skiing

sweet air

Dance recital

Here is Rachel in her dance recital from a few weeks ago (December 2010)
The song they danced to was "Sweet Treets" so they are all wearing shirts with different candies on them.

Nov 2009--Mary had a little Lamb

So I don't know if I ever posted this one, but it is cute. It is Rachel's 1st grade class singing Mary had a Little Lamb in Navajo. It is hard to tell at first...but after a while you can hear the fimilar tune. Hard to hear at times, because at this age, when the teacher says "sing loud" they all just yell. ha ha. oh well :)

Ski trip (day 2)

Here is the official family photo, as many of you can relate to, Sam doesn't love asking strangers to take our pictures, so I only get one chance to make it happen.  Love our little goofball --or "skittles" as she was nicknamed due to her colorful  ski clothes. 

Sam's dream come true--having icicles in his beard.  He only regrets trimming it before the trip, yes, if you can believe it it was MUCH longer before that. 

"Skittles"

I chose the jacket (because it was on sale) however I had purchased a light pink pair of coordinating ski bibs.  Unfortunately they were the wrong size  (technically fit, but Sam thought we might not be able to get 2 years out of them) so he opted to take her back and return them.  He let her pick any pair of bibs she wanted, and when I pulled this multi-color bibs out of the bag, I asked him to take them back to the store and return them.  (I know, a total party-pooper). I mean, the jacket already had a pattern to it, and they totally didn't match--"is that really neon green???!!" --I thought.  Well, Sam and Rachel won and we did not head back to the store, I mean the important thing is that she is warm, and that was now covered. 

Funny thing is--they were right.  She looks adorable and I love all the colors.  (I am a little jealous, and it made my coordinating outfit look a little bland...I wonder when I will grow out of my ski clothes so I can justify buying a new ski wardrobe? :)

Documented proof that Rachel and I went down a black diamond! WOOOO! we rock!

Or, as my little brother Trevor stated  "Rachel rocks!...you... are 28 so it is expected, you may in fact be a bit behind the curve."  Ha ha--okay, true-but I was still excited!

Santa found us in Durango

We brought our stockings and a little tree (if you squint you can see the miniature, table-top jingle bell tree).  Rachel was loving her pillow pet that she got from Santa  (still don't get why kids love these so much--other than the fact that Rachel loves just about anything sold from an infomercial.)

We also brought a few gifts from family that were under the tree at home.

This little girl was SOOO happy to be skiing.  We had a close call with her getting a fever the first night we got to Colorado, which left Rachel and I at Urgent care on Christmas eve.  (we were nice and let Sam go skiing, since he wanted to demo some powder skiis which meant he was going to be skiing in places Rachel and I wouldn't be going anyway).  Rachel loves skiing as much as her daddy, and was so sad all day that she couldn't go.  I tried to make up for it by renting a movie (Ramona and Beezus--pretty good by the way) but today when we were skiing she kept saying

"Hey, Guess what?"

"What?" 

"WE'RE SKIING!!!!!!!!!!"

hmmm

For someone who wants to be a writer someday....for the record...I am really bad with words.    Ask anyone who knows me and they can probably tell you a story of sometime that I attempted to make a grand statement of epiphany and then ended with " what's that word? I think it starts with __? " 

I am trying to write my personal essay right now for pharmacy school--and it happened again.  Lame.  ha ha

Here is how it went tonight. 
I am thinking of a word or a phrase--it means something like... "mind power".  Doesn't sound right.
I try asking Sam, but he just stares blankly at me--I don't blame him because I am not making any sense.
Maybe it starts with mind but ends in something else. Mind________  hmmmm I got nothing.
Maybe it starts with another "M".  I break out the thesauraus, and flip to the M's
Mindful
Mindless
Mind boggling....hmm...getting colder
so I try "Determined"...nope.

eventually I find it...I think. 

Strong Willed.    Yea--I was way off, doesn't start with mind, or even an "m" but I think this is what I was looking for, well, close enough anyway. 

So I just realized that the only posts I have taken the time to write for the past month were about running.  While I am quite excited about those long runs, they aren't the only thing I have been doing.  It is probably just that it is the only time the computer is free.  (Sam got a new xbox game so most evenings and weekends he has claimed priority over our super-slow/ can-only-handle-one-device-at-a-time  Internet. 

So here are some belated posts I have neglected to share.

When I was driving back from school in October, this site was too pretty to pass up.  It's wierd how this is the only spot with trees, and if this is the view I had every day it might be different than the over-grazed, dust bowl view that I consider Chinle.  Anyway, I picked rachel up from school and forced her to come take pictures with me.

She took a little convincing, but eventually warmed up.   And with my excitement about the fall leaves I overlooked the fact that I wasn't wearing makeup, until I came home and pulled up all the pics on the computer.  So nothing that I want to enlarge to poster size or anything...but aren't those leave gorgeous?!

Runners knee

So I have started to feel some pain in my right knee--nothing too bad, I can still run, and it only hurts a little  once I am done running.  But it is enough that I wanted to do a little research about it to see how to prevent it from getting worse.  I think the pain fits the description of "runners knee"  which can be aggravated by:

• running more than your body is ready for
• running hills
• running in the cold
• high arches that don't give very much cushion to impact

Some things you can do to help:

• Reduce milage
• take a rest from the stress (bike or swim instead)
• layer correctly if running in the cold
• avoid hills
• wear a special strap just below the knee
• try orthotics
• stretch before and after the run
• ice immediately after your run for about 20 minutes  and 1-2 additional times later that day
• stengthen other leg muscles to help support your knee (quads especially)

So I plan to cut back on mileage, ice when I do run, hit the gym more to do some leg exercises, maybe do some biking...because I am not sure I can make it to the pool...plus I suck at swimming laps.  

Here are the links where I found this info--in case anyone else can benefit from the hour I spent looking all of this up:
What hurts? Q & A to help diagnose the problem
"Runner's knee"
Running 10 miles is not normal
How to avoid and Heal Runners knee

My First 8 mile Run

Rachel and I went to Phoenix last weekend to spend some time with family--and while I was super excited to spend time with them--I was equally excited to get to run my long run for the week while I was there.   Like most of you I have heard some great things about training in high elevation.  However, the more I was looking into it I found articles saying that it doesn't make "that much of a difference"  so I tried to ignore that, and my friends and I had decided to stick to that thought and if nothing else maybe the placebo effect would be miraculous :)   But deep down I was really hoping I would notice a huge difference.  It took me a long time of living up here (at 5600 feet) and jogging before I felt like I could run a mile without stopping so I could catch my breath.  I feel like I am in really good shape now but I still feel like I am struggling to get a really deep breath at times and running a 10:30 mile was no where near the "easy" pace our running plan noted. 

It was harder than I thought to fit the run in--since we had family stuff going on all day Saturday, so I opted to run first thing Sunday morning. For my Glendale friends who know the area, I ran from my parents' house, over the GIANT :) hill on 59th ave and then all the way to the 101, and back to their house. It was funny to run past Nicole's old house, and then Katie's... and even Brynn's knowing that I never even thought about getting to their houses on foot before. (I would ride a bike to Nicole's, but never Brynn and Katie's)

*just a side note--it is such a bummer they are all their "old" houses because their parents have all moved, so we don't even get to see each other when we are home visiting.

So how was it???

AMAZING!!!!

And that is no exaggeration.  I felt like I could breathe! And of course that makes a huge difference.  I not only hit the average 10:30 pace, but I ran the first 3 miles at under 10 min mile pace.    I had also heard that you notice the biggest difference when you sprint so I wanted to try an all out sprint for one mile and see how it felt compared to when I have done the same in Chinle.  I ran a 7:30 mile (and for the record, it was after running over Thunderbird Hill).  So my experiment was definitely a success and I am still going to try and hit the times on our training plan for each run, but just knowing that it will be easier when we get down to Phoenix gives me that much more confidence. 

And for my fellow half-marathon training friends--here are my splits and a few other details:

• 0.5 miles      4:34  (9:42 min/mile pace)  Warm up--felt like a nice easy pace
• 1.25 miles  12:14  (9:46 min/mile pace)  flat, still felt like an okay pace
• 1.3 miles    12:39  (9:43 min/mile pace)  (up and over the hill --had a steep uphill/also a downhill)
• 1 mile          7:31    all out sprint  (then after this mile is where I turned around)
• 1 mile        10:41    walked for a bit to recover, then jogged a bit before getting back to a run pace
• 1.35 miles 14:54   (11:10 min/mile pace -*fyi this side of the mountain was much steeper
• 1.25 miles 12:30   (10 min/mile pace)
• 0.5 miles     4:07   (8:40 min/mile pace--picked up the pace to finish strong)  (don't want to have to walk across the finish line so I always try to go fast at the end of a run)
• Total: 8.05 miles  79 min   avg pace 9:49 min/mile

(PS-this was an especially fun run because I am sure this is the longest I have ever run.  I ran track in high school and we did some pretty long runs--probably 1-2 runs a week that were 5-6 miles, so up to this point I felt like I was just getting back into the shape I was in back then, but now with every bit I run further I will be setting new Personal records on distance--which I find just an added bonus to all this training now that it is getting bard).

More running

So the first week of our official half-marathon training has gone pretty well..so far.   I did buy a watch, but I went for the cheap one without GPS--and I regret it already--so I am going to buy one of those soon--maybe I can hold out for black thursday in the off chance that there will be a smoking deal. :)

I ran this morning with my friend Lisa and since I have a ghetto watch I rely on her to tell me how fast to go--today's run was supposed to be at an "easy" 10:30 pace  (which for the record is not exactly "easy" for me--but doable. )  So I kept up with Lisa--but it sure seemed like I was breathing a lot harder than she was--so I had mixed feeling when I saw our spilts.  My first thought was "Man, we could have slowed down a little" but I am also glad to see that it was faster than I thought, which makes me feel a little better about being so tired. 

Our run this morning was 4 miles--and the temps dropped back down to 20 degrees so we were nice and bundled up again.   (we have enjoyed slightly warmer temps the past few days--but it appears the cold front is back).    But we did it--and that makes me happy  : D

I am heading to Phoenix today for a quick trip to spend some time with my family--and the plan is to squeeze in my first 8 mile run while I am there.   Running at a lower elevation and in non-freezing temps sounds GREAT right now!

runners articles

In my free time today (only "free" because I was ignoring the piles of laundry that needs to be washed, as well as the pile of clean laundry that is piled high on the dryer waiting to be folded)  I was browsing the Runners world website and found two articles that applied to me--and possibly some of my friends--so I thought I would post to share. 

Music and Running  I clicked on this because I have been thinking about how I like to listen to my mp3 player while I run--and whether I should start running without it.  Mainly wondering whether I should run with it during the real race.  I mean--when you see pictures of the winners--do you see cords dangling from their ears? hmmm... Despite this--I had decided that I was going to wear them anyway--because that is one of the things that I love about running--is getting to crank up my tunes, and speed up when the music gets upbeat.  So this article is by another runner who also loves to listen to music--so I clicked on it thinking it would share all the reasons why music is great--however it took a turn in the other direction, and now I have a few more things to consider...apparently. 

Tips for running in the Cold  Thankfully I have the #1 help--Friends to run with in the cold, but hopefully this will help us on our chilly runs.

a nice attempt

So my official training plan starts next week so for today I wanted to try a "tempo" run as they call it.  This is where you try to run a couple miles at a fast pace, but run a slower warm-up and cool-down.   Today I was shooting for a one mile warm up and 2 miles at about 9:30 followed by a one mile cool-down (for a total of 4 miles).  I had some free time while Rachel was at school so I decided to go for a run and just take Cali (since none of my friends can go mid-day).    Cali is full of energy and is usually running ahead of us for most of the way so I thought she would have no problem. 

However I was wrong.  After my 1 mile warm up I was going to turn around and do the same route again (since this is outside of the compound in the dirt where I can take her off her leash so I don't have to hold onto it).   However, when I got back Cali is used to running back inside the compound to chase lizards so she rushed off ahead in a different direction, and I called her a few times but she wasn't coming back.  And since I had just started "timing" my run (more on that later) I didn't want to lose any more time trying to get her back, so I just ran in her general direction and decided on a different path--one that involved a lot of circling around an area so she could chase lizards and I could still keep my eye on her.  She eventually came and met up with me when I had about a half mile left of my tempo run, only problem was she was exhausted--she was just standing in the middle of the road panting trying to rest, only I didn't want to stop (again --very technical timing in progress)  I tried  putting the leash back on but she would keep up (okay-she barely budged) so I just dropped the leash and instead of looping around the last few times I just stuck to the one straight away (to keep an eye on Cali in case any cars came) and ran back and forth until I guesstimated that I had completed the distance.  Super efficient I gotta say--ha ha. Then I jogged/walked at Cali's pace straight home so she could get a drink. 

So after all that I came home and made this wonderful map, trying to guess about where I ran.  Then I calculated my time.  Which is extremely comical in an of itself.  Me -being frugal/lazy, currently have no watch.  I have one, but the battery is dead, and I keep meaning to buy another one...but haven't.  Part of the reason is because I am trying to justifying buying a super fancy (and expensive) Garmin 110 watch that tracks mileage by sattelite as well as tracks total time and mileage splits.

So in the mean time I came home--looked at the playlist on my mp3 player and totaled up the time that I ran--based on the length of each song.  Lame.  

So --here is what I think I ran today :

1 mile warm up

2 miles @ 9:55 pace

and a 1/2 mile cool down.  

(long story--but if nothing else I had to document the miserably inefficient tracking of this run so that I can later justify my purchase) 

6 miler

So today I set out to run my long run for the week, which was a six miler.  My friend Lisa was able to come with me and it was fun to run together.  I think of myself as a runner, while Lisa thinks of herself as a swimmer who is getting into running.  So I think in my head I picture myself as being faster at running than her...however ...not sure where I got this idea.  We usually keep up with each other so we seem to have about the same pace, but then we always try to run as hard as we can for the last final stretch (1/2 mile or so) of each run.   Today, said final stretch happened to be climbing a GIANT hill.  (the elevation changes are listed below and you can see that the last mile increase by 52 feet, which doesn't sound like much--but let me assure you it felt steep!!)  I told myself that I would run really hard before I got to the hill  (while it was still flat) instead of waiting until the last stretch, however once I got there Lisa kept going strong.  I tried to keep up, but she eventually lost me, well--only by about 10 seconds or so.

I was exhausted, but it is nice to feel like you worked your body to its capacity.  And that is definitely what it felt like--my legs OR my lungs could not go any faster. 

This was the 3rd time I have run 6 miles, and this is a new PR (62 minutes). WOOO!!

And while I was wondering how on earth my friend had that much left in her, I remembered that she wasn't just any swimmer--but she was in the Olympic Trials for the breast stroke!  So while she may not have trained as a runner, I am pretty sure her amazing lung capacity and endurance has transferred over.  If I can just keep trying to keep up with her I will definitely keep setting new personal records :) 

**All my race stats are from my friends' fancy technological gadgets.  This is from Lisa's iphone app.  

The area that says "splits" are the times for each of our miles. 

Random Chinle Trivia--if you look at the map you can see our neighbohood (the first loop on the left.)  That loop goes around the outside of our entire neighborhood and the hospital and it is about 2 miles.  Then we ran down the hill to the highway and then about two miles up the road  (aka--more than  half way through town).  Pretty much the entire town of chinle is on this tiny little map. 

Happy Halloween!

One of the fun things about Halloween is that it is a holiday that lingers.  Rachel got to wear her halloween costume to school today for her class party, and then we have a neighborhood halloween party at the park tomorrow, a church party tomorrow night, and then real Halloween the next night.    Rachel choose to be a cheerleader--and more specifically a Wildcat's cheerleader.  I was a little confused at first why she chose that particular name.  I thought she was talking about the Chinle High School Football team because their mascot is the Wildcats.  Then I got her to explain a little more--and she told me that this boy in her class plays football with his friends during recess and their team is the wildcats--and she cheers for them.  :) Ha ha So cute!   It later came out that they got their name from the High School Musical because their school mascot is the Wildcats.  So when I showed her pictures of Cheerleader costumes online she got so excited she found this one that is from High School Musical. 

We haven't been in Chinle for a Halloween yet--but I am actually excited to be here because apparently it is CRAZY!  Since so many of the houses here are spread out, the government housing neighborhood where we live is one of the few places where kids can come and actually walk from house to house to go trick-or-treating.   We have been warned to buy TONS of candy and be prepared for non-stop trick-or-treaters from around 6:00 until the security guards send everyone home.    Should be interesting. :)

Go Wildcats!

Hope your halloween weekend is full of fun!

Two's

20 degrees

2 pairs of socks

Two pairs of pants

Two shirts  (+ a sweater)

Went with two running buddies

Todays run:  4 miles 

(11:45 min/mile pace--was shooting for faster...but cold legs can only go so fast in the morning.)

 

 

PS-Cali did not join me today, I snuck out of the house without her...which is why she is following me around--thinking she might get to go for a walk after all.

Crazy Outfit Day at school

It should come as no surprise that Rachel was a natural at picking out a crazy mismatched outfit to wear to school today.    She is psyched that they get to wear fun clothes at school this week, tomorrow is pajama day, and Friday they get to wear their Halloween costumes--a 2nd graders dream come true! 

The wind is not my friend

Training for the half marathon in January was going along great, until last week, when the glorious fall weather turned to cold winter weather.  Probably my fault for rubbing it in to my family in Phoenix that we had such nice weather the past few weeks.  Waking up in the morning at 6am and having to run in the dark is hard enough, without waking up to FREEZING temps.  And with 12 weeks to go until race day, and winter just beginning, it doesn't seem like it is going to let up any time soon.    I planned on running this morning but nixed that idea when I saw it was only 30 degrees--I decided to wait until it warmed up...so as of 1:00 it had warmed up to a whole 45 degrees--(wahoo!) and having postponed my shower for the day I wanted to get it over with, so I bundled up and told myself  "at least it is sunny."



Me and my running buddy (thermometer included for proper documentation:)   Also note my new shoes--which are comfy...but not warm, might be adding some all weather shoes with gore-tex booties to my closet soon.

However, I didn't take account for the wind, which pretty much erased any heat given off by said sun.  Stupid wind! 

I have warmer layers but I didn't think I would need them--wrong.  Hopefully with more practice I will get better at choosing my running attire each day--because being not too hot and not too cold helps the run be much more enjoyable.

For the record, the first mile of any run is also not my friend.  As much as I enjoy running, yes usually I enjoy it, it just takes me a while to get into the groove--and the cold wind on top of that made me want to turn around and come home.  But I didn't and I guess that counts for something.    Oh also not my friend: mud puddles.  I have no trouble avoiding them...however my runny buddy doesn't seem to try and avoid them at all--at least she didn't lay down and roll in them today like she has done in the past, but I still had to hose her legs off when I got back. 

today's workout:  Casual 3 mile run, didn't time it.

workout planned for tomorrow:  Running at the crack of dawn with Real Friends :)  Eskimo photos to come!

Deep thoughts

Am I the only one who seems to have deep thoughts and major life epiphanies while watching introspective tv shows like... Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill ?  Or reading an article in a very highly respected magazine such as...Oprah?? 

Just wondering.

Not sure if that is something to be proud of or not, but it is the way it is, and for some reason these shows just happen to get my mind in the right zone where it makes me just want to write all of my deepest thoughts down on paper. 

***
I just met a new neighbor and I was pleasantly surprised to hear that she is an author, she writes mostly children's books.  I cannot wait to get a chance to pick her brain.  For now, just meeting with her and talking with her on two occasions has motivated me to feel like writing again so that makes me happy. 
***

Watching many of my friends compete in a triathalon yesterday has also got me super motivated to get back on my training plan for the Half marathon.    I am officially 12 weeks away from race day.  The casual training will come to an end soon and we will be upping our training to four days a week.  Our long runs will make the jump to eight miles and work up to the goal of 13, and the current 6 mile runs that I have been so proud of will switch to being a casual run that we do on "easy days."    I am excited to move ahead and I THRIVE on working towards goals so while the training gets tough from here on out-I also have so much to be proud of.  As a perfect match to my goal-oriented training I was happy to find a training plan  (from a Runner's World magazine that I hijacked from my neighbor's house while I was dogsitting this weekend) that maps out the last 10 weeks of training before my race.  It adds one speed workout a week and tells you the pace you should be at.  Supposedly, it will get me ready to run this half in under 2 hours.   

The weather has started to get cold  (yesterday the high was about 45 and today I think it crept up to a whopping 50 degrees.)  While I normally take it easy on Sunday, I got a little lazy last week and only ran two days since it was cold.  So I wanted to take advantage of the sunshine  (and not having to get up at 6am and run before school, in the dark).     I tried running a speed workout, and by speed I mean I tried to run as fast as I could in order to just see how fast that really is.  Back in my high school days I ran track and I would like to say that I was pretty fast, not only did I go to State as a freshman but my dad was at almost every meet with his stopwatch timing me from the stands--and he assures me I was fast--so it must me true :)   I actually called my dad today to ask him if he remembers what my times were for the 1/2 mile back then, and he wasn't sure, but he thinks he still has the little notebook where he kept track of all my times.    If he finds it, it will be interesting to read what those times were and see what my body is capable of  (and how that compares to my current race pace).

For now,  based on today's workout --where I ran for a one mile warm up and then tried to run two miles as FAST as I could  (with a rest after the first one) I have determined that 7.5 min is my new PR for a mile  (I am sure it was the fastest I am capable of because I felt like I was about to DIE!  however I was running on a trail where I had to dodge mud puddles so maybe I could shave a few seconds off if I stuck to the pavement.)  Also--for the record this is me running at 5500 feet, and I can't wait to try the same workout when I go to Phoenix and HOPEFULLY it is a whole lot easier. 

Hottest toy of the year?

Is this the best they can do this year?

I got the most recent issue of Disney Family fun and this interesting looking stuffed animal is apparently the Hottest Toy of the year.   Really???

Now, I may have asked for a Tickle-me elmo...even though I was in high school when they came out.  But I have no intention of rushing to the store to beat the rush on this item.  call me crazy--but I think it is wierd looking--as in kind of creepy and freakish.  But apparently I am the abnormal one --what do you think--anyone seen one of these in person?  I guess if you buy more than one (marketing genius at its best) then they actually harmonize together. 

Sing-a-Ma-Jigs

Mattel, $13 each
Ages 3 and up
mattel.com
It's easy to see and hear why the six cute, 9-inch-tall critters are our No. 1 toy: everyone — from tots to teens, even buttoned-up grown-ups — fell in love with them at first sight and sound. Just press their hands for one of three modes: harmony (fun when they sing together), chatter (their native jabber), and song ("Home on the Range" was a tester fave). With each squeeze of their plush bellies, they open their mouths wide to croon a smile-inducing note.

Making homemade pasta with mom

--oops--guess I didn't make it in this shot--but my shirt is cute huh? :)

This girl has her very own fashion style, and although I wouldn't pick out some of the outfits that she puts together--some of them are pretty cute.

For the record, this little puppy that we were dog sitting was tortured (with kind intentions of course)  for a good couple of hours before it finally was content to just lay here on this pillow and be covered with a blanket.  So cute--and Rachel loved it.

For the first day of Fall Break I let Rachel sleep in this amazing forst she built under the kitchen table.  It was actually part fort/part haunted house  (all the papers taped up were drawings of scary ghosts, witches, etc).  She invited Cali to sleep with her and Cali happily joined in the party. 

Dreaming Big

Since our countdown is down to about 9 months we are beginning to think about where we want to go next.  Here are 3 qualifications that need to be met for us to be happy in our next move:

A house with a Dishwasher
(Because this is getting old)

 Good places to eat out

Don't get me wrong--I was psyched to find out recently that we have our very own authentic mexican food booth at the flea market.  Only on Fridays.  Between the hours of 10 and 3.   They actually made fresh tortilla chips right in front of me that were really good.  They had burritos, tomales, and tacos, and fresh salsa and guacamole.    But it was no Friday night at Boca's (a favorite mexican place in Boston where we would meet up with friends on Friday night). 

Funny story --my friend Lisa invited me to go with her and when we got there I felt like I was in such a happenin' place.  I actually ran into about 10 people that I knew there, doctors from the hospital, friends from another nearby town, Sam's friends, some teachers from Rachel's school.  I have been here for 2 years and never heard about this place, but apparently everyone else has. :)

This place was swamped all day! at times I bet there was about a 45 minute wait.

But you have to realize for comparison, what we have to work with. 

• An A&W  (that is always out of root beer, and not to mention sells nothing edible.)
• A pizza hut that is connected to a hotel--(where the pizza is always nice and soggy )
• A Church's Chicken  (again--not really edible...not if you don't want to take the chance of getting sick)
• a chinese place (similar to panda express) which has decent beef and broccoli and egg rolls (but how often can you eat the same meal?)
• A Burger King.  (enough said.  though I do like their cinni minis--but never get there during breakfast)
• And a Subway  (same as any other subway--but again --you can only get so excited about subway)
• Oh, and three restaurants that are connected to the 3 hotels in town--which obviously are priced towards all of the tourists here hiking Canyon de Chelly, because for just average food you end up leaving paying at least $40 for a family of 3.

I drive past this guy many times a day, and I hear that his Spam Burritos are actually really good.   Though for some reason I have yet to try one myself.  go figure :)

And the final qualification is that it has to be a place with fun things to do.  Here are some possibilities that would be acceptable.

A park with grass

a Library

a golf course

a Target



(you get the idea)

So basically, what we are saying is...it won't take much to make us happy!

Other moms out there

I ran across this blog today that has been doing a series of posts from moms called
What I'd like for you to know

There were some great posts that I enjoyed reading and thought I would pass them along.  I thought about posting the specific links to my favorites--but thought that it might be different for everyone (plus, that sounded like too much work.)

Some of the articles I liked were from a mother with an only child, a mother struggling with infertility, and a mother of a child with Autism.  So check it out--and maybe you will read something that will help you with something that is similar to your life, or help you understand what a friend is going through in their life. 

Runnin', Studyin', and chillin'

This pretty much sums up what I have been doing the past few weeks.   It seems like all of my friends here in Chinle are in a running phase.  A few are training for marathons/half marathons, and a few are training for a triathalon that will be here in Chinle in October, and some are in that post-baby trying to get back to their "real" size phase.   So, as someone who has started to get in shape a few times, but then fades away when the weather doesn't cooperate, or basically anything that sounds like more fun, comes up--I am enjoying being surrounded by people in the running zone.    If you drag yourself out of bed at 6am there are a few friends that you could run with, when you go to playgroup there are other friends who just got back from a run, and there is another friend I might run in to her --playing at the park with her kids, but wearing running shorts, and is determined to keep them on until she gets a run in for the day (which later happened at around 9pm--go her!)

So, unlike some of my friends, I have not committed to run a particular race (other than the next Susan's run -a 5k, which is being held in Tempe in January) though I have my sights set on the PF Chang's half-marathon in January (in Phoenix).   Sometimes being able to run 13 miles seems a ways off--but after all--so is January.  And the up-side is that I feel like I have passed the toughest getting in shape hurdle--getting started.  Right now I am able to run 4 miles like it is nothing--okay well, I get a little thirsty here and there and I am trying to decide when I want to start packing water with me, but for now I just plan my runs where I can stop somewhere and grab a quick drink of water.   Maybe later on in my training I will find that this was just "one" of the toughest hurdles, and there are many more to come.  But--from this viewpoint it seems pretty easy to just gradually bump up the runs by adding a mile or two here and there.  Especially when everyone around me is running too.  I always find it easier to exercise when I do it with friends.  They are great motivators--and it isn't that they are cheering you on as you run, it is that extra motivation to drag yourself out of bed because someone else is waiting on you, or that friend who tells you they just got back from an 8 mile run and gives you that incentive to get out and run yourself. 

There was a time in Boston when it was Christine that I was meeting at the Quincy YMCA, and there was a time when I was meeting Denia, Natalie and Kirsten (sometimes:) at the new Rec Center that was free for the first month (another great motivator), and now it is the Chinle Crew (Maribeth, Lisa, Keri, Val, & Paige-to name a few).    Friends are the best!

And as for the 2nd note-Studying, in addition to two classess this semester, I also just signed up to take the PCAT  (the entrance exam for Pharmacy school--similar to the MCAT for med. school)  in October.   So I have a lot of studying to do for that.  I haven't taken a math class since calculus my senior year of High school!! --So despite previously being a math genius, my math skills are more than a little rusty.  So wish me luck on that adventure--this could be interesting :)

And for the past few days I have just been Chillin' at home with Rachel who is home sick.  Thankfully it hasn't been too bad, mostly just a mild fever.  But I did feel bad yesterday because she said she had a stomach ache before school and while I believed her, I didn't feel like that alone was a reason to stay home.  A stomach ache could be from so many things, and since she didn't have a fever I was pretty sure she wasn't sick.  Plus she had an bad experience at school the day before (apparently her friends at school are in the stage where if you don't sit by them on the bus they throw out the "I am not going to be your friend anymore" come back and that just seems like the meanest thing they could say.  So Sam was leaning towards thinking that she was just nervous about school that day.   So I rushed her off to school, though she barely ate anything and was definitely lagging behind.  I was talking in the hallway with her teacher for a few minutes when Rachel came out and said she just threw up.  oops!...my bad.

Disneyland Trip

For Labor Day we drove to California  (with stop overs in Phoenix both ways to keep our sanity and prevent driving 11 hours straight).  Sam promised Rachel we would take her for doing so well in school.  (since 1st grade is pretty tough ...right?! :)

 

Rachel got to see so many characters, and the lines weren't that bad so we got to ride a lot of rides.  We all liked Space mountain and so we rode it a few times.  Sam wins the prize for best poses during photos :)

 

   Sam volunteered to take pictures so he could get out of going on the tea cup ride.

 

Rachel was really into autographs this year which was fun.  When we got to California she informed me that she needed a notebook, and was so happy that she mentioned this beforehand since we were able to find a cute little princess notebook at a souvineer shop for only $3 instead of paying $15 at disneyland for an official "autograph book".    

  

Good news!!!

Cali is home :)  She didn't end up having any broken bones but she had some deep cuts that needed stitches...so now she gets to wear this AWESOME cone.   She runs into walls, and basically everything.  Poor dog, but we are happy that she is okay.