Cousins Visit!

Seattle Wheel
Derek, Tim, Christina, Craig, Charlie, Rose,
 Derek, Shelby, Trever, Kaitlyn

Last weekend we had a memorial service for my sister. Although the occasion was sad, the good part was that my niece and 3 nephews came back to WA! Other than my trip to Indy when my sister died a couple of months ago, I hadn't seen the kids in years. I don't think Kaitlyn had seen them in about 8 years. The kids are awesome, especially under the crappy circumstances they've been living in. It was just like old times when all the kids were little, they just aren't little anymore! :)
Kaitlyn had a blast with her cousins. They were here for a week and all of them spent as much time as possible together. One afternoon we headed to Seattle and put them all on the Big Seattle Wheel.
I wish they lived closer!

10k #2 - The Shore Run

The weekend I ran in my 2nd 10K. The Shore Run runs along Lake Washington from Seward Park under I-90 to Madison Park. The route is lovely, with the exception of the 3 hills, the one at the 5 mile mark is the WORST!
I was trying to beat my last 10k time and finish in under an hour. Unfortunately, I missed that goal by 8 freaking seconds! I did beat my last 10k time, but I finished in 60:08. Still, it was 49 seconds faster than my first 10k.
I am now retired from races for the summer. It's time for boating season, BBQs, and fun runs, without the stress and time of preparing and running in a race.
Rest assured, I'll be back at it in the Fall. :)

Run Like a Mother

Mother's Day 2013 ~ Doesn't everyone's Mother's Day start off with a quick 5K run? Mine did! My friend, who has a 22 month old and is 22 weeks pregnant, celebrated her Mother's Day with me at Run Like a Mother in Magnuson Park. I've run with Teresa twice before, and both times she beat me. Yesterday, however was my day! I beat her by a whopping 46 seconds. Heck, I'll take it. So, she's 5+ months pregnant, that worked in my favor! I had my best time yet at 27:30. Awesome! I think the course was a bit short, but even so, it was my fastest time. I finished 9th in my age bracket of 44 women and 85th overall in the pack of 423. Tim and Kaitlyn both got up early to support me in my run.  After the run, the 3 of us headed to Starbucks for some much earned caffeine and breakfast sandwiches. Later my Mom came over for steaks on the grill and family game time.

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Goodbye Big Sis!

Teresa Jean Ferrel
September 9, 1965 - April 21, 2013

No farewell words were spoken.
No time to say goodbye.
You were gone before we knew it,
and only God knows why.

May you finally be in peace!

Say "Hi" to Dad and Darlene for me!

Kirkland Shamrock Run

Last Saturday my friend Teresa and I ran the Kirkland Shamrock Run 5K. For someone who is 14 weeks pregnant, just moved the weekend before, and has an 18 month old toddler at home, it was AMAZING for her to get up on a Saturday morning and run with me.

The weather was pretty mild. There was a slight wind, but the big wind and rain didn't start until after the run, thankfully!
The run through downtown Kirkland was UPHILL for the first 2 miles. I'm not kidding. It was BRUTAL! The last mile was downhill, but too late to make up enough time for me to get another PR. I was only 1 minute off my PR time, but those hill killed my time.
Teresa finished 1 1/2 minutes before me. Not bad considering that the last time we ran together she finished almost 10 minutes before me! I've gotten better and her being pregnant worked in my favor! :)
After the run, "the baby" was hungry! Worked for me! We went to Hector's for breakfast - and a Mimosa for me! All in all, it was a great morning with a good friend and a little exercise!

Before the race at the "famous" Kirkland Cow & Dog statue.

The only photo during the run we are both in. Teresa passed me up this hill and I didn't see her again until the finish!
 

Belles of the Ball

The Belles! Paulette, Christa & Kris

Rainier Yacht Club Commodore's Ball - I can't believe I went to a Ball! It was actually really fun, like a grown up Prom, except drinking was legal! We had a great time with our friends.

Grown Up Prom Photo
Paulette, Ryan, Christa, Leo, Kris & Tim

Off to the Ball - Self Portrait!

A New Boat!

WHY? Because Tim wanted one! Seriously, that's the only reason. There was no need for us to get a bigger boat. Tim found a "great deal" on a Repo and decided it was his Dream Boat. Whatever! Me, being the good wife, went along with it and let him buy it. The only problem was that we were buying a new boat before we sold our old boat. That made me more than a little nervous! Thankfully, our old boat sold within a few weeks. Whew! The new boat, as a repo, needs some TLC. Tim has to keep reminding me as I am cleaning other people's dirt (and it is DIRTY!) that I am making $20,000+ in equity by cleaning it. That seems to be logical to me!
Her name is Scoring Points. I heard it was back luck to change a boat's name, so we are leaving it as is. She is a 1999 Sea Ray 400 Sedan Bridge. She is about 45 feet overall in length, has 2 staterooms and 2 heads (that's a bathroom in boat lingo!). There's even an electric pull out couch in the salon (living room) so we can technically sleep 6.
Our first boat adventure is scheduled for next month for the Daffodill Festival in Tacoma. Just wonder how much its going to cost us in gasoline to go through the lakes, the locks and to Tacoma and back. I'm frightened to even think about it!!!

First Ever 10K!

My first ever 10k! Tim and I flew to San Diego last week so I could run in my first 10k on Coronado Island. It was a great event with about 3000 people. Tim ran the event too.
My goal time was 66 minutes. I finished in 60:57.
I was so happy to be done and so proud of myself for accomplishing something I never thought I could do. I even got a little emotional on our walk back to the hotel.
I NEVER have to run again! But, I realized that I actually like doing these events and pushing myself. So.....time to plan the next one!

First 5K of 2013!

MLK Day 5K at Magnuson Park - I finished in my best time ever...28:59! Tim, Emily and I all braved the 32 degree temperature to run yesterday. It was cold, but each of us finished faster than last month!
The "big" race is next month in San Diego where I am crazy enough to try at 10K! Wish me luck!