I came across a new blog today and wanted to repost this video. This montage was created by a mother who is watching her son lose his battle with Cystic Fibrosis and while I've never posted a video before, this one made my heart hurt. A dear friend of mine has lived with CF for 31 years and I hope and pray that a cure will be found. A portion of the money raised in our half marathon relay this coming weekend is going to CF research. It is a cause that is close to my heart and as I run, I will be thinking of Connor and all the other children and adults who are fighting their own battles with this vicious disease. You can read about Connor and his family at notsobrightandshiny.blogspot.com

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Running half of a half marathon

The girl with 6 knee dislocations, who successfully got out of running throughout junior high and high school with the same sixth grade doctor's note, is running a half marathon relay this coming weekend. I know, I'm shocked too!

I have been so inspired by friends who have run marathons and as an adult, have dreamed about being a part of one. Marathon Day in NYC was one of my favorite events because the participants are courageous and strong, both mentally and physically. They truly astound me. The energy in the city is electric, the crowd is cheering for people they will never meet and you feel as though you can feel every footstep.

Last year when I was thinking about my goals for 2010, I decided I wanted to go for a half marathon. I was in relatively good shape and was looking for a way to change up the boredom of going to the gym. I wanted to make and stick to weekly training goals. It wasn't as much about the race itself, more about working consistently to complete the steps to get me to that point. Once I started training, I became nervous that I didn't have it in me to physically complete the distance. I am not a natural runner and I was having a hard time getting past 4 miles.

We settled on the race in Middlebury, Vt. When we signed up, Tim and I decided to do the relay and split the 13 miles. I felt that 7 miles would be a better distance to start with, so that's the plan.

Now that it's this coming weekend, I'm starting to get nervous. I know that physically, I'm prepared. I know what time I'm shooting for and I know that I need to focus and not let my mind talk me out of running. My mind likes to yell at me that I'm tired and my knee hurts and I couldn't possibly run another step. My 12 weeks of training tells me otherwise. I have been doing the mileage and the cross training and more importantly, feeling good doing it. My runs have become a time to let my mind roam and de-stress and not have to think about anything. It's freedom and sun and confidence. I feel strong, both physically and mentally.

So my goal for this race is simply to finish and have fun. I want to enjoy my time on the course and finish it strong. I want to enjoy the spring flowers in this town in Vermont. I want to hear the crowds cheering me on and maybe I'll be able to inspire someone else. I want to finish. That's it. That's the goal.

I'll be back next week with a recap. Wish me luck!

Spring means projects.

Two weeks ago, I pulled on a small section of our wallpapered entryway. I just wanted to see how easily it would come off. It turns out that it came off really easily. Great right? Well, I fixed this minor (!) hole in the drywall and primed everything. Unfortunately, I also found a section of drywall that had been rotted through, so my small project became a big one.

Armed with the knowledge and a spare piece of drywall from my work friend Mark, I attacked the rot this weekend. Yep, that's right, I drywalled. (Is that a word?!)This is the wall in the middle of scraping off the wallpaper paste. Dif gel was recommended to me and was a lifesaver in getting off the crap left behind after I peeled off all of the paper.

This was after I primed and before I found the rot.

Rut Roh. As much as I just wanted to paint over it, Mark advised me not to. So you can see in the below photo, I pried out all of the rotted drywall and was left with a blank canvas. Of sorts.


I cut the correct size to fit the empty space. I used a nifty exacto knife that I picked up during my second trip to the local hardware store. I forgot it on the first trip when I bought the drywall tape.

I nailed on the drywall, joint compounded, taped and joint compounded again. When I got up this morning, I sanded a bit and re joint compounded. The pink makes it very clear to someone like me when the goop is dry. Below, it is wet. By the way, none of the terms in this post are actual technical jargon. I have a long way to go before anyone mistakes me for Bob Vila.

While I was trying not to get the goop all over the place, Tim finally got the lawnmower working! We worked for a few hours yesterday in the yard, raking leaves and cleaning up the winter's casualties. Today, he attacked the lawnmower with some brand new oil and after a few minutes of cursing he was off and running.

After the lawn was chopped in half, we played with lawn nutrients that we bought at Lowes. It's in remarkably good shape for being covered in snow for four months.

It was a very successful weekend and we checked a few things off of the Excel Master House Spreadsheet.

More fun to come. With any luck my joint goop will dry smooth and be easily covered with paint. Cross your fingers!

My incredibly late Dominican trip post...

We had such a great time at Excellence Punta Cana last year, that we decided to go back again this year. And this time we brought along some great friends. We also made a new friend. He and his parrot buddy live at the resort and this one decided to hop up on my shoulder and nibble on my earring.

The other parrot preferred T and tried to stick his beak in T's beer.



We really sold this trip to our friends by telling them all about the beachside Superbowl setup, complete with full buffet and bar. Unfortunately this year, they were having issues with the television and the signal. So we made a gametime (get it?!) decision to head to the onsite sports bar and watch the game there. Here we are during the first quarter when it appeared that the Saints hadn't shown up. We were pretty calm at this point.





We went nuts when the Saints won! The rest of the people in the bar were pulling for Indy, so once again we were THOSE people. We're used to it! It was an amazing game and T and I are even more excited about our upcoming New Orleans trip.




We did a lot of hanging out at the pool on this trip. The girls read and caught up with eachother , the boys hung at the pool bar and we all played a lot of cribbage. It was a perfect week of relaxation. The girls and I pried ourselves off of the pool chairs for one afternoon and headed over to the spa for massages and some hydrotherapy. My reflexo massage was pure bliss.



T and I on the last afternoon. We were in the midst of trying to figure out where to go for dinner. Life in the DR is full of tough decisions. :-)




This is the amazing view from our room.




Another amazing night in the Dominican. This was our last night, right before we headed out to dinner at the Italian restaurant. We finished off the night at the ABBA cover band show. We released our inner Dancing Queens.




This is one of my favorite views. We hope to come back next year!

I received this email yesterday...

...So I found 200 round trip tickets each to New Orleans leaving Saturday Feb 27th and coming back Tues March 2nd. Isn't that within the window for the free day off for your birthday?

Just sayin...

I love this man. He and I share the passion for travel, to see new places, and experience new ways of life. Travel makes us appreciate what we have and the lifestyle that we are lucky enough to live. It opens our eyes to new foods and new music and new people. It teaches us compassion and patience.

It seems that everytime we have a trip coming up, we tend to book another one. I guess we always like to have something to look forward to!

I'm very excited to see New Orleans for the first time. Tim has been twice before with the boys, so I'm sure he'll have a huge list of bars to visit and will be able to tell me who has the best happy hour specials! I've started to collect a list of restaurants and places to visit while we're there. I definitely want to check out some live music and I teased Tim that I'd love to visit a Voodoo Priestess. I am also intending to run into Will Clark along the way. :-)

March is a big month for us...not only will I be turning 33 (gulp) but Tim and I will be celebrating our first meeting, St Patty's Day, 2001 in Las Vegas.

Does anyone have anyone recs for a New Orleans first timer?

New Years Weekend

This weekend was wonderful. Not only because it was snowy and cold and perfect for staying in, but because Tim and I went to bed early, slept in, drank coffee and read, and best of all: attacked our to-do list. We were released early from work on the 31st, and we met up at home. I came in bearing my grocery store finds, the items for a new recipe for Baked Macaroni and Cheese. Tim braved Arlington Liquor and scored a bottle of Italian wine.

He and I caught up with each other over dinner and watched a movie before checking out the Times Square festivities on TV. We went to bed well before midnight.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we hung out together, went to the gym, and worked in the house. Check out our weekend photos below...in no particular order!The last window frame that was waiting patiently for it's last coat of white. Check.

Tim showing off our newly hung white board in the kitchen. He got to use his drill on this one. Check.


My husband and the drill in action.

New Years Eve. Let the wine flow and the festivities begin.

This recipe was seriously delicious.

Tima and I were both wiped out from the last few weeks and this weekend at home together was just what we needed. We went back to work on Monday completely refreshed and looking forward to the new year.

Happy New Year!

The Christmas decorations are put away. There is a fresh coat of snow on the ground. What do we have to look forward to in 2010? What did we learn from 2009?

2009 was a year full of completely amazing experiences. One of my constant resolutions is to always try and live life in the fullest way possible. I don't want to look back and realize that I sold myself short or regret missing out on things. I want to continue to grow and love and eat up every experience that I possibly can. 2009 was epitome of growth. Tim and I traveled and saw other cultures, bought our first house, and spent as much time as possible with our family and friends. We discovered our love of home renovating. We gave our all to our jobs, working hard and trying to make ourselves indispensible during these tough economic times. We sat entranced with the rest of the country and cheered with them as we elected our first black president. It has been a year of possibility.

It has also been a year of great struggle for many as the economy failed. In my own world, our family lost a very close friend, someone who taught me to live fully, dance often, and to love much. She will be forever missed but I count myself lucky to have known her and to have been loved by her.

What will we tell our children about 2009? We will tell them about Obama's rise to the Presidency. We will tell them about the fears of the collapse of the financial system. We will force them to look at all of the pictures of our amazing trips, and I'm sure they'll make fun of our clothes! I want to thank my wonderful husband for sharing this year with me and for sharing the better part of the decade with me. It's been quite a ride so far and can't wait to see where it takes us next!

Our top 5 from 2009, in order!

SuperBowl weekend in the Dominican Republic. This will be an annual trip. We're leaving again in 5 weeks! This time we're bringing friends. Hopefully we'll bring the Patriots along too.

Our first wedding anniversary! We celebrated with a weekend in NYC.

Do we look like Homeowners? We just signed the papers and officially closed on our first house!

Dream trip to Italy. We ate and drank our way through Rome, Florence, and Venice for 12 blissful days with the Kibbe-Collins.

We celebrated Christmas with the Holmbergs December 14th and had my in-laws to NY for Christmas weekend. I cooked my first Christmas dinner and it came out better than I had hoped. Maybe next year, we'll have both families here!

So long 2009 and thanks for the memories!