thankful#68: unexpected hills

kevin took the girls up to grandma billie's and i planned to run up there and meet them. i was supposed to do an easy 3-miler. "easy" to me means flat and a relatively comfortable pace. as many times as i have driven up to grandma billie's, you would think that i would remember the gigantic hills on all sides getting up there. somehow, though, they all seemed less daunting in the car than they did on foot. my "easy" run became one of the most difficult hills i've ever run up! i'm talking a san fransisco-style hill. i never stopped to walk, but i'm pretty sure that i would have actually moved faster if i had. i had just enough bounce in my step to technically call it a run. and that hill is not short. my legs were like noodles when i finally got to the house.

as hard as it was, and even though i didn't intentionally have a hard workout, i know that i'll benefit from it. i can use all the strength in my legs that i can get right now.

thankful#67: "warm" days in january

i didn't run as much as i had planned on running while in portland. i'm starting to get back into my training to prepare for the eugene half, but it's still early enough that i don't have to be hitting the pavement too hard just yet. i want to train hard again this time, but i also don't want to burn out. i'm still at a point where if i am absolutely dreading a workout, i don't do it (thank goodness for yoga classes!). there were multiple days in portland that fell into that category partly because it was just so cold! like i've said before, i'm not a fan of running in horrible weather. and, in my mind, 34 degrees with 20 mph winds is horrible weather. frozen wrists, frozen ears, and cheeks that feel like i fell on a plate of sewing needles is not something i enjoy.

it is amazing how 45 degrees seems amazingly fantastic after that. we're going on 3 solid days of "warm", sunny weather. i'm feeling renewed in my desire to run and i'm beginning to get the itch again!

thankful#66: washable markers

i thought it was such a good idea to lay out a huge sheet of paper and let the girls just go to town with their coloring. but i almost had a heart attack when i heard a small scratching noise and turned around to see this...

it actually happened a little over a month ago, but i am reminded of it every time i walk by the chair that now dons a make-shift cover made from a bed sheet. and, yes, it is now funny ... but only because i was able to get the cushion completely clean.

thankful#65: winter break!

i think i've always probably been thankful for winter break but i think i am even more thankful for it this year. being away from family and friends is hard. i have made some seriously wonderful friends in eugene that have made this whole adventure a lot of fun, but there are times that i miss being able to walk to my parents' house or be 15 minutes from kevin's or be able to go to coffee with friends from elementary school, high school, or even college. we were there for two whole weeks (15 days, to be exact) and we were able to spend so much time with family, see friends who we used to see regularly, and even get together with a few people that we rarely get to see who were also in town for the holidays. as always, our time up there flew by. now we are back in our apartment and attempting to get resituated before kinsley starts school again on monday. thankfully, kevin has another whole week before he starts back up again.

i love winter break.

thankful#64: families that get along

we are not only pretty lucky that our families are close in proximity, making it easy to visit both sides in the same weekend, but that they all enjoy each other's company as well. thursday was our last night in portland for the break and we really wanted to be able to spend time with everyone. so we did! kevin's whole family came over to my parents' house and we all watched the ducks destroy kansas state in the fiesta bowl while eating subway sandwiches. i'm so thankful that we have families that enjoy spending time together!

thankful#63: my warm coat

the wind today is bone chilling - cuts right through you. i am so thankful that i have a warm coat that i can wear when i'm out there. i wish i had enough money to buy 100 winter coats and bring them to people who could really use them on nights like tonight.

thankful#62: a great start to a new year

I met up with a dear old friend this morning for coffee. When my alarm went off at 6:15 it was hard not to hit the snooze button - I am often up that early anyway, but when the girls decide to sleep in I usually go ahead and sleep in with them! I haven't seen Justin in what seems like forever, though, and wasn't about to risk oversleeping. It was a short visit, but it was so nice to get to chat and get a little caught up. And it was so great to see him so happy. I can't imagine a better way to start off the new year.

When I got back to the house, the girls had just woken up and were having a little breakfast. It's only 10:30 and we've already had a dance party, skyped with Inaki in Spain, done some coloring, read some books, and I'm about to go for a run. A productive morning and start to 2013 to say the least.