Thursday, February 26, 2009

OSU Weekend



Chris and I at the Airport



Our rental car...of course we had to upgrade to the sporty one!



Buckeyes that were in our welcome goody bag



Chris sporting his new duds (purchased just for this event)

Just a few pictures from our trip to OSU last weekend. Chris was being “courted” by Fisher College of Business so they flew him to Ohio and put us up in The Blackwell for a couple of nights. He was pretty busy but I had plenty of time to see family while in town. We did a couple of other things exciting things….but aren’t ready to post about it yet!

1/2 Marathon Shoes


These are the shoes I trained and ran the ½ marathon in…they used to be white. I’m retiring them for a new pair this week. I get sentimental getting new running shoes; we spend a lot of time together! I still have my marathon shoes from 2007, I don’t wear them because they hurt but I don’t want to throw them away.

A little surprise

When Chris and I returned from Ohio, we had this waiting in the mail for us!



While home for Christmas, I wanted to learn to knit and Grandma offered to teach me, except she was a little rusty! As you can see, her skills are back! She used to make hats and slippers for my dad and his brothers when they were young and they still talk about it. Now we have one of our own! Thanks Grandma!

Bad dogs

While Chris and I were in Ohio over the weekend, our friends Caitlin and Brian watched Max. They were returning the favor since I watched their dog Bruno a couple of weeks ago (see post). I was mortified when I spoke to Caitlin on Sunday about what the boys were up to! Apparently Max was marking his territory by peeing on all of her indoor plants (real and fake). Of course since Max did it, then Bruno had to go around and do it…except he did one better by lifting his little leg and peeing on Caitlin! Let’s be clear, both dogs are potty trained so they know better. She said they did have their cute moments when they would both crawl into Max’s kennel to nap together but they were bad, bad boys!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Myrtle Beach Weekend










Friday around 5pm, Chris and I left for Myrtle Beach, SC for my ½ marathon on Saturday. We left Max at the boarders for the first time ever; I hope he liked it there because he will be staying next weekend too. The girls at the pet resort said Max was spoiled because a couple of them just love Daschunds. After a few directional issues (our condo was in Myrtle Beach, not North Myrtle Beach) we arrived. Our friends Caitlin (cheering squad), Brian (cheering squad), Lea (running the ½ marathon) and Erica (running the full marathon) appeared shortly after us. We made dinner and had an early bedtime because of our early alarms. On Saturday, we got up at 5am to get ready for the race’s 6:30am start time. Luckily for us, it was not raining! Rain was forecasted for the morning but thankfully it held off until 10am. I put on running pants, a long sleeved dryfit top, my Brooks running shoes and a waterproof jacket. After having a protein shake, grabbing my i-pod, Cliff Blocks and Burt’s Bees I was ready to go. As I was stretching out in the living room, our cheering squad came out…wearing hot pink and green shirts! They looked awesome and were easy to spot in the crowd! Chris and Caitlin dropped off Lea, Erica and I at the start line and wished us well. We all started together and ran the first 6 miles together until Erica and I decided to stop for a potty break…we waited in line for 4 minutes. It took us two miles to catch up to Lea and then she decided to slow down so I said I would meet her at the finish line. Erica and I ran around a 10 minute mile until it was time to split up at mile 13 where I entered the finishing corrals and she had another 13.1 to go! It was nice to run with someone who had the same pace and we enjoyed chatting along the course. My time ended up around 2:07 after taking some time out for the bathroom break. Lea finished about 10-15 minutes after me and Erica finished the whole marathon around 4:20. It started raining on Erica at mile 18 and she ran the last 8 miles in the rain. After we got back to the condo, it was time to celebrate race completion with our expanded cheering squad since three more couples joined us!

Later that evening, we went to Bonefish Grill for our Valentines dinner with our group of 14. We shared the BangBang Shrimp and Calamari appetizers. Chris got the Filet and I ordered the grilled Atlantic salmon in lemon butter sauce with asparagus. Chris and I sat across from Patton and Christie and enjoyed getting to know them since it was the first time that we’ve met Patton (he’s in Special Forces training and is gone a lot). The food, drinks and company were awesome. Even our server was great, he gave all of the ladies Lindt 70% dark chocolate bars when we left. After dinner, all of the runners went back to the condo and the rest of the group went to a piano bar. Erica and I enjoyed soaking our muscles in the hot tub when we came back.

On Sunday, after checking out of the hotel, Chris and I drove up to Wilmington to find him a suit for his OSU interview on Friday and as he put it “spent a bunch of money”. Even with the Buy One Get One Free suits at the Men’s Warehouse it was still pricey but Chris did get a couple of great suits and everything else needed to wow the interviewer! He got a charcoal suit with white shirt and blue striped tie (traditional) and a blue patterned suit with a blue/white striped shirt and a red tie. We got home around 7pm, unloaded the Jeep and unpacked. All in all, a great weekend with great friends! I’m taking the week off from running (I think I strained a muscle in my right arch) and then start training for the Commit to Be Fit ½ Marathon in Columbus with Danielle!

Our weekend guest






A couple of weekends ago I offered to watch Bruno, my friend Caitlin’s adorable Jack Russell Terrier (or shall I say terror). Caitlin and Brian dropped him off while I was at work on Friday so they could visit family for the weekend. When I got home, he and Max had chewed up a basket that held magazines and Max had thrown up the wicker he ingested, nice. I took both boys for a walk on their retractable leashes to get some of the energy out. It took a little while to get used to two dogs going in opposite directions! On our way back home, my upstairs neighbor, Adam, stopped me to ask if everything was okay because he heard a lot of barking which is unusual because Max barks very infrequently. I said everything was fine and apologized for having to listen to 4 straight hours of barking. When I got ready for bed, I tried to get Bruno to lie down but he was insistent on barking at what ever was outside our door…from 11:30 to 12:30. At this point, I felt even worse for Adam! On Saturday, Bruno and Max played together most of the day and thankfully he went to sleep peacefully that night. I did find him barking at the door when I came back from my run in the afternoon. Sunday I decided to take both of them to the Wrightsville Beach in Wilmington for the day. My friend Lea met me there so I had someone to help me with the dogs. On the way to the beach, I looked in the rearview mirror and Bruno was standing on the top of the backseat! I had to turn on the child safety locks on the widows because he kept placing his paw on the button to roll down the window and I was worried that he would jump out. We walked them up and down the beach a couple of times and they enjoyed meeting all the other dogs and people. Neither one of them liked the water or even got close enough to it to get wet. When Lea and I laid out beach towels and tied the dogs to her beach chair, Bruno would try to lie on my towel every time I got up. After the fourth time of me picking him up and moving him off, he had enough. As I was lying down, he turned around and with both back legs started kicking sand all over me! Lea and I burst out laughing! Luckily, both dogs were worn out by the time we headed back home. As much as I enjoy dogs, I don’t think I’ll be dog sitting again (at least not in the apartment, maybe when we have a yard)! I’m also thankful that Chris was gone; I don’t think he would have put up with Bruno very well!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

25 Things

I wrote this for Facebook but thought I would share it here as well!

So here it is! My list of 25 things:
1. Family and friends are the most important thing in the world to me.
2. Our dog Max is our “child” until we have real ones. That means he stays in the house, gets to stay at the pet resort when we are out of town, sleep on the couch while we are working and we talk about him like he’s part of our family.
3. On an average Sunday we go to church, Stabucks and to buy groceries…in that order.
4. Both Chris and I listen to NPR as our primary radio station in the car. His favorite program is Car Talk (those guys are hilarious).
5. Even though my husband is in the Army and gets up notoriously early, I get up about 15-20 minutes earlier than him on weekdays to hit the gym before work.
6. I have ran one marathon, several ½ marathons and 100’s of miles but don’t consider myself a runner (I have no idea why not).
7. I have a list of 100 things to do before I die. I started it when I was 15 or 16 and add to it as I go. Items on the list range from having children to traveling to learning how to knit.
8. Chris once asked me to sew him a pair of American Eagle style khakis and I laughed at him. It doesn’t matter how great of a seamstress I am, I’m never going to be able to re-create their distressed look.
9. I’m guessing that having kids is like having pets, once you have one and you’re taking walks, feeding them, going to the vet one more doesn’t seem to matter, you’re doing the work already so why not have one more. (yes, we are considering getting another dog)
10. I get tired of the Army interfering with our life plans but it reminds me that I’m not supposed to be in charge and sometimes I need to sit back and let God handle things.
11. Chris and I have been married for 27 months. He has been gone for about 17 of those months doing Army stuff.
12. I love post-it notes and note pads in general!
13. I grew up Catholic and even though I don’t go to church as much as I should, I know that it will always be there when I need it. I like that I can go to church pretty much anywhere in the world and the rituals are the same.
14. Even though I don’t eat left-over’s, I hate throwing food away because it is wasteful. It’s a good thing that Chris will eat anything.
15. I am currently enrolled in my first graduate level course to earn my MBA. It’s going to take me a long time if I only take one class at a time.
16. I had a great time in high school and college, I will never forget the memories but I don’t want to do it all over again. I believe that life is about moving forward.
17. I could (and probably do) eat chocolate every single day. I love it.
18. According to my husband, I’m a violent sleeper. He says I am constantly moving around and working to get comfortable.
19. As much as I love to shop (my college degree is in retail merchandising), I rarely pay full price for things. It is so much more satisfying buying on sale.
20. Board games with friends and wine is a great way to spend an evening. Catch phrase anyone?
21. I never carry cash but always have a credit and debit card with me. I find I spend less money this way.
22. One of my favorite hobbies is traveling. I’ve been to France, England, Scotland, Wales, Japan and Canada.
23. I’ve lived in both New York City and London. After 5 months, I knew NYC wasn’t for me. I would move back to London if I could get Chris to go with me.
24. My current kitchen is too small to hold all of my cooking utensils/tools, appliances and china so it is stored in our office area, laundry room and guest room closet. We’ll need a much bigger kitchen in the next place!
25. It’s time to stop procrastinating with this list and study for my exam next week!

Friday, February 6, 2009

Whirley Pop!





Chris and I joke that while he's in the field instead of making dinner I just eat popcorn and apples with peanut butter. Before he left, he ordered me a Whirley Pop so I don't have to use a pan anymore! I am a firm believer that stove made popcorn is way better than microwave. Since Chris has been gone, I've made popcorn 3 times. (Also, photo of Max in the box that the Whirley Pop shipped in and a photo of Chris pre-field).

It's all about Max






So when Chris isn't around, I have a lot of time to focus on Max. He had a busy weekend of play dates, playing fetch outside (as you can see, he's more interested in the pine cone than bringing the ball back) and enjoying laying in the sun!