my release week 10

this weeks promt is release.  my release is to get out and move lately as some of you know I was training with team in training and raising funds for the leukemia and lymphoma society.  My race was this last weekend in sunriver, oregon.  here are a few photos from the race.  I usually only do one photo on my blog but decided i would group all the race shots together and show you some other things we saw during our weekend.

first off this is an awesome race course.  it winds on a paved trail through the resort, past some stables, a small airport, a golf course, bird sancturay, past the river and best of all completely flat!!!! oh and there were only about 1200 races too.

the night before.  note the hot hands, arm warmers (aren't those cool I am breaking the nothing new on race day rule but don't care) and had to buy a hat to keep the rain off.




me just before the race. note the wet around me and how everyone is bundled.  I added more layers since it was dang cold when we left to be at the start I prayed that we either have cold or rain just not both and just before the race the rain stopped YEAH.  Last year the race was in the 70-90 degree range.




just before the race and yes NO RAIN.  its been raining for days and I fretted about it all night long hearing the rain fall and freaking out about the 40 degree weather.  I was not happy.  they had announced that the long course had to be shortened due to unsafe conditions on the road SNOW in JUNE.



we followed parts of the river along the course:


Among some of the other things we passed along the course was the horse stables and some pastures (taken from my iphone and not edited at all):


me finishing the race with a personal best time of (ok don't laugh I am old and new at this) 2:59:32.  I just wanted to get under 3 hours and barely did it all things considering I am stoked.  this meant I took 17 minutes off my last race which was the rock n roll vegas race in december.  this was my 3rd 1/2 marathon in less than a year and i am showing improvement so that makes me happy





I thought the metals were exceptionally cool for this race.



this is a fun app called filtermania2 for the iphone and ipad I thought this was pretty cool


lastly I had to show off my best nike fuelband time ever and the finish shirt I bought from the race:



all in all a great race I did have some knee pain around mile 8 but it only slowed me down a bit.  I met some great people along the way and loved chatting with them.  One of my favorite things about these races is the people you meet it is so inspiring to me to hear their stories.



check out more photos for this weeks challenge here:

more to come of the area soon.  I need to work on uploading all the photos the phone shots were easier than the rest.  All I can say is this area is amazing 

sunbathed beauty week 9

well I just had to post this one of my friends dog sadie.  she was all dressed up for a party we had doesn't she look cute?  with the sun coming in and back lighting her I she looks so angelic. especially sunlight has been in low supply this year so far.

belly dancer week 6 light to dark

week 6 of light to dark worked great for this belly dancer shot.  the room was so dark i used 1600 iso to get this without a flash did a little lightroom work but not much (still learning that)



check out the other light to dark shots here:

Baby squirrel week 5 pink

Recently I went to a scrapbooking retreat and we had some excitement. A squirrel was loose in the main cabin. We tried to heard it out the door but it ran into the piano. The camp host carefully tore the piano apart and inside was 4 baby squirrels. I had never seen a baby before. No worries babies were put in a box and then outside. Eventually mama came out and we headed her outside. Looking the next day the babies were gone from the box so mama must have moved them


Linking up this week with the 52 week project.

edited to add that I actually won something a prize from the learning curve quilts and such check it out :
http://jeannegwin.blogspot.com/

splash of color in the sunshine. Week 2

ahhh I love spring and tulips its always a beautiful sign.



Week two of 52 weeks of photo prompts

Earth day Week one

Today is earth day and the day I did a 10k trail run. First time doing this and after coming off a 6 mile train yesterday I took it easy (coaches orders) and didn't want to injure myself. I came in around 15:30 a mile slow I am slow and probably could have done much better but deliberately held back. Great race beatiful sunny day. Up hills through the forest and along the river.

Will for sure hit this one again. Funds benefited a local school too.


Week one of a 52 week photo prompt. See side bar sorry cant link doing this from the iPad and having issues with that. This weeks prompt is to start something. Well I started this race and finished it any race is a good one that you finish. http://www.52photosproject.com/


Photo taken with phone and added frame from

P52 shadows

week 5 of the P52 challenge is shadows

It was a beautiful day so we headed to the dog park  I really wanted to get his shadow but he was to full of cabin fever to stand still and was off running  I really liked these tree shadows though so this is what I went with

p52 self portrait

last weeks challenge (yeah behind) and I struggled with this because I had a bad week and didn't feel like taking my own picture  so i bit the bullet and shot one today  

pretty much straight from the camera except a little cropping

am I the only one that feels younger then they look?  I look at myself sometimes and wonder who is that?  one thing I know I really need to dye my hair again hahaha  hmmm what color this time? 

P52 - the Dreamer

the dreamer

Its starts off with a burst of energy

You continue to pound away at it with your enthusiasm

knocking any loose stones out of the way as you go

there are ups and there are downs

And long flat parts that seem to go forever

you continue to knock those stones loose

you feel like giving up

but see the end in sight and just know you can make it

and knock away a few more stones

something inside you pushes you

its that finish line in your sights that gives you strength

until finally there are no more stones

for this is your dream

you have reached your finish line

Until your next dream

this weeks P52 theme is by life with my 3 boybarians (see sidebar for link) is I dream the dream this is my interpretation

edited to add:  I had this post already to go and poof gone grrr  so in closing I just want to say as a teenager I use to write a little poetry I thought I might try writing a little more now and again and came up with this bit using a runner as a parody

the steel statue represents a big race we have here called bloomsday  since it snowed and was a blah day I added some textures by french kiss and an overlay by shadowhouse  did a bit of light rendering and added a border  

resolution P52 week 1

this weeks theme is resolution.  I decided to put my challenge to myself to read more.  I got a reader for Christmas and so far loving that and have books that need to be read all over the house.  I use to read a lot when I was younger, then I had a kid and that seemed to be something that there was never enough time for.  now that he is all grown up I have more time and am doing more.

 I found a good site called goodreads.com that tracks the books I have read (you will see in my side bar the current book I am reading) and lets me add books I want to read.  do reviews share with friends and lots of other stuff. (edited to add this is for e-books and regular paperbooks)

Another site for all of you that have got e-readers is pixeltoink I signed up for the daily newsletter and they email me a list of books that are available for free or really cheap.  I have already started a good collection on my e - reader.

so what books are you reading???

upcoming themes in the P52 series


Week 1 – ending Friday, January 6: Resolution
Week 2 – ending Friday, January 13: Made with love
Week 3 – ending Friday, January 20: I Dreamed A Dream
Week 4 – ending Friday, January 27: Self-portrait
Week 5 – ending Friday, February 3: Shadows
Week 6 – ending Friday, February 10: Drink up!
Week 7 – ending Friday, February 17: True Love
Week 8 – ending Friday, February 24: Cabin Fever