By Nicole

In less than two months, my hubby, my son, and a whole bundle of Forks folks will be in Seattle running the Hot Chocolate 5k .  My goal had been the 15k this year, but when my son said he wanted to run with me, I couldn't help but change my mind.  One of my favorite things about running is watching my kids get excited about it.  The transition from pushing them in the stroller to having them run alongside me is pretty awesome. Back to one of my favorite 5ks .  I am getting super excited. For one, I get a second Hot Chocolate sweatshirt.  My grey and orange one is still is really good shape.  I'm a run shirt wearing nerd, and I can't wait to add this to my wardrobe rotation. I stole that picture straight from the Hot Chocolate website.   www.hotchocolate15k.com  For two, we get to hang out at the Space Needle/Science Center the night before.  Last year we watched Jack the Giant Slayer on IMAX... it was so cool!  Since we will have...

A few years ago, I quit making "resolutions"... or at least calling them by that name. 2014 is the year I go further.  I'm running more miles to train for a 50k.  I'm being more intentional and working harder towards all those goals we like to make for ourselves each January.  It's not just about losing weight, it's about keeping it off and feeling healthy.  It's not just about catching up on bills or creating a budget, it's about being consistent day to day and month to month. I'm going further.  Taking tiny, deliberate steps.  In all areas of my life.  And I purposely started before the New Year... intentionally defying the whole resolution thing ahead of time.

It's that time of year!  Time to look back and reflect on the year that is coming to a close and time to plan and hope for the good things in the year that is about to open. I've been regretting neglecting my blog as much as I have this year... although, my reasoning has been to soak up time with my kids in the evenings and on the weekends.  That time with my babes, I have not regretted in the slightest.  It might be my top favorite improvement/event for 2013.  But, for the rest of my top 13 favorites... in no specific order.  Faith, Family, Food and Fitness. Faith God spent some more time working on my trust issues this year.  Ouch. My oldest, Connor, asked to be baptized this year.  What an awesome thing! Jason's new schedule allows us to get the kids to Sunday School every week and spend time           together every Sunday. In January, I blogged about  letting go of the past .  God continuously reminds m...

"Behind the Scenes" is a fun link up where we show those photos - but tell the real story behind them.  The sneak peek behind the scenes, a look past the edges of the photo to the real life behind it.  This is only my second link up with Crystal.   Click on over to see what it's all about and to read other great stories. This is my handsome hubby Jason in front of the National Monument at approximately 4 am on a February morning.  We posted the photos of our early morning run on Facebook, of course.   But I never did tell the whole story. We flew to Rhode Island (just the two of us, which is amazing... in our ten years of marriage, we realized we had never been on a plane together!!) to help his mom pack up her house and get ready for her move to Washington.  We spent a few days helping her and getting a taste of Rhode Island.  All I kept thinking was, "I could run this state."  Literally, from one end to the other.  It is ...

The two things I need to do at the beginning of every week are plan our meals and my runs.  Life seems a little smoother when those two things are handled ahead of time! Monday -  Eat:   Stew in the crockpot.  I had some leftover venison and broth when I canned last weekend.  It is patiently waiting to be cooked up with carrots and potatoes.  Yum Run: Two and a half miles at lunch.  If I hustle, I could get in three. Tuesday -  Eat: Burritos.  I was smart last weekend and pre-made about two dinners' worth. Yeehaw! Run: Easy two miles at lunch. Wednesday -  Eat: At the church.  I love that they feed us on Wednesdays! Run: Easy mile on the track with a friend and some stairs if I can fit them in. Thursday -  Eat: Salmon patties and coleslaw.  Homemade tartar sauce. Run: Rest if I've ran all week.  Two miles at lunch if I skip a day.  I shouldn't be so flexible... but I'm not on a real plan right now...

Recently two of our sheep were killed dead by a rogue cougar.  He thinks he can just eat whatever he wants.  Rude.  I was gonna eat that sheep. Not anymore. Anyways, I'm joking about it now, but it is really bothering me.  I deal with my emotions through sarcasm and humor... not sure if it's healthy, but I seem to be coping. These sheep aren't the first animals we've lost to the wild animals.  We've had raccoons eat our chickens , weasels eat our quail.  Heck, even our dog has eaten our chickens... which is why he has to be kenneled if we leave the house when the chickens and ducks are free-ranging.  Rotten dog. The thing about raccoons and weasels is... they can't eat me.  A cougar could chomp me up.  And I know I couldn't outrun it (which is the opposite of what you should do!). I saw the mess it made of our mama sheep.   Shudder.  So, I've only run on our driveway twice since this event.  And it has been in the middl...

In honor of my most pinned pin , and because I promised to some time ago .  Yeah, photo albums and race recaps aren't the only things I flake on. Here is a step by step post about how I made my first monster truck cake. When my nephew turned three, I promised I would make his cake.  His instructions were to build a monster truck with flames that was running over spiders and shooting webs.  Tall order! I talked him down a little, but I decided to go all out and try to build this truck.  I was currently watching Ace of Cakes a lot back then, so rice krispies had become my new best cake tool. So I carved a rice krispie truck from a giant hunk of rice krispies and put it in the fridge to harden up again.  It was almost exactly the size of a loaf of bread.  In fact, I think I had smooshed two bread pan sized rice krispies together and then carved from there.   Once I was sure the truck was solid, I started frosting it.  I was tir...