Ready to run.

I'm getting so excited about moving to Washington, I've been looking up races that I want to do and my list is getting pretty long.

Warrior Dash- Seattle
Muddy Buddy- Portland
The Color Run- Seattle
Tough Mudder- Seattle
Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon- Seattle

I've already registered for the Rock and Roll half, I know for sure that I will be there in time for it and I really needed some motivation to get running this winter. It's so cold and wet here that I need lots of motivation to get out the door sometimes.

It's been almost 2 years since I've run a half marathon so I have a lot of work to do. I have plenty of time to get in top shape though so I'm working really carefully on my training plan. I plan on focusing a lot more on weight training and yoga since I've always neglected building muscle and flexibility in the past. I'm hoping it will help to keep injuries at bay.

It's nice to be excited about running again, I can't wait to get started!!!

Happy Halloween

 Brains!

 The fairest zombie of them all.

Scary.

 Scarier.

 My favorite picture ever taken of my kids. LOL

 Zombie love

I hope you guys all had an awesome Halloween!!!!

I'm coming home.....sort of.

I have some news (for those of you that even remember who I am), our German vacation is coming to an end. I'm kind of sad but mostly I'm ready to go home, the only bad part is that I don't get to really go home. Home for me is Texas but unfortunately, we don't get to go back to Texas (sad face). I am however very excited about where we are headed next...

WASHINGTON!!!!

It's funny because I've never in my life wanted to live in Washington (or even really visit) but now that we know that is where we are headed I've started looking into it and Washington is pretty freaking awesome! Obviously, I'm going to be doing a lot more running because they have a HUGE running community there so I'm super excited about that. I've enjoyed my 2 year break from running but I've also missed running, A LOT! 

We won't be heading to Washington quite yet, we have to wait until March, but I'm doing lots of research about the state and where we will most likely be living, Puyallup (I really need to remember how to pronounce that correctly LOL). I'm really excited so if there is anything you want to share about Washington, please do.

Getting back to normal

My surgeries are finally OVER!!!!!! I will be 5 weeks post-op on Wednesday and my doctor has said I am okay to "try" running again. I've been power walking for the last week and I will probably continue for the rest of this coming week. I'm enjoying walking, it's getting me back into the swing of things without the impact on "the girls." I'm also walking 5-6 miles at a pretty wicked pace (as far as walking goes) and I want to keep that up because I know there is no way I will be able to run those kind of miles for at least a few weeks.
Not running and not being able to go to the gym regularly for the past 9 month has really messed with my thighs so I'm working really hard to get rid of this extra "fluff" that has popped up. I thought I was doing good because I've managed to stay within 3-5 pounds of my "before surgery weight" but I guess I've lost a lot of muscle because I've got some new dimples and a certain back roll has decided to resurface. :(
The kids and I are going to be doing a 5K on the 19th, Nicholas is actually going to run it by himself this time and Sophia and I are going to run/walk it. We're getting ready for Daddy to come home (which will be SOON!!!) because he's been running alone in Afghanistan and he can't wait to have some running partners. I also want to be ready to run for our vacation because we're taking another cruise and my favorite part last year was getting up at sunrise to run on the deck, it was amazing!
So, get ready, I'm going to be posting again now that I can run and not feel like a poser writing a running blog and not being able to run. LOL

I guess God had other plans...

We're just over half way through January and it already looks like some of my resolutions for this year aren't going to make it. Last Thursday, after a week and a half of hard core gym hitting and mostly good eating I had a major setback. Everyone knows that I had breast augmentation and lift back in September and then I had to have a revision surgery in November, well, I somehow developed a pretty nasty seroma (seromas aren't really uncommon with the surgery I had but they also aren't expected either). So, on Wednesday I got to have 250cc of lymphatic fluid drained from my left breast (which sucked) and then Thursday evening I got another drain put in. At this point I don't really care about the seroma or the drain or the fact that I will need another surgery now because the seroma was so bad that it stretched out my incisions from before; All I care about is that my husband will be home for R&R soon and I do not want to be recovering from anything while he is here.

I'm going back to my doctor tomorrow to see if we can figure out how long I need to keep the drain in and when I can schedule the next surgery (hopefully, AFTER my hubby is back in Afghanistan). I'm going to need at least 6 weeks after to recover before I can start running again so it's looking like my plans of running a half in May are going to be scrapped. Since it looks like I'll be missing out on peak running time here in Germany I'm considering having my tummy tuck sooner rather than later. I think I've reached a maintainable weight since I've been unable to run and go to the gym for most of the last 5 months and my weight has only fluctuated by a few pounds. The hardest part is picking which time of year will be best to recover in and, knowing that I am already going to be losing out on run time from my other surgery, it just seems smart to double up.

I'll definitely be posting my plans here as soon as I know them but, once again, I'm letting you all know that I am out of commission for running until further notice. :(

I'm not dead.

The holidays were rough this year, a lot harder than I thought they'd be and I pretty much crawled under a rock except when my friends dragged me out. I missed my husband, I missed my family, the weather was crappy and I really just wanted the whole thing to be over. Unfortunately, I have children so that wasn't an option and I had to pretend that it was the most wonderful time of the year.

We did have some great times like when we took the train to Rothenburg's Christmas market on a snowy wintery day. We also made a trip to Ramstein to shop at the big PX and eat at Chili's! We all got sick from eating greasy American food but it was worth it. We also had Christmas dinner with our wonderful friends here in Germany and we spent New Year's Eve with even more friends. We are truly blessed to have met such great people and I know the holidays would have been 10 times harder without them.

I'm happy that 2012 is finally here though, everyday is a day closer to seeing my husband and the kids seeing their dad, they miss him terribly. But 2012 also means that I get to refocus myself and start working toward real goals with my running and my fitness in general. So, I'm going to share my 12 goals for 2012:

1. Cross train. I've already started doing Spin class twice a week, it's such a different workout than running and other than my butt being ridiculously sore, I love it. I am also weight training at the gym and doing a step aerobics class on Fridays.

2. Run at least one half marathon. There is a half marathon in Würzburg on May 20 and I would really like to run it but I don't know yet if it will work with my schedule. There is also one in June in Stuttgart that might work and then there is always Berlin in September, I would love to do all of these but I'll be happy with just one.

3. Lose 25 pounds. I'm 25 pounds from being in the normal range for BMI and I'm sick of being considered obese.

4. Run more with my husband (obviously after he gets back). I love running with my husband and also hate it. I'm super competitive and he pushes me and I think he is the key to improving my running.

5. Spend more time outdoors. It has been rainy and cold and wet here for months now, we missed this part of winter last year so I don't think I fully appreciated Spring and Summer in Germany. This year I will make the most of the sunlight and warmth.

6. Travel more. I haven't traveled as much as I would like because Luis has been gone but once he gets back we have to make up for lost time, we have so much to see and only 2 years left to do it.

7. Keep working on my German. I had stopped with my German lessons but I'm starting back next week. I know enough to get by but I want to learn more conversational German.

8. NOT cut my hair. I know for most people this doesn't have to be a goal but I've been wanting to grow my hair out for years and I always end up chopping it off. I will not chop my hair off this year and by next year I will be able to do all kind of cool hairdo's that I wanted to do last year but couldn't.

9. Be more affectionate. I'm not an affectionate person at all, I have to remind myself to hug my children. That's sounds horrible, I'm not big on people touching me but I'm working on it. I'm hoping that if I keep working on it then it can become a habit and maybe one day it will become second nature instead of a conscious decision.

10. Cook more. A lot of my lack of cooking has been due to Luis' absence, the kids and I just don't eat enough to make a big meal, especially since they usually complain about some aspect of it and won't eat it. My first week of cooking has already gone well, I'm making healthier food and we can always use that.

11. Read more. I enjoy reading but it always comes in spurts. I'll read everyday for a month or two and then nothing for a month or two. I want to be more consistent and give myself reading time everyday.

12. Spend less time on Facebook. I know I have sucked at blogging since I moved but it's not because I'm never online, I'm always online in some way, be it on my computer at home or on my phone that is always with me. I'm just always on Facebook, it's a great way to stay connected with my friends and family in the states but I waste a lot of time on Facebook and I'm going to try to reduce the hours spent staring at status updates this year.

Nails, nails, nails

Since I haven't been running much lately I haven't written a whole lot on the blog either, I honestly don't know what to say since most of you are running junkies and don't stop by for my opinions on Demi and Ashton or Kim Kardashian (for the record, I couldn't care less about any of them). I have my second surgery coming up next week and I know that this means at least another month without running, it's driving me crazy. So, I have come up with a new hobby thanks to Pinterest (if you haven't checked it out yet, do it. If you need an invite, let me know.). I've become a bit of a nail whore. It works perfectly for me because I spend a lot of time on the computer chatting with my hubby (in case you're new here, he's deployed) so it gives my nails plenty of time to dry. I use Pinterest to give me ideas and that is also where I found this awesome blog that tells you how to do some really awesome manis. Here are some pictures of manis that I have done since I started this obsession. Enjoy.