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Sparkling Snowflakes Christmas

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OnlineShoes' 12 Days of Giving

Shoes!  EEK!  Who doesn't like winning shoes?  If you don't, then well...um, uh...are you ok?! ;)
OnlineShoes.com is hosting a contest for the next 12 days (starting TODAY the 1st) giving away shoes.  All you have to do is go to their blog and answer the question of the day.  You can enter once a day for a chance to win the shoes-o-the-day.  Pretty cool.  If you do win and you don't want the particular pair they gave away then, well, my address is 264....

Ok Ok. You can give them to someone you know for the holidays!  Easy present. 

---> Check out the contest info here, or go straight to their blog here. <---

I'm not getting paid or anything for this little OnlineShoes.com plug.  In fact, I DON'T want you to enter because then it'll decrease MY chances of winning.  Heh heh.  But OnlineShoes.com is just an awesome company that supports us running bloggers all the time.  Thanks! :)

Holiday Cheer

Long story short: I didn't run the Seattle Half Marathon last Sunday.  It was pouring, very cold, no one was going with me, it's a long drive to Seattle, Goober was a bad sleeper the night before (screaming! AH!) and I just hadn't trained for it at all.  I just don't want to think about skipping out on a race anymore and focus on getting my butt into gear.

*sigh*

Moving on...for those of you on Dailymile, have you checked out the Secret Santa?  Join!  I just signed up to participate.  So fun!  Nothing like sending fun stuff to random running strangers that share the same kooky love of all things running/fitness/cycling/swimming etc. Yeah. :)

Click the image to sign up!  It should be fun!  

Perhaps I should make up a RZR secret santa event too????

A Great Day to be Thankful

So pretty!

I love Thanksgiving.  It's my favorite holiday because I get to spend it with my family.  Sure, the food is good too, but that's not the reason I looked forward to this day so much as a kid.  Since there are 6 kids (all of us are grown up, obviously) in my family, it was nice to get everyone together as much as possible...and we even started a tradition of going bowling on Thanksgiving.  Ah yes.  We are the bowling nerds with custom balls and shoes--despite most of us only using these shoes and balls once a year.

This morning I got to run with Karla and Kerrie on the Soos Creek Trail, before any sign of rain or bad weather emerged.  In fact, there was a beautiful sunrise!  Thankfully it wasn't as cold as the other day, but my butt still managed to be in a Popsicle state after the run.  Kerrie made some Snickerdoodle muffins as a post-run treat, and MAN they were scrumptious.  Not that I needed to eat a treat that early in the day when I plan on partaking in a bunch more "treats" later.

Kerrie's awesome snickerdoodle muffin

Another cool thing from this morning: a bunch of fellow runners out and about!  It was GREAT!  Hurray for running!

Anyway, I'm off to get the little Goober ready for Turkey Day with her crazy Aunts, Uncles and Grampa Gene...should be fun!!

Oh, and I think the trailhead of Soos Creek sometimes can look creepy.  Just sayin'...

 

Runner Popsicles

Yesterday was the run I needed to feel good about not running in a while: I met up with Kerrie for some below-freezing fun at 7am.  It was 30 degrees F, which to a lot of the people we know that run around the country is pretty wimpy "cold."  But we are from the NW, where winters are generally mild and yet we are ok with running in the rain.  We survived, of course.  Barely. ;)

Kerrie's frosted hair mid-run

Other than the temperature, the weather was gorgeous.  The sun was out, the air was crisp (man, I love that word) and the frost made everything look like a hazy dream.  To keep our minds off the dwindling feeling in our extremities, we laughed. A LOT.  I told Kerrie about the time Travis accidentally pepper-sprayed my big sister Kristal in the face...in the house...in front of all my siblings...completely without knowing the little pink canister contained pepper spray.  It was HILARIOUS (and to this day my entire family gives Trav crap about it, in a joking/loving way).  She told me about the time she dodged riot pepper spray with Mr. T back in her college days.  Pepper spray is no joke, people.

At a little stop to let some little string out of Kerrie's shoe (she thought it was something bigger I think), we took the mandatory blog pic.  Right as I was taking this pic Miss Mom vs. Marathon commented that her hat made her look like a wiener head.  And thus, the following pic was snapped:

Yes, I look like a goober.

But this picture is exactly what I love about running with buddies.  There's nothing quite like sharing a good run, some great conversation and the extra stomach-workout that is laughing over pepper spraying in-laws and wiener jokes.

When we finished--after conquering HellYes Hill like total bada$$es--we took some fun pictures mimicking each others' Halloween costume contest poses.

Kerrie's Sailor Girl pose

My best RunNERD impression

Just like Kerrie, I too had trouble warming up when I got home.  Even talking a scalding hot shower didn't help much.  My butt was so frozen that when the water ran off it, it was cold running down my leg.  Has that ever happened to you?  It's WEIRD.  I probably stood in that shower for about half an hour shivering, moving around and stretching my legs.  Finally a cup of coffee, layers of sweats, wool socks and my comfy King bed helped me warm up.  Oh, and Murphy helped too. :)

But of course I couldn't pass up the beautiful weather without taking Goober to the new neighborhood park for a bit.  She's not quite sure about the swings yet...

Uhhhh, ok, you can get me out of this now...

Happy Thanksgiving week everyone!!

Sparkle!

There's just something about sparkly running gear that just brings a smile to my face.  In a week or so this little red number from Team Sparkle is joining my running apparel repertoire. 

Ooo-eeee!  Isn't it fun?  Of course my skirt will not be a cartoon...

I'll be rocking this at the Santa Runs Tacoma 5K race next month.  Perhaps even at a couple other races, or just around my house over my pants. ;)

Goober Kicked My Butt

I took the nearly one-year-old Goober in the jogger for 3 miles this afternoon.  WOAH.  Haven't done that since August!  Hello, muscles!  But, I did manage to run up the big hill without walking...which is quite the feat.  I did walk a tad at the top though.  :P

Post cut short. The Goob is needy.

BloggerFail, RunNERDs and Big Leaves

I had written this really fun, witty and informative product review the other day but couldn't finish it in one sitting.  So I saved it.  Well, upon opening the saved post my screen stood there blank.  BLANK.  What the???  Thanks so much, Blogger.  GRRRR.  Trust me, I saved that sucker.  Of course, this stuff just bogs me down and I get extremely frustrated.  And my blog takes a hit. :(

In better news, I ran with Kerrie on the Soos Creek trail on Sunday.  Rainy rainy rainy, once again.  But we took pictures for the Running Skirts Halloween costume contest and random running-on-the-pretty-leaves pictures along the 5.5 mile outing.  It was just a pleasant run that leaves a smile on your face the rest of the day.  We even were looking for the biggest maple leaf we could find (sound familiar?  I even asked Kerrie if we should "kiss" it a la Cedar River Trail slug hunt of 2011).  Leafbrella!

Kerrie shows off her best "RUNNERD" form

Run, Sailor, Run!

Who really wants to blend in when they could stand out? 

What were you for Halloween?

Happy Halloween!

From the RunningSkirted sailor...

Hiking to Muir

Trusty Gus the Garmin with Mt. Adams in the background

Every year, with the exception of last year, Travis and I along with some friends make the climb to Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier.  This year the weather was amazingly perfect yet again, and we lucked out on another great trip.  This is an extreme hike, mainly through snow, and it takes pretty much all day so we had my little sisters babysit the Goober Monster.

Our friends Andrew and Sonja met up with us at our house at the blazingly early time of 5:45am.  Coffee was immediately consumed.  The drive to Rainier didn't take too long and before we knew it we were at the visitor's center in Paradise getting our boots on.  What a minute....the ONE THING that I should've checked before leaving the house is to make sure my boots fit, right?  Or perhaps even had INSOLES?  Ah yes, they didn't have any.  Apparently when I took them out two years ago to use my custom orthotics I never put them back in....and I also haven't worn them since.  GAH!  I was nervous telling Travis about this because I knew he would be pissed.  Of course he was.  Unfortunately the visitor's center shop wasn't open until 10am (GRRRR) and I was S.O.L. with buying insoles. Quick thinking on my part I asked Trav to shred his sneaker's insoles to fit in my boots.  This helped, but my no means was as comfortable as I'd hoped, but like heck I wasn't going to complain about this to Trav.  OoPs.  Packing FAIL.

My new Osprey Aura 50 backpack felt incredible (much better than the good old school Jansport I used years ago!), and although it's a hideous poop brown color, it fit well and held everything I needed. ;)

Spot the marmot?

We started the ascent at 8:50am, according to trusty Gus.  Immediately from the start there was snow on the trail, so the pace was nice-and-easy.  There were 6 of us total: Travis, myself, Andrew, Sonja, Jeff and Adam.  Jeff has been taking spin classes like a madman, so he's in much better cardio shape than two years ago when he didn't make it to Muir.  This year he was going to make it!

There was a bunch of wildlife sightings including badgers, marmots, foxes, chipmunks, little itty bitty birds and crazy half-naked climbers on skiis going up the mountain.  Yeah, the last one was a stretch, but this dude was like Davy Crockett without the raccoon hat and probably more facial hair.

The sun was HOT and we weren't taking any chances on sunscreen, so we reapplied 50 SPF multiple times on the trip (and of course, I still manage to get splotchy burns).  The most common place to get burned while hiking in snow?  Under your nose.  OUCH.  Since I was wiping my nose the entire time the sunscreen was getting wiped off....and I got some nice little under-nose burnage.  It's peeling now and looks dumb.  Double GAH.

Once we got to the Muir snowfield it gets a little crazy.  It's like you're on a never-ending, snowy stair-stepper machine for hours.  It can wear you down mentally, and that's exactly what happened to Jeff a little.  Luckily lunch on some rocks was a welcome break.  Once you stop climbing, it's cold.  So out came the layers.

Trav, Sonja, Andrew and Adam all went ahead as I stayed with Jeff for the rest of the way.  I felt it necessary to not just ditch Jeff and go faster because it A) would be stupid for me to leave a comrade (though there were plenty of people on the mountain) and B) I didn't want to make him feel bad.  Of course it was wearing on me stopping every 5 minutes to take a break--I just wanted to get to Muir.  Once Muir was in sight, it still takes about 45 minutes to reach it.  It's the most frustrating part of the hike: you can SEE your destination, but getting there takes SO.MUCH.EFFORT.

I started ascending a little faster and left Jeff about 100 feet behind me when I finally reached Muir.  YES!  It took a little longer than we expected, but oh well!  More layers added, some celebratory Scotch sips and pictures were taken.

NOW the fun part: glissading/sliding down the snowfield and fall/running (funning?) down the mountain.  The trip back to Paradise takes a heckuva lot less time because you basically just "fall" down the mountain...or slide.

Some videos:

The day was long, but the pizza and beer at home were totally heavenly.  Until next year!

Random Daily Factoid #1

I just Googled the term "food names that contain the word butt."  You'll find out why soon enough.  Unfortunately Google didn't have any prior searches similar to those terms that I could laugh at.

What's the funniest Google search suggestion you've encountered?

i.e. *How to cook wolf* - Ummm, that sounds...delicious?

Soggy Cupcake Bandit

After such a wonderful "I'm back" run on Friday morning, of course my next run would be a little bit wonky, right?  It's only the usual luck with running.  I got the chance to meet up with Alma, Kerrie (Mom vs. Marathon), Karla and Carla on the Cedar River Trail for a 3.7 mile run in honor of Run with Jess' birthday: The Cupcake Classic.  My name wasn't on the official race roster, so I technically was a cupcake bandit...I even ate one of Kerrie's cupcakes after the run.  I'm sorry!  If it's a virtual race, it's ok I'm thinking.  (Note: I would never bandit a real race, peeps.  I'm not low like that)

Getting up super bright and early was easy with the Goober sleep ninja (who's a sick little puppy, poor baby), looking out the window was a bit more difficult.  I didn't want to look.  I could HEAR the rain pounding on the roof and window.  When the rain pounds on your window, you know it's not good.  This was the Pacific NW's "Hey! Welcome back, Zoe!" greeting.  Alright PNW, I hear ya...and I'm game.

The rain didn't let up at all when I met up with the ladies on the trail.  They brought jackets and headlamps because the sun (ha!) wasn't up yet.  I, on the other hand, didn't have a light but chose to wear my day-glo/road cone orange top and super fun YMX Maori Stripe Bolero (which is pretty freaking awesome, I might add).  To be honest, I was super nervous running with Kerrie and Alma, the speedy ladies.  My speed is laughable at the moment, and Kerrie's in the prime of her running career--I'm wicked proud of her!

We set off in the downpour and the miles just melted away and then we were done.  Wow.  I guess I'm ok!  3.8 miles while getting over a cold, in the rain, and not training for 6 weeks.  The cupcake was delish, as was the company. ;)  They were going to go run for a little longer, but I needed to get home to get the house ready for Trav's 30th birthday surprise party (which was a HIT, I'm happy to report!).

Despite my lips being blue, my hands "frozen" into claws, and my butt completely numb, I was happy to be out with my favorite running friends and, well, OUT RUNNING.  And who cares if my stupid cold came back with a vengeance?  Not this runner. ;)

BOOYAH

Goob & I on a daily walk in Shanghai

After being kept up by a screaming/crying/tantrum-throwing 11 month old Goober sleep ninja at 4am, I just couldn't go back to sleep.  What did I do?  I went downstairs and dusted.  Yeah, dusted.  Then I laced up my good 'ol Brooks Adrenalines, pulled on my wickedly awesome black running tights, grabbed the GUS and headed out for a shock-of-a run.  You know what?  It kinda rocked.  The run did, not me (at.all).

I fell off the running bandwagon while battling my injury known as "Living in Shanghai, China..." for 6 full weeks.  I tried my hardest to hold on to that bandwagon's taillight and after being dragged for a couple miles, I let go.  Ego bruised and Running Skirt torn, I decided walking around the city was a safer, easier bet while taking care of the Goober monster 24/7.  Alas, it was defeat for the moment. *le sigh*

What does 6 weeks of non-running do to a runner?  Nothing.  It seriously turns you into nothing.  A big pile-o-nothing.  My endurance is completely gone, and speed is lacking.  My lungs burned after a mile.  HA!  And I'm a "Marathoner," folks.  Embarrassing, yes.  But you know what?
 

Running felt GOOD.  

I have a HALF marathon to train for--and it's in a month.  Another HA!  Not looking for any PR's, that's for certain.  But it's a goal for training.

So with that I say, BOOYAH.  I'm BACK!

Hiatus

I MISS RUNNING.

I MISS BLOGGING, too.

I will be back to my "normal" life in the States in 10 days.  China has been fun, but there is no way that I could run and blogging by e-mail is no fun at all.  At least I'm walking everyday, with Goober, for a minimum of 3 miles. It's not enough, but it's keeping me sane.

Cruddy

Today marks 12 years since my Mum passed.  And although the pain has lessened over the years, the void in my heart and in my life remains the same.  This year seems harder because I have Goober around, and that's one of the things that I know my Mum would've loved: to be a Grandma.  Goodness, she'd be amazing at it.  I still miss her so so so very much.

Also received news that Travis and my great friend, Jeff, was in a motorcycle accident two days ago.  He broke some ribs and shattered his elbow, and after undergoing over 4 hours of reconstructive surgery on his arm he is now in recovery.  I'm just so glad he's alive.  If you don't remember who Jeff is, he's the guy I helped cross the finish line with at the Beat the Bridge 8K race this year in May.  It was his very first race, and he actually beat the bridge too.  It just sucks that we are so far away from our friend at this time. 

Hoping this day will bring brighter news...

Hills? What are those?



Image from here



Let me tell you this: Shanghai is flatter than Keira Knightley's chest in an Academy Awards photograph.  I have yet to see anything that resembles a hill, or even the slightest incline for that matter.  The closest I've seen to a hill is the sloped ramps from the sidewalks to the street, and that's it.  Really.  It's kind of crazy, actually.  The only other place I've been that was this flat was probably Phoenix, AZ.  To me it's weird, especially living in Seattle...hills are common!  My driveway at my childhood home is hillier than Shanghai!  Hillier?  Yes, hillier.

Never thought I'd say this, but I miss the hills.  I love a challenge, even when walking Goober in the stroller or in the Baby Bjorn.  Like I said before, running on the streets here is completely out of the question....so walking is in the cards for a bit (unless a treadmill is open at the gym downstairs, but it's always packed).  

Anyone want to ship out some hills to Shanghai for a couple weeks?  Hee hee.  Let me know...

Welcome to 28

It's official...I'm not 27 anymore. 

There's nothing quite like celebrating your birthday in China, a full 15 hours ahead of home time...two birthdays!  HA!  My day was fabulous: hung out with new friends, grabbed a Starbucks, took a nap with Goober, played with Goober, took a walk with Goober strapped to my chest as usual, went ellipticalling (yeah, it's a word in my book), then went to a yummy Italian restaurant for dinner.  Wait, what?  You read that right...Italian in China. Hee hee.  It was delish!  This restaurant is fairly well-known around here for being a legit place to get your spaghetti on, it's called Da Marco.  The chef/owner is from Italy and of course, knows his stuff.  Even bringing Goober with us to dinner was no problem.  While we waited for a table, a waitress brought over two glasses of champagne.  Yay! 

I ordered spaghetti with homemade noodles and it was divine.  So good!  Plus, a glass of Chianti and gelato to top things off really made the dinner a success.  28 doesn't feel that bad.

So now I'm relaxing in my awesome Tommie Copper calf sleeves on our 20th floor apartment balcony...bring it, year! 

"I Love You Americans"

Yesterday was another hot day, and so Goober & I ducked into the Burger King for a cool drink and some baby food after exploring a little North for a bit.  The drink was for her, of course. ;)  While there, an employee who looked to be about 17 or so kept coming over to us and playing with Goober and smiling at her.  He even brought over a high chair when he saw that I was feeding her the applesauce while on my lap.  He was sweet.  First he asked if we were German, then if we were from America. 

"Yes, we're American."

"Oh!  I love you Americans!"

He then proceeded to show me his ankle tattoo of a marble column-like cross with an American flag draped over it.  WOW.  So much love for a country he may or may not have ever been to.

And yet, just down the street I saw a small scooter accident happen.  A woman with a bunch of groceries on the back of a scooter collided with another woman walking along the street with her small son.  The scooter woman was on the ground, scooter halfway on top of her, moaning.  The other woman was just standing there, rubbing her ankle while her son just watched.  Nobody did anything.  Nobody rushed over to help either of these women, they just stared.  Of course, had I been without Goober strapped to my chest I would've gone over and helped the woman up, or at least done something.  If this was in the States, at least all 15 witnesses would have called 911 by now or a swarm of people would be assisting the victims.  It's crazy.  The difference in culture and expectations.



Last Friday night we had a Goober-free evening with some other "grown-ups."  Goob stayed with Trav's coworkers' ayi (like a nanny/housekeeper) for a couple hours while the rest of us went for some all-you-can-eat pizza and beer at a hotel.  Oh man.  It's the first time I've truly been away from Goob for more than 20 minutes while here and it felt pretty good.  And, I wasn't worried at all as Goober even waved bye-bye to me as she was crawling around with the ayi and the two other little girls...she was excited to be playing with new toys and taking in new sights.  Later, Mom.

After having an endless glass of Tiger beer (the waiters never let the glasses be emptied, so we didn't really know how much we drank!) and some pretty decent pizza in an amazingly gorgeous hotel, Trav, two of his coworkers and I all went up to the observation deck of the World Financial Center.  474 meters above ground (1555 feet!). OH EM GEE.  It was nuts!  The building itself is pretty spectacular (it kind of looks like a bottle opener, don't you think?) but the views from that height were breathtaking.  Even at night, it was quite the sight.  The tower next door, Jin Mao, which is 421 meters seemed dwarfed by this thing.  Really felt on top of the world.

It's hard to believe we've been in Shanghai for over two weeks now.  Time is flying, which is nice.  Hope everyone has a fantastic rest of the weekend!  Good luck, You Go Girls' Team Will Run for Ice Cream!  Wish I could be there!

A Sigh of Relief

After two weeks, I finally reconnected with an old friend while here
in Shanghai...Starbucks! Coffee tasted fabulous on this sweltering
Chinese afternoon, and of course the company was fantastic as well.
Goober happily sat with me, people watching and eating her puffs like
a good little girl. It's been weird without my daily coffee fix--I
miss my good 'ol Cuisinart coffee maker. Not that I'd make a hot
coffee right now anyway: according the Weather.com, the temp here is
91 degrees, but with the humidity it feels like 96. Good grief! I
need a pool, stat! And maybe a chilled glass of vino!

Since the heat takes a lot out of miss Goob and myself, we are lying
low in the apartment today. Air conditioning FTW! We'll probably
head over to the cool indoor pool in a bit, where a mass of local
Chinese women will distract her from her swimming lesson from me. Heh
heh.

Clap Clap!

Whenever Travis or I say "YAY!" Goober claps and says a baby version of "yayyyyy!"  Wouldn't that be just perfect if my kid's first real word was YAY?  Ha ha.  Totally perfect.

Greetings from Shanghai!

HEY ALL!  Remember me? ;)

Apparently this is the norm in China

Just wanted to give you all a quick update.  After a long 10 hour flight, another 3 hour flight and an interesting ride in a van we made it to our apartment in Shanghai a week and a half ago! 
Even though I haven't been doing a whole lot of running, I've been walking a ton with Miss Goober.  In fact, Goober is a rockstar it seems.  Locals swarm around her and touch her feet, fawning and gushing over her.  It's strange and cute and annoying at the same time.  So many people have stopped us on the street (or even interrupted our lunch at a restaurant) to take her picture.  It must be the blue eyes.  Either way, it's interesting for sure.  And it makes people here a lot more friendly too!

Goober gets her picture taken by some adoring "fans"

 Running here would be nearly impossible.  The sidewalks are narrow, the weather is hot & extremely humid, the air quality sucks (hello inhaler!) and the traffic, well, I'd probably be hit by a bus in two seconds.  There might as well be no stop lights, signs or lane markers...it's a free-for-all.  Scooters rule the streets by far, and they even drive up on sidewalks to avoid traffic jams.  And don't get me started on the honking.  This city is just one big collective HONK.  Horns are used as frequently as the gas pedal...

 

BUT...

It's still quite the experience!!

I only have access to Blogger/Facebook a little each night or morning, so it's rare.  I must say I miss reading your blogs, and I'll have a ton of catching up to do later.  In the meantime, I'll try to e-mail post or regular post as much as I can.

再見！

In Japan!

Hi all!
We made it to our first stop in Narita, Japan! Goober was completely awesome on the long 10 hour flight! She's an international airplane rockstar. :)
Looking forward to Shanghai later tonight!! Yeah!

All That & The Kitchen Sink

...no, really.  The kitchen sink is involved in this post.

We finally know when we're leaving for China!  Yeah!  No more guessing and stressing out!  Next Thursday...oh boy!

We are going WHERE???

New faucet!

The other day my Dad came over and installed a new kitchen faucet at the house.  We tried to repair the current one, which had given out earlier in the morning with a sad-sounding *phhht* as I tried to do dishes, but it was extremely eroded and old.  I love doing projects with my Dad, as it's a good bonding experience for us.  My favorite memory of father/daughter bonding time was my Senior Project in HS when I made my wooden sailboat with him...it was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot.  :)  Anyway, the new faucet works like a charm, despite looking like an alien ship from "War of the Worlds" according to my Dad...haha.
I'm very grateful my Dad will be staying at my house and taking care of Murphy next month!

Travis and I both got Hep A shots this morning in preparation for the trip.  Owie.  I hate needles.  Luckily it didn't hurt that much AND we got some kicka$$ holographic band-aids!  Yeah!  Goober found them fascinating.

Wicked awesome boo boo cover, huh?

Once Goob wakes up from her nap I plan on taking her on a run to test out some new Champion gear I got in the mail this morning.  It was exciting having FedEx stop by the house!  Murphy helped open the box, explored it a little, then gave his seal of approval.  The gear is bright and festive!  I'll be reviewing it when I get home in October, but I'll be using it when I can right now.

Don't worry, that's not a dead cat...he's just in a sunshine coma after opening the box.

HAPPY FRIDAY, ALL!  Much love and luck to all those racing this weekend...
including the fantastic HTC nuun Relay teams: NUUN PLATUUN and AFTERNUUN DELIGHT!  Good luck, ladies!

So This is BIG

Here's the NEWS:

Photo: Destination360

Travis, Goober and I are going to be living in Shanghai, China for one month...and we leave on MONDAY.  That's right, August 29th.  Next week.  Next Monday.  Oh boy.  Commence freakout.

This was a very sudden trip that needed to be taken by Travis for work, as we just found out about it last Thursday.  I'm extremely nervous going to a country that speaks Mandarin, as I know nothing about the language (yet), but even more nervous about traveling with an infant...halfway around the world.  Wow.  It should be a trip for sure.

A couple of things:

• My Dad is staying at our house, so there will be someone here at all times and Mr. Murphy kitty will not be alone.  

• My little sister, Liza, will be using my race bib for the Iron Girl 5K in Greenlake on the 11th of Sept.  I'm bummed to miss this fun race, but I know Liza will have a great time.  Remember last year her appendix burst the day before and she couldn't run it?...what a wimp!  Ha!  ;)

• My You Go Girl Half Marathon bib is up for grabs if someone wants to buy it off me.  Again, super bummed I'm missing this race too!  I love these ladies!  You will be an automatic team member of "Will Run for Ice Cream."  Let me know if you want the bib!  

• There are a bunch of reviews I need to do when I get back, so hopefully I'll get some writing done over in China.  We'll see.

• I will have internet access, but I know Facebook doesn't work...we'll see about Blogger and such.  EEK!

Goober is going international, baby!

Anyone been to China before?  Tips/advice?  

I'm going to miss you all!!!!

Sunshine

Today was one of those genuine SUMMER days that made you think of swimming in the lake and riding bikes with your friends as a kid. ;) I let Goober play nekkid in her kiddie pool for a half hour. She adores water and loved every second of it. Makes me really excited to think about future summers with a growing Goober. How fun will this be? Tons. She gets to experience childhood Summer bliss like I did...and that is going to be amazing. Man, I love being Goober's mum.
*sigh*

News & Some Winners!

Goober started clapping this week!

Hey all!  So here's the scoop: some really BIG news got dropped on my family on Thursday and it's going to affect my blogging for a bit.  Stay tuned.

In the meantime, we have some winners!  YAY!

The winner of the Mini Appreciation Giveaway is....

The randomized list of entrants

 

Cat B!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The winners of the Delta Labs Postnatal Thermogenic supplements are...

Randomized list of entrants

Kimberly and Erica!

Okay ladies, please e-mail me at zoe@runzoerun.com with your mailing address and I'll send out the prizes!  WOOHOO!  

I HEART the Playground

Yay!

You know what?  I'm so excited for Goober to be big enough to play on the playground without my help.  So far she has loved every time we've gone (or helped her go) down a slide, and if there's something that bounces...oh boy, don't get me started.  :)  Trav, Goob and I discovered a new playground in a growing development that's down the giant hill from our house.  We have to take a steep trail to get there and it's about 4.5 miles roundtrip, but it's worth it.  Nothing like a little family adventure.

Plus, all of the toys are top notch and brand spanking new.  I think Travis and I had more fun testing them out with Goober than we expected.  Strangely enough there was not a single person utilizing the beautiful day like we were.  It was a little weird.  Oh well.  The development is still in progress.  You have to love all the bright colors of the equipment.  Takes me back to when I was a kid....ahhhhh, memories.

We're in a web!

Smaller slide with Daddy

Laughing with Daddy

Bubble baby!

I love her baby feet!

The shirt says it all.

My loves.

I even got some cute videos of her going down the big slide and "walking" on the moving wheel (those things are fun!).