Our First Halloween in Our First House

November 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Halloween 2012- Our first Halloween in our house! We dressed up like runners (which we spent tons of money on!). Ok, not really. Just headed to our dressers. I mean come on we had to be dressed up when we answered the door!

 

We had bought “jumbo” pumpkins. We spent maybe 15-20 minutes picking them out at Walmart. My goal was to find the biggest and most round pumpkin. And I did!

 

Ryan wanted to hold them both. I am not going to lie I was afraid we were going to have some split open pumpkins on the floor. Those things were heavy! Can’t you tell by his face! haha

 

This was my design I was planning on creating! Thought I chose one that was easy enough…being the “expert pumpkin carver” between the two of us.

 

Ryan carved this one out pretty fast and easily for being maybe is 2nd ever pumpkin carved! I think he is a natural!

 

My spider and witch hat turned out looking like this! Can you see the spider on the left side of his mouth? Well come to find out getting the largest pumpkin ever is not always the best idea! The wall of the pumpkin was so thick my knife would not fit though and I ended up breaking off my spider legs! So then I went for plan B: Jack-o-lantern.

 

Our trick-or-treaters complemented on our pumpkins. They liked them.

 

An eight year old said he made one just like mine. But then he added his didn’t have teeth. “Phew” I thought. I can’t be producing 8 year old work! ha! ;)

 

We even lit them up until we smelt something like pumpkin burning.

 

We gave out raisins and pistachios for our treats! If you can’t tell by the picture I was pretty excited about it! None of the kids asked what it was so that is good, but you could tell some of them had no idea. They were trying to decide if they wanted to take it or not. Our first trick-or-treater came to the door did the splits as she said “trick or treat?” I decided she deserved the treat!

Our first Halloween was a great one! Enjoyed dressing up, carving pumpkins and handing out one healthy treat at a time!

What did you do for Halloween?

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We Had Our Cake and Ate it too!

October 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment

For starters: HAPPY HALLOWEEN! May it be a spook-tacular day! This is our first year to be in our house for Halloween! Tonight we plan on carving pumpkins while handing out treats! Check back later to see what exciting treats we are giving out!

With Monday being our one year anniversary we pulled the cake out of the freezer. We had our cake and ate it too! It’s crazy to think that two years ago we met, Ryan proposed in Switzerland and 7 weeks later we had a running themed wedding all one year after we met!

On our anniversary I had to squeeze in two more parent/teacher conferences before I could come home. Had the first one, but the second one canceled so I headed home early. I found Ryan cooking us a yummy dinner!

Steak, mashed sweet potatoes and steamed asparagus. Oh, and garlic knots!

Then we had some cake! We had several flavors at our wedding so we didn’t know what flavor it was going to be. We cut into it (strawberry!) and had a bite then decided we needed to shed most of the icing off of it!

After peeling all but the top of the icing off we ate every bit of the cake. The middle bite was the best! So keep in mind when planning the wedding: double the size of the cake you want a year later, then just eat the middle! ha.

I gave Ryan a gift called I Love You with All 5 of my Senses. Ryan is still working on my gift. He asked if I wanted to know what it was or wait until it was done. I told him I would wait to find out. So waiting I am. :)

So we want to know what did you do to celebrate your first anniversary?

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Our One Year Anniversary!

October 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Two years ago Ryan and I met at the 2010 Tulsa Run. The next year we ran the same race and got married later that afternoon with a running themed wedding. Here we are now celebrating our one year anniversary!

The year has been amazing! It really has! We have got to do so many things, learned so much, moved forward toward our dream and have grown closer. It is crazy to think what this next year will hold for us!

It is always a bit of a challenge to come up with what to get Ryan for gifts. However, I came across the gift idea called the five senses on The Dating Divas website. I liked the idea and was ready to roll with it for his anniversary present! On their site it even has printables for the gift, but I decided to make my own.

I actually used a box that our wedding invitations came in! Oh and the left over paper from his homemade birthday card! haha.

Sound: Ironman DVD- so he can listen to it at work

Sight: lingerie-for him to see ofcourse

Touch: Certificate for a massage

Smell: Certificate for a homemade loaf of bread- he likes the smell of it (and taste!)

Taste: Hot Tamales- one of his favorite sweets

 

Here is a close up so you can see the “template” that I used.

We have our cake in the fridge thawing out to have some later today also! Should be interesting!

What did you and your spouse do on your one year anniversary to celebrate?

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I DID WHAT?!?

October 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Ryan is such a sweetheart! When we are talking to others, that may or may not know us that well, about our athletic adventures Ryan often brings this up. He says, “Considering experience, age and gender my wife may be a better athlete than me.” I always tend to laugh in my head because Ryan is a stud at what he does!

Ryan goes on to explain how I have only been racing for two years and he has ran since he was 5. He tells about our different experiences and such.

Now I know Ryan has always had a hard time with marathons (several years back when he tried them). I also remember Ryan saying I might beat his personal record (PR) during my first marathon. His PR is a 3 hour 56 minute marathon. On my first marathon I completed a 3:58. Close but did not beat his PR. On my second marathon which was back in April I finished 6 minutes faster than my first year. I completed a 3:52! Which I was super excited about.

It JUST occurred to me last Thursday that I beat Ryan’s PR for a marathon! HA! I’m not laughing at the fact that I beat his PR, but I am laughing at the fact here it is 6 months later and I just now realized it!

I must say when Ryan had his stints in marathons he was not in nearly as good shape as he is in now. I think he could do some awesome stuff now at a marathon! I mean in Switzerland he did the same pace for his 18 mile run as he did for his PR just on the marathon and that was after he already had ran and biked for over 6 hours!

Oh the great, funny times in marriage! Share below a story in your marriage that made you laugh!

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The End of the 90 Day Challenge

September 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment

About 90 days ago I wrote a post about the 90 Day Challenge. It is hard to believe that the 90 days have already passed! Ryan invited me to do a 90 day challenge with him where you focus on one thing that you would like to achieve. Over the 90 days there are videos and little homework assignments that you do. But first you must decide what you want to focus on.

My 90 day challenge was: to add 90 followers on Facebook for our blog. That is one follower a day! Seemed like a bit of a stretch as I was not getting that before the challenge so how would I magically start making that happen now once I start the challenge. But I also thought that was an honest number that I could achieve with some hard work.

Ryan’s 90 day challenge was: to race a triathlon in Branson and do well enough to get a slot to another race next year.

Two days ago on Sunday was the mark of the 90th day of the challenge. That was the day that Ryan raced. We would then take a look back over the 90 days to see all the work we did and what we accomplished.

I set to work over the 90 days to get followers. Not for the number, but to provide valuable information to other newlywed couples. That was my desire. I did and tried several things over the 90 days to achieve my goal. Used pinterest, joined the Christian Marriage Blogger Association, added RSS and buttons to the blog, ran some contests, found an automatic Facebook feature and several other things!

Ryan trained daily, worked hard, got up early and made many sacrifices to train for his race. His training started way before the 90 day challenge, but during those 90 days he started focusing on it even more.

To reach my goal I would need to go from 53 followers to 143 in those 90 days. I was ready for it. Like I said above I was trying all kinds of things. On day 60 I reached 143 likes on our page! I reached my goal in 60 days- in 2/3 of the planned time! At day 90 we are now at 172 likes from people and 27 likes from pages which puts us at a total of 199! It is a great feeling to have not only met my goal, but to have surpassed it!

Last week Ryan talked in the video that goes along with each week how it is not necessarily if you met your goal or not on the 90th day it is more about the experience and what you learned over the whole 90 days. I thought about how true that was. Thinking about all I learned, the people I got to personally help, and the new understanding of knowing I can do anything I put my mind to!

Ryan completed his race as well. He had an amazing bike split, worked hard, did not give up and finished! He did not get a spot to the next race like he originally planned, but he enjoyed the day. He learned many things over the challenge and even in the actual race. He is looking forward to continuing to learn and move forward with the next challenge.

It is so amazing how we have been able to support each other through these 90 days knowing what each is working towards. For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn states,

It is so true, that behind every great man is a great women. There are a lot of men out there who are mediocre, simply because their wives will not support them and bring them to greatness. And there are a lot of mediocre men who are destined to become great men- who are becoming great men- because their wives love and support them.

And this is true for women as well! I am so thankful and grateful to have such a wonderful husband who helps me become the best I can be!

If you want to know more about the 90 Day Challenge contact me directly. I would be more than happy to share with you the tools and resources for you to be able to reach/work towards your goal in the next 90 days!

Remember the importance of sharing your current goal with your spouse so that they can support you. And ask your spouse what theirs is so you can do the same for them!

Leave a comment below telling us how you support your spouse or how they support you in your current goal!

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Our Weekend

September 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment

On Friday I posted about our weekends this time of the year. Like I mentioned we were headed to Kansas for me to race in a 6.5 mile trail run. Three years ago I worked a summer literacy camp. One of my coworkers there and I started running together and planned to do this race together. This is now our 3rd time to do the race together. It is always nice to catch up with each other!

Before the race the race director told us to watch for snakes and that the water crossing were there this year due to the rain the past few days. We were headed to the finish line when Ryan started to walk a little ways down to get a picture of the start. I said, “Hey, what about my good luck kiss?!” He came back to give me one and race director yelled to go. We quickly started to run. So here were the start race pictures that he got of Naomi and I. :)

Naomi

And me

The whole time during the race I was telling myself to keep pushing. I reminded myself that I wanted to go 55 minutes. When I wanted to walk I told myself that jogging was better than walking.

My shoe came untied once and I had to stop to tie it. Those dang water crossings!

My shoe came untied again with about a half mile to go! There was a woman behind me and I was pretty sure we were first and second place. I was not stopping to tie that shoe! I was afraid I was going to have to finish the race with only one shoe! I managed to out kick the women behind me on the flat part at the end to get 1st place overall woman (My shoe did stay on!) . Come to find out that lady was who won the year before and was pregnant and due in 9 days!

Ryan had done a training run during the race. He was headed down to the finish line with my backpack and our clothes when I finished. I crossed the finish line and didn’t see him anywhere. I look up a hill in the direction of the car and he is headed down. He missed my first overall finish! haha.

I was super excited to win my first overall win! I got this awesome trophy!

Naomi and I after the race

Our shoes were a bit dirty!

I couldn’t do it without his support!

Super excited to see him race this weekend! I’m ready to see him do just as well!

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Weekend! What That Means for Us.

September 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment

It is Fall and it is race time! Many weekends September through November consist of races for us. Driving, early mornings, packing gear, and sandwiches on the road for dinner.

Last weekend we had our long training day on Saturday and was off for a race on Sunday. Lucky for us we are use to getting up at 4:15 so these early race morning are not too bad. However, we miss our day of sleeping in. The weather was great and Ryan did awesome at the race! He finished 3rd over all! So proud of him! You can check out the video below that we did for the race.

Today we are headed out to Kansas for me to race on Saturday. It is a 6.5 mile trail run with water crossings! We will leave right after work for a 4 hour drive. The weather again is suppose to be wonderful (that is why I love Fall races!)! Four hours is a long drive for such a small race. But I meet up with a friend to do it so it is all worth it! My first year I did 63 minutes, last year I did 58 and this year I am going for 55! Then, I think I can leave that race behind in the future feeling like I met my goal. On Sunday we will be home to head to church and get our long training day in.

2010 -Water crossing

2011 -Start of the race

2011 -After the race

Next weekend is a big race weekend for us! We are headed to Branson for an Ironman 70.3. Ryan has been training for this all year long. Our plan is for him to do well enough that he can get a spot to go to Vegas for Nationals! We will head out Friday after work. We have workouts and race to do’s on Saturday, and Sunday is the race!

Racing is not just a hobby for us it is a way of life. We allow it to take our weekends and hours upon hours of training each week. Our schedule is worked around our workouts and our meals are planned around them as well. Although we  have to be flexible during race season to be supportive to each other. Ryan will get his run in tomorrow while  I am racing and I will do the same next weekend.

Each couple spends their weekends in different ways and this is how we choose to spend ours. How do you and your spouse spend your weekends?

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A Year Ago Today….

September 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

A year ago today was the day that Ryan proposed! So I thought I would share the story for those of you who do not know it!

Ryan had earned a spot to represent Team USA in the World Championship for Long Course Dualthon. This actually happened before we even met. While Ryan and I were dating he got the news that the race was over Labor Day weekend in Zofingen, Switzerland! He decided to go for it. It would be the longest race he had ever done with the biggest hills (aka mountians- which we don’t have in OK!). And he invited me to go along with him!

We took care of all the details of the trip and Ryan trained hard core! The time came and we were off to Switzerland. Luckily my work was very generous and allowed me to take off right after school had started.

After a long flight there we met up with others representing Team USA, looked around the town and started finding out how to get food around that place.

Then, came the race day! Ryan looked like a stud in his Team USA kit :)

And he finished! Just under 9 hours! I had a few worries and panics while awaiting his finish- so long to wait!

The day after the race we did a little sight seeing in a town over called Lucern.

We ate some fondue! Yum.

The next day we headed to Zurich. This was the day of the proposal!

We toured around the town a bit but the bridges and water was just so pretty!

I thought about getting some Starbucks before the bus picked us back up so went to scout some out. I decided I didn’t want it after all. So we ended up on a bridge over looking this view. Ryan suggested us taking a picture together. So we did a shot where it took several in a row and this is what we came up with:

HAHA! I know funny stuff right?! Well Ryan reviewed the pictures in the camera for us to look at. I was BUSTING up laughing at this 3rd picture because of my eyes! He then asked what was on his finger in the picture. Then I saw it! The ring!

He got down on one knee, said his sweet little spill (private is private folks ;) ) and asked me to marry him! Of course I said yes. :) We then booked it over to catch our bus! Our families were awaiting “the phone call”. Ryan had asked my mom for permission and told his mom before we left. Each time we talked to them they hinted around at trying to find out if it happened yet. My mom said, “I have been waiting by the phone for your call.” It all seemed a little odd, but then when I pieced it all together after the proposal it made complete sense!

Oh wait wrong hand!

Better!

The next day we had to fly out to head back home. Ryan said something about he was too sore the day after his race to get on one knee to propose then! ;) When I returned to work I got to tell everyone the excitement!

We decided it would be awesome to get married the same day as the race we met at the previous year. The race just happened to be 7 weeks later! I told Ryan he should have proposed sooner! But we did it. We planned an awesome running themed wedding and had everything we wanted. Wedding day we woke up to run a 15k race  and then had our wedding a few hours later! One of the best days of my life!

Now you know the story of our proposal! What is your proposal story? Tell us below!

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Spending Time with your Husband on His Birthday

August 27, 2012 by Leave a Comment

On Friday I wrote about the adventures of trying to birthday present shop for Ryan. Saturday came and it was his birthday. We started the morning with our workouts. On Saturday’s Ryan has a 3.5 hour ride and 30 minute run and I have a 2.5 hour ride and 30 minute run. We head out to Riverside and there are some dark clouds. It starts to rain as we are getting our gear ready. We head out. The wind is so strong we are working hard to move forward. Thirty minutes into our ride in starts pouring- I am talking huge drops. They are stinging our skin. Between the rain and fog on our glasses we can barely see. Lightning strikes and the big bang afterwards. I swerve it scared me so bad. Ryan and I opt to head back to the house to ride on the trainer. As we head back to the car the rain subsides. We decide to finish the ride outside, but to stay closer to the car than planned in case more big storms come in.

We are wondering around in a neighborhood to see if we can catch another trail. We end up needing to turn around. Luckily I was going pretty slow- in the turn I wrecked my bike. I must have hit some water just right (or wrong- however you want to look at it.) It wasn’t too bad, but I do have 2 big bruises, scraped up ankle and elbow and a jammed shoulder/neck. Like I said luckily I was going pretty slow! I survived and finished my workout. Ryan dropped me off so he could finish his workout.

Later once Ryan got home I gave him his presents. I made him a card that I found on Pinterest. I also made a little poem/certificate so he could get some new five fingers. (Like I said in my last post he is a bit hard to buy for.)

Ryan had mentioned several times how he would love to have a Bonsi tree for his cubical. This was the present I was referring to that was so hard to get my hands on. This is not a “true” Bonsi the man told me, but it was as close as this town had until the man on the corner brings his truck of Bonsi’s out again. Ryan liked it a lot! We decided it looked pretty neat in our living room- maybe we need to get another one!

We then went to Hideaway Pizza. Since we don’t go out to eat often birthdays are a great time to do so. It was yummy!

Ryan said that he enjoyed his birthday. I think I enjoyed it just as much as he did. I love getting to spend some quality time with him!

Leave a comment below telling what are some things you have done to spend quality time with your spouse on their birthday?

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Birthday Present Shopping for the Husband

August 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment

 

Ryan’s birthday is on Saturday! Shopping for Ryan is kind of hard. He made a good point one time when he said,  ”If I really wanted it I would probably buy it.” Also, when trying to get things out of him without letting him know you are getting it out of him is hard. For instance: He said it would be kind of neat to have this thing for his bike. When trying to figure out which color he wanted he didn’t really know. I made him a certificate to get his own. Another time he was wanting something from Under Armour, but he was not sure of the style without trying it on. So again I ended up with a certificate as his gift.

I have managed to come up with a few good gift ideas for him. He loved the 12 days of Christmas, Ironman DVD,  and the painting I made him.

Needless to say I felt a little bit of pressure with this birthday coming up! ;) I had been making mental notes for months when he would mention something. I had some ideas ready! I can’t disclose today what they actually are as he won’t be getting his presents until tomorrow, but no worries I will have an update for you on Monday!

I set out on my search to get his gifts. For gift #1: Four places that I thought would have the item did not. Some people recommended three different places which I called or stopped by which did not have it either! While on the phone with one place it rang and rang and rang. Then an operator would come on and ask for which department I needed. It would ring some more and an operator would pick up and ask which department again. After four times through and two different times of this I decided no one worked in that department! Fortunitly I saw an ad of a place that I thought might have what I was looking for. I called and they answered right away- what customer service! haha. They had something close to what I was looking for so I snatched it up!

For gift #2a: I knew exactly where to go for it. However, once I got there they were out of the one I needed! I stopped by a few days later and still out. Today I may try to stop again for one last try.

For gift #2b: If 2a falls through I have a b plan! This gift however would yet again be one Ryan would have to pick out because I could not get the details out of him. I have a good plan on how to present the gift even though I wouldn’t actually be buying it. Maybe I will just take him on Saturday to go get it! :)

So yes, birthday present shopping for your husband can be a bit crazy! BUT it is worth it all! I am excited to celebrate a birthday with a wonderful man who has chose to be with me for a lifetime!

What are some gifts your husband has enjoyed?

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