ahead to see what was coming my direction on the hills or see how far was left on the dam.

If today is any indication of how our race day will be, I've got a LOT of work to do to conquer the bridges in Georgetown!    Luckily, every uphill comes with a downhill, and that's definitely something to celebrate.  We actually were pacing faster than most of our short flat runs, so at least we felt accomplished picking up our pace a little despite the difficulty of the uphill parts.

I think all of us were a little unsure of how this run was going to go, and although it's not always fun to wake up super early on a Saturday, we were all happy we did it when we finished.  Also, I have to thank my running buddy Jenny for telling me to keep going several times when we hit hard spots on the hills.  I think she enjoyed turning the tables on me a little bit, since normally I'm the one with the "don't quit, keep moving" mantra.

Also, by the end of our 6 miles... we were truly feeling this quote....

Happy running this week :)

Menu Plan ... Tuesday (Year 2, Week 33)

Yep, so I was a little slow on the comeback from vacation, and here's Menu Plan Monday, Tuesday!

8.13.12 – Dinner on Road back home

8.14.12 – Salads/Hamburgers/Hotdogs Leftover from vacation

8.15.12 – Tacos/Taco Salads Leftover from vacation, homemade guacamole

8.16.12 – Baked Chicken Parmesan & Salad 

8.17.12 – BBQ Grilled Country Style Ribs; Tomato, Cuc&Onion Salad, Sweet Potatoes

8.18.12 – Date Night out 

8.19.12 - TBD

Have a great week!

One morning really early

It's not news to anyone that I'm an early riser. This week, despite being our vacation was no different. There were lots of early morning walks, but this was one of my favorites. Definitely up WAY earlier than normal, but totally worth it for the views. And an awesome reminder of God's beautiful creation.  The pictures don't do it justice, but it was a BEAUTIFUL sunrise to the east while a thunderstorm raged just to the west of the beach.

"You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you." -Nehemiah 9:6

Menu Plan Monday (Year 2, Week 32)

Our toes are either in the sand or walking the course for the PGA Championship this week.  We also have lots of relaxing to do, including some frozen meals made last week at home and several dinners out.  Vacation style menu plan means as little work as possible!  See y'all next week :)