Officially Cohabitating

 The month long move-in was complete this Saturday. Jeff's family and mine are now officially mingled! The unpacking of boxes will take awhile but so far this arrangement is exactly what we though it would be. Loud and fun when we are all seven in the house, and a little too quite when it is just the two of us. Like the large family that we now are, almost everyone had something to do this weekend. We had a marching band festival, roller derby practice, friend's birthday party, 4-H meeting and practice driving time. In between all of that, the movers got everything in the house. If that isn't a preview into our new life I don't know what would be! 

I know it won't always be easy and it won't always be fun, but it is mostly easy and it is mostly fun. I'll take it! 

Finally got to use the new placemats!

Daryl being Daryl

Jeff's youngest is always creating, this homestead he made was pretty cute!
You should see what he can do with Legos! 

There is now a place for everyone to sit in the living room!
Undecided if the coffee table will stay.....

Little Apple Half Marathon

 Yesterday, I ran my 3rd half marathon of the year and by far my best of the year! I have been pretty good with my training runs getting all but my last long run in. I decided not to go in with any time in mind but to just run as fast as felt good. The race director started the race an hour early because of the unseasonable heat. It was the right move because the temperature was perfect! My time was 2:13:35 with a 10:12 pace! My last half result was 2:22:03 with a 10:51 pace. 

On a normal race day I get up super early, (would have been around 4am for a Manhattan race), to pick up my packet race morning and make sure I had plenty of time to park and get all my pre race routines completed. I told Jeff that plan and his idea was to just stay in Manhattan for the weekend and pick up my packet Friday night. Maybe alleviating that race morning stress also made for a better race? I got to wake up at my normal 5:15 and our hotel was only 15 minutes from the race. He was also the best cheering section a runner could ask for! 

Bonus, we got to spend all day Saturday just exploring Manhattan restaurants and sites. I went to Pillsbury crossing for the first time and I got to see the Math building at K-State. I made Jeff take a picture in front of the sign (he didn't want to) because that is where he spent countless hours getting his Masters in Math. 

The places we ate at were Tallgrass Tap House, Nico's Little Italy and Aggieville Brewing company. All were excellent! 

So here is to a great weekend before a crazy month starts. We got this! 

The waterfall was more of a trickle but still very cool! 

I did it! 

It was funny to see how close Umberger is to Cardwell and neither of us had any knowledge of the other. LOL 

 

September Goal Check In

September was full of behind the scenes work at the house, shuttling Daryl to things and a one-week escape to California. It was a full and fun month! I did miss one long run so I didn't quite hit the 60 miles I wanted to this month. I'm going to blame plumbing problems that we had Saturday morning that had water backing into my bathroom from the hall bathroom. But in reality I should have had the run done hours before that happened. LOL The plumbers did come out on Saturday, cleared a clogged pipe and we were back in business! 

Read 18 Books 18/18  DONE! 

Got my last two books for the year done in September. I think this means my goal for 2025 should be 20. But I'm not going to stop reading this year, I'm just glad I keep track of this so I don't waste all of my free time watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix....

The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose was a library book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Genre was mystery/thriller but it also had a few "steamy" parts. The pace was quick and the characters all had good angles that kept you guessing the entire time. Then the ending was just (Chef's Kiss) perfect. Highly recommend! If it wasn't a library book it would definitely be a keeper for the book shelf.  

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty was a heartfelt fiction that had me wondering what I was doing 10-years ago for the entire book. Alice hits her head in the first chapter and lost ten years of memory. She was a newly wed and pregnant 10 years before. Her reality is three kids and in the process of divorce. It was so good. This was one of my books and will go on the shelf. I highly recommend this book too!  

Run 600 Miles 481/600

As previously mentioned I did not hit my monthly goal of 60 miles but I did add 55 to the yearly goal and I am in good shape to get my 600 miles this year! I will start October off strong with a half marathon the first Saturday.   

Monthly Healthy Habit ???  

I don't remember what my habit was....so that should tell you all you need to know about that! I'm going to try and cut back on sugar this month. I mean the month with the most candy, that should be doable! LOL 

2024 Money Goals:   

• Replace Garage Door Replace Windows Done August 
• Down payment on New Car (Done July) 
• Pay Mortg. Principle down 4K Made a principle payment in September! 
• Hit my Savings Goals for the year Made a savings deposit in September! Yay!   



The children are meshing well!

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  Daryl is enjoying the student section at T-High football games!

  
  

  

  One year anniversary cocktails!

  
  

  

  Got to see a band at Happy Basset on our 1 year anniversary! 🥰

  
   

California Dreaming

 This week I am taking my travel duties seriously. Jeff is at a work conference and I am the side kick. I am making sure the gym treadmills are being used, the coffee shop has business and the happy hour drinks are drank. Don't worry Jeff, I will not let you down! 

For my own pleasure I am also working on my embroidery and my second book for September. It's a rough job, but someone has to do it! Got a tour of the Mission San Juan Capistrano yesterday. The history was amazing but when I looked back on my pictures it was mostly the plants. The plants here are beautiful! Back to reality tomorrow, Southern California, you were great! 

Also the conference photos were so fun! 

Table for Seven

 Fun exciting things are coming for the crew. One being adding some placemats to a bigger table to accommodate all of us in October. Jeff and his three kiddos will be joining the craziness and we are going from a family of three (sometimes four when Grandma was in town) to a family of seven! The technical terms for 5 kids are; gaggle, pack, herd or bunch. Since Jeff and I both have co-parents they are rarely all there at the same time, but when they are...you know it! 

I haven't lived with another adult for seven years, so if you could keep Jeff in your thoughts that would be great. LOL First compromise, he is not using any of my closet, at all...so I think this thing has legs. <3 

Anywho, just in case you were wondering who the new faces were in my posts. Now, please admire the EIGHT placemats I made for our bigger table. 

August Goal Check In

 Ended the month strong on the goal front. But man did August fly by. We are back in the swing of things with school and both of the boys are doing really well! Daryl is taking his "no bedtime" rule very seriously. As long as he has A's and B's he is responsible enough to go to bed when he wants. The minute he has a C or lower, bedtime is back. He must like keeping his own schedule, because he is doing homework at home! He is also getting things turned in on time, so he doesn't lose points. He is a whole different kid this year. 

Alex is also enjoying seventh grade and his more challenging classes this year. So far so good this school year! 

Read 18 Books 16/18 

I added two more books to the goal this month. Only two more to reach my yearly goal! And I have one from the library locked and loaded for September! 

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden was a library book, and it was really good. It was unpredictable and I appreciate that in a fiction thriller. It also featured strong female characters, and I like that too! I would recommend! Not sure if I will pick up the sequel, I think the ending was perfect and I don't want to ruin it!! 

Wow, no thank you by Samantha Irby was a collection of short stories from the authors life. I thought I would love it because David Sedaris does the same thing, and he is one of my favorite authors. It was ok, probably not a keeper. Maybe I'm just too old for the humor. 

Run 600 Miles 426/600

I focused on my monthly miles from day 1, and man did it make a difference. My monthly goal was 58 and I ended up with 61! Next race is a half marathon in October in Manhattan. To keep things even, I have a half in Lawrence in November. LOL 

Monthly Healthy Habit Eat More Protein  

I started the month strong with this. My snack was Greek yogurt or cottage cheese every day. I made it about half the month when I got busy and was eating like my old self again. Maybe less sugar will be my habit next month. 

2024 Money Goals:   

• Replace Garage Door Replace Windows Done August 
• Down payment on New Car (Done July) 
• Pay Mortg. Principle down 4K Between windows and a hefty down payment on my new car I didn't make a principal payment in August. This year has been a little pricey, I've only paid down my Mort. principle by $1,679 so far this year. Not sure if I will get to 4,000 but I'm going to keep at it. 
• Hit my Savings Goals for the year Did make a small savings deposit. I'm $1,984 away from where I want to be at the end of the year. That is going to happen. 

Daryl isn't driving to school yet but the
Forrester is ready!

This long weekend I am working on some new placemats for the table.