The Weekly Chase #151!

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!! I sure did! I greatly enjoyed my week off as well! But today...it's back to work and school! The good news...we only have 3 weeks until we are out for Christmas break!!! :-)

I am very thankful for this past week off because I got to spend some quality time nursing my Cullen back to health! He was very clingy after his traumatic urinary tract blockage so I'm glad I was able to love on him as much as he wanted. He is feeling so much better. He is back to his regular spunky self! He is eating the prescription food so well! And his bathroom habits are getting back to normal! Praises!!!

On Monday of last week the boys and I met Jenny and her kids at Starbucks and then we went to Target. Fun times! Jenny and I even found more matching shirts that we couldn't live without lol!

We always do a puzzle during our holiday breaks. We found this Disney one from Target and completed it yesterday! It's so pretty! And I really want to frame it but I'm not sure how you do that with puzzles. I know there's a way...anyone know how?

On Wednesday Andy only worked half a day. We went to lunch, Starbucks, and did a little shopping.

Then we headed to my sister in law's house for Thanksgiving. I got to hang out with my cute little nephew Ronan! And I helped (more like observed) my sister in law Katie with the turkey.

Thanksgiving morning I headed out for a 3 mile run to help burn off some calories I knew I would be eating later. My 3 mile run turned into a 4 mile run and then into a 5.25 mile run! It was awesome!!!

Then it was Thanksgiving time! It was tradition for Andy to carve the turkey! And look at all the yummy food!

Later that afternoon Andy and I left the boys with Katie and we headed out for some Black Friday (on Thanksgiving) shopping (our annual tradition)! First up was Target....and yes I made Andy stand in that line lol! He wasn't thrilled but he was a good sport about it! Especially when he saw how much money we saved!!!

Then we headed to Best Buy! We bought something..but we both had a little buyer's remorse afterwards so we aren't sure if we are keeping what we bought. We will see. If we keep it...I'll let you know what it is lol!

We headed home after that with plans to get up for more shopping the next morning. Unfortunately Katie got sick during the night and we had to go get the boys early that morning. So...the boys got to experience their first Black Friday shopping trip!

On Saturday I ran a 10K from home. I'll tell you more about my run on Wednesday. The rest of the day was spent watching the Iron Bowl! This is THE biggest game ever here in Alabama (Auburn vs. Alabama). We had plans to go to Jenny's house for the game. And our friend Leigh from Birmingham was in town and coming too! But first...we made a trip to Starbucks with Leigh! Of course since we are all princesses running the Disney Princess race we had to wear our princess visors with all our Auburn gear! And my favorite barista made a "cold surprise" for Leigh's son Austin...and he made samples of it for all of us!!! I just LOVE my Starbucks store!!!

Unfortunately, Auburn lost the game (we expected it but we had hope they would pull out a win). But we still had a blast! Losing is so much more fun with friends!!!

Sunday was a day to relax and get ready for the work week.

Such an amazing Thanksgiving week! I'm so thankful to have a job where I have time off with my kids!!!

Now it's time for the Weekly Chase! It's a new week and I have new goals to achieve! I hope you will link up your own goals with me too! And feel free to use the badge below in your post too! You can grab the badge HERE! :-)

Here are my goals from last week!

• Goal #1: Run every day! Yes! I did a LOT of running over my break! 
• Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. Yes!
• Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories. 95%. It was hard to log my food on Thanksgiving Day. But I was very aware and still splurged but kept it reasonable. No weight was gained!!!
• Goal #4: Move 11,000 steps or more each day this week. Yes!
• Goal #5: Run at least 1 run under 2 miles. No. I did a LOT of running this week. And I didn't do my rest days like I should have. 
• Goal #6: Map out our shopping plan for Black Friday!!! Yes. But our plan didn't go as planned since we had to go get the boys early. 
• Goal #7: Buy ingredients for the dishes I will be bringing for our Thanksgiving meal! Yes! And my dishes turned out so yummy!

Here are the goals I'm chasing this week!

Every week goals:

Goal #1: Run every day! 

Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. 

Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories.

Goal #4: Move 11,000 steps or more each day this week.

Goal #5: Run at least 1 run under 2 miles.

Goal #6: Complete my December school calendar for parents. I can't believe it's already December! We only have 3 weeks of school left but we are going to be busy!

Goal #7: Plan a Christmas gift from my class to their parents. Unfortunately I can't remember what gift I did last year so I've got to come up with a new one and get started on it!

So that's the plan for this week! I hope you have a great week accomplishing your goals!!!

QOTD: What goals are you chasing this week?

Glass Slipper Challenge Training Week 1!

Currently Training For:
Double Bridge Run 15K
Disney Princess 5K
Disney Enchanted 10K
Disney Princess Half Marathon
Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon (Use the code ROADRUNNERGIRL15 to save $15 off)

Training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend has officially begun!!!! Yay!!! This is my absolute favorite race weekend! I'm sooo excited! And I'm even more excited that Jenny and I will be running the race together!!! Usually I run it alone so I can't wait to have my friend by my side!!!

Training started with a 6 mile run. I am taking my training real slow to avoid injury. I also think it helps as a run streaker to have rest long runs every other week. My rest long runs will be 5-6 milers and every other week I will increase my long run mileage by one mile.

So this week we ran from Jenny's neck of the woods. And her husband Eric joined us! It was a little weird not having a race this weekend. We had all just ran back to back race weekends!

We started around 6:15AM. The sun had already risen. It was a cool morning in the mid 50's. It was perfect running weather!

We started running. We were running into the wind and I was really hoping we wouldn't be in the wind for long. Luckily we turned and the wind went away!

We talked and talked the entire run! This was one of those runs where I felt great the entire time! I was never ready to be done. The miles just sped by!

And we were running out in the country. So we saw lots of cows and horses! Love it! 

Before long we turned onto the road that would turn us around and head us back home. Of course you sometimes see interesting things on the road....like a dead snake cut in half! Lawnmower I guess? Eric said it was a corn snake. 

Even though we didn't get to see the sun rise...it was still so gorgeous! It was a beautiful fall day!!!

I finished the run strong and feeling great! I've discovered that around 8:30 is my happy pace on most days! I'm still in awe of that because I remember the days that a 10:30 was my happy pace.

And yes....Eric is super tall! And Jenny and I are short!!! Lol!

After our great run Jenny and Eric invited me in for coffee. Well a girl can't turn that down! Jenny and I talked all morning long over coffee!!! Love that sweet friend!!!

I'm super excited to be officially training for Princess! And Jenny and I will have a blast during our training I'm sure!!!

QOTD: Are you running the Disney Princess Half Marathon?

The Weekly Chase #150!

Happy Thanksgiving Week everyone!!! I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!!! I'm looking forward to spending lots of quality time with the family! So if I'm a little absent here on the blog and on social media please forgive me! I'm sure you will be doing the same!

I had a great weekend! Friday was our last day of school until after Thanksgiving! We have this whole week off! The last day of school was a ton of fun because we had our school wide Thanksgiving Feast! My class dressed as Indians and were sooo cute! And a few of the teachers dressed up too! So much fun!!!

After school Allison asked if I wanted Starbucks. Well of course I'm not gonna say no lol! So we headed to Starbucks...in our Indian shirts lol! The baristas loved it!!!

Later that afternoon we rode along with Andy to some of his job sites. Can I brag on my engineer husband? He designed his first bridge and the final inspection (which the city said was the best final inspection they've ever had) was Friday. So he took me to see it (he's taken me there several times during the process). It was beautiful! So proud of my hubby!

After looking at the bridge we went to our favorite spot to watch the sunset. Andy has a job site there too. So we checked on it and then got to walk and enjoy the sunset. We are so blessed to live here on the Gulf Coast!

That night was pizza night with the family. I was running a long run the next day so of course we had to eat pizza! But my boys never complain!

Saturday morning I ran a 10K with Jenny and her husband Eric! The weather was perfect! I'll tell you more about our run on Wednesday! After the run I had coffee with Jenny at her house. We talked most of the morning! So fun!

The rest of the day was spent cleaning the house. Then we put up our Christmas tree and Christmas decorations! I normally wait until after Thanksgiving but we were all ready to put it up. That way we have more time to enjoy the tree! And since we are having Thanksgiving at Andy's sister's house I thought why not?!

Cullen supervised the process! And thanks for your continued prayers! He seems to be getting better! We are still monitoring his urination. And trying to make sure he drinks enough water and eats his new food. Please continue to pray that he doesn't get blocked again!

And I got to put on the star this year!!!

Sunday morning I ran in cold weather! The wind was 12 mph with wind gusts that were crazy! And the real feel temperature was 35°!!! I am going to have to relearn how to dress for running in colder weather. My ears and hands were so cold!

After my run I came in to warm up with some coffee. It was the perfect morning before church with Cullen in my lap, my Christmas coffee, and Christmas music playing in the background!

Then we went to church. After church we went out to lunch with Kirstin, Jim, Maddy, and Nancy to Panera Bread! I got my favorite Chicken Caesar Salad and it was so yummy!

Maddy came home with us for a play date. But first we stopped at Pet Smart to get Cullen a new toy since he's had such a traumatic week.

Later that afternoon we headed to Starbucks and met Kirstin and Jim. Kirstin and I both had a free drink that was about to expire! Can't let that happen!!! I got a Chestnut Praline Latte since it was so cold outside! Andy got the Gingerbread Latte and thought it was really good. Then we went to Target....one of my other favorite places to go!!!

Now it's time for the Weekly Chase! It's a new week and I have new goals to achieve! I hope you will link up your own goals with me too! And feel free to use the badge below in your post too! You can grab the badge HERE! :-)

Here are my goals from last week!

• Goal #1: Run every day! Yes! The streak is still going on!
• Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. I missed a day this week of rolling. I had to wake up earlier and leave early for Hayden's field trip to New Orleans one day this week. I had enough time to run but I didn't roll. I had the intention of rolling when I got home but forgot! 
• Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories. Yes!
• Goal #4: Move 11,000 steps or more each day this week. Yes!
• Goal #5: Run at least 1 run under 2 miles. Yes! Most of my runs last week were under 2 miles. I was trying to let my body recover some from back to back race weekends. 
• Goal #6: Dye shirts for Thanksgiving Feast. Yes! I got these done and they were super cute!
• Goal #7: Get everything ready for Hayden's field trip on Thursday. Yes! And we had a blast on the field trip!

Here are my goals for this week!

Every week goals:

Goal #1: Run every day! 

Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. 

Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories.

Goal #4: Move 11,000 steps or more each day this week.

Goal #5: Run at least 1 run under 2 miles.

Goal #6: Map out our shopping plan for Black Friday!!! It's a tradition every year that me and my husband go shopping on Black Friday! It's the only time of the year I can get him to shop! We always have so much fun together! And we get a lot of our Christmas shopping done on this day!

Goal #7: Buy ingredients for the dishes I will be bringing for our Thanksgiving meal! We will be going to my sister-in-law's house for Thanksgiving. I need to buy the ingredients needed for the dishes I will be bringing.

So that's it for the week! If I don't get to blog much this week I apologize! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

QOTD: What goals are you chasing this week? Are you going out of town for Thanksgiving?

Fitness Friday...November 20th Edition!

Whew! What a crazy week this has been! It's been quite the emotional roller coaster. Monday morning around 3:30 AM my precious cat Cullen woke us up in pain. After assessing his symptoms and looking in the litter box we discovered he had not peed at least for a day (I knew this because I emptied the litter box on Saturday night). We were worried he had a UTI (he had this about a year ago). The only thing is that he wasn't showing the same warning signs as before (peeing outside the litter box, constantly cleaning himself).

Because this can be fatal my awesome hubby drove Cullen 45 minutes away to the ER Vet. My poor cat was blocked and couldn't pee. They gave him pain meds, sedated him, and put in a catheter. They said he would have to stay in the hospital for a few days. Luckily my husband was able to convince them to let him bring Cullen to our vet near our house.

I was so worried about my baby!!!! We didn't know if he was going to pull through this or not. It was just a waiting game. Our vet wanted to keep him a few days to see if he could pee on his own. He would also have to be on a special food for the rest of his life. I HAD to go see my little guy as soon as I got off work.

He looked so pitiful! But he immediately wanted me to hold him which was a good sign in my opinion.

A lot of you saw my post on social media asking for prayers for our Cullen. Thank you so much for praying!!!

The next day the vet called with an update around noon. She said he had been mischievous during the night and took the cone off and pulled out his catheter! She said the good news was that he peed on his own! That was one of our concerns because some cats never pee on their own again once they get blocked. So praise God! She said they were going to watch him the rest of the day and overnight and if he continued to do well then he could come home the next day. I was so happy with this news! I went and celebrated with Starbucks of course!

Around 4:30 that same afternoon the vet called with another update. She said he was still doing well. He was eating and peeing. She said she thought he would be more comfortable at home and it was my choice if I wanted to come get him now or let him stay overnight. Of course I wanted to go get him!!!

So my baby is home!!! He's not acting like himself yet. I'm hoping that will come in the next few days. When I first got him home he drank tons of water and ate a little bit of his new food. He also went pee several times. But I can tell he is still not right. So I'm asking for you to continue to pray for my little guy. I want him feeling better. And he has to learn to like his new food...because it's all he can have for the rest of his life.

They had to shave his front paws to take bloodwork and put in an IV. He doesn't like it at all! I think it looks like he has on mittens...or UGG boots lol!

He has been so exhausted! I'm wondering if he slept at all while he was staying at the vet. Probably not...especially since the little stinker pulled out his catheter overnight!

So not only did I have a sick cat this week...but I also had a super busy week at school. Our preschool does a Thanksgiving Feast each year. All the students dress up as either Pilgrims or Indians. Then we sit as this huge long table and have a feast! It's really special...but a ton of work. I had to get their placemats done, a centerpiece for each child done, and their Indian (my class was Indians) costumes done. Today is the feast and I'm sure all the work was worth it!

Yesterday I also had a long field trip with Hayden and all the fifth graders from his school. We went to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans! It was a ton of fun but a super early morning (we had to be at his school at 6:30 AM) and long day (we didn't get home until after 5:30). But Hayden had fun and that's what matters!

It's time for Fitness Friday! I had a great week of runs! The best run I had was the Battleship 12K race on Sunday! It was so much fun!

• Friday- #plankaday 2:05, 2.06 mile run in 16:58 average pace 8:14

• Saturday- 2.54 mile run in 20:02 average pace 7:53

• Sunday- Battleship 12K- 7.45 mile run in 1:02:35 average pace 8:24

• Monday- #plankaday 2:05, 1.81 mile run in 14:49 average pace 8:11

• Tuesday- #plankaday 2:05, 1.81 mile run in 14:56 average pace 8:16

• Wednesday- #plankaday 2:05, 1.80 mile run in 15:04 average pace 8:22

• Thursday- 1.88 mile run in 15:23 average pace 8:11

So my week of runs went great. After the 12K I focused on recovering from the race and ran several runs under two miles. I think my body needed that break. 

This weekend I'm running a long run here at home. It's weird not having a race this weekend since the past two weekends in a row I have raced lol!

Happy weekend everyone! I'm excited because this starts Thanksgiving Break for us! No school all next week!!!

QOTD: What was your best run or workout this week?