Sorry Katie

I had a question from one of our readers of this fine blog, asking where my next race is.  The half-marathon that I will be running in a few weeks is here in Chicago.  It is a new half-marathon called 13.1 Marathon Chicago.  It is located near the Museum of Science and Industry on the south side of downtown.  It runs along the lake shore and through Jackson Park, home of the 1893 World Columbian Exposition. 

Second Race

Tonya and I finished our second race of the season yesterday, and it was a wet one.  Tonya ran in the River Bank Run 5k in Grand Rapids and says she enjoyed it.  She would have liked it more if didn't rain, but the rain at least held off until after she finished.  She finished the race in 32 minutes flat, but wasn't really happy with her time, Tonya didn't really like the hills either.  There weren't many, but training in Chicago, we never really have to run up hills so they got to her enough to slow her down a bit. 

I ran the River Bank Run 25k and finished in 2:31:04.  My goal was to finish in 2 and a half hours, so I am pretty happy with finishing within a minute of my goal.  One thing I didn't realize about the Grand Rapids area was the amount of hills there are just west of downtown.  Not being used to the hills really tired my legs out, but I never stopped to walk and made it the entire way.  The other thing that made this run tough was the weather.  While I was lined up in the starting corral it started to rain pretty hard and I was soaked before I even began to run.  Once we started it continued to rain for about another 30 minutes, so I sloshed my way through the first 3 miles and never really got dried out until Saturday night.  I am sure though I will give this race another try next year.  

On a side note to the race day, my friend Kevin and his family made the hour drive from their home to come and cheer Tonya and I on in our races.  It was a lot of fun having them there and after the race we went out for pizza with so we could catch up.

Now I have a half marathon coming up on the second weekend of June, so I don't really have much down time to try and relax.  I am hoping for nicer weather than I had for the 25k, but you never know what the weather will be like when living in the midwest. 

First Race

Tonya and I just finished our first race of the year.  We ran the Ravenswood 5k, which was very convenient because it starts and finishes right outside our apartment building.  It was a cold morning, but luckily the storm held off until after we finished.  Tonya finished roughly in 31 minutes and I finished at 24:19 unofficially.  We both really enjoy the atmosphere of race mornings and were looking forward to running this race.  I will try to see if I can find any photos of the race to post so you can see our neighborhood and the race itself.

Hey Friends

Well, it's been a long time since our last installment and still not much has happened.  I did sign up for another half-marathon this spring bringing my total count for runs I am doing to 4.  It's an inaugural half-marathon in Chicago.  This isn't exciting news, but I am just trying to get some filler to make this blog look better.  

Tonya and I enjoyed part of Tonya's spring break visiting Grandma Harbottle, Aunt Janet, and Uncle Dick down in Louisville.  While we were there we went to the Makers Mark distillery to see how their bourbon was made.  It is a pretty cool process to see in action.  Other than that we mostly just enjoyed catching up with what was going on in Louisville.  

Tonya is looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow, but is really looking forward to summer vacation that is in 9 weeks.

Sorry, that is all for now, but I am hoping that we will start to get a more interesting life to write about for you all to read about and enjoy.

We're Still Alive

It's been awhile, and I apologize.  We haven't been really busy, just lazy, but we are getting ready for a busy spring.  Tonya and I both have signed up for 4 runs this summer.  We signed up for a 5k run in April that is in our neighborhood, the 5/3rd RiverBank 25k in Grand Rapids, Mi., the Rock n Roll half marathon in Chicago in August, and the Chicago marathon in October.  It is going to be a run filled summer that both of us are not sure if we are ready for, but we are looking forward to it.  I am thinking this is going to give us a lot to write about and plenty of aches and pains to rub.  We are also hoping with all this running we will become fit and trim by the end of summer.

During my semester off I haven't stopped writing and have a couple stories almost ready to send out to see if I could get them published.  I actually just had a story printed in the school's newspaper this past week.  It was kind of exciting to have something published for the first time.

Tonya is still enjoying teaching 2nd grade, but regrets papier mache.  Sorry, but she isn't leading an exciting life at the moment and doesn't have much to expound on at this time, but wants everyone to know she enjoyed giving the dog a bath today. 

Happy New Year!

This was the first New Year's Eve in a long time that Jeremy and I were really excited about our NYE plans.  Last year we hung out with our friends Josh and Diane at their place.  It was a lot of fun but nothing really exciting.  This year I had talked to her about kickin' it again into the 2009.  Josh decided he wanted to go out for a "fancy" dinner.  He checked some places out and made a reservation at ZED451 downtown Chicago.  It sounded so good that our reservation ended up being for 14 people!  We met at Josh and Diane's around 7 and a shuttle from the restaurant came to pick us up.  The atmosphere was incredible.  We hadn't even tasted any of the food yet and Jeremy had already decided this was a place we wanted to return to.  Then we got to the business of eating dinner.  I can't even explain to you how amazing the food was.  I ate things I had tasted a thousand times before.  I tasted things I had tried before and ruled out as nasty.  EVERYTHING was amazing!  We started out buffet style.  There was a raw bar (which I did stay away from), a meat, cheese and bread bar, a dessert bar (I'll get back to that later), and so much more.  We sampled a few things and thought it was all really good.  Then we took the river stones out of the bowl and set them on the table.  This was the signal to the chefs that we were ready for MEAT.  The chefs come to your table with a tray or skewer of a particular meat.  The chefs were coming so fast I couldn't eat fast enough.  Everything was amazing!!!  Did I already say that?  Anyway, the only conversation around the table was about the food.  It was so amazing!  I didn't know food could even taste this good.  I'm not even a huge meat fan and I LOVED this place.  Jeremy ordered a second drink and that's when I thought to myself, the food is so good that I'm forgetting to drink my delicious drink.  I recommend the California Crush.  Finally, when we stuffed, I decided I couldn't leave without sampling everything on the dessert bar.  Now keep in mind, all of the desserts are bite-sized.  There were only two things on the dessert bar that I did not try.  That means I came back to the table with about 10-12 bites of dessert.  I can't even remember which ones were my favorite.  This was by far the most amazing dining experience we've ever had!  I say it again...IT WAS AMAZING!!!

After dinner, we piled back into the shuttle and went back to Josh and Diane's where we hung out for the rest of the night.  We talked, danced, and sang very badly.  Of course, at 11 pm I had to text all of my Michigan peeps a happy new year.  We had a little champagne toast at midnight and Jeremy and I decided to head home around 1:30 am.  Now we were going to take the L train home but with so many cabs and the cold weather, we hopped in a cab that would take us right to our own front door.  What can I say, I'm a little bit of a wimp and it was really cold.  Today, we're still talking about the amazing food at ZED451.  We can't wait to go back.  Anyone want to join us?

Happy New Year!  Hope everyone has a healthy, happy, and wonderful 2009!

Christmas Extravaganza

Five fun whirlwind days and its over...just like that!  Where do I even begin!?!  On the morning of Christmas Eve we packed up the Vibe with suitcases, presents, and one cute dog and headed toward the big mitten.  With much concern over the weather, it ended up being an oh-ke-doke ride.  Once we got to America's high-five, we headed over to Kate's for a little gift exchange.  It was of course more exciting to see her and her cutie little husband.  Baby Sluiter is coming along just nicely and we are excited for his/her arrival.  Man, I'll be glad when we know that thing's gender.  Oh, by the way...I forgot my camera so its like this Christmas never really happened.  Later that night, we had a gift extravaganza at my parents' house.  It was great fun!  I got lots of cute clothes, jewelry, a super cute wristlet and of coursed, the Sex and the City movie.  Jeremy got his much anticipated Wii with lots of games and controllers and what not.  On Christmas day we had a little party with my grandma and crazy extended family.  It was fun to see everyone and answer funny questions about living in Chicago.  These people sure don't get out of the mitten much.  Its always great to see my granny.  Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a fist full of cash from your grandma.  Thanks granny!!!    The day after Christmas, we repacked the Vibe and headed for Jeremy's family.  We made it to his bother's house around noon and by 3:30, we were off to see Jeremy's grandparents and extended family.  It was crazy in the small space of grandma and grandpa's living room with all of the grandkids....none of which belong to me....thank GOD!!!  The kids LOVED all of their presents and again, nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a fist full of cash from the grandparents.  What is it with grandparents?  Do they have an aversion to shopping or shopping centers?  Not that I'm complaining.  Not only do I get something new and fun.  I have received the gift of shopping!  Turns out, its my perfect size!  We stayed with Jeremy's bother and his wife and kids until Sunday.  Jeremy's parents were also there so it was a full house.  After much eating and visiting, Jeremy and I packed up the Vibe one final time and headed back to the Windy City.  Zoey (the dog) was happy to be home and Anastasia (the cat) was happy to see us.  We've unpacked, done the laundry, ordered pizza, and we're already guitar hero rock stars.  Here's to relaxing after all of the craziness of the holidays.  Now we're looking forward to New Year's Eve with friends.  Hope everyone has a great 2009!