.WIW: Fall Arrival.

Soooo...fall has arrived here in Central Minnesota. One thing is for sure, it is getting pretty cold outside. I like the fall (or used to) but since being out of the state for a while I believe that fall has gotten colder since I was a young gun  (I don't know how I am going to handle winter!) It has even given me a nice cold to welcome the chillier weather and beautiful leaves with.

This outfit I believe is going to be my go to fall outfit. The blazer and scarf items that I can wear with different outfits, in different ways PLUS they will help protect me from the wind! Nothing like having stylish protection...also I think it looks better than throwing on a sweatshirt, which is something I am drawn to do from time to time.

blazer: lane bryant // pants: Forever 21

scarf: TJ Maxx // Shoes: Payless

What are going to be your fall go to items?

.maggie turns 7th.

Sunday night we celebrated Maggie's birthday, the old lady turned 7 years (or 6.. the vets weren't sure of her age).  It was a big affair that lasted about 10 exciting minutes for Maggie! For her big day I made Maggie a dinner consisting of grilled chicken breast and then doggie birthday cupcakes. I used this recipe, Peanut Butter Delight, and it was a smash hit! For "frosting" I used cottage cheese and then created a 7 with a carrot.

I made cupcakes over a cake for 2 reasons: One, new foods can be hard on the dogs tum tum so I wanted to make sure Maggie didn't get sick, and two...I didn't want to waste any of the cake so now we have treats for later the week!  Which is good because she loved her cupcake and I know she is going to go crazy when she gets another one again!

It was sooo cute seeing Maggie in her little birthday princess hat having a great time eating her supper and then her cupcake. Whenever she is happy both Dave and I's hearts are full. We cannot get enough of her cuteness and love! We both feel very lucky to have her and for her letting us spoiling her (and for making her wear silly hats/outfits). 

.the birthday family portrait.

How do you celebrate your pet's birthday?

.august books.

OH MY! Can you believe it's September already? Seriously...September!??!! Where or where did the summer go? But now it's time to get ready for fall and that makes me very, very happy. Fall is one of my very favorite seasons, I'm excited to be back in MN to feel the chill in the air and see the leaves change colors.

Enough with my ramblings...here are the books I read in August:

Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me: family and friends of Chelsea Handler  Usually I'm a big fan of Chelsea Handler books, they crack me up. But this one, eeeehhh..not so much. It's stories from her friends about the lies that Chelsea Handler has told them and tricks she has played on them. Basically, if she loves you like family then she will f with you to her liking.

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Yiddish with Dick and Jane: Ellis Weiner  This is a great little book! Haaa! It tells a story as Dick and Jane have grown up and it's super duper funny. Dave grew up with his dad speaking some Yiddish around the house, so I quizzed Dave on EVERY yiddish word.  He did pretty good, but if he didn't know it I just looked up the definition in the back of the book. I know that this is one that I will pick up again and again to read and learn yiddish. I think it would be great if we spoke a few yiddish words in the house when we have kids. It's a great way to keep Dave's heritage in the family!

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Nickel and Dimed: Barbara Ehrenreich  This book is one you may have read in college or high school as a summer reading list. I have seen this book for years but have never read it, so when it showed up at work and I could have it for free, I jumped on it! I loved this book. Ehrenreich, a journalist, goes on assignment to find out if families coming off welfare will be able to survive working low end jobs. She spends the next few years going across America working lower end jobs and trying to survive in the different cities. In the end she finds that really it's not able to happen, she worked herself to the bone trying to make ends meet. Currently,I'm working in a low end job struggling sometimes to make it all come together so this book spoke to me. People work hard for their money, very hard, and they take pride in it..but with the way things are structured it's hard to get ahead. This book is a MUST read for everyone!!!!

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Still Mostly True: Brian Andreas   Little book with drawings and little stories. Eh...not to bad but not so great.

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Currently Reading:

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( I LOOOOVEEEE Bill Bryson! I'm excited to dig into this books!)

I'm also reading the September Issue of Vogue....swoooonnn!!!!

.progress.

Buffalo Bills Pre-Seaon Game

August 6, 2008

Vikings vs. Buffalo Bills Pre-Seaon Game

August 18, 2012

It's crazy to see these how different Dave and I look after 4 years. 

We have tried really hard this past year to be healthy and active. 

It has always been a struggle for us. 

We do well for a few months and then backslide. 

However, since living in Australia we have stayed on the right path. 

We are eating better (& smaller portions) and running. 

I love seeing our progress and I can't wait to continue being healthy. 

We do this for us because we want to be there for each other. 

* I also do it to feel strong and beat my own expectations of self * 

.27hr staycation.

With Dave and I both working in customer service/retail/ low end of the totem pole jobs we rarely have any days off together. Dave is lucky to have set days off each week and I am always crossing my fingers that I get at least one of those days off as well. It seemed like the stars were align because last weekend we both had Friday night and Saturday off!! Since we didn't have much time and are lacking sums of money we planned a quick staycation, The Shoave Day-Stay-Cation.

On Friday night we scored cheap tickets to the Vikings vs. Buffalo Bills football game. We both were super pumped for the game! It was our first time seeing the Vikings play at home and the Bills are Dave's favorite team (he is a New Yorker). If you didn't know...I've become a pretty big football and Vikings fall within the last five years or so. I finally understand the game and it doesn't just look like lots of people falling down and flags being thrown around.

View of the field from our seats

Oh my! We had sooo much fun at the football game! For a pre-season game the stadium was full of excited Vikings fans. We cheered, shouted, sang and got prepared for the season. We finally learned the Viking cheer that is sang after each touchdown/field goal..and got it stuck in our heads. My future bff, Jared Allen (#69), is the defensive end and played for a while during the first half. Anytime I can see him play or even just see his face on the jumbo tron I am one happy lady! There were two favorite parts of the game: 1) During the whole 3rd quarter the fans did the wave around the stadium. Seriously...it lasted for like 18 min. AND if that wasn't enough people started to throw their playbooks and other paper in the air like confetti. It was messy but did look really cool to see when the wave was going on. 2) In the 4th quarter the Vikings (same player actually) got two interceptions returned for touchdowns!!! It was amazing! 

This is what it looked like during our section of the wave!

On Saturday morning we slept in and hung out with Maggie for a bit. Then we walked down to Lake Calhoun for some kayaking. I haven't really been kayaking before and was kind of nervous. It was stressful in the beginning because we were given no instructions, just handed the paddle, and told to have fun. During the time I am trying to figure out how to actually steer the kayak and move forward in a straight line, we are going through tunnels filled with people kayaking, canoeing, and on paddle boats. I was soooo stressed, I ran into one person, and almost took a paddle boat out! I kept yelling for Dave to help me...but really what could he do..he was in a different kayak behind me. After we got out of the tunnels and into the lake, everything was fine.  I was able to figure it out and go super duper fast ! Who knows, if I practice enough I may be able to complete in the Olympics!

We had fun goofing off in the water, splashing, racing, and working out our arms. And since I became such an expert on kayaking I had no issues with the tunnels when we returned the boats! After kayaking we walked to get some home made ice cream and then onto home.  We got close to home, when I discovered I did not have our keys, my phone, or my camera. Since we just got done walking 4.5 miles and kayaking for an hour  we DID not want to walk back to get our keys for another 4.5 mile roundtrip. So what did we do?  We broke into our apartment! Good thing we had the window open, that way all we had to do was break our screen a little, move it, and Dave hopped in.  Now we have a broken window screen frame...but we didn't have to walk! We grabbed Dave's car keys and headed to kayak place where they had everything of mine!!!

When we returned with EVERYTHING in hand, it was time for dinner. Dave woke up early in the morning and prepared a pot roast for the slow cooker.  He wanted to make a nice meal for us during our staycation and it was delicious. The meal was soooo good and filling that we ended up taking a quick snooze on the coach with Maggie. We couldn't snooze to long because we had to get ready to head to the Mall of America where we were going to a comedy club.  The comedy show was hilarious and something we haven't done before. I laughed soo hard, especially when the audience started singing the National American University song! (p.s. the university is IN the Mall of America!) I'm glad that I grabbed the groupon when it was on sale because it was a great time (and we saved big bucks). After the show we got milkshakes and fries from McDonald's to cap off our Shoave Day-cation!

So in 27 hours we:

* Went to a football game

* Walked 4.5 miles

*Kayaked for an hour

* Ate a great dinner

* Saw a Comedy Show

* Did some shopping

It was nice to just hang out with Dave and do new, fun things! During this time we stayed off the internet, limited our texting with friends, and didn't do one thing that needed to get done at home! It was a break for the world that we needed and can't wait to plan more exciting day-cations in our future!!

.around the city: Target Field.

My dad hasn't been to a Major League Baseball Game since he was a weeeeee little lad. I haven't been to the Minnesota Twins new Stadium, Target Field (not so new..opened in 2010), so I thought it would be a perfect Fathers Day gift for us to head to the baseball diamond.

Walking along the outside finding our gate

The weather was perfect baseball weather, the sun shining a little bit but a chill in the air to keep you cool. We drove to downtown Minneapolis with my dad holing the "oh shit" bar the whole way and found $5 parking 4 blocks away from Target Field.  We followed the people wearing blue and red and found the stadium with no problem at all. 

Target Field is located in downtown Minneapolis. Which is great because you have different options on travel; you can bike, walk, take the train,  or drive.  Also you get the great views of downtown Minneapolis from the upper deck. I always love being able to see the city when you are in an environment that makes you forget about the city all together. Does that make sense? 

I had only seen the Twins once before when the played in the Metrodome, a covered stadium shared with the NFL Minnesota Vikings. I must say I prefer outdoor stadiums to indoor stadiums, they truly make you feel like you are part of the game and enjoying baseball they way it's suppose to be. I have been to three other outdoor stadiums; National Stadium, Cambden Yards, and Citi Field; and the Target Field is up to par with all of them. It was a beautiful stadium with great vendors, hospitality, and atmosphere. 

My dad watching the game

The only complaint I have about Target Field is the entertainment being innings. I am someone who likes to be entertained; show me a video, make me sing a song, make me think I have an opportunity to win something. They had a lot of camera shots out in the audience with non fun songs playing, but even the people on the jumbo tron weren't feeling it. At one time a group started sining "Amazing Grace" and I couldn't find the relevance at all. The entertainment felt week and I wish they could jive it up a bit. The best stadium that I have been to have great entertainment is Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. They were giving away free pizza to different rows, playing tons of games, and played fun, relevant music.  I think the Twins could pick up a few pointers from them. 

All in all we had a great day at the baseball field. My dad had a blast and was thankful that we took him to see the Twins. The Twins played a pretty good game but lost in the 10th inning..but we did get to see a homerun. If you are a baseball fan you NEED to come to Minneapolis and check out Target Field. You won't be disappointed and it may just make you fall in love with Minneapolis a little bit more. 

.urban wilderness half marathon.

At the beginning of the month Dave and I ran our 2nd half marathon. I won't lie to you I was one nervous/terrified girl when it came to running that race. I had trained some but not nearly as much as for the first half we ran. (I actually ran 30 fewer miles than last time when training) I also got some hip pain a week before the race and had to minimize my miles a lot.  But I signed up to do it and see how fast I could run it and gosh darn that was exactly what I was going to do then.

Between finishing and stuffing my face with oranges. 

I was sooo exhausted and these were the best oranges EVER!

My best friend Molly was visiting from Boston and even woke up at the crack of dawn to watch us run the race. Our other good friend (and my trainer) Jim always came out to cheer us on. Never have I had anyone cheer for me when running but now I feel like I want to race only with my personal cheerleaders. It does make a difference having someone cheer for you and high five you every so often. When I wanted to stop and walk I didn't because I knew they would want me to keep going. They even got in the car and drove down the course a little bit honking and waving at everyone. I think they had as much fun cheering for us as we had having them there.

We made it our goal to pass this guy. 

We finally did and as you can see, I'm very happy about it!

Here are some things I learned during the race:

1) Don't compare your training milages the day of the race, it will make you feel unprepared and nervous. Nobody needs those feelings when they are about to start a race!

2) Set goals. We had a goal of when we wanted to finish by before we started. This helped us make sure we kept on track while running. We also made small goals when trying to pass others, this is something I find that helps me stay motivated and moving forward.

3) It's okay if others pass you, don't let it bring you down. You never know you may end up passing them again further down the course. 

4) Listen to your body. It's okay to stop and walk a bit, nobody will judge you. Just keep moving and you will do great. 

Crossing the finish line! 

Our time: 

2 hours and 29 min. 

(11 min. 24 sec per mile)

A new personal recored for our half marathons!

* In case you are wondering I wore a lot of the same items I wore when running my first marathon. I am wearing new shorts (from Target) and a new dry fit hat, I didn't wear the bandana or running belt.  You can find info on my running gear and first marathon, here and here. *

Now we only have 7.5 weeks until our marathon. Oh...did I tell you we kind of stopped running for a few weeks after the half..haa!! SOOOOOOO...as in true Sho fashion, this should be interesting! I will have to keep you updated on the progress!

Special thanks to Molly for taking TONS of pictures of us while we were running the race. It's always great to look back at something you accomplished!