STUFF THAT HAPPENED IN JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH, APRIL....

Mostly life. Life happened. I ran two Star Wars half marathons in three months in two different states about 1500 miles apart.... in less than 12 parsecs. And I earned the runDisney inaugural Kessel Run Medal that is my pride & joy of my medal collection. Or at least it will be as soon as I get it hung.

No really.... I'll get it hung....

Amy & me before the Rebel Challenge - Anaheim,  January 2016

We adopted two new furbabies on January 23rd: Lex (who was 9 months old at the time), and Luna (who, I think is almost three now but I'd have to look to be sure). They both adapted very quickly to their new home and we all adapted very quickly to our new family members.

Luna - January 2016

Lex - January 2016

We tore out much of the wall between our kitchen & livingroom, and made a kitchen table/countertop. It really opens are little home up a lot and allows us to eat dinner together at a table on a regular basis. And we do!

Heeeeere's Danny!

In February, I moved buildings at work. I like the new digs, although the walk to/from my parking lot is significantly longer. I now have a 13-15 minute walk each way. But.... there's an upside to that: Fitbit steps!! Hitting 10,000 has never been easier. Winning!

I've been enjoying 6am workouts far more than I ever thought I would. Getting up at 5:27am sucks -- yes 5:27 because I have it calculated down to the exact minute what time I need to get up to get ready and leave the house to get to the trainer's studio by 5:58am so I can get foam rolling before whatever torture she's going to put us through that day. So yeah, it sucks. But once I'm there and the energy kicks in and the music is going and I start twerking, all is great. And I'm always glad I did it. I work out with warrior goddesses so it's all good.

The kids had some snow days. It's like they had NO snow days all year, then March rolled around (or maybe even April, I can't remember) and winter was all like, "Wait! I haven't showed up yet! I'm going to dump all I got on you now! And there shall be no school for days!" and so it was. Four snow days within a span of less than two weeks. It was unreal. And we were all going a bit stir crazy. Winter was a little drunk this year, I think.

Ummm, let's see, what other life happened?

Oh! Florida! We went to Florida last month for the Star Wars Dark Side races. Evan did a kids race. Sean did the 5K and a kids race. I did the 5K, 10K, and half marathon. Dan did the 10K and half marathon with me. For this, my husband rocks. He could've easily finished smoother and faster than me. But he didn't. He stayed by my side the entire 19.3 miles (10K and half marathon). The. Entire. Distance. He encouraged me and cheered me on. This was his race too but he made it mine.

We crossed the half marathon finish line holding hands. It was so cheesy adorable and I loved every second of it. I still need to get the pictures.

Finisher picture after the 10K - Orlando, April 2016

He insists he's going to do a half marathon for himself one day -- I'll be there to cheer him on! Not running it though. I think my long running days are about numbered (I'm stopping short of saying words like "never" and "forever"). But I feel like I've accomplished all I set out to do and more with that. I'm perfectly content doing 5K's and 10K's for fun medals and t-shirts and wine.

And so. All that life happened in January, February, March, and April. Now we're nearly two weeks into May already! I shall update May in a separate post.

First Sunday of the new year and I'm gonna get back to blogging. I have no idea how to go about trying to document all the life that happened since October 25th when I last wrote, but I can at least spew out the highlights and go from there.

Halloween -- weather was COLD and rainy and a bit miserable. That didn't stop Sean & Sophia from rocking out an hour of trick-or-treat. Evan lasted 10 minutes and he was done.

Vegas -- We did the 5K on November 14th and the half marathon on the 15th. Running the Strip at night is gorgeous! It was way colder than anyone thought it was going to be, and windy. I ended up wearing my light jacket through the whole thing. I didn't set any records but I came home with three awesome heavy medals! One for the 5K, one for the half marathon, and the Remix medal for doing both!

Thanksgiving -- lovely. Stayed at Mom's the night before and the night of Thanksgiving. Did some shopping the day of and the day after Thanksgiving. Saved money. Spent money. Good times.

Christmas -- also lovely. Had Christmas dinner at Mom's house, where Dan's parents joined us. It was GREAT!!! I really enjoyed every second of it and I think they did too. The kids got to see Santa Claus in the golf cart before I may or may not have given them each a teeny bit of Melatonin so that the non-golf cart Santa could do his her job, eat his her cookies, and sleep.

Sadly, our sweet Cooper passed away Christmas morning. We have no idea what happened. Dan found her already gone when he woke up to get ready to come to Mom's house that morning. I'm SO SO SO happy that (1) the boys weren't there to witness that on Christmas morning; and (2) it wasn't a decision we had to make. She decided it was time to go, and so she went.

New Years Eve -- the boys and I went to Kerry's while Dan made sure his recliner didn't float away. We all had a great time! Evan is NOT a night person. By 11:00, he was done with consciousness but he fought sleep tooth & nail. But by 11:05, sleep won. He slept until after 8am on the 1st

And now.

First Sunday of the new year and I'm gonna get back to blogging. It's not a resolution because I don't do resolutions. But it's as good a starting point as any.

Had tons of fun today at after the Screaming Banshee 5K/10K! I did the 10K with a couple other friends (well, not with them really -- they kicked my butt! HA!), and several friends did the 5K. And afterward, we all gathered at Mom's house for Belgian waffles and mimosas.

I can't say I rocked the 10K. It was actually my slowest "official" 10K. But (1) I finished it; (2) I didn't die; and (3) I wasn't last. It was a lot of trails & hills. Seriously, no one ever warns me about trails & hills until I'm in the middle of the run and they're flippin' brutal! I HATE trail running! It's more exhausting than running on pavement, and I always feel like I'm going to lose my footing and fall.

But. I stayed upright for the entire 6.2 miles and had an amazing recovery meal at Mom's. So WIN!

21 days until VEGAS HALF MARATHON!!!!