Bailey & Sydney Go For A Walk

Bailey and Sydney are my parents new beloved little furry companions. You see about 10 months ago, we had to say goodbye to "Annie the Wonder Dog" ... aka Annie and the Rocket Dog. Annie, over came several illnesses throughout her life that would have broken the spirit of most dogs, but not "the wonder dog". She had an unrelenting drive...for food, walks and attention, even up to almost the very end. So, it was really hard to say goodbye, but solace comes with tears, time and knowing she had it pretty good...actually, probably couldn't have had it any better. Here's the cutie:

"Annie the Wonder Dog"

Sigh....well, they say the best thing to do to help the pain, is to go looking for other furry little friends, who need you just as much as the ones before them. So after roughly 4 months, I think my Mom caved in, and found Bailey, and then it wasn't long before Sydney came along, which in my opinion looks like a mini Annie.

Puppies are always a challenge. Bailey and Sydney are testing the definition of challenge!

But they are cute, and the Junebug seems to like them too. Sydney is providing payback for all the relentless puppy moments in Juno's not so distant youth.

And this week, marks Bailey and Sydney's first sleepover/vacation, while the parents took a much needed vacation...however, I'm not sure if the parent's vacation is much needed from work and the everyday stresses of life, or rather from these little puff balls. And with that said, Bailey and Sydney definitely don't allow for any dull moments.

And today was no different. Bailey and Sydney went for their first walk....was it success or failure?

Scroll to find out......

Juno is thinking yes, we are going for a walk

(she loves them; walks that is)

If I could guess, Bailey is thinking, I'm not so sure about this....

Sydney (the black streak in the bottom left corner)

is trying to go the other way.

Out the door we go, and curiosity ensues.....

(Just to clarify, now that they are visible,

Bailey is the brown one, and Sydney is solid black)

 Bailey seems to be happy!

And we are walking!!!!

And if you could see Sydney in action,

this is the equivalent of success.

Most of the time she is just a blur in photos

because she's bouncing and charging around

like a "mini rocket dog"...a little uncanny if you ask me 

So, the official results...success it was. Not with out a few tangles along the way, because of course Juno came with us, and that made it all the more fun. But, we did make it around the block. And when you are 10 pounds, that is a long way.

Mom & Dad...if you're reading this, you have a new evening activity waiting for you upon your return! 

-Mo

Change

If there's anything I've learned in the past 6 months, it is this...Change is inevitable. Change is good. Change is hard. It is scary, and it is sometimes a necessity. But with change, comes new adventures.

In the last two months, I decided to limit my blogging to focus on a little soul searching. And among all the things I needed to weigh, I needed first to decide whether I would let the fear of change paralyze me from taking action, or if I would put my big girl shoes on and walk straight into embracing change.

Well, I put the big girl shoes on, not without struggle, or a lot of support, and went forth. And guess what...change was going to happen whether I wanted to welcome it or not, but it is much better when you do, because you can have some say in that change.

You might ask what's all the fuss about. Well, I decided to change jobs. I know people do this everyday. But I had spent almost one-third of my life with this company and the people (often spending more time with them, than my own family). So, the people factor made it really hard. But the personal and professional part really needed the change.

So as I said before, with change, comes new adventures. I set the chain of events in motion for my own change, and found out, this chica is ready! So, here's to new adventures. New job starts next week!

And thank you Vladi, Dad, Mom, for dealing with me and for supporting me. Love you guys.

The "run" down

So this week was a good week for running with my new shoes! At least that's what I'm saying made the difference.

3rd Run. Tuesday, August 16th was successful! I made it all the way...full 3.1 miles. My goal was to just go the 5k path we've mapped out around our neighborhood and make it up the first big hill in the last mile. But, at 65 degrees F and low humidity (plus new running shoes), a little extra endurance seemed to be on my side. All in just 35 minutes. I was happy.

4th Run. Thursday, August 18th...can I say this?...Damn, I hate humidity. It was low 70's with a lot more humidity, and I was sweating like I just took a shower. I did make it all 3.1 miles again (yay!), but it was harder this morning. And, I really hate that last mile. Here's how it goes....first mile (for me anyways) always sucks. Just hate it. Going into the second mile, I start to feel good. That last third with 3 intense hills...h-a-t-e...i-t!!! Time. 40 minutes today. But, I felt good when it was over. (Of course!) No, but really, it feels like I accomplish something before the day gets going and that is rewarding.

Tomorrow...leg workout, and then off to Vegas baby! Something tells me working out in Sin City is going to be hard. But I will try to be good ;-) ...technically, I still need to get one more run in this week.

5k Race: 23 days and counting.

Trials and Tribulations: 5k here I come

So, we started running and working-out upon returning from our vacation in Serbia, as we ate way too much! I will come back to this in future posts.

And our neighbor put a little bug in our ears last weekend...you should run a 5k. And what do you know? There is one coming up September 10th that is supposed to be downhill; at least that's how it's being marketed. I will let you know. I have suspicions that it's not as easy as it sounds, since the guy told me today when I was buying new shoes that it actually is up and down. Oh boy!

We did sign up...and I think it's a good goal and motivator to keep running and push myself a little more every time; because, I sure don't want to be the last one coming across the finish line. (Shh...honestly, that's my worst fear. But, if that does happen, it won't be the end of the world.)

So, the goal is to run at least 3 times a week, on a 5k path, and push myself a little farther each time.

Tuesday, August 9th. First Run equalled disaster. I tried to keep up with my husband, and I was tired less than a half mile in. Not the right pace for me. I slowed down to find my pace but I was pretty much off for the rest of the run. I think I did a 2.8 mile path that evening. Definitely not running the whole time.

Thursday, August 11th. Second run was a much needed improvement. Mainly for my morale, since Tuesday's run was so bad. Also, this was at 6:30am in the morning, and the weather was much more pleasant. Still humid though. I think I like running in the mornings better anyway...it's quiet and its all my time. No one else interupting my thoughts. However, my body disagrees when the alarm goes off. Anyway, this time, I was able to make 2.33 miles running at my pace, which might be slow, but I don't care; I'm just proud of myself for making it that far. Two weeks ago, I couldn't run that far.

So technically, I only ran twice this week. But we are interchanging our runs with this crazy thing called P90X for strength. (I don't like this program...it's evil!) Hence, why we didn't run today, Saturday, Augst 13th...because I can barely move my legs and butt after yesterday's workout.

I did by new shoes today, so I kind of ran (maybe for 4 minutes total). They have a treadmill at this store...Big Peach Running Co., so you can actually test out the different shoes. I definitely recommend. But yikes, there is no discount on these shoes! I guess a few less dollars is better than achy, or achier feet and legs.

So here I go...5k ready or not.