MOVING!!!!!

Sorry it has been almost a month since my last post.  We have been ridiculously busy.  Work has been so busy (which is FANTASTIC), and trying to fit in training runs for missoula full and CDT wulfman trail run, and MOVING.  We sold our house and close on friday.  We have wanted to sell for about 4-5 years... and of course when we take it off the market, someone approached us about buying it.  The deal with selling our house was that we would move to where I would have a studio on the premises.  My current studio is now too small.  We looked at several homes to purchase and even a few rentals since we weren't finding anything to buy and we are about to be homeless.  Nothing was remotely appealing and it was very disheartening.  Then we randomly ran into a former co-worker of Ben's who offered to rent us his house, then upon hearing what we were looking for, he said he should sell us his place.  I was not expecting it to be anything we would like, but we went to look.  First--GIANT shop on site (which will become my studio!!!!) and when I opened the door to the house and it was actually very much our style, and now birds dive bombed us(yea-we seriously encountered birds on one of our showings!) and even the colors he had painted were right up my alley.  My eyes welled up, i could just see us in this space.  The yard is giant (6 lots) and fenced. This was a big deal since we are coming from five acres, and there are trees, gorgeous grass, flowers, etc.  For being in town it feels like a little oasis.  And half a block away is a trail that goes to the river and the local dog park!! 
The new place meets all of our criteria.  And we can move right in!  Of course there are things we want to update, but nothing we can't live with for a time. I am so happy to be moving back to town.  Although, we have amazing views, etc. The drive is just long enough that it can be a pain.  I am excited to be able to ride my bike to do errands (and not be riding on a highway!) and be closer to our friends.  Since living out of town, we have become hermits of sorts... maybe that won't change?! 

I can't wait to post pics!  i am actually liking the moving process.  I love purging stuff and it feels great to organize things, etc.  

Any tips on moving?

As far as my running has been going--so far so good, however i did miss this past weekends 13 miler.  I don't think it will throw me off too much but I have resorted to doing missoula for fun and hopefully faster than my last full there where I had stomach issues.  I am setting my sights on Smuttynose Rockfest to be a faster mary!! :)  We will see though, running with family and it may be fun to enjoy the views etc too.

Missoula Mary Training

I am now in the thick of my full marathon training plan.  And I must be honest, last week I was wondering why the hell I registered for this race again.  I have run both the half and the full in Missoula and loved both (eventhough during full i learned that gu and me don't mix at three).  The course is so beautiful, great supports and spectators along the way, a super fun expo, and not to mention our awesome friends live in Missoula and we don't see them often enough.  All last week, however, I had to keep reminding myself of these things.  By Saturday, the day of my 15 miler, I was back in the groove.  I ran part on the tread, part on the path and did 10 pushups each mile just to add variety and because I am walking on the shy side of crazy, apparently.  My runs are finally starting to feel decent again; not feeling like i am new to this activity.  Running has been my thing since I was a child, so i am very familiar with the ebbs and flows and try to just stay on track or mix it up etc. but when it ebbs when you are in the middle of a training plan (and not near the end of it) that is mentally debilitating.  And I was trying to mentally prepare for backing out of a race...

BUT I AM BAAAAAACK!!

I did an 8-9 mile mountain bike ride with the Hubbee and Wrigley on sunday and then ran 7 miles on monday, and was supposed to run 4 today, but I rode my bike 14 and ran 3.3 with the incline at 2 the whole way.  Tomorrow is a track workout and I am stoked for it. the rest of the week is 5, 5, and 3 w/strides and a 5k or 10k race in place of the long run.  EASY PEASY!!  

In case I haven't mentioned this before, I am following a training plan by steve magness from the Nike+ site.  it is an intermediate plan and the longest run is an 18 miler.  This is freaking me out a bit, but also appeals because some of those 20+ runs are just daunting.  This has longer runs during the week, so the total mileage is high, and so far this is working...

I am a little unsure how I go from the full in July to training for the full in October.  I have looked at some Hal Higdon plans for this but am definitely open to ideas/suggestions/other's experiences.

How is everyone else's training going?

Does everyone love the updates to the Nike+ gps app? i do--i did have a glitch and had to delete and re-install but I LOVE the updates--no more ending workout by mistake! aha!!!!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic week!

Tempe Wedding Handled

Ben's sister was married this weekend in Tempe Arizona.  Last fall she asked me to be an attendant and I was truly honored.  She and several of the bridesmaids and friends were all up here, in Montana last month for her bachelorette and surprise shower (I did a post a bit ago).  I was so looking forward to the wedding; i love weddings.  I also was looking forward to seeing family and the girls again and being in the warmth.

We all went to a delicious italian dinner and matt drove us in the bus, where matt and hubbee shared a moment! :)
By our hotel was an excellent breakfast place, Devil's diner and we went there several times:

The next day we had our nails done and the final fitting of the dress, and picked up Tiggi's (sp?) ensemble.

This wasn't her ensemble but we had to try this hat on for fun.  She was a good sport.

We ventured to Casey Moore's for a fun meet up/gathering.

The next day was the day to decorate the penthouse for the reception and the day of the rehearsal.  Matt and Jaclyn's friends live in the penthouse and were gracious enough to open their home up for this event.  It was spectacular.  The views, the breeze, the openness of the space made it ideal.

After the decorating was complete it was time to head to the rehearsal.

This is Sarah, the maid of Honor.

This was eva, she didn't know me from Adam but she was quite friendly.

Adam, Colleen, and Larry, now the only ones besides Ben and me on Team Rehmer...

The bride and groom, now Team Howard.  We need to find a way to merge the two...

Sarah and Tim, the maid of honor and best man, and hopefully next couple to marry... :)

Me, with Matt's brother Tyler.  I felt so bad for this guy, he was very sweet and I am so awkward when having my photo taken and he probably was ready to ring my neck.

Star, and i forget the gent's name--horrid I know--but it was his ten year anniversary and he was the sharpest dresser!!  James?

Charlotte with another of Matt's brothers.

Erin and Sven.

Ahn and Chuck, another of Matt's brothers.

kacie and 'Stopher, yet another of Matt's brothers.

The line up of guys.

The lineup of girls.
Then it was off to Monti's Steak house for the dinner.

Suddenly it was the big day.  yes it was suddenly because we were in vacay mode and hit the town with Sarah and Tim and her 'rents and Skeeter.  I don't know why but fortunately I wasn't hung over!! Phew!

We all went to a suite in the same building as the penthouse to prepare.  Jaclyn had these adorable flutes made for us and we each received a unique, yet similar bracelet.  i am only showing pre-made up photos because everyone looked so stunning after! :)

Gwen, Erin and Star all helped with hair and Erin helped with make up and colleen did jaclyn's.  it was fun and relaxing because Jaclyn's itinerary allowed for plenty of time.  Sarah brought up some amazing snacks for everyone and Jaclyn brought stuff for mimosas.  It was festive and fun!

Jaclyn's bouquet.

And our bouquets

I don't have any pics of ceremony because I was in it and obviously couldn't hop about with the camera.  It was at the Secret Garden on the ASU campus. I imagine there are tons and can't wait to see those! The ceremony was great... as we expected matt could barely keep it together, and Jaclyn who is probably even more shy than me spoke so clearly and loud! :) i pulled this off instagram.  
At the reception:

I teased them about matt not knowing how to dance and I said hands on shoulders and hips and shuffle side to side... i was kidding!!!

Adam handed off the Pimp cup to matt!!

The last dance!!  Jaclyn wore the fascinator I made for her bachelorette--I was so happy she liked it!  
The next day we went to brunch at the Valley Ho where I wore my "cocktail"dress and my swimsuit wrap.  It was a great relaxing day after all the festivities.

Our last supper was at a mexican restaurant near our hotel.  It was so fun to hang out with Ben's aunt and uncle.  Linda reminds me of my aunt Lisa and she is VERY fun.

It was a great time and lots of laughs!!