Wordless Wednesday

Field trip to the Will Rogers Museum with Carter.

Cinco de Mayo at Keystone Ancient Forest for Tails, Trails, and Tacos!

Planning at a Girl Scout Meeting

Elise using the toddler shopping cart at the book store.

Elise ready for the Cultural Fair at school. She got to do a Mexican dance.

Elise had been begging me to straighten her hair so I finally did!

Elise got to go on a field trip to a Mexican Grocery Store. She had a $5 budget and had to plan out what to buy including tax. I wasn't able to go, but a couple friends were and they took pictures for me!

Dinner Club!

That's one big burrito!

Ready to go see Tom Hanks for a date night!

Waiting to see Tom Hanks.

Elise at a cookie decorating class.

Got home from my long run on Mother's Day to these sweet signs!

The cookies Elise made at her decorating class.

Mother's Day hike!

Girl Scout troops at the kids' school got together to clean out and plant the flower beds at the school.

Bridge building during science class. I wasn't able to go, but a friend took pictures and sent them to me.

Aquarium Field Trip with Carter

They liked that they were half green.

Went back in after the kids left and hung out with the sea turtle.

New trails a little over a mile from our house!

Now the 2 trail systems closest to our house are connected by a new trail!

Girl Scout Meeting

Rainbow theme and I was last to respond, so I got yellow.

End of the Year/Going Away Party with my hallway ladies! 

Elise playing at a birthday party.

Get Busy Livin 5k

The Get Busy Livin 5k, honoring the life of Dylan Meier, was back this year for the first time since before Covid. The kids would be staying with my parents the Thursday and Friday before the race because they were out of school and I wasn't. I had the Zoo Run 10k the weekend before so I wasn't sure whether I'd actually race or run it with my dad because I wasn't sure I'd be recovered enough from the 10k. I got excited when I ran my 5ks of my 10k in 21:47 and 21:18. I felt pretty confident I would be able to break 21 minutes again in the 5k after a long line of just over 21 minutes in virtual 5ks and not racing a 5k since February of 2019. I felt good during the week leading up to the race and ran mile repeats as my speedwork on Wednesday with an average of 6:47 pace. I decided to go ahead and race it and attempt to break 21 minutes or run 6:45 pace since the course has been a smidge short since they changed it in 2016. Jeremy and I ran a warm up to the race together and got a feel for how windy it was. At the starting line no one wanted to go up front so I ended up right up front. The crowd seemed smaller than in the past and I didn't see any of the women I normally compete against at this race. We took off and I was quickly out in front of all the women and in the top 5 of the race.

We ran across the field and then excited the football stadium and ran to a small paved trail. Mom, Ty, and the kids were standing at the corner and I was excited to see them. The kids were pumped to see me up toward the front. I heard one of Thomas' friends, Alex, behind me as we crossed onto the trail. I looked down and my watch showed 6:25 pace. It had felt like we went out hot, but I felt okay. The first mile also has a lot of gradual downhill so I didn't worry about going out too fast. With how my race played out, I probably should have, but I think that had more to do with my legs being fatigued from the Zoo Run the weekend before. I went through the first mile and was shocked I ran it in 6:32. I got excited that I was going to average way under 6:45 pace since I was already 13 seconds under. 

There was a young boy, maybe high school age running ahead of me and at about the half way point when we were running through the baseball diamond's parking lot I passed him. I had no idea I was slowing as much as I was because I still felt like I was pushing and I caught him and passed him. I was a bit disappointed that my 2nd mile was 6:50, but I felt confident I could keep my last mile around that same pace so I would still come in with an average pace under 6:45. Having already passed the only person close to me in the race, I didn't have anything to work toward and in the last mile my legs were dead. I kept pushing and there was no doubt in my mind I was maintaining pace or speeding up. When I got close to the stadium, I was so ready to be finished! I can't remember if I saw my last mile split during the race, but I think I didn't. I saw the finishing clock was at 20:30 and sprinted across the turf which felt terrible after running on pavement. I felt like I was bouncing and not getting traction. My last mile was 6:57. I averaged 6:46 pace which was super close to what I was hoping for and with how terrible and dead I felt during the last mile of the race, I was okay with that. My finishing time was 20:39 for the 3.05 mile course. I think I could have snuck under 21 if it had been a full course because the last section of the race I ran in 5:58 pace, so I could have run that last 0.05 in less than 20 seconds.  

I watched Jeremy finish and then I jogged a cool down. I jogged out to dad and ran toward the stadium with him. Then I added some more and called it a day.

I was 4th out of 65 overall and 1st of 29 women. Jeremy finished in 22:42 and was 9th overall and 3rd out of 10 in his age group. Dad finished in 24:37 and was 19th overall and 2nd out of 7 in his age group. It was a good day! When I picked up my award they asked me how many years I have won the race. For fun, I went back and looked when I got home. I've won the race 5 of the 9 years they've run it. I thought it would be fun to have a list of the years.

2011- No Official Race Results, 3rd in my age group (Out of Shape)

2012- 23:18, 2nd in my age group (Pregnant with Carter)

2013- 23:06, 2nd in my age group (Carter was 4 months old)

2014- 20:59, 1st overall female (1 month after having a miscarriage)

2015- 24:27, 3rd in my age group (Elise was 3 weeks old)

2016- 20:18, 1st overall female 

2017- Cancelled Due to Storms

2018- 19:46, 1st overall female

2019- 19:24, 1st overall female

2023- 20:39, 1st overall female

Funny Stuff

Ty: I'm staying home with you tomorrow.
Carter: Oh, I thought mommy would.

Ty: No, I am.

Elise: But you make more money!

"You are going to love being a grandma! You know you're going to be one because I plan to get married and have kids. I think I'm going to have 3 because it's so cute when there are 2 older ones and they lay on the floor like Wyatt and Kinley and the baby crawls on them like Olivia." -Elise

Elise: What is Oma to daddy?

Me: His mother-in-law

Elise: I will have a mother-in-law, unless my husband is a stray.

Me: I couldn't believe how late you guys slept today!

Elise: I woke up and waited for Carter because he always wakes up first.

Me: Did you fall back to sleep?

Elise: No, I just laid there and sweated!

Elise: Shall we, Carter?!

Carter: Yes, we shall.

I peek over to see what they're doing and they're opening Elise's t-rex toy.

Me: Did you find anything out about D&D last night?

Carter: Well, daddy said it was a good start, but I didn't really think so.

Playing a game and the question was, what's something you want to get better at.

Elise: I want to get better at swimming.

Carter: I think you should say bike riding.

Game Question: What's your biggest feeling right now?

Elise: Happy, angry, and sad

Oma; What's your biggest feeling of those?

Elise: Angry because I didn't get to swim at all in the hotels.

Oma: That's more disappointed than angry.

Elise: No, it's angry!

Ty: Bend your elbows

Elise: Which elbows, these elbows or these elbows?

Ty: Those are elbows, these are knees.

"I wish Cheez Itz were a fruit so I could eat them whenevs." -Elise

Me to Elise: Do you want to change your shirt so we can match?

Elise: Yeah, but I have other things to do right now.

Elise: Mommy, will you come hug and kiss me?

Me: I already did! 
Elise: Really?

Me: Oh, nope, you were in the bathroom. I was just standing in your room by myself.

"I usually don't like being partners with boys and having to touch them." -Elise

"I keep asking him if I can steal his shoe and he keeps saying no." -Elise

Elise was home sick with Ty while I was at work and she messaged me so I messaged her back.

Wordless Wednesday

Elise got her face painted at the Get Busy Livin 5k.

Carter said his new shirt gave away his secret, haha!

Elise fell asleep on the drive home.

So did Carter which is pretty much unheard of!

Sugar Llamas gave a percentage of proceeds to the school, so we got some doughnuts for dessert!

We got to meet Joy Harjo!

What I Read: April

I read lots of great books this month! April included Independent Book Store Day. We were in Pittsburg on that day so we visited the independent book store there. They had a golden ticket hidden in the store and I FOUND IT! I won a year subscription to Libro.fm for free which means I get 12 free audiobooks! I got a year subscription to Audible with Christmas money because I wanted to listen to Project Hail Mary and it was only available on Audible. I'm excited to try out Libro to see which one I prefer.

Books:

• Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House by Alyssa Mastromonaco and Lauren Oyler- I didn't like this as much as I expected I would. I did love how honest she was and that she shared her own insecurities and mistakes in her career. When she mentioned not negotiating a salary at her first job after the White House, that felt like such a typical female mistake that I wouldn't have expected from someone who had worked in the White House. You know me, I love a good book about a President, First Lady, or the White House so when I found this in a Little Free Library I was so excited! 

• Call of the Penguins by Prior Hazel- I loved this book so much! It was the 2nd Veronica McCreedy book and it was just as hard to put down as the first. I loved it!

• The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson- I loved this one. It was so cute and I'm always a sucker for a book with library, librarian, or bookstore in the title. The main character got a bit frustrating at times so I was glad she came around at the end!

• I Was Told There'd Be Cake: Essays by Sloane Crosley- I was excited the word cake was in the title and I'd seen this recommended a few places. I should have known I'd be disappointed when she was compared to Sarah Vowell and David Sedaris. There's no way someone can be that funny, right? This was okay. There were a few essays I really enjoyed but there were also a few that I thought were kind of boring.

eBooks:

• A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas- I again read this one right after finishing the 2nd book in the series. I should have waited because I was starting to get tired of the books when I finished the 2nd one, but I was reading them at the same time as a co-worker so wanted to go ahead and read the 3rd one with her. I was so over it by the end of this book, I'm not sure if I'll even read the 4th one.

• Revealed by P.C. and Kristin Cast- House of Night #11, I am finally down to one more book to go! They sure know how to take a series and drag it out! This book started and ended with a bang with a lot of nothingness in the middle. I still enjoy the series because of the Tulsa and Oklahoma references, but I'm definitely excited to finish it!

• When Two Feathers Fell From The Sky by Margaret Verble- I saw a flyer for an author event at our library with Verble. I was super excited and checked this book out right away. I really liked it and there was Cherokee history in the book I didn't know about. I had never read a book with a character who was a horse diver before! 

Audiobooks:

• American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson- This book was really interesting. I loved learning about Heinrich's life and all the advances he made in forensics. I was a little disappointed there wasn't more information about the birth of the American CSI. I expected that to be a bigger part of the book, due to the subtitle, and it wasn't even mentioned until the epilogue.

• The Office BFFs: Tales of the Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey- This book was incredible and I loved every minute of it! It was narrated by the authors which was wonderful and there were a few cameos which were great. I loved all the little tidbits they included. It was so much fun, I didn't want it to end!

• In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri- This was not at all what I expected. It was interesting to hear about her writing in a 2nd language. It seemed like a bit of an odd premise for a book. I was glad it was short!

• Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley- My mom recommended this book to me and I loved it! I loved how everyone came together around Iona and how they helped each other in times of need. I also love a happy ending! I'm hoping there's another book with these characters because I don't want to just leave them there.

• Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck- The audiobook was read by Gary Sinise which was absolutely perfect! Obviously this book wasn't as good as his other books, but I enjoyed it.

• The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike's Elite Running Team by Kara Goucher with Mary Pilon- This was an incredible story. There were a few parts that had me crying as I ran while listening. I've always been a huge Kara Goucher fan and I'm an even bigger fan now, knowing what she struggled through and overcame in her years as a professional runner.