Weekend in Review...What I learned!

Well...What did I learn this weekend???  I learned I'm getting older.  I honestly like to call it getting wiser, but some would say old.

First indication I'm getting "wiser"~ Running excites me!  When I was a teenager/young women the thought of waking up to enjoy a good breakfast designed to power me through a long run would have seemed like a bad dream.  Who the hell wakes up on the weekend to go run?  Old people do!  In my younger days weekend mornings were designed to allow for sleeping in, helping a person recover from a long night of partying.  Now, I enjoy a cup of coffee, check twitter and prepare to run.

Second indication I'm getting "wiser"~ My kids bedtime surpasses my own.  Trav and I are very busy during the week and very physically active as well.  If we see the clock strike 11p.m. on a weekend its a rarity.  If we see 10p.m. I am feeling rather accomplished.  During the week Trav's alarm goes off at 5:15a.m. so at the end of the day we are just plain tired.  The kids on the other hand seem unaffected by time at all.  My little Travi wakes up at 5:30a.m. to swim with his club 3 days a week and will power through the day until god knows when.  Its like he doesn't need sleep.  He can outlast Trav and I any day of the week.  He talks about pulling "all nighters" and Trav and I get giddy talking about upgrading our sheets to a higher thread count.  Most of this summer Trav and I have crawled into bed with Taylor tucking us in.  The kids just do whatever it is they are doing downstairs and we go to bed.  I find myself telling Trav most nights, "we are old babe"!

Third~Twerking....I had to google this word earlier this week.  I had no idea what the hell it was and have been hearing it repeatedly.  I finally had to figure out what it was.  Thank god for Google and YouTube.  For those who don't know, this is twerking...

If I saw my daughter doing this I would want to crawl under a rock after I drug her off by her hair into a dungeon.  

Lastly~OK, I know this topic has been all over the place today but wanna know what put the nail in my coffin of "am I old"???  The VMA awards.  Aside from the fact that I didn't know the awards were even on until Trav was channel surfing, or who several of the presenters were and had not seen most the videos, the whole Miley Cyrus thing was a huge eye opener for me.  My kids are still at the age where I can pretty much control a majority of what they see, which isn't much out of the realm of PG rated.  So when I saw Hannah Montana come out on stage in a slutty teddy bear costume with a buzzed head my mouth dropped open.  WTF happened to her???  Did someone tell her that was the next path to take in her career.  I let my kids watch her on the Disney channel for God's sake.  Now I see her grabbing her crouch with a foam finger...HELLLLLOOO.  Is this honestly what kids think are cool?  

I remember when I was a teenager, I thought my parents didn't know shit about what was going on in my world.  They hated most of my music and couldn't wrap their minds around most of what I enjoyed as a 16 year old girl.  Am I now that parent?  Are my kids going to find that kind of crap acceptable entertainment.  Have I lost my edge, am I old?   

I will be the first to admit my perspectives have changed since I was 16 or 18 years old.  I'm a married, mom of two kids with so much invested in my life and family.  My goals are no longer to drink until I'm twerking.  I have two kids to raise into contributing members of society who are educated, responsible human beings who look at white trash that is now Miley Cyrus and are repulsed.

I told Trav last night when he turned the channel that I'm pretty sure we are old because if that is what being young is all about these days, I'm taking my extremely fit running legs and heading for the hills at my quickest pace possible.  

Random Babbling....

Ok, so we are in our last week of summer.  The kids start next week.  I am ready for them to go back.  They need to go back.  But....I am also absolutely dread them going back.  My biggest regret about coming to Sitka is the schools.  The middle school Travis will be going to has not met federal standards in 5 years.  Taylor's school finally for the first time in 5 years got it together and met standards last year but that doesn't even make me feel better. 

Alaska standards are in my opinion low compared to most other state.  I just hate feeling like my kids will not be getting a good education.  I get emotional even talking about this subject with anyone, including my Trav. I think most parents feel some passion about their kids education.  The kids previous school was top notch to say the least.  I knew leaving Forestdale with their standards and funding, no school would be able to compete.  I just feel very let down by the attitudes and mentality of some people I have spoken to within the schools.   I just hate that the kids will have to do a full day of school and then come home to do more work because we have to supplement.   Military kids face so many social challenges because of the constant moving around.  I am trying to avoid mine having to deal with gaps in their education levels and suffering down the road because of it.  Last year was pretty much one big review period for both the kids.  I would estimate that the schools here are a good 9 months behind Cape Cod. 

If I learned one thing from our school is Massachusettes its that parents should expect nothing less the top notch when it comes to school.  The schools should demand excellence and require kids to progress.   Anything less is just unacceptable.  The really crappy part is we have no choice.  There are no other schools for the kids to attend.  I'm hoping its not a long year of battles.

Moving on.....


Fall is in the air!  I can feel it.  When I let the dogs out in the morning there is a chill in the air that isn't our normal, standard Alaskan, cool summer air.  Honestly its almost a relief though.  When the sun shines in Alaska there is this unspoken pressure to be outside.  I don't think unless you have lived here you can understand.  If its not raining you feel guilty sitting inside.  If is sunny, you force yourself to be outside at all costs, for hours on end.  Its all mental but when you know perpetual rain and darkness is not far off in the distance your mind tells you to get your butt outside.  Today I noticed the ground cover in the forest is changing colors and the rain is back.  Summer is over!  It was a gorgeous summer but I think Mother Nature has decided we have had enough sunshine.  Rain is eminent.   We don't get miraculous fall colors up here in Sitka.  Last year  the wind came in and just blew all the leaves off the trees.  The spruce trees stay green year round.  I miss the fall foliage of the Cape and I loved "leaf peeping".  Some day I will see the fall colors again.

On the up side, I love decorating for fall.  I won't be decorating anything until September but I LOVE fall.  Its honestly my favorite season.  I love running in the cool, crisp air.  I love the smell of the damp leaves.  I love the change.   I do wish our house up here had a fire place.  I loved our fireplace on the Cape.  I loved decorating the mantel.  I just ordered new fall Yankee Candles and am looking forward to my new boots arriving in the mail.  Fall opens the door to the holiday season.  

Sports...I'm no fanatic by any means but right now I love watching the Sox's play with Trav and I love watching preseason football.  Four years on the Cape and I secretly cheer for the Pats.  T.B. is a freaking hottie, Belicheck is a genius and I enjoy partaking in the passion the New Englanders show for their teams.  Trav jumps head first into fantasy football and I find humor in the way he gets almost giddy watching preseason games and highlights.   Trav still cheers for the Raiders but I will be hoping to see a few Pats games on T.V. this winter.

I aleady find myself daydreaming about our dreamsheet next year.  Seeing the list of open billets always fills me with anxiety and anticipation.  We won't see a list until a year from now but I can't help but wonder what will be on it.  Others at the unit are about to see their lists, will be deciding where they hope to go, researching schools, reviewing housing markets.  I am jealous!  I loathe packing up, saying goodbye and starting over but we hope that our next move will be our last.  We hope to buy our first house when we leave Sitka and stay in one place for a while.  Trav will hopefully retire from the service at our next location and we will settle down.  I just hope we have good options.  I find myself dreaming of a place that feels like home, like forever.  Unpacking and knowing we won't be leaving.  Promising the kids they don't have to say goodbye to friends.  

There really are only a few places we even want to go.  I hope that coming to Alaska again and retaining priority billeting gives us the advantage to secure one of those spots.  Trav and I talk constantly about staying put, settling down, making long term friends, painting bedrooms.  All those things that everyone else gets to do.  I find myself daydreaming alot lately of next years list and the potential it hold for us.    The older I get the more appealing forever sounds.

Well... my head feels more clear.  I have gotten some things off my chest.  Its time for my Trav and I to head out and walk the dogs.  There is a break in the weather, its a gorgeous evening and the Sox game is over.  Gotta go.

Art by Taylor...

My baby girl has an affinity for arts and crafts. She loves to draw and create.  At school, if arts and crafts was an official subject she would definitely have an A+ (who am I kidding though, she gets straight A's anyways)!  She loves for me to display her works of art in the house and I do. For a long time I was conflicted about discarding her work but our nomadic lifestyle doesn't allow me to keep everything.  So, when it's time to make room for more we keep our favorites and then I photograph the rest. I have posted her art here before and here is some if her most recent that was taken down to make room for new ones.

Why did I ever start blogging...

“In 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.”

I found this quote today while surfing the internet.  I read it to myself and then read it again.  I thought about it for a moment and thought, this is why I blog.  I blog because I enjoy posting my photos and adding vivid explanations that coincide with them.  More importantly I blog for the future.  When I started this blog in 2008 I had two little kids...my babies.  Now I have one who is almost a teenager and then I have a sassy, young lady who recently informed me she was relocating to California and leaving her dad and I in the dust...ummm she's 8 years old.  

When I started this blog we lived in a different house, in a different town, in a different state.  Trav was at a different time in his career and I was a stay at home mom.  When I started this blog, I wasn't a runner, Travi wasn't a swimmer, Taylor had skin that was a result of terrible food allergies  and our lives were just very different.  Fast forward to today and I love looking back at old posts and pictures.  Reading my thoughts puts a smile on face.  Seeing who we were back then, how we looked and how far we have come in 5 years is satisfying.  I blog so that some day, 20 years from now I can look back and reflect.  I will also be reminded how fabulous I looked.  

There is so much of our lives that are unforseen and I have no idea whats coming. One thing I do know is that change is coming.  Change is always coming, its inevitable.   I hope I just keep blogging about our progress.

Sitka Cross Trail 1/2 Marathon....

So I am a little delayed on this post....I've been busy enjoying the sunshine and drinking wine on the back deck!

Anyways....

I finished!  I finished with a better time then I had hoped! All the training, running and training and running has paid off.   It felt so good to cross the finish line but I am already looking for another race to run.  Perhaps one in Hawaii this next Spring!  Trav keeps insisting we are running the full marathon next year.  I'm really apprehensive.  This was a tough course.

It was the perfect day to run.  We got up early, made homemade waffles with berries to give us energy and got ourselves down to the start.  The weather was foggy, gray and misty...perfect for running!

Trav kept me on pace, motivated and smiling.  I literally could not have finished this course without him.  His support, devotion and encouragement was really what made this race so important for me.  I wanted to finish this race so badly but I also didn't want to let him down.  He did every long run with me, carried water for me, feed me energy beans when I needed them and told me at least 100 times  throughout my 12 week training that I was doing awesome.  On race day he stayed with me at my pace, which is much slower then his.  He could have finished roughly 20 minutes earlier but he stayed with me.

I am really proud of myself.  I am really proud of my Trav.  

We thought about switching numbers before the race, so that our race numbers matched our perspective ages but we decided last minute we wouldn't want to mess up there system of tracking runners. 

I wanted this medal so badly!!  This course passed by some of our very favorite places in Sitka.  Totem Park and the Cross Trail.   Most importantly is the bridge that extends over Cascade Creek on the Cross Trail.  Its a gorgeous spot that we always stop to admire and steal a kiss at when we are on the trail.  On the medal you can see the bridge over the cascading falls and the runners enjoying it.  This medal epitomizes what we love about being here.  I had to have it, now we have two of them.  

Running is such a great hobby, a great way to stay in shape and its a great stress reliever.  Its a lifestyle for Trav and I.  I loved everything about preparing for and  finishing this race.

Foodie Friday....

I'm not sure if I have ever posted a recipe or food item to this blog.  As I try to recollect I do not think that I have.  It's Friday and generally in our house that makes it homemade pizza night.  This tradition started on Cape Cod and we have for the most part continued it.  I have perfected my crust and we make a variety of pizzas.

The kids love your standard pepperoni/salami, olives and cheese.

Trav and I love any variety that has tons of veggies, a blend of good cheeses and minimal red sauce.

Since we are running the 1/2 marathon tomorrow I thought pizza would be a good way to take in some needed carbohydrates plus, its Friday!!

Crust Recipe:

3 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/4 tsp. yeast

1 1/4 cup warm water

2 T EVOO

Pinch of salt

Mix dry goods together, slowly add water and oil. Mix together for 2 minutes. Place dough in oiled bowl, cover and let rise at least 30 mins.

So after a good day of work and celebrating the Coast Guard's Birthday we settled down to delicious pizza and a relaxating night before a run in the morning!

***(I'm editing in to say that our relaxing night had a twist.  Trav got launched on a search and rescue case and we weren't even sure he would make it back home to run.  Luckily he got home late, rushed in to eat the pizza and hit the sack.  We have a 5:30am wakeup)

Cheers Everyone....