I want to run across the United States!

So I have started running jogging and so far in two weeks I have run an incredible 8.6 miles.  More than I have run since marrying Hotsauce.  Not even joking!  Give me another week and I think I'll have run more than I have in my whole life.  How sad is that? No, actually, how exciting is that??  It has become this new challenge in my life.  An extreme competition between me, myself and I!  And so far I'm winning!!

I might not ever post my times... because a few of them all of them are pretty much embarrassing!  But, as my friend Annette said, I'm lapping all of you sitting at home on the couch!  If any of you ever saw me play sports in school you already know that I have NEVER been accused of being fast.  I'm just not.  I remember running the dreaded mile in PE and if I tried I would finish the mile in about 8 minutes.  I remember so many of the boys in my class trying to break the 4 minute mark and thinking they could run 2 miles in the time I finish one.  Ugh!

So my goal starting out is finding my 8 minute mile.  Let me just tell you that my first time out was a miserable failure!! But, in my defense, Hotsauce told me that he drove a route and according to the odometer it was a mile.  Well, it wasn't... it was 1.2 miles.  Still not enough to justify my poor time.  So then I will throw in the fact that half of it is up hill.  Not a big hill...just an incline... kinda slight, but an incline all the same.  Hmmm... there must be an excuse in here somewhere!! How about that I weigh 30 lbs more then I did in high school and I'm 16 years older?  That must be it.  Really 30 lbs, somehow that doesn't make me feel much better!!

I've recently changed routes to exactly 1 mile and basically flat and I have to tell you that I have dropped several minutes off my time and that's exciting for me!  Really exciting.

Tonight I have set my goal completely over the top.  I want to run across the United States. From San Diego, California to Saint David, Maine.  That's approximately 3,300 miles.  But, I'm not so silly to think that I could do that in one journey.  Instead I would like to run it all bit every day in my own neighborhood.  As in I would like to run a total of 3,300 miles.  Just because.  Because I think I can.  Of course I need to work my way up so that I'm running more than a mile a day (because that will take me over 9 years)!

A more realistic goal that I have is to run a 5K (around 3 miles) with Ben this summer.  From there I would like to eventually run a half marathon.  Who knows, maybe someday a marathon!  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me ... and how I would need his strength to do that!  Actually I need his strength to keep running every day and finishing the mile without walking!!

Perhaps the biggest blessing that I've had is that Hannah has run twice with me.  She amazes me!  Last night as we were running she looks at me and all out of breath she says, "This is not fair!  You're jogging and I'm running with all my might!"  And she was!  She only walked a block and I gave her 5 different opportunities to take short cuts home, but she refused every time.  She inspires me to persevere.  I have hopes that she will develop a love for running and that years from now we will still be running side by side... only I imagine there will come a time when I say, "This is not fair!  You're jogging and I'm running with all my might!"

Weekend Away!

So Hotsauce and I got away for the weekend! Yay us!  ;)
Like most of you know, we went to St. Louis and quickly discovered that a weekend WAS NOT LONG ENOUGH.  Though, honestly when is a weekend away ever long enough??  Or a week even?  But we are seriously considering taking the kids with us next summer.
Which brings me to this random thought.  I rarely usually sometimes NEVER miss the Turkey Bottoms when I'm away with Hotsauce.  I know, I'm a bad mom!  But, seriously I had just shy of 72 hours without anyone saying, "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy... NOOOOO! I WAS TALKING TO MOMMY! MOMMY, MOMMMMMY, MOMMMMMMMMMMMY!" It was heavenly.

So, what did we do?  We got in on Friday night around 9ish and asked the front desk guy where a great place to hang out would be... he suggested the Delmar Loop.  Which was great... if you like live music, people yelling and screaming at each other, bright lights, big crowds, lots of hookah bars and nightlife in general.  Which of course we do.  Ha! Ok, I loved watching the people and the atmosphere... Hotsauce looked like a very uncomfortable cop. ;)  And he may or may not have had to explain what exactly and hookah bar was and I just kept thinking, "That CANNOT be sanitary."

Saturday morning we slept in... until 11:30! Heavenly.  Seriously.  We had to force ourselves out of bed.  We then bought new running shoes at the Galleria Mall and put them to use once we found some used furniture/consignment/antique shops.  Here's something that never happens... we found 2 pieces of furniture that we both liked and could afford... but didn't buy them!  Ahhh, the power of the Holy Spirit!

After that we did a drive by of the Arch and then went out with some friends from Emmaus (that we hadn't seen in 10 years) at a place called Bailey's Range, which you can check out here.  And because I was doing such a great job of sticking to my diet (or because we were enjoying our time with James and Eryn so much) we ended up at Fountains on Locust...which you can check out here.  This is the one time where Ben "out ordered me" and got something called the Dark and Sinister... um, it was delish!  

Sunday morning we only slept in until 10:30!  It still makes me a little giddy just thinking about it.  :) On the suggestion of Eryn we went to Antique Row on Cherokee.  Again the Holy Spirit was at work and we refrained from buying anything!  We left there and went to the St. Louis Zoo which was a great time!  I fed a stingray and it nibbled my finger and I chickened out of feeding it anything else!!  But, they were great to pet... at least for me - the uncomfortable cop just looked on and laughed at me!  We probably walked a minimum of 7 miles and it was 94 degrees, so maybe Hotsauce was just hot! ;)

We headed out for the Arch with big plans to go to the top as I have never been and Ben was just a little duffer when his parents took him.  We got there and discovered this sign...

I won't rat him out entirely, but let's just say he didn't have any alcohol, pets or mace on him... but if there are any other pictures of any other things he may have had both in his possession.  Not that he would ever have to protect himself, his wife or others at a national monument... so who cares about his right to bear arms... but that's a different blog post altogether right!

Well, by the time we got back to the van to lock up forbidden items I may have had to go to the bathroom and by the time we found one and got back to the Arch and stood in line forever they only had ONE ticket left to the top.  Ben was willing to let me have it, but I wasn't going without him, so we went to the Museum to lick our wounds.  After walking around listening to the creepy fake people giving small history levels we left to go have pizza and watch cable TV in our hotel room.  Which by the way was really nice and I got it super cheap using the "secret room" option from Travelocity.  But, if you're ever in St. Louis, you should check out the Hilton Garden Inn.  Breakfast costs $12, but since we slept through it we didn't care!!

Monday morning rolled around and we were out of bed bright and early for a last ditch effort to get to the top of the Arch (which is something the two of us have wanted to do together for awhile now).  And we finally made it!! So I will leave you with some pictures since this has gone a little longer than planned!!

I didn't do the best directing of where his hands should go, but I try!

View towards the city from the top!

We sure are cute!!