2013 Year in Review

So much happens in the course of a year.  I love to throw together a list of some of the major events that occurred so I can look back and remember them.  It feels like a REALLY long time ago that I ran in the Charleston Half Marathon and it was still less than a year ago.  Of course, we did lots of other stuff in 2013, but here are some of the highlights.....

January 2013
Made some resolutions... more on how things went in a later post
Completed the Charleston Half Marathon with a personal best time!
Spent lots of time visiting my niece in the NICU

February 2013
Hosted a Supper Club Super Bowl Party!
Celebrated my niece coming home from the NICU
Celebrated Ryan's 29th Birthday
Got together with friends to start Nooks & Grannies book club
Found some lovely fabric for re-decorating our den

March 2013
Ran in my first 10K - Get To the Green St. Patty's Day Run
Discovered Thursday night jazz at Hunter Gatherer

April 2013
Spent a long weekend at the beach!
Trained & ran in the Heart & Sole 5-miler
"Ran for Boston"
Celebrated my sister & niece at a belated baby shower
Helped with my JWC's Annual Yard Sale
Played Ultimate Frisbee for the first time (my team was awesome!)

May 2013
Served as a guest speaker for a group of nurses state convention
Spent Memorial Day Weekend at the Beach!

June 2013  
Quit Monthly Menu Planning
Began serving as the President for JWC of Lake Murray
Attended Brandon & Mary Kathryn's wedding!
Went Kayaking with friends... got inspired & bought our own kayaks!
It started raining... and it rained and it rained and it rained.  Longest streak of rainy days in history.

July 2013
Celebrated my nephew's 3rd birthday & my niece's Baptism
Ryan started a new job... I went on vacation to the beach
I completed my PHI Pilates Instructor Certification
Hosted Nooks & Grannies book club at my house!

August 2013
Went on a weekend trip to Greenville
Started training for Georgetown Half Marathon
Taught my first Pilates class
Talked about and decided to put our house up for-sale-by-owner....
Were completely shocked when it was under contract in a quick 2 weeks
Packed liked crazy & searched for a new home

September 2013
Quit training for Georgetown Half (too busy moving!)
CLOSED on the Sale of our first home
Shopped and shopped and shopped for a new home
Moved in with my parents
Put a contract on our new home!

October 2013
Completed lots of inspections & paperwork for our new house
CLOSED on the purchase of our new home
Helped to host a baby shower for my college roommate Elizabeth
Attended Heather & Jeff's Wedding

November 2013
Ryan started another new job... a much better fit!
Moved into our new home!
Celebrated 10 years together (we started dating in November 2003)
Made a big long list of things "to-do" for our house & got started working

December 2013
Volunteered at our JWC 2nd Annual Tour of Homes
Celebrated our 4th Anniversary
Celebrated Christmas & New Years with family & friends
Celebrated my 29th Birthday

Keep Calm & Green On - 10K Race Recap

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  This guy has been sporting his St. Patty's bandana since last week.  I just love how festive it makes him look....

On Friday night, I decided that I needed to buy something new and green to wear for the race on Saturday.  After hunting around a little bit, I found this sparkly long-sleeve T-shirt from Old Navy for $9.  We've had fairly cool weather this week, so I figured long sleeves would be nice for the race.  We got down to Five Points at about 7:15am, and it was pretty breezy, so it turned out to be an OK decision.  I only got hot toward the end of the race, and once we were done running, I was glad again to have on long sleeves.  

The Get to the Green 10K was a first annual event, and also my first official 10K.  The 5K race is a really popular event that occurs every year in conjunction with the 5 Points St. Patty's Festival and parade. and I was excited that they added on the longer distance this year.  Throw in a tech shirt and free admission to the festival, and that was a deal of a race!  

Going in, I was dreading a few things.  First, the race was a double loop, and I do not love running the same loop twice in a row.  Then, the 5K started exactly 30 minutes after the 10K, and the routes crossed paths a few times.  The 5K had 2-3 times as many runners as the 10K, so it got really crowded for us just after mile 3.  The roads were really crowded and I felt like I wasn't keeping a good pace, especially when the 5K runners joined us.  There weren't any mile markers for the 10K and my GPS wasn't working, so I really had no idea.  Ryan ran with me the whole way until we had about a quarter of a mile left.  He ran ahead and was able to finish about a minute ahead of me.  Turns out, I was actually keeping a pretty good pace, finishing at 1:05:25.  Going in, I was hoping to beat 1:10, so goal accomplished!  

One of the cool things that happened was the winner of the 10K (along with his police escort to help get him through the crowd) passed us at about mile 3.  All I can say is, WOW.  He was booking it, going at a pace about twice as fast as ours.  It was cool to look down the hill an actually see the winner finish the race... not so cool that we still had 3 miles to go!  

Here we are after the race -- Deedee, Russ & Jennifer met up with us at the finish after running the 5K.  

I think it is safe to say that I'm going to be hooked on the 10K distance race.  It was long enough to make it feel worthwhile to pay the money, but not so long that you have to do any major training leading up to it.  Also definitely a distance I feel like I can work to improve my time.  The next race on the books is the Heart & Sole Women's 5-Miler on April 27th.

The weather was really nice so we came back to the festival later in the day to enjoy some Bluegrass and Shag music -- stayed just long enough to get a funny sunburn..... aaah the joys of early Spring!  

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Celebrating today the greatest gift of all, a God who left His throne in heaven to become a human child, knowing eventually He would sacrifice His life to save the world from sin.  There could be no greater love, no greater gift than this.  Wishing and praying for you a wonderful holiday and all the blessings of God's wonderful gift to man, His son.  

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called: Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."  Isaiah 9:6

8 Days Til Christmas....

Wow, amazingly enough, there are only 8 days til Christmas.  How many gifts have we purchased?

Luckily, we are on off of work for a few days (me for a WHOLE week!), but we certainly have our work cut out for us!  We have parents, grandparents, siblings, and a nephew to shop for, not to mention each other!

Ryan's wish list was short this year, he wants a new pair of sunglasses:

Since we celebrate our anniversary, Christmas and my birthday in December, which can make buying gifts for me difficult....and for the first time in a while, I actually had lots of various things on my list, for the sake of space I won't put pics of all of it! For my kitchen..... a cast iron skillet, a metal colander, a rolling pin and a few more of my everyday china cereal bowls.  For my closet.... exercise gear for cool weather running, new running shoes, a super lightweight rain jacket, dresses to wear with tights, Kim Rogers Candice Wedges,  new jeans (thanks Mom! She already got these!), and a new purse!  For the house... bedding for our front bedroom, furniture for our front or back decks, a new back door (and labor! hint hint, brother of mine, I'll buy the door if you gift the labor!).   In the last few days, I added one thing to my list, a new coat... so I've been looking around for options, here's what I've found:

JCrew's Majesty Pea Coat

Talbot's Plush Regency Coat

AK Anne Klein Double Breasted Peacoat

I guess we have our work cut out for us over the next few days, but we'll get it all done somehow!  Hopefully very soon, our tree will be surrounded with some brightly wrapped packages!!

Menu Plan Monday - Week 50

Photo Courtesy of Brooke Turner Photography

It's our 2nd anniversary today... more about that later, but here's our menu plan for now...

12.12.11 - Anniversary Dinner Out
12.13.11 - Christmas Dinner with Work friends
12.14.11 - Pork Chops & Sweet potatoes
12.15.11 - Friendsthanksbirthgivingmas dinner with Ladd's & Mooney's - we're bringing S'Mores!
12.16.11 - Sunday School Christmas Party
12.17.11 - Dinner at the BEACH!
12.18.11 - Dinner at the BEACH!

Wow, you can definitely tell it is the holidays!  Trying to savor every single moment between now and the New Year!

Just watch...

Just watched this video and it was a good solid reminder of everything I'm learning this Christmas Season....

Sleigh Bell Trot

 
Last night Ryan & I ran with some friends in the annual Sleigh Bell Trot at Saluda Shoals Park.  It's a fun little race that runs through the park, and they have all the Christmas light displays lit up.  However, it was pretty warm outside so it didn't feel too Christmas-y! 
 
It was an eye opener for me, as my first "event" following my half-marathon in Savannah.  Going into last night, I thought, it's only 3.1 miles, I ran 13.1 miles just a few weeks ago, this is no big deal!  However, I took off at a quicker pace than my half-marathon pace, and I felt it the WHOLE way.  I guess the moral of the story is, don't think that because you finished a big long endurance event that the short quick race is going to be an easy one. 
 
I felt great when I crossed the finish line, completing the race at less than an 11min/mile pace (that's a whole min/mile faster than my half-marathon pace).  Since I was more focused on running than the lights during the race, we walked back to our car and enjoyed the lights a little before we left.  With Thanksgiving tomorrow, and seeing all the lights last night, I'm ready to get our house all decked out for the holidays!
 
Happy Thanksgiving!

Weekend ahead...

So incredibly thankful it is Friday!  We have some good things planned for the weekend and I pretty much just can't wait to get it started....
 
First off, after work today, Jennifer & I are going to run at the river.  Hopefully it won't be too chilly since all of a sudden we had a giant cold front roll in.  It is only my second time running since my big race two weeks ago.  It has been a nice break to only run a few times here and there rather than 4x a week!  Don't worry though, I've been hitting the gym, just not SO much running.
 
After our run I'll probably get started on making up some good tailgate food for tomorrow.  I'm making hashbrown casserole again for the morning, this time with BACON!  (Let's face it, everything tastes just a little better when it has bacon in it.)  For after the game, I'm throwing together the EASIEST RECIPE EVER that Lindsey made for our supper club appetizer last weekend.  Check back for a recipe real soon.
 
South Carolina plays The Citadel, so it should be a low-stress game, leaving us to enjoy our beautiful day at the stadium.  It is also military appreciation day which is always special, and a little birdy told me there is going to be a fly-over, which I always find fascinating. 
 
Sunday, we're having a pot luck lunch at church, I'm making crockpot macaroni & cheese.... then I'm hoping to convince Ryan to head out a week early and go snag a Christmas tree!  It should be really interesting this year with Beaufort and the tree.  He has taken a new liking to sticks/twigs/branches of any kind, so we need to get started getting him used to it before we put any ornaments/lights on it.  Last year, he was small enough that we were able to just block it off, but this year we're going to really have to perfect his "LEAVE IT" skills.   
 
Whether or not we get the tree, I'm already listening to Christmas tunes, and I can't wait to celebrate the holidays this year :)

easter

this has been a busy week for me, and i've been trying to take out the time to focus and meditate on the meaning of Easter.  on palm sunday, we discussed passover and i was overwhelmingly struck again by the sacrifice that God made to send His son to save us.  i am so undeserving, and yet he gave up EVERYTHING so that i could spend an eternity with Him.  i don't think i have the words to express how thankful and grateful i am, but i didn't want to let the day go by without a mention.  i am SO happy to be able to say that my savior lives.  i'm looking forward to celebrating that fact this easter sunday, and hopefully keeping this grateful attitude all year round.

 

romans 5:8 "But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. "

 

john 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

2010 Christmas Decorations in Pictures

This year was our first Christmas with all our decorations out, and I got a few pictures with the blackberry since my camera decided to quit life right before the holidays. Sorry for the poor quality photos, but just for the sake of remembering what 2010 Christmas looked like, here they are!

We have a tradition of collecting nutcrackers in our family, my mom gives us each a new one every year.... this year, I set them up on top of the entertainment center, but we have two more from this year, so looks like they might have to move them around next year....



We also have a Fontanini Nativity Scene which we collect new pieces to every year. (AND, in case you're curious, the pieces are rubber so they won't break if your puppy or child knocks them off). I think one day when we have a family, this will be a great thing to use to teach our kids about the Christmas story.



We hosted our first Christmas Eve dinner, so we brought out all the Christmas china for the first time. It was really nice to get out the holiday dishes and set up a fancy table. We also figured out we can seat 10 people (it's a squeeze) around the table, which will come in handy in 2011 for our supper club and other dinner parties!


We had a white day-after-Christmas and our boy Beaufort really had a blast playing in it....

I forgot to take pictures of our outside decorations, but my mom and I headed out to Michael's and made all new ribbons for our garland and a beautiful new wreath for the front door this year..... I'll be sure when Christmas 2011 rolls around to get a picture of it. Hopefully I'll have a better camera than my blackberry by then :)

Until next year, Merry Christmas!

2011 is here!

Well, the new year is finally here! We've had a crazy busy holiday season, and have enjoyed the first day of 2011 simply relaxing at home, enjoying the chance to simply do nothing. I've got lots of things I've got in mind for "resolutions," but want to really commit to them before I write more. Probably more to come on that as January moves in....

However, one thing we have already decided on for this year is to work on our budget and one major place we decided to focus was on food. In the last year, my checkbook register was filled with the MANY restaurants we frequent. We tend to do better cooking at home when we have a plan, so I've decided to get back to menu planning, especially inspired by Leigh, who posted 52 weeks of menus in 2010. (You'll probably be seeing a lot of links to her recipe blog, too, since she makes some fabulous food!)

My thought is that if I post my menu weekly, I'll be more likely to stick to it, and when I'm stumped as to what to fix, I can go back and look at past weeks for ideas. The girls from work are also starting back up with our supper-swap this month, so we'll have a good set of meals every few weeks to throw in the mix!

So, here we go for 2011.....

Week 1 Menu

Saturday 1.1.11 - Leftovers and sandwiches/soup

Sunday 1.2.11 - Venison cube steak, rice & gravy, salad

Monday 1.3.11 - California Turkey Burgers w/ Guacamole, Chips & Salsa

Tuesday 1.4.11 - Paula Dean's grilled pork tenderloin w/ Spicy Sweet Potatoes

Wednesday 1.5.11 - Taking dinner to friends... probably Lasagna Casserole

Thursday 1.6.11 - Cheesy Chicken & Corn Chowder with sandwiches

Friday 1.7.11 - Date Night Out and/or Date Night IN with Leftovers .... depending how we feel at the end of the week :)

Let me know what you're eating in 2011, so I can try some new stuff, too!

One Year in the Making

We are celebrating our first anniversary today. Wow, I think the year has simply flown by. It is somewhat strange that we woke up to a cold rain this morning, and very similar to our wedding day. So, just for the sake of recording a few memories, here are a few things that we've done this year.

1. Just a few days after we returned from our honeymoon in Park City, Utah, we celebrated our first Christmas & New Year's in our own home (I guess we can't count buying the house, since technically that happened before we said "I DO"). Christmas was pretty toned down for us since we had just celebrated our wedding. While others were unloading Christmas gifts, we spent the holidays opening and sorting through wedding gifts. We had a blast spending all the giftcards we got when we returned the duplicates and extras. And I started the writing the thank-you notes.
2. We spent our first Valentine's Weekend in Savannah, GA where Ryan was happy to learn you can order a beer to-go from nearly any restaurant or bar and walk down the street drinking it. Unfortunately, we came home to a broken heat pump. Our first major mishap as homeowners and newlyweds, and 1 very cold night. Good fortune had it that our heat pump was still under warranty and we only had to pay for labor.
3. Got in a major car accident (not our fault!) and had to spend the money we were saving for Ryan's new car to replace my Honda we hoped would run for several more years.
4. Shopped and put a deposit down on our first puppy. That didn't work out, so we chose to wait for another litter and had to wait several more months.
5. Ryan started a new position at work. Although it may not be the ultimate answer, this change was an answer to prayer that we had been hoping for for many months. This put a damper on our summer vacation plans, but we definitely knew it was for the best.
6. We watched excitedly as our college alma mater, the University of South Carolina Gamecocks won the NCAA national baseball championship.
7. Just as the college world series wrapped up, our nephew Cooper was born. He is the first child in either of our immediate families. He was a few weeks early and had to spend a little extra time in the hospital at first, but hasn't let that slow him down. He is so precious and we have enjoyed watching him grown in the last 5 months.
8. In August, we finally brought home our puppy Beaufort. Life has been a whirlwind since then. I never imagined how much work goes into raising and training a puppy. Our entire house had to be "puppy-proofed", and even still, this smart little booger finds ways to get into trouble.
9. The week after we brought home the puppy, Ryan had to go to training for 3 straight weeks. This was our first time being apart for an extended period of time and I found a new respect for people who live apart from their loved ones. Luckily, I was quite busy taking care of our furry-four-legged child while he was away. Ryan got to spend 2 weekends with my uncle exploring the Washington, DC area. He has never been before and loved seeing all the sites in our nation's capitol.
10. Throughout the year, we have celebrated with several friends at their weddings and engagements, the exciting news of babies on the way and baby arrivals, even just recently the news of a long-awaited wait list spot for friends in the process of adopting sweet children from Ethiopia. We changed churches, helped start up a supper club group that meets monthly, made some new friends, made great memories and we have truly enjoyed every moment.

We are celebrating the great year we've had and looking forward with goals in mind of what we want our next year to look like. We are so thankful that God has blessed us with so much this year. I can't wait to share the many moments of our lives together and see what the next year holds.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Leslie

S-L-A-C-K-E-R

Well, I've got a ton of partial posts written in my head. Almost daily, I think about something to write, but never actually type it out. Or, I do type it out in my email, and never copy & paste it here on the blog. BUT, I avow to do better. You can give me a smack on the hand next month when I've only posted once, AGAIN. I'm going to TRY really hard not to be such a SLACKER.

However, there are some pretty note-worthy events coming up during the next month, so perhaps I'll make it a point to have something to say. DECEMBER 2010 will FINALLY be here in less than 6 hours.

Not to worry, we are SO ready for the holiday season. We just celebrated our first Thanksgiving as a married couple, and it was awesome! For the first time in the last 6 years, we ate only ONE Thanksgiving meal. The whole time we were dating, we celebrated by eating both Thanksgiving LUNCH and DINNER. One of the only pitfalls of living in the same town with both sets of family is the GIANT amount of food there is to consume on holidays. (I know, some would not consider that a pitfall at all). Needless to say, given there was only one meal to eat, I made the most of it and ate myself silly leading to a WAY early bedtime.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we bundled up for the chilly Carolina-Clemson rivalry game, in which our Gamecocks won! We're excited to watch them again next weekend against Auburn in the SEC championship game!

So, perhaps you can look forward to hearing more about our December activities, which include a vacation to the beach, our first anniversary, our second Christmas, my 26th birthday, and MUCH more. And, I promise some pictures soon of Christmas decorations. You might say I'm slightly obsessed. But in my mind, it's just right.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Lockslie