Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls--Part 1

Hello Bloggers!

Last weekend I went on a wonderful hiking trip with Leah to the UP.

It was a wonderful trip!  Leah and I visited quite a few waterfalls--SIX of them to be exact!  We saw the following:

Big Smokey Falls
Agate Falls
Bond Falls
Canyon Falls
Horse Race Rapids
La Salle Falls
12 Ft Falls
8 Ft Falls

Leah and I started with a breakfast wrap up at Big Smokey Falls, which was only about 20 miles away from her house.

Afterwards, we drove directly north through a lot of little cities.  Then we landed in Upper Michigan!  Leah was kind enough to drive me to Ski Brule.  I always wanted to see what Ski Brule looked like in the summer!

Then we headed over to the Listening Inn.  Our first impressions were not very good.  The lady scolded me for wanting to have a glass of wine before we departed on our adventure.  Therefore, we had some wine in secret on our deck.

 

Leah and I both made our own lunches to avoid having to pay for more food on our trip.  Smart idea because we got accidentally upgraded to a higher rate room!  I mean we did have a hot tub and a four post bed, so things could have been worse...

Next we packed our picnic baskets and headed out for Agate and Bond falls!  Agate Falls was about an hour and a half away from our Bed and Breakfast.  We enjoyed the view and got very confused when we entered different time zones! 

This is us at Agate Falls!  Not much to tell.  We walked along the falls for about a half mile before we saw it.  Nothing too special--only yet we didn't realize this at the time! 

Then came the motherload of waterfalls!  Bond Falls!  Bond Falls is the second largest set of waterfalls in MI.    We took a long hike down the side of Bond Falls.  Once we hit the bottom of the falls this was the lovely view we got to see!

And of coarse who couldn't forgo a lovely snapshot of us?

After our trip, we were hungry.  We stopped out at the Hazelwood Cafe, which was along our route.  When we headed home, The Listening Inn gave us a bottle of their own Blueberry Spice Wine...FOR FREE!  Leah and I both took advantage of this wine and enjoyed a night soaking in our hot tub, making up Zumba routines, singing Disney songs and chatting the night away:-)  We both fell asleep excited for the next day's adventure!

More to Post Soon!
<3
Em

DIY: Making Memories with Spray Paint, Fabric and Glitter! [Why Yes Megan, I Used Glitter!]

Hey All!

Another blog entry...yes it's true!

I've been wanting to make one of these for a while now!!!

I purchased a bulletin board, fabric, spray paint and letters.

I covered the bulletin board with the fabric.

Then I spray painted the letters and the knobs.

Then I covered them with glitter!  [Because glitter rocks!]

Then after gluing the words and screwing the knobs together...this is the end result!

A running board!

This was a lot of fun to make!  I love how the glitter gives the knobs and words a little bit of a shine! I also like how large the space is so we can put a lot of race photos up!

Here's a closer look!

What do you think?  Something you might want to tackle down the road? 

<3 

Em

The Photos Everybody Wants to See!

Hey All!

Time for a wedding blog entry!  [Oh yeah, you're getting married in what, like, um, a year? YES! Save the Date: 9/25/15!]

Here is the moment Kyle and I have been waiting for...our engagement photos to be edited and ready for pick up!  Yippie!

Our photos were taken by Kasey and Ben Hock Photography.  Kasey and I go way back---to 2005 when we were roommates and college buddies at UW-Green Bay.  Kasey has done several photos for me in the past, including modeling sessions and artistic pieces, so I knew when it was time to get married, she would be the perfect one to capture the moments.  I sure was right!  Kasey and Ben were extremely informative on helping us make these photos special.  I am beyond convinced that our wedding photos will be just as elegant and artistic as these!

Kristina and I ventured over to the studio earlier today.  Kasey greeted us with a smile and took us into her basement where she had an entire display ready to showcase her beautiful photography.  Kristina and I were both in oh's and awe's over each beautifully captured photo.  Kasey expressed her appreciation to my attention to details regarding outfits and was excited that she was able to experiment with the lights at the Wildlife Sanctuary.    She was right; the lighting was perfect for our special day!

These are only some of the photos that I uploaded.  I love how Kasey was able to capture our smiles and romanticism.  Kyle always said he has a hard time smiling, but I sure disagree!

I think the photos turned out nice, don't you think?

Let me know what you think about them!  I hope you enjoyed them as much as us!

<3
Em

I Need to Apologize...

Hello Everybody!

Tonight's blog entry is an apology.

There has been some backlash regarding my recent posts about my running.  I wrote earlier this month that I had a run and it was "slow."   Several people messaged me their concern about what my definition of "slow" really is.

Last week my amazing fiancé, Kyle, ran is FIRST 10K; the Madison Twilight Run!  Here we are pre-race, ready and roaring to go!

Despite making this amazing goal, he's been feeling a little bummed about his time.  I didn't see why, the guy ran 6.2 FREAKING MILES.  In the heat.  At night.  After bumming around and doing errands all day.  No time to train in weeks ahead of time.

And yet, the guy showed up.  What's to feel bad about? NOTHING.  He did it! YAHOO!

Truth is.   It does NOT matter what your pace is.

I am sorry that I lead anybody to believe it matters.  It doesn't!

Running is what you make of it.  You can make it about yourself or you can make it about other people.   While I like to run with people, I like to compete with eM.   To eM, a 9:30 pace is not my fastest run, but a mid-tempo run, which I need to accomplish during training.  I also complete 9:45 minute miles (my slow run), 10 minute miles (my easy run), my 9:00 minute miles (my 10K goal pace) and my 8:30 miles [only when it's time to sprint!] To my good friend Niki, a 9:30 pace is a slow, easy jog in the park.  Her mid-tempos are in the 8:30's with her sprints much closer to 7:50 per mile!  [I think I got that right.]  Both of our ideas of mid-tempo runs, slow runs and fast runs are completely different!

It's really about each of their own.   Whatever pace you do, whatever distance you do, it's on YOU.  YOU should be proud of that distance, because somewhere, somebody you know didn't even bother to try at all.  YOU showed up!  YOU gave it all you got!  And guess what?  The MORE you do it, the FASTER you'll become!  Frequency and consistency are the keys you need to speed up your run!

So once again, if I sound egocentric about my paces or snobbish because I think a pace I make is something that is unreachable for you at this moment, I am very sorry.  I don't want anybody to stop running because I made them feel as if they weren't "good enough."  You are!  Keep working at it!

Over and out!

<3
Em

I Can't Believe It, I Ran a [Freaking] [Half] Marathon!

EEEEEEKKKK!!

I did it!!!

I ran a half marathon!!!!  I ran a half marathon!!!  Did you hear...I ran a half marathon!!!!

I can't tell you how exciting that moment was when I crossed the finish line...blood sweating, heart pounding, body shaking...

Let me tell you, two years ago if you told me that I could have ran a half marathon I would have laughed in your face!  Heck even six months ago if you told me I could run a half marathon I'd laugh at you.    I didn't think it was possible.  I thought that it was one of those "it would be nice but that isn't me" kind of thing.    I'm sure that's what my co-runner-pal, Niki said too.  In fact, I remember when both Niki and I said that "going to the gym wasn't our thing."  We just weren't into making good healthy choices.

But now...we both ran a freaking half marathon!

This is us before...party animals

and now...1/2 Marathon Runners!

Crazy how things have changed!

I ran that town.  I ran that sucker in 2 hours 7 minutes and 13 seconds:)

And what a feeling!

I am now contemplating on running another half marathon, however I don't know which one would be a good fit for me.  I want a race that will be challenging, local and fun to do!   Right now I'm thinking of doing the Discover Whitewater Half Marathon.   It will be within close proximity of Watertown so no long distance traveling is needed.  Next year I REALLY want to do the Rock and Roll Chicago 1/2 Marathon!

Others think it would be a lot cooler if I trained to run a marathon.  Maybe even the Green Bay Cellcom Marathon...?

Dare I laugh?  Na, because I do see the great long 26.2 in my future...my very distant future.

In the meantime, I am still recovering from my run.  I am still sore and very hungry all of the time.  [Oh wait that's normal for me!]  I've been doing a lot of yoga this week!  I'm glad I "found my yoga" again because it's been helping me stretch and sleep better!  [I could use both of those more often!] If you are looking for some great yoga workouts, look no further than clicking here.  This link is from Yoga Download, which offers free 25 minute videos or with a 18.00 membership, you can have unlimited access to downloading all types of yoga videos!

I hope that I feel better before Saturday.  I am participating in the Twilight 10K with Kyle up in Madison!

Either way, cheers to finishing up a 1/2!  I cannot wait to train and run for another!

<3 

Em