Summer of Well-Being Recap

It's almost been two months since I started running again and I feel so much stronger and healthier already. I am down 13 lbs. and today I ran 4 miles for the first time in almost 7 years. I am still a lot slower than before, but I am confident that the speed will return in time. Plus, I find it amazing that in less than an hour I can burn 660+ calories! 

A few weeks ago on my birthday weekend, we ran our first run together as a family. (All except for Forest, who was part of our fan club.) Sienna ran her first run, which was a Kid's Dash 1k. The course was a little confusing for the younger kids in the back, but she did fantastic! She ran the entire time and was so excited to get her finisher's medal at the end. 

Then, David and I ran the 5k together. The run was a mixture of grass, paved trail, sidewalks and gravel trail. This was my first time running outside and not on a treadmill. It was a lot harder to pace myself outside, but I surprised myself and did better than I thought I was going to do. Part of the way through the run, I told David to go ahead, because I felt like I was holding him back and plus, I like running by myself. I really value this time to just "go in my head" and think about all sorts of different things. 

 

 

Some things I am doing differently than before are doing a full 0.25 warm up and 0.25 cool down walk each time I run to try and avoid an injury. Also, I am drinking way more water than ever before. With two bouts of kidney stones in the past, I know that this is essential.

The things I am doing the same are following the Cool Running 5k Program. I used the Cool Running Half-Marathon Program when I trained before and was really happy with the results. I really want to work on my speed before I train for a half marathon again. We have our next family 1k and 5k planned at the end of October!

I am also eating vegetarian again and a lot of our veggies our coming from our own garden. I try to do one green smoothie a day for a meal (my version is: kale, 1 apple & blueberries).

Last night for dinner, I made homemade hamburger buns and David made salsa with all different varieties of tomatoes from our garden. Next, we must plant onions and garlic, since they are definitely staples in most of our recipes. 

I also made "Midsummer Veggie Burgers" from a vegetarian cookbook I've had for awhile called How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. (Thanks, Casey) They are a great way to use up zucchini, which we have a lot of right now. This picture was from before they were cooked. I will have to take another one next time after I cook them. Basically they are just zucchini, onion, garlic, corn, jalapeno and a little flour. I thought they were quite tasty and will definitely make them again.    

So, that's the recap of my summer of well-being so far. I think it's going really well so far. This week, I'm going to try and start running at 4:00 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays to prepare for when my mom returns to work in September. She has been a huge help with watching the wee ones, so I can go run. 

Summer of Well-Being

One of the things I am really focusing on this summer is myself and my own well-being. In many ways I feel like I've neglected my body and health in the last 6+ years. Yes, you may have been counting and figured out that's how old my daughter just turned. Before becoming pregnant with Sienna, I was really on a path of health and well-being. I think I kind of threw it to the wayside with motherhood. My goal for this summer is to get back onto my path of well-being.

A couple of weeks ago, we happened upon a treadmill at a garage sale down the street for $20. It's an older Nordictrack. (gosh, it's dusty ...) I had really been wanting one for awhile. I bought myself a new pair of running shoes on Amazon since the gel in my old ones were completely flattened. Hey, I had them since 2007, I think I was ready for a new pair. Today, was a big accomplishment for me! Last week, I ran 5 days for 2 miles each time. Today, I did 3 miles without stopping! I was pretty slow, but the speed will come later. I'm thinking about signing up for a 5k on my birthday weekend and Sienna wants to run the kids dash, too! I also would like to set some goals to run a half-marathon again. 

New to us treadmill and my new running shoes.

In 2006, I ran the Seattle Half-Marathon with my mom and my old friend, Meredith. It was quite the experience. I had sprained my ankle a few months before on a run and it was very icy and snowing a little. I think the next one I plan to run will be during a different time of the year. 

Me, in November 2006, after running the Seattle Half Marathon in my first apartment.

"Nothing tastes as good as fit feels."

Mama's Day

I must start off by saying that this blog post may be a little weepy, as I've been reflecting on my day a bit. That said, Forest and I started off our day by going to town to go shopping. We were just going to stop and get a few much needed items: milk, a bar of soap and apple butter. But, I thought why not go over to the Co-op and take a look at the wool mittens. Sienna and Forest are each in need of a new pair for Winter. After no luck with mittens or apple butter, I decided to go thrifting at a little shop nearby instead! Today was Mama's lucky day!

A sweet pair of peg angels to paint with Sienna - $0.49 each 

A vintage prairie dress for Mama (hopefully it will fit) - $6.99 

Four sweet, vintage, handmade placemats - $1.99 each

The other side!

I have to admit, I just love calico prints. I think it will always be my favorite type of fabric. 

And, I found David one of his Christmas gifts for $2.99! I can't wait to share it after Christmas, of course. Now, as I was waiting in line to pay the sweet, little old lady in front of me noticed the dress I was purchasing and told me it was so pretty and it was going to look beautiful on me. This made my day.

Then, I decided to try a Fair Trade shop we have in town for wool mittens. After we were out of the car, I realized it had gone out of business. So, we walked over to the yarn shop just to see if they might have any already made mittens for sale. Well, they didn't. But, we did meet another very sweet, old woman from the Czech Republic that was making a hat for her great granddaughter and she wanted to size Forest's head to get an idea of how much yarn she would need. The store owner was also so nice and invited me back and said she would help me knit the mittens myself (if I purchased my yarn there) for FREE! I'm sure I will go back soon. 

Anyway, all of these by chance meetings today really have me missing my own grandmother very much. I know she would have loved my babies and I wish she could have met them.   

Some other going-ons today. I thought I'd share a few photos of a few posters I put up that were from an old friend and our Mayflower project from yesterday. And of course, a few of my sweet, wee boy eating his lunch today.

 Butterflies!

 Birds!

Animal Tracks!

 The Mayflower. We were learning about what the Pilgrims took with them on the Mayflower. The little flaps show some of their provisions.

And, the sweetest, wee boy!

He loves applesauce and bratwurst. 

Love those chubby cheeks! 

 And, this silly face!

Happy November, friends!

On Reading

Lately, I've been indulging myself with reading. It feels like such a luxury to me, because since Sienna stopped napping, it seems I've also stopped reading. (Except for my reading of The Hunger Games series while we were on our vacay to California. But, that was car reading while the little ones napped.)

So, what have I been reading? Since August, I've slowly been savoring Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: a Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver. (Gifted to me by my lovely sis-in-law, Jenn. Many thanks!) Only a few more chapters to go. 

I also like to read a few books at a time in different genres. The last few weeks, I've been reading a lot of books on natural living/homesteading/gardening. See the stack of books below! After all, I am a dreamer (if you haven't noticed) and I am dreaming up our plan for the future ... a mini farm/homestead. 

Along with this "homestead dream" of ours, we are also talking about building our own home. And, the talk is all about log cabins. We found this gem at Goodwill last weekend for $2.00. It contains lots of useful information on finding land and log cabin building. Of course, this "homestead dream" will take many years of planning, working, and saving. But, it is exciting to have a dream!     

Another book I picked up last weekend at Goodwill was this one. It was $0.79 and is on a lot of the Waldorf reading lists. I thought I would read it first and see if it would be a good one to read aloud to Sienna. I am currently reading aloud Little House in the Big Woods each night and Sienna loves it!  

I picked up this one at Goodwill for $2.00 to read after I finish my Barbara Kingsolver book. When I was in the teaching credential program, my literacy professor was reading our class excerpts from it and I've really wanted to read the whole book ever since then. Now, I will have my chance! 

Lastly, the fiction book I am reading is this one. I  picked it up at the thrift store awhile back. I am constantly on the look out for Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman when we go thrifting (since it is one of my all-time favorite movies) and I found this one instead. I am about half-way through it and I really like her style of writing. So, after I finish I will probably be on the look out for others by her.

Happy Reading!

Butterflies & Mantras

Since the start of the new year, I've been thinking of a mantra that would define my coming year and the direction I see myself going. After much contemplation, I've decided my mantra will simply be the word transform. I've also chosen the butterfly as my animal spirit guide, or maybe it's chosen me? I'm not going to go into too many details about my mantra just yet. But, I will share them with you as they unfold.

Long Beautiful Hair!

Yes, I was quoting from the "Hair" song in the blog title.

About a month ago, I went and had my very long hair chopped off. I decided I wanted to donate my hair to Locks of Love and I wanted something a little easier to manage with my new wee one. (Mostly, I was tired of constantly having my hair pulled!) I chose a cute, layered hair style. Yet, my hair just doesn't feel like me if that makes sense. I've been growing my hair long most of my life. I've had a few short hairstyles, the shortest being a bob when I was struggling to "conform" to a certain image that I perceived was the way for an elementary school teacher to look. That was back during my first year as a teacher. Since then I've kept my hair long and only have had three haircuts in the last 7 years or so. Now, I am once again growing out my hair. 

This time ... just for fun, I'm keeping track of how much it grows each month and having David take a photo of my hair for me. I plan to keep the blog updated on this!

 My hair on January 1, 2013 ... beginning to grow it out!

Here are a few of my favorite hair photos over the last five years ::

June 2012

January 2011

September 2010

 November 2009

March 2008

November 2007

Someday, I plan to be a little old lady with very long gray or white hair. This probably won't be too far off, since my hair is suddenly turning awfully quickly in the front.

In other unrelated hair news while drawing a mermaid the other day, Sienna exclaimed that she plans to grow her hair very long until she goes to the sea. I just love the things she tells me. 

Now, I must go and finish making my blueberry pie. Photos tomorrow!

The Best Show Ever!

This morning, when I heard on the news that it might snow today I dug out my first season of my most favorite and beloved t.v. show, Northern Exposure. If you've followed my blog from the beginning than you already know that I am a self-described Northern Exposure junkie. I remember when I first started watching the series back in college. It played during the wee hours of the night on the Hallmark channel. I would stay up all night just to watch it. While teaching, I decided to buy the series. I didn't have cable back then and it was always on in the background when I came home in the evenings. Yes, I LOVE the show that much!  

So, this morning as I sip my coffee, nurse Forest for his second morning nap (he takes short naps) and listen to Sienna create beautiful artwork (more on that another day), I enjoy my morning with an episode of Northern Exposure.

Image courtesy of Amazon

Maybe this summer I'll finally make it to the Moosefest in Roslyn!

Northern Exposure Junkie

My love affair with the television series Northern Exposure began during my early college years when I became enthralled with the tiny fictional town of Cicely, Alaska. After watching an episode on the Hallmark channel, I was hooked! Hooked on ... Dr. Joel, Maggie, Ed, Maurice, Holling, Shelly, Marilyn, and, of course, my favorite Chris.

Through the years, I've shared my love of Northern Exposure and turned quite a few people on to the show,too! One of those people being my handsome husband, David.

Living in such close proximity to the "real" town Roslyn where Northern Exposure was filmed is one of the reasons beautiful Washington state is such a great place to live. The last time we took the drive east to Roslyn, Sienna was just 6 weeks old.

The tiny town of Roslyn, population 900. The town was named after Roslyn, New York.
Roslyn was originally a mining town after coal was found in 1886. The last coal mines closed their doors in 1963.
The sweetest, little outhouse located next to the railroads.
Mama and Sienna coming out of Dr. Joel Fleishman's office. Now a gift/tribute shop to the show. You can watch Northern Exposure playing on the television, while shopping.
Holling Vincoeur's bar, The Brick.

On the show, Maurice Minnifield explains that a hippie passing through painted this mural.

KBHR, the radio station where Chris Stevens or Chris-in-the-Morning works.

Mama and Sienna looking for Chris-in-the-Morning to have a philosophical conversation about life. Look how tiny Sienna was!

Now that the fall weather is upon us again, I think it's time for us to schedule a weekly date with Northern Exposure and go for a drive to see the leaves changing in Roslyn.

Maybe next summer we'll make it to Moosefest ...