18 Miles: Done!

Saturday was a day that I had been dreading worrying about for a while.  My 18 mile run.  My 2nd highest mileage to date!  Just one more jump of high mileage (20 miles) and I will be at the peak of my Marathon training!  This means…gulp….that the Marathon is just around the corner.  Yikes!

When I started my run, it was a freezing 32 degrees.  Frost covered the ground.  Some runners even had frost develop on their hats!  It still seems crazy to me that just 2 days before, I wore shorts for the Turkey Trot! 

I decided to try out my Compression Socks under my tights for extra warmth.  Boy was I ever glad I had those!  I was comfortable for my entire run!  It was great!

I ran the first 1o miles with my friends, then they left me to return to the warmth of their homes.  I continued on my journey for another 8 miles.  I got bored multiple times on my run so I took some pictures to share! :0)

I love how our coach breaks up our long training runs.  This one consisted of three different 6 mile routes.  It’s more do-able to me when I think “Ok, I just have another 6 mile run and I’m done!” 

 

Pretty tree-lined path downtown!

 

My new best friends….my Sauconys!  When you find the perfect pair of running shoes, it’s like a match made in Heaven! :0)

   

The oldest church in our town! :0)  It’s BEAUTIFUL inside!  Lots of weddings are held here!

 

Last 6 mile route, along the water!  Fabulous!

Do you see what is up in front of this house?!  CHRISTMAS lights!!!!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE running along the water during Christmas!  My favorite group run was last year the week of Christmas at night!  We all ran together downtown along the water to look at all the houses lit up with Christmas lights!!  It was so much fun!  This house is my favorite along this route! :0)

I did really really well during this run.  It was about mile 14 when everything started to ache.  This happened to me during my 16 mile run a few weekends ago, also. 

 

Me at mile 15 wondering if I would make it to 18! LOL

  

I was thankful once again for my Hot Hands that saved me during this run!  These bring me back to Disney in January when it was FREEZING for my very first Half Marathon!  These things saved my butt!

I came running in with a huge smile on my face, even though I was aching everywhere!  I just did it! Aaaaaah! 

  

I DID IT!  I finished my very first 18 mile run!!!

It took me a little less than 4 hours.  After the run, I stretched, talked to coach for a while, got hot chocolate, etc. I forgot to turn off my watch!  When I came running in, I was just barely over 18 miles, right under 4 hours!  I also don’t stop my watch at water stations, breaks, etc, so I have no clue how my true time played out!  Oh well!

 

The weather AFTER I finished running!  Didn’t warm up too much!

I came home, took a shower, and a nap, then went to my parents house to help them decorate for Christmas! :0) It was a fun day!

When you have a long run planned and it’s freezing outside, do you get out and run anyway, run on the treadmill instead, change your run to a different day, etc?

Thanksgiving Day/Black Friday!!

After the Turkey Trot, I dropped my mom off at home and made my way back to my house…I still had a few more dishes to prepare for our Thanksgiving meal!

The week before Thanksgiving, I raided Oh She Glows’ website for as many healthier Thanksgiving options as I could find!  My dad does 80% of the cooking, but I wanted to try and be conservative as much as possible!

My homemade crust for the Pecan Pie recipe!  This crust is from Oh She Glows…see below.  (See how I made it into Mickey ears? I made two tester cups for Jason and I to try!  He LOVED it!)

This is a Pecan Pie that I made!  I got the Recipe for the crust from Oh She Glows… (the middle of the pie is a recipe version I found online using Pure Maple Syrup instead of Cane Syrup!)

My mom made a Pumpkin Pie using her own crust but the middle is from Oh She Glow’s website.  My Pecan Pie used the crust from the recipe and my mom’s Pumpkin Pie used the filling from the recipe!  Hah!  Just a little backwards but oh well! :0)

You can find that recipe here:  Vegan Pumpkin Pie with a Spelt Crust

This Pumpkin Bread is also from Oh She Glows!  (See, I told you we raided her website!) Hah!  I made 2 loafs and brought one to Jason’s Parent’s house that night.  EVERYONE raved about this bread and they all want the recipe!  It was really really good!

You can find this recipe here:  Pumpkin Swirl Butternut Pecan Bread  (For the Pumpkin Butter recipe, I used a Butternut Squash and added a little pumpkin to make 3 cups. It was REALLY good!)

My mom also made “This Ain’t Grandma’s Sweet Potato Casserole”.  Let me tell you…this is my favorite dish at the Holidays and always has been.  I knew it had a ton of sugar in it and I actually suggested to my mom that she make a different version.  She did and oh my gosh it was SO good!  I could actually TASTE the sweet potatoes in this recipe!!  Usually, it’s just super sweet but not this time!  Thank you, Angela!  Seriously, thank you!

Let the eatin’ begin!

My homemade rolls! :0)  (Via the bread-maker! lol)

At first, I thought maybe my eyes were bigger than my stomach….YES this is my plate!  (I only ate one meal on this day! lol)

            

But apparently I was wrong…my eyes were NOT bigger than my stomach cause I ate almost every bite on my plate!

  

My sweet 90  year old Grandpa!  I love him! :0)

My dogs know just where to go on the Holidays….to my dad.  He’s the one that taught them what table scraps are.  Thanks, Dad! :0)  (Note: I made sure he didn’t feed them TOO much…neither one of them got sick from over-consumption!)

   

  After dinner, we looked through the papers to make our game plan for Black Friday!  We also went to Jason’s parent’s house to spend time with them on the Holiday! :0)

Friday morning, we woke up at 4:15 a.m. with a plan to be out the door by 4:45 a.m.  We did VERY well and made it to the mall right at 5:00 a.m.!

I have never seen SO many people at the mall on Black Friday at 5 a.m. EVER!  It was CRAZY!  Our goal every year (or my goal every year at least) is to make it to JC Penny to get the free Mickey Snow globe they give at the door!  I now have 11 of them….one every year all the way back to my high school years!  I started collecting them the year they started giving them out and I haven’t missed a year yet!  I was scared this year, though.  When we pulled up to the mall, I saw all of the cars and I got really worried!  However, I remembered that they had a back door entrance to JC Penny and sure enough, they had 1 giant box of snow globes left!  Note to self: If you are going to continue collecting these, you need to get to the mall earlier!  Ugh.

Ready to shop till we drop!

We made REALLY good time this year!  None of us really had any major needs on our to do list, we just liked being out and about with all the crazy shoppers!  Hehe! 

This goes to show you just how tired we were.  Kim had her jacket on and couldn’t figure out why it didn’t line up at the bottom!  She had it mis-buttoned!  Whoops! :0)

After the mall, we made our way to Best Buy!  We arrived about 7 a.m. and saw this outside!  CRAZY!  People had tents set up (from what I heard) and these people left their trash and sleeping bags on the ground!  Sleeping bags!  Is it really worth it to spend the night outside to get a TV that is discounted by $200?  I guess to some people, yes.

After Best Buy, it was time for a Starbucks break! I needed a pick me up and this did just the trick!

A Peppermint Mocha and Banana Nut Bread!  Yum!  Another Black Friday tradition of mine!  Hah!

We also went to Lowe’s, Hobby Lobby, Old Navy, and Academy.  Kim found herself a nice place to rest in Lowe’s!  :0)

We left Lowe’s and it was POURING down rain!  I was very thankful for the Hot Hands that I had purchased a few days before!  How odd…on Thanksgiving, I had to shave my legs and I was wearing shorts and a tshirt! The following day, it was in the 50’s early in the morning and quickly dropped to the low 40’s by mid morning!  CRAZY weather!

Kayla shaking up her hot hands!

I did get a few good deals but nothing really exciting.  This jacket is for me for Christmas!  Hah!  It was regularly $40 on sale for $14.  I’ll take that!  I also got a few video games for Jason that were on sale from Best Buy and a Jersey for my dad from Academy that was on sale!  At Best Buy, we also got the Taylor Swift CD and Rascall Flatts CD for super cheap  (like $7-another Christmas present of mine!)

             

I think we made out pretty good, don’t you?!

Enjoy the rest of your Thanksgiving Weekend! :0)

 

Did you go Black Friday Shopping?  What kind of deals did you find?

Turkey Trot! Happy Turkey Day! :0)

I started off this morning at 5:30 a.m. on the hunt for a newspaper!  Tomorrow (Black Friday) is my 2nd most FAVORITE day of the year!  I always meet up with my best friend Kim (actually, she usually spends the night at my house) and we head out super early in the morning to catch all the good deals!  This year, Kayla my sister in law is joining us, too!

I found a paper very easy (one year, I had to drive to five different stands to get one!) so I bought two and came home to dig through them!  I can’t wait to go shopping tomorrow!

Our running group also hosted our annual Turkey Trot this morning. It’s not a race, just a fun run for families to get out and burn a few extra calories before eating a huge Thanksgiving meal!

 

A lot of people showed up to run!  It was great!!

Our Turkey Mascot!  Teehee!

Our coach wearing a Turkey hat giving instructions on where to go! :0)

Our board this morning!  Love it! 

My mom and I at the 1.5 mile water stop! :0)

    

Our group! :0)

 

Now, it’s off to my mom and dad’s for an awesome Thanksgiving meal!  I’m starved! :0)

Happy Thanksgiving!!  We are SO BLESSED and have so much to be thankful for!!!!

Sweet 16 and Cookies!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!  We worked 1/2 day today which was FABULOUS!  It gave me a chance to come home, finish up today’s baking, and clean the entire house!  Now I’m about to wrap the Christmas presents that I have already!  Yay!

Sunday, one of my girls from church had a surprise Sweet 16 birthday party!  It’s hard to believe that these girls are already 16 years old!  I’ve taught them since they were in 4th grade and I love them oh so much! :0)

Surprise!

She had no idea!

Me with the Birthday girl!

As a JOKE, they tried to make it a “19th” Birthday party since the restaurant we were eating at was only doing “Brunch” and if they were older, it could have been a “Champagne Brunch”!  Haha!  (None of us drink, by the way…obviously they don’t! lol)

 

More of my peeps! :0)

Amazing!  French Dip sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries!  Oh yes! The food was really good!  I’d love to go back! :0)

 

If you know Emma at all, you know she loves to eat!  Especially candy!!!

 

What did I tell you?  Haha!

   

Even more candy!!!

  

Time for cake!

   

The group!

Also, this past weekend, I tried Oh She Glows’ recipe for Pumpkin Pie Banana Chunk Oatmeal Cookies! 

They were delicious!

I’m not a huge pumpkin fan but these were REALLY good! I love how her recipes have no refined sugar in them-therefore, these cookies weren’t incredibly sweet!  They were perfect!

Check out the recipe!  It’s a perfect Thanksgiving treat! :0)

Pumpkin Pie Banana Oatmeal Cookies

I’ve also made a few of her recipes for Thanksgiving but I’ll have to post pictures of those after tomorrow! :0) 

Hope everyone enjoys their Turkey Day!  We have SO MANY reasons to be THANKFUL! 

I am SO BLESSED!  :0)