Getting ready for the Winter...

Today is the last day of November, which means winter is close by.  Anyone who knows me well will remember the extreme HATE I have for the season!  It honestly makes me sick just thinking about it.  I hate being cold more than almost anything in the world so winter time is definitely not my idea of fun.  However, there isn't much we can do to stop it, so I might as well suck it up and deal.

There are some good things about winter I suppose... the biggest and best one being Christmas Break!  Boy, I sure do need that!  I feel as if we have been going non stop since the beginning of September!  Between work, school, family, friends, and the dog, it is go go go!  Just wait until I throw kids in the picture! YIKES!  Christmas Break means some down time.  I can read my favorite books, lay around the house and do nothing, and sleep my days away!  Doesn't that sound awesome!

Another great thing about winter is you get to spend time with family.  Winter time means holiday time!  I'm so looking forward to seeing the Rhoton's again as well as my wonderful family.  That's the worse thing about living far away is you just don't get to see the people you love the most enough!

I'm also looking forward to all the GOOD FOOD!  YUM!  When the holidays roll around it means lots of great food and most importantly great desserts!  I can't wait for that.  I really don't care or watch what I eat... usually I just eat myself silly.  I worry about the effects later :)

Here's saying goodbye to November and hello to December!  

BRRRRRRR!

Mileage Monday

I haven't ran in almost 2 whole weeks!  I have been trying to let my foot heal so I don't have to deal with any more issues.  I'm hoping to get back into my running routine this week!  I can't wait.  I obviously did not reach my goal of 50 miles in November... but I would rather be pain free than push myself and get a horrible injury.  After participating in the challenge I have come to the conclusion that I would just rather run for the fun of it instead of "forcing" myself to complete a certain number of miles per week.  It is so much more fun that way.  I don't want running to become a chore... I want it to always stay a pleasurable experience for me :)  Even though I won't be participating in anymore challenges I will still keep doing my Mileage Monday's so I can keep myself accountable to run :)  Hopefully next Monday there will be more to report!

Rhoton Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving started on a sad note... yes... we had to drop Remington off at the boarding facility.  I have learned that it is better if I just let Dan take care of this while I sit in the car because I become way to emotional! Once Dan got all the paper work done he came out to get Remington.  I said my goodbyes and then pretty much sobbed like crazy for the next 20 minutes!!!  It was very very difficult to leave him. However, once we arrived at our destination we decided to check in on him with the doggie cam.  I didn't know if this was a good idea or not because if he wasn't doing well all I would want to do is go home and get him, but surprisingly he was just fine!  Actually he was better than just fine... he was calm, not barking, and his tail was even wagging sometimes.  WOW!  All the worrying I had been doing was for nothing!  I was so happy!  I'm so glad that we had the doggie cam to check up on him.  It really eased my mind.  What I thought was probably a horrible experience for him actually turned out to be more pleasant than I expected.  I would even feel comfortable leaving him for a long stay!  I know what your thinking... this is a HUGE switch!  But aren't you happy!  Now I don't have to live my life as a hermit!

We had our actual Thanksgiving at Dan's Aunt Boo's house.  Dan and I stayed for a few days there and had a really great time.  We played lots of games, ate a ton of food, and enjoyed time with his family!  I mean seriously... what more could you ask for?

 

Here is the newest edition to the Rhoton clan... baby Raelyn!  She was such a good baby!

Yes, even I got in on the baby action... :)

We played Pictionary most of the time, but we took a time out and decided to see who could lift a certain weight the longest... oh the ideas that Boo comes up with!

By this time I was getting a little camera happy and had to get pictures with everyone!  Here's me with Pam :)

Here's me and the Third Musketeer... Christopher!  HOLLA!

And of course my wonderful husband and I :)

Here's Boo and I enjoying her new drink invention...  "Tornado Alley"!  It was soooo GOOD!

Resting after way to much food, games, and family time :)

Dan and I left his Aunt Boo's house on Friday morning.  The first thing we did when we arrived in Indy was pick up Remington.  He was very happy to see us!  Once we got back to our house, I unpacked my stuff from Boo's and repacked stuff to take to P-town.  Then Remington and I were off to visit my side of the family!  Dan couldn't go because he was stuck working!  BLAH!

P-town doesn't have a whole lot of stuff to do, but I kind of like it that way.  I always know that I can rest and relax there!  On Friday night, we played some card games!  That is something we always do.  Grandma and I won 2 out of 3 games of Skipbo!  It was about time... we had lost quite a few as of recently.  Saturday was spent relaxing... I worked on homework and read a book.  My best friend, Kristin and her husband stopped by with baby Andrew.  This was the first time Remington had been around a baby that small.  He was very intrigued and seemed to absolutely LOVE Andrew!  He would not stop giving him kisses!  Sunday it was church in the morning and then Mom fixed a nice lunch before I left to head back to Indy.  It was a nice visit :)

Here is Remington and Andrew meeting for the first time :)  It was love at first sight!

"I like how you smell!"

"I'm still your favorite... right Grandma?"

I hope that everyone was able to enjoy their Thanksgiving as much as I did.  I am so thankful for so many things.  I don't know how I ended up so lucky!!!  Now, onto the next big holiday... CHRISTMAS!

A 5 Day Weekend!

Only 1 more day until Thanksgiving Break!

This picture pretty much sums up how I'm feeling right now!!!!

Mileage Monday

Running stats for the week of November 15th - November 21st... I took a long break between runs this week as you can see by not running Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday.  I was needing a break and hoping that it would help with the consistent foot pain I've been experiencing!  When I did my Wednesday run I felt unstoppable!  No aches or pains!  But afterward... DEFEAT!  The foot pain was back full force.  I have diagnosed myself with extensor tendonitis.  A major cause of this condition is excessive tightness of the calf muscles. When the calf muscles are tight they place excessive stress on the tendons on the top of the foot that pull the foot upward and counteract the calf muscles.  I also blame the injury on treadmills.  I seem to only have this issue during my treadmill running times, but once I switch back to normal road running... the pain mysterious disappears.  It is very frustrating to say the least!  This has caused huge problems with my running for this week.  I was hoping to get in AT LEAST 12 miles... but because of the intense pain I have, even when walking... that of course did not happen.  At this point I pretty much have no chances of finishing my 50 miles in November goal... BUMMER!  I'm even beginning to wonder if my body is capable of being a runner.  When I say runner, I mean being able to run a marathon or even a mini marathon... I mean if 3 miles is doing this to me then what would 26.2 do?  I feel defeated...

Wednesday, November 17, 2010 - 3 miles @ a 10:00 minute per mile pace

Total miles ran for this week... Yep, you read that right, 3 lousy miles...

Total Miles Left... 25.86

All I wanna do is run.... :(

Remington's Christmas Wish List

WOOF! WOOF! It's your favorite Remington Bear here!

My Mom keeps saying that Christmas is getting closer!! So since she is still sleeping I thought I would sneak on the family blog and let everyone know what I wanted for Christmas so you knew what to get your favorite Goldendoodle :)

Shampoo and Conditioner

First, even though I hate getting baths... I love how I smell afterward!  Mom says that it's all because of the shampoo and conditioner that her and Dad use on me. I also love it because it helps with my dry skin so I don't itch so much :)  You can buy this at your local pet store :)

Nylabones

I haven't gotten to try these yet, but Mom thinks that I would like them because one of her friends dogs likes them.  However, if you get them for me make sure you get the really hard kind or else they won't last long :)  You can buy these at pet stores or even Target!

Old Clothes

If you have any old clothes that you no longer want anymore... forget about donating them to Good Will!  Instead, give them to me!  I love any type of clothing item... socks, shirts, jeans, etc.  I have way more fun playing with them than actual toys since they don't usually last very long.  And this present won't cost you a thing!

Old Sheets

And lastly, the absolute number one thing I want for Christmas is old bed sheets! You know the ones that are old, tattered, and at the bottom of your sheet drawer???  I love these!  I have hours and hours of play time fun with them!  I love hiding under them, wrapping them around myself, and tearing them apart!  And the best thing is... it drives my Mom and Dad crazy when I have them!  Once again, these are free!!!

So remember... when you are writing down all the people you need to get Christmas presents for... don't forget about me... Remington Bear... your all time favorite Goldendoodle :)

Can you seriously resist this face???

One week until...

my sweet dog, Remington, gets boarded for 2 whole days... HEARTBREAKING I KNOW! I know this wouldn't bother most normal people, but remember... Dan and I aren't normal!  Our dog is our life and our world revolves around him!!!  It seriously breaks my heart thinking about him all alone in a kennel without his daily love and affection from his Mom and Dad.  But what can we do... not go to family gatherings because of him???  We already almost refuse to go on a vacation because of him now.  I know, I know... he'll be just fine... HOPEFULLY!

We are once again boarding him at Barkefellers... not sure why, because we absolutely hate the place!!!  But, I guess your past behaviors are the best predictor of your future ones.  Yes, this is the place that Remington got kennel cough and came home soaking wet and covered in pee!!!!  We really need to find some other boarding options. However, this time we got him a luxury suite so he is more closed off and farther away from the barking dogs.  It is also bigger, has a TV that plays Animal Planet, and camera access so that we could actually log on to the internet and see how he is doing.  I'm not sure if I will want to do this though.  He is also getting a bath before we pick him up so he is fresh and clean... unlike last time.

It's very hard to find a place that we like... kind of like child care I suppose... no one will ever take as good of care of your baby as you will... but I hope that one day we will succeed in finding a boarding facility that we can feel half way secure leaving him in.  Until then, Barkefellers will have to do...

Mileage Mondays

Running stats for the week of November 8th - November 14th... This has been a great week of running for me.  On Tuesday I adjusted my stride a little bit to try and see if that would help with some of the foot pain I was experiencing.  They say that you don't become injured because of running, but instead because of your running form.  The adjustment has seemed to help and I hope I will be running pain free by the end of the month at least.  The weather has been outstanding this past week, which has allowed me to run outside (where I prefer to run) instead of the "dread"mill. I so wish the weather could have stayed like this forever. Even though I enjoyed my runs this week... I didn't log as many miles as I wanted. I'm going to have to log extra next week to somehow make up for the loss.

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 - 3 miles @ a 10:00 minute per mile pace

Thursday, November 11th, 2010 - 3.14 miles @ a 11:08 minute per mile pace

Saturday, November 13th, 2010 - 3 miles @ 10:00 minute per mile pace

Total Miles Ran for this Week... 9.14

Total Miles Left... 28.86

Just a little over 2 weeks left...

Weekend Project

Since the weather was awesome on Friday and Saturday... I figured that I might as well tackle a project that I have been putting off for a while.

Pam, my mother-in-law, gave us some flower pots last summer.  Since then they have been collecting dust in our garage. I decided to change that this weekend.  I bought some black spray paint to spruce them up a bit.

Here they are at the beginning...

Preparing the transformation...

I was a bit unsure when I started... and sadly my first pot doesn't look all that great...

Luckily, Dan stepped in and finished them off for me...

He is a pro!

Even though they aren't perfect and I still want to add some designs to them, I'm pretty happy with how they turned out :)

Amazed by Blogs

Today as I was perusing through the blog world, I ran across some amazing blogs... notice the increase in my "Daily Reads!" Yikes!  Well, during the short time that I have been blogging (6 months) I have to tell you I have become pretty obsessed with not only my own, but the blogs of others. It's like you can grow to know people through their blogs. I can only compare it to this... I love running at night during the summer months because I can often see into people's homes that have their lights on!  I know... weird right?  But I can't help it... you can learn so much from people by how they live by doing this and the same goes for blogging!  You can tell what their interests are, what they love the most, what drives them crazy, and the list goes on... and on... and on... IT'S LIKE READING SOMEONE'S JOURNAL!!!! Bingo!

I know that people think I'm crazy and that I have way to much time on my hands... but I really don't care. Some people like doing crossword puzzles in their spare time or playing video games... I just so happen to like blogging and reading them. And even though I'm often told that I won't keep this after I have kids... I swear I'm going to prove them wrong :)

Trying to Adjust to Daylight Savings...

Surprisingly, I'm actually a huge fan of daylight savings... well... in the summer I am and in the winter I'm not so much, but the summer out weighs the winter so yes, I'm definitely a fan.

However, these past couple of days has been kind of brutal for Dan and I because Remington has had an awful time adjusting to the time change.  I guess it is mostly our own fault.  We have him on an extremely rigid eating schedule... eat at 6:00 am and at 6:00 pm.  Yes, I even wake up at 6:00 in the morning on the weekends because he knows it is time to eat and won't let me sleep until he does. Well, since the time change happened he has been struggling to understand why it isn't time to eat when he expects.  I have been waking up at 4:45 am to find him staring at me and standing at the door ready to go eat... sigh.  Believe me it isn't fun.  But this morning we had a breakthrough!  He slept until 5:45 in the morning!  HOORAY!  I think he is finally adjusting a bit :)  Thank goodness because I can't take much more of these early mornings...

Mileage Monday... The Challenge has Begun!

This past week my 50 mile challenge started!  YIKES!  After looking at my calendar and trying to figure out a plan of attack to make sure I completed it, I have to admit, I became a bit concerned.  I didn't even think about the upcoming holiday of Thanksgiving, which I know will cause some problems for me with completing this.  UHHHGGG!  So my plan of attack was this... run 15 miles the first week and 15 the second week, which would put me in pretty good shape before the last two weeks of the challenge.  Then I would only have to run 10 each of the last couple of weeks to complete it.  This would give me a little bit of a cushion....

Anyways, here are my running stats for the week of November 1st - November 7th... I didn't do as well as I wanted to, but I feel like I'm staying on top of things.  I'm having some pain in the top of my right foot, but I'm trying to push through it.  If the pain worsens I feel that I might not complete the challenge...

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010 - 3 miles @ a 10:00 minute pace per mile

Thursday, November 4th, 2010 - 3 miles @ a 9:52 minute pace per mile

Saturday, November 6th, 2010 - 3 miles @ a 9:38 minute pace per mile

Sunday, November 7th, 2010 - 3 miles @ a 11:00 minute pace per mile

Total Miles Ran for this Week... 12 miles

Total Miles Left... 38 miles

Wish me luck with a new week and more miles to log!!!

I think we have a problem...

... an 83 lb doodle + Mom or Dad on the couch = not enough room!

"I love it up here Mom and Dad!"

Just had to share....

Oh, how we miss her!  Great costume Hannah!

Hello Ring... Oh, how I've missed you!

Probably a lot of you don't know this, but I have been without my wedding ring for almost 2 weeks now.  We took it to the jeweler in Muncie to get refinished, which should only be a day process... but the person who does that stuff was on vacation for a week, so we left it and they were going to ship it to us when it was finished!  Well, HOORAY, it showed up at our house today!!!  I'm so happy!!! I swear I have felt almost naked without it on these past few weeks!

I'm so happy your home :)

The Worst Thing about Mondays...

is working late... BLAH!  Most of the time my interns work every night during phonathon, but because of their crazy schedules this semester, Monday's they both have class.  So me being the hard working person I am... wink, wink... I have no problem staying late to fill in.  Don't get me wrong, I love my students and think they excel at one of the hardest jobs in the world (raising money)... but I miss spending that extra time with my family.

I know... I've talked about this before... many times... but I guess I'm feeling a bit down in the dumps this evening. I mean how can I not miss my 2 favorite boys in all the world :)

How can you not miss that sweet as can be face???

SIGH....

Mileage Mondays

So, this is how I plan to keep my readers up to date on my mileage for November to see if I will reach my goal of 50 miles.  Keep me motivated people! :)  This will tell you which days I ran the previous week, how much I ran, and how much farther I have yet to go.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010 - 2 miles @ 9:50 pace per mile

Thursday, October 28, 2010 - 2.5 miles @ 9:48 pace per mile

Saturday, October 30, 2010 -2.5 miles @ 9.52 pace per mile

P.S. Yes, I realize this doesn't count in the November mileage... :)  Just wanted to put an example out there.