Happy Halloween

We were up and at 'em and literally running around first thing Halloween! Doing it in great style too, even the judges agreed this year!

It was our 6th year running, a lot has changed since we started, many additions! and what a year! our gumball machines came in second place!

 Then it was off to trunk or treat which was moved indoor because of rain.

These two won in a landslide, coming in 1st and 2nd respectively!

 These girls were all just darling!

The Sound of Music was a singing sensation placing 3rd.

And even though we shamelessly campaigned for votes, Mother Rabbit and Peter Rabbit were off the stand in the 5th spot.

Hoppy Halloween!

Krafting with Kari

It was real mom stuff: 

trips to the fabric store, glue guns, and banishment of children in the name of focusing on a craft project. 

How else does a Halloween costume come to life?????

Work work work including burning our fingers to the bone! :) These are NOT lo-temp!

Who wore it best? :)

Mmk now to train for the 5k...

Nine years running

This year marked nine years of participating in the River Bank Run with my girl Kari!

No matter the event we always have fun!

Run! Girls Run!

It's been 8 years and counting since Ms. Kari and I did our first River Bank Run together.  We've participated in each event over those years, some years together and some years apart.  This year Peter and I conquered the 5k and Kari took on the 10k.

 Post race.  It was by far the most lovely weather yet.

Cheers to the next 8 years!

Run Run Rudolph!

Run!  That's what I've been doing since February, faithfully.  I had totally fallen off the bandwagon until then, so my goal was the Riverbank Run. 

6.2 miles on May 11, 2013.  

No times, no keeping up, just running, finishing and feeling good.  

Goal Met!

This is the 7th time Kari and I have run this thing 'together', she's exceedingly faster than me, but is kind enough to wait at the end! :)

Breakfast of McDonald's champions after! Thanks Dougie!

AND this year, all of GR had the opportunity to watch me finish! ha!  Thanks Martins for videoing your TV for me!  The funny thing was, if you were watching it live, you would have seen my boss finish just a few steps behind me! He was given a hard time at work about it!

Another year in the books!  this time, maybe I wont fall so far off the bandwagon!

Run for it!

My Sweets and I did a 5k recently.  Pretty good for a Tuesday night!

Then he treated me to polenta - what a guy! :)

Ready to Ruuuuuuuun!

'I'm hoping for 8 minute miles' were my famous last words

I unfortunately did not exactly find myself on an 8 minute mile course 

But I did find myself at the Place to Discover Life at its Best

So it's allllll good :)

Jojo and me are Born and Raced in Michigan

 Verwys' are ready to run and walk or attack dad I suppose...

Yay!  Who loves Lake Ann?!  

Congratulations to Matt and Kayla (both on the left above) for winning!

The first of many great runs I'm sure!

Annnnd they're off!

Riverbank Run is a 35 year tradition here in Grand Rapids and it's just so wonderful!  

It's the largest 25k race in the country, and also includes a 10 and 5k as well as several wheelchair, kids, and fun run events and races too.  

On Friday, since I was participating in the weekend race activities, I got an email from the health and wellness lady at work, with a whole race rundown; AND the announcement that I had won the random drawing and would be receiving a free t shirt!  sweet!

Kinda reminded me of Capt. Underpants, so I wore it like a cape! :)

Race Day!  Kari and I gave it the ol' go round!  It was very fun running, and then biking back down to watch our 25k friends.  Great weather and great atmosphere!

363 days left to train! See you next year!

May 14

May 14 was a busy day!  First things first it was Riverbank Run day! 

It was very fun, and I'm so glad I did it; I even had a better time than before!

Then it was off to Brad and Allison's wedding!  Also very fun!

Congratulations runners and Ritters! :)

Happy Halloween!

Trick or treat! 

I still love Halloween! Costumes, candy, crisp cool air - it's just a fun time!  This year the fun started at work with our annual pumpkin contest.  We have a mystery grab bag item that we have to incorporate into our pumpkin and a theme.  So this year our theme was 'At the Zoo' and our mystery item was chip clips.  Meet Chilly -

Friday night Kari and I channeled our inner Olsen Twin and went as MK and Ashley - we met up with several friends from flag football - 

Saturday morning a group of girlfriends and I ran in the 2nd Annual Alger Heights Halloween 5k; we were OPI Nailpolish - mani/pedis anyone!?

I'm Not Really a Waitress, No Spain No Gain, Lilac My Color?, Diva of Geneva, Pink Flamenco, Miami Beet

Saturday evening brought Trunk or Treat at church - HUGE success! We estimated we had 400+ people! :)  Lots of costumes too - 

Nailpolish for Clara the Stylist to use! :)

Sparty Cheerleader and a Union Soldier

Three little pigs!

Deb and Renata

Julia the Rockford Girl and Clara the Stylist

Tinkerbell, Smee and Megan the runner

Petah! Petah Pan!

Jesse and Buzz - I love Toy Story!

Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way.

It was a great weekend, I went to a bonfire too, and smell like it still!  Linds and Marv were in town for a wedding so I spent some time with them.  Now on to the week...It's the last week for Flag Football - 8 weeks sure flew by!  And it's election day!  Get out the vote!

Happy Week Friends!

Fun by the Foot

While the Cat’s away the Mice will play!  I think that’s how the saying goes.  Our Youth Pastor Adam was out of town so in his absence youth staff, (Jenn and Jacob), took over planning Wednesday evening.  All the games involved feet!  It was hilarious, here’s some photos -

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UPDATES:

I’ve been meaning to share this, I’ve started going ‘sugar free’.  Well sorta.  I’m a bridesmaid, as you know, at the end of the month, and my girlfriend has been cutting sugary snacks out of her diet for a while now so I thought I’d give it a try.  I’ve done fairly well especially during the week, so I’ll have to keep you posted.  The biggest challenge is the evening boredom craving and the steady stream of junk food around the office, like when Honey Buns just appear on your desk – yikes!

This weekend was River Bank Run weekend!  Nate and Andrea and fam were here, more to come on that, but I met my RBR goal!  since I bailed on doing the 25k, I set a 50 minute goal on the 10k (6.27 miles) and I made it by 3 seconds! :)

Happy Mother’s Day!

Road Warrior

So I've decided I'm training for the 5/3 25k River Bank Run again this year - I've always been planning on it but now that it's January, I've decided. I wanted to be a 5/3 Road Warrior, but you have to be pretty dedicated to running and training, and unfortunately I'm a big fan of letting fun opportunities trump my gym time. Anywhoo I think that even though I'm not an Official Road Warrior, I'm going to use this blog to keep you updated and myself accountable to the training schedule. So, here goes nothing!

Monday - 3 miles, 30 minutes on Arch trainer.
Tuesday - 30 minutes on bike, 1 mile run, upper body lifting, 0.5 mile walk (thanks Em!)

If anyone else is considering training, I highly recommend it! Let's do it together!

Happy Tuesday!

Pink Ballerinas

On Halloween my girlfriends and I decided to do the Alger Heights Fun Run - and it was sure fun! :) We didnt win, I think there needs to be a vote recall, but here are the photos, enjoy -

Me, Gwen, Emily, Kari, Kim and Allison

All in a circle

The start of the race


Pink lips and shirts!

Run run run little ballerinas!

Pi-lay! :)

I still cant believe we didnt win - we were definitely the crowd favorite, everyone was cheering and excited for us! Go Pink Lady Tutu Girl Ballerinas!

Happy Monday everyone!