{partners in crime}: February 2014

Remington's Rundown

Hey Doodle Lovers! It's Remington Bear here!

This weekend I worked on a new trick.... "UP!"

Time to sign off... WIGGLES!

~Remington Bear~

Running stats and CrossFit WOD's for the week of February 17th - February 23rd... Well, after weeks and weeks of falling further and further behind on my half marathon training and fitness in general, I finally feel like I may be back in the game! This week brought warmer weather and melting snow which allowed me to get outside and run run run! Truthfully, it wasn't much fun getting back up to speed after such a long time off, but my training time frame is getting much shorter than I would like! Because of all the stuff I have going on right now I haven't been to an actual CrossFit class in months which is sad, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Instead, I have been trying to create my own WOD's that I can do at home. I was suppose to run 4 times this week, but as you can see I only did 2. I missed a 4 miler and my long run which I had hoped would be a 7-8 miler. Weather is suppose to be super cold again this week. Hoping I can keep what little momentum I have going.

Monday, February 17th, 2014 - REST DAY!

Tuesday, February 18th, 2014 - Ran 5 miles / STRETCH

Wednesday, February 19th, 2014 - Ran 5 miles / STRETCH

Thursday, February 20th, 2014 - REST DAY!

Friday, February 21st, 2014 - At Home WOD: 50 single jumps, 40 sit ups, 30 squats, 20 push ups, 10 lunges per leg (repeated 4 times)

Saturday, February 22nd, 2014 - At Home WOD: 50 single jumps, 40 sit ups, 30 squats, 20 push ups, 10 lunges per leg (repeat 4 time) / 2.5 mile walk with Remi

Sunday, February 23rd, 2014 - REST DAY!

Total miles ran this week : 10 miles

Photo a Day Challenge : Week #7

Day 16 - Create (create your own happiness)

Day 17 - Vegetable (spinach... the only veggie we have in our house currently)

Day 18 - Magic (5 miles + 50 degrees = magic)

Day 19 - Feet

Day 20 - Peace

Day 21 - Funny (one of my favorite shirts that Dan has)

Day 22 - An Act of Kindness (Remi took me for a walk today)

Photo a Day Challenge : Week #6

Day 9 - Details

Day 10 - I Am... (thirsty)

Day 11 - Mistake

Day 12 - Out & About

Day 13 - Perfect (our first therapy dog visit was perfect)

Day 14 - Heart

Day 15 - My Drink of Choice

30 Before 30 - Start Volunteering (Valentine's Day Style)

Remington and I finally had our very first therapy dog visit at Greenwood Village South... and best of all it was right before Valentine's Day! I was so happy to finally get started volunteering at this special place, especially with my sweet Remington!

Remi and I had been preparing for this visit in prior weeks by working on making special Valentine's for the residents we got to meet :)

As you can see, Remington is very creative and artistic!

Super proud doodle boy right there!

Before we left to meet our residents at Greenwood Village we took the time to make sure that we were looking good and had all our essential items!

Remi brushed all the tangles out of his hair and put on his special Valentine's Day bandana that read... "My Furry Valentine" on it!

And I made sure I had my official Paws and Think name tag!

My best buddy and I ready to go!

Remi couldn't contain his excitement... he grabbed his leash and took off out the door!

For our first time doing this, I thought things went wonderful! Remington was a little more clingy to me than I expected, but I think after a few more visits he will start to be a little more comfortable. The residents loved getting to know Remi and also the Valentine's cards he brought for them. Honestly, I left GVS after our visit with my heart exploding with joy. I am so thankful for the opportunity to give back to the population that I feel so passionate about and I felt so proud to have a dog that can bring just as much happiness to others as he does me! Hopefully we will be able to show more of our therapy dog adventures as time goes by!

Time to check "start volunteering for an organization I'm passionate about" off my 30 Before 30 List!

Defeated...

Today wasn't a good day...

I am feeling pretty defeated in all areas of my life currently...

I'm overwhelmed, tired, and my brain is constantly in overdrive and going in a million different directions... I can't think straight...

I'm sad, frustrated, and a little bit hopeless...

I have way to much on my plate and nothing is going as planned...

Alright... enough time spent feeling sorry for myself! Tomorrow is a new day and I will continue to charge forward!

Mileage & CrossFit Monday

I had another week of trying to stay on top of my work load and school. I'm at the place right now where running or working out period has taken a back seat to everything else going on. I counted up the weeks I have until race day and its only 14 weeks away. YIKES! My plan was to start training hard in December and now it's February and no progress has been made. I re-worked my training plan so I can hopefully get back on track with my running. We will have to wait and see how things go. If we could get some decent weather that would be helpful....

Total miles ran this week : 0 miles

Photo a Day Challenge : Week #5

Day 2 - Favorite (celebrating Remi's B-day is our fav)

Day 3 - Something Orange

Day 4 - Childhood

Day 5 - Square

Day 6 - C Is For... (chocolate chips)

Day 7 - Utensil

Day 8 - Water

30 Before 30 - January Book (The Fault In Our Stars)

The fifth book I read for my 30 Before 30 challenge was...

Yes... I know I'm a little bit behind in my book reading... forgive me won't you?

A friend of mine at work actually lent me this book after I expressed interest in trying to read several books that were going to hit theaters this year... and I'm so glad she did. This book was a fast read and very thought provoking to me. I'm often worrying about all the trivial things going on in my life and this got me to thinking about the bigger picture instead of the minor details.

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At 16, Hazel Grace Lancaster, a three-year stage IV–cancer survivor, is clinically depressed. To help her deal with this, her doctor sends her to a weekly support group where she meets Augustus Waters, a fellow cancer survivor, and the two fall in love. Both kids are preternaturally intelligent, and Hazel is fascinated with a novel about cancer called An Imperial Affliction. Most particularly, she longs to know what happened to its characters after an ambiguous ending. To find out, the enterprising Augustus makes it possible for them to travel to Amsterdam, where Imperial’s author, an expatriate American, lives. What happens when they meet him must be left to readers to discover. Suffice it to say, it is significant. Writing about kids with cancer is an invitation to sentimentality and pathos—or worse, in unskilled hands, bathos. Happily, Green is able to transcend such pitfalls in his best and most ambitious novel to date. Beautifully conceived and executed, this story artfully examines the largest possible considerations—life, love, and death—with sensitivity, intelligence, honesty, and integrity. In the process, Green shows his readers what it is like to live with cancer, sometimes no more than a breath or a heartbeat away from death. But it is life that Green spiritedly celebrates here, even while acknowledging its pain. In its every aspect, this novel is a triumph.

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This book made me laugh, cry, feel joy, and defeat. For me it made me think... think about what's important and not to sweat the small stuff in life. It reminded me of how much I love and appreciate the people in my life because they could be gone sooner than I have planned. I'm looking forward to it hitting theaters in 2014 and I see Robert Pattinson as the future "Gus."

Remington's Rundown - Golden Birthday

Hey Doodle Lovers! It's Remington Bear here!

Today is my golden birthday... you know... the birthday that you turn the same age as your birthdate! I'm turning 5 on the 5th of February! How cool is that!

Mom and Dad keep saying that they can't believe I'm that old and that is seems like just yesterday that I was a 10 week old puppy.

Let's talk about how we celebrated my big day!

It has been super cold where I live lately... so cold that I have to wear boots when I go outside because it hurts my paws if I don't. I have been getting a little cabin fever because I have been spending most of my time inside. Anyways, this past weekend Mom and Dad decided to take me on a little adventure to Pet Smart and PetCo for my big day! They were both home for the weekend so it was the prefect time to spend time together. My adventure was lots of fun and I enjoyed all the new smells, sounds, and sights these places had to offer.

"Ready to get started guys!"

"Hmmmm... decisions decisions on the best toy to pick out!"

I got to see all sorts of animals that I often don't get to... fish, grouchy kitties, mice, and birds!! They were all so interesting to me and I could have watched them forever!!

We did a lot more exploring of each store and visited with some people who wanted to wish me a Happy Birthday... then it was back home to have some cake and quality time with Mom and Dad!

Mom and Dad got me a special B-day cupcake and Mom made these silly hats! I didn't like to keep mine on AT ALL!!!

However, my cake was awesome as always!!! YUM YUM YUM!

It was another great B-day with my Mom and Dad! I'm one lucky doodle!

Time to sign off... WIGGLES!

~Remington Bear~

Mileage & CrossFit Monday

Running stats and CrossFit WOD's for the week of January 27th - February 2nd... it was like I blinked and the week was over before it even began. Not much to report besides a crazy work schedule, trying to stay caught up with school work, and crazy weather. I'm happy to be back to a more normal schedule this upcoming week.

I'm a little worried about my half marathon training. I have not stayed up with it like I should have by any means during the month of January. Now I'm down to about 15 weeks until the big day and I know I have to get pretty serious about my training or this half marathon will be a complete flop for me. Hopefully next week I'll have some good news to report.