A half, and full and a new beginning

Last weekend I ran my first ever half-marathon. I did the Salt Lake City Half with my brother, Forrest. I put in a lot of work over the past few months in preparation for this big event and it paid off. The weather was perfect for the run and the route was mostly down hill, all except for the last mile or so up state street (that sucked!!!). My brother did amazing and finished in 1 hour and 44 minutes. I met my goal of coming in under 2 hours by crossing the finish line at 1 hour and 58 minutes. I would definitely like to run it again and try to better my time. I did learn a few things this time around. #1 - Don't stop running. I stopped to use the port o potty and wished I would have just held it because trying to get going again after you have stopped is very difficult. #2 - Try to run with a buddy who can help you mentally re-focus when you feel like quitting. Running can be so much more of a mental challenge than one may think and it is helpful to have someone who knows when to give you a little push. Over all I am proud of myself for completing this challenge and am now looking forward to Ragnar.

Last week we also celebrated ms. Lilly's first birthday. We had a little picnic for her and invited my family over to join us. She had a good time and enjoyed her first taste of sugar, the cake. I had made some "clean" cupcakes and after sampling one early in the day I decided that I might need a backup dessert just in case nobody liked the cupcakes. (The cupcakes were made with sucanat which is dehydrated sugar cane juice and the bittersweet chocolate so the flavor was a bit strong) So I whipped up a "dirty" chocolate cake with "dirty" frosting and raspberries and boy am I glad I did. Delicious!!! As hard as I try to be a clean eater, every now and then I do need a little dirty. hehe

Along with turning one ms. Lilly got to have a check up with her doctor. We were excited to see that she had reached the twenty pound mark so we could turn her around in her car seat. Although my pediatrician said that the new recommendation is two years before they think children should be turned around. Two years? That's nuts! Luckily the law is still one and twenty pounds so I turned my little Lilly around.

This week also marked the beginning of ms. Bella's soccer career. She is on the yellow hornets team and loves how they get a treat and juice box after every game. Ah, the simple joys in life.

It is very entertaining to watch, well as much as I get to watch while I am trying to keep Lilly from eating rocks and abc gum. Here's some pictures.