2014 Year End Review (Lissie 3.75 and Xavier 2.5 updates)

I just looked at last year's Year End Review and am amazed that the majority of the things I said then still apply to now.

Oh, my crazy wonderful children.  You keep me on my toes, and I'm (mostly) loving every minute of it.

Let's start with Lissie.  Oh, how sweet and silly and smart that one is.  She hates getting in trouble for anything.  Doing anything even slightly wrong makes her very upset.  Even if you try positive criticism, the waterworks are inevitable.  She always wants to be good and do the right thing.  But, oh, how she loves making us laugh with her jokes and sense of humor .  And how bright is she!  Her teachers are impressed with her problem solving skills and her ability to solve 50+ piece jigsaw puzzles in a matter of minutes.

She loves pretend play, and could imagine whole scenarios for hours on end.  She pretended to have an entire school day once - complete with lunch, playtime, circle time, and nap - the whole recreation lasted over an hour.  She also still loves to create concoctions in her play kitchen - after she peruses her precious cookbooks for inspiration.

Yep, Lissie still loves all things food related.  She analyzes everything she eats, wanting to know exactly how it's made.  She says she wants to be a "cooker" when she grows up, and she already loves to be a special helper in the kitchen.  There are very few foods that she dislikes these days.  In fact, I can only think of a handful: lobster, crab, asparagus, and turnips.  She loves most everything else.  Yes, even brussels sprouts and beets!

More Lissie loves:
* Spanish and watching Dora
* Sitting in the front of church for Mass
* Dress-up clothes, especially dresses that are so long they touch her toes (ala Elsa)
* Listening to music and singing
* Sleepovers at Lola's
* Running

And then there's Xavier.

That crazy, silly boy.  He can be in the best mood one minute and take quite a turn for the worse the next.  His tantrums are awesomely frustrating and amazing at the same time.  Gotta love the Twos!

But, man, he can turn on the charm like you wouldn't believe.  His giggles are seriously infectious, and his coy smile is extremely heart-melting.  Oh, man, that boy is Trouble.

And his sense of humor that he must have inherited from his Lolo!  He loves telling jokes and performing silly antics to get a rise out of his audience.  He can't help but make everyone smile at his goofy, goofy ways.

Ah, and the potty training.  He turned 2.5 a few days ago, the perfect time for me to finally do what I've been putting off for half a year.  I've known he was ready to take the leap, but I wasn't mentally prepared for it myself.  We're only a few days in, and he's doing impressively well.  He can't wait to be out of diapers and, quite frankly, so am I.

He's also talking.  A lot.  The language explosion hit us like a ton of bricks a few weeks ago - right when I was starting to get anxious about his speech.  But now?  He's speaking in full sentences and telling you more than you want to know about everything.

More Xavier Loves:
* His turtle and his "nini" blanket.
* Chocolate and yummy treats.
* Causing all kinds of mischief.
* Going to school.
* Doing everything all by himself.

And what happens when you put Xavier and Lissie together?  More often than not, they get along wonderfully.  They enjoy cooking together and having tea parties.  They love running around and chasing each other.  They share a room now, and I can hear them talking to each other and giggling for a while before they finally settle down into sleep.

Yes, they have their share of arguments.  "It's mine!" can be heard throughout the house several times a day, but it hasn't been too unbearable.  Yet.  Haha.

Oh, those two.  Can't help but love 'em.  So, so much.

Bring it on 2015.  Looking forward to seeing what you've got in store for us!

Run Run Run 2014 Recap.

As 2014 draws to a close, I'm thinking about my Run Run Run challenge that I made myself for the year.

My initial goal was to log 30 miles a month, but I quickly doubled that - logging more than 70 miles a month towards the latter part of the year.  The grand total?  736.8 miles run so far this year!  The best part about running so much is that I - mostly unintentionally - somehow managed to sneak back down to not just pre-pregnancy weight, but pre-wedding weight as well!

We bought a double jogger back in March, and that helped tremendously.  It was a fabulous workout (those kids are HEAVY!), and we could run somewhere that ended up at a playground so everyone got their exercise!

I actually didn't run many races this year.  In fact, my races were few and far between.  I only did the Predators 5K in February, the Firecracker 5K in July, and the big Ragnar Relay in October.

So what's my goal for 2015?  I plan to continue logging my miles, but this time with a full marathon on the schedule in April and a repeat Ragnar Relay in October.  And, probably a half marathon or two thrown in there for good measure and training.

My friend and race partner unexpectedly passed away last week on Christmas Eve. We had run countless 5Ks (including a 5K a month in 2012), my three half marathons of 2013, and the Ragnar Relay together.  I miss her greatly, and I am devoting all of my runs in 2015 to her memory.

So if I could run 736.8 miles this year, do you think I can run 900 miles in 2015?  I think I'm gonna try.....

Oh, and the best part about me staying healthy?  I'm being a positive example for my children.  Lissie loves to run with me, and she says that when she grows up she wants to be a "cooker and a runner."  Xavier just likes to run.  That is, when he's not being lazy.  Haha.

A Very Late Thanksgiving 2014 Recap

We were planning on a very low-key Thanksgiving.  Justin was scheduled to work on Thanksgiving, so we celebrated the night before at my parents' house.  She had decided to order a deep-fried turkey from a friend at work, and we had all the standard sides to go with it.

We all should've seen the red flag when we cut into the meat and saw some redness, but we attributed it to it being deep-fried and not roasted since, after all, smoked turkey legs are red, too, right?  How little we all knew.

Luckily, the kids and I didn't eat much turkey and stuck to the delicious sides to make room for the pumpkin pie desserts.

But everyone else.....

In the middle of the night, Justin woke me up because he was feeling feverish and crampy.  Around 7am, I got a call from my mom saying she had gotten sick.  Justin's dad also texted saying that he wasn't feeling well.  The kids and I were totally fine.  The most likely culprit?  An undercooked deep-fried turkey.

Justin ended up having to take the day off from work, but I'm sure he would've rather gone in than deal with his food poisoning.

Lesson learned: stick to a roasted turkey, and do it ourselves!

Regardless, we are all still very grateful for our many blessings.  And for that, we are always truly grateful.

Family Getaway - Smokies Edition

Sans the photographer, Justin, as always.

This blog post has been on my to-do list for a while.  It's essentially a recap of my 34th birthday celebration and getaway to the Smokies.  Back in September.  Haha.  Better late than never, right?

My actual birthday fell on a Monday.  It was a low-key kinda day.  I woke up early to run 3.1 miles around our neighborhood.  

Had blueberry waffles for breakfast.  Enjoyed a lovely playdate at the zoo with good friends.  Ate some ramen for lunch (Asian tradition of noodles on your birthday for a long life).

Did some sewing while the kids napped.  

Finished a fun fall dress for Lissie!

Worked at the Y for a few hours when they woke up.  By the time we got home, Justin had come home from work with a lovely takeout meal from Hattie B's that we ate with some collards I had made the night before. 

 Oh, and of course - per tradition - ice cream cake for dessert.  It was the best - a simple birthday with family.

That Thursday, though, we picked Lissie up early from school and headed out on the three+ hour drive to the Smokies - with my parents and Justin's dad in tow.  After settling in at our resort - we used our timeshare to get a spacious three-bedroom suite at Great Smokies Lodge (also known as Wilderness at the Smokies), an amazing kid-friendly place with an awesome indoor waterpark - we had a lovely dinner at Bennett's BBQ.  

The next day, Friday, sort of threw us for a loop when we decided it was in our best interest to take Lissie to an urgent care to take a look at a skin abscess that had been bothering her for a while and was getting worse.  After a morning getting poked and prodded (during which she was thrilled to be able to spend quality alone time with both mommy and daddy watching Doc McStuffins and, afterwards, getting an ice pop), she was given antibiotics and the all-clear to enjoy the rest of our vacation.  

When we got back we donned our swimsuits and headed to the waterpark for some splashing fun.   

After lunch and naps, the grandparents took the kids out for ginormous chocolate-dipped cones and miniature golf at the resort, while Justin and I headed out to run a seven-miler on a not-so-scenic greenway as part of our training for Ragnar.

We got back in time for dinner - Lola had made my Filipino favorites (adobo, pancit, kare-kare, lumpia) - and another ice cream cake for dessert.  Happy birthday to me, yet again!

The next day we started off with a hearty breakfast before burning off the calories hiking to Laurel Falls.  It was a perfect trail for the oldies and the littles, plus it was a lovely day to see the beautiful leaves starting to turn and the breathtaking waterfalls.  

When we got back to the resort, it was time for a late lunch and naps for all.  Afterwards, we (primarily Lissie, who did it four times) enjoyed the outdoor lazy river and another trip to the indoor waterpark.  We also checked out the arcade area, as well.

We ended the night with one final scrumptious meal (Justin cooked steak!) and the last of the ice cream cake before saying goodnight to the Smokies one more time.

Sunday morning we had a quick breakfast before driving to Knoxville (about halfway home) for Mass.  We ate a quickie lunch en route and ended the trip back to Nashville with a fun ice cream social at Lissie's school.

Super fun weekend for sure.  Lots of fun memories made with the whole family.  

Like Lolo, like Lissie.  Same pouty-lipped look of concentration while playing on their technological devices.

And, two months later, Lissie still asks when we're going back to the Smokies.  Not to worry, Lissie.  We'll definitely be back as soon as we can.  

Happy belated birthday to me!

Ragnar Relay TN 2014

I like to run.  I've got more than a handful of half-marathons and even a couple of full marathons under my belt.  But when I first heard of the Ragnar Relay - running with a 12-person team approximately 200 total miles - I was definitely not interested.  At all.  I've had friends do it and rave about it, but the thought of being in a stinky van with runners for over 30 hours on no sleep really just did not sound appealing.

Then I thought about it a little more.  And, last year as I was driving from Cool Springs to my parents' house, I encountered a few Ragnar runners on their final stretch to Nashville, and I was starting to get more intrigued.

I did more research, talked to more friends, and decided that it was time for me to give this challenge a shot myself.  So, back in May we started to pull folks in to form a team - which, crazily enough also included my self-proclaimed non-runner husband - for the Ragnar Race TN in October.

Justin and I had gotten a double jogger in April, and we quickly eased into a routine of working out most days at nearby parks.  And, thankfully with my new employment at the Y, we also got to squeeze in some treadmill runs on icky days, as well.

Unfortunately, with all of the running, Justin's old knee injuries started to flare up and he ended up seeing an orthopedist and getting weekly physical therapy.  Even with help, he wasn't able to run more than a few miles without pain and throughout the course of training never made it past running the hilly Percy Warner 5.6 mile loop.  I was more than a little nervous about how he'd do running three legs through the mountainous terrain leading back to Nashville.

To make matters more interesting, our team started losing people and we were worried about having to run with only 10 runners - making the possibility of us having to run longer distances and more legs something very real.  Thankfully, down to the wire (pretty much literally) we were able to beg more friends to pull through and we were back to 12 folks - each running three legs for a total distance of between 10-21 miles.  Phew!  I signed up to run 18 total miles, and Justin took the easy 10.8 due to his knee issues.

The day of the race, our van (the first six runners) met bright and early at 5am to make the drive to Chattanooga for our 10am start time.  Everyone was half-asleep yet anxious for the race to start.

Team Caddywampus' Caddy Wagon

To check off each leg as we go.

We got to the starting point in time to get our gear, go to a safety briefing, and decorate our van before our first runner took off.  We cheered her on along the way, before making it to the next exchange for the next runner to take over once she arrived.

The second leg was, by far, the hardest leg of all: almost seven miles literally straight up  the infamous steep incline (over 1300 feet in elevation gain) of Suck Creek Mountain Road.  We gave that stretch to our veteran ultramarathoner, and he even had quite the time getting through that stretch.

Then it was my turn.  Luckily, what goes up, must come down.  And I had an easy-peasy 5.10 mile coast downhill at a fast 8:15 pace.  The best feeling was passing two runners along the way (known as a "kill").  But my favorite memory of the whole race was when I went head-to-head with this guy to the finish.  We were both fierce with determination to get there first, and thankfully lots of pictures were taken.  The stranger ended up winning by a nose, but he was a good sport and congratulated me on giving it my best effort, haha.

The relay continued on.  Justin had a great first leg, and we met up with the second van for them to take over while we grabbed a bite to eat at Cracker Barrel and rest up a bit before our turn was up again around 8pm.

Now, I've never run at night outdoors.  Much less on the road, wearing a reflective vest, a headlamp, and a tail light.  I'm also slightly afraid of the dark and having my fellow teammates talk about The Walking Dead and zombies, the movie/book Gone Girl, and bears made me all the more anxious about my turn to run MY LONGEST LEG, 6.8 miles, in the dark.

So, yeah, when it was my turn, my imagination got the best of me.  When my turn was up at around 10pm, I kept thinking about the scariest parts of Gone Girl, I got freaked out by any cars or fellow runners coming nearby, and when I had to run over a moonlit cemetery, a pitch black bridge, and near the entrance to a not-lit-at-all state park, I jetted out of there as fast as I could go.  My legs were starting to wear on me from fatigue, and I ran this stretch much slower at a 10:00 pace.

When it was Runner 5s turn, we waited at the end for quite some time before it came to everyone's attention that some vandals stole a few of the road signs so a bunch of runners - ours included - got lost.  Our runner ended up running 8 miles, when he was only supposed to run just over 4!  We were all pretty peeved about it, but he took it in stride saying simply that he kind of wanted a longer night run, anyway.  Better him than me, for sure.

Justin finished off the night run with an easy 2 miler, that he ran the fastest ever at an 8:29 pace.  We caught very little shuteye during our brief respite.  Sleeping in an uncomfortable minivan is never fun, much less when your legs are screaming for stretching out.  But we probably caught maybe an hour or so of snooze before we were up and at 'em for our final runs.

My last run - a 6.1 miler - was fairly unmemorable.  It was definitely my slowest, at a 10:25 pace, as I was getting pretty achy in the quads.  The country scenery was nice, and I did manage to pass a handful of other fatigued runners along the way.  But I finished strong and was ready to sit back and cheer on the rest of the team to their finishes.

Checking off the last of my legs.  Mission accomplished - 18 total miles done!

However, I was quite taken aback when I realized that Justin was going to run the next leg - a 6.8 mile stretch - when a fellow teammate was feeling under the weather.  Remember, Justin has knee issues and has never run more than the 5.6, so I knew this could end pretty ugly.  But, I had nothing to worry about.  Justin trudged on like a champion and ran that leg faster than I definitely could have at a 9:42 pace.

This guy ended up running over 13 total miles.  I say this "non-runner" is half-marathon ready!

Our van finished in Cool Springs at around noon on Saturday, and we all headed home to shower and rest before we met up with our teammates in downtown Nashville as we finished the relay together.

Van 1 at the end of their run.  99 total kills, whoo-hoo!

Wow, were we achy and tired!  But we managed to make it to the finish with our teammates to relish in the fact that we collectively ran 200 miles.  Amazing.  But oh-so-sleepy.  We had grand plans to have a celebratory dinner, but we were all so wiped that we postponed it for a later date.

Running to the finish as a team.

Team Caddywampus sans Brent

We placed 99th out of 220 teams running the 200 miles at an average of a 9:29 pace.

But, man, what an accomplishment!  So many friends thought we were crazy - we have three nights without kids and this was how we were gonna spend it?  Running a crazy relay on no sleep?  My rationale is that I'm setting an example for my kids on how to be active and have fun.  Plus they had a blast with their weekend with the grandparents, so it was definitely a win-win for us all.
Will I do it again?  Most definitely.  Sign me up for Ragnar TN 2015!

Cheers!