Ups and Downs

This week had some some big high moments, but also some lower ones. We were saddened to learn of the passing of Ryan's uncle Monte. His family is in our thoughts and prayers. We are grateful for eternal families and hope that they can be comforted to know that they will be together again.

On Monday, I picked up the paperwork for Keira to start Kindergarten! I can't believe where the time has gone. We are going to go ahead and get her signed up here, just in case. Other than that, we didn't do a ton today. I swam while Keira was in school, and Ryan worked on getting some Sufferest videos downloaded for indoor cycling. I did the workout portion of one called Revolver, using my own music and watch to do the intervals, as well as my own warm-up/cool-down, and it was TOUGH!


On Tuesday, I decided to skip the Tread and Track class that I had been doing at the gym. I made sure to get there after it had started, just because I felt bad that I wasn't doing it because I feel like it isn't meeting my training needs anymore. The past couple times I did it, there was not enough sprinting and running, and a lot of strength training. Strength training is good, but I wasn't getting my miles down and it was making me too sore to do them well when I had the chance. We ran completely out of milk today for Soren, and one of the highlights of the kids' day today was getting to ride in the "car cart" at Busch's. They have recently started a program where one item each day of the week is on sale insanely cheap and you can buy one of them with no minimum purchase. Unfortunately, it was not super cheap milk day, that is Thursday. When we got back, Soren was in heaven because there was a digger in front of our house, scooping snow into dump truck. I don't think it gets much better for him, AND we got our snow removed too.





On Wednesday, Cristina met up with me at the gym while Keira was at school. I have several 1 month free passes to my gym, so I was able to get her set up with one. We spun for about 30 minutes before the Bike Run Brick class started, so we got an hour of spinning plus about 30 minutes of sprinting and running. It was a great class, and really fun to have Cristina there too. I felt like she really pushed me on the sprints to stay ahead (even though I had a head start). That afternoon Michelle and Amber stopped by for visiting teaching, and then Nana stopped by for a quick visit. I kept Soren up to see her, so he had a nice long nap.

On Thursday, we started the day with Kindermusik. Keira is always excited when she can go. Keira and Soren both enjoyed the class. I hope that we are able to find something like this in Louisville that is free. We may only get to do one or two more of these with Miss Karen!





That afternoon, Keira and Soren played "cats" with each other, and spent a lot of time crawling around on the floor and under tables. It is great when they are getting along.


I also called REI today to check on some sale items that I thought would be going on sale on Friday. I was surprised that they had already made the markdowns and they had the items I wanted, and put them on hold for me. Once the kids went to bed, I ran out to get my things. I have tried this jacket on so many times, and it finally got marked down low enough to get it (since I have a perfectly fine ski coat already, and an XS is pushing it a bit). I also got a coat for Soren, and price adjustments on the snow gear we got last weekend for Keira, as well as some tights we got her for our ski trip. It was a great shopping experience!



On Friday, we had a busy day. Ryan volunteered at Penrickton with BCE, so he had a later start than normal. While Keira was at school, I swam and took Soren to the library. He just loves storytime, and the parachute was a highlight of today.




That evening, we went out to Ann Arbor for haircuts for the guys. Soren did great, and actually sat in the chair on his own today. He always looks so much older with shorter hair.



After haircuts, we headed over to Two Wheel Tango so Ryan could check out the Trek Speed 7 concept on sale in my size with me. It was on sale, in stock, and the Trek prices had already gone up on their website, but this one was purchased before that happened, and they would honor their price until Tuesday. We didn't put a deposit down tonight, but I really wanted to. Then, we got Chipotle for dinner. Yes, my diet has loosened up a bit, but I am thinking after Valentine's Day, it will need to get tightened back up again.

Saturday was a great day. Ryan went to the church for cleaning and then rode indoors. I called up TWT and put a deposit down on the bike. I have a week or so to change my mind, but I at least locked in that price. After making that call, I took Keira and Soren to the library to make Valentines. They had a good time with the stickers and stamps, and further embellished them once we got home.









Once Ryan got home, I met up with Cristina for a 20 mile run. Finally, we had a great day for running! It was in the 30s, there was no fresh snow, and the pavement was pretty much dry! We kept a great pace (8:46min/mile), and finished our 20 miles faster than we did our 19 the week before by a lot. I was pretty exhausted and starving by the time I got home. We are back to our pizza Saturday nights again, which is nice. The kids love it too, and they eat well. Keira also worked on her Valentines for church and school.

Sunday was a fairly restful morning. Ryan and I were planning on subbing in nursery and I had wanted to make cupcakes for us, as well as something for Ryan to take to work on Monday. I got ours done, but couldn't decide what to do for Ryan to take to work right away, since I would have a ton of icing left over from ours. We went to church, and it was Ward Conference, so Kris was there. Linda had already flown out to Utah for Monte's funeral, so we invited him over for dinner. Keira and Soren were very excited to hang out with Papa.





After dinner, I decided to just make more cupcakes for Ryan to take to work. They looked like Pinkalicious cupcakes to me, but Keira said they were missing the cherries and other fruits on top. After tonights cupcake making (and tasting), I am going to have to get back to the diet soon!



Here are Keira's art projects from the week:



Up for next week, we have Valentine's day and Keira has been invited to THREE birthday parties in the same week! We will be pretty busy with our party girl. Thankfully, today is a step down week in my running mileage, so I can give my body a bit of rest and have time to get her where she needs to be. Thankfully, Soren can go to 2 of them, so it won't be too tricky for me to manage.

Snowtorious B.I.G

These week was filled with lots of snow, some forecasted, and some rather unexpected. The meteorologists had been forecasting this crazy huge snowstorm to hit us on Wednesday, and we got a decent amount of snow, but no where near what was predicted. Then on Saturday, we got a surprise snowstorm that dumped on me while I ran.

On Monday, Keira went to school and I went to the gym. I debated on doing the responsible thing, and hitting Meijer while Keira was at school, but opted to go to the mall instead to do a return. I am really glad I made this decision. Apparently, everyone decided to hit the grocery stores today, and they were all pretty much insane from everyone stocking up for the "snowmaggedon" that was forecastes. I figured I still had Tuesday to shop, but it would probably be nuts then. Soren had fun playing at the mall.




Keira made this really cool mosaic picture today. She really loves cutting and gluing paper to other paper, and most of her at home projects are of this type, so this project was right up her alley. In fact, hers had the most paper pieces stuck on it by far.


On Tuesday, we went to the gym for my tread and track class. This might be my last week of doing this class. It is early so we have to rush around yet another morning, and it hasn't been as much track as it has been just other strength. I know I need strength training, but it has left me so sore the past two weeks that it has really detracted from the rest of my training. I was really worried about my two longer runs due to this soreness. After the gym, we went to Meijer, which was practically empty. I couldn't believe it. Apparently, everyone had gone to the store yesterday. We spent the rest of the day in anticipation of the snow.


It was supposed to come around 3pm to Canton. Around dinner, schools started to call off for tomorrow, but we still had no snow. Finally, after the kids were in bed, it started snowing, and Novi called school off for tomorrow. I think they were one of the last ones to call off.

Wednesday morning, we woke up to quite a bit of snow. It was groundhog day, and they are actually predicting an early spring. I hope so. Ryan went into work, as Ford does not call off for snow. Sometimes a supervisor will send you home early or let you code it as a special day off, but things always run. We hung out in our pjs for a while and had a pancake breakfast (buckwheat for me). We played in the house for a while. Keira and Soren set up blankets like towels in the living room and played "beach". I thought it was pretty funny they chose that on a snow day.

Laying out and pretending to swim:






Once the snow stopped coming down, we got bundled up to go outside for a bit. It was pretty cold, so we didn't stay outside too long.










Ryan came home fairly early this afternoon, and we just continued to hang out around the house. It was nice to have a day where I didn't need to do anything with the kids and we were all healthy enough to enjoy it. I was super sore today from my class, and actually welcomed the snow day as an excuse to do nothing. I had thought about a trainer ride, but didn't want to push it too hard.

On Thursday, it was back to normal. It was pretty much like nothing had happened. We didn't get any additional snow over the night and the streets had all be cleared. We hit the gym for my long midweek run of 7 miles. I warmed up and did the run just fine, and was actually less sore afterwards than before. We went to Target to get our Valentines Day supplies for Keira and Soren to take to school and church. They had fun picking them out. I also got Soren and Keira each a different hot wheels mustang. They loved them, and it was so much cheaper than a trip to McDonald's and even more happiness. I also started digging out the Valentine's decorations for our house.


On Friday, I really debated on doing a long swim while Keira was at school. I was hesitant since it made me more tired for my run on Saturday, but with Wed being an extra rest day, I felt like I had to at least do something. I did some swim drills, which I need to get back to doing more often. Hopefully once I start really running on Tuesdays instead of going to class, it can free up some time and energy to get a third swim in again each week. I also took Soren to storytime. We ended up checking out books that we already have at home. We found the Freight Train book and Soren just wouldn't put it down, and a picture book that we purchased in Germany, but this was the English version. It was funny to compare them. There were only a few differences in the covers, due to the fact that German book had more characters on the cover with fewer pictures.






We had Valerie, Katie, and Luke over after school. Keira and Soren were so happy to have them come over to play. They couldn't play long, but it was a nice time. That evening, we went out to Noodles as a family and then to REI.

On Saturday, Ryan was back to staffing the church cleaning. He went to get everyone started at church and then went to his indoor trainer ride. Kent found these new cycling DVDs called Sufferfest, which he was able to purchase and download online. They are tough workouts, and they did more than one. While Ryan was gone, I headed out to Ann Arbor with the kids to pick up some snowpants on sale for Keira for next year, to match a coat we got for her at our REI. After that, since I was all the way out in Ann Arbor, I stopped by Two Wheel Tango to look at tri bikes. They actually had a black and pink women's Trek in size XS. It is such a pretty bike. Ryan was a bit bummed that we went without him, but I knew with a 19 miler on the plate for me, there would not be much time to do that afterwards.






Cristina had called me on Friday asking me if I wanted some company for today's 19 mile run, and I was so excited to have her run with me. It is great to have company and she will not let herself or me stop until we have reached our goal mileage. We planned to meet up at 2, and it was snowing lightly when we got back from Ann Arbor. It continued to snow lightly while I got ready and waited for Ryan to get home. The roads between our house and the freeway were pretty slick and slow, and I was a bit worried about the run. At Kensington, it was snowing pretty good when we got there. We got started, and it was snowing for the first several miles and then stopped. We ran just under 6 before we got to the far bathroom, and then we figured we would turn around at the halfway point (which we forgot we were doing 17 and turned around at 8.5 instead of 9.5) and go back, so that we wouldn't have to get back to the car and do a huge amount. When we got back to the far bathroom for the second time, we came out to massive snowflakes falling fast. Due to our miscalculation, we still had around 7 miles to go, instead of just 6 (we realized it and were able to tack on a little extra running through a parking lot and back). We really had no choice but to run back to the parking lot where the cars were. Once we got back, we only had about a mile to go, and that went fairly quickly. It wasn't fast, but we got the mileage in. It was very beautiful running in the snow, and it wasn't terribly cold. The sun was just starting to set as we were leaving. Ryan called, concerned about the drive home. I completely hadn't thought about that. Thankfully, there was not as much snow out where we were as at home, and it wasn't until I was almost home until the driving got bad. Our street had already been plowed, but not our court. My car had a rough time getting from the mailboxes and into a spot due to all the snow. Ryan took his truck out to get some pizza. It doesn't fit with my diet, but I do get a cheat day, and after my long run, I felt like I deserved it. Keira had been complaining that we hadn't had pizza in a long time, so she was happy, and Soren ended up eating a full piece and a half. Needless to say, we don't have hardly any left over, so that is a good thing for my diet.

Here is the car covered with accumlated snow during the run. We ran through a bit more, as there was some snow on the ground when we started.

Pretty views of Kensington in the snow:



On Sunday, we had a relaxing morning. I was still very tired from my run yesterday. Ryan's friend, David, was in town visiting with his family, so it was great to see them at church. They worked on hashing out their century ride schedule for the summer. With Ryan, Kent, and David in different cities, they were trying to plan rides in many locations. After church, we went to Kris and Linda's house for dinner. We hadn't gotten together for a while, so it was nice to hang out. Linda had Valentine gifts for Keira and Soren. Keira was very excited about her new dress, and Soren couldn't get enough M&Ms.





Up for next week, we have more of the same. I am really hoping to have a long run with better weather!