#1: Run a 5k

Nine weeks ago, I began a Couch to 5k program. I have never been a runner and wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. I had my doubts along the way but kept reminding myself that it was all in my head. I continued to push myself and I am proud to say that I successfully completed a 5k!

When I told my family about my goal, my brother Brian offered to run the race with me. I was excited to have him share in this milestone and help me push myself during the race.

 The race day began with clouds and drizzle, but nothing could dampen my spirits.

The race was a benefit to "Save the Swinging Bridge" in Brunswick. Eric and Lucy were waiting for us on the far-end of the bridge to cheer us on.

We had a fantastic cheering squad, spear-headed by Lucy and including Eric, my parents, Melissa, and even Lily!

 

 They weren't kidding when the event organizers said it was a challenging course. There were some wicked hills that made me question whether I could do it, but we kept with it. By the time we hit the final stretch, I was giving it all that I had.

 My goal had been to complete the race in under 36 min. We BLEW that away, coming in at roughly 32:15. (My official race time was 30:54, but they somehow screwed it up, because they also said I came in 20 seconds before Brian, who was right on my heels...)

 I had so much fun racing, I am determined to compete in another one. Brian and I have even been talking about trying a mud run or warrior dash...

 

 I couldn't have reached this goal without the support of my family. With them behind me, I feel as though I can accomplish anything I put my mind to!

Dec. 2012

Between (finally!) selling our house and Christmas, December was a very hectic month.

We went up to our home in Holden for one last dinner before packing up what was left of our belongings. We couldn't pass up one last opportunity to enjoy Geaghan's famous boneless buffalo wings.

 We found a local tree farm to visit and continue our tradition of cutting down our own Christmas tree.

Lucy selects the perfect tree

Once we had the tree in the apartment, we realized it was much taller than it looked in the wild! Eric lopped the top off and we managed to jam the star on top.

 Lucy decorated the bottom half of the tree with all of the unbreakable ornaments.

While we were up North moving out of the house, Lucy spent the day with Mimi and LOVED playing outside in the snow.

Stacy's father is a member of the Knights of Columbus and invited us to the annual Christmas party. It was Lucy's first encounter with Santa.

As you can see, she wasn't a big fan!

 

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Lucy enjoyed looking at the ornaments and lights on the tree and even redecorated it multiple times. She loved to put on the Santa hat while playing.

#27: Make cake pops

Cake pops are everywhere. I've seen them in friends' photos and all over Pinterest. They look cute and fun, so were an easy choice to add to my 30-by-30 list.

My sister-in-law's baby shower seemed like the perfect opportunity to give cake pops a shot. They can't be that hard to make, right? WRONG! While the recipe for the cake pops themselves is not tricky, the decorating piece was a whole different story. The added pressure of making them as the main dessert for a party with 24 guests didn't help, either!

We had an underwater theme for the shower, and through trial-and-error, I settled on three designs for the cake pops: fish, octopus and starfish. Most of the octopuses ended up losing some tentacles, but overall I was happy with the final product. And while the finishing touches could have been better, the overall taste was a home-run.

Given the amount of time it takes to make cake pops, I was in no hurry to make more. Now it seems that I've been suckered into making some for Easter... :)

Nov. 2012

The first week of November was "Spirit Week" at Westbrook Middle School. Stacy got right into it, especially on 80's Day. She raided her mom's closet and came up with this outfit. It was a big hit!

We took advantage of Thanksgiving to get some family photos.

"Where's my bebo?"

The past two years we have hosted Thanksgiving at our house, but given the size of our kitchen table, we had to pass the honor off to Brian and Melissa this year. As you can see from our plates, there was an impressive array of food, as always. A few family members were successful in completing a double-rainbow, but Stacy failed the challenge. Better luck next year!

Oct. 2012

October was full of fun. Lucy enjoyed playing with her new mower, but her favorite activity continued to be reading books.

We had a cute Winnie-the-Pooh costume for Lucy to wear for Halloween, however, she wanted nothing to do with it. We settled for a cute Halloween-themed shirt.

#14: Reach a "happy" weight

I've been slowly making progress on my 30 by 30 list. My latest accomplishment is also the one that I am most proud of.

My entire life I have struggled with my weight. During my pregnancy with Lucy I packed on a lot of pounds and wasn't in a hurry to shave them off. Then, last spring, I decided that enough was enough. I was going to lose the weight and keep it off. I didn't have a specific weight in mind; rather, I just wanted to be happy and healthy.

Before

 

I am proud to share that I have now lost a total of 40 pounds! It's been a long journey, but I finally feel good (and I think I look good, too!)

I'm still in the process of toning up and getting rid of a few more pounds. That shouldn't be a problem as I work to accomplish #1 on my list...

Time Flies...

...when you have too much on your plate! There are really no good excuses for our lack of updates to the blog. Hopefully we'll be better!

What Does Lucy Say?

During the last few weeks, Lucy has learned the sounds of several different animals. I got her to demonstrate her new skills this weekend while she was playing in her bedroom.

In the day since I took the video, she's already learned another animal - the goat.

Fall Fun

One of our favorite fall activities is apple picking.  While we missed out on the fun last year, we made up for it this year with TWO trips to local apple orchards.

A few weekends ago, we spent Sunday morning with Eric's mom exploring a new (to us) orchard in Bowdoinham, Rocky Ridge Orchard. Although the pickings were slim, Lucy had a blast riding in the wagon to the apple trees and picking up all of the apples off of the ground.

Then today, since we all had Columbus Day off, we took advantage of the crisp fall day and headed to the orchard Stacy used to go to as a kid, Willow Pond Farm, with Stacy's mom. We were most excited about bringing Lucy on the horse-drawn wagon ride out to the apple trees. Unfortunately, we discovered that the horse that had faithfully been giving rides for the last 20 years passed away last spring. It was still a fun adventure, and the apples looked so good, we couldn't resist picking more than we'd planned so Eric can whip up another batch of his apple crisp.