The Best Gift EVER!!!

Every year, my father-in-law Glenn and sister-in-law Amber, send the most amazing package to us for Christmas. It is a box or two filled with homemade smoked jerky and pecan pralines (I think that's what they are called).

We can always tell when this package arrives, due to the smell of smoked jerky flowing down the driveway and all the neighborhood dogs going nuts!!! Okay, maybe the smell isn't that strong, but you can definitely tell what is inside the box and it makes all four of us grin from ear to ear!

For a family of four who spend so much time outside and away from any towns and grocery stores, the jerky is the perfect thing to take on a 3+ hour mtb ride or day long hike. When the boys were younger, we would be like 10 minutes into our hike and they would be begging me to bust out Opa's jerky.

Amber's husband, Donnie, also makes a mean jerky and with four children (who are now young adults ranging from 16yrs to 22yrs) I know that none of it goes to waste. Amber always gives an update about what Courtney, Trae, Carey and Savanna are doing, which is really nice, since we only get over to see them once a year, now. Hope to see you guys soon!

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Run, Molly, Run!

I was itching to get some solid time in the woods (and maybe a little break from the three very cool men I live with), so I emailed Mo and asked if she may want to head to Ellijay for a last minute ride/run trip. She already had plans to do a 40 mile trail running race, put on by GUTS, at Pine Mountain and she invited me to come along. She had a room reserved at the lodge with a jacuzzi tub and everything!

Hmmm, heading south AWAY from the mountains.....I dunno.

Well, I took her up on her offer and though I didn't leave my house until much later on Saturday than I had planned, I still got in a quick run at Dauset along the way. It was right before dark, so I kept sprinting the same section that was right near the parking lot, in case the guy came to close the entrance gate. (it would just be my luck to get locked in and spend the night in my car...) The Christmas lights were pretty cool along the drive down to FDR Park.

I found the lodge without a hitch, but was completely speechless when I walked into the room. Molly just started laughing as I was trying to figure out the decor..... right beside the bed was a jacuzzi, alright.....a giant-candy apple red-heart shaped-jacuzzi, with mirrors around it. It was HILARIOUS!!!!!

Molly packed for the race and shared her pizza with me, then we got to bed at a decent time and slept really well.

The next morning, the car said it was 19 degrees and I didn't think it was supposed to get much warmer than the mid 30's for the day. The wind was crazy, but we would be in the woods, so no worries. I think I ended up wearing 6 layers on my core, then would strip down to 3 when I ran.

I had actually come up with a plan to ride my bike from aid station to aid station, since the race director had said there was very little parking. But, truth be told, I couldn't fit Molly's huge container of cookies in my backpack, so I had to come up with an alternate plan. :>)

The start was cold, freakin' cold, and early and dark and did I mention COLD?!?!

But the runners would warm up, soon enough.

As soon as they were off, I high-tailed it to the first aid station and went for my own short run, then cheered for Mo as she came through. She was running very steady and in the top 1/4 of the crowd, but I have not been with her for an endurance running event, and didn't give too much info/excitement away, as I wasn't sure how her next 30+ miles would be.

2nd aid station: named MOLLY HUGGER HILL. What a great name for a trail! She didn't get a hug, but I did mock-sprint her to her cookies (and I won, I must say). Molly is able to put away a huge amount of cookies during her races, which I find interesting.

I got to hang out with my new buddies at the aid stations. I need one of those hats!

3rd aid station: This area has beautiful views, which means we are high and the runners have had to climb up to this point. I can tell Molly is worried about her pace, as this leg was a little slower, but so was everyone else. There must have been a good bit of climbing and Molly is holding a great position in the top ten for the women. I start giving splits.

4th aid station: I run for a bit on the trail as I wait for Molly and the guys start to tease me about my own little aid station set-up. It looks like a picnic. So much time can be lost in transition/aid, so we have everything laid out and easy to get to. As I run down the trail I come across this crazy rocky ledge that the racers have to scramble up. (after running 18 miles at race pace) The leaves on the trail are beautiful, but you never know what is underneath them. (I run some more)

Me and FDR became good buddies.......

I don't go to the 5th aid station, as it is the turn-around point and I might not make it back to this station in time, so I stay here. I go for another run, then I park the car where I can see the trail and I sit in the car and wait......then fell asleep..then wake up and wait and wait and wait for Molly......then called Anet and said, "hey, I think I lost Molly and there are snow flurries here". Anet says, "hey, snow flurries are cool.....maybe you should go find Molly!"

Ah, the trail does not come back exactly the same way, so I bust it to the next aid station and wait until I recognize the runners who were around Mo. Here I am met by a large, stray Rottweiler. He is desperate for Molly's cookies and anything else I will give him. He snorts and sniffs and shuffles my containers away into the woods, where I have to chase him down and bring them back. He is very funny. (but sadly too thin) We share a pay-day, clif bar, cookie and a couple shot blocks.

Molly comes through and is still going strong. She looks confident and surprised at how good she feels. The hand-off is smooth and she keeps on truckin' (I run)

Aid station 8: I get the scoop that the top lady had fallen and is out of the race, at the last aid station there was a change of positions and I am able to give the splits, now. Molly has a very steady chance at top 5, but there are two ladies that are close behind. A lot can happen over the next 8 miles. I obviously put too much electrolyte fluid in Molly's water and now the world knows it and she shouts through the woods, "WOW, you made that really STRONG!!" (I run)

Aid station 9: I have the best songs EVER picked out on my ipod for Molly to listen to on the last leg. But, she is feeling very strong and blows off the ipod, my feelings are crushed and I think to myself in a nasty voice, "well fine, if she doesn't have the best last leg of her life, it's because she doesn't have MY music to listen to". (I run)

Molly finishes a strong 5th and gets a super cool handmade mug. We see a couple friends and visit for a bit, then we head back to room to clean up and I decide to head home to Shey and the boys and sleep in my own bed. I am sure Molly thoroughly enjoyed her heart shaped jacuzzi!

It was a great race and Molly was walking on air with her really, really strong run!! Huge congrats, girlie!!!

Elks Aidmore Turkey Trot 2010 5K cross country run

Three of us decided to run the Turkey Trot cross country 5K this past Saturday at the Elks Aidmore Children's Center.

The trail was great, with lots of switchbacks and rolling ascents/descents. Straw was placed on any slippery areas and there were ample aid stations.

The event was very well run with Starbucks coffee, hot cocoa, and snacks waiting for us at the end. (Some of the runners missed a portion of the course around the lake, so someone probably needs to stand there and direct traffic, next year, but most of us saw the signs and there was some turkey trivia posted on signs all along the trail, too!)

Shey finished 1st overall male.

Jansen finished 5th overall and 3rd in his age category.

I finished 2nd overall female and 1st in my age category.

The start was on a road and eventually descended down onto the trail. Shey and Jansen were in front of me and were only within sight for a short period of time. I ran with a lady who led out the women and looked like she knew what she was doing. We stayed together for about half of the course, then she started to pull away on the descents.

Just before the mile three mark, I was watching the two ladies who were about 1.5-2 minutes behind me during the longer switchbacks in the woods, and I was feeling good and had less than a 1/2 mile to go, so I picked up the pace a bit. We hit the road for a short bit, then a sharp right to take the trail around the lake, then finished up the hill on the road. I stayed strong and even passed a guy on the trail around the lake. :>) It felt really good.

When I crossed the finish line, I saw the two ladies who were behind me in the woods, at the finish table, already. I knew they had not passed me, so I was confused. (was there a different distance, option?) I found out they, along with others to follow, had missed the turn to run around the lake, so that cut out a good portion of the course right at the end.

Shey and Jansen told me about their races and it sounded like they had a great time. They saw a guy go down really hard on one of the turns and we all shook our heads in agreement at how bad that must have hurt. Shey was ready to leave, but in the end we decided to drink some coffee and cocoa and hang out for a bit and see the awards. Oh, the hot cocoa was AMAZING!! The award ceremony was very cute and very relaxing. The event organizer did a wonderful job.

I don't think they sorted out the finish times, since the results in local paper are wrong for the women, but the top lady received her award at the ceremony and I got my age group award, so that was okay and the Children's Center hopefully will get a little financial help from this event.

Looking forward to next year!

The Day of the Dead and Halloween 2010

I got to visit a superstar at the hospital this month, as Kate and Jeff gave birth to their baby girl. She is perfect in every way and I got to hold and rock her for a bit, while Kate and Jeff discussed her college applications......

Later in the month, Everett and I headed into Atlanta to the Day of the Dead festival at the

Atlanta History Museum.

The decorated alters were great and the food was awesome!

The music was lots of fun and Anne showed up to dance the Salsa with the crowd!

We bought candy skulls

and I made a new friend. (at home Shey likes to make him dance to his favorite Metallica tunes...it's hilarious)

Then for Halloween, Everett dressed up in his traditional scarecrow costume and we had a spectacular time watching the expressions of the adults as they passed by him and couldn't tell whether he was real or a statue. We laughed and had so much fun! Thanks Everett!!

Vacation - Oh yeah!

This year, the three of us headed to the northeast for our vacation. We thought Salem would be the most awesome place to participate in Halloween festivities, Jansen wanted to go to the MIT museum and I wanted to take them to Montreal.

Boston was busy and crowded and we wanted to head out to the woods, but we accidentally found the MIT museum when we stopped for pizza, so it was just meant to be!

We camped at a really cool campground in Hingham and the weather and change in the color of leaves was PERFECT! Running was great here, as the hills are very gradual. This was my favorite place!

On to Salem! It must have been Harley weekend, as there were a ton of loud motorcycles everywhere.

Haunted House lines

The famous House of Seven Gables

Parking Ninja

Then we drove around Montreal to take a peek at the 'Olympic Architecture'.

A farm south of Montreal.

We were asked 20 questions at the border and it took us forever to get back across.

Next, one of our favorite stops..... the Ben and Jerry's factory tour in Vermont!!! Very groovy...

Mmmmm.....doughnuts!

Everett's 18th!! Roller Derby/Scott Pilgrim/SS ride

Everett with Demanda Rumble:

Everett turned 18 this year!

We had decided to go to the roller derby for his birthday, but they were sold out in August (who knew how popular roller derby was?!?), so we headed in to Atlantic Station to watch the Scott Pilgrim movie, which we all LOVED!! (def have to get that one when it comes out on DVD)

Then I bought tickets for the next roller derby bout in September, which just happened to be the championship bout, as a belated birthday gift for Everett.

The championship bout was on the same day as the GA single speed championship ride, so we headed up to Ellijay to ride, then back down to Atlanta for the derby.

The race was great.

Shey rode a fixie

,

Jansen was leading out, but flatted,

Everett was happy to be back on a bike and playing in the dirt

The fun bikes!

I had put ergon grips on my ss and had such terrible hand cramping that I had to stop frequently because I couldn't grab the brakes, but other than that I enjoyed my ss and I really loved the trail....just need my cheapo grips that I love so much. :>)

Shanna and her friend.

We had yummy hamburgers at Mulberry Gap and then headed down to Atlanta for the roller derby.

My really cool guys.

It was the Apocalipstix vs. Denim Demons. There was an awesome band and great vendors,

too.

The bout was very exciting and they even had JEER LEADERS! Lots of fun!

HAPPY 18TH YOU GOATEE WEARING, COMPUTER FIXING, CRAZY INVENTOR, AWESOME BAKER GUY!!!!

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