Marathon Fun!

My sister ran in her first ever Marathon on Oct. 9th in Chicago. It also happened to by my Dad's birthday - which I'm sure he'd tell you is a pretty great gift to watch your daughter run a marathon!! ...I gave him some Harley clothes...maybe next year I'll do something a little more "adventurous" haha!! (But if you know my Dad, you know my gift was well received!!)

Cindy has been running for over 2 years now (maybe 3) and decided last year she wanted to run the Chicago Marathon - and here she is - goal accomplished!! A marathon is 26.2 miles with thousands of participants AND spectators. While I have not run a marathon, I did run cross country in high school and did some "races" outside of school, but this was the first time I was a spectator. Now, from being a runner I know the important role spectators can play - for me their cheering, screaming, clapping, etc. always give me that extra boost to keep going, even a smile while I ran, and then at the end....it allowed me to finish full-speed like it was nobody's business!! I kept all those things in mind while being a spectator for Cindy. It was so awesome being one in the crowd having a runner to cheer for, but it was one of those times where you cheered for all the runners too!!

One story about that - at mile 12 we were waiting for Cindy to come and we were there a little early - about 20 minutes or so. Next to us was this couple, probably in their late 50's/early 60's cheering on all these people. At first I was like..WOW they know a TON of runners! "Go Dana!" "Go Jim!" "Go Stephanie!" "Go Paul!" .... what they heck?! Then I realized a lot of the runners have their names on their shirts or names of people they're running for. Well, that's what this couple was using to cheer them on. At one point the lady turned to me and said, "Do you know a runner in the race?" and I replied, "Yea, my sister is in it! How about you??" She said..."Nope! We don't know a soul in it, we just LOVE coming to cheer on everyone because this is something we could never do! It's just so fun!!"

I thought that was just the coolest thing! They didn't know anyone but they came out to cheer others on who were taking on a challenge they knew they couldn't! If in our lives we acted more like this couple on a regular basis...wow, what a great change we'd make and an awesome support system we'd be for each other!! At least it gave me something to think about! I always cheer on and encourage my students, but sometimes I forget to do this with everyone else I encounter in my life.

Anyways...back to the excitement of the marathon!!
We got up at 3:55, at my parents by 5:25, downtown by 6:30. And it was PACKED with runners and spectators .....

We found Cindy before the race, which we weren't sure if we'd be able to meet up quickly, but we got lucky!!!

Then Cindy was off to get in place and we were off to mile 2!
It is really not a simple task to find your runner during the race - you have to know their estimated time they want to finish in and keep track of that pace time leader (person running with a big sign that says pace times), and you have to know really well what they're wearing, what side of the street they will run on, and then it's all about keeping your eyes peeled for them. We were all rookies at this so at mile 2 Cindy found us first haha - ran right in front of us scream, "HEEEYYY, HEEEYYY!!!!!" haha - it was pretty funny cause we had no idea she was right there until she was!

So off we went to mile 12. We got there early, had some breakfast, and then look-out number 2 began.
At this particular time we saw her she was taking a fast-walk break from running. Nearly all runners do this/have to do this. She looked great though and was still smiling!!

Then we had a bit of time because the next place we would see her at was mile 26 - just before that .2 is left! Jack of course, the ice-cream obsess-or, smelled it...sure enough down the block we found a 31 Flavors/D&D - in we went! Mom and I got Chai Latte, Dad got a doughnut, and Jack...you guessed it, 10:30 AM and he had an ice cream!!!

On we went to mile 26! It was quite a hike to get there - but we did it!
(there she is: pink tank and gray capris)

Then we hiked back to the meet-up spot where we found her and Jason (who walked a lot faster than us to get to her first). She was smiling, tired, but happy!!!
CONGRATS!!!!!! AWESOME JOB!!!!

Ouu October!!!

October started out BEAUTIFULLY!!!!!!!!!! It eventually had some rainy spells, but all-in-all I must say it has been a pretty nice October!
We have seemed to keep it more low-key this month, which I'm totally fine with since September was non-stop each weekend. While I love being busy and seeing friends and family, it just sometimes gets too much for me and I crave days at home with just Jack and Sadie. Plus, two full-time workers = a house that is sometimes hard to keep up with during the week and eventually needs major TLC to get it into "livable" conditions again - haha! (Embarrassing but true!!)

Oct. 1 - This beautiful day we went to Royal Oaks farm for apple picking. This is the 3rd year we've done apple picking and each year we go to a difference place - scoping out all our options until we settle on our favorite. We really enjoyed this place but decided we'd come back one day when we have kids. It's a little "commercialized" for what we were looking for just being the 2 of us. AWESOME place to take kids though - many extra fun activities for families! My picture I chose (from many) was this tree. I thought it was just beautiful!

Oct. 2 - If you know me, you know I love boots and sticking my skinny jeans right in them! It's pretty much my fall and winter attire for non-school days. It's just easy and cute and just the way I do things, haha!! Got me some new brown boots this year - and mmmm are they cute 'n comfy!!

Oct. 3 - Leaves are a changin'!!

Oct. 4 - Acorns - remind me of my favorite little friends...squirrels and chipmunks!

Oct. 5 - If you know me well, you know I'm a HUGE T.Joe's fan-atic!! Well, when fall comes, so does their pumpkin spread. HEAVENLY is the only way I can describe it! It's a cream-cheese based spread, but I don't use it on carb-filling bagels. My favorite way to eat this is as a snack, dipping in my T.Joe's pretzel thins!! Mmmm!!!!

Oct. 6 - I just love watching the trees change color!!

Oct. 7 - Pre-Marathon! Got the bag full of stuff, planning out spectator routes and getting full of excitement for Sunday!!

Oct. 8 - Another pillowcase DONE! I tried it out a different way this time for the construction of it - took me a little while to comprehend it, but I finally got it and ...SUCCESS!! I also took step-by-step pictures while I made it, had them printed, and then put them in a book with each direction step. This way if I'm helping another student or a student just needs a visual (as I'm a very visual learner myself) they have one!...step-by-step!!!
And as usual, Sadie was there by my side the whole afternoon supporting me...and wondering when I'd be done so we could play!!!

Oct. 9 - Cindy (sister) running her 1st Marathon!!! Awesome job and so proud of you!!! It was really fun to be a part of the experience and watching all the runners and spectators that day in beautiful Chicago! CONGRATS CINDY!!!

Oct. 10 -Walking around and looked up to find another victim of fall...haha

Oct. 11 - Leaves are falling all around!

Oct. 12 - Trying out a potential costume for Sadie. Yoda!! While she looks adorable to us, she was not that happy with me for putting this on her. I must say, she was a great sport about it!!!

Oct. 13 - SALAD!! Oh, how I love you!!!

Oct. 14 - More leaves. If you can't tell by now - I'm fascinated by fall leaves. Hey, it only happens once a year and they are pretty - you can't deny that!

Oct. 15 - Sadie and Spenser had quite a fun afternoon in the yard playing fetch with Jack. While Spenser has a bigger stride than Sadie, she is very speedy and has amazing endurance!!!

Oct. 16 - Every Sunday we try to do a nice dinner where both of us cook together. During the week it's either one or the other cooking dinner, it's more rushed, sometimes one of us may not be there to join the other, etc. But Sunday's both of us are there, we grocery shop together earlier in the day and decide what to make for our Sunday dinner. I love having this time with my husband to just take our time cooking, enjoy each other's company, allow me to give me "cooking teaching tips" haha..., and mentally prepare for the week ahead, as we look forward to next Sunday when we get to do this again!
This time it was pork tenderloin and mmmmm did we (by we I mean Jack for the grilling) do a fabulous job!!!

Oct. 17 - Take time to enjoy the small things in life - even the small flowers!

Oct. 18 - T. Joe's also has "Ritz" crackers - a new favorite we buy!! Makes for a great snack! I brought these and some cheese squares to grad school this night for our last week of this class. ...And next week we start our 5th class of 10!!

Oct. 19 - My mom is redecorating and this is one of my favorite things so far!!

Finishing Up September

I wish I could be posting this in September, but hey - that's life, it just gets away from you sometimes! All in all, September was a great month, lots of fun, and full of friends, and of course, me loving all the fall decorating!!! There's just something refreshing about it!

Sept. 19 - We have a mice issue in my classroom at school. Can't blame them for being smart and coming to the room with all the food, but c'mon guys...times are tough for everyone and my budget does not leave any room for your late-night cravings! So...I'm being resourceful and using spaces they cannot get into - like some of the microwaves!

Sept. 20 - All ready to be passed out to the classes making Indoor S'mores! Just one of the prep-parts I do as a foods teacher. It makes the lab-day much less stressful! These were a HUGE hit by the way!!

Sept. 21 - One of my best friends, Megan, gave me this the first Fall we had in our house. I hang it right on a small wall space as you enter the house. This has turned into the place were I put all holiday/seasonal little hangy-things like this cute pumpkin. A great friend starting a great tradition in our house - LOVE it!!

Sept. 22 - I found these at Hobby Lobby and just loved the "branchy" look of them - it's fun to bring the outside in!

Sept. 23 - Thank you Noreen (parents neighbor) who gave this to us for Jack's birthday! Too cute and fun!

Sept. 24 - Celebrating Octoberfest at Lynfred Winery for Jackie's Birthday. While I didn't get a picture with Jackie this day, I did get a few with my favorite K-Fed who I miss dearly! Lots of love!!!!

Sept. 25 - Sadie is the best grad-school reading buddy someone could ask for! She's always there supporting me as I read lots of books that I don't understand!!

Sept. 26 - A new piece of art my mom got for her house. This is a quote I grew up seeing a lot in our house and how she found this awesome, new, modern one that I just love!!!

Sept. 27 - A new piece my mom was trying out - ended up not working out, but it was cool to photograph at least!

Sept. 28 - Sadie goes to school 1-2 x's a week and throughout the weeks they have fun activities on certain days for the dogs. This day was Dogbowl day - football game between the Green Bay Waggers and the Chicago Dogs. Obviously, Sadie was a Wagger!!! She had a great time and I love seeing her interact with the big pups!

Sept. 29 - Cutie-pa-tootie looking out the front door - one of her favorite activities!

Sept. 30 - Last day of September means time to change the front door decor!!

...And that's the end of September!!!