Family Weekend in Vermont - Brady

Last weekend my very generous Uncle Jeff and Aunt Margaret flew us all out to their beautiful house in Stowe, Vermont to celebrate my grandparents' 80th birthdays. Below are some of my favorite photos from the trip.

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Margaret's swimming pond. Fantastic.

Hammock on the porch.

Hiking up Mt. Mansfield. This is where Kevin and I realized we took a wrong turn.

But the views were worth it!

View at the top. Notice my red face - it was hot!

My grandparents midway up the mountain.

The hike was great, but poor Kevin broke his foot in (at least) six places when he fell off a ledge! It feels like Freaky Friday around the Jones-Rasp household these days...I'm taking care of him just like he took care of me when I had my broken ankle.

Kevin's therapy dogs.

And our cousin Charlie, an excellent masseuse.

On our last day we went to a farmers market in the home of farmers markets. I tried one of the maple sodas. Yum.

 And just for fun - some pictures of family from the nights we hung out at the house.

Kelly and Miles

Roger and Kate

Kelly and her twin, Kate

Fourth of July in Chicago - Brady

Other than a couple of New Year's Eves, I've never spent a major holiday in Chicago. My (and Kevin's) family in Indiana is close enough that we can always make it home for the big ones.

This year, though, Fourth of July fell in the middle of the week, plus we're leaving for Canada (for a conference I'm presenting at) on Friday. So this year I did something I've never, ever done in my life - spent the Fourth away from La Porte.

We had a pretty awesome day. My sisters and I planned to spend the holiday at Montrose Beach, a wide stretch of sand up near Amy's apartment.

Kevin and I arrived at nine to stake out a good spot. It was really lucky we got there when we did! This was the last shade available anywhere near the beach.

While we waited for my sisters to arrive, we just lazed around, drinking iced coffee and reading. It was one of the hottest days of the year, so it was a bit uncomfortable, but overall a really nice morning.

One thing I personally loved was that, mostly because of the neighborhood we were in, we were surrounded by people speaking Spanish. Below are some photos of a guy selling balloons (notice the grills, hammock, and tents in the photo...the people at this particular park were SERIOUS about their "urban day camping."), a mango "nieve" I bought from an ice cream cart, and, best of all, a Mariachi band we paid to play us a couple of songs. 

Kelly, Amy & Roger, Roger's brother Ryan, a bunch of Kelly's work friends, Kevin, and I all hung around in the shade, jumping into a very, let's say, refreshing Lake Michigan when we needed to cool off. We grilled out, grabbed some drinks, worried when they cleared the water to search for a little boy (he was okay...wandered down the beach, apparently), talked, and sweated until about 5 when we finally gave it up to go home, shower, nap and head out to the fireworks. 

It was a hot one, and a much different Independence Day than I'm used to, but I was glad to spend it in this city I love so much with some of my favorite people!

Marathon Monday- It's actually Monday! -Amy

Hello again, Blogworld.  Get yourselves ready for my weekly marathon training update!

Schedule for last week:
Monday: 3 miles
Tuesday: Turbo Jam
Wednesday: 3 Miles
Thursday: 4 miles (skipped this!)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 5 miles (turned into 3)
Sunday Rest

Reflection:
So all in all, this was not my best training week.  I had  TON going on at school (it was the last week of school along with a long list of check out duties that kept me busy until roughly 6 pm each night).  Due to the fact that Thursday was my last full day of teaching I decided to trade my run for celebratory drinks.  Also, we had a weekend full of belated celebrations which left very little time to squeeze in a work out.  I was actually really proud of myself that I managed to squeeze in 3 miles this weekend.  We were in La Porte to celebrate Roger's birthday with his family and Father's Day with both of our Dad's.  My weekend agenda went something like this:
Friday night: dinner out and Polish Carnival in La Porte with Roger's family
Saturday day: BIG breakfast made my the one and only wonderful Cindy Jackson
                      Quick Run
                      Drive to Valpo for a Friend's Housewarming party (which was an all night event)
Sunday: Lunch with said Valpo friends before heading back
            Bridges Waterside Grille in Michigan City, IN with my parents for Father's Day.

All in all, it was ROUGH to get in any time to work out.  I managed to run from Roger's house to a local park where I ran around a mile long trail then ran home.  Also, I kicked off THIS training week with a bang by getting up before work today to do a Turbo Jam video.  The good news is, 5 miles was my long run and that is not too challenging for me these days so I didn't miss a really important long run.  I can definitely make it up this week.

On to the next week!

Don't forget to pass along my info if you get a chance:
http://www.active.com/donate/teamsweetness2012/AmyJackson
                                                           

Colorado Camping - Brady

This past Thursday - Sunday, Kevin and I went camping with some good friends out in Colorado. The group was composed of his three best friends from high school, their significant others, and some other friends they've collected over the years.

We had the best weekend. Our campsite was as pretty as can be, we had some awesome adventures - white water rafting, mountain climbing, hot springs, and we spent lots of time sitting around the campfire with people we don't see nearly enough. Below are some of my favorite pictures.

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This first shot is the view from our beautiful campsite. That's a mountain lake in the distance.

Here's another view of our campsite.

Our clean tent, the first night.

As a group we decided to make a little tent city and then leave a hang out area down around the fire. 

 Two awesome dogs were on our trip. This is Meilo, the dog of our friends Matt and Liz.

We took a little hike around the lake and had to cross a river on these logs. This is me right after I made it, shaky ankle and all. 

I skipped out on hiking a "14er," but this is Kevin at the top of a big mountain. Notice the snow on the lower peaks.

Climbing a mountain this high is such a big deal that there's a pad of paper hidden in the rocks that you sign when you make it to the summit. 

We went white water rafting which was a lot of fun. We were allowed to jump in the river at one point, and it was so cold I had this weird reaction where I couldn't stop laughing. 

Me and Indy, our friend Matt and LJ's dog, wearing the cone of shame. If you know my "Papa," Max Sherman, look at this picture and tell me my smile doesn't look exactly like his here. When I saw this picture the resemblance shocked me.

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I don't say it enough, but I feel so grateful both to have such good friends and to have the opportunity to travel as much as Kevin and I do. Our lives are full of great people and great adventures. 

Happy Summer! - Brady

Today's the summer solstice...the longest day of the year. Even though Kevin and I are absolutely exhausted from a camping trip and a couple of subsequent early mornings, we dragged ourselves out of bed at 4:45, poured some iced coffee (with cinnamon and brown sugar - yum - for the recipe, click here), and headed out to the lake to watch the sunrise. Here are some photos - the coffee, the sun, and our sleepy faces. Have a wonderful start to the best season of the year! There's nowhere better than the Midwest in the summertime.

Marathon Monday- Amy

Yes, I'm going to continue calling these posts Marathon Monday even though they don't happen on Mondays sometimes (or, ever). 

Anyways.  Quick Marathon training update:

Running schedule last week:
Monday-Turbo Jam
Tuesday- 3 Miles
Wednesday- Turbo Jam
Thursday- 3 miles
Friday- rest (and/or drink wine)
Saturday- 8th Grade Graduation!
Sunday- 7 miles

Long Run Reflection:

IT'S HOT.  It's MUCH different running these long runs in the hot, humid weather.  For every other race I've ever trained for I've always been training in coldish weather, so this is a big change.  I've noticed that it's difficult to catch a full breath when the weather is so humid.  I have been counteracting this change with LOTS of water and a couple of stretch breaks in the shade to cool down a bit.  I am definitely still getting used to it, but because I know how much I have improved my time and endurance since the first race I ever trained for (a 15k in Nov 2010), I know this is just another obstacle that I need to get used to and overcome.  I am still confident (although sometimes overwhelmed) that I will be successful at finishing this marathon.  I'm a firm believer that if you put your mind to something you will succeed.  I will succeed at this! 

Just a reminder, I still need some help with fundraising!  Any tiny amount or even just sharing the link on your facebook, twitter, or with your family and friends is SO appreciated!

http://www.active.com/donate/teamsweetness2012/AmyJackson

Happy Birthday, Birthday Boy! -Amy

This handsome devil is turning 27 today!

Happy birthday to you... oh, and to your twin brother too!

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(That picture was taken as a part of  a theme party in college where they were dressed up like the twins in the lost boys from Peter Pan.  Hilarious.)
Love you both!