Building family Christmas traditions

The lovely and oh so talented Katy over at The Singing Runner recently posted about her wonderful family Christmas tradition which involves Christmas ornaments.  This inspired me to write about our own Christmas tradition. 


Growing up, my sister and I each got a new Christmas ornament each year.  Mine were usually Goofy ornaments, because I am a huge Goofy fan.  In 2007, the year Chris and I met, I ran my first half marathon which he also ran.  We got these fun Christmas ornaments to remember the event.  My mom even found a special ornament which she had specialized just for me.

In 2008, I graduated with my Master's degree and Chris's family give me a Dr. Seuss ornament based on the book "Oh!  The Places You'll Go!".  Chris's roommate had moved out that summer and Chris brought an artificial Christmas tree for us to decorate.  We decided on an artificial tree (which looks quite real in my opinion) since he lives on a third floor (without an elevator) and had two kitties at that point.  We bought some plastic ornaments, knowing that the kitties would probably knock them down.  We hung the nicer ornaments on the top.

 In 2009, we went on a cruise and our trip to London, and I moved in with Chris.  While on the cruise, I saw Christmas ornaments for sale and came up with the idea of collecting an ornament from the different places we travel.  This way our Christmas tree will be built of memories of the places we've gone together.  We also purchased an ornament in London and found a London-related ornament in a store after we got back.  Unfortunately, that year the cats discovered that they could climb the Christmas tree.  Ashe broke my 13.1 ornament, but luckily Chris had a matching one, so we still have one.  The video below of Simon's Cat reminds me of Ashe.  We decided that the next year we would get a second smaller tree just for our special ornaments, and that tree would be kept in a kitty-free room.

This is our first Christmas together being able to refer to each other as fiance.  I could not be happier!  This year, I knew I wanted to get an ornament in St. Augustine where Chris proposed.  We searched all over and found a few ornaments.  We kissed under "The Love Tree" and got an ornament to remember that too.  This year both Chris and I had huge work and/or school projects, and since we are not going to be in town for Christmas we decided not to put up our tree.  Instead we decorated the balcony with Christmas lights. 

 

These last three were part of a buy three for $10 deal.  I thought the heart was appropriate after the proposal.

One for showing the location of our happy moment.

And Chris just really liked this gecko.  Go figure.

Next year I plan to buy the 26.2 ornament.  We will see what else we find to build our Christmas ornament collection.  I love spending the holidays with our families and learning about the traditional foods his family cooks for the holidays (all delicious I must add).  I love that my mom still stuffs our stockings full of tiny little gifts that she wraps individually.  I look forward to the years where we celebrate holidays in our own home filled with all of our family, buy and fill our own stockings, and continue to create our own traditions built upon the traditions of our families. 

What are some of your own holiday traditions?  How do you build new traditions?


As a final note, I ran 3 miles with my co-worker Bala yesterday (in 31:54).  Then spent the day Christmas shopping with Chris.  I am finally getting into the holiday spirit.



Simon's Cat in "Santa Claws"

Throwback Thursday

Today I am stealing borrowing Q's idea of Throwback Thursday, since my grandma recently gave me some older pictures of my siblings and myself.  Check out my fro! 


In running related news, I felt lazy yesterday.  I mean seriously lazy.  I deep down wanted to run, but not nearly as much as I wanted to take a nap.  I had plans to meet up with Ashley to get in a good bye before her big move, and the idea of a nap before sounded pretty good.  You see, I had originally planned to run 6 miles yesterday.  Then I went to work and spent the day taking micrographs (photographs through a microscope) of itty bitty powders.  My co-worker and I had to get the powder out of the hazmat (short for hazardous materials) building (located in a separate building next door), go up to the third floor to weigh them, go back down to the first floor to photograph them (which in itself was a very time-consuming process dealing with double-sided tape and forceps), go back to the third floor to re-weigh them, then go back to the first floor to go back to hazmat building.  We repeated this for several hours.  My legs got quite a work-out from the stairs.  After that, I felt super lazy.  I contemplated taking a nap and running 6 miles the next day.  Then I got home and thought, "But I'm meeting Ashley... Ashley who has run an Ironman, 2 marathons, a half marathon, and a 50 mile race all within 6 weeks" (I may not have those all exact, but you get the idea).  That made me feel too lazy, so I decided to at least go for a three mile run.  My three turned into 6 at a really great pace for me.  Total time:  53:37.  With the exception of waiting to cross the street around 0.3 miles, I never had to stop.  All of the lights just seemed to change when I approached.  It was awesome!

Mile 1:  9:02
Mile2:  9:09
Mile3:  8:53
Mile4:  8:49
Mile5:  8:49
Mile 6:  8:54

Now today I am about to get started working on those powders again today.  Another butt work-out for me ( lots of stairs)!

I hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Tis the season for family

This past weekend, Chris and I went to Ocala for my family reunion (Dad's side).  We had a really wonderful time.  It was especially nice to see my grandparents.  I took a few pictures, but my battery died.  My lens seems to need cleaning as well. 

My beautiful sister and niece

Renee and Joy

My little model niece

Joy and her Mommy going for a walk.

Joy with Aunt Jes and Uncle Chris

She loved this rocking chair!

(o:

Joy and her great grandma

Uncle Bill and Jes

With my little brother, Robert, who is not so little anymore

Joy and Aunt Nora

Aunt Nora, Joy, and Grandma

Family

Family

Family

Renee and Robert, Family

View from the dock

Very delicious (terrible picture)

I have to admit that I was really bummed the entire next day.  I hate leaving family. 

In running related news, I have only run one day for 3 miles with Caitlin (~32 minutes).  I'm not going to lie... I'm being lazy because it is SO COLD outside!  Tonight I went Christmas shopping.  I am scheduled for a solo run tomorrow evening. 

I hope you all are doing well!

More 30 DSLR - Eating Naturally and Gifts of the Body 3

I'll admit, with all of the excitement from the holidays and mostly due to my time-consuming school project, I nearly forgot about catching up on my 30 Days of Self Love Reflectance (30 DSLR) which was proposed by Tina at Faith, Fitness, Fun for the 30 days in September.  I however have been spreading them out and writing whenever I have the extra time.  It may be slow, but they are coming along.  I have been following her proposed questions and thoughts.  I have listed all of the topics below, and I have linked to the topics that I have already discussed:

1. Confidence
2. Gifts of the Body #1
3. Intrinsic Beauty
4. Trusting our Bodies
5. Love from Others
6. Idolize Bodies?
7. Perspective
8. Desiring Perfection
9. Gifts of the Body #2
10. How to View Exercise
11. Seeking Control
12. Jealousy
13. Outward Beauty
14. Finding Joy
15. Perseverance
16. Eating Naturally
17. Gifts of the Body #3
18. Loving Others
19. Stop Fat Talk
20. One Life to Live
21. Purpose
22. Forgive Yourself
23. Out of Conform Zones
24. Rest
25. Gifts of the Body 4
26. More Than Numbers
27. Forgive Others
28. Deeper Issues
29. Passion 
30. Worth

Now continuing with the 30 DSLR:

Eating Naturally (Tina's original post may be found here, and as always, I recommend checking it out!)

Tina posed the thoughts and questions, "How have you experienced any shifts in how you view food?  What are the biggest influences in your food choices?"

When I was young, I was the very strange kid who would rather have had a plate of steamed vegetables (including brussle sprouts) rather than cake.  I cried when I had to eat pizza, because I did not like it (my views have since changed, although I do consider myself a pizza snob).  I went through a phase a few years ago where all I wanted to eat were non-fat foods, and reading magazines like Runners World and SELF along with reading health living blogs helped me realize that healthy fats are necessar.  In fact, when I started eating a more balanced diet, I felt a million times more satisfied and healthy.  Reading healthy living blogs has influenced my view of food in terms of giving me new ideas of how to cook and enjoy the many foods I love.  I definitely have a sweet tooth.  That beingt said, I will never exclude a particular food from my diet (unless I just do not like it... for instance... peas.  Gross!), but I will enjoy them in moderation.  I love, love, love fresh fruits and vegetables, so I enjoy finding new recipes. 

Quotes:

 "Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity."  ~Voltaire

“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” -La Rochefoucauld

 


Gifts of the Body #3 (Tina's original post may be found here.)

Tina asked, "What of your body (inside or out) do you thank today?  List three new things to thank your body for today."  

Previously I have posted about my hair, butt, ears, legs, fingernails, and heart.  Today I am thankful for my mind, knees, and muscles.  My mind has helped me in school, in decision-making, and in appreciating all of those wonderful people and places in my life that I love.  My knees have taught me how to appreciate them for allowing me to train for a marathon.  After long runs, my knees are quite sore, but luckily icing them cures the pain.  I am thankful that my knees allow me to continue to run.  Finaly, I am thankful for my muscles.  They may be sore or knotted at times, but that just reminds me of how hard they work.  They allow me to run, perform experiments, and hold my kitties.  They also allow me to experience the ultimate joy that is a massage.  The post-massage feeling is the so amazing!  I am very thankful for that!


Quotes:

"Body and mind, like man and wife, do not always agree to die together."  ~Charles Caleb Colton 

"A woman is as young as her knees."  ~Mary Quant

"Massage is the only form of physical pleasure to which nature forgot to attach consequences." ~Robert Brault 

Runs with friends

This week has been pretty stressful, but now it is time to relax and have some fun.  Tomorrow I am going to my family reunion / Christmas get-together, and I am so excited!  It is the first time I will have seen many of most of my family members since Chris and I got engaged.  I also get to see my adorable little niece, which is a big deal because when they are that young they are like completely different people every time you see them. 

I only ran 9 miles this week (three three-mile runs).  The first I ran with Caitlin which was on Tuesday.  Then Wednesday I ran with my co-worker Bala, and yesterday I ran with my co-worker Katie.  While three days in a row is not my ideal three days of running, I had a really busy schedule this week and knew I would not have time tonight (I just finished work... organic synthesis days = long days) and will be out of town tomorrow.

I hope that you all are doing great.  I'm going to try to do a little catch-up on my blog reading before meeting Chris for dinner. 

Candidacy done and Half Marathon PR!!!

Well I am still alive and running.  Friday morning was my big presentation for my candidacy.  I felt really great about the paper and presentation, but I did stumble on some questions due to nerves.  I have to fix something then I will officially have passed and be a doctoral candidate.  Woo-hoo!  I feel like it has consumed my life for weeks now, and it feels good to be past it.

Rather than going out and celebrating with drinks, we celebrated with a pasta dinner to prepare for our half marathon the next morning.  Caitlin and I ran the OUC Half Marathon, which was her first half marathon race, and Chris ran the 5K.  Caitlin and I have been training for distance for the marathon and not for speed, so while I wanted to get a PR, I honestly was not sure it was possible.  I had done some speed work up to 6 miles, but not any farther than that.  In 2007, this same race was my very first half marathon, and I shocked myself then with a time of 2:06:56.  I ran a second half marathon two months later, and it was and still is the worst race I have ever run.  Needless to way, I did not PR on that race.  I have not run a half marathon since then, which made this my third half marathon.

The morning was cold, but I quickly warmed up when the race started.  I knew that if I could keep my pace below 9:45 that I could get a PR.  I kept naturally speeding up but forcing myself to slow down to a 9:30 pace.  I felt really great for the entire run.  Around mile 5 I started to get a little cramp, but after taking a GU at mile 6 it went away (I also started the race with a GU for a total of 2 for the race).  When I was few miles from the end, I let myself speed up a bit, but not too fast.  I was afraid of speeding up too much and getting one of those horrible side stitches that plagued me in my first half marathon (at mile 9).  I only stopped to talk to get water or gatorade at the water stops.  I am happy to say that I did PR!  My official chip time was 2:02:43 (9:22 pace).  I was so excited!  And the absolute best part is that I have never felt so great during a race!  I mean I felt wonderful for the entire race and awesome after!  A few hours later my knees were pretty sore, and wearing heals to Chris's work Christmas party didn't help I'm sure.  Today my knees are better although not perfect yet.  My calves and my hamstrings are sore though.  I did not take an ice bath after, which I think is part of the reason for the muscle soreness.  I did actually fill up the bath tub, but it turned out that the water was pretty warm rather than cold and since it was cold outside I just went with it.  This race made me feel like the marthon training is going well despite the lack of longer runs recently.  After the marathon, my goal is to train to increase my speed and set new PRs for my 5K, 10K, and half marathon.  I really, really want to aim for a sub 2 hour half marathon.

Mile splits according to Garmy:

Mile 1:  9:23
Mile 2:  9:27
Mile 3:  9:25
Mile 4:  9:25
Mile 5:  9:30
Mile 6:  9:24
Mile 7:  9:29
Mile 8:  9:24
Mile 9:  9:18
Mile 10:  9:15
Mile 11:  9:15
Mile 12:  9:11
Mile 13:  9:00
Last 0.17 (according to the Garmin): 7:48 pace

Here we are after the race.  Chris said his 5K went well, and I was really excited when I saw him at the end of my race cheering me on.  He's the best!

As I mentioned, we went to Chris's work Christmas party last night.  It was held at Texas de Brazil.  Basically, just imagine all-you-can-eat meat.  It was delicious!

 

Then today we started our morning off with Star Wars pancakes, compliments of Chris's mom (she bought the molds, syrup, and pancake mix for Chris while we were visiting over the Thanksgiving holiday).  They were quite tasty.

Yoda, Darth Vader, and a Stormtrooper

Well I'm heading to bed.  I hope you all are doing well!  Happy December!