Well, Happy Summer- It's official! This makes me both happy and sad. I'm sure that you know why this makes me happy- the sun, warm/hot days, cool nights, fireflies, bonfires... and sad due to the fact that the days are going to start getting shorter now. I celebrated by having a small bonfire, a glass of wine and enjoying the extra long twilight before the last rays of the sun brushed the tops of the darkening clouds with a soft white glow.
For some reason, summer nights just bring me back to childhood when we would spend our days at the lake (about 1.5hrs north of us) and stay at our cottage. We would play games with all of our friends and run around outside for hours. We couldn't get enough of "night games" and telling ghost stories and sometimes... even went skinny dipping!
(P.S. I included photos of Chance and Bear since they had a play date yesterday at Brian's sisters house. She already has three dogs so they were all having a blast - it was like a mini dog party. Bear is a little shy at first as you can see in the background of the group photo but did eventually open up throughout the day. It takes him a while to get comfortable with new situations/people/other dogs. She was able to send me photo updates and I just couldn't get enough! They were so tired and happy last night and that made me so happy! We can't wait for the next play date.)
So, we did it! Our first 5k togehter! We participated in the Restore the Shore at Moraine State Park. It was a trail race, which I like much better... and though I am an experienced distance runner (way back in high school I ran Cross Country and track from 6th to 12th grade), this was Brian's first distance race! I knew what to expect but I think it took him by surprise, in a good way! It was very hot, humid and downright sunny as hell...our times were nothing to write home about but we ran it and we finished it and we only want to get better!
Yes, this photo above has nothing to do with the 5k but it is Bear creeping and it's cute!
We got up bright and early at 6am, ate some breakfast and started on our hour drive north. We checked in around 8am and the race started at 9am. There were only about 100 people but we were all really excited and it was a great way to get back into doing 5k's. Plus the trail was breathtaking with views of the lake and in the woods! This is us before the race...
My finish
Bri's finish
...and this is us after :)
It felt so good to run again and I really want to do more of these!
Oh and yes, Brian won a metal for 3rd place Male in the age category of 30-39!!! What a great way to end his first 5k! He was on cloud 9 all weekend :)
I have been having issues with my right knee and my left hip so I want to nurse them back to health and once they feel better, sign up for our next 5k. The same people that do restore the shore have some fall races too... so ... I think we will aim for that and train a bit more in the meantime. Well, I'm going to cozy up with my puppers and read some of my current book. Thank you reading and goodnight!
This dresser is as old as I am... 34 years old. Woah. It's seen its better days and has moved with me everywhere I have lived... it needed this ... it wanted this...
Chalk paint is a miracle. I am so happy that you don't have to sand to paint. I took off the hardware, cleaned it off as good as I could with soap and water, let it dry and started painting. Two coats is all it took and BAM! It's like new. I didn't change the hardware out because I like it. I like how old and warn it looks, so I'm keeping it. I wish I would have taken photo during the process and a better before (the before was from a long time ago) but I never think of it until I've already started and am half way through the project...
First- Music talk- loving this song above... like obsessing...
okay.
I ventured to Conneaut Lake Friday night after I got off of work. I stopped home for a quick bite to eat and pick up Chance (Bri stayed at home to help his parents Saturday morning). We got on the road at about 7pm and was at the lake by 8:30pm. My mom and I stayed up, had some wine and played Telepathy! We had a blast!
Chance got all sorts of love and cuddles from his grandparents!
Saturday morning we got up, took a walk and ate breakfast!
My grandfather built this cottage. That big front window use to slide up so we could store the pontoon boat during the winter in the living room, now it's sealed and we no longer do that, but it was a great idea to do that!
The cottage has 5 bedrooms and as children we would go up there often- my Aunts, Uncles and Cousins would be there also- it was always a full house!
It was so beautiful out and my mother and I needed to get some fit bit steps in so we took a nice, long walk around the neighborhood and looked at all the cute cottages!
Midway is the beach we belong to. They keep it so nice - it use to be a very popular place to go in the summers but as I grew up, it became less and less of a place people went... It's kinda sad that it's not a destination place anymore. I have had some of my very favorite memories there and would never trade spending my summers there for anything!
We arrived back to the cottage, changed and headed down to enjoy some beach time!
We call this "The Shed" and it opens around noon daily- they have all sorts of snack foods, slushies and games to play- When you go inside, you see writing all over the walls- people sign it with permanent marker that they have visited - our names are EVERYWHERE IN THERE! I mean we had so many friends and we would all sign it each time we were together for each year! ---AHHHH the good ol' days!
Saw this in the book I am reading and it really resonated with me:
Haha- just for fun ;)
My Dad made me a blood mary! Thanks Dad!
Chance and I left Saturday night around 7:30pm and it took us two and a half hours to get home when it should only be an hour and a half. The construction is TERRIBLE!
But - once you get on the road up there- it's truly dreamy views:
On Sunday, Brian and I went to North Park with our new bike rack and Brian's new bike to meet our good friends Nikki and Matt!
I made a video of us riding- I think next time I will stick the go pro to my helmet, I apologize for the rocking and shaking - I wanted to try it on the handle bars first...
Side Note: Look how crazy this is- I checked it out while I was at the lake and while I was biking, I had to think how grateful I am to myself for quitting. I mean it- I give myself a big old pat on the back for that one!
You CAN quit if you really want to! Trust me, you're bigger than that!
We biked about 9 miles - it says 8.31 since we forgot to sync our fit bits when we started. We remembered about a half mile in!
Bear destroyed his new toy! Stuffing Everywhere!
Summer nights :)
My Sister graduated from Cal U! I am so proud of her!
I made her a big poster to show at the party
It's pretty busy around here lately- Summer is finally feeling like it's here and there are always loads of projects! I painted my dresser I have been wanting to paint for over a year today! I will show a before and after once I get all the hardware back on it.
I hope things are going good for you, anything fun planned this summer? Leave me a comment!
