I Have Run

If you get nothing else out of this post, at least read this. Unless you are a man. Then you can skip ahead. But even if you aren't a mom, there are several things you can still take away from this: #3 and #4 are my favorites! We visited my friend Megan to give her new baby a proper welcome to the world. I got to snuggle her when she was brand new in the hospital, but my girls still needed to meet her. My girls are pretty much in love with Megan's new baby. Only one of them wants one of our own though. Believe it or not, it's Ellie. She couldn't give enough little kisses and she never wanted to stop holding her. We took some chocolate chip cookies with us. New babies should be celebrated with cookies. Because of an egg allergy at Megan's house, I found an egg-free recipe. They turned out super yummy! We ate the ones we kept for ourselves so quickly I never managed to get a picture of the final product. If you or your kids love cookie dough but you don't want to

Saturday morning I felt a little overwhelmed with all I needed to do. We were heading to Moab that day, and I still needed to pack, get the oil changed in our vehicle and run a few other errands. I put my running clothes on first thing in the morning and then later texted Scott to say I wasn't going to run so I could get everything done. But he texted back that I should run, then called to make sure it would happen. So I somewhat begrudgingly headed out for my short 30 minute run. 30 minutes later, I felt 100% better and ready to tackle my to do list. Which I did, with time to spare. Then we headed to Moab where we made the most of every second we were there. We hiked in Arches. This outing was not without it's moments of whining and tired legs, but it was worth it to get to the Delicate Arch. And Ellie is a big fan of hikes (and bike rides) that are downhill on the return trip! There was, of course, also lots of swimming. You would think they never get to swim based on how ex

Sometimes you have Lucky Charms for dinner. It just happens. Because this is real life. Apparently Lucky charms are great running fuel because I had one of my best post-injury runs yet the next day. It may have also had something to do with running in one of my favorite places. Scott and the girls dropped me off and then went rock hunting in their special spot while I ran. Then they took me to their special spot for the first time. The spent a lot of time in their secret spot last year during several of my long runs. We threw rocks in the river and tried skipping rocks until one of us had to go potty (Grace!) and another one of us needed some serious food (me!). This little person was a trooper all day. She isn't one who complains, so you have to really probe to find out how she feels when you suspect she might be sick. She got water in her ear the day before our running/rock hunting adventure, and it turned into an ear infection. She started to slow down and actually admitted her

Let's face it. We all have these moments (I'm sure she'll appreciate me posting this picture someday). Unfortunately I can't play the "only five years old" card. To keep myself from having too many meltdown moments of my own this summer, we've implemented a few summer sanity savers at our house. Snacks Bags : I can only hear the words "I'm hungry!" so many times before I want to stab out my eardrums. How they make it hour after hour without starving to death at school I'll never know. Last summer we started having daily snack bags so my girls don't ever have to ask for a snack. They can eat whatever is in their snack bag whenever they want throughout the day. Plus they can have any fruits and veggies they want any time. It is actually surprising how often they have snacks left in their bags at the end of the day! Separate Rooms: I have always loved that my girls shared a room. I think it has made them closer. But a few weeks ago we de

Can we talk about this awesome yellow jacket nest? Somehow none of us at our house noticed it (right outside our front door) until yesterday. It has since been sprayed and the yellow jackets are no more. But seriously. It's almost cool how big it is and how much work that had to be for those tiny little insects. Just not cool enough to let the yellow jackets set up permanent residence. Not cool is how often these are a part of my life:   I've suspected for a while that dairy might not be my body's best friend. My stomach kind of rebels after I have milk or yogurt, especially when I have it first thing in the morning. But I kept telling myself it is just a coincidence. I told myself the same thing again Sunday morning when I ate Grapenuts for breakfast. I had a moment of hesitation when I debated between using regular (cow's) milk or almond milk. But I brushed off the thought that the cow's milk would affect me, poured it on my cereal and inhaled my breakfast so I wo

Last week, my girls received a much anticipated package in the mail. They each got a backpack full of athletic gear from Under Armour . It was seriously like Christmas in July! They couldn't wait to test out their new gear. Ellie was so excited, she laid her outfit out next to her when she went to bed (on Grace's floor). When they woke me up the next morning, they were already dressed and ready to go! They loved everything, and are still wearing it every chance they get. I have to say, I am a little jealous. Especially of their shoes!!! Friday night I went to a baby shower for one of my favorite people in the world. Emily is expecting her second, much anticipated baby. The women at the shower are seriously amazing. And all runners of course! I made cupcakes: tiny chucks because they went along with Emily's announcement that she was expecting a few months ago; and boxing gloves because Baby B is her "little fighter." Have I mentioned our RUNNERD website? If you h

How could I not love this?!? And I especially love that one of my favorite people sent it to me last night because it made her think of me!   W hat's your favorite Weird Al video? If you aren't familiar with Weird Al, it's time to hit YouTube and change that!!  

This is what happens when you let yourself get too hungry. You inhale a maple bar without a second of regret, and this is how much you have left when you realize you should take a picture of the deliciousness that was so fresh it was still a little warm. And this is what happens when your "return to running" plan has you cross training and you walk into the fitness center to find its 83 degrees. You set up camp as close to the giant fan as possible. This is what happens when you have a good mail day. Only a runnerd would be this happy about getting some new socks to try out. Of course I was most excited about trying the Kushyfoot Athletics, which I wore to ellipticize today and loved. This is what happens when you are testing out and creating new recipes for your other website . You try a salad that is a new favorite. It's easy, healthy and even my kids like it. Although here are a few insider tips: leave out the red pepper flakes if you have kiddos who might not like

When I go running, Scott always tells me to have a good run and be safe. It's not just something he says out of habit. He says it with meaning. Every. Time. Remember Sherry Arnold , the school teacher who was abducted while running and later found dead? Or Meg Cross Menzies who was killed by a drunk driver while running? And locally we've all read stories of runners being attacked while running. After Arnold disappeared, I remember being extra careful to run where there was plenty of traffic, and I always made sure my husband knew exactly where I would be running. Then after Menzies was killed I was super paranoid and extra cautious when running around traffic. I would try to meet the eyes of drivers passing to make sure they saw me, and I spent more time on the paved trail by my house to avoid being near vehicles. But as time goes by I start to let my guard down. I'm less aware of my surroundings, and I let myself get distracted by my thoughts and my music more. Sometimes

When my shin started hurting and I went to see my doctor several months ago, he asked me a bunch of questions about my running habits, my mental state when I can't run, and my eating habits. He specifically asked if I eat treats or junk food. He was asking to make sure I DO allow myself to eat treats and junk food. Because that is healthy. And so many runners have unhealthy relationships with food. You don't usually think of treats as healthy, but that's where I think a lot of people get off track when trying to be "healthy." Too often, healthy is equated with extremes. Replacing natural ingredients with unnatural ingredients to cut calories or fat. Modifying normal recipes to add extra protein to everything. Things like this are not healthy. So as you start a new week, remember you don't need to put protein powder in your waffles and yogurt and even your smoothie unless you are training for a body building competition or it's your post-workout sn

Happy Friday! Before you head off into the bliss of the weekend, tell me about your runs and races scheduled for the next two days. I am up to running 35 minutes at a time, but I miss my long runs. Like really, really miss them. They just make me really happy. Here are some other things making me happy lately: This is Princess Grace's summer reading book, but she kind of forgot about it until the other night. Since I've never read it (hope that doesn't mean they'll take my English degree away!) , I decided to read it with Grace. I'm almost finished and she has yet to start, but hopefully my enthusiasm for it will encourage her to get reading! For the record, it is good. It sucked me right in. And it is just as entertaining for adults as I imagine it will be for my girl. Jason's Deli decided to skip town, so I haven't had a decent salad bar salad in a while. This one lived up to the standards set by Jason's Deli! Plus it was part of a birthday celebratio

Sometimes we look at other people and think their lives are perfect. Especially with social media helping portray so much perfection. I try to be a positive person, but I also try to be honest. Yet sometimes I leave out some of the "real" stuff because it might come across as negative. My life, as good as it really is, is not all sunshine, butterflies, rainbows and unicorns. Like when we go on our family outings. Sometimes one of the girls complains. Saturday we took our bikes to Park City to ride on a new-to-us trail. It was our first time on a dirt trail, and we started on a slight, slow gradual uphill. Ellie was not happy and her legs got tired quickly. She complained until we turned around after only a mile. A mile that took us 20 minute. On bikes. She was much happier on the downhill and even cooperated for some pictures. But we only made it two miles because she was tired and whiny, and I was tired of her whining. Our family bike rides and runs sometimes take extra pat