dreaming west.

doesn't matter if it's winter or sweet summertime... i'm loving west even more these days.

wyoming (devils tower), in february. 

bozeman (fairy lake), in july

i'm in love with the raw beauty that the mountains and wooded areas create. there are a few blemishes in these photos but i couldn't start to "edit" them. too beautiful. snow, sun... i'll take it.

dramatic

WARNING: what you are about to read is entirely dramatic. proceed with caution.

what you are about to read is a version of my own personal hell. i know there are far more problems and i am a healthy gal, but this... well this was pretty much one of the worst times of my life. again, proceed with caution :)

yesterday was a day just like any day. i woke up, got dressed, made some not-so-great-tasting banana, chocolate chip and oatmeal muffins..... (they were TOO healthy), got the boys ready, got dressed and BAM!

my eyesight went blurry, i felt as though my eyes crossed, my balance went haywire and the slight feeling of this nasty headache arose. by this time i know what is coming. it's a migraine. i do have a prescription for these terrible things but when you haven't got one in almost two years you seem to misplace your medication. i finished about my duties to make it to the chiropractor which i know would help and grabbed a few alieve's. i just about got done with everything i needed to do to get me out of the house when it became too powerful. so there it was. me, my two kids and this nasty migraine which knocks me off of my feet.

gavin was too sweet and helped me get jude ready to go, he opened the doors and  gave maddy her food. once he got settled into the car he told me how sorry he was that this was happening to me. WHAT A SWEET CHILD. we got ourselves into the car and headed to grandmas. now, normally i would of bunkered down in my own house, but i was determined to get to the chiro and to my moms house (surprise, surprise that she didn't have her phone charged) so i could drop off my kids. well, that car ride, the you know, seven or so blocks to drive was too much. i immediately got out and threw up all over the side of her garage. because if you have a migraine you usually get this horrible nausea that accompanies it. i ran into her house, and continued my vomiting for the next 30 minutes. by the way i found my prescription- didn't mention that.

so my sweet mom took my kids, fed them and got them ready for naptime and quiet time while i took a 5 hour nap at 10 in the morning. bless her heart! i am pretty lucky this one came while my mom was home on mea.

imagine your worst hangover. the kind that the entire day after you can't hold down any food and can only lay in one position. that is what this nausea feels like. it's like one wrong move can send you screaming to the bathroom. and the headache- well, i've actually considered slamming my head into a brick wall- i'm pretty sure the pain is less than what a migraine feels like. now, i'm sure many other migraine sufferers might not have it this bad, but wow.... it's awful. our neighbor, jeromy, has them too so i get TONS of sympathy out of him and we compare stories--- it's actually quite pathetic. but normally i don't get much compassion from dan. actually if dan were home he would've probably left me at home with the kids and said to "man up" - whatever that should mean for a woman. to be honest i never gave it out either. how bad can a headache be?

i remember this girl rachel at juut used to get migraines all the time and she would walk around the salon with sunglasses on and crouch on her knees, begging to go home. i used to despise this. when you work in the salon business if your client, who was supposed to get a facial before the haircut you were giving her, and doesn't get that facial from the person they desire.... they are crabby. or they might cancel all-together- which puts you out of that client and a big gap in your day. but now i feel for her. the fact that sometimes she would have to service people while she was going through this is disgusting.

thankfully (if the past should repeat itself), i am good for another migraine for at least another year. crossing my fingers this is correct. i was so terrible yesterday... i actually swatted jude's head when he tried to grab for my glasses and i yelled at the boys far too much. i even missed my chiro appointment and didn't call and cancel because i was bobbing in the loo. we canceled the trip to the apple orchard and my house is a mess. i have a lot of making up to do today..... and yet, here i am, on the computer. uploading photos and writing on a blog i haven't had time for since the beginning of september.

good luck to any other migraine sufferer out there. i suggest you make it into see your local doctor, get a prescription and put it somewhere you know where it's at. as for me, currently, i am still battling a pretty severe headache. today though, it is not a migraine- i am helping it with alieve and mountain dew. a combination that never disappoints.

a little fall photo action

just a few of our quick photo sessions we have outside.... 

OBSESSED with these photos in the tall grasses

what a hunny

the very same day she broke her ankle. 

check that booty and that adorable little pumpkin

AHHHH my heart explodes :) 

wheres fall?

So I'm a little behind in posting about summer, and to be honest it's such a long post that I'm going to skip over it until my big "wrap up the year" post that I have in mind... There's so much to write about and normally, if I'm on the computer it's for a mere ten minutes before one of my little munchkins needs me. I have pictures to upload and stories to tell... bare with me.

Anyways, where is fall? I really mean it when I say I am sick of this heat... no, not the heat, the humidity. I can't wait for that to be long gone. I am all about the heat. I could live in 100+ heat, as long as there is 0% humidity. I hate feeling like I'm suffocating when I'm outside, and that my friends, is what I feel like when I'm out of the air conditioning. I long for those early fall mornings where it's nice and crisp out and I can sit outside with my cup of coffee on the deck before the littles wake up. So far that hasn't happened once. Probably due to the fact that I'm still in "summer time" where I have no desire to go to bed at night and am up until at least 11pm every night. I know it's ridiculous... "why don't you go to bed earlier?"...... Well usually I am reading an amazing book or sitting outside enjoying the beautiful night coolness.

I also can't wait for running tights and long sleeved shirt runs. I am a "man sweater" (in my own words). When I exercise I sweat uncontrollably. Not really in my armpits but in my legs and chest. It's honestly disgusting to run the lake and feel like you might have pee'd your pants or look like I just dumped an entire bottle of water over my chest. Ask Stacey, she's seen me at my absolute worst. So fall runs will hopefully rid me of that problem.

Did you run that half marathon yet, Sam? I remember you posting about it awhile back.
-No, no I didn't. I am 100% proud of Stacey and her sister for completing that hot and humid run! I chose not to do it. At last minute (two weeks before) I decided to switch my half marathon to the Monster Dash at the end of October. I had to pay a small fee to switch it but I am so glad I did it. I don't know that my body was ready for 13.1 miles. I had far too many "off weeks" where I was on vacation or didn't want to run in the humidity, plus I still haven't surpassed the 9 mile hump that I've been stuck on for the entire summer. My times seem pretty steady. I keep a 9:30-10:13 pace, I just need to keep going on the distance. Wish me luck. I know that this Monster Dash will be here before I know it. Dan and I plan on making a small weekend out of it and staying in the cities for a night out after my completion. You are welcomed to come cheer me on :)

Gavin has head back to school and he is loving every second. It's amazing how the structure in the morning has helped with his attitude problem. We seem to have less temper tantrums since he's been back at preschool. Jude seems to like that Gavin's gone in the morning, too. He loves to play with big bros toys and have full range of our (little) home.

I can't wait for pumpkin patches, apple orchards and visits up north to see my mom in her new home. Oh did I mention she moved?

So I ran into, almost literally folks, a friend/follower of my blog and she commented how she loved reading it to keep in touch with what's going on in our lives and in the lives of others.... and I thought....... WHAT BLOG? haha. It's been awhile!

Summer has seriously almost come to an abrupt ending. When did it start? I feel like we just started the beautiful sunshine and high heats. And now, well august is almost over.

I've traveled to Vegas, Bozeman, Duluth, and to numerous weddings, gone to many waterparks, pools and lakes, yet I am still wishing we had more time to enjoy sweet summertime. It's obviously something we hold dear to our hearts here in Minnesota since summer is (usually) only about four short months. Lets see what mother nature has in store of us for this fall, huh.

As much as I am going to miss summer I will say that fall is probably the most beautiful season in Minnesota and we honestly have nothing to do after the first weekend in September. As much as I love these weddings we have attended and were a part of, I am "weddingdout" - again, obviously not a word, but I like it- it describes how I feel at the moment... just the exact moment. I'll get over it soon. I will say that these last two weddings of August are going to be the best parties I'm sure I've ever attended. Have you ever been to a Koch family party? If you have you are smiling from ear to ear because it's always a good time and there is usually ample amount of alcohol to be consumed, and I'm sure this wedding is no different. I have a busy morning helping with some wedding hair for the bridesmaids and I can't wait to see Franky K tie the knot to such an amazing girl. Brings me back to the day when Frank rode his bike all the way to my house when we lived at Minnebelle, grabbed a drink and I believe he kicked my dog too?  We've had so many memories that we always indulge in reminiscing on when we are back together. So many that could have put us in jail and/or the hospital. Clearly, we all made it out safe. He's "technically" the second person to tie the knot in our group of high school friends so this should be an amazing time.

And not to be outdone by the Hawes wedding. Again, these people know how to party. That is a weekend in itself because Dan and I are both a part of the wedding party so you can imagine how busy we'll be from Friday to Sunday. The fact that these two have been together for so long makes this wedding one of those that people have been dying for. I know what is going to be taking place and the décor and the bridesmaids dresses so there's not much of an element of surprise for me but still, I can't wait for it. Again with these two our memories go way back and we honestly can treat each other like family since I feel we are that close. FINALLY, she will be a Hawes.
Again, two weddings back to back that mean the world to me. It's a great way to (almost) close out our wedding season. Then we can look forward to our Mexican vacation we might be going on :) By March I'm going to be dreaming of a beach.... And praying that my friends don't get engaged during "engagement season" as I call it. I already have three weddings to look forward to in the 2014 season. BRING IT!

one... done.

check off the ironman bike ride for this lady.

the ride went well. as well as can be expected. i would be lying if i said i felt great after the race. one thing i will say is that the padded shorts helped me out, big time. the other thing i will say about them is that the "pad" and yes, that is what it feels like- just having a baby and putting on one of the JUMBO pads from the hospital- is not long enough. it needs to cover the crotch a little bit better. whatever. i am fine. just an fyi for you "bikers" out there.

the ride was gorgeous. we rode most of the morning in a beautiful state park, gateway trail i believe it was called. i would defiantly like to go back and bring lilly and ride on the trails there. beautiful. after our first and only rest stop we headed onto the roads which were full of... HILLS. now, i don't know if i mentioned that i haven't rode a bike since last summer. i mean i have rode stationary bikes at the gym as a warm up for my workouts. but on a road, with hills?? that's one thing i would normally avoid. well sam, you signed up for a bike ride in stillwater..... a hilly town. what did you expect? i almost died on the four block uphill battle... seriously. at one point this old man looked at me and said, "that downhill ride will be worth it...."  um, sure... it wasn't- just to clarify. i was actually thinking about calling it a day. getting off my bike and calling the number to have someone come pick me up, but i didn't.

kim and i rode together almost the entire way. we got separated at one point and i could only see her bright green tee when i was climbing (dying) up a hill. somehow we got back together and finished the 29 mile bike ride together. i believe we finished the bike ride in just over 2 hours? we should have been more on top of setting a clock and actually bringing a garmin or something to calculate the distance, speed, ect. 29 miles. 29 miles. 29 miles.

again.... 29 miles.

i think i would do it again? maybe actually train for it the next time around. oddly enough i wasn't sore and actually went to bootcamp the day after. hoorrraaaaaaay for me!

i also will give myself another pat on the back. lately i have been struggling to surpass the normal 6 miles i run every week. after my long day of jury duty (more on that later) i decided to head out with maddy and run. i didn't look at my garmin once, just focused on the single headphone i had in my ear with my out-of-date ipod, and focused on maddy. making sure she left the other runners, walkers, dogs alone. (i do not put maddy on a leash, she criss crosses back and fourth in front of me if i do). anyways, i crushed that 8 mile run! i did it in just over an hour. 1 hour and 21 minutes. i wish i could bring maddy to my half marathon. she keeps my brain focused on her, not what negative thoughts i have about giving up. i honestly think that's why i made the 8 mile, and didn't stop once.

tomorrow i am walking for something i have a great passion for: the humane society. i can't wait. the boys, maddy and my mom will be walking 5 miles in golden valley to support the humane society of minnesota. and dan will be building at the new playground at lake ripley. we've got a busy saturday ahead.

i also get to pick up my bridesmaid dress for katy and blairs wedding. i have never been so excited to get a dress in my life.

lets get physical

in the past almost three months i've spent over $300 on bootcamp, gym fees, race fees and everything just to be able to work out/run/get physical. urgh, kind of urks me! that's not including the never ending accumulation of work out clothes; tees, tanks, shorts, pants, socks... and i would like to purchase a new pair of shoes this summer as well. i wanted to be a little bit more prepared with my races this year. last year i quickly signed up for a few 5ks and didn't "plan" very well. this year i am on top of it.

i wasn't much of a workout/run enthusiast until last year when a few of my friends started getting really, really serious about running/working out/bettering themselves and i decided to jump on that bandwagon. so thank you danielle, kristin and katy! they are more advanced in their running careers than i currently am but i think they are a great inspiration.

having jess as a bootcamp coach really proved to me that i can totally push myself farther than i think i can. as bootcamp comes to a close i am 100% serious about hiring her as a personal trainer for the summer. which really scares me! she's so good at what she does, and she's super intense. i don't know that i would be able to handle her workouts all the time. bootcamp has been amazing. i know that working out is far more of mental stress for me than a pysical one. my body can totally handle it, its my head. bootcamp has taught me that i can do it, my bodys not going to give up.. a full hour of nonstop cardio and strength is not going to kill me. and i use that on my runs now as well. there's no way that my body is going to fail (well, except for that knee of mine...) it's my head that makes me want to walk. and once you walk once i feel you are more inclined to do it over and over again. so i hope to never walk again on a race or a casual run :)

races:
APRIL: ironman bike race... not really a huge "biker" but my friend, kim, talked about it and i thought it would be a great idea. 25 miles on a bike should be easier than 13.1 running, right? but wait... i haven't even neared that 13.1 goal. still pushing 6.  the race is rain or shine so lets see what this bi-polar minnesota weather is like. i'm a little nervous, not gonna lie. i could easily do 16 miles last year, but i've been on a bike only once this year.
MAY: the "rave" run. nighttime, music, blacklights.... SIGN ME UP! and the race for women empowerment around lake ripley.
JULY: as of now i have no races planned for july. if anyone has any planned, let me know! i would really like to do a 10k or something larger than the normal 5k to prepare myself and body for the half.
AUGUST: half...... marathon (big gulp right there, folks). i really wanted to do mudman again this year but its the same day as frank and britts wedding  and i know i will not be up for an entire night of drinking after doing mudman. the duluth mudman is the same day as katy and blairs reception in july, so it will have to wait until next year.
SEPTEMBER: nothing for this month either.. but it's only april so i'm assuming i should be able to find something?
OCTOBER: i can't wait for the timberdash. its close by in monticello and now i know what a "trail run" is all about. gives me some more time to do more trail running and learn more about inclines and breathing techniques, which is what killed me last year... and the fall onto all fours, yep the fall might of started the race out on the wrong foot.

it's april 11th today. there is a good foot of snow on the ground and i'm afraid my indoor running is going to continue for a great length of time.