the newest member of our family

This is Abby, our new puppy! Shes a Blue Tick hound dog and we love her! we thought we were ready for a big step like a dog, and so far so good!

running shoes...

So when I bought my brooks a while ago, the shoe salesman told me they are good for about 300 miles, and then I'll need to replace them. At the store they were $90, but I found them online for $60 and they pricematched:) About 100 miles into them, I started having hip flexor pain, it was so uncomfortable it would actually wake me up in the middle of the night. I thought that was weird,I didn't get it checked out, but at the time I was running on the cross country team at my college (don't think im some ultra runner, I was prob the slowest one there, it was just fun and the races were free;) anyway they gave me a couple extra stretches to do, and I considered buying new shoes, but I just stuck it out. It only lasted about 2-3 months and then I was back to normal again. A few months went buy and I was approaching my "300 mile" marker for my shoes. It was in the back of my mind to go buy new ones, but that was right around the time we were getting married, so I was extra conservative. Long story short- I never went to get new shoes and its been amlost 2 years. My shoes feel fine, as do my ankles and knees. Before I got prego, I had gotten my times down to the fastest they have ever been- basically my old running shoes were not hindering me in the least. I also have heard of all these recent studies on the negative effects of shoes...
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/07/barefoot/
anyway, im not buying new running shoes. Mine are so worn in they feel perfect. Maybe running shoes are a waste of money?? Just a thought.

ahhh, oregon....

Portland, OR. It is very beautiful, clean and friendly. I would love to live there someday! ya, so it rains a lot (70% of the time we were there) and its overcast all the time, but I loved it. very cool. our last trip before the baby comes!




Jogging in Astoria, OR. Once again, AZ running will never be the same.

We were walking around Seaside, OR and Gene had to take a pic of me...well to explain...I in oregon, your jeans are ALWAYS wet from your feet to your shins at least, your shoes are soaked, everyones hair is a mess (no one does their hair in Oregon, its pointless, 3 minutes after you walk outside its ruined, even if its not raining) oh and I actually got fun of for carrying an umbrella! Anyway, i was sick of feeling wet jeans around my ankles- so i rolled them up and put on flipflops. Everyone in OR is very unique and dress pretty crazy anyway so i didnt stand out;)



A random trailhead off the highway. Hiking in AZ will never be the same...





Multanomah Falls...



Life is wasted on the living.
- Douglas Adams

yay for craigslist!

 

We found this on craigslist for $50...it might be hard to see, but its an awesome little Thomas the Train town! Dylan LOVES it, well that might be an understatement- he is obsessed with it is more like it! These new are probably around $300~we love good buys!

the latest...

 

going on 7 months now...ah! its so close!!! ;)still dont know what it is...

our baby!!

We still cannot decide on a name!! it changes every week! thats ok tho, we have a little time. We still didn't find out what were having! I think he has Gene's nose and Gene thinks she doesn't! :)





I dreamed a thousand new paths. I woke and walked my old one.
-Chinese Proverb

ready for swimin mom!

 

Trip to ShowLow

We really don't go camping as often as this seems!! We went to drop my nephew off at his home in ShowLow so we figured we would just camp there instead of get a room (were trying to save up for Oregon:) we just stayed one night, it was really pretty camping on the lake too. And of course we had to stop by DQ!!




This was our site we stayed on



"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors.
Try to be better than yourself."
-William Faulkner

OR and WA!

Depart: PHOENIX AZ to PORTLAND OR ( Travel Time: 2 hrs 45 min)
Depart PHOENIX AZ (PHX) at 9:45 AM
Arrive in PORTLAND OR (PDX) at 12:30 PM
Return: PORTLAND OR to PHOENIX AZ ( Travel Time: 2 hrs 35 mins )
Depart PORTLAND OR (PDX) at 12:25 PM
Arrive in PHOENIX AZ (PHX) at 3:00 PM

YAY! its official! were going to Oregon and Washington in September:)

About inspiration:
"Stung by the splendor of a sudden thought."
-Robert Browning

Flagstaff in July

hanging out down town flag This is my favorite picture of the trip...any any mom who has ever had a little boy will know why- how darling it is watching his fascination with the train passing by. Little boys are so sweet and simple. we were right by a medow. It was so pretty and the weather was perfect! Dylan and his cousin Aden came along. (dont worry, its just a BB gun and he wasn't pointing it at anyone!)

"Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment."
Rita Mae Brown

Gene and Makenna go camping...(May)

Grant, Gene's brother, brought us home a hammock from his mission:) Gene had this wonderful idea of going camping and us just sleeping in the hammock...well we get to our site to find out that were not aloud to place screws in the tress to hang the hammock... so we find some rope and rig it...kinda scary!



needless to say, we slept in the car.


Man makes fire...


We went on a hike and I slipped and went in the river. I was pretty grumpy bc my shoe got soaked and its not so fun hiking in the dirt with a wet shoe:\ thanks for taking a pic of that Gene! your such a charmer!


I dried off and felt much better and then we were off. This trail was about 1 mile from where we camped- and absolutely beautiful! I think its called oak creek canyon trail in Sedona. It was amazing. I think its rated the best hike in AZ.





We only stayed one night in Sedona, but it was well worth the trip. I was super nauseous bc of the baby but this was definitely what the 3 of us needed!

"Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved."
Victor Hugo, Les Miserables, 1862