Completely Obsessed...

So I am completely obsessed with this bedroom decor. I am thinking for my second guest room...someday, or if I have a teenage daughter, although by that time it will be out of style. It is so charming and girly, yet sophisticated. I love it, love it, love it.



I already have a bench that could be recovered to look similar to this and a desk that needs to be painted. I love the bright white furniture with the deep linens. So after the kitchen...maybe I can talk my husband into some version of this, refurbishing the linens and furniture we already have of course. Thoughts honey?

Oh and yes pics of the fabulous kitchen remodel are coming...eventually. I just can't bring myself to post any pics until I have the final product.

Rabbit

Before anything else, I need to give a big old Fenton welcome to Ava Grace Huntley. Ava was born perfectly healthy on Friday night and mother and daughter are both doing swimmingly. Justin, however, reports that Ava's little finger is numb thanks to Justin being firmly wrapped around it. Congrats guys!

So as I mentioned in my last contribution, I'm training for a marathon. Training's going pretty well in general. I hit 22 miles last week with a long of 8 miles. Not a bad place to start from, but probably not the best. We'll make it work. Some of my workouts this week have been insane, though. I have a little bit of an agressive rabbit.


No no no...not THAT agressive rabbit (bonus points to any reader other than Justin and Neal that can name the scene and the weapon used to vanquish the mighty beast).

My rabbit is actually my running partner Gerry, a buddy from church that lives in the neighborhood. Gerry's in good shape and loves to run like I do. We meet 4-5 mornings a week to train. However, he and I couldn't be more different runners. Gerry's built for quick, powerful speed. He definitely leans toward the sprinter side of the the runners spectrum. Given my height and lankiness, I definitely fall more toward the endurance side of things. I can still move, but Gerry's going to beat me in a sprint most of the time. It's generally a good running partnership because on the long runs I push him and on the sprints he pushes me. Well, the rabbit took it to a whole new level this week.

We decided to run some mile intervals - mile warm up then alternating mile sprints with mile recovery jogs (3x) and then a mile cool down. For reference sake, when I ran the half marathon in February, I finished the race at an average of 8:45 per mile. The 10k not too long after that I finished in 8:02 per mile. My tempo runs are usually in the 7:30 per mile range. Well, last Wednesday morning, good old Gerry and I took off on our first hard mile and I could tell we were hauling. Little did I know exactly how fast we were moving. When I hit the lap button on my watch after that mile I almost had a heart attack. We had covered that mile in 6:34 - almost a full minute faster than my previous fastest training pace. We both agreed we should probably slow it down just a little. So, Gerry took the lead again after our recovery and we pushed and pushed through the 2nd mile - 6:40. Some slow down. The final mile started up and I was hurting, but there wasn't a chance I was going to let Gerry finish the workout alone. No less than 4 times in that mile did I seriously consider stopping. Through the pain I made it to the mark and put in a final lap of 6:48. I know you're supposed to go negative on intervals and any hard training run, but I'm sorry - there's no way I was going negative off of 6:34.

So, now is the time that I'm supposed to come up with some witty closing to bring this post to an end. Unfortunately I can't come up with anything, so I'll leave you with a tip on slaying the vicious rabbit seen above.

They say...

That people and their pets start to look alike after so many years. Is that the same for roommates?



I met Ashlee for dinner tonight at Cracker Barrel. She was in from Washington, D.C. for work so we met up in Buda. I mean we lived together for three years, but seriously...this is a little weird don't you think.

Snow Cones for Dinner

So husband...hmm...what did I do while you were away on your Canadian adventure? Well I was very very busy. I took down some backplash...





Hung some decorative plates above the bar...



I sanded a few cabinets...



I taught our puppy to get on the furniture...




I ate a snow cone twice for dinner...YUMMMM...



And I punched a hole through the wall. Well actually two holes...




Hopefully you'll be overjoyed to see me and not notice.

O Canada, part deux

So ladies and gents, I've spent the last 4 days here in Canada in the lovely little town of Gimli...




No, no, no! Not THAT Gimli...


There we are...that's more like it! I've been up here for a work deal all week and it's been kind of lonely. It's a sleepy little beach town that's really a pretty place, just not much to do. The only place to do ANYTHING after 9 is in the hospitality room the conference put together. I officially miss my wife (awwwwwww..... :) ) At least I have this guy to keep me company.



While the trip has been a little long, it has actually been a nice break from the heat back in Kyle. While it's incredibly humid, the highs have been in the low 80s. A welcome break from the 100+ degree weather we've had for the better part of 2 months back home.

Now that we're caught up on where I'm running around these days, I have an announcement to make. Justin, Josh, Matthew, Gerry (maybe), and I have decided we're going to test our mettle against all that Mercury and his old running buddies in the Parthenon can throw at us. Foolishly or not, we've decided to compete in the Cowtown Marathon on February 27, 2010. That's right ladies and gents...this merry band of misfits will brave the mean streets of Fort Worth to push our bodies to the brink by running 26.2 consecutive miles. Why? It's not quite as easy an answer as to why I decided to run the half marathon last November (sheer boredom). Something about all that running grabbed hold of me as I trained for that race and continued to run after it was finished. The competition with myself to improve both on the road and physically has proven to big a draw to just quit running. Fortunately the improvement has come. When I started training I ran a 10 minute mile and thought I would die after finishing. This afternoon I logged 5 miles in an interval workout and clocked in at an average speed of 7:13 per mile. I'm pretty happy with that sort of improvement over the course of 9 months.

It's not just the desire for better health and faster times that draws me to the marathon, though. The marathon is hallowed ground of the running community. The biggest of the big, the baddest of the bad (okay, there are ultra marathons out there, but those are for the folks that are seriously warped), the marathon is not for the faint of heart. Which is why this merry band of recreational runners has decided to take it on. The marathon isn't just a physical battle, though there's a reason I'm already training in August for a race the last weekend of February. It's a battle of your will to finish off what you've trained for over the course of months. I've heard people say the marathon has 3 stages: the first 10 miles you run with your legs, the second 10 you run with your brain, and the last 6.2 you run with your heart. I'm looking forward to testing myself against that final, soul-sucking 10 kilometers in just a couple months. So, my contribution to the blog for the next little while will primarily consist of training updates so people that care (all 1 of you) can keep track of how it's going. My goal is to be up to 30 miles a week by November when we start a training plan in earnest for this thing. So far this week I'm up to 13 with an easy 3 or 4 planned for the morning and a 7-8 miler on Sunday morning which will put me in the low 20s. Not a bad position to be in. So, if there's anyone else out there that feels like pushing yourself to the brink and testing yourself in extreme ways, give me a shout and we'll get you in training mode too. And don't be afraid of the marathon. The Cowtown offers up a half marathon, 10k and 5k at the same time, so runners of all distances should get involved. Until next time!

O Canada!

So husband is on his way to Canada for a week-long business trip, which means Lizzie and I will have to protect our house from murderers and robbers. I don't really hate it when he leaves town...I just hate the part when he is on a plane. Once he lands, I feel much better.

Anyways, on to other things. We had a great weekend. My parents and grandparents were in town. Friday night we returned home from work to find an amazing meal all cooked and ready to eat. It was so nice to NOT have to cook or eat a hamburger. Thanks Mom and Granny! Later we played a Terry family tradition...dominoes. That night it was Mexican Train. Now, you must understand that my family is EXTREMELY competitve...especially my Granny. For one of their wedding anniversaries, my Pa bought my Granny an air-hockey table, because that was her favorite game. She is good...really good. And she doesn't let you win, she beats you. She doesn't even let my two-year-old cousin win. She's hard core. You must also understand that Mexican Train is a very LONG game, so finishing is a feat all in itself. So imagine my excitement when I not only made it to the end, but also WON the game...putting my poor precious grandmother to shame. Did I mention she is competitive?




Granny, Mom and I spent hours in Hobby Lobby on Saturday, before heading to Lowe's to look at our new countertops. I got three new plates to hang on the wall in our dining room. I have been looking for some type of decorative thing to put on the wall in the dining area since we moved in, and these three plates seemed to do the trick. The goal is to get them hung tonight, however...that could be tricky without the husband. If I do succeed, I will be sure to post those pics.

That night we met our friends Scott and Amy at the Oasis for dinner. If you've never been to the Oasis you are truly missing out. The food is OK, but the view...well it is awesome! My parents and grandparents had never been, so we made sure to eat on the patio right at sunset. This pic isn't the greatest, but it gives you some sort of idea.




Sunday was all about church and Cracker Barrel, before they got on the road.

Husband and I were able to spend a few hours hanging out before he jetted off early this morning. I went from having a house full to being home alone...again...for a WEEK! Hurry home husband and hurry back family!