Saturday, January 23, 2010

Running for Life





I am learning that it is important for me to have short term goals for myself in order to stay motivated. D has a reading list for himself for the year and he has inspired me to create one for myself as well. In the area of fitness I find that running races helps me to stay motivated and on the fitness path. So far, I have only run 5K races, but I am gearing up for a 10K and hopefully a half marathon. Today was a 5K sponsored by the Greenville News, Run Dowtown 5K Road Race. It was alot of fun to run with a fellow former expat from Clermont and try to keep up with her. She has already run a half marathon, so I tried to keep up with her until the hill towards the end of the race really caused me to slow down. The results of the race are posted here. It is such a great feeling to have accomplished even this small thing- running in a race and having finished with a time 5 minutes faster than I had in the first 5K that I ran back in France! You may remember this picture from a post of mine in June of 2006.



D is currently visiting with these, some of our very dearest friends in France. "Dig" was the one who inspired me and helped me to understand that short term goals and running really do help me to cope with life better- mentally, physically, and emotionally. I am looking forward to seeing her this summer when she visits the States. D is currently visiting (and working) in France and having dinner with these dear friends of ours. I am terribly jealous, but thankful that I will get to have him back home soon and to see my friend soon as well. Hopefully we'll find a half marathon to do together this summer. Or should we make it a marathon, Dig?

Thanks to D for inspiring me to read with a goal in mind, to Dig for inspiring me to run with a goal in mind, and to Granny and Poppy for making it possible for me to run today! Merci beaucoup!!!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Date Night

It was kind of hard to figure out how to incorporate date night into life in France, but now that we are back with family close by, and the girls are old enough to spend the night with their grandparents, I am loving this new found freedom to go out with my husband alone!


Off to Granny and Poppy's house... with their snazzy new Hello Kitty suitcases.



D's choice- a Persian restaurant in downtown Greenville.


We were seated on the heated patio next to a water wall/ fountain. I enjoyed my first taste of Persian cuisine. We had hummus and pita bread for starters followed by our main course of chicken stew for me, and a decadent slice of chocolate cake for dessert!

Thanks Granny and Poppy!

Thursday, January 07, 2010

A Year of Firsts

2009 was a year of many firsts for us. Here's some of the firsts in pictures from our first year back in the States.