Merry Christmas Eve!

Hope you have a wonderful holiday with family and friends!
ELH

200th post!

I probably should have something more exciting, but I think I am getting a cold - 2 people in my research group have colds :( So it is just going to be a workout update.

Monday, Dec 12^th – Morning walking with Molly and G. 1.67miles in 33:41, followed by my back exercises and some abs.

Tuesday, Dec 13^th – Morning walking with Molly and G. 1.75miles in 35:01, followed by my back exercises and some abs. This wasn’t our best walk….about half way in, Molly got excited by another dog on a walk. G was having a hard time controlling her, I got in front of the leash, and then crash-go-boom! Molly ran into the back of my legs, tripping me, and my knees took the brunt of the fall. It was awful. Even a week later, my knee still looks just as bad. It was definitely a comedy of errors and we all are at fault. So much for running this week :(

Wednesday, Dec 14^th – Even though my knees hurt, I still took Molly out for a morning walk. 2.01miles in 38:24, followed by the back exercises and abs.

Thursday, Dec 15^th – More morning walking with Molly. 2.01miles in 39:51 and then the back exercises and abs.

Friday, Dec 16^th – Off day! My friend was in town for her Residency interviews and she had to be at the hospital early. Molly and I would have had to walk ~5am. Not going to happen.

Saturday, Dec 17^th – Today was the H side of the family’s Christmas celebration. I was up early for a tasty breakfast and the original Flying location (In my life, there are two lovely Flying restaurants – biscuit and star. I get names confused depending on where I am!) and then off to the airport to drop my friend. We got to the in-laws house ~10am and were there ~7pm. It was a long day with presents, food, children, and naps. No workout today.

Sunday, Dec 18^th – My back and knees are feeling better, so I decided to do the 3.1mile loop around my house! My legs felt good, but I did feel out of breath.

Splits –

Mile 1 – 8:33

Mile 2 – 8:34

Mile 3 – 8:26

0.1miles in 0:50.3

I am excited to start picking up my exercise routines.

Thanks for reading!

ELH

Friends

"Life is partly what we make it and partly what is made by the friends we choose”

Tennessee Williams

I saw this quote on the bottom of someone's email and it spoke to me.

I love my friends dearly and there are definitely 3 amazing girls I have known since elementary and high school who are my sisters.
I love making new friends and bonding over running, reading, eating, photography, and so much more.

Thank-you ALL for being my friend!

Love ya,
ELH

Christmas crafts

Every year we give the nephews and niece an ornament with their name on it. Their mom's said they love having their own personalized ornament and enjoy putting them on the tree. And you know me, I love something personalized!

This year, I found these plain white ornaments that I thought would be fun to paint ourselves. We used some cool glitter paint we got at a teacher's art store.
For what ever reason, the paint didn't stick, so we had to use MANY coats of paint and then sealed it with clear spray paint. Originally, I was going to leave it for an art project for the kids. Your welcome, Laura and Melissa!

I am pretty happy with them!

What Christmas gifting traditions do you have?
Enjoy!
ELH

Christmas decorations

I thought I would share some pictures of our Christmas decorations.

Blooming Christmas Cactus

My mom helped me with our tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving and I put up the rest of decorations on Sunday.
At our rehearsal dinner last year, we got a ton of ornaments! My MIL told all the guests to bring us an ornament. Love it! These are some of my favorites.

Initials are all over the tree!

My MIL gives us ~5 Hallmark ornaments each year.

From my BFF, from somewhere in Europe.

Nambe

Lego Man!

I like saving some of the Christmas cards from years past.
As you can tell, if the card is 3D, has cats on it, or is a fun size, it is a keeper! I do have old photo cards, but I am not quite sure where to display them.

I was checking out Pinterest to come up with ideas to display current cards and came up with this!
Ribbons on the kitchen cabinets and clothes pins holding the cards. I loved the idea and think it came out great!


What crafty things have you been up to this holiday season?!
Enjoy!
ELH

Weekly walking summary

So my workouts are still pretty boring. I thought I might start running this week, but my back just doesn't feel right. I think sticking with walking, my assigned back exercises, and some abs is great. This week I would like to add some running and weights, but we will just have to see how I feel.
On the positive side, I did walk every day, with a weekly total of 14.27miles!

Monday, Dec 5th - Walked 1.76 miles in 35:13 with Molly and G in the morning.

Tuesday, Dec 6th - Walked 1.75 miles in 33:20 with Molly and G in the morning.

Wednesday, Dec 7th - Walked 2.01 miles in 40:45 with Molly after work and then did my back exercises and 150 sit-ups.

Thursday, Dec 8th - Walked 2.01 miles in 38:28 with Molly in the morning, followed by my back exercises and 150 sit-ups. I did wear my new Merrell bare foot shoes. I bought them for my birthday, but they have been sitting in my closet for a few weeks. I didn't think it was a great idea to wear new shoes with my bad back. I bought them to help build up muscles in my feet, prevent bruising the balls of my feet, and for general use. I don't plan on doing any running in them. I love my Brooks too much! So far, so good!

Friday, Dec 9th - Walked 2.0 miles in 37:29 with Molly in the morning in the bare foot Merrells, followed by the back exercises and 150 sit-ups.

Saturday, Dec 10th - More walking in the Merrells (wore them all day while running errands)!! 3.01 miles in 56:08 with Molly in the AM and back exercises and 150 sit-ups.

Sunday, Dec 11th - Walked 1.75 miles in 32:30 with Molly and G in the afternoon (in the Merrells). I have plans to do the back exercises and sit-ups later tonight:)

Pretty exciting week! I do have to take the small victories while my back heals.
Enjoy!
ELH

Change of plans

I had this post written about some adult liquid we recently purchased with a DIY video. I was having a hard time uploading the video, so I was talking to G about it and he reminded me that our adult liquid may not be so legal in the US! Lovely!!

So instead you can enjoy some lovely pictures of a stained glass star my aunt made for our guest room!

I think the star is amazing and colors look great. Feel free to off-load any other stained glass stars to me!
Enjoy!
ELH

November mileage

32 miles!

Year to-date = 885.05miles!

November was a very low month. 1 week off recovering from the marathon. 1 week doing easy runs getting back into it. 1 week "back into it." And then the end of the month suffering with back pain. Hopefully, December won't be as low!

Enjoy!
ELH

Over due workout summary

My back is feeling better. I have been off of drugs for a week and haven't any severe pain. My MRI has been postponed until the first week of January, so am going to increase the workout intensity during December, with a 6mile run being my goal. I haven't run in 2 weeks, so I need to get my fitness level back up, so I can start 1/2 marathon training in January!! Obviously, with this injury my goal of 1000miles is out. I am a little sad about this, but there are plenty of long runs in my future!

Wednesday, Nov 23rd - I went to the malls with my parents and did plenty of walking! I did end up taking a nice long nap later in the day - muscles relaxers are nice!

Thursday, Nov 24th - I had signed up to run a 10k Turkey Trot and then do a 5k walk with my mom. I just did the 5k walk. Of course I had my watch going!
Splits -
Mile 1 - 20:13
Mile 2 - 18:57
Mile 3 - 18:35
3.1 miles in 59.15!

Friday, Nov 25th - We get to an art museum with my parents and did some Black Friday shopping in the afternoon. No additional walking needed!

Saturday, Nov 26th - My mom and I did the neighborhood loop walk -> 1.66miles in 33:38. We left Molly at home, since she pulls a lot on the walk.

Sunday, Nov 27th - G and I took Molly for a walk -> 1.74 in 36:42. Note - I don't usually stop my watch when picking up her poop or if she pauses because of other dogs or random smells!

Monday, Nov 28th - 1st day back at work after taking a week off with all the awful back pain. I didn't want to push myself too hard and add a walk into my long day. Making it the whole day was an accomplishment in itself!

Tuesday, Nov 29th - Afternoon walk with Molly -> 1.64miles in 34:17.

Wednesday, Nov 30th - Morning walk with Molly -> 1.73miles in 33:01.

Thursday, Dec 1st - Morning walk with Molly -> 1.73miles in 34:03.

Friday, Dec 2nd - Morning walk with Molly ->1.71miles in 33:50.

Saturday, Dec 3rd - Morning long walk with Molly -> 3.1miles in 58:11.

Sunday, Dec 4th - Afternoon walk with Molly -> 2.32miles in 43:20.

Monday is going to be more of the same and Tuesday, I am going to add in some running!!
Enjoy!
ELH

Happy Birthday.....

to my amazing best friend Emily!

I've heard it said That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led To those who help us most to grow
If we let them And we help them in return Well, I don't know if I believe that's true But I know I'm who I am today Because I knew you...

I love you!
ELH