Picture day

Even staff has Picture Day :)

Silver Falls

Brad's been on some awesome (in the true sense of the word) adventures this summer. I've had lots of fun, but running 20 miles around town isn't as awe-inspiring as climbing in the North Cascades. 

I've been craving some outdoor adventure of my own, so we explored Silver Falls State Park Sunday with Sean and Sarah. It's no North Cascades, but it was a nice hike on a beautiful fallish day.

We parked at the North Falls and then headed clockwise.

I'm so happy to be in the woods:

Farting around with the GPS:

The lovely Sarah (Can you spot the tiny Sean in the background??):

Brad decided to leave the map in the car, and the signs were a little less than helpful. We got lost a couple times and had to backtrack, but Sean saved the day by keeping us going the right way :)

Creepy Brad and Sean:

With all our backtracking, it ended up being about 8.5 miles. Then we celebrated with Mexican food in Silverton. Urp :)

A wonderful little adventure with good friends :)

Quickie

It was a gorgeous fall day here in the Portland area! Absolutely perfect.

Sunrise:

I took a long nap after work, then forced myself up and out for a rare afternoon run. It's been so dang hot around here, but today was lovely.

We had a dinner date with Dad, Eryn, Grandpa, Uncle John and Aunt Nancy, so I had to squeeze in my workout. Speedy! 3.02 miles at an 8:43 average:

Tried out my brand-new sunglasses. They worked pretty good but bounced when I put my head down. I guess they'll work:

Happy fall!!!!! :)

Dilly beans!

Yesterday was canning day at my house! 

Sarah is addicted to all things pickled and convinced me join her in making dilly beans (which I also adore!)

First we picked some beans at Ma's house (thanks, Ma!) Then hit Bi-Mart and Winco for supplies. Then we created these beauties:

and these...

Twenty-nine pints and six 1.5 pints! And we only stopped when we ran out of beans. More to come :)

We borrowed Ma's canning kettle and had quite an assembly line going with two kettles and a stock pot. And Brad fixed us veggie burgers to keep up the stamina. Oh, and the caramels helped, too!

Now I can't wait to do apple and pear butters!!!!

:)

No. 41

This is one of the books read by English classes at THS, and I finally got around to reading it. WOW.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. Even though the plot is totally too sad and bizarre to be believable, it's actually an autobiography. The abuse and neglect of this girl is heartbreaking. And the mandatory reporter in me was uncomfortable the entire time.

What a powerful story. Read it.

:)

Backward 11

Someone in my running forum recently told of doing her normal route backward. The idea stuck in my mind, and Brad and I decided to give it a try this morning.

It was actually a bit challenging. I had to think much more than usual - no autopilot. And small downhill sections that I never noticed became uphill sections that I really noticed ;) 

I ended up doing 11.28 miles at a 10:43 average:

Brad left home a bit after me and then ran much faster. He caught me when I was just 1.5 miles from home. Then he whizzed past. Fun to see him out there :)

Just a couple weeks until my race!

Morning miles with my Honey

Brad needed a short, slow run this morning, so he joined me for some pre-dawn miles. The clouds kept the sun - and heat - away a little longer.

We did a nice 3-mile loop:

I love clouds!!

Happy weekend, friends :)