Double run

I went on two runs this afternoon - both cold and rainy :(

Today's Girls on the Run practice 5K was my first official duty as a running buddy! I knew it would be a slower run, so I went out right after work to put in a few faster miles.

I ran 3:03 miles near the school - 9:18-minute pace.

Then I changed into dry clothes and drove to Gabriel Park in Southwest Portland to get my GOTR shirt and meet with my little runner, 3rd grader Betsy. (Thanks for the pics, Aunt Kari!)

Cousin Jessica and her running buddy:

Nearly 500 girls and women ran three laps around the park to the cheers of families and volunteers. It was such a great, positive atmosphere - I wish people always cheered me on while I run!!



Betsy did great, running and walking for 43:42 minutes! We're both excited to do the Starlight run in June :)

Pomp

We keep cranking them out...
Happy Graduation, Ashley and Cassandra!!!!!!!!! :)

Celebrating with food

We celebrated the resurrection of our savior the best way we know how: with food!

First was church at Newberg Friends. It was a great service, including spontaneous applause, which is unusual for our Quaker meeting :)

Then we headed to cousins Mike and AJ's house in McMinnville. But first, we had to find Cadbury Creme Eggs to calm Brad's intense craving. Luckily Safeway had a buy-2-get-2 sale!

As always, Mike and AJ were perfect hosts, offering an amazing meal - and an Easter egg hunt!
Mike and Grandma Barb:
Steve, Donna & Brad:
How did I not get a photo of AJ?????? Because she was in the kitchen, I guess :(
We brought dessert, a coconut custard pie. SO good!
We sat by a big window and watched the Easter storms pass: sun, pouring rain, sun, sideways rain, sun, sunny rain. It was lovely.

Thank you, Jesus, for dying on the cross and rising three days later so we could have this awesome family meal ... oh, and to secure my eternal salvation ;) Amen.

What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you'll have it all—life healed and whole.

I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.

You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don't see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you'll get what you're looking forward to: total salvation. (1 Peter 1:3-9 The Message)

No-TV Tuesday: speed work

A meeting brought me to work early this morning, so I got to leave a bit early - woohoo! I hit Bi-Mart and then WinCo and headed home to start dinner.

While the potatoes steamed, I planned to do a short speed workout. But when I stepped outside and fired up my Garmin, the battery was dead.

Change of plans.

I threw it on the charger and finished making dinner. We ate and then watched "The Next Three Days" on Netflix while our breakfast burritos settled (YUM!). I was a good caper-type of movie.


I don't normally run in the evenings. Once I eat dinner and sit down, it's all over... no getting up. But I had no choice - I'm training, you know :)

I left just as the sun was setting - it was perfect.

This was my second interval workout:

11-minute warmup @ 9:54-minute miles
2 minutes @ 7:49-minute miles
2 minutes @ 10:51-minute miles
2 minutes @ 7:41
2 minutes @ 10:53
2 minutes @ 7:47
2 minutes @ 11:01
2 minutes @ 7:46
2 minutes @ 10:58
9 minutes @ 9:34

3.87 miles in 36:31 minutes.

It felt great :) Happy No-TV Tuesday!

Prayers for my student

Did you hear about the horrible car crash in Aurora on Easter? An 85-year-old Tigard woman died. Same last name as one of my students.

I asked Tanner in class today if she was related, and he said it's his grandma - his legal guardian. He was supposed to have been with her in the car. Sounds like he's on his own now, at least for a while.

He proudly showed me the huge tattoo he got yesterday on his forearm in honor of Grandma.

Tanner is working very hard to graduate, and now to have all this pain and this new obstacle ...

Please join me in praying for Tanner.

Before the rains returned

For a couple glorious days, it was actually nice in Portland! Before the rains returned, I walked to work last week and passed some beautiful blooms. What a great way to start my day!
:)

Biking for Vitamin D

It finally hit 70 degrees in Portland yesterday... so it was time to get out!!!

The first half of the day was spent gardening. It was SOOO nice to be out when it wasn't cold and wet. Brad and I got tons done.

Then we decided to stretch our legs with an easy bike ride. First stop - Tigard Library to return and check out books: Look - a shadow!! Then to the bank to deposit a check: Nearby Parsons Farms stand had beautiful tulips and daffodils. I wished I had a jar so I could take some home. We stopped by a couple garage sales but nothing caught our eyes. Then through Cook, Durham and Tualatin parks to Staples: Because Brad had a coupon for a free ream of paper! Had to hit REI to see if we needed to buy anything with our friends-and-family coupon. Thankfully, we came away empty handed. But we still had a buy-one-get-one coupon for Qdoba... so burritos for dinner! Grilled veggie for me: We sat outside - almost like summer or something: And because the weather's supposed to return to cold rain very soon, we hung out for a while and enjoyed the warm sun. Several hours and 15 miles later, we returned home with full bellies and a healthy dose of Vitamin D.

How did YOU spend the sunny Saturday??

:)

No. 11

OK, I got done with the dragon tattoo book (which everyone loved and I hated) and grabbed "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" off my shelf, hoping for something better. I flew through it in two days - a very quick read. I'd heard great things about it, and this time I agree :)

It's a novel written from the perspective of an autistic teenage boy, offering great insight into how his mind works. I enjoyed it and would recommend it. :)

Help me choose the winning picture!

I snapped some photos of Linus this morning for the upcoming pet photography contest at work.

Help me choose which photo to submit by voting for your favorite using the sidebar on the right. :)

-Brad

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

Maybe I'll get tan...

I skipped work today so I could attend the funeral for a family friend who died of cancer at age 67.

Ed and Fern helped with our (Disney-themed) wedding reception. And they frequently sent us "Wish you were here" postcards from Disneyland. So in his honor, Brad wore a Mickey tie and I donned one of my fanciest Mickey shirts. I think Ed would have like that a lot.

It was a great service, with wonderful memories from his daughter, Natalie, who is my age. I also got to catch up with a friend I hadn't really seen since high school.

But before the service, I took advantage of my morning at home and went for a run in the warm sun!

I moved a bit faster, averaging about 9:48-minute miles until the last half-mile or so. Then I sprinted down the hill and finished 4.6 miles at a 9:35-minute average.


It felt great to get out in some nice weather for a change and move my legs! Maybe I'll even get tan one of these days ... yeah, probably not ;)

No. 10

Just finished book No. 10 - that's 10 in 16 weeks, not too shabby!

I'd not heard of this one until Sue loaned it to me. But apparently it's really popular. Many people who saw me with it commented on how they loved it. Cool. But I honestly didn't like it.

It's almost 600 pages, and about the first 300 are devoted to background and character introduction with little forward movement.

I knew it was a mystery, but it took forever to get to it. I would not call this a compelling read - no page-turner here. The story picked up in the middle but then totally fizzled. And I hated the ending.

Hmmm. I guess we all have our own tastes :)