Summer Loving
That’s it: there’s just a few days of summer break left then it’s back to reality! While I do work at a preschool that is open year round, I loved my summer schedule. Since the boys didn’t have to be at school at 8am, I’d get up at 5:15am for the gym, work out, get back home, take a shower and jump back in bed for another hour or two. Then I’d leisurely have breakfast, get dressed for work, and arrive at work at 10am. In a week, that wonderful schedule will be over. With Brandon entering his second year of middle school, and having to catch the bus at 7:30am to get there, and Matty starting 3rd grade, I know the year ahead will be challenging, and I won’t have as many opportunities to just relax. So I’ll be savoring the next five morning cups of coffee, and especially those morning naps. And counting down the days until winter break!
Bragging Rights
Yup, I think I’ve earned them…I beat my best half marathon time. And, I ran a half in under 3 hours. Both personal records were completed a week apart. I’m still in shock.
The first, the Key West Half Marathon, was held on January 17th. I completed it in 3:01:39, according to my running watch. Total disclosure: I did pause my watch when my jasminelive friends and I stopped for potty breaks and photo opps. A tiny voice in the back of my mind kept telling me that maybe I didn’t PR since the official results show otherwise. But I think a more powerful little voice said to the first voice, “Oh yeah? Just wait until next week!” Because somehow, not only did I PR again during the Miami Half Marathon on January 24th, with a result of 2:52:10, I beat the prior week’s time by 9 minutes and 29 seconds! That’s my watch time. My official race results: 2:53:10!
Road Tripping Recap
How has it been a month already since we came back from our Framily vacation to Sevierville, Tennessee? In between loads of laundry, homework supervising, dinner making, and working, I’ve been reminiscing about the awesome time we had!
Before I tell you about our trip, I have to say thank you to GMC for the amazing Yukon XL Denali they lent us. The road trip was as smooth as could be, thanks in great part to this fantastic car. I was honestly on the verge of tears when I had to return her (no offense to my actual car, which at almost 128K still gets us where we need to go with no trouble at all). The Yukon had room for all eight of us traveling together, as well as all our stuff, and boy was there stuff! We had fun playing “Tetris” whenever we needed to pack or re-pack the car.
We’re headed to the Smokies
We’ve looked forward to this for about a year, and it’s so hard to believe that in just four weeks we’ll be headed on an epic road trip: we’re off to the Great Smoky Mountains! The four of us, along with nine friends (and four more who will meet us there) will be spending a week in Sevierville, Tennessee!
We are so excited, not only because this will be the first trip we go on with all our dear friends, a trip years and years in the making, but we’ll get to possibly play in the snow! (The Jasminlive boys are counting on it. Mother Nature, please don’t disappoint them!). On our agenda so far is snowtubing at Ober Gatlingburg, visiting different nearby trails and a couple of waterfalls within Great Smokey Mountains National Park, and some ziplining. The rest is up in the air, we’ll play it by ear.
I’ve been stressing over making sure we are prepared for the weather, these South Florida folks don’t own very many winter clothes. Fortunately, when we were last in Orlando we hit some great sales at the GAP outlet and stocked up on quite a few things for all of us. We scored some great winter boots online yesterday (thank you, Black Friday sales!). I’ve got a list of all the things we need to take to make us comfortable in our cozy cabin. We’ve prepared a very rough budget to reflect gas, tolls, meals and other spending. Do you have any other tips for us?
Prepare for the Holidays
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The holidays are quickly approaching, and as excited as I am about being thankful, the twinkling lights, the presents under the tree, the cheer and merriment, I’m also sad because this is the first year that neither my grandfather or grandmother won’t be with us. As the years pass and our elders leave us, one really appreciates how important loved ones are, and how wonderful it is to spend time with them while they are alive. That goes for family as well as friends. That’s why I love filling my home with people, there’s nothing like spending the holidays with those you love.
While our family dinners for Thanksgiving and Noche Buena are hosted by my Tio on my mom’s side, and my Tia on my dad’s side, respectively, I am the hostess for Friendsgiving, as well as the Christmas exchange among our friends. I love having family and friends over, and being a good hostess is important to me. There’s always plenty of food and drinks, and of course plenty of amenities for my guests. Asi me enseño mi abuela.
Cocoa Beach Half Marathon: Done!
Yesterday, Rachel and I, along with two of her running friends, participated in the inaugural Cocoa Beach Half Marathon.
I’m happy to report that I had a pretty great race overall. This was my seventh half marathon, with a chip time of 3:12.37.7, and while I did not PR, I am pleased with the result.Cocoa Beach Half FinishSince it is an inaugural race, there are a couple of things that could be improved upon in the future. I will be pointing these out in the hopes that the organizers stumble upon this post and consider making some changes. These are meant to be constructive, they are not meant to be offensive in any way, just some suggestions that should be taking into consideration if they expect this series to be a success.
The start time should be earlier. A start time of 7:45am is too late for a race in Central Florida. We were blessed with an overcast morning, and a slight breeze. The entire course had no shade, and almost 3 miles of running on the beach as well. Had the sun been out, it would have lead to unhealthy conditions for the runners and spectators. Many people have complained about the beach portion and the lack of shade on the course, and these problems can be alleviated in the future by altering the start time. Just an hour earlier would make a huge difference.
Staying Organized and Sane
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.
As a modern Latina, I aspire to do it all: be a great mom, excel at work, (try to be) a good housekeeper, and keep everybody happy, including myself! January is going to be a busy one for us: we’re celebrating Brandon’s 14th birthday with a party at home. A few days later I’ll be traveling to California to complete my 11th Half Marathon in Disneyland. The week after I return, I’m starting an accelerated program to complete my education degree. And in the meantime, we’ve been house shopping and may be purchasing a new home within the first few months of the year. Sometimes this wonderful yet busy life is overwhelming…just looking at that list gave me a headache! That’s why I like to have Advil® Tablets on hand. Not only do they help ease the inevitable headaches of trying to juggle life’s crazy turns, but it also helps with minor muscle aches from my half marathon training.
The best way to manage all our activities and appointments is to write everything down! Whether it be an agenda, or To-Do lists, it helps to have everything in writing so that I can keep track of things and scratch things off as they get done, or even delegate some things to my husband or the and avoid going loca!