For the Love of September

 

September is my favorite month of the whole year.
This year it's *over the moon* special.
***I AM MARRYING THE MAN OF MY DREAMS!***
While this is the absolute, most amazing reason why I love September, there are other things about September that have me smiling from ear to ear as well. So much so, it's starting to hurt. But who cares!


Running in long sleeves and shorts
Pumpkin patches
Pumpkin lattes
Pumpkin doughnuts
Snugging under the covers while the windows are open
Sunrise over Shawnee Mission Park while on my morning run
Football
Baseball
Smell of pine trees while running
Fall colors embracing the trees
Woodchuck Private Reserve Pumpkin Cider
The Pumpkin Run
Knowing the BFF will be older than me (if even only for a few months)
Our wedding
Our honeymoon
Big, bulky sweatshirts
A new Garmin
Harvesting honey

The list could go on and on and on...
But you get the idea...
Love
Pumpkins
Running
My senses are in overload and I still can't get enough.
I'm so in love.

XOXO

Weekend trip to Omaha...Glow Run. Zoo. Storm Chasers game.

Doug suggested a quick weekend get away to Omaha. We have never been on a trip that didn't involve a run. Kid you not. So, what could be more fun than running The Glow Run 5K? Not much! This is our second Glow Run. We ran our first one in Kansas City. If one is coming your way, check it out.

Face paintings, balloon artists, lots of dancing, glowing and goofing around. 

Doug pondering his race day strategy.

After the run on Friday night, we rose bright and early Saturday morning and headed to the Omaha Zoo.

A fabulous zoo.

Doug took some great photos...

LOVED these guys. I wanted to stay and watch them all day. They would make you laugh out loud.

Yoga time...triangle pose

Doug liked these little fellas...They would run across the grass pounding their chests and run up to the glass and beat on it. Very entertaining.

Love the polar bear

Watching the sea lions splish splash around. We couldn't have asked for a better weekend. The weather was perfect.

Baby sea lion pushing his luck. He was born in November.

A rhino cooling himself in the mud

Why...hello there...

Mama and baby. Too cute.

There were too many cool things to pick just one favorite, but this was certainly at the top of the list.

How amazing...

After four hours at the zoo, (and we certainly could have stayed much longer), we headed to watch the Storm Chasers at Werner Park. They are the AAA affiliate for the Kansas City Royals. A great view...third row behind home plate. A great park. And a Storm Chasers win!

What a Weekend!

Can you say Fantastic Weekend!?

It started out Friday with a Royals Home Opener.

The friends, food and drink, sunshine, perfect weather and great seats trumped a loss.

Then Saturday was filled with grabbing three sets of bees for their hives. One set for our house and we brought two sets down to Doug's mom and dad's.

Doug's parents place is one of my favorite places on Earth. The great company, the quiet of the country, their pond, the animals, fresh air. It just does not get any better. I am so lucky to have two great in-laws (to be). There are truly none better!

Doug's parents have 17 baby sheep right now. They are adorable.

I got to feed the baby! She is thirteen days old. Too cute...

And here are some photos of one set of bees. This is at our house...

Thousands of bees before they are introduced into their hive

Doug placing the queen into the hive

Bee free... A little bit of bee humor.

Buzzing around before they settle in.

As for Sunday. A day of rest and the smell of fresh baked bread!

All of this makes for one amazing weekend. Come Monday morning, I'm sure to still have a smile on my face.

A Love for Kansas City Beer and Chocolate

Kansas City had an extravaganza a couple of weeks ago.
The Boulevard Chocolate Ale craze.

It's a collaboration with one of the best beer makers in the country, Boulevard Brewery, and the best chocolate artisan ever, Christopher Elbow Chocolates, both made locally here in Kansas City.

This is the second year the two combined forces to make the tastiest chocolate beer of all time. Last year they sold out in less than a week. This year, the bottles were sold out in one day. And this is with producing over double what they did last year. Lucky for us, we were put on a list so I was able to scavenge two bottles.

The liquid gold...

People were waiting in lines around the buildings of the liquor stores at 8 and 9 in the morning. Stores were giving out tickets and officially were selling out even before they opened.

Some of the local bars around town had it on tap, so we decided to partake of their beer and hoard ours.

Cheers...

Day two...still on tap...an excuse to go out for dinner.

Oh...and have another Chocolate Ale...or two.

Day three...we decided to stay home and cook out. In January. It was 61 degrees out at 6pm. So beautiful. We grilled steaks and was going to break out a bottle. Until we gnawed into them and they were icky. So the dogs ended up with steak. We ate cereal and decided to save the Chocolate Ale for another day.

Day four...a couple of the bars were getting another shipment in so we decided to head up to grab another glass. By the time we arrived at 5:30pm they were already tapped out. Boo.

I thought the chaos was finally coming to an end...

 Until a friend put his bottles up for a fundraiser last night.

Whoot! We scored another bottle!

What can we say? It was for a good cause. And it will go to good use.

Marathon Medal Display

First things first...had another fabulous run this morning. Whoot! Whoot! It was in the 40's with heavy mist. Pretty perfect. You could smell the trees and it was peaceful. I had another stellar run. Long story short...it's amazing what consistent training will do for a girl and her running.

Now...on to the real reason for this post...

Doug has been hard at work refinishing our basement. He worked himself around to his old medal display. It was an area we had a large map of the United States where Doug would 'pin' each location he ran a marathon. Under the map was somewhat of a ballerina bar where he would slide his medals onto and have them hang from the bar. 

 

We knew we wanted to change that up, but what do you do with over 90 MARATHON medals and 1 IRONMAN medal? With more forthcoming...

Below is what we decided. And this is only 50ish of them. We're still deciding on how to display the others.

 Curious to know what is inside the jail door?

Our wine cellar that Doug created.

How did I get so lucky?

Please May I Have Another?

How I felt on my run this morning...

Gotta love days like these!

Let's Talk...Butt Crack Rash

One of the most common searches that hit my blog from the Internet is a post I wrote with the words 'butt crack rash'. For some reason or another, I can't find it in my blog anymore. But anywho..it was simply about having a rash after a marathon I ran.

In the previous blog I simply touched the surface (ewww...) on the subject and didn't go into too much detail as to why I had it. I thought I would clarify since there were so many hits on this subject...

Now...before some of you get too excited...this is butt crack rash pertaining to running and the rash you obtain from the friction of your booty. This is not for great insight into symptoms or treatment for other reasons to have butt crack rash pertaining to STD's or other undesirables. But...if you are needing information on that subject, I know just the person to get you in touch with. Her name is...That calls for a real ewww...Be careful out there.

Now for running butt crack rash...

It is a rash you obtain from the friction of clothes against the body. This is due to the repeated back and forth motion on your skin for a long distance over a sustained period of time on skin that is not used to that type of friction. Depending on what your body is used to, rash can occur at any distance your body is not accustomed to. It can also take place if you have some new garment against the body that again, your body is not familiar with.

To help alleviate this, I use Vaseline or Body Glide in this particular area to cut down on the friction. Again, for those lubing up in this area for any other reason besides running...this is not your blog. Snicker...Snicker. But for running long distances...this works. I also Vaseline my feet/toes and around the bra line area. This will really help from becoming chafed in these areas on your run.

However...be sure not to glob on too much. I once mentored a girl who told a story of such:
I ran my 18 miles on the trails. After my run, I went to the grocery store in my running clothes to pick up a few things. As I stood in line at the checkout stand, I had a lady lean over and whisper to me as she was pointing to the back of my pants. She proceeded to tell me that I 'may have an issue'. I'm sure she was thinking maybe I had started my period. As I was getting ready to tell her, 'no...it's from the Vaseline I slapped on my ass (for running this morning)'  I decided against it and thought it would be better for her to think I had started my period instead of lubing my butt with Vaseline before 10 am on a Saturday morning!

Honestly...this story isn't mine. But it cracks me up every time I think about her telling the story. Lesson learned. Don't glob too much or it will soak through your clothing

So...there you have it.
Got butt crack rash (from running)?
Vaseline.