Running Update

A while back I posted that I had started runnin...working towards a 5k at the end of October.

Well, I'm specifically following the couch to 5k program. You work out 3x a week for 30min. It starts off with super easy walk/run intervals and slowly extends the running intervals while cutting back the walking intervals and has you running 30 minutes solid at the end of 8 weeks.

I gotta admit, my first few times hitting the pavement I had ABSOLUTELY no idea how I would ever run that whole length of time straight through. Actually, even the first few weeks into it I didn't have a whole lotta faith. But I made a committment and I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.

I started out able to go about 2 miles in 30 minutes. A few weeks into it I was up to 2.5. And it's just kept creeping up and up until.... Saturday I had my first extended length run. 5minute walk. 20 minute run. 5 minute walk. I was at family camp and the only road out reminds me of the appalachian mountain range. I was thinking of ways to feign injury or death and get out of it. But instead. I sucked it up and did it. Not only was I able to run the whole time. But I kept a good pace over all those hills, still had a little kick at the end and covered a distance of 3 miles!!! That's only 0.2mi away from my 5k distance!

I'm so psyched! Not only do I fully believe that I'll be able to run the whole 5k but with the time I have left to train I think I'll actually be able to be competative in the race istead of just aiming to finish without dying!!!

I really think most people can do the couch 2 5k plan. CHECK IT OUT HERE!

Splooshing!

Every girl needs a pair of pink rainboots for splooshing don't you think? We took advantage of the rain yesterday and Ella loved her first puddle jumping adventure. Of course the rubber boots are just for looks because she was SOAKED by the time she was done!!!

(P.S. She's currently putting her pacifier in a nalgene and giving it a "time-out" in the "corner". When I asked he why her paci was in time out she said, "No, no touch dat!". Apparantly paci was touching somthing dangerous! Hilarious!)

Providing for Our Lot

Today in Bible study we were talking about God providing for our lot...how even when it's not comfortable and we're in need, God always comes through...and it builds our faith.

I just have to share this timely example.

Ella is a growing girl and I recently stocked away mountains of 12month things. She's in 18months things right now but quickly headed towards 24 months. The seasons seem to be turning already and today I started to think about all of the things she will need! I started to become a little anxious thinking about the expense, as our monthly "Ella Budget" would surely not even cover a fraction of what she needs. I expressed my concern (read worry) to Jason and he suggested I check our bins of hand me downs to see what we had and then make a list of what she'll need from there so we can budget. (Don't you just love a non-emotional, level headed, wise husband some days!?)

OH. MY. WORD. It was like Jesus turning the 2 fish and 5 loaves into a feast for 5,000 all over again! I'm tellin' you stuff just kept on a comin' out of those bins! I would read the label and sure enough it said 24mo or 2T and over it flew into my little pile, until my pile was no little mole hill, but a monstrous mountain!

Yes. I seriously took a talley. All totalled we have:
33 pairs of pants
13 long sleeve shirts
11 short sleeve shirts
7 sweatshirts/sweaters
2 overalls
4 dresses
1 skirt
5 pairs of tights
slippers
dress shoes
and a snow suit!!!

I mean seriously! We need NOTHING! We have all we need and more!!! And it's all thanks to family and friends who have handed us down all of these things! Thank-you Kirsten! Thank-you Doreen! Thank-you Kristie! Thank-you Katie! Thank-you Jenny! Thank-you Diane! Thank-you Mom! Thank-you Lord for using all these people to provide for us and bless us!!!

With that said, if anyone out there needs some 24month girls pants....I've got a few I can spare :) Drop me a line!

19 & 20 month video onslaught

I've been trying in vain for two days to upload videos to share with you all. It's always worked JUST FINE before. From camera to Desktop, Desktop to Blog. Now, no dice. They are showing up as You Tube windows not Media Player Windows like they used to and it says "an error has occurred and won't play the video. Any help is greatly appreciate.

10 Years Already

Ahhhhh...there's a breeze in the air, the sounds of pre-season practices echo off the bleachers at the local highschool we walk at, there are even a few trees beginning to show their colorful hues around our yard....and my 10 Year Highschool reunion is tomorrow! It all has me feeling quite nostalgic!

Highschool was a great experience for me overall (I know that's not the case for everyone). OF COURSE there are some things I would do differently if I had it to do over...but that's the nature of the teen years...nay, all of adolescence isn't it? Live and learn and be better for it.

I'm looking forward to the reunion. We've got a handful of people coming to a little playdate in the a.m. so we can meet each others kiddos. WOW. I LOVE children! They are SUCH an amazing gift. I've been reflecting on that a lot lately.

Then off to a fun dinner date with friends and on to the reunion. Really, I think I'll either love it or hate it. If it turns out to be a time of comparison, judgement and one-upmanship then I'll hate it. But I don't think it will. If it turns out to be a time of people coming together 10 years more mature with a bit of life under our belts, seeking to enjoy eachother's company, catch up on life and be happy for one another, well then I'll love it!

Here's to a fun weekend and a fabulous fall that I feel just around the corner!

Floppy Feet

SOOoooo...I need surgery. On BOTH of my feet. On BOTH the inside AND outside bones of BOTH of my feet. Wow. Talk about one craptastic trip to the doctor! Here's the story and explanation.

I had been having pain in my left foot for a few months. My sister-in-law had a bunionectomy and encouraged me to see a podiatrist. Jason, God bless his nagging little heard, had been "encouraging" (read pestering) me to see a podiatrist so I finally made an appointment.

I don't even think my feet look that funky! I think they're kind of cute actually..see. So I thought he'd tell me to wear better shoes and send me on my way. At worst I thought he'd say I had a slight bunion and give me some toe spreader thing. Oh no my friends. No sir-eeee!

They took some x-rays of my feet and let me tell you...beneath that red toe nail polish and soft skin are some ME-EEESSSED UP bones!!! It was a little scary actually. Here's a picture of what the bones are supposed to look like, with MY bones drawn over in red, and yes, that joint that looks like it's in too far is indeed in too far. The angle there between those bones is supposed to be 4-8 degrees. 8 being VERY high. Yup, you guessed it. That number 16 there indicates that MY angle is indeed 16 (one one foot and 14 on the other.)

Here's why my feet are so messed up. First, a little anatomy lesson. You're foot is like a tripod. These here three points make up the tripod.

I, aparantly have an "unstable foot type". Wouldn't have mattered what shoes I wore, it's genetic. See that there joint that's circled. Aparantly it's VERY loosey goosey and all messed up. It causes instability. The foot tries to correct that instability by spreading the top two points of the tripod (a.k.a. your bones and joints) apart wider and wider. This never fixes the problem of the floppy joint and therefore the spreading of the tripod points never stops. If it had been caught much earlier they could have put me in orthodics to stop the spreading. But apparantly my case is so severe that surgery is the only option. THEN I will have to wear orthodics for the rest of my life to keep the bones from spreading back out. Awesome.

Here's the real kicker! The surgery should be done one foot at a time. And I would have to be off my feet COMPLETELY for an ENTIRE SIX WEEKS after each surgery. Hello!? Stay at home mom here...who's planning to have more kiddos!? Are you kidding me!?

When I told my doctor this he totally understood but was also totally not happy. The solution is to put me in orthodics to keep it from getting worse and then I have to wait until my youngest child is at least 5 years old and in school to have the surgeries.

The upswing. He tells me the orthodics will stabalize my flopping joint, allowing me to propell properly off of the ball of my foot. Translation: they'll make me a faster runner! :)

My Sister is Hardcore

...so totally hardcore. Her boyfriend Greg is too. Not even a year ago they ran their first triathlon and now they do a triathlon like every Saturday just for giggles and then they hike some gigantic mountain on Sunday for their cool down. Seriously. What a bunch of sissies. They clearly need more physical challenge in their lives so they decided to do A TWELVE HOUR ADVENTURE RACE called the Bitter Pill. (The name alone makes me say no thanks!) It was in Vermont so I didn't tag along for this one. I've gotten bits and pieces from my sister and here's what I've put togheter about this race. You have to use your map and compass to navigate your way to 20 different checkpoints. Those checkpoints are on different legs. The legs include canoeing, swimming, mountain biking and hiking/running. If you don't complete one leg by a certain cutoff time, you can't go on to the next. And if you don't complete the whole thing in 12 hours then you're done. (If I wasn't done in 12 hours I think I'd just ask someone to go ahead and shoot me!)

So, I really have no idea what I'm talking about, but I'm gonna go ahead and give you a full race report (with pictures) just because I'm so darn inspired by them! Here goes:

This is the "pre-race mug shot". Everyone had to get one for the sole purpose of being able to ID their body should they pass out or drop dead somewhere in the vast wilderness.

This is the group of crazies gathered just before the gun went off. They had to report at 3:45am (That is an actual fact. And let me just say, that I can't even tell my own head from my own bum at 3:45 am, let alone read a compass bearing and navigate my way through a forest I've never been in!)

The first leg was canoeing. By the time they got done with this leg it was light enough outside to turn their headlamps off. (Oh darn! 'Cause I just can't get enough of canoeing down a river for hours in the pitch black in a place I've never been before!)

Then there was the mountain bike leg which Jen said was way harder than she thought it would be.

Here's Greg. (At this point I would have been like, "Dude! Help me hotwire this here tractor! We'll chuck our gear in the bucket loader and ride this baby as far as it'll take us!")

And this is the point where they both were just WISHING they had had my tractor idea!

But hey, at least they got to cool off after on the swim leg.... as they doggie paddled their way through this swampy, weedy, slimy mess!

Here's a nice navigation shot. I do believe the dialogue was something along the lines of, "Oh man, there's the camera guy. Thank GOD! That must mean we're at least still in Vermont!!!Let's look like we know what we're doing!"

"Yeah, good plan...I'll hold the compass...you point to something! Oh my crap I have no idea where we're going!"

And here's Jen finishing. I can't be positive but I'm 99.7% sure she's saying, "Oh my gosh I'm so happy I didn't die out there! I never thought I'd see another human besides Greg ever again!" and then she kissed the end timer guy.

And here's Greg as he finishes. Again I can't be certain but with 99.6% accuracy I can say that he's shaking his head saying, "I can tell you this now Jen...I kept a strong face out there, but there was definitely more than one occasion where I was convinced we were goners!" And then he kissed the end timer guy too.

But seriously. Here they are accepting their award because they won first place in their category! They finished in 10 hours and change! So proud of you two!!!

And then they went and hiked a giant mountain the next day.

I am not even kidding you.

7 Year Itch

Today marks our 7th Anniversary. And if the 7 year itch means the past seven years has just left you itching for more...then yup, I've got it!

I put on some fancy silver shoes and we celebrated last night with a lovely dinner at Oak St. Bistro which we've been dying to try. It was worth the wait! Definitely a great place to eat on very special occasions. We can now personally recommend the Scallops and Penne and the Baked Stuffed Haddock with Lobster Cream Sauce. Yummm!

Then we headed to the Hackmatack Playhouse which is literally 5 doors down the road from us! (How fortunate are we to have a Theater just down the way!?). We've also been dying to go to a show here. The atmosphere cannot be beaten! You park in a rolling green field dotted with old apple trees, wind your way through quanit, country gardens and sitting areas on your way to the door and plant yourself in a theater seat in the middle of a big, old, red barn. The large screen doors allow the night air to swirl around you and a live band provides the musical accompianiment for the play!

We saw Carousel and both agreed that the highlights of the show were
#1)Carrie played by (And Enock played by...and the whole dynamic between Carrie and Enoch in general)
#2)The Star Maker played by
#3)Julie played by

We also agreed that the one, but fairly significant lowlight was the actor who played Billy Bigelow. I mean sure, he was quite nice to look at (which is the ONLY, and believe me... not good enough, reason we could see that he was cast in this role) but the man would not carry a tune in a bucket! And if you know the show, then you know how many solos he has. Not good folks. Not good at all. However, that lowlight didn't spoil the show by any means. It was still worth every penny and I'd recommend Hackmatack over and over!

Oh what a fabulous anniversary! I pray for the years to experience many, many, many more with this wonderful man I get to call my husband!!!

Summer Fun

I absolutely LOVE having a child that wants to be "OW-SIGH!" (outside) ALL the time! 18 months has been such a fabulous age to experience the summer! We've done so much! We play outside in the yard and in her kiddie pool tons! I cannot tell you how many naked baby butt pictures I have! Ooooo! So darn cute. (But I absolutely won't post them for just anyone to see so you'll have to just imagine!) We go to playgrounds and local beaches. We have playdates and take walks. We take day trips and even took our first tent camping trip with her. Here are just a few pictures from all of our adventures!

A Trip to Great Island Commons in New Castle

The rocks were "ouchie". She loved the sea water even though it was freezing! And burrying baby was a blast!

Our Weekend Camping Trip to Sebego Lake State Park

Coffee with daddy in the morning was the best. Mommy's big swing called a hammock was super fun. And she couldn't get enough of the water. We've no pictures to prove that last one because she became such a dare devil in the water it took two of us to keep her safe!

Tea for Three During a Play Date With Some Good Friends.

None of this was orchestrated by the adults. It was all them! So cute!

Insanity. Pure Insanity.

I do believe I've identified some chiatic structure in my life. I started running just because I looked forward to feeling good. Now I feel good and look forward to running. Oh yes my friends, a peripety has certainly taken place over the weekend! (I'm REALLY sorry for the majority of you that don't know what I'm talking about...but all my Bible study ladies will know what I'm talking about and I am officially a geek because I LOVED the literary device lesson!)

But the rest of you get the gist. I used to HATE the mere notion of evening running. I would have to psyche myself up just to get out the door. I looked forward only to the end of the run. Now I find myself looking forward to the run itself! I get a little antsy on my rest days. I start to get excited about my next training level, seeing how much more milage I cacn add on, pressing to increase my stamina, and looking forward to the day when I can concentrate on increasing my speed and setting PR's. WOW. Insanity. Pure Insanity. Is this what you runner's meant by addicting? I get it now.

Never Thought I'd See the Day....

I enjoy sports of all kinds. I've always been relatively athletic. And I'm ridiculously competative. But I HATE running. Always have. Sure, I'd run to train for all my sports...all the while wishing I could be gouging my eyes out with a hot poker instead...but I would NEVER run just for the sake of flipping running. Until now people....until now.

Running after a sweet little girl all day keeps my somewhat active but mostly just super busy and exhausted. Finances are tight (please refer back to the laser beam focus on becoming debt free post) and time is at a premium. So in an effort to stay fit, get some me time in, and not break the bank with a gym membership (or waste precious time driving to and from a gym)I, Sarah York, have officially taken up running (GASP)!!! I know. I really never thought I'd see the day.

This has been in the works for a LONG time. My friend Amy has been a constant inspiration with her mad running. And after watching my sister compete in her first triathlon last fall I thought, "Well crud! The least I could do is run a 5k."

Well it took me a LONG time of thinking about it... getting some shorts... thinking about it... getting some shoes... thinking about it some more... getting a watch...thinking about it... making some excuses... and finally getting my butt in gear!

And it took me even longer to write about it here, because I had to make sure I had enough running under my belt to be sure I'd actually keep up with it. So there it is. It's official. I've taken up running. And my first 5k is the Monster Mash Oct. 30th in North Berwick. It's my kind of race. It's 5 minutes away and it starts at 9am. :)