No AM group run today.

The group I have been meeting with for a couple of weeks decided we would run Monday and Wednesday this week. We normally run on Tuesday and Thursday, but with Thursday being Thanksgiving - we just adjusted.

There was a discussion on our FB group page about running this morning. It seemed like a few girls were on board. When my alarm went off at 5 this morning I promptly checked the FB page because that last thing I wanted to do was show up and have no one there. One girl posted last night that she wouldn't be there this morning because she thinks her hip flexor is jacked (bummer). Another girl's husband is out of town and she has a daughter who she, obviously, can't leave in the morning to run. I knew that another girl was sick yesterday, but she intended to run today. I ended up texting one of the girls because I had a bad feeling that I would be the only one to show up. I'm glad I did because, sure enough, I would have been there by myself. I snuggled back into bed and went back to sleep for a few hours.

So it sucks about not getting a run in this morning, but I think I am going to do some speed work/intervals on the treadmill at the gym tonight. Tomorrow morning or after work I am going to do some cross training at the gym. Wednesday morning we are hopefully still meeting so I can get some easy miles in before the Turkey Trax 5k on Thanksgiving morning.

I did get in a little less than 4.5 miles on Saturday before we started tailgating for the Mizzou game. My 5am wake up call seems to be getting easier and easier each time. I went to the normal spot that I meet our group, but decided it was too dark and uncomfortable to run there by myself. So I drove across town to campus where I knew it would be better lit and more traffic. I just took off and really didn't have a route or a plan in place. I basically just ran until I was running out of time to meet to shower and meet our tailgating friends. It felt pretty good and I ran about a 9:20 pace.

That 5am start to my day really kicked me in the ass about 6 that evening. I was done. A full day of tailgating and watching the football game.did me in. Justin and I grabbed some Thai take out and vegged out the rest of the night. We were in bed by 9:30.

And I will leave you with some tailgating pics. :)

Justin and I showing off our "black out" outfits for the day.
I told him he looked like a cheerleader so we posed accordingly. :)

Justin with his bestfriend's sister who is, obviously, much taller than him.

MIL, Justin, and Me outside of the stadium

Family friends.

Accountability

I am happy to report that my 5:30am wake up call followed by a run was successful last Saturday. I may or may not have hit snooze a couple of times, but I did make it out the door by a little after 6. Not bad considering I was seriously doubting myself to even get out of bed that early.

Since I was getting started a little later than I would have liked - I knew that I was going to have to cut my mileage shorter than I had planned. I ended up running a little over 3 miles. Not a great distance, but at least I made it out there.

The first mile of my run was pretty darn dark. It was a new experience for me. My eyes and mind were playing tricks on me. I really wasn't a fan of it all. I will definitely be asking for a head lamp for Christmas...along with reflective gear. I pointed all of this out to Justin last weekend when we were at a sporting goods store. :)

I am also happy to report that Mizzou won their first game. It was a close one, but they pulled it out.

Justin and I made the trip to Tempe, AZ this past weekend to watch Mizzou play at Arizona State. We weren't quite so fortunate there. We lost in overtime. It was disappointing, but they rallied to come back in the 4th quarter so I don't think it was a complete loss.

I got up fairly early in Tempe to go for a run as well. Our hotel was very close to the campus so I did a few miles around their campus. I know people mention that Arizona is a dry heat....I'm sorry, but 90* is 90* regardless of the "type" of heat. It was only 7am at the point, mind you. I think it got up to 113* that day before a little bit of rain came through.

I don't have much more to report at this point. Mizzou is back at home this weekend and it's a 6pm game. We will probably start tailgating around noon so a morning run should not be that hard to manage. There is a Susan G Komen 5k this Sunday, but I haven't signed up just yet. I know Saturday will be a long night so a race the next day may not go so well. I will probably still do the race just because of the cause, but I don't anticipate good results.

A lot of the blogs I read post their weekly training plan and then follow up with how they did later in the week. I think this is something I may have to try out around here. I know there for a while this blog was a way to keep me accountable and I would feel guilty missing runs because I knew I would report back here that I missed them. So, I think if I post my weekly plan then I might stick to it more. At this point I am not training for anything in particular. I have a half in mind for the spring so I am loosely training for that, but it's still 6 months away so it's not a major deal right now.

I hope everyone is enjoying the break in the crazy hot temps (at least around here). If you are not, I'm sorry. I hope relief comes soon. I know my pace has dropped a few seconds with the temperature drop. I can only hope that continues...in a big way.

Later, y'all!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Football season has kicked off, my friends. NFL preseason started a couple of weeks ago. College football started last night. This is my favorite time of the year.

We are season ticket holders (along with the ILs) for Mizzou football. We have gotten our tailgating routines down to a science...almost. There seem to always be a couple of hiccups and speed bumps regardless of our intense planning.

Tailgating prep started last weekend. I completed the first couple steps of vodka infused gummy bears. So far - they are very yummy, but definitely very sweet. The tailgating totes were also busted out and organized. Apparently we left a bag of chips in one of the totes from last season. Oops. :) The coolers are being packed tonight and we may even pack up the truck bed since tomorrow's game is at 11am. Tailgating time is going to be limited so the more we do ahead of time the better.

I am very anxious to get this season started. Our starting QB from last year (Blaine Gabbert) decided not to return for his senior season and entered the NFL draft instead. Our new starting QB is James Franklin. He got some snaps last year and I think he is going to do just fine. It is, of course, a little nerve wracking when a new QB takes the reins.

I have grand plans to get up at 0530 to get in some sort of run tomorrow morning. Our tailgating begins at 8 so if I want to run - it has to be super early. I tend to be awful when it comes to getting up that early to run. We'll see if the butterflies in my tummy for Mizzou's home opener will get my rear out of bed to run tomorrow morning.

Happy football season to you. I hope you all have a great holiday weekend. Any big plans?? Races?? Tailgating?? Who will you be cheering for this football season??

Go Mizzou!!

ps
As I was finishing this post - an ESPN analyzer chose Missouri as his choice for the underrated team in the preseason rankings (they are currently at #21). I like to hear that.

Holy catch up!!

Five months without blogging. How did that happen?? Where does the time go?? I will do a fairly brief catch up post and then probably go into more detail on the individual things. Otherwise, this post might take hours to write and read.

Here we go....

-To start, I will say that we are still living with the inlaws.

-Justin and I are both still very happy to be back in Columbia. And we are both really liking our
new jobs.

-The month of May was fairly uneventful. We went to a lot of my little brother's baseball games. It's great being back and barely missing a game.

-June was a bit more eventful, I guess.
--We went to St. Louis for a weekend anniversary get-a-way. It was very nice (pics to come in a later post.
--I had an impromptu reuniting with some very close friends. Unfortunately, it was not
under good circumstances. One of my very bestfriend's mom lost her battle with cancer.
--We made a trip to Kansas City to watch the Cardinals and Royals play baseball. That was a
good time because it was a reuniting with friends under much better circumstances.
--We watched a ton of little league baseball in the month of June as well.

-July....
--We housesat for my mom for a week (EXCITING STUFF, PEOPLE! :)). As little of a detail
as that seems - it was great to stay a week away from the in-law's house. I am sure they
appreciated having their house to themselves for a week as well.
--I visited my pal Abbey and her family at the Lake of the Ozarks for the 4th of July. It's
always a lot of fun with Abbey and her fam. Good people.
--I began the south beach diet towards the end of July. I am still on it...and this will definitely
have its own dedicated post.

-The only big thing that happened in August was that I started on the evening shift and started
taking call at work. I miss being on days, but I have to work my way up the ladder.

-September was, of course, the beginning of football season. We also house and child sat for my
dad and stepmom a week in September. My little brother is 12 so it was kind of training for the
day we decide to have children...kind of.

That has brought us to now. That's where my time has gone in a nutshell.

I wonder if anyone has noticed my absence from blogging. I also wonder if anyone will notice that I am back to blogging. Leave a comment if you are reading this to let me know that/if someone is actually still interested.

Edit: UGH, I see blogger still sucks at formatting. Sorry for the wacky format here.

Oh happy day!!

I am in a bit of a funk today. I have been off work for a week now. It's been a great break, but in the back of my mind I know that I am not getting paid for this week (and the next half week I have off before starting on Monday). It takes some of the enjoyment out of it all. So that's my funk...





My funk has disappeared a bit when I logged in to find this joyful post from MrsTote. If you haven't already, check out her blog. She has some amazing recipes and is quite the domestic diva...I know she loves when I call her that. :)

Onto the joy that is this post...I was tagged by Katie at A tote's life (see link above). It's a fun, day brightening tag so here we go...





The rules:
_List 10 things that make you happy.
_Tag 10 bloggers and link back to the person who tagged you.


Ten things that make me happy:

1. Blog comments...hint! hint! :):)

2. Lazy days with Justin.

3. Snuggling with my puppy...especially on cold, winter mornings.

4. Hanging out with friends.

5. Tailgating.

6. Watching football.

7. Meeting fitness goals..whether it be keeping my calories in check for a day, meeting my goal for minutes of working out in a week, etc.

8. Sunshine...oh how I love sunshine.

9. Mexican dinner dates with Justin.

10. My family...all crazy sides of my family.


And I now tag....
MrsEyeCanSee at The Juice is Worth the Squeeze
Michelle at See Michelle Blog
Renee at A Taste of Life
Tiffany at Baby Fish
Shalay at Writefully Yours
Amanda at Amanda's Life Commentary

Amy at Newlywed News
Casey at You Call It Madness But We Call It Love
Allie at Simply Allie
Amy at Life in the Junction

**Sorry to anyone who has already been tagged. :)

Alive.

We are alive and well. It might be hard to believe since my blogging has been awful lately. It's just "that time of year." We are buuusy. I think we have spent a total of about 4 weekends at our house in KC over the past 6 months or so. Kind of crazy.

Lately we have been busy with football season. Season tickets at Mizzou (which is 2 hours from where we live now) makes for lots of time out of time, traveling, and just being tied up for an entire Saturday (love it!).

Now that (college) football season is coming to a close, the holiday season is upon us which of course means parties, family gatherings, shopping, and never-ending traveling.

I have also started the Couch to 5k running program. I usually go to the gym when I get off work at night (1030 pm) so I don't typically have time to blog after work. I will blog more about that training program later...I have quite the list to blog about actually. Many happenings over the last couple of months (football pics, my father-in-law's surprise 50th bday, etc.).

The great news that I have to share is that Justin got a job in Columbia (our hometown). We are VERY excited about this. In the very near future I will devote an entire post to this....it's very much deserving of its own post, I think. :) Needless to say, I am incredibly proud of Justin and I am so anxious to get the next chapter of our lives started in Columbia.

I hope some of my followers are still reading my blog when I finally do find the time to write. I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season. And season's greetings from the Foster's. :)

Darn it Mizzou!

I am a University of Missouri Tiger fan through and through. There is no doubt about that. My main focus is on football, but I keep up with the rest of it just because.

For those living under a rock for the last couple of months - it's football season. If you don't care, then this post will be of no interest to you. Buh-bye!

In all seriousness, I LOVE college football season. 9AM every Saturday, you will find me watching college Game Day on ESPN (unless it was this Saturday and I slept until 1040, oops). I love watching the polls, the upsets, undefeated stay undefeated, the Big 12 rock (sometimes), KU losing, Mizzou winning, and the list goes on and on.

When this season started, there were lots of questions among Mizzou fans as to how this season would go. Their first game was against Illinois and we thought many of those questions got some very positive answers. The next couple of games were decent. There were a few flaws, but no team is perfect...right? Yeah, we quickly found out that Mizzou is far from perfect this year.

Perfection was not a prediction by anyone, I am pretty sure. 4 quarters worth of effort from EVERYONE (coaches included) were expected. Unfortunately, in the last couple of games (happen to be losses as well) - effort was put forth for about 3 quarters. It was quite embarrassing actually.

They played Nebraska last week. It was a total defensive battle (think 9-0 at halftime). Mizzou was winning that battle. And then we watched them implode in approximately 3 minutes. It was pathetic. Players, fans, coaches, everyone - licked our wounds and continued on with our optimism.

Fast forward to yesterday. Mizzou traveled to Stillwater, OK to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys. And again, everyone was hopeful that the previous loss would light a fire under the team's ass and we would come out on top. That was actually the case in the first half. They played very well and hung with OSU with many lead changes. It was a fun game to watch. Not so much in the 2nd half. The implosion happened once again.

Yeah, this would be the reaction you could expect to see when shit hits the fan for Mizzou.

Next week is homecoming and the Texas Longhorns come to town. Unfortunately, I am anticipating our 3rd loss in a row...which means 0-3 in conference play. I would love to be proved wrong, but with the performances in the last couple of weeks - I am not holding my breath.

Despite all of this, my loyalty holds strong. M-I-Z! Z-O-U! Fight Tigers!!

Any other college football fans out there? How is your team doing? What are your predictions for the rest of the season?

Pumpkin butterscotch cookies

Last week we went to the Mizzou v Nebraska football game. We brought a few friends so I thought I should contribute to the food of the tailgate. That and I saw this recipe and wanted to try it out.

Let me start by saying that I am NOT a baker. Typically when I attempt to bake, something goes wrong. I am happy to say that NOTHING went wrong this time. I am pretty happy about that.

These cookies went over quite nicely at the tailgate...until they got completely rained on. Apparently the container had standing water in it by the end of the night. They made for good hangover breakfast the next day for the fam anyway. :)

I didn't take any pics (remember, my iphone camera is broken??). Here is a pic from Heather's blog which is where I got the recipe in the first place.

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup applesauce (unsweetened)

1/4 cup canola or corn oil (I used all applesauce...so 3/4 cup applesauce)

1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips (I am sure I used more)

Directions:

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray the cookie sheets with cooking spray.

2. Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium, beat the eggs and sugar until smooth and light in color, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides as needed while mixing.

4. On low speed, mix the applesauce, oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended. Mix in the flour mixture to incorporate it. Mix in the chips.

5. Scoop approximately 1/4 cup of dough (using measuring cup or ice cream scoop) onto prepared cookie sheet, spacing the cookies approximately 2 1/2 inches apart.

6. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out dry, about 12-16 minutes. Cool them on a baking sheet for about 5 minutes , then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 30 cookies.

Enjoy!!

M-I-Z! Z-O-U!

College football started this week and I could not be more excited about that!

I love me some University of Missouri Tigers. I always have and always will. I have to admit that it has been nice being a Mizzou fan when they have been having success in the last few years, but I was a fan during the tough times also. My dad has been taking me to games for as long as I can remember. For all the Mizzou fans out there (anyone?), I can remember the first time that my dad let me and a friend sit on the hill by ourselves. We thought we were hot stuff! :)

Mizzou played in St. Louis Saturday again Illinois. Mizzou v. Illini in STL is a fairly recent tradition. They started doing that in 2002. Last I heard, next year could be the final year of the "contract." It's been nice having a pretty good game as the season opener. I would rather them be tested in the first game than play a rinky dink school and stomp all over them. Although, Mizzou sorta stomped all over Illinois on Saturday. Ha.

There were some great games this weekend on top of the Mizzou game. The Big 12 did well...Oklahoma and Colorado were the only two teams that lost. I am never too sad to see OU lose, but I am VERY sad to see that their QB (Sam Bradford) was injured. That makes me incredibly sad because he chose to stay at OU instead of going to the NFL.

I am just so excited that the season has begun. I could go on and on about it. I am sure there will be more posts as the season goes on. We have season tickets to Mizzou so we get to test those out for the first time this coming up weekend. I am super excited!! :) GO TIGERS!