the three year anniversary.

it was 1 week ago today that i got to officially celebrate my 3 year anniversary with my love:) we did do most of our celebrating the weekend before since we only really see each other late at night when comes home during the week. so lets rewind to that saturday...

after a 12 miler that morning, a long nap, and the normal saturday errands we were finally ready to celebrate! richard kept telling me we had somewhere to be on the strip at 730p so we needed to dinner early. so we decided to on red lobster (after many hints from him about crab legs) and it was just as good as always! and seriously who can resist those cheesy bisquits:) we hightailed it out of there later than he was hoping because he got caught up talking to the waiter about who knows what.

now i was sure this whole time i knew we were going to see a cirque de solei show. richard talks about wanting to see one often (i do too) but i was really hoping for something different. as were driving i notice we keep passing all the ones i was pretty sure he wants to see. we pull into caesars and again i am sure i know what we are going to see, celine dion. i love her, its true, but i have seen her once already. she was amazing just not what i was hoping for. then he totally surprises me with il divo playing that night instead!! they are an amazing opera/pop/broadway type foursome from all over the world, literally. they had an amazing orchestra for this us tour and it was so different than i even imagined. i had seen commercials that they were coming to town and told richard i would love to see them, but it was something i never expected! seriously people, if you havent heard of them or have skipped out on seeing them you need to asap.

afterward we walked around for a bit stopping in the nike store to check out the olympic stuff in which i proceeded to buy another tank top (but i am in love). next we stopped at the cheesecake factory to take home some dessert. i was wayyy too full after dinner to have anything, but a few hours later i was ready for something sweet :) we took it home and enjoyed it in our pjs after a insanely long line to get out of the caesars parking lot. check out my absolute favorite song by them :)

sunday i slept as long as possible and then we decided to venture out to see the new spiderman movie. omg was it good! kinda long, but you dont really notice until you get out of the movie and look at the time. the theater was pretty empty which was nice and we could pick our seats. that night we picked up pei wei on the way home and i noticed i had only really eaten 2 meals at home all weekend. something i was definitely ok with :)

as wednesday came i started to get a little nervous in giving richard his present. you see i wasnt totally sure what to get him until early the week before. and when i tried to add on in the nike store he immediately said no, i apparently had told him no clothes. then i really started to get nervous. he was very set in that he didnt want it until our actual day, which really meant he couldnt have it until he got home that night. waiting seemed to take forever! earlier that day when i returned to work from lunch i had the most beautiful pink roses waiting for me :) they smelled fantastic!

be-a-utiful.

finally richard came home and immediately tore into his present sitting on the couch. the smile on his face when he realized it was the shoes he had been eyeing from adidas for the last month made the wait definitely worth it. i knew i had made the right choice.

source

we have come a long way, he and i. there have been ups and downs, crazy adventures, changes for us both, and more laughs than either of us knew when we started this thing 3 years ago. happy anniversary to us!

love. love.

the numbers game.

recently i have been thinking about numbers and what they really mean.

for example:
*i have run 388 miles in 2012 so far!
*i only have 3 classes left to complete for my masters degree, whoa.
*it was 97* on my way to work today at 830a. welcome to the desert.
*i have completed 7 half marathons in the 3 years with another 2 on the way.

numbers often lead me to countdowns oddly enough:
*there are 96 days to my dream race, the nike womens 1/2 marathon!
*i will finish school in 186 days, omg.
*only 4 more days until payday!
*in 25 days i might see a ufo at the et midnight race hehe.

now that is a lot of numbers and just a sample of all the ones i have running through my brain at any given moment. (dont even get me started on my work numbers, phew.) the last few weeks have been pretty hectic and completely overwhelming in my job, my family life, school, my relationship, my body, my friendships, and my training. there have been a lot of changes recently in all of the above, some i have responded well to and some i havent. it seems as if the age old philopshy is true...



source


while change and numbers seem to be happening at an alarming rate these days, there is one thing i need to remember...


source

 i know this sounds simple but it can actually be quite difficult when you really try. if i keep going at full speed ahead and only worry about getting to the countdown days i am going to miss the fun things in between. like the 2 super fun bbqs i have gotten to go to the last 2 weekends with great friends. they werent big productions or things i counted down to, but low key where i actually got to take a step back and have really fun nights. or the phone call i got from my brother from another mother (my brothers bff from preschool) that said he was in town and  i needed to meet them for dinner on friday night so i could have a milkshake, when the plan wasnt to meet up until sunday. and the student from chicago who only gave a few word answers on the phone, but enveloped me in a huge hug with mom and dad the moment i met them face-to-face on campus for the 1st time. plus the sunday i finally got to sleep in as long as i wanted without an alarm (glorious).

they will come, the countdowns will all eventually fall to zero, but what did i miss along the way just to check off one more day? these are just a few things i need to remember to treasure on the way to those big planned days.


source

 

the june 2012 running recap.

total run mileage: 83.95 miles
highest weekly run mileage: 21.01 miles
# runs: 14
# rest days: 9

# xtraining workouts: 7

favorite run: the one completed on national running day! i was so in the mood plus my legs just took off with no chance of slowing down, have to soak up every step on those days:)

boom!

 most hardcore run: my 9 miler last weekend for sure. we were in california for some family things so i took full advantage of new scenery. but only 4 hours of sleep and massive hills the entire first half was probably more then i was really ready for. my legs/whole body was screaming the rest of the day!

current reads: well my new class started again and its all about theory which equals lots of textbook reading/research. i did start the 2^nd book in the fifty shades of grey series and am seriously trying to figure out any amount of time i can to finish it soon!

current shame-inducing guilty pleasure: i recently found out that the gas station right near our house has an amazing iced coffee drink. i was reserving it for days when i get gas (once a week) but it may have crept into my car a few more times than that. oops. but how can you say no to an ice mocha with 105* temps outside??

current obsession: the olympic trials! any kind diving, gymnastics, swimming, track and field. i love them!

source

current drink: see my shame-inducing guilty pleasure above hehe.

current song: call me maybe. not even kidding, i really love it :)

current wish-list: new work/life clothes. i had a great plan to purchase some soon and then the dentist informed me i need some work done on a crack that will take the extra fun money :/

current need: book at least our hotel for nwm. i have heard rumors things are already booked and i need to just make a decision about it already!

current triumph: signing up for my next official race!! ok, i havent officially signed up, but i am training for it. its called the et ½ marathon and it is on the extra tresstrial highway right next to area 51! they bus you up there from the hard rock hotel and you are dropped off at the “black mailbox” then run to the little alien dinner. you think im kidding…check it out.

current bane of my existence: the lack of extra fun money lol. it seems like everytime i get some and even when i try to do the responsible thing like pay off some debt something bigger comes up, like registering my car, dentist bill, etc. oh to be an adult haha.

current goal: to not dwell on the future and remember to enjoy things now! i have some really cool things coming up in the next couple months and if i don’t slow down and stop looking toward just graduation i will miss them.  

source

current indulgence: july marks the next block of things to clean out of my diet for my race on august 4^th. so that means i have been loving on my ice cream as much as possible. oh and pizza, yum.


yummy!

current excitement: the 8 DAY BREAK that is coming my way from school in only 15 days!!!! they are changing the academic calendar with the start of a new school year so intsead of our usual 4 days we get 8. i don’t even know what to do with myself for that many days:)

the reno wedding.

last summer in the craziness of my first hike ever in the grand canyon came something beautiful...a proposal :) (if you havent heard that adventure, check it out here and here.) not mine, dont worry, but our friends andrew and stephanie. i had met them the year before at mike and loras wedding in santa barbara and they were so nice and inviting. richard and andrew had been friends for a long time but he lives in reno now so i finally got to meet him that summer. the proposal was beautiful, under a waterfall and everything! andrew did good needless to say. so earlier this year we receievd an invitation to the wedding on june 2nd, off to reno we went!

1 year ago!

in the beginning we tried to coordinate with other friends going, but that went arye quickly and decided making our own plans was a better idea. we were all staying in the same general area and arriving within a few hours of each other, plus reno isnt that big. richard and i made our way to the airport around 1130a friday morning and were off to northern nevada on the bumpiest/scariest/i thought the plane would fall apart any second i have ever been on. he tried to distract me, it didnt work very well. we arrived at the small airport to find that my bag didnt make it! apparently a belt broke that morning in vegas and luggage was being misplaced all day. so we left my name and the hotel we were staying at with the very nice southwest man and hoped it would make soon.

as we walked over to the rental car counter we ran into lora who was headed to the rehersal dinner once mike got their rental car! our car pick up was actually located off the property so we arrived by shuttle to find a mini-van. we looked at each other as the rental guy was checking the car and told him no-way-jose. apparently they were all out of mid-size so they figured we would want this instead? turns out we got a ford escape instead and headed to the hotel for check-in. we arrived to mini-champagne while waiting in line and our room ready! after finding out our other friends plans we wandered around the main street for awhile playing tourisst before heading to the riverwalk to find some dinner and walk around for a bit. the riverwalk wasnt nearly as exciting as we thought but we found a rockin pizza place for dinner! they had these garlic potatoes, omg good! oh, the very nice southwest man called as were leaving to say my bag was here and would be sending to my hotel within the hour :)

the famous sign:)

he had a man vs food moment!

omg the pizza was yummy.

the wind had picked up even more so we went into a few casinos and found out reno really was like just fremont street haha. now i know it was the area we were in, downtown, but it was a little creepy! once it got dark and we had some ice cream/snocones to satisfy our sweet tooth we made our way back to the room to wait for our late-arriving friends. there was nothing on tv, so that didnt last long. there was a casino downstairs of course so we decided to gamble instead. well my $20 lasted about 20 minutes then i was done haha! see, this is why i dont gamble lol. afterward we met with our friends that had finally arrived and about midnight when they were all still ready to gamble i headed to bed. i was exhausted, needed to run in the morning, and watching other people gamble is one of the most boring things i can think of (right up there with watching boys play video games, yuck). when richard rolled in about 4am i knew i made the right choice lol.

the bike rack was so cute!

saturday afternoon was the wedding so that morning i was able to get my run in no problem. ps no one warned me about the hills in that city! i took off from downtown, rounded the university, took the hill up mccarran, and had a rockin downhill back to the hotel. between the hills and the elevation my butt was thoroughly kicked all morning. i headed back for a shower and then downstairs for some coffee while richard slept (4am remember, lol). i ran into the groom and the best man heading to the park where the wedding was taking place to start getting ready and the grooms family later on as they shopped. it was cool to see everyone and find out the details of the day. turns out that the grooms aunt and uncle have a grandson also in marines as well who is also stationed in san diego (i know thats a long way to get there lol)! richard was finally up and was in need of food. after a stop at mcdonalds we ran into matt and heather looking for breakfast. a drink, round of craps, and grabbing peter we were finally on our way to find lunch. we settled on a grille near the riverwalk with great sandwiches!

from the top of reno!
our hotel is the 1 with the ball in front.

trying to reduce the "puffiness" from the night before.
i am not joking.

we needed to head back pretty quickly to start getting ready for the afternoon wedding! richard and i changed rooms to bunk with the mike and lora for the second night but still had the space to get ready since they were with the bride and groom. we took our time and even a quick nap before heading to the park for the ceremony. we got there a little early and got a glimpse of the bride before heading to our seats! it was a perfect afternoon and the spot the chose was gorgeous. the rest of our friends arrived and before we knew it, it was time to get married!! their friend steve married them, he actually also married mike and lora in santa barbara 2 years ago, so it had a special touch. after all the i dos and the vows we watched them skip off to married bliss, yes, skip, it was so cute and very them.

the mamas:)

father and daughter.

with this ring...

i thee wed...

and they lived happily ever after :)

the reception happened at the ranch house also in the park and lots of personal touches. all of their reno friends had volunteered in shifts to help serve the thai food from their favorite restaurant and pour all the drinks. it was definitely a bit of a different wedding, but fit the bride and groom perfectly. we hung outside in the beautiful weather and talked with friends for the rest of the evening. the newlyweds had a perfect 1st dance plus the toasts were so funny and thoughout. this year has been anything but traditional weddings for me, and this one was no different. the cake was actually made out of donuts and they had ordered dozens of donuts for all the guests! like i said, very unique and very them :)

the vegas group!

the first dance :)

we even grabbed the bride and groom :)

you thought i was kidding!

YUM!

we decided around 1030p we were still hungry so we joined steve at golden flower for vietnamese food near our hotel. it was a bit of stretch for both us and i was super proud of him for trying something new. it was delicious and before we knew it was after midnight, time for bed! we got back to the hotel right before mike and lora and we all fell asleep soon as our heads hit the pillow. the next day we were all heading home and the sleep was for sure needed.

my love:)
another amazing wedding together.

the next morning we drug as long as possible before heading to the airport. after getting us a little lost on the way back to the rental car return we made it in plenty of time. one word of advice...do not count on eating in the reno airport! there are only 2 places, both with sandwiches, and super expensive. i guess we are a little spoiled in vegas lol. we came back to the heat all too soon and couldnt believe the weekend had gone by so fast! it was great time to see friends and be part of such a special day. we have gotten to see their love grow the last few summers. 1st at mike and loras wedding in santa barbara when they had only been dating about 3 months to the 2nd summer of the engagement in the grand canyon, to 3rd summer for their wedding in reno! congratulations to the newlyweds :)

the ode to running.

happy national running day! i got my miles in this morning and it was one of the best runs i have had in quite awhile. my legs just kept going and going, you have to love those mornings. it made me, like many others think about my running and what it has done for me in the last 3 years. now i know you have all read the runniversary stories (year 2 and 3) but this is a little different...

i run to...

*have days that start out like today

amazing run!

*enjoy a cupcake from time to time

its all about balance my friends :)

*share the joy of running

ive been lucky enough to be there for some new runners and their 1st steps all the way to their 1st race! if that doesnt renew your faith in running i dont know what will :)

*stay healthy

i know it sounds silly and like a no-brainer. but it has really kept me on track.

*get some bling

i mean really, the clothes and the bling is half the reason i run!

seriously, you thought i was joking ;)

*reconnect with old friends via social media

sometimes you lose touch you went to college or high school with. for some reason no matter how long its been since you last talked, running can be the best ice breaker!

*go from this...

summer 2006.

to this...

today.

*meet new people that push me to the next level

if i hadnt joined my runner group i would have never done a triathlon or gotten dangerously close to my new sub-2 hour goal!

*find myself

before this i dont think i realized how lost i really was. running has helped me figure out who i really am!

so heres to a great new year of running! may you all find the motivation you need to keep placing one foot in front of the other to reach that next mile :)

the may running recap.

total run mileage:50.63 miles
highest weekly run mileage: 14.14 miles
# runs: 12
# rest days: 13

# xtraining workouts: 7

favorite run: the midnight 5k in st george! it was my friend tarmishas 1^st 5k and we had a blast driving up for the evening :)

finishers!

most hardcore run: my usual runner group route about a week and a half ago. it was the first run over 100* and i didn’t drink enough that day to be prepared. but i made it, as slow as it was, ha!

current reads: i finished 2 this month, that hasn’t happened in a really long time, dang grad school.

1.   last night at chateau marimont by lauren weisberger. i downloaded it while in england but didn’t get a chance to really dive in. i finally started and finished, really good! i love her books, such a good author!

2.   fifty shades of grey by e.l. james. yes, you read that correctly, i of all people read this book. with all the buzz and the rumor its turning into a movie i couldn’t resist any longer. i legit finished it in 3-days. i just had to know what happened.

current shame-inducing guilty pleasure: see #2 above! if you didn’t know i am a bit of a prude and was pretty much blushing the entire book. but seriously, good, put it on your list! and by that i mean the 2 that follow it as well, oops.

source

current obsession: planning. weird i know, i mean graduations, trips, events, days. i just have an odd need to plan things lately. i kind of feel like im planning so i can figure out when the down time is.

current drink: water and sangria hehe. it feels like forever since i could have a drink whenever i had a whim, so i had a glass or 2. delicious!

yum!

current song: i wont give up by jason mraz. love :)

current wish-list: new running clothes. it might be time to update my running wardrobe soon, i mean with all my magic money ;)

current need: to make some race decisions for the rest of the summer before nike. i had this great plan to be low-key and do a few 5ks and 10ks while kicking off a new training plan. but some habits die hard and i found myself trolling the ½ marathon race websites lately to find one before then. oh goodness im addicted.

current triumph: i am officially in my 7^th class for my grad school program! my finish date is january 5^thand i cannot wait to finish. im also finding it hard to believe that i am already 60% done!

current bane of my existence: the return of the summer heat, yuck. we are already under an excessive heat warning. yesterday morning on my way to work it 90* at 1030am, gross!

current goal: keep myself busy. we have some family things kicking into high gear and i need to keep moving so i don’t dwell. this week i have been doing great with it, heres to continuing!

current indulgence: well not at the moment, but this month i did overdue it a little bit with my diet. nothing crazy, but i had fast food more than i should have in a week. or that extra glass of tea sounds so much better than water. the 2^nd half of the month has been much better than the 1^st couple of weeks.

i went to san genarro fest with tiffany,
amazing.

oh yeah those are brownies and strawberries!

current excitement: nwm. it is quite far away i know, but i am already scoping out hotels, tours, sights, bay cruises:) i need something to look forward too!