Surprise! A whole new room!

I've been feeling a bit restless lately. Maybe it's because we have been denied a true spring and are still stuck in winter-like weather. Maybe it's because my neighbor/friend/running partner sold her house and is leaving me. Maybe I'm just in a rut. Whatever it is, I've been feeling like my house is closing in on my lately. Too much stuff. Too much clutter. Too little "ahhhhs."

Anyway, to cure myself of this feeling, I've been watching some HGTV. Ok, maybe a lot of HGTV. Alright, alright ... a TON of HGTV. Well, I started to get some ideas floating around in my brain.

Cory knows it's dangerous when I start to get ideas, and I think he gets very scared. So, instead of scaring him, I decided to surprise him. He was going out of town on Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon for the Berkshire Hathaway stockholders meeting in Omaha. This was going to be my chance.

I had been tiring of our bedroom for a while now. We had painted it a tanish brown color when we moved in  9.5 years ago. Yes, we've lived in our house almost 10 years. I know. It's insane. Anyway, I think almost 10 years with the same color is plenty long.

I wanted something fresh, crisp and clean. A place to relax and chill. My bedding was already white and brown, and I knew it would look good with a teal/blue/turquoise color. I was planning this all in my head without giving Cory a heads up at all.

So, on Friday, I go to Lowe's and get a couple testers of different colors. Saturday morning, Cory leaves at 3 a.m. Charlotte is up by 6:15, and I start painting the testers. I proceed to empty out the whole room and take everything off the walls. Then, when I see my neighbor/friend/running partner out at her garage sale, I make her come over to help me decide on one of the three colors.

Blurry, but the three choices. You really could barely tell the difference in real life, though.

I decided on "aqua chiffon," even if there was a little voice in my head that told me it would be too bold and too bright, and headed over to Lowe's to buy the two gallons of paint. My mom, painter extraordinaire, had graciously agreed to come over to help me paint. We stopped at Einstein's for breakfast as long as we were out and about.

Charlotte at Einstein's.

Charlotte wanted to take a picture. Please forgive the lack of makeup and crazy hair: I was going to be painting!

After we got home, and my mom got over, we started painting. It actually went pretty quickly, even after I decided to paint the windows and the big light box in my kitchen white. I figured, as long as the paint was out, I would just get it done. 

Sunday morning, the paint was dry, I hung everything back up, and even made it to the store for a couple new decorative pillows. 

Rocking it through the dog door

I know I've been behind on posts. I can only blame the fact that I had a race every weekend of April (including two out-of-town ones). No, excuse, really. But, I'm going to use it anyway. I'm going to try to catch up here. Again. No really. This time, I'm really going to catch up. I swear. 

Rock the Parkway was the second weekend of April. And, my second race of April. Last year, I ran Rock the Parkway for the first time. I did it as part of the Heartland 39.3 series. (A series of 3 races in less than 6 weeks.) But, Rock the Parkway was my goal race of the three.

A lot of people (non-runner friends and my husband) think I'm crazy for running so many half marathons. But, to me, a half is the perfect distance. It's enough to feel like I've really accomplished something, but I can keep trained up for them without a whole lot of change in my normal running routine. I love them. But, the key is, I don't "race" all the races I run. Meaning, most of them, I just run for fun. Or, I run with friends. Or, I don't push too hard.

Not saying that it's not an challenge to run each 13.1 miles, just that I don't push myself to absolute exhaustion at every race.

Just to keep a tally, here are the big races of my Spring 2013 Race Calendar:

• Chocolate Rush Half Marathon
• St. Louis Marathon Relay (2 legs)
• Rock the Parkway
• Kansas Half Marathon
• Oklahoma City Memorial Half Marathon
• Running with the Cows Half Marathon
• Hospital Hill Half Marathon

Have I mentioned that I love races?  Some people only run one or two races a year and really race them hard. That's cool if that's how they run. But, this is how I run. Lots of races, with only a few "raced."

Ok, all that being said, Rock the Parkway is a race I race. Last year, it was also my goal race. And, despite the humid and warm temps, I managed to PR. I was so happy to see my time of 1:53:34. It was 4 minutes under my previous PR. Now, I had yet to fully learn the importance of eating after a race, and I was sick for the rest of the day. This year, I knew my body even more, and I've been training and cross-training even harder.

I wanted to PR again. I was going to race Rock the Parkway.

This year, the temps were SO MUCH more favorable than last year. They started in the high 30s with no wind. I was stressing out beforehand trying to figure out what to wear, but it ended up being absolutely perfect for running. (Just so you know, I wore capris, a long sleeved shirt, and a light jacket shirt with ear warmers and gloves).

My dad was running the race this year, too. And, my little brother was in town from Maine, so he came out to the race to be a support system for us.

Isn't he a sweet little brother?!? 

I also ran into all my girls pre-race. And, as they are all well aware, I forced them to take a picture.

Marsha, Kelli, Anne and me.

Race rewind and recap

Ok, so I usually totally post in chronological order on here. But, I've been slow to post, and I already posted about my St. Louis Relay Marathon last weekend. Then, I had Rock the Parkway this past weekend. But, before I get that up here, I decided to recap all the other races I've done this winter.

I know, I know. How boring, you say! Well, yes, it probably is boring for a lot of you. But, it helps keep me organized in my own head. Plus, I can look back on them and remember them either fondly or not. Really, this is just being purely selfish, you guys. But, oooh, here's something. Just imagine you're a spy, and you're getting to sneakily read the diary of ... me.

The most boring person on the planet.

Ok, that's not incentive. But, well, here goes anyway:

Way back in January, we ran in the Battle of the Bean 5K on January 19th. I actually did this race last year, as well. Last year was the inaugural race, so I figured I'd go ahead and do the second one, too. The premise is all about the battle between coffee and hot chocolate. I am a huge hot chocolate fan. And, as much as I love Starbucks, I don't so much like coffee. Like, at all. So, I was team Hot Chocolate all the way. Plus, they had a Jelly Bean kids run, too. Get it? Jelly BEAN. A hahahaha! Anyway, Cory ran it with me. Well, he was supposed to run it with me, but started out ahead of me and never looked back. I ran by myself and managed to do pretty decent. I got 2nd place in my age, so I got a medal, which you know I love. Especially after Molly had told me the week before that I never got medals anymore.

With the girls, Kelli and Anne, after the race.

With Molly after her awesome performance in the Jelly Bean Run.

Cory left me in the dust at the start line, and I still got 2nd place. He finished in the dreaded 4th place.

Family picture at the finish line.

My dad, ran, too!

Next up was the Chocolate Rush Half Marathon February 9th. Are we sensing a theme here? Put chocolate as my carrot, and I'll run whenever you tell me. This race promised post-race chocolate fountains. Um, yes, please. Plus, it was a half marathon on the trails that I've run all the time. It was practically like running in my own backyard. I took off at the beginning, and then unfortunately had to deal with an annoying girl who kept passing me, then I kept passing her. Almost the whole race. Plus, she was wearing my non-running tennis shoes, and for some reason that stuck in my brain. I have a very steady pace, so I'm completely blaming the constant pass/be-passed-by on her. She drove me crazy, and toward the end, I finally just busted through and finished ahead of her. I may have missed my PR by 2 min, but I beat that girl, and that's all I cared about. Yup, I am that shallow.

Oooh, look at all that delicious chocolate and yummy goodness.

Traditional after-race picture with medal.

Running with girls: Anne, Amy, Amy, Amy and Kelli.