Thanksgiving Weekend

So Thanksgiving and Christmas have always been a favorite time of year for me. I am very thankful for many things: God's amazing grace that I soooo don't even come close to deserving, my family, and some great friends that I'm just not sure what I would do without some days!! I've found myself a little more emotional this year than years past. There's something about the second year after you lose someone you love that is harder than the first... I found myself really missing my mom this year. She loved the holidays, and she loved to cook!!! She would start cooking Thanksgiving and I think not stop til Christmas - really! She had to share her love to everyone through baklava!! I love the holidays as well, but to say I love to cook would be more than stretching the truth. I know how to cook, and am pretty good at making some things, but loving it...eh not so much. So this year, just like almost every other Thanksgiving I made the broccoli casserole. Yummo!

mom would be so proud! :)

 I love family get togethers! This is our newest member to the Hull family-Sam! He is just the cutest little man! It was fun to play, and not have to change any diapers.

The day after Thanksgiving is when we decorate for Christmas. Sydney and Zachary gettin in on the photo op. It's also a great time to move the furniture around and get rid of all those dust bunnies that seem to multiply like crazy under couches and behind bookshelves. 

And the view from outside!

Oh!!! And one more thing...I have soooo enjoyed my time off!!! I even got a run in EVERY day: Thurs (in the rain) 4.6m, Fri 4.5m, Sat 6.1m..and planning just a short easy 2 miler for tomorrow. It doesn't seem like much, but for a girl that has been crazy busy lately...it's been awesome!

Man is it WINDY!!!

Ok! So every year we have this battle with trying to keep up the Christmas decorations, and yes our outside decorations are already up. We thought ahead this year and put them up on a good weather day instead of waiting until the normal Miller tradition of putting up the lights the day after Thanksgiving. We will still do that on the inside along with make hot chocolate (coffee for me) and bake cookies...pictures of that to follow.
So back to the decorations...
The deer in the front yard probably falls over ooooh 18 times a day! and so Jack put the stake through the material this time to "secure" it.

As you can see the material is still securely held in to the ground! :)

Some things you just can't control

Today's lesson: There are things in life that you cannot control. Sometimes life just happens to you and you're stuck in the middle of it.

I went on a field trip with my class today, and several, many things went wrong....from buses arriving late, to having someone get sick on the bus, to getting stuck in traffic, then lost and having to take a detour on the way back due to an accident. And why is it that some people just won't take directions, or ask for directions??? Eh? All things beyond my control. By the end of the day I figured I could either let it all ruin my whole outlook, and day, or I could just roll with the punches and hope they don't leave any marks.(ouch!)

Well even though during certain moments I was frustrated way beyond measure... by the end I was laughing over it. At least we all got there, had a good experience while we were there, and got home safely and relatively close to on time! (*wink)

It helps to have had some good friends to vent to, and go through it all with. Life is good! Can't wait for tomorrow!!! ~always and adventure

Naked Running and Homework Hotline

So tonight was the first night that I have even remotely felt like running since Thursday. I got an awesome 7 1/2 miler in on Thursday, then BAM! Stupid head cold!! I couldn't hardly breathe let alone try to run. But today? Today was a new day...So feeling somewhat better (~80%) I decided to go for a naked run. What might you say is a naked run? Well for me it is a fun run. Running for the shear enjoyment of it. I probably wasn't going to be able to push it anyway so why not leave the watch, heart rate monitor and mp3 player at home. I used to also run with my phone, but I quit doing that a while back ;) It was a GREAT run!!! Just me and the road.... I just took it easy. nice. slow 2 miles. It was really nice just to relax and run!

 My sexy white legs...I can tell it's fall because all my tan lines are all gone! Boo!! Time for a vacation!!!

And then there was Homework!!! No, not my homework...it was a true test of "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader". My daughter's homework page (shown above) she was supposed to find the degree of the angles of each shape, but NOT using a protractor?!?! What the??? Hmmmmm.... So I remembered that the angles of an isosceles triangle all equal 180, but aside from that I needed some serious help! Well between coolmathforkids.com and a pretty AWESOME Homework Hotline connection we figured it out, but boy it doesn't take much to make a grown up feel stupid! But this girl is resourceful! I know that when I don't know the answer...it's time to find someone to help me understand. All I have to say is with all that effort this assignment better be for a grade! :)

Introducing me...not the Nick Jonas version

This year has been an eventful year! Let me tell ya~ I've been crazy busy going back to school to get my Masters'  and along with all the other stuff I have on my plate has proven to be a challenge. I won't get into all that right now, but I would like to share some of my most recent accomplishments.

In February of 2009 my diabetic doc said I had to start doing some kind of exercise if I wanted to be healthy and be around for my family. I have successfully lost and held off 35lbs! It took me about 6months to lose it, and I know that is pretty fast, but when I set my mind to somethin' I mean it! Last year was a learning year. I learned how to run and train for races (1m - 5k) and how to ride a road bike...that was quite entertaining especially for those with me on my first ride with cleated shoes...no video available, sorry!

This year I trained for my first half marathon The Indy Mini:

time 1:57:26

I also got more comfortable riding my bike and completed my first duathlon Tri Indy

I came in 1st in my age group!

I also completed my second half marathon. The Detroit Free Press Marathon/Half Marathon in October. As well as some other smaller races peppered through the year.

I think it is sooooo super important to take care of yourself! I have just recently realized that it's a necessary part of the puzzle in enjoying life. Life changing events are called "life changing" for a reason. It is your choice to let them have a positive or negative affect on you.

Right now I don't have any events on my schedule. So I am looking for some things to sign up for. I would really like to try swimming and try a triathlon this next year. I am completely freaked out by the thought of swimming though. Not that I'm afraid, it's just been a reaaaallllly long time since I've actually tried swimming. I mean like back in the day...like high school! Haha!! And that was just in PE! Oh well, won't know if I can do it unless I try. I'll let you know how things progress...

~later