The Issaquah Salmon Days 5K!

Today my Dad and I ran the Issaquah Rotery Run 5K (3.1 miles) at Salmon days. It was my Dad's first 5K race and it was my 3rd 5K race! Surprisingly, I finished only 20 seconds behind my Dad. He ran it in 28:38 and I ran it in 28:58. My dad was dissapointed because in his performace because he thought he was in a lot better shape since he plays soccer twice a week. However, he found out that you have to learn to pace yourself for running that long of a distance. He did fine running the first 2 miles, but then had a cramp in his shoulder blade and then it radiated down to his back and hamstring. On the other hand, this was my best race so far. Unfortunately, my right hip flexor has been giving me problems every time I finish a run, so I hope I can continute to run longer distances. I am going to try and slow my pace down a bit, but run 4 or 5 miles at a time. My next goal is to run a 10K (6.2 miles) by winter or spring! The pictures were taken right when he got home from the race.

Iron Girl 5K and Foster Kids 5K

Today Sept. 12th my friend Taia and I ran the Iron Girl 5K race at 8:00am in Green Lake, Seattle! We ran the race (3.1 miles) in 29 minutes, which is a 9:30 minute mile. The run was for a great cause, Pediatric Cancer Research. We were also given all sorts of free samples, a cool shirt, and bags for doing the race. This was my second 5K of the summer. My first 5K race was last month on August 14th for Foster Kids to be able to attend summer camp. I am definitely hooked on these 5K's! I plan to do 2 in October and 1 in November so far. My goal is to be running a 10K by Spring or Summer. Enjoy the pictures!

First game for Sparks

I am the assistant soccer coach for a U-12 girls rec team called the Sparks. This past Saturday was their first game and we played out in North Bend which is actually my home town! It felt so good to be back in my comfort zone. A lot of memories were coming back to me as we were arriving to Si View Park. For one, I used to play soccer as a little girl on those same fields, and second, I was baptized in the public pool inside the "barn" looking building (as you'll see in the pictures.) Third, my parents managed and we lived in the Si View Apartments next to the fields. Life is so crazy!  :-) I never would have thought that I would be back on the same field coaching, and have my son there all at the same time. Overall, Saturday's game went well and we have a lot of great athletes. We won 7-0 and during the second half we played with one less player, which didn't even make a dent. Anyways, I look forward to practices, games and getting to know these girls better. It's going to be a great season. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Jackson turns 1!

Tonight was really fun because James was invited to his first birthday party. His friend from church, Jackson, was turning 1-years-old. James definitely had a lot of fun playing with Jackson and all of his toys. Everything was new to play with so James was in toy heaven! All of the babies had a lot of fun interacting together as well as all of the adults. We had pizza and cupcakes to celebrate. I couldn't get over how cute the cupcake cake was. What a great idea! I can't wait for James' birthday party. Well, wait a minute, yes, I can wait. ;-)

Our 10-month-old

This is my first blog so why not make it about our son, James. He's now 10 months old and I really can't believe how fast time is going. I can't believe that in less than 2 months he is turning 1 years old! James' personality is really starting to show through in so many ways. He is very sweet, personable, happy, loud, focused, MOBILE, and is learning and absorbing information every day. He is crawling (army crawl), standing while holding onto something and getting into anything he possibly can. Its definitely exhausting following him around all day, but he is so entertaining and cute, how could I not just love being his mommy?! He is learning how to clap now and he also will copy what we do. He will turn his head sideways when daddy does and make noises with his mouth like daddy does. I do have to say that my son has one of the cutest laughs I've ever heard, especially when we're tickling him. Not only can he copy what we do, but he can also say Mama and Dada and of course it melts our hearts.