i'm thelynnied on instagram if you want to follow along... let's be friends!!!
linking up with a good life blog.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Strawberry Pickin'
DONE AND DONE.
We had plans to go strawberry picking last weekend with our friends Heather and Ryan, but since the Muddy Fanatic took (WAY) longer than anticipated, we didn't have time. Then this weekend, Saturday they had the Strawberry Festival but we were moving my mom all day then had the family cookout, so we had to miss it. So Sunday it was! Which turned out to be pretty good because there was hardly anyone else there!
Wait, which way are the strawberries?!
my first pick :)
Josh called this the camel hump strawberry.
This bird apparently thought it would be a brilliant idea to make her nest and lay her eggs in this busy strawberry field. She squaked and chased after anyone who went near her!
Experiencing modern day slave labor aka: Strawberry Picking. - Josh's Facebook status while we were there
We ended our trip to Huber's with some of their delicious homemade ice cream! Of course I had to get STRAWBERRY.
YUM.
Welp, another one down. Only 15 more to go. In the next 6 weeks! Can I do it?! I already know several more will be crossed off (#11, 15, & 22 are planned! and 18 is done, just haven't really blogged about it yet).. and a couple won't get done at all (like running a marathon? or even more than 13 miles? definitely ain't happenin'..)
Stay tuned to see how I do!
Thanks Josh for going strawberry picking with me!!! Now what are we gonna do with all those strawberries?!
Monday, May 28, 2012
Happy Memorial Day!
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." - Ronald Reagan
Every year on this day I can't help but think of my Grandpa. He's my hero. He died when I was 12 years old, and I would give anything to be able to spend time with him today... to hear his stories about World War II again. To hear his life experiences. He was the nicest man you'd ever meet and I'm honored to have had him in my life and to be able to call him Grandpa. He served this great country in World War II and was honorably discharged with a Purple Heart. He wasn't killed in the war obviously, but wounded. I wish he was here to tell me about it.
THANK YOU to those who serve and have served this wonderful country and fought for the freedoms we enjoy today. I pray we never take it for granted.
We spent Saturday evening at a cookout at the family farm, which was a much-needed retreat as we spent the day helping my mom move. As in, all of her belongings in 90+ degree heat. It wasn't exactly fun, but at least we had appropriate shirts for the job!
:)
We had way too much good food -- burgers, chicken & pineapple kabobs, BBQ ribs, pork tenderloin AND fresh fish caught straight from the lake... SO GOOD.
Josh and I were in charge of the kabobs... Josh mixed up the marinade... and doubled the recipe (it really didn't seem like enough)... so our kabobs were a little spicey! But still.. grilled chicken & pineapple? YUM!
As our first trip of the season to the farm, the Bostons swore in the summer with a swim!
I'm so proud of them! They both readily jumped in -- not afraid!! AND they even shared the stick. :)
I think it's officially summer!
(well, not according to the calendar, but it's definitely feelin' like it around here... 'tis the season for lake trips, cookouts, and ice cream!!! :))
Happy Summer!
Friday, May 25, 2012
A short & sweet little run.
I've been thinking about getting back into running lately.
I miss it. Especially the really accomplished feeling after a nice, long run.
Been way too long since I've run any sort of significant distance.
I've taken a couple months now completely off from running, so I figured it was high time to give the legs a good ole test run! Seriously, injuries, you should be healed by now.
So I ran -- for the first time in 2 months -- yesterday.
Nikki and I did a whopping 1.8 miles around the neighborhood.
Nothing to write home about (just on your blog), but it was a good starting point.
It was 90° out and my goal was only to do a mile, so I was pretty thrilled with almost 2. We took it slow, but we didn't stop, and I'm happy to report that I have no IT pain!!!! YAY!! My hips are a little tight today, but nothing a little stretching and yoga can't fix :)
I have no running goals... I've found that setting goals for big races seems to get me injured. So I just want to build some base mileage back up and go from there. I hope we can keep this up... maybe at least 3 times a week... but it's not even June yet and this is the forecast:
Umm... it's supposed to feel like over 100° this weekend and we have heat advisories! ALREADY!
Looks like we're in for a HOT summer!
I've taken a couple months now completely off from running, so I figured it was high time to give the legs a good ole test run! Seriously, injuries, you should be healed by now.
So I ran -- for the first time in 2 months -- yesterday.
Nikki and I did a whopping 1.8 miles around the neighborhood.
Nothing to write home about (just on your blog), but it was a good starting point.
It was 90° out and my goal was only to do a mile, so I was pretty thrilled with almost 2. We took it slow, but we didn't stop, and I'm happy to report that I have no IT pain!!!! YAY!! My hips are a little tight today, but nothing a little stretching and yoga can't fix :)
I have no running goals... I've found that setting goals for big races seems to get me injured. So I just want to build some base mileage back up and go from there. I hope we can keep this up... maybe at least 3 times a week... but it's not even June yet and this is the forecast:
Umm... it's supposed to feel like over 100° this weekend and we have heat advisories! ALREADY!
Looks like we're in for a HOT summer!
Monday, May 21, 2012
Flip-Flop Flop
I'm thinking about jumping back on the Old Navy classic flip flop bandwagon... because even though they're cheap, at least if they break I'm only out $2.50!! But before I stock up, does anyone else have a favorite brand of go-to flip flops?!?!
Sunday, May 20, 2012
life lately.
instagram snapshots of the week.
aka: iphone photo dump
i've had a few questions about how to make these collages, especially now that picnik is gone. this week i just made a big one on big huge labs' mosaic maker. i've usually been picking the photos individually, but this time i just let it arrange them randomly since there were so many. ;) i also use an app called frametastic to create collages on the iphone.
check out the re-cap of the muddy fanatic if you missed it earlier... funnest (yes... funnest) race i've done all year!
aka: iphone photo dump
i've had a few questions about how to make these collages, especially now that picnik is gone. this week i just made a big one on big huge labs' mosaic maker. i've usually been picking the photos individually, but this time i just let it arrange them randomly since there were so many. ;) i also use an app called frametastic to create collages on the iphone.
check out the re-cap of the muddy fanatic if you missed it earlier... funnest (yes... funnest) race i've done all year!
i'm thelynnied on instagram if you want to follow along!!! let's be friends! :)
linking up with a good life blog.
Ridin' dirty..
AKA Muddy Fanatic!!
I've been wanting to do a "muddy race" for awhile now, but for whatever reason I hadn't signed up for one. Probably because of my dang injuries. Then I heard the Muddy Fanatic was coming to town! BUT even though it looked like fun, I wasn't really willing to pay $60 for a 5k when I'm injured (actually, $60 is a lot for a 5k even when I'm not injured) -- but then a Groupon deal came out for half off, and $30 for a 5k is pretty reasonable anyway... so injured or not, I was in!
I joined up with our neighbors, Brian and Nikki, on their team The Muddy Duddies. We were supposed to have a few more people but apparently they weren't as brave as us and backed out!!!
I watched the video on the website but still didn't really know what to expect. I've never done a trail race with (or without) obstacles before. The video made it look challenging, but I was ready for the adventure! Even though I hadn't run in probably 6 weeks before the race, I figured it was a totally different kind of 5k... it wasn't a race where you go for time (unless you're super hardcore fast), so my plan was to just walk most of it anyway and have fun!
This is what we were greeted with immediately upon arrival:
Barbed wire over a mud pit -- yikes!! What had I gotten myself into?!
We waited around for awhile before the start. Here's our nice, clean before picture.
Finally, we were off! And immediately muddy! As soon as we crossed the start line we were blasted with a fire hose and running through little muddy swamps and sand pits!
The whole thing was awesome, until we had to wait in line for...EVER for an obstacle. Forever is my estimate because no one had a watch on them so I have no idea how long it actually was. Long enough to be ridiculous but realistically probably 30-45 minutes. We ended up skipping that obstacle because it was taking way too long. That's my biggest complaint about the race.. too much bottle-necking at several obstacles, but since it was the first year hopefully they can figure it out and fix it for next year!
About half way through we see none other than JOSH AND MY MOM! Totally wasn't expecting to see them on the course... especially since most of it was through the woods and stuff! So Nikki and I stopped for a photo op, of course!
Glamour shot!
Not only was Josh there to cheer us on, he actually helped people get out of impossible mud holes!!!
It would have been impossible to do this race alone. That's one thing I loved about it -- everyone was willing to help everyone else out.... strangers and friends alike. And my perfectly clean boyfriend got muddier than necessary to help not only me but other people as well. :) Thanks, B! You are awesome and I love you!!!
Mud EVERYWHERE!
Finally we were almost done!!!!
We just had to go through the barn, down the slip and slide, over the hay bales, and then we were at the last obstacle... that wonderful barbed wire over the mud pit!!
And that was it! FINALLY -- WE DID IT!!!
We are definitely muddy fanatics!!!!
I don't think I have ever been so dirty in my life!
My review? Overall, it was fun! For the most part I had a blast! I'd definitely do it again as long as they could find a way to prevent bottle-necking at the obstacles. With groups starting every 30 minutes, it seems like it shouldn't have been such a big problem but waiting an hour to do an obstacle during a race is ridiculous and kind of took the fun out of it! The whole race took us almost 3 hours -- for a 5k!!! It should have only taken us maybe an hour.
My other complaint is that there was absolutely no one working on the course. This is how Josh and my mom were able to get on it... no one told them they couldn't! But a lot of the obstacles were really dangerous! A girl even fell off one of the walls and broke her arm and leg so it would have been very helpful to have race officials along the course in case people got hurt... and also to tell us how much further we had to go. The course wasn't marked at all and knowing how far along we were would have been nice. I had no concept of time or distance during the race which was weird!
Oh, and? My boyfriend and camera are muddy fanatics, too!
I'm a little bruised up today but it was totally worth it!
AND - No IT pain! Granted, we didn't do a whole lot of running, but hey, 3.1 miles with no pain is 3.1 miles with no pain and I'll take it!!
I don't think I'll be partaking in the Tough Mudder anytime soon though!
I've been wanting to do a "muddy race" for awhile now, but for whatever reason I hadn't signed up for one. Probably because of my dang injuries. Then I heard the Muddy Fanatic was coming to town! BUT even though it looked like fun, I wasn't really willing to pay $60 for a 5k when I'm injured (actually, $60 is a lot for a 5k even when I'm not injured) -- but then a Groupon deal came out for half off, and $30 for a 5k is pretty reasonable anyway... so injured or not, I was in!
I joined up with our neighbors, Brian and Nikki, on their team The Muddy Duddies. We were supposed to have a few more people but apparently they weren't as brave as us and backed out!!!
I watched the video on the website but still didn't really know what to expect. I've never done a trail race with (or without) obstacles before. The video made it look challenging, but I was ready for the adventure! Even though I hadn't run in probably 6 weeks before the race, I figured it was a totally different kind of 5k... it wasn't a race where you go for time (unless you're super hardcore fast), so my plan was to just walk most of it anyway and have fun!
This is what we were greeted with immediately upon arrival:
Barbed wire over a mud pit -- yikes!! What had I gotten myself into?!
We waited around for awhile before the start. Here's our nice, clean before picture.
Finally, we were off! And immediately muddy! As soon as we crossed the start line we were blasted with a fire hose and running through little muddy swamps and sand pits!
The whole thing was awesome, until we had to wait in line for...EVER for an obstacle. Forever is my estimate because no one had a watch on them so I have no idea how long it actually was. Long enough to be ridiculous but realistically probably 30-45 minutes. We ended up skipping that obstacle because it was taking way too long. That's my biggest complaint about the race.. too much bottle-necking at several obstacles, but since it was the first year hopefully they can figure it out and fix it for next year!
About half way through we see none other than JOSH AND MY MOM! Totally wasn't expecting to see them on the course... especially since most of it was through the woods and stuff! So Nikki and I stopped for a photo op, of course!
Glamour shot!Not only was Josh there to cheer us on, he actually helped people get out of impossible mud holes!!!
It would have been impossible to do this race alone. That's one thing I loved about it -- everyone was willing to help everyone else out.... strangers and friends alike. And my perfectly clean boyfriend got muddier than necessary to help not only me but other people as well. :) Thanks, B! You are awesome and I love you!!!
Mud EVERYWHERE!
Finally we were almost done!!!!
We just had to go through the barn, down the slip and slide, over the hay bales, and then we were at the last obstacle... that wonderful barbed wire over the mud pit!!
And that was it! FINALLY -- WE DID IT!!!
We are definitely muddy fanatics!!!!
I don't think I have ever been so dirty in my life!
My review? Overall, it was fun! For the most part I had a blast! I'd definitely do it again as long as they could find a way to prevent bottle-necking at the obstacles. With groups starting every 30 minutes, it seems like it shouldn't have been such a big problem but waiting an hour to do an obstacle during a race is ridiculous and kind of took the fun out of it! The whole race took us almost 3 hours -- for a 5k!!! It should have only taken us maybe an hour.
My other complaint is that there was absolutely no one working on the course. This is how Josh and my mom were able to get on it... no one told them they couldn't! But a lot of the obstacles were really dangerous! A girl even fell off one of the walls and broke her arm and leg so it would have been very helpful to have race officials along the course in case people got hurt... and also to tell us how much further we had to go. The course wasn't marked at all and knowing how far along we were would have been nice. I had no concept of time or distance during the race which was weird!
Oh, and? My boyfriend and camera are muddy fanatics, too!
I'm a little bruised up today but it was totally worth it!
AND - No IT pain! Granted, we didn't do a whole lot of running, but hey, 3.1 miles with no pain is 3.1 miles with no pain and I'll take it!!
I don't think I'll be partaking in the Tough Mudder anytime soon though!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)