January & February Races

Running goal continued!

Now that the new year has come and gone, our new year goals have been started and.....continued!
Woohoo! Go us! If you are still gettin your goals done, give a little woohoo :)

My goal is to do 12 runs in 12 months. I started in November with the Hot Chocolate 5k, and then did the Rudolph Ramble in December.

January

The January run was the Polar Dash, a 5k in Chicago that was cold, but not as cold as December! It was mostly wet because snow was melting. Tommy decided after the new year to join me in running races, so we were able to do it together! We took the train in, and got to the starting line late....it was tough to find! When we finally got there, we started in the last wave, which was a little stressful. It was a first that I would not like to repeat in the future....it just mentally messed with my brain man.

When we started running, everything was fine, but there were a TON of puddles along the course. We're not talking mini ones, or "oh dang, my sock is wet now" ones.
Have you seen this video?

The puddles were kinda like that. Ok, they were not as bad, but they were definitely noteworthy and created quite a stir when we ran through them! All in all, the race was fine, just wet, and cold.

After the race, we walked back to Union, and got lost! It was cold, wet, and the sun wasn't shining, so being lost in the dreary cold was not the most fun thing in the world. When we found it, the next rain wasn't for another two hours! So we got a muffin, coffee, and found a table to sit at. We spent time together and then I took a nap on the way home :)

And I got a sweet ass penguin hat, zip up, and a medal!




February

On Feb 23rd Tommy and I went back to Chicago to run the Warm Your Heart 5K at the McCormick Place. We drove, and got there pretty early to check in and get ready. We found a hang out place to sit and chill until the race started.

Race #4 of 12

Felt pretty good

The race itself was all inside! We ran loops back and forth, back and forth, until we ran all the way around them to the finish line. It was a little repetitive, but if you want to run inside, this one did the trick! We were also a little peeved that we paid to run, and then paid $21 to park in the garage there. UGH. They should have at least given us a discount, or put it on their website.

After the race, we drove to Laura's, and got stuck in an ice mound while trying to park on the street. We went to lunch, stopped in a bookstore, and got all caught up on life. Woot.

It was a nice Sunday!

One Little Word 2014

It's that time of year again.....One Little Word time. Last year I chose this word: Persist.

Damn. That word summed up my year entirely. For many reasons that I don't have time right now to unload on here, I had a hell of a year to persist through.

This year, 2014, I have chosen a different word that I want to incorporate into my life EVERYDAY. And though I am putting that down in writing, on a public site, I know that I might not follow through on this everyday, but I am going to try!

My OLW for 2014 is: Time

{Time}

This word means many things to me this year.
// Taking the time to... //

+Take care of my body
+Take care of my soul
+Call my friends and family
+Listen

There are many thing I would like to add to this list, but I think this is where I need to start.

This year Time, you are mine.

2013 in Review

2013 from open to close :)
Done a little differently from 2012....

Ode to my Cat

And now a video compilation of Kitty Pants McMewey set to a catchy tune by Sugarland.

Enjoy. 

Christmas Day Festivities 2013

Christmas day was super busy and super nice :)

{Beached Whales}

{Lauren Christmas 2013}

Tommy and I woke up early and came downstairs to open our stockings. I got us new ones this year, and there's a spot for a picture in the front of it, but I didn't get around to that, OOPS. Maybe next year. 

Santa gave us some gooooood stuff in our stockings so it was fun to open! Then we opened our presents to each other. Santa set Tommy's up (it was a weight lifting bench) and left it next to the tiny tree, and I already knew mine from Santa: Snow boots and a new winter jacket, both on order from Nordstroms, lol. Way to go Santa!

Then we got ready and went to Tommy's parent's house for a Christmas morning breakfast and gift exchange. We had french toast, and got to give each other our presents! After hanging out and talking for a while, we all headed out to go to Tommy's aunt's house. We got there just in time for the large family photo in the living room. I don't have any of these photos because they are taken on a real camera on a tripod every year, and some how we never get to see them! I should look into that...

Tommy and I stayed for a little bit, but every year we leave right before dinner to make it to my house for dinner with the Lacio+ clan. It's my favorite time of year because Katy and Buck are in from California for multiple days, and we make a fire and get to sit around and chat. Also, my family eats late, and then we open presents with the immediate family after everyone leaves, which ends up being at like 11:30ish. After it all, we hang out for a little longer, and then end up leaving on December 26th, lol. It seems late, and it is, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

 {Beached Whales, kind of...}

{Christmas Day 2013}

{The Lacio Tree}

Katy and Buck came back to our house after mom and dad's and made up breakfast in the morning. SCORE, because they make good breakfasts.

{12/26/13 Breakfast}

Overall, Christmas 2013 was another good one :) My only complaint is that we didn't get to play some weird or fun new game that Buck got for Christmas about Zombies. We really dropped the ball on that one guys...but I feel very blessed that we have gotten to celebrate with so much family together for so many years!

Book Review: Divergent Series

I just finished reading the Divergent series. This was the second time I read the first book, Divergent, and the first time reading books 2 and 3, Insurgent and Allegiant.

And I should add that you shouldn't read this post if you do not want to know what happens in the end. I mean, this is not a super detailed review, but just an FYI...

Basically, they are your typical young adult series books. You know what I'm talking about: people dying, buildings exploding, a government to over throw, just your run of the mill teenage drama.

If you remember that it is written for young adults, you will not necessarily hate this series. You might hate it for other reasons though. Generally, I enjoyed reading it. All three books are very different, and just when you get used to what's going on, BAM! Something big happens, so don't get comfortable.

All I really want to say about these books is short and simple. The first book in the series was interesting because we got to know the main character and how things worked in her world. It was pretty violent in the end, and everything that we had read about in the hundreds of pages preceding it was completely blown away in a matter of the last few chapters. Man, THAT was annoying.

In the second book, we got to see how she and her family and friends were rebuilding their lives and getting revenge on the people who tried to destroy everything. That was pretty interesting. 

And finally, we get to the last book: Allegiant. Dear readers FINALLY start to learn about the history behind their little world, and the main chracter's history specifically. And thank you Roth for actually ending this book the way that it should have ended. It was tough to read :( but definitely worth it. 

Basically, this series can be summed up thusly: A violent version of The Truman Show in the name of science through experiments with human nature. 

THERE. 

Merry Christmas Eve 2013!

What a nice night. Tommy and I lounged around all day, did some chores, wrapped some gifts, had a nice home made dinner and dessert, watched Pacific Rim and then the ending of Its A Wonderful Life (gets me every time!)

Now we are laying in bed watching Family Guy and snuggling with KittyPants at the foot of the bed.

Just waiting for Santa!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Also, we don't have a real tree this year. And by real, I mean we have a mini tree that is fake. It is not even a life size tree, but we have been busy ok? 

Here it is with some of our favorite ornaments, tree skirt, angel, and our ready-to-go gifts for tomorrow!

And there's KittyPants. She's got her head tucked into herself because she hates the early episodes of Family Guy. Me too Kitty. Me too.