Who's under those hats?

Probably up to no good, the Mr and I, during "cotillon" time at our friend's wedding in November

...And here sharing a tender moment ;)

On another note...

Has anybody read "The Senator's Wife"??. Well, don't. It's painfully slow and boring. I can't wait to finish it. On the positive side, it does put me to sleep every night veru quickly!.

Book review: The Secret Life of Bees (no spoilers!)

I finished the Secret life of Bees (by Sue Monk Kidd) a couple of days ago. I have to be completely honest here, as immature as it may sound, but I missed the Cullen family (aka the vampires from the Twilight series). It wasn't until almost mid way through that I really started to get into it. Thank goodness I can still enjoy books that are not found in the "Teenage literature" section of the bookstores with rave reviews from Teen magazines!

Being part of the "B" Family I can tell you we all have our little secrets...in this house, we have our own "Secret Life of B's" ;)

The bonds and lives of the female characters is definitely the most important part of the story. It is beautifully written and it touches on the life and the relationships between a very peculiar group (women from different backgrounds, races and ages). It is based in a small town in South Carolina, in a time when this country was going through the changes that will make us all equal, regardless of color.

The more I read, the more it became interesting to also learn about the actual life of bees (not really the main intent of the book, but just an added bonus). I have never really thought about the bees and the importance of the Queen amongst them. Little interesting facts that may become useful if we ever engage in a game of Trivia Pursuit, land on the green "Science" category and get a bee related question during the game! ;)

So it was a great book and I definitely recommend it if you haven't read it yet!. I am also looking forward to watching the movie, which also does have good reviews.

Through my life, I have always been surrounded by lots of women (2 sisters, a mom, a step mom, grandmas, good friends, aunts and many cousins!). I wouldn't change it for anything (although i am sure it wasn't easy for the few men in our family! ;)). I can't really imagine not having two sisters, how do other girls manage without two sisters? or without having a great and open relationship with both mom and step mom?...or without the occasional girls trip or girls night out?...beats me!

I am thankful and appreciative of all the women in my life. The mom, the step mom, the sisters, the mother in law, the cousins and the friends. You know who you are.

I'm here to brag...

Because well, it's my blog, so I can! ;))

Click, click!!! (I promise it is safe to click!) ---> Bragging

So yeahhh, I did it!!. To celebrate my new Milestone, the big 1-0-0, I gave my Nike-mini a mini make-over...she's also sporting a brand new shining "#1" Tag on her shirt, so she can brag all over town (ok, all over this blog, but whatever).

I simply can't believe I have RAN all those miles!. I started at a pace of 11.5 or so, now I'm in the 9s. My average run (according to the Nike+ site) is 3.5 miles long. That's just, my regular, good ol', average run!...WOW!!. I just can't believe it. That's the thing I love the most about running, you really see the improvement when you stick to it. I've also noticed that a good strength/toning routine for the legs really helps with the pace and overall feel when you run.

This week it was tough, due to a cold...but I went running yesterday and had a GREAT run! 4.5 miles, averaging 9.38 mins per mile!. Tomorrow is the day I practice the 10K distance (which is just a little over 6 miles)...exactly one week before the race, so wish me luck! :)

On another note, I've become a vampire fanatic along with all the other teenagers in the country. I know I'm not the only one in her twenties (...*thirties*..cough, cough) that has fallen in the spell....so I'm not ashamed, well, maybe a little, but hey...how can I, a simple human, not fall for the dazzling effects of these vampires! ;)

Coming soon, pictures of our Christmas decorated house!! :)

...Back on the road and giving in...

..To the Twilight obsession!.
For those of you that don't know, there is a craze about a book series about vampires. I know what you are thinking and I feel the same way....vampires??. Everyone that reads it gets obsessed with the series and loves the book, so in between flights, I thought, why not...stopped at the airport bookstore and decided to buy a copy.

Plus I had ran out of reading material...and not really into the current book I have.

On my first flight I was consumed by my Runners magazine (always the highlight of my trips!)...and I almost finished my gossip magazine (a must have for travelling!). So I have my book, still doubting I will actually like it..but hey, I also thought I would not like running and here I am, day dreaming about being outside running!.

This weekend I was able to get out there and ran about 3.5 miles at about 9.4. Still in the 9s!! wooo-hooo!. I can't wait for my overall pace to drop to the 9s too. Another important milestone is also getting near...I'm close to logging 100 miles total!!!

This morning, I did my boot camp bright and early and plan on running twice during my trip. It's always hard during business trips but I will find a way. This weekend I'm definitely planning on doing a 6 mile run...it's no longer an option with only two weekends before the race.

Ok, off to get on the vampire wagon!.

Book review: Marley & Me (No spoilers!)

Marley & Me, by John Grogan



Since I know a few of you are reading it I won't give away anything, but will just tell you how I feel about it.

I loved it!!! I think anyone that has ever had a dog will love this book. I think maybe even people that have never had one, but I don't know that they will get it as well (I may be wrong, but there are just certain things that you don't know about unless you have had a dog!).

I usually read at night or during business travel flights. While I read in bed, I'm next to a serious reader, the hubster. He reads serious books. Military, history, you name it...serious stuff!...So, apologies to him if my reading habits interfere with his serious reading (although i think he probably just ignores me..hehe). When I read in the plane, I'm next to strangers and don't feel comfortable laughing out loud (or crying for that matter).

I have learned the hard way that there are certain books I want to read at home. I want to feel free to laugh out loud or cry like a baby. It's the best thing about reading...living emotions through characters is always healing to me. Any book that taps into my emotions, whether good or bad, is a good book in my mind.

After reading a few chapters, I knew this was a book I wanted to read at home. i was laughing OUT LOUD!. Every night while reading I would glance at Chepe and that just made me laugh harder (probably remembering similar episodes in Chepe's life).

As I was getting close to the end, I also knew this was a book I wanted to read at home. I also knew this was a book I wanted to finish alone!. No offense to my dear serious reader, but I wanted to be alone. One Saturday night, I called it a night early on and came upstairs. Got myself ready to finish the book. And well, let's just say afterwards I felt very light and slept like a baby. It's a sad but happy feeling....the best kind.

Dogs are just amazing. Anyone that has been blessed by having one touch their lives knows what I am talking about. So don't get sad, be glad and know you're lucky...and the best dogs are sometimes the "worst" dogs :)




And here is a picture taken last week of the little one that terrorizes the neighbors and dogs (big or small). Chepe is a funny character and now in adulthood there are a few Chepesisms I thought I would share,

• He doesn't know many tricks, but the ones that he knows he has mastered
• He may not know hot to heel and walk beside you "properly", but is always excited to go for a walk.
• He may not always come when you call him, specially if he's taking a nice nap...but he will come around when he is ready and finish the lap next to you.
• He is our little black bear, but is as tender as they come.
• He barks at everyone that walks by...specially if they are kids. He has a specially mean bark reserved for them....but has shown that even when my nephews terrorize him, he will just run away and not hurt them.
• He is at his happiest when his favorite humans are together in the couch.
• He is the best napping partner you will ever find and appreciates if you share the nap blanket with him.
• He likes to sleep on his back, legs up...what? is that not how most dogs sleep.

He is a small dog with a big personality, a big bark and a huge heart.

This post is dedicated to all dogs that have and for those that continue to touch your lives.

Audiobooks

Have I mentioned I love my Ipod?. In case I haven's, I love my Ipod (birthday gift from the husband ;))

So far I have only used it to listen to music, but last night as I read through some running blogs I saw a lot of people use their running time to read!....ahh, gotta love technology. I am not entirely sure how "reading" rather than listening to music will change my running, but there was only one way to find out.

I logged on to audible.com today and signed up to be a "Gold Member". Each month (for the first 3 months) you pay $7.50 and then $13.50 after that (you can cancel at any time, no obligation). Basically this gives you access to 1 Credit = 1 Audiobook. This was a much better deal than what I had seen on iTunes (where the book I wanted was $18.95!). I downloaded my first book, Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. I absolutely loved My Sister's Keeper, so I decided to play it safe with my first audiobook and go with an author I already knew I liked.

Last night, I ran about 1.5 miles (on the treadmill at 1% incline and 9'45'' average pace) before my Pump Class. Today is my attempt at 6 miles. It is raining outside right now...I'm really hoping it stops because I don't think I can do 6 miles on the treadmill!.

So fingers crossed that it will stop raining, I will be able to get out there, start reading my book and break my distance record! If so, I'll come back with a full report! :)


Happy Friday!

Why run?

To be the fastest runner in case we ever have another Grizzly bear encounter!!!? Nope. If I know one thing about Grizzly bears is that you definitely shouldn't try to out run them. I also know that I am good at following directions in bear-related life threatening situations, so I probably will just do whatever the husband tells me to do...and he probably would not be one to yell "Run!!!".

So, why? Well, my friend Emy gets all the credit for getting me excited about trying. Here are the reasons why I have stuck with it:

• To lose the newlywed weight
  Yeah, like the freshman 15..only this weight gain nobody warns you about, and it just creeps up on you. Here I am, happy and delighted to be trying all sort of recipes to share awesome newlywed dinners with my husband. The husband...well, he happily eats them and rates them all. Of course by the time he sits down to enjoy his dinner, he probably burnt like 1,000 calories playing tennis.
  Meanwhile something was happening...yep, it's the newlywed weight creeping in....and I want it GONE!

• Boredom/ Wedding Planning blues
  A year of planning the wedding and working on all the details (and loving every second of it) is suddenly replaced with a whole lot of time to do a whole lot of nothing. Yes, I have an entire house to decorate and Alejandro and I have a lot to do...but that's not a day to day thing and I miss that. I miss all my planning, I guess I'm just a planner.
  
  No, I'm not completely bored, just a little bored. I need things to keep me busy and entertained...and depending on others for that can get very old, very quickly!. This little challenge is mine, I get to enjoy it, to hate it and to celebrate it...and I have nobody to blame or reward for the ups/downs but myself. So basically, it's me entertaining myself and sharing my results with you here (with all 3 of you :))

• Flexibility and no Excuses
  This sort of related to Number 1, but not completely. Ever since the wedding. I moved up here and my routine got all messed up. I had worked so hard to get myself into a routine for the past 2 years, but slowly started to lose it with my excuses. I started working from home (which has it's perks) but I also started travelling a little more for work. This means I had plenty of excuses of why I couldn't get myself in a routine. Running eliminates all that nonsense. You can pretty much run anywhere and anytime.
  

• Because I can
  My dad was a marathoner, so I feel like I have it in my genes (or so i tell myself). He inspires me and I know part of why he was so successful at it is because he's a planner. Hmm...sounds familiar?

Running is like no other exercise I have ever done. I was never much into sports but I can see what Alejandro means about it being all mental (he plays tennis). I would say running is 80% in your head.

You wouldn't even believe all the things that go through my head when I'm out there running. Sometimes I plan for the next day, or think of new recipes, or sing along. Other times (when the run is getting tough) I do visualizations. I visualize myself looking in top Marathon shape (even if I never actually run a fill marathon, it is still fun to picture myself!), I picture my legs strong and with effortless continuous motions...almost like they are not attached to my body and are like the wheels of a car.


Just a little update: I added two little boxes. One with my Monthly/Weekly running stats on the little box to the right and one farther on the right showing what I'm currently reading. I will be adding book reviews when I'm done (I've never been much of a reader, but it's just something else I started doing...Alejandro gets all the credit for getting me into that!!)