Catch up- Vegas in March

In March, Bruce and I spent the weekend in Vegas to go to a wedding. We got a great price on a night’s stay in the Bellagio. That hotel was awesome. Luxurious but not over the top Vegas style. It had class, just like me. ;)

Of course what stay at the Bellagio would be complete with out a visit to the exhibit. Bruce and I hung out there before the wedding so we were all dolled up and looking our finest.

 

The wedding was held in the gardens at Caesar’s palace. Bruce and I having some fun waiting for the ceremony to begin.

The happy couple… This is Bruce’s boss and it was a pleasure to get invited and be able to attend. Of course I cried. It was such a beautiful day.

After celebrating the wedding we had a very important date with these two. 

I was so happy that Mike and Becky cleared their schedules so that they could spend the evening with us. We met in front of the chocolate fountain at the Bellagio, toured the exhibit, and then headed out to the strip to explore.

A stop at the water fountains at the Bellagio is always on my must do list.

We ended up walking around the new City Center and Mike took us up to the Mandarin Hotel lobby. It is on the 26th(? or something like that) floor and has a great view of the strip. We were going to go to the bar for a drink but noticed that they were serving tea in their lobby. The tea looked better.

We spent some time there watching the tourists on the strip and enjoying each others company. This was the best thing ever!

Thank you Mike and Becky for such a great weekend in Vegas. We always have so much fun and can’t wait to visit in September, then again in December. I think you might just get sick of us. 

Catch up- St. Patrick’s Day

 

I made a killer Crème De Menthe cheesecake for St. Patrick’s Day. It turned out really good. Those are melted Andes mints on top. Still not as good as my Aunt Barbara’s pie recipe but it satisfied the craving.

Hello

Is any one missing me? I am hoping to start blogging again but need a reason. Please tell me you have missed me. Besides I took the word verification off the comments so now there is no excuse.

Checking in with the resolutions

I have made some great progress on the resolutions. In fact some I am already crossing off my list so that I can focus on other goals that I haven’t been doing so great on.

1. 10,000 steps a day. Average steps in January is 6337, Average steps in February is 7177 so I am improving overall. Thanks to the bodybugg that makes this so easy to track.

2. Eat breakfast every day. – 100% doing great! Thank you to the easiness of drive through Starbucks oatmeal on the days when I forgot.

3. Run a 5k. Done.

4. Make one day a week a vegetarian day. Done 100% but going to continue. There are so many fun recipes to keep trying.

5. Eat dinner 5 nights a week at a table. – One night a week I am good, the rest is in front of the tv. My new goal for March is 2x a week.

6. Yoga 2x a week. –nothing, ouch!!!!

7. Celebrate my wins by giving myself rewards for finishing a semester of school. My semester is nearing the end so I am getting a massage once I have completed it.

8. Read 5 books for fun. Currently reading Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert. Thank you honey for the sweet Valentines gift.

9. Travel somewhere I have never been. –Still working on.

10. Do things for other people. I am currently tutoring someone in school. She offered to pay but I figured that this could be my first count toward this goal. I am still going to do things through out the year. So stay tuned.

If I were grading myself right now I would give myself a 50% and the year is not even 1/2 way over. I know I am not perfect but I have made huge efforts towards my goals in the last 2 months. How are your goals going?

Soggy Photo

Here is one of the pictures of me running in the Gasparilla 5k. This was near the end as I had gotten hot and taken off my jacket which I am holding in my hand. How come my eyes are closed? Maybe I would have ran faster if I had run with my eyes open?

If you want to check out a video of what it is like to run the Gasparilla 15k, 5, and marathon, click here.

Gasparilla 5k

I did it! Or maybe I should say we did it. Bruce and I completed our first 5k.  We chose to participate in the Gasparilla 5k about a month ago. Bruce was going to walk it and I ran it. I had a goal to run it in under 40 minutes. I am relatively new to running and most importantly I didn’t want to injure myself. Well yesterday we got ready and headed to downtown Tampa. It was cold and raining. Not an ideal situation but we decided to just make it fun and enjoy the experience. The Gasparilla 5k had over 9,000 participants so it was packed. I am glad we got there early but it still took us over two minutes to cross the starting line. The first mile was great if not crowded. I wasn’t ever planning on going fast so I paced myself. I didn’t let all the people around me frustrate me. By the second mile I hit a wall. I was soaked including my shoes which made it very uncomfortable. It was so slippery out there and I watched so many people fall.  I was on the same street of the JDRF fall and I didn’t want to repeat the same pattern so I was being VERY CAREFUL. At the half way point we turned around and I decided to spend my time looking  for Bruce. When I saw him it was a big boost and I knew I could finish. But I had given up on making my goal of under 40 minutes. I made it to the finish line to see the clock say 43 minutes so I thought I was close to my goal and was proud of my accomplishment.

When I got home I was able to pull up the results online and was shocked…yes my chip time was 39:59. I reached my goal. AMAZING!  I am proud and happy.

Here is a picture of me freezing before the race. I am showing off the Nike Dri Fit T-shirt we got for doing the 5k as well as my number. I was excited and nervous at this point.

 

Bruce was chill. He was just going to walk it and support me. He really was a great sport and didn’t complain too badly about the rain or the cold. I guess the bailey’s n coffee helped a little.

Bruce did great too. He finished in 54:32. Not bad for walking.

So the question now is what race is next?

Happy Valentine’s Day

Good Friday morning to all my loved ones, friends and readers. I have 8 hours of work before the weekend of Love and Olympians begins. I am sure Bruce and I will be watching the Opening Ceremonies tonight. Has it really been 8 years since the Utah Olympics? That was a grand experience that I will never forget. I am so excited to watch all the skating. I admire their gracefulness and control. Please give your support to these athletes by watching as much of the Olympics as possible. This is their dream and maybe it will inspire you to go for your gold.

This morning my mom shared a wonderful new blog with me. You should definitely start with the link and keep going. It is heart warming and wrenching all at the same time.

I hope you enjoy this weekend with those you love most in this world. Happy Valentine’s Day.