well it was supposed to be a relaxing week of vacation...

brad and i decided to take a staycation this fall instead of traveling anywhere. we planned on sleeping in, hiking, mountain biking, and maybe staying in downtown asheville for a few nights... but then we got this little booger:

so those plans changed quickly. we did finally pick a name... LYLA. although miss pisser might have been more accurate. seriously, her bladder must be the size of a teaspoon because she pees every 15 minutes. 

this morning and yesterday morning i got up and went to pure barre, which just opened in asheville. 

i have always heard such good things about these classes but i've never had the opportunity to try them. loved their store front and studio and they were all so nice and welcoming! so far i've really enjoyed myself. i've never done anything with dance at all (except watch center stage fifty 'leven times), so even though the movements are totally new to me, i can still do them. 

i signed up for their 5 week introductory package so i'll post more throughout and do a summary post at the end (this coming from the girl who still needs to recap the flying pig 3way and the downhill at dawn marathon, eh).

did you ever take dance classes?

it has been a long time coming

so in case you don't follow me on instagram, our family grew by four paws this week. 

when brad and i got married we wanted two dogs... i wanted a chocolate lab and brad wanted a german shepherd. i talked him into getting the lab first since i actually had some experience with the breed. we adopted riley right after we got married and as i'm sure you all know we've spoiled him rotten and i pretty much think the sun shines out of his little brown booty. 

every once in a while brad would get on a 'let's get a puppy' streak, but i didn't really want any part of it. the dog part of our life was pretty dang perfect, and to be honest, i don't do change all that well. 

long story short, he finally wore me down. we started looking at gsd rescues but we didn't have any luck (side note: it's a lot of work to adopt a dog nowadays. we don't have a fenced in yard so a lot of places didn't think we'd be a good fit). i was really hesitant to look at a breeder but a friend recommended one and everything fell into place. 

here's our new little girl, who is currently nameless (i know):

we brought her home thursday night and it's been a whirlwind. riley was estimated to be 6 months old when we brought him home, so he was ready to be house-trained and like i said, he was pretty easy. 

this little lady pees like it's her job. we take her out with riley, and she will pee, then we bring her back in and she goes again. she's keeping bounty in business. i know why God made puppies so cute, that's for sure. 

riley's handling her pretty well. the first night he wouldn't have anything to do with her or us. he'd just stare daggers at us from across the room, and i was super upset that we'd messed up. now he's warmed up and is playing with her. we have fostered dogs in the past and he always did well with them, but they always left after a month or so when they were adopted. hopefully they'll become best buddies :)

through the lens of my phone v.1

i've been doing a lot of the same old same old lately. i practically live at this place---->

and i spend a whole 'lotta time on this bad boy. but hard work pays off, so i guess i could be hanging out at worse places. 

even though we've been spending a lot of time at the gym, we've gotten to do some really fun stuff in the past couple of weeks.

riley celebrated his 5th birthday!

we were given 2 tickets to go see sheryl crow at the biltmore estate. the biltmore does a concert series every summer and they get some really great artists to come in. this was our first time going and it was an amazing night. watching the sunset on the terrace and listening to music that i've loved for such a long time... perfect!

 riley's been doing some yoga with me. or supervising at least.

i signed up for RUN THE BLUEGRASS!!! can't freaking wait.

 my mom and dad came to visit this weekend. the boys went golfing while mom and i got crafty. we each made UK wreaths and together we made her a beachy one also. the two UK ones are huge. i like the smaller size of her burlap one better and i'll make any future ones in that size.

do you ever do any projects you find on pinterest? 

if you have pets do you celebrate their birthdays?

jackson hole vacation :::: part 4

okay last part [five years after the fact]! friday we reluctantly left the ranch and went to the airport to pick up a car. then we drove out to the grand teton ski resort area to check into the hotel terra. we decided to stay out there versus in jackson because the rates were so much better. once we arrived we found out that they'd upgraded us (perks of booking in the off season!).

the room was amazing, but we didn't really spend too much time in it! we dropped off our stuff and headed to a trail that one of the ranch hands recommended.

we had teton thai for dinner and it was great! the next morning we got up and headed to the snake river to go rafting. the rapids were a lot more technical than anything i've ever been on before, so fun! unfortunately the trip only lasted about 45 minutes.

after rafting we went to downtown jackson for lunch and to look around. we had lunch at cafe genevieve (delicious!) and then shopped around a little. we went to the million dollar cowboy bar and sat in the saddles to have a drink.

i can't remember if i mentioned it, but FYI most of those are elk antlers and the elk shed them every year. i didn't know this when we arrived and i was a little disturbed!

after we left downtown, we drove around to try to find animals and we had pretty good luck!

you can't see in the picture, but there was a calf with that moose. we got to see it nurse! we didn't see a single bull moose while we were there, just the ladies.

we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner at the blue lion. great atmosphere and food. we both had elk steaks and really enjoyed sitting out on the porch and listening to the guitar player. great way to end the trip.

the next morning we got up a little earlier than we needed to so that we could drive through the national forest at dawn on the way to the airport. we saw another moose and some deer. we were really sad to leave, this was my favorite vacation we've taken.

2013 goal check in

2013 is more than halfway over, where does the time go? i thought it would be a good time to revisit my goals for the year... making some realistic adjustments and maybe even adding some new things. 

i feel like it's a constant battle for me to keep some sort of balance in my life. sometimes i kick butt at work but my home is a wreck. or my house is clean and i haven't exercised in 4 days. or i'm killing it in the gym but i haven't had any quiet time with my Bible in a week. 

i also overextend myself and set my goals higher than what might be realistic. i think this is another place to strive for balance... i want to set them high so i keep myself working and striving for better. but i don't want to set them so unrealistically high that i finish the year and don't feel like i accomplished anything. 

.: running :.

• finish a 30k to celebrate turning the dirty thirty [completed 1.13.13]
• run a sub 2 hour half marathon
• run a sub hour 10k 
• finish a full marathon [completed 3.3.13]
• maintain my mileage around 15-20 miles per week after the full. 

when i made my running goals, i didn't feel like i was being unrealistic. HOWEVER, i totally underestimated the effect the full marathon would have on my body and mind. mentally, i wanted to run, but my body didn't want any part of it. i was physically exhausted and injured [spartan race]. when my body started to come back around, my mind wasn't there. i didn't even want to run the trails as the weather got better, big red mental burnout flag. 

sub 2 hour half is not happening this year. i know i've got a sub hour 10k in my (i ran a 1:00:00 in january as a part of of a training LR) but i'm not worried about it right now. my goal is to start running routinely. i want to find my running happy place again. kind of vague, yes, but that's my goal. 

.: weight training :.

• after the marathon, get back to a full out finess poynters plan [i've been doing a modified plan while my mileage has been increasing]. [back on track july]
• i don't really care about lifting PRs, i mostly want to get back to the consistent schedule that i was in before i started bumping up my mileage. 

i just finished week 6 of my plan. it's been so nice to get back to lifting, it's something i truly enjoy. but DANG i hate the gym. it's impossible to get in and get out without someone bothering me or brad. i hate to be a dick, but i am not at the gym to talk. i'm there to work and go home. we already wait around an hour or so to go (less people so less time waiting on the equipment you need) but that means we are up until midnight-1 am most nights. there's got to be another option. yesterday a business associate of brad's stopped him for almost 30 minutes! 

so anyways, back at it, glad to be. but i hate the gym. and by the end of the week i'm sleep deprived. so hoping to find some solution there. 

.: reading :.

• read at least 12 books from  the Modern Library's Top 100 Novels list.
• finish reading the Bible [in Lamentations now]
• read at least 10 non fiction books. 

this category should have been cake for me. i love to read. unfortunately i enjoy reading crap. why make myself read Ulysses when i can read The Hunger Games for the 18th time. [not that the Hunger Games is crap, but you know what I mean]. 

either way, i'm leaving this goal as it is. this is something i can still do, despite my dismal progress thus far. 

.: spiritual :.

• join a connect group at chuch [sunday school class] [we're connected!]
• finish beth moore's 'john:  90 days with the beloved disciple' 
• pay more attention to where God's leading me. 

i'm actually pretty good here. i failed to update it, but i finished the beth moore book in april. for the rest of the year, my biggest goal is to make time for the Lord in my day to day life. make time to read the Word. make it a priority. 

.: everything else :.

• limit computer time to 30 minutes a day on work days, an hour on any other days. [i'm doing pretty good on work days, but with blogging and other responsibilities, an hour just isn't cutting it when i'm off]
• lose the last 5 pounds... then MAINTAIN. 

the first goal was crap chute. the intention behind this goal was to reduce time i spend wasting on the internet. for whatever reason, that has decreased. 

weight loss maintenance merits a whole post on its own. my goal for the end of the year? get my butt back to where i was last december. 

three or four things thursday

what better way to ease back into blogging...

first things first... i'm almost 4 weeks clean! [clean eating + lifting] thank goodness i finally got my butt back in gear. i'm training with fitness poynters again [if you wanna see the results of last time i worked with them, you can check out this post] and i'm very excited about getting back on track in this area of my life. i've learned A LOT about myself and my body since i last worked with fitness poynters, so i'm really hoping i can stick with it past the weight loss portion and nail the maintenance this time!


the next picture segues into point number two...

doing ab work in my new living proof tank top! [i'm a brand ambassador for them, you should really check out their super cute shirts!] they're great looking and super comfortable. here's one of her newest designs:

and last third thing...
this year was the first year in three that i haven't done the firecracker 10k on the 4th of July. it was weird. but for some reason, running in the muggy, hot weather did not sound fun to me. but you know i wasn't going to let the day go by without wearing my awesome new pro compression USA socks... so i put those bad boys on and wore them to the gym!

i got a lot of compliments on them [and a couple of weird looks but who gives a crap]. they actually felt really good during my workout and helped protect my shins during dead lifts.

and speaking of PRO COMPRESSION that brings me to point four...

they're having a great sale this month:

you can get 40% of ALL merchandise at procompresion.com, including their brand new neon calf sleeves and team PC gear [like hats and running visors].

simply enter the coupon code JULY at checkout. you'll save 40% and get free US shipping!

*expires august 4th**

they're the best compression socks i've ever worn [i've zensah and cep], they're made in the US, and they're just good people. they support so many bloggers with giveaways, sponsorships, etc. they're definitely a company that i truly enjoy supporting.

more info:::
fitness poynters website
fitness poynters facebook
fitness poynters instagram
living proof gear website
living proof gear Facebook
PRO compression website
PRO compression facebook
PRO compression twitter

mizuno wave sayonara :::: review

the following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Mizuno.

when it comes to running the roads, mizuno and i have a very exclusive relationship. i have been in the wave rider model for as long as i can remember, and i have no intention of rocking the boat [as evidenced by my hoarding]:

well, mizuno is rolling out a brand new shoe [available JULY 5th/today!!] and i was lucky enough to get to try it out.

  meet the all new wave sayonara::::

the details::::

• weight: 7.1 ounces [a full ounce lighter than my usual wave riders]
• ramp:  10mm [wave rider 12mm]
• heel/toe: 19/9 [wave rider 24/12]
• on sale:  july 5, 2013
• suggested MSRP:  $119.99

my two cents::::

• i love the look of the shoe. it's bright but wearable.  
• they are incredibly light. 
• i wore them to the gym for a workout just because i was so excited to try them and actually found a great use for them... they are minimalist enough to lift in but enough shoe to hop on the treadmill afterwards! this is huge for me. when i lift [especially legs] i prefer a minimalist shoe but i can't run in them afterwards because i need more support. who wants to take two pairs of shoes to the gym? the wave sayonara solved this problem completely. 

• i was really surprised by the amount of support and cushion the shoe offered while i was running [it's the Mizuno Wave Technology].
• i think this would be a great shoe for someone who wanted to try a minimalist shoe but didn't want to sacrifice cushion or support. 
• i don't usually do speed work, but these shoes made me want to run fast! [and they're so light that you feel like you're moving a lot more quickly than usual!]
• they fit like a glove so i'm also looking forward to trying them without socks. 

want to know more?

mizuno running website

mizuno running on twitter @mizunorunning

mizuno running on Facebook

wave sayonara video