2010 in Review...

In less than 48 hours it will be 2011.  Can you believe it?  2011, no way!

So as I sit at my desk and wait for others to finish their work, so I can in turn finish my own, and as the temperature soars to 71 degrees outside, I thought I'd try to recap my year.

2010 didn't seem very promising when it started.  First I had to deal with knee problems and high cholesterol, then in March we had to say goodbye to Lucy.  Not a very good start for us.  Luckily things got much better.

In May, a wonderful new friend introduced me to Skinny Bitch and I became a vegetarian.  Since then I can count on one hand the number of times I've had meat this year, and I honestly have never felt better.  I have lost weight, gotten my cholesterol back to under 200 and have had to buy new clothes in a size that I don't think I've ever worn.

2010 is also the year that I officially became a runner.  I have a "Runner Girl" sticker and a 13.1 sticker on my car now.  I have run over 400 miles since April this year, would would have thought that?  I was a member of the Brooks I.D. program and I won a free pair of shoes.

My girls started their last year of elementary school this year, and their second year of Concert Chorus, they also got a pool for their birthday.  While it is not a fancy pool, it was big enough for us to spend lots of time in this summer, and we discovered that Penny is quite the swimmer. 

I officially became a baker this year.  I have made hundreds of cupcakes, and have even sold some.  I even had a marathon baking session for a wedding in September.  I see lots of cupcakes in my future.

Josh and I chipped away at our debt snowball this year, paying off around $20,000 in debt.  Who would have though that?  We even sold our Mazda yesterday and have cut another huge chunk out of it as well. 

So what will happen in 2011?  Here's what I'd like to see happen:

• I will raise money for Komen for the Cure and participate in the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Dallas in March.
• I will do my first trail run race in February.  Will we do 7 miles or 14?  We probably won't know until we get there.
• I will run my first full marathon at the OKC Memorial Marathon on May 1st, and through our Y I will even help others train for it as well.
• I will get a better bike and become better on it.  Maybe even participate in the Hotter than Hell 100 mile bike ride in August. 
• Redman half?  That's all I am going to say about that right now.

2011 marks 30 years since my mom passed away, and I hope that I can do something this year to honor her memory and celebrate the life I have because of her.  It will also mark 15 years of marriage for Josh and I.  It's been a great 15 so far, not always easy, but very interesting.  I will also officially have 12 nieces and nephews at some point in 2011.  I was lucky enough to add three new ones this year, and I'll get to add two more maybe around May, and I have a nephew on his way now that should show up sometime in February.

So here's to a Happy New Year!  I am sad to see 2010 go, because even with it's rocky start, it's been great.  I have meet some great people this year, and have done some fun stuff.  I am sure there is more to come.

My Girls...

These are my girls.  My babies.  They probably would dispute that though.  These are my babies that lived in my tummy for 8 months.  While they were in there they made me absolutly miserable, the worst 8 months of my life gave gave me heartburn, nausea and vomiting, stretch marks, and these two girls.  Luckily things have gotten better since then.  I remember wondering what kind of people they would turn into.

They have turned into girls that love to sing.  Not sure where they get that, it's surely not from me.  The only singing I do is in my car, mostly by myself, and I never wanted to be in any kind of chorus when I was in school.  At Eisenhower, in 4th and 5th grade they have the opportunity to be a part of the Concert Chorus and they both jumped at the chance.  The fact that they start each semester with a donut party and end each semester with a trip to Perfect Swing or Hey Day doesn't hurt either.

Last night was their Winter Concert, and it was great!  We got to hear a little but of music from Shrek (they even sand the song that the little puppets sing at the beginning when Shrek and Donkey first travel to Duloc), an Oklahoma fold song, and a medley of Christmas tunes.  Today they got to perform for their school and travel to two other elementary schools in Norman to perform as well.  After that it was off to Hey Day for pizza and laser tag, which my kids probably didn't participate in.

When we were trying to find space to record the performance last night on our camcorder, we watched a little video from around Christmas probably five years ago.  Man, I had not realized how they have grown!  They seemed so little!  Carson just spazzed around for most of it, while Camy was showing off the dance from the Christmas ballet recital.  So cute, and did I mention how little they were.  Lucy even made an appearance on the video, oh how I still miss that crazy dog.

Now I have big girls.  Girls that sing, and they love it. 

More New Shoes...and a Trail Run...

So last fall I applied to be a part of the Brooks I.D. program.  The I.D. stands for Inspire Daily.  I am still stunned that they even let me in, but I have worn my Brooks shoes all year, and some of the gear that I got from their pro site at a discount, logged my races on the online community website, and didn't expect anything else from it.

I got an email today that said:

Hey Becky,

Congratulations, you are the OK State Runner Up for the Brooks 2010 ID Race Series! You can expect to receive your Hoodie in the mail soon. The following code can be used on the pro site for one free pair of shoes:
Please place your order before December 31, 2010. If you have any questions please send them to Steve DeKoker at steve.dekoker@brooksrunning.com. Thank you for participating!
Happy running!

Seriously, I actually won something?  I guess the race series awarded points for the number of races and personal records and all that.  I am stunned that I actually placed for anything.

On the other hand, seriously?  I just bought my new shoes a week ago!  Oh well, they had the newer version of the shoes I just bought so I got them.  These have red on them too, so they'll match other things.  Ha!  I am a girl.

The program this year is invitation only, and I haven't received an invitation, so I am going to assume that they don't need me back.  Oh well, it was a nice discount while it lasted, and I got a free pair of shoes and a hoddie is on the way.

Speaking of running, I got up the guts and did a little trail running this weekend.  I am definitely not what you would consider "Outdoorsy" in the least, but I seem to be up for new challenges lately so I said what the heck.  The fact that it's too cold for bugs or snakes didn't hurt the situation either.  We ended up doing 9 miles total, and I must say it was lots of fun.  The miles seem to fly by when you are staring at the ground or the feet directly in front of you so you won't trip and fall.  The trees offer a nice break from the cold wind and I managed to stay on my feet the whole time.

I have new respect for the trail runners.  As a road runner, I know my stride, but when you are running on the trails it's completely different.  Kinda felt like learning to run for the first time.  My only complaint is that the trails aren't as marked as I would have liked them to be.  Kim and I got turned around at the end, but luckily there were lots of people in the group we were out there with and we got pointed in the right direction.  We made it through all 9 miles with not falls and no search parties.  Well we did have one fall, and I guess one guy ran into a tree on his bike.  I am not as comfortable as I would like on my bike on the road, there's no way I would take one on those trails.

My first trail race is coming up in February so we'll hit the trails some more between now and then, but I'm still a road runner!  I am really excited to sigh up for the Rock N Roll half marathon in Dallas in March, it's part of the Komen Marathon for the Cure series.  But more on that later.

New Shoes...Finally!

Finally, after running for as long as I could in my old Brooks Arials, I bought a new pair of real running shoes this weekend.

They are super light and so cute!  I was so excited when they fit me in something that actually came in pink and purple.  They don't seem as big and bulky as my old shoesand they fit really well.

I got to test them out for four miles on the treadmill last night and was very happy with how they feel.  Though my toes have not completely healed from the half they didn't feel any worse for the wear after the run last night.  I am expecting a lot of great miles out of these.