Father/Daughter Dance 2013

A daddy and his princess never gets old, right?  It was that time of year for the Father/Daughter Dance.  As you might remember, Casey and Morgan went to the dance last year too.  Morgan loves to be escorted by her daddy on a date night.  If you can't tell, Casey is glowing with pride for his little girl.

The day was a pretty mellow day for us.  She didn't want to have her nails done and I was planning on doing her for the night.  However, after a failed practice run, I decided to let the professionals take over.  We ordered a corsage and boutonniere for the night.  Casey let her pick where she wanted to go for dinner; she chose Lemon Grass again.  This restaurant may become their yearly tradition.

Before Daddy got home, we did a few pictures of Morgan by herself. 

Here is a similar picture from last year.  It's just amazing what a difference a year makes.  Yikes!

And then of course we needed some pictures with everyone all dressed up.

Brooke wasn't really aware of what day it was or that her Daddy and Sissy where going on a date.  But she didn't hesitate to jump in for a picture anyways.

Needless to say, once she realized they were leaving the house without her, the waterworks started.  I don't know if he'll be able to get away with taking only one princess next year.

It was another successful evening with good food, dancing and winning a raffle basket.  She was a very happy girl!

Creative Day

Every few weeks Morgan has Creative Week at ballet.  During Creative Week, she can wear whatever she wants.  Some weeks Morgan has chosen to wear one of her ballet costumes, dress up clothes or just a regular tutu.  This week she decided pajamas would be great.  In addition to wearing their choice of outfits, the parents get to come and watch the last few minutes of class. 

Here's a video of what they have been working on recently in class.  Morgan is on the left in the blue shirt and striped pants.

 

Here's a video of freestyle dance.  They do whatever the music inspires them to do. Poor Ellie in the middle was having an off night.  I guess the girls thought if they danced around her, it might inspire her to join the group.

ENJOY!

Running Group 2013 - Week 4

Gearing up to run this week has been a bit challenging.  I haven't really been in the mood.  Lucky for me I have a running partner at work.  It helps to have that standing commitment and knowing someone is waiting on you.  We did two runs this week one hilly 4+ miles on Tuesday (in between rain storms) and another 3 miles.  After running, I felt a sense of accomplishment and glad I pushed myself to go.

Our long run this week was SEVEN miles.  When I talked to my trainer about it, she asked how I felt about running seven miles.  Basically, I was trying not to think about it.  I knew I ran six, two weeks before and once I find my zone, I'm good. 

My legs were very tired for basically the first two miles, but then I found my zone and was ok, not great, but ok.  The problem with this route was we ran past our starting point and had to run the lake which was another 1.5 miles.  I totally wanted to stop and walk, but luckily for me, my running partner pushed me through. 

One of the greatest things I saw this morning were all the high school kids running.  It makes me so happy to see them out and being active.  It's such a great sight! 

Here's a picture of me afterwards. Seven miles D-O-N-E with NO walking!

Stats:  7 Miles, 1 hr, 25 mins.

Running Group 2013 - Week 3

This week my friend posted a picture on Facebook of her husband.  This picture has stuck with me all week. 




Approximately 6 years ago he was in Iraq and injured by a roadside bomb.  He lost part of his leg and his world changed completely.  We all know he could have gone in two different directions in his life.  Fortunately, he chose to power through and be a successful triathlete.  He has several prosthetics to chose from and he gets up everyday and faces his challenges head on.  I am proud to call him and his wife my friends.

You know how you sometimes tend to be drawn to stories that are relevant to your life at a particular time?  The trend for me was "life is too short."  I am not injured, I don't have severe pain when I run (only minimal) and running agrees with my body.  I don't have to like it, but I do like the way I feel when I'm done.  I like looking back and thinking "I just ran Barnes hill" well, I mostly ran it.  Running isn't easy and my legs feel heavy but I just keep going.

My story this week is I run because I can....

Stats:  5 miles 62 minutes (very hilly route)

Running Group 2013 - Week 2

As I woke up and prepared for my six-mile run, all I could think about was how sore my legs are from my hilly run on Thursday.  In addition, the Wednesday workout definitely made the Thursday lunchtime run a little challenging.  It is like a spiral effect.  The past few weeks my number of days running has been cut back.  However, on the days I do run, my distance has increased.  In a way, I feel like I'm getting a little break.  Besides having tired legs, the new routine seems to be working.

One of my major challenges during my runs has been headphones.  I've been using the ones that came with my iPod, however, they aren't really made for running and this week I decided enough was enough. So I went on a hunt for headphones. Oh Lordy, are there a lot of options! I was determined not to spend a ton of money but felt overwhelmed with all the styles. I decided on these little guys for $29.99. Considering I saw some for over $100 I was satisfied with my decision. The best news is, they worked perfectly on my run today.

Today's run was a the perfect amount of hills.  I was a little intimidated by the distance and was convinced her calculations were wrong. I thought for sure it was farther than six miles. Turns out she was right.  I was able to run all but about one minute on this route.

Stats: 6 miles, 1hr, 12mins