Celebrating my birthday early with Jeff

So while Jeff was on det in Key West, they found out that they were going to go to El Centro a week after they were back. I guess it's not all bad though because I get to celebrate my birthday 2 times this year! I'm celebrating on my birthday in San Fran with the girls and Jeff decided to celebrate my birthday a little early with me on Sunday Feb 28th. First he woke up me up for breakfast in bed - pancakes and turkey bacon! Then we made our way to the foothills of the Sierra Mountains to Wonder Valley Ranch in Selma, CA. The ranch was so pretty! They use the ranch to host weddings and have a bed and breakfast. We went on a 2 hour trail ride with our horses, Katie and Velvet. Two of the riders came with us and so did an extra horse named Chili! The horses and cattle roam free in the community - it was very interesting! We were told that Chili normally comes with the other horses that we were riding on so I guess she didn't want to be left out! It was so cute and I wish I could have gotten a picture!

So after we left and got our legs back we stopped for lunch at Chipotle and made our way back home. We were so exhausted we actually took a 3 hour nap before getting ready for dinner. We dressed up and headed to Ruth Chris. I haven't been to Ruth's in years and have been wanting to go since we got here. They have the best steaks - the filet is a must! The bread and sides were good too and I got to pick out my birthday dessert on the house - creme brulee! Jeff even sang me Happy Birthday, it was too cute. It was a great day and I'm glad I got to spend some time with Jeff before he leaves today to go to El Centro to bounce for the boat. Can't wait to go to San Fran with the girls and get to see Jen and Kaylee! Oh and run my first 10k!

It's been a while, so let's catch up!

*Photos will be up later*

 

Paso Robles 5k - November 2009

While Jeff was on det in El Centro, I was still at home training for more 5ks. But I did find another couple who was interested in running the Paso Robles Wine Vine run with me - Leslie and Will Read! We met up with each other in Paso for a carb-load dinner at a very tasty Italian restaurant in Downtown Paso Robles. After we walked around the cute town square looking at all the stores, art shows, etc. It was so nice to be in such a quaint town. We got some rest and woke up bright and early the next day for our 5k. This morning for me was not the one I was hoping for. I woke up with this stabbing pain in my lungs and just couldn't shake it, but I told myself nothing was going to stop me from running the 5k and trying to reach my goal time of 34 min I had set after my last 5k. Well the race started and I definitely surprised myself by running a great first mile - 9:30 - the fastest mile I've ever ran! However, around the 1.5 mile there was a big hill which I've never liked, but I told myself I could run up it and I did.Now, to back track a little, when I signed up for the race, the description was mostly flat with one big hill. Which is why I attempted to run up this hill thinking it was the only one and boy was I wrong! As soon as I got to the top, I noticed another hill right in front of me -- ugh! So after that, my strategy became walk up the hills and run everything else. This worked for me and by the time I got to 2.25 miles the hills where behind me. So I get back into my stride and reach the 3mile mark - only .1 mile to go! I turn the corner to the finish line and what the heck -- a hill up to the finish!! I couldn't stop now so I just powered through it and crossed the finish line at 35:59 - not at all what I was aiming for but considering I was running with a stabbing pain in my side and all the hills, I was ok with it! Leslie and Will definitely did better than me - Leslie came in 3rd in our age bracket at her first 5k! 

* I later found out the stabbing pain in my lungs was viral pleura - an inflammation of your lung lining. I was out for about a week on meds till it went away.

Thanksgiving 2009

This year we didn't have enough time to make the trek home back to Texas for such a short holiday, so instead we invited 2 other couples, the Read's and Chapelle's, that also didn't go home for a Thanksgiving dinner at our place. It was only my second time I've busted out the good china and cloth napkins and I loved it! Before the day got started though, Jeff and I and the Reads ran a Turkey Trot 5k in Fresno (I was determined to reach my goal 5k time). The race was packed with people and although it had a few small hills it was a good race. However I don't even know what my time was and didn't cross the finish line running. The finish was packed with people. It was a good race and a good day to start Thanksgiving when you are going to pack your stomach with food! Each of us prepared side dishes and since none of us wanted the time-consuming task of cooking the turkey, we let Marie Callander's make it for us and we picked it up after the race. It was such a fun night with lots of good food and good friends!

TSO and Vegas

Jeff and I finally got to go see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra which is something I've wanted to do for years now. It was so entertaining and so much fun! We also had a chance to meet up with Ryan and Audrey and some of their friends in Las Vegas. This was our first trip to Vegas where we could actually gamble and enjoy the night life. It was a blast! We stayed at the Excalibur and spent most of our time gambling there, but we did do a lot of other things. The girls and I went to a Chippendale's show, we gambled - of course, walked down the strip to see some of the other hotels, went to a dirty hypnotist show, and gambled on Fremont - old downtown Vegas. There is so much to do there that we would love to go again!

Christmas 2009

So we didn't get a chance to go home to Texas for Christmas either this year - so I got to bust out the Chirstmas china. However, Jeff's family came to us! His mom and dad flew in the week before and did some traveling along the coast and we met up with them in Paso Robles. We got to do some wine tasting and also visited Hearst Castle in San Simeon. Oh and we got to see the elephant seals lying on the beach too! Our hotel was right on the beach and there were fire pits set up on the beach and a fireplace in our room! There are way too many pictures to put them on here so check for a link on the right to my facebook album. It was such a great weekend! After that Jeff's parents went up to San Jose to pick up Jeff's brother and sister who flew in from Colorado and New York and then drove down to Lemoore. We did a little bit of everything while they were here. Jeff took his dad, brother and sister skiing, his mom and I went shopping, and we went up to Sequoia National Park to see General Sherman. Christmas day was lots of fun and I even got to see my family open their gifts through Skype. Gotta love technology!

Skiing at Sierra Summit and Tahoe

Pretty much every Saturday (and sometimes Sunday) in January and February, we hit the slopes at Sierra Summit and one weekend we went up the South Lake Tahoe. Sierra is only 2 hours away so it's a nice day trip. We got seasonal ski rentals and recently Jeff bought his own skis and boots. I've gotten so much better now that I've had time to build up my skiing muscles and have had the opportunity to ski every week. Tahoe was a lot of fun because at that point I finally worked myself up to feel confident on the blue runs. We've just had so much fun being so close to the slopes!

10k training

In January I decided that I was going to start training for a 10k. I recruited Leslie to train too! Jen had told me that if I found a 10k and trained for it, that she would make a trip down to California to run it with me. March 7th in San Francisco I'll be running my first 10k! Growing up I hated running. I only joined track in Jr. High (it was the only sport that you didn't have to try out) so that the coaches would notice me (I was introverted and shy) and they would put me on the volleyball team. I thought I would just do long jump or hurdles, but no...they stuck me in long distance because I wasn't good at either of those or anything else for that matter! So in 7th grade in the Texas heat everyday we did the same thing...run 2 miles. Which at that time I don't think I ever ran the 2 miles. I would run and then walk and the run, etc until I reached 2 miles. I definitely look back at that time now and I feel like I've accomplished a lot since then! I ran in 4 5k races last year and I'm only getting faster and my distances are just getting longer. Running is definitely something I never thought I'd be doing for fun. Thank you so much Jen for getting me started running and always keeping me motivated! Thank you Leslie for going through this with me and also motivating me! I want to get a few 10ks under my belt and then who knows...1/2 marathon training? I'll keep y'all posted!

New SUV - Toyota Highlander

So after searching for a new Highlander on and off for about a year and a half, I happened to look at cars.com and find my dream Highlander and just my luck - it was in Fresno! We always talked about waiting till the 4Runner finally bit the dust to get a new car, but we just couldn't pass up this opportunity. It was everything I wanted and more and it met all of Jeff's expectations too - this doesn't happen very often. So we did it! We bought our new Toyota Highlander! (If you know us well, you know all of our cars have names - Frita the 4Runner, Brittany the Beemer(BMW) and now Hannah the Highlander!)

Weekend with my Mom and Alan

My mom and stepdad Alan came to visit me and Jeff a few weekends ago. They flew into San Francisco and we took that opportunity to see a little bit more of San Fran and see the Blue Angels perform on the bay. We also went to Sequoia again and saw a few more sites we hadn't seen yet. We also got to see the Hornets which was my first time too since we got here. Here's a few pics!

Komen Results

The race went really well and I had a time of 35:30 (11:26 mile pace). My goal was to run the whole thing with no walking and to try to get under/at 35 min, but I'll take 30sec over! My goal for the 5k in Paso Robles is 34 min or an 11min mile pace. I know that I can run a mile in 11min, but it's keeping it up on the 2nd and 3rd mile that's the problem. Here's some pictures Jeff got of me running the end of the race.

Running

After running in the 4th of July 5k here in Lemoore, I stopped running. However after witnessing Jen and Kim run a 1/2 marathon, I felt very inspired  by them and decided to get back into it. There are 2 5k runs coming up, one in Fresno and one in Paso Robles.

The first is the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Oct 24th and this one also gives me the opportunity to help raise money to find a cure for breast cancer. No one in our family has been diagnosed with breast cancer, but everyone one my grandparents who have passed have died from some form of cancer. My grandpa died of bone cancer before I was born; my grandma, Mema, died of brain cancer; and just recently my grandpa, Papa, died from rectal cancer. So this race is more than just a race. It's a chance to raise some money to help fight cancer. If you'd like to donate/sponsor me in the run, follow this link: http://race.komencentralvalley.org/goto/siobhanburch.

The second is the Wine Vine Run in Paso Robles (http://www.winevinerun.com/). Jeff won't be running this one with me since he'll be on det in El Centro. This 5k is just for fun and I get a chance to visit a winery in Paso Robles!

My goal for next spring is to run a 10k - don't know when or where yet!

If you'd like to run with me in either of these 5k runs, just let me know! And when I mean run with me - I don't mind if you are faster or slower - you don't have to run side by side with me! :)

A long time overdue...

Sorry for not updating this in a while! So let's see, my last post was in June and we've done a lot of stuff since then.

We went to Sequoia National Park to break in our new hiking boots and saw the giant sequoia General Sherman along with other giants.

We also went to Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, CA but I don't have any pictures of that.
In honor of Jeff's 26th birthday, we visited Monterrey. We did all the tourist attractions there including Cannery Row, the aquarium, 17 mile drive, Carmel, and Pebble Beach. We are going to go back in October to watch the Le Mans race at Laguna Seca.

Although it seems like every weekend we go somewhere, there are a few that we don't and I enjoy those just as much. We have enjoyed having people over to use the pool, going to movies and Jeff even took me to the driving range for the 2nd time in my life. We've made it over to Fresno a few times for dinner and shopping. I'm so glad I live near a big city again with all the restaurants and stores I love!

We went to Sequoia again, but this time in the Mineral King part of the park. Tim wanted to hike Sawtooth trail and we camped out Saturday night and then made the big trek up 5 miles and about 3,000ft up. The trail started at about 7,500ft and we got up above 10,000ft. It took us 4 hours to get up - mostly because of me (I'm sure Jeff and Tim could have gotten up faster) - and 2.5 hours to get down. It was the craziest hike I've ever done and it felt like we'd never get to the top of the trail. However, the views from the hike were amazing and I don't think my camera does it justice! There are a lot of pictures, so here's the facebook album link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2737346&id=7908900&l=89762e8fdb

Well, we finally got our furniture we ordered (Jeff's new recliner for the TV room and the new couch and chairs for the living room). I ordered the coffee table from Target and it came damaged so I have to exchange that and wait for it's replacement still.

Last but not least, we spent Labor Day weekend in San Diego! We saw Jeff's Aunt & Uncle and cousins that live in Escondido, went to La Jolla beach to hang out with friends from Mississippi that are now stationed in Miramar, toured the USS Midway, and went to the San Diego Zoo. Our hotel was awesome and in walking distance to downtown so we went out Saturday and Sunday night and went to dinner with another couple we met in Mississippi. San Diego is beautiful and is so nice to just walk around. I think we'll be making a few more trips while we are living in California. Plus we still need to go to Sea World! Here's the facebook album again (I took too many pictures!): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2741519&id=7908900&l=28f981b6de

I think that's all we've done! I've got to start updating this more often so I don't have such a huge post of recaps!

Livin in Cali

So we are here in Lemoore, CA! The drive went well - almost as planned. We got to see the things we wanted and got some ideas of things to do while we are out west. I need to make a post of the drive over and pics of the house we are renting but I'll do that later after all of our stuff gets here today so I can post it with pictures! We are loving it here so far!