Our house but not our house

Today we visited a home, the same model as ours, that is just about finished. This is the same home we first walked through when it was barely just a frame. It's amazing how fast these babies go up! These people chose some interesting paint colors and pretty much everything besides the layout (mostly) will differ. 

Living/Dining/Kitchen

Nice size legdes, perfect for a plant

Master bath

Chris in his "office"

Me pointing out that we need a non-slamming toilet seat

Yay!

We are trying to decide on outside color schemes, what do you think of these two?

MT - Day 24

Another early morning run under my belt. 4 miles,


Mile 1 - 10:06
Mile 2 - 10:20
Mile 3 - 10:19
Mile 4 - 9:56
Mile 5 - 10:17 


Total time 40:43


This mornings' run was a little different, the street critters of Lansing were out and hot. First there was the skunk couple who gave me the stink eye (pun intended!), even as I crossed the street to get out of their way. If that doesn't make you run faster, I don't know what will. Oh, well maybe almost getting attacked by a momma raccoon. Yes, it almost happened. I heard a little rattling near a tree and figured it was a squirrel or chipmunk, you know a normal outside animal. Then I see it's glowing eyes crawling up the tree, a baby raccoon. Baby wasn't so scary but then I looked down and saw momma ready to pounce and scratch my eyes out. I thought then and there being attacked by a raccoon would be my karma for all the making-fun-of-Chris I have done, for him having to get rabies shots as a kid (from a dog bite, it's still kind of funny though). My speedy legs got me out safe and sound though! I saw a ton of cute bunnies that were obviously annoyed I was interrupting their quiet time. Let's see, what else... Oh, the 100+ lb dog that was in his front yard on a little, teeny, tiny lead that came charging at me. Luckily, my dog whisper skills put him at ease and I again escaped rabies shots. WINNING!

Geez, what should I expect from the country running I will soon be faced with? Cows and horses? Hopefully they don't attack.
Disclaimer: Dimondale is technically a village, therefore in my book it qualifies as country.

I also tried out my new handheld water bottle.

Pretty spiffy

It will definitely take some getting used to. My hands are so little that holding anything feels intrusive. I drank the entire bottle however so it I was happy I had it.

On the home front

The hole for the basement is expected to start being dug this week! Eek! I can't believe it's happening. Chris and I drove by the lot the other night just to check things out. Here is where our future home will lie...

We're on the corner of...

To our left...

And to our right...

We couldn't be anymore excited!

MT - Day 23

Today I am scheduled to run 3.

As of late, I have had a hard time finding the motivation to run. For me it's always easier to run in the a.m. but being to work by 7 a.m. doesn't allow for too much free morning time. Well last night I made sure to be in bed by 9:30 a.m. and set my alarm for 4:35 a.m.! No, that is not a typo.

I set out all my running gear (shorts, sports bra, T, garmin, headband, hair-tie, socks, shoes) the night before so I wouldn't fret and give up when it took me more than 60 seconds to find it in the morning. I was on the road by 4:50.

I ran sans music, for safety reasons and it felt very peaceful. Just me and the beat of my own breaths.

I ended up running 3.65 and it took me about 37 minutes.

I love morning runs. They are the best start to my day and I now have my entire afternoon free. Yay!

"Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs.  Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger.  If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves." ~Dale Carnegie    (my marathon plan in a nutshell)

MT - Day 18, 19, & 20

This week I was scheduled to run 5 for my long run. Because this weekend was pretty jam-packed I decided to run these on Friday. My next week long run calls for 9, so even though my training schedule only called for 5, I hoped to run 7. I started around 11:00 a.m. and just wasn't feeling it, at all. My left calf was really sore and pretty painful throughout the entire run. I ended up running 5.75 in about an hour and called it a day. 


I took Saturday and Sunday off, and hopefully todays' run will be better. My plan throughout this training is to listen to my body first and foremost. I don't want training to consume my world and want to avoid injuries at all costs. I'm trying not to work myself up about taking a few days off, but mentally it's pretty hard. 


Onto fun stuff. This weekend was a lot of fun. I got to spend time with people that mean a lot to me, and got to know a couple others that I foresee being dear friends. 


It started Friday night with a little birthday celebration. Deej is 36!

"Happy burthday Uncle Deej! Can I have your cake?"

Saturday we rose bright and early because Chris and I were in a golf scramble. It was us two and a sergeant and his wife from Eaton County, benefiting a retired East Lansing police officer who recently passed away from cancer. 

I have been to the driving range twice so needless to say I wasn't great. The boys were very gracious though and applauded my efforts. We even used two of my balls. 

The boys stretching it out

Merrells rock!

I'm no pro but I'm pretty sure this isn't proper golf course ettiquette

We had a blast and I even won a prize during dinner, 2 18 rounds of golf...not too shabby. 

Sunday was Father's Day so again we rose bright and early. We had a wonderful breakfast here in Lansing with Vic & Sher, then headed to GR to see my dad. I also got the spend time with the Gabs, which is always a win. 

naked baby!

playing aunt Nancy

High-five uncle Chris!

"This is my uncle Chris, he's cool..."

That my friends, in my book is a perfect weekend.

House update

We met with Scott, our builder, Monday afternoon. Before we met, Scott had obtained the driveway and soil erosion permits. He was applying for the building permit today and expects to have that in one week. During our meeting we made some key decisions, like which side our driveway will be on, types of windows, and some changes we are making to the floor plan. 


During the next few weeks we are to meet with the different contractors to select cabinets, counter tops,  flooring, paint, siding and roof color, etc. 


We are getting a stone fireplace, and planned on it being floor to ceiling in the front corner of the living room. Scott suggested we opt for a center set fireplace and that we walk through an in-the-works model that has one. 


Chris, Brett, and I did that today and here is what we saw. 

We like this idea with a built-in on each side. One side will have a cut-out space for our t.v. and the other will have some cabinets. Those small windows will then be centered above said built-ins. 


Scott sent us home with floor plans that we can mess around with and see if we want to make any changes. This is what we're working with.

It's a lot harder than you would think looking at these floor plans, trying to visualize the house as we would need it. We sold pretty much all our furniture so we're planning around prospective furniture at this point. Per Scott, nothing is final FINAL and changes can be made throughout the building process but the sooner the better. We have about three weeks before the frame goes up, by then we should know how many windows and all their placements and all room dimensions. 


With all the pressures of planning, Chris and I took a break at the driving range this afternoon. 

Action shot
(All photos courtesy of Chris, he wanted this in here)

We actually are in a scramble Saturday and this is my second time at the driving range EVER so this should be interesting. I figure how can you go wrong with good friends, good scenery, good beer, and pink golf clubs? I'll let you know Saturday. 

MT - Day 13

Yesterday I was scheduled to run 7, my long run of week 2. My left calf was still feeling a little tight from the speed work I did Wednesday so I postponed that run to today. I have been icing it the last few days without much success. Before I started training I was having some foot/ankle issues in my left foot anyway. I went and got it checked out and I have some soft tissue damage from some bones near my toes working too hard, stressing out, and inflaming <----- I should've been a doctor. He gave me some stretches to do 3x a day, every day. I have done those stretches zero times a day, every day. Until today. 


Before I hit mile 1 my calf start killing me and it never relented. It was tight the whole run and now I am limping. The entire time I kept repeating mantras, like "pain is fear leaving the body". I'm not even sure if that is how it goes but it sounded good and worked for me. Well once I got home I did my normal stretches and immediately did the doctor suggested ones, and took some pics for your viewing pleasure. 

Some kind of hip-flexor stretch...felt really good

The next was a foot exercise where you ball up some tissue

Pick it up with your toes 

And bring it up to your opposite hand

I did 20 of these. It doesn't seem like it would do much but holy hurt it did. My hips and foot felt so stretched afterwards. I think I will start doing these as recommended. 

I might also check out "The Stick" to help with some calf relief and wear my Zensah calf sleeves the next few days. 

When my parents and God were in the planning stages I don't think they ever intended on me being a runner, hence my flintstone flat feet and big boobs but with the help of the billion dollar running industry (not sure if it's billion, I just made that up) I am pushing through. It's kind of ironic that I really need all this stuff because it is the one thing that kind of makes me hate running. I hate seeing people decked out in full fledged running gear just to have "the look" when they can't even run a mile. It drives me nuts how expensive all this stuff is and how people have to pay to join running groups. It's stupid. It is. I obviously buy this stuff because a lot of it does work, but it doesn't mean I can't complain about it. Ok, I think I am done venting now. 

My splits were:

mile 1 - 9:42

mile 2 - 9:28

mile 3 - 9:40

mile 4 - 10:01

mile 5 - 10:03

mile 6  - 9:59

mile 7 - 9:31

Total time 1:08:24, Average Pace 9:46

Off to enjoy my Sunday! Enjoy yours as well!

Uh-Oh

Chris' parents are pretty easy to get along with, in general. They are great to our dogs and are awesome for allowing us to stay here. Normally, our little foursome is decently well behaved and thus make the cohabitation a pretty smooth happening. 


Well yesterday wasn't such a great day for my little family. There was even a "your days are limited here" from Big Vic...pretty sure he was joking, I think. 


It all started Thursday night. 


Vic, Sher, Chris, and I decide to head to the casino in Battle Creek. Before we leave, we have to situate the cars. As the garage door is closing I pull my car up the driveway and I heard what sounded like Vic screaming, "STOP, STOP". It was Vic screaming, "STOP, STOP". As I am looking around to try and figure out why Vic is screaming I hit the garage door and we both come to a halting stop. I un-hook my car and start to reverse. Vic gets out of the caddy and shoots me a look of disappointment/WHY THE HELL DID YOU JUST HIT MY GARAGE DOOR? I get out, immediately apologize, and pound my Nissan emblem back into the grill. The door is mostly fine, it doesn't look like a car hit it, it just doesn't look completely right. So that was Thursday. 


Then there was Friday. 


Mid-day Vic is out running errands, Chris and I head out for maybe an hour, and Sher is at work. We separate the dogs, little upstairs and big on main level. When Vic came home he "supposedly" walked in to a destroyed plastic bread bag in Tito's mouth. 

Pre-Tito

Now normally I feel everyone is quick to blame my dogs. Like, sure, why not "blame the big dog" and yes, he might have a history of behaving this way and may have done this exact same thing in the past but I guess when the dogs are separated and T still has the evidence in his mouth, it's hard to think otherwise. That was incident numero uno. 

Numero Dos. 

Sometimes when loading the dishwasher, Tito likes to help. 

Isn't he cute?

Somehow his collar got caught, he jerked away, and out came flying the bottom dishwasher tray. Silverware flying, a glass broke, and poor T couldn't get outta there quick enough. The tray landed under the table, a good 5 ft. away. Poor T felt bad as grandpa came storming up yelling "What happened?". This is when we were told our days were limited. 

On a happy note we meet with our builder Monday afternoon to hopefully get this ball rolling. Chris has driven by the lot while on duty and the for sale sign has been taken down and utility flags are up. At this point I will take any kind of progress I can get. 

MT - day 10

3 miles at the Y

.50 mile warmup @ 5.5 mph (10:54)
.50 mile @ 7.2 mph (8:20)
.25 mile @ 6.2 mph (9:40)
.50 mile @ 7.2 mph (8:20)
.50 mile @ 6.2 mph (9:40)
.25 mile @ 7.2 mph (8.20)
.50 mile cool down @ 5.5 mph (10:54)

= 3 miles, total time 29 minutes

MT - day 9

The other day when I said it was the hottest day of the year, I lied. That was today...HOLY HEAT! The training plan called for 3, seemed simple enough. Well when the temp is still 80-something and the heat index is in the 90's it is not so simple. 


Jes and I ran together :) Headed out the door around 8:30, we figured at this time it would be cooler. We were wrong. This run was hard from the get. We both started feeling super sluggish, carrying our 'food babies'. You know, when you feel so full like you have a little food baby in your belly. 


Breaks were definitely welcomed. We even managed to get in a little photo shoot...

What? This is totally normal, right?!

Some other picture worthy finds:

Screams summer time, no?

My legs felt heavy and time-wise this run felt really slow. But when we finished and I took a look at the garmin, we weren't too far off. 

Normally after a run like this one, I would feel disappointment. Disappointed in the fact that I could of done better, that I didn't push myself hard enough. Tonight when I got home though, I saw these guys

Snaggletooth face

They were so excited to see me and it just reminded me of the things that really matter. Running is important to me, but not as important as they are or Chris, or my family, or friends, or my health. Running is a gift - every run, good or bad. So tonight, instead of disappointment I feel thankful. Some runs are better than others but any run is better than no run and for that I am thankful.

Be not afraid of going slowly; be afraid only of standing still.  -Chinese Proverb