.my first (only?) marathon.

Welll....I DID IT!!!!! Let the cheers, hip hip horrays, and angels sing because I, Shoshonna Lynn Roberts, finished a marathon, 26.2 miles!!!!! Let's just get this one thing straight from the start, this my friend was not easy. This my friend took strategy, guts, pain, and heart. I wasn't sure I could do it, I didn't train real well for it and let's face it 26 miles is a long freakin' way!

* mile 25ish *

The race we ran was the Whistlestop Marathon in Ashland, Wisconsin. It is an annual race that get's bigger and bigger each year. This year there were a total of 600 marathon runners.  This race is also a Boston qualifier...if you are a serious runner and curious. The area is beautiful, especially this time of year with the leaves changing colors, and right on Lake Superior. The race is on the Tri-County Corridor and is 98% trail, you literally only run about 2.2 miles in town! The scenery was beautiful, quiet, and at mile 20 got a little boring. Two of the big reasons we chose this race as our first race was: 1) it was on the cheaper side of races, about $60 and 2) the trail continued to slightly go down in elevation most of the race! So no big hills to conquer at mile 8 or 16, which is such a BIG blessing!!!

* about to cross the finish line*

Going into the race I was really nervous and continuously swearing at our friend Jim for getting me into this mess.  Dave and I were waaayyy under trained, our farthest run before the marathon was 15.6miles and that was just 2 weeks before the marathon. Usually you should run at least 20 miles once! Also the month before the marathon I only ran a total of 26 miles...the exact same amount I was suppose to run in one day! haa haaa...I could only laugh at how ridiculously hard this race was going to be. The day of the race was cloudly and rain was drizzling for a good part of the day. I was wet and cold to the bone the whole time. Things went pretty good for us until about mile 17/18 when our bodies starting getting really tired and the woods were getting old real fast. We started having to run a bit and walk a bit more frequently but we kept going...even when it hurt. By mile 20 we were sick of the woods and asking people when we could escape them. By mile 25, I didn't trust a word anyone said to me...people lie, they say you are getting close the being done...you aren't, it will still feel like a lifetime before you hit the next mile.  But we kept going until we crossed that finish line!

Our Time:

5 hours 45 min. 33 sec

(13 min. 11 sec per mile)

We weren't even sure we were going to make the 6 hour deadline and we beat it by 15 min!

The question is..would I do this again?

I'm not sure.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would and I'm pretty competitive. 

I wonder what my time would be if I did train for it?

Maybe, I will have to find out...only time will tell!

.september books.

It's that special time again where I share with you what I read the month before. Is it just me or does it seem like the months go by faster and faster the older you get?

Through No Fault Of My Own: Felser Lampert  This was  a great little read before bed. It's the diary of young well to do girl growing up in the 1920's in St. Paul, MN. She gets in trouble at home, sneaks out to go to Friday night dances, and gets in trouble more than a few times! It was a cute little read that gives the insight to what Grand Ave. and St. Paul was like way back when. 

Source

The Lost Continent: Bill Bryson  Oh, how I love Mr. Bryson!!! He is the only guy that I feel can write about anything in the whole world and make it both interesting and funny. This book is about his travels through small town America after living in Great Britain for 10 years. His snarky remarks are spot on at times and make you laugh out loud when reading. This book was written in 1989 but still holds some truths to this day. I highly recommend you picking up a Bill Bryson book and getting lost in his little world. 

Source

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? Mindy Kaling  I was recommended this book by my best friend, so I put my name on the library waiting list and waited for about 2 months for the book. I waited so long I forgot that I was on the list! The book was really easy to read it took me only about 2 days of casual reading to finish the book. Kaling shares many random funny stories about her life from childhood to writing on The Office. The stories are hilarious, but fall into random parts of the book. I would have liked the different stories to be more organized into chapters/sections of the books, however that is my only complaint. This book made me love Mindy Kaling!!! I recommend it for a light, easy read in between books or if you are looking to release some stress. 

Source

What have you been reading?

Goal: 32/50 books!!

.apple picking.

Last week Dave and I had a wonderful day off together (wwwhoooooootttt!!!!). We slept in a little, went apple picking, hung out, and then joined friends for an amazing concert...hellooo great day!!!

I have only been apple picking once or twice as a kid at our neighbors few apple trees. We would have to climb up on ladders and use apple picking tools to get the apples from the top of the trees. This was what I was expecting when we went to Emma Krumbees and I was WAAAYYYY off, but it was still fun!!!

We went picking at Emma Krumbees in Belle Plaine, MN which is about 40 min. south of Minneapolis.  I have wanted to go apple picking here for Y.E.A.R.S., every time I have ridden or driven past it since the orchard opened up I was hoping to go one fall. Emma Krumbees not only has an orchard, it has an amazing restaurant...which is kind of famous in southern MN. They cook home cooked meals like pot roast, meat loaf, live and onions that taste delicious and affordable (they also cook other items too). We got to Emma Krumbees in time for breakfast, so we ate up and got strength for our apple picking.

                    

Apple picking was way easier then I expected. We filled our 10lb bag in about 10 min... and then used the rest of the hour or so taking silly pictures! We were lucky because we found a few trees that had lots and lots of apples for the taking and we didn't have to search and search.  It was fun trying to find the best apple on the tree and race Dave on who was the best apple picker. 

So how do we do plan on using the 11 lbs of apples we picked? Welll...this is what we have made with it: 

2 rounds of homemade applesausce

apple chips

doggie treats for Maggie

easy apple pie (ish)

It has been lots of fun looking up apple recipes and creating them in the kitchen! I'm not much of a cook so making delicious, easy recipes was right up my alley! I hope everyone gets to go apple picking or make some delicious apple recipes this fall! There is no better way celebrate the crispiness of fall!

.dancing around the apt.

I have had this song in my head for awhile now and when I get a chance at home I play it and dance around and around and around. I even sometimes get Maggie and Dave involved with my little jigs because let's face it dancing with others can be more fun than dancing alone.

Hope you like it and do a little jig with a friend or partner!

What song have you been jamming out to?

.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.

Source

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!

Source

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!!!!

Source

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

Source

Currently Reading:

Source

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

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