Sunday, September 30, 2012

Sublime Pizza

We went over to Sublime Ale House last night after church. Ryan and his mom wanted a beer, and I was just along for the ride. I have had the mac and cheese before, and the grilled cheese, but last night I wanted to try the pizza. Ry and I split the First Date Pizza, which is Spinach, Mushrooms, Parmesan with an olive oil base, topped with truffle oil. I think I can honestly say IT WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE PIZZAS EVER! It was so scrum-didily-ump-tious! Now that I have tried that pizza (and know of its wonders) I will be just as excited as Ryan is about going to Sublime in the future.



Harbor Days

We went down to the Oceanside Harbor Days yesterday afternoon. We picked up so many free goodies along the way by spinning prize wheels (tooth paste, coupons for free coffees, coupons for free breakfasts, grocery bags, Pez dispensers, camping cups, Slurpees, etc). Ryan's mom also picked up a few Christmas gifts for people as well. We missed the Nail & Sail because we went down yesterday instead of today, but maybe next year Ry will enter to be in it :).

Here are some of our pictures from the trip:










Friday, September 28, 2012

Putt-Putt Night

Tonight we went and played a little putt-putt at Boomers. I think it was the BEST round I have EVER had. I started off with a HOLE-IN-ONE on the very first hole and even beat Ry by a couple strokes (which NEVER happens). It may also have helped that there was NO ONE there, so we would reply a hole every once in a while and if we got a better score the second time we could keep it. The weather was wonderful and we had a blast.







PS Thanks to Mike & Katrina for letting us use their coupon card. The three of us played a good hour of putt-putt for a total of $14 - not too shabby!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Virtual 5K Complete

I am part of a few running 'groups' on Facebook. One of the members from the Disneyland Half Marathon had posted a link to one of her recent blog posts. She is trying to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training. To do this, she had a great idea (not sure if she was the first to come up with it, but I had never heard of it before and thought it was pretty ingenious). Anyway, donate money (different amounts gets you different things), run/ walk/ crawl/ skip a 5K by a certain date, and get a medal. Get it, virtual 5K?! You do the distance, but no official race.

My goal is to raise $3000 by October 1st. To do this, I will need to register at least 50 people.  If you would like to help, please consider registering for my virtual 5k.  For the 5k, anytime from now until the end of September, run, walk, skip or crawl the distance—BLING included!  As a thank you for registering, I will send you a finisher medal. Brand new for this run, I have added a kids fun run option!  If you register, your child can too at a discounted rate.  The children's race distance is at your discretion.  You know your child best.  You both will get a medal!  I have added a few new options this time:
                     Donate $20+ and you will receive a Welcome Fall 5k medal. 
                     Donate $25+ and your medal will be personalized with your name and/or finish time. 
                     Donate $30+ will enter you and your child into the 5k.  You will receive your medal and your child will get a special medal just for them! 
                     Donate $35+ to register you and your child.  You will both get a medal personalized with your name and/0r finish time.  

So when I heard about it, I figured I had to do it. I mean, who doesn't like a race medal AND helping out others?!



I ended up doing the 5K distance this afternoon. I really wanted to be under 27 minutes, but unfortunately missed it by 2 seconds (should have started my kick 10 seconds earlier and I might have made it).



I had a few things working against me though, which I will attribute to missing my mark. First off - this was my first 'outdoor' run since my half marathon. I have been doing cross training, elliptical, etc, since my race, but no running outside, pounding the pavement (but man, did it feel nice).

Next, it was WARM. When I got home (it had probably cooled down a bit since I didn't check for a half hour or so), weather.com said that it was still 72* out and 71% HUMIDITY.



Third, I had some 'womanly issues' that I was dealing with today (i.e. TERRIBLE cramps) that may or may not have thrown my body out of whack for a bit.

But hey, I did it, and it felt great! I have run a couple 5K races earlier this year (and Ryan and I actually have 2 more coming up in the next month or so) and this was a PR time for me. I know, I know, running by myself along the beach is a lot easier than with 1,000s of other runners in a race format, but hey, I'll take a personal record when I can get one :)

Lantern Update

Originally we had gotten some little clear hooks to hold the lantern cords to the wall (you know the type, sticky backs, pull the tab down to release them) and I did not like the way they were working. They didn't hold the cord tight enough so it was still looking pretty loosey-goosey. Last night Ry went over to Lowes and returned the clips and picked up some speaker wire clips. They have a little nail (so yes, we had to put a few holes in the wall for this project, but hey, we can do it, IT'S OUR HOUSE) on one side that anchors it to the wall.



We put in a few more than the original hooks (which may have also been the problem with them, we didn't have enough) - maybe 6 of them instead of the original 3 hooks. 



I have to say, it looks pretty legit and professional. I really like the way it looks now [before this I was loving the lights, but hating the cords]. We also think that now that the power cord is out of the packaging, hopefully it will relax a little (it seemed like it had some kinks in it from the way it was originally wrapped up, so we figured now that we are forcing it straight it will probably take a while, but I think it will get there). 


Monday, September 24, 2012

#2

This evening I signed up for my second half marathon.



I will be running the 2013 Disney's Princess Half Marathon on February 24th in Orlando, FL.



My 'coach' is out of the country for a month... I sent him an email about wanting to run it... But decided to sign up before I heard back (seeing as the early registration ends tomorrow)... I can always change my form in the future, right?! :)

Here's to training for my next half (and just a little heads up, I will then be planning on running the Disneyland Half Marathon again in September so that I can get my Coast-to-Coast metal, so I would say 3 half marathons in a year isn't too shabby).

Live Simply

11/15/11 email
"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed." - Mohandas Gandhi

Live Simply Shirts




Every shirt we sell provides one of 30 girls at the Think Humanity hostel in Uganda with 30 meals.

Visit FeedJustOne.com to meet them and read their stories. 


From now until the end of the year we are putting out VERY limited shirts each Monday with only 10 shirts per color available.  Be sure to order fast to make sure that your color and size preference is available.
 
Help us reach our next goal of selling 450 shirts by 10/31 - that's enough to provide all of the meals through the end of this year.  We are already up to 299!  Just 25 shirts a week for the next 6 weeks and we are there!

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Picture Frames

While I was at a baby shower earlier today, Ryan was busy getting some house work done. We have had framed pictures sitting around the house for about a year and haven't hung them. Today Ryan finally put a couple of them up on the wall. (I also ordered a bundle of frames - I think maybe 26 of them - so that we can frame some of the pictures that we have printed off around the house. I think I will do some sort of big collage wall in the dinning room with those frames. I will be sure to take pictures of the pictures, once we get them hung.)



Lanterns

I had ordered new bedding for our master bedroom last week and it came earlier this week. I really like it, but wasn't sure that it matched the will color. The more I see it, the more I like it - but do think I will recover one of the pillows (because there is one that seems really off). Also, Ryan and I got some fun pale yellow paper lanterns for our bedroom from Marshalls yesterday. Today we hung them up. We still have to do a little finalizing (getting the cord closer to the wall - possibly with staples), but Ry suggested that I take and post some 'process' pictures.





It's only taken us about 2.5 years, but we are finally doing a few updates to our bedroom :)

Date Night

Ry and I had a 'date night' last night. We decided to go to Chipotle for dinner and then the movie theater. We went to see Finding Nemo in 3D. Yes, we have already seen the movie, even saw it in the theater the first time around, but I have a hard time passing up on Pixar films, even if I've seen it many times before :) [and Ryan loves to watch movies, so I didn't have to twist his arm either]. So we spent our date night with a bunch of kids and fun glasses. Of course we had to take a few pictures before the flick started.




SPOILER ALERT - They FIND Nemo!!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Marriage Article

I came across this article through Pinterest this evening. I thought it was super good! Some of these things Ryan and I have already been doing in our marriage, but the rest are definitely ones that I think would be awesome to implement.




{10 things} That Have Made All the Difference

Monday, May 10, 2010

On our anniversary Mr. Loerke and I spent time reflecting on the past 5 years. As a result we came up with a list of 10 Things That Have Made All The Difference in our marriage. Please feel free to make these your own, as well as share any wisdom and insight you may have in the comment section below. After all, we need all the help we can get!

1. Weekly Questions: For the past five years Tim and I have been asking each other the same five questions every Sunday night. These questions have made the biggest difference in how we love and serve one another throughout the week. If you're going to incorporate one of these 10 things into your marriage, we hope it's this one.

2. A Small Metal Box: After reading this story, Tim and I made a pact that each time we made love we would put a dollar in a special metal box and save it for our 50th anniversary trip to Hawaii. This has surprisingly been a great way for us to creatively pursue intimacy with one another over the years. Our only advice would be to not count the money in your box. Focus on quality, not quantity.

3. Traveling Journal: There is a journal we share that's filled with words that would make you blush. We take turns writing in it, always hiding it for the other to find in an unexpected place. It's been foundduct taped to our shower, in suitcases when traveling, even in the refrigerator behind the Cool Whip. (Pretty sure Husband was trying to tell me something). Overall, this has been a great way for us to verbally affirm and encourage one another.

4. We (try and) Conflict Well: Conflict is inevitable in relationships, but we believe it exists to make us better, not bitter. We try and keep short accounts with one other by sharing our disappointments and hurt feelings. This isn't always easy but it's necessary in maintaining marital oneness. From experience we know there's nothing more damaging to our relationship than harbored bitterness.

5. We Play Together: Husband and I have chosen to be active together. Whether it's tossing the Frisbeeflying our kitegoing on walks, participating in adventure racesreading bedtime stories, orbuilding forts in our living room, playing together has helped us find our inner child. It has also reminded me that being active together can be romantic. After all, deep down I know Husband wants me to be his sidekick when it comes to doing "guy things" with him. Realizing this has been critical in helping us stay connected both physically and emotionally.

6. We Pray Together: One of our favorite ways to end the day is by praying together. We pray for our friends, family, and for wisdom in our marriage. Though our prayers are usually not longer than a couple of minutes they have made a huge difference in helping us stay spiritually connected, as well as make us more aware of each others fears and insecurities.

7. We Celebrate Each Other: Husband and I love to make a big deal out of anniversariesbirthdays,holidays, and even smaller personal accomplishments. We are each other's biggest fans, and finding a thoughtful gift or preparing a special meal can make the biggest difference in helping us feel known, loved, and celebrated.

8. We Don't Do Marriage Alone: Our trusted friends have been incredibly helpful in showing us how to work through some of the bigger issues in our marriage. It wasn't always easy to share these struggles because of our pride and embarrassment, but soon we realized that most couples were struggling with the same things we were. We've learned that isolating only hinders us from truly dealing with our hurts, habits, and hang-ups.

9. The Greatest Gift (Self Work): We realized early on in our marriage that the greatest gift we could give each other was to know ourselves. This meant working through our family of origin junk. We all have it, but so few actually sort through it; Celebrate Recovery helped show us how. It was here that we first learned to attack our problems together, instead of attacking each other about our problems.

10. We Study One Another: Someone once told us that no matter how long you've dated your spouse, the day you get married you're essentially committing your life to a total stranger. This was great advice considering how quickly people change. To say I know Tim fully after 5 yrs of marriage would be a lie. There's so much about him that I don't know about simply because I do not ask. That is why we like tointerview each other regularly. It's amazing the things you can learn about your spouse when you take the time to ask both fun and creative questions.

10b. Dude Time / Girl Time: Sometimes one of the best things we can do for our marriage is to spend time apart. It blesses me when Tim is able to take a trip with his guys because I know they meet certain needs that I can't. Similarly, Tim understands that spending a weekend with my girls is critical to my overall mental health and well being. Don't get me wrong, you guys know how madly in love I am with Mr. Loerke, but sometimes all a girl needs is an uninterrupted weekend with her besties. Guys are no different.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Current Game Plan


So now that my half marathon is done, I am sure you are all wondering what I am doing now (and by ‘all’ I mean my mom and dad, haha, you know, my only readers J) when it comes to my running and ‘training’. I am so sorry that I have left you in suspense this long J 

I met up with my coach the week after my race to discuss what I wanted to do. I want to stay in the same physical shape that I am in right now, but I don’t think I want to technically have a half marathon be ‘my distance’. I mean, I really enjoyed it and I think I would do another one (I am currently trying to talk Ryan into running one with me), but I think I would rather be in great 5K or 10K shape and then know that if I wanted to do another half marathon that I COULD.

With that being said, my coach also suggests that I change my form. Right now I am a heel-mid-foot striker, meaning that when I land, I am landing on my heel to mid-foot. This is an issue because there is nothing really to absorb the shock of my impact, so it goes up to my knees (and probably a big reason why my IT band was flaring up). He said that I could probably run the rest of my life with the form I am currently running with, but believes I would continue to get injuries and tear up my body - thus shortening the length of my running ‘life’.

My coach is actually on vacation for the next month, so before he left we made sure to meet up and make a game plan for that month. He suggested that I take that month off of running. Now, of course I am still working out, but he said that it would be like practicing bad habits and thought it would be easier if he could train me on changing my form once he got back. He said that it is sort of like golf. He would rather I not have picked up a club than to have played with a bad swing for 12 years and then have to correct it.  So when he gets back we are going to work on changing my form so that I can run on my toes. He had mentioned this when he first started giving me suggestions, but because my race was too close (he thought it would take me about 6-9 months to truly change my form), we decided I would prefer to just train for my race and then change my form once I was done that that race. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to get frustrated with changing my form that I give up on running. I would rather wrong ‘incorrectly’ and possibly just have to scale back my mileage in the future (say 10 years from now), than give it up all together – because, I know this is crazy, but I LIKE RUNNING!!

I am going to be doing 3 days of cardio and 2 gym days. Below is a brief overview of what I will be doing for the next month to maintain the fitness level that I am currently in.

Mondays – Bike to work, ride for an hour after work, bike home from work

Tuesday – Gym day: abs, back and legs

Wednesday – Elliptical for an hour (alternating up my routines – 1 week short intervals, 1 week long intervals, 1 week straight running, etc)

Thursday – DAY OFF (I am working this in because A. I am not training for a half marathon any longer so don’t really need 6 days of working out a week and B. Our Small Group is on Thursdays and I don’t want to be rushing around after work, to go work out and then running over to small group)

Friday – Gym day: abs, back and arms

Saturday  - Bike ride for 2 hours (this one I do with Ryan J)

Sunday – DAY OFF

I have been doing this now for a little over a week. I have to say, I MISS RUNNING. Hopefully the next 3 weeks go by quickly so that I can start changing my form and running outside again.

I know that changing my form won’t happen over night (my coach said that we would probably do like 10 minutes of running after my current workouts to start training my body on the proper form and then once it gets used to it, we can start increasing the time from there), but I am anxious to get back outside and start pounding the pavement (but pounding it with my toes so that it doesn’t destroy my joints, hehe).

Jack's Haunted Mansion

This is my FAVORITE part of the Halloween decorations!


From Haunted Mansion to Haunted Mansion Holiday at Disneyland Park




Jack Skellington has taken over the Haunted Mansion for the 12th time at Disneyland park, and you don’t even have to enter the home of the 999 Happy Haunts to see his influence. But of course he can’t achieve this terrifying transformation on his own – it takes a lot of help from the talented team from Disneyland Resort Enhancement. In this video, you can see the exterior of the Haunted Mansion transform into Haunted Mansion Holiday – a process that spans a few days – in just 36 seconds!

Hair Cuts


I think I am ready for a change. I WANT A NEW HAIR CUT! I normally don’t go too short because I feel like it makes my face look really round (and by round I mean chunky), but I have been thinking about going shorter these last few days. Normally I like to keep it long enough so that I can at least pull it up (for things like working out, washing my face, etc), but now I am thinking I might just use some bobby pins to clip it back if need be… So with that being said, I need some help picking possible haircuts. I haven’t looked much yet, but these were three cuts that came up when I looked quickly on Pinterest for short haircuts. What do you think about these?





I’d love to hear your thoughts, or even see some of your suggestions! J

Monday, September 17, 2012

Halloween Time at Disney

Things You Might Not Know About Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort

Main Street, U.S.A., in Disneyland Park During Halloween Time at Disneyland Resort
Halloween Time is here at the Disneyland Resort and spooky spectres have been spotted all around! This is a favorite time of year for many Disneyland park regulars but whether this is your first Halloween visit or your fifteenth, there may be a few things you don’t know about Halloween Time at the Disneyland Resort, such as:
  • There are more than 300 sculpted pumpkins on Main Street, U.S.A., and no two are alike.
  • Props and set décor used in window displays along Main Street, U.S.A., are reproductions of original turn-of-the-century Halloween décor.
  • This year’s Haunted Mansion Holiday gingerbread confection, “Jack’s House,” stands 9 feet tall – making it the tallest gingerbread house ever presented in the attraction.
  • Sandy Claws covers the Haunted Mansion Holiday graveyard scene with more tha 7,500 square feet of ghostly white snow.
  • In the attic of Haunted Mansion Holiday, a snake devours a holiday list featuring the names of many of the cast members who helped create the attraction.
Will you be celebrating Halloween Time with us at the Disneyland Resort?

Aquacycles

A couple months ago I had bought a gift certificate for the Carlsbad Lagoon through TravelZoo. You could use it paddleboats, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, or AQUACYCLES. Ry and I decided we would do aquacycles - they are like giant bikes that you ride on the water. It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be (I guess that is what happens when there are no gears and you have to peddle with someone else) - but we had a GREAT TIME!