The Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic

This morning Jake and I met up with Chuck, Emily, Julie, her husband Patrick, their girls and Emily's Dad at Ann Morrison park to watch "The Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic".  It's one of the many family fun events Boise has over the course of the summer and it was something we all wanted to see.  It was a beautiful clear Boise morning as we watched the balloons be laid out, inflated and then one by one launched into the sky, filling the horizon with air balloons in a beautiful scene.

Afterwards me and Jake went to Raedeans restaurant for one of their delicious cinnamon rolls.  Then later that night we had dinner at my parents house and played cards with Chuck and Emily.  What a fun Saturday in Boise!

Boise Hawks Baseball Game

This afternoon Jake and I enjoyed appetizers and drinks at the mall Cafe Ole.  Then that evening we met up with Chuck, Emily, her father and Sister Julie's family for a night of baseball.  It was the first time I'd met Emily's Dad.  At the end of the game there were even some fireworks; Jake and I had ran to his car and something went wrong with the firework display because there was a loud bang and bright flash near the ground.  All in all- a great night with family!

Barbara Morgan STEM Academy

Today I flew into Boise for a weekend visit.  Mom picked me up at the airport and we went to Costa Vida for lunch.  Then we headed over to Chuck's school where Barbara Morgan, first woman in space, was having the elementary named after her "Barbara Morgan STEM Academy".  It was a lot of fun seeing Chuck in action, helping out and keeping the kids in line!

After the student and parent gathering and listening to Barbara, all the students went out onto the field and launched rockets they'd built.  It was a hot, sunny day in Boise, but the kids seemed to be having a blast!

That evening Jake, Emily, Chuck and I enjoyed some wine together and played cards; but not before we had to remedy a bad cork situation with our wine bottle!  Nice save, Jake!

Old Chicago Pizza

Tonight I went to dinner with Katelynn and Brian to my favorite pizza place in Petaluma - Old Chicago Pizza!  I ran 26.2 miles this last weekend, so I figured some unhealthy bleached carbs would be okay.  Brian met us at the Hawthorne house and we all headed down.  We ordered a deep dish combination pizza, my favorite!  We even splurged on some red wine.  What a delicious dinner with good friends!

The Santa Rosa Marathon

What an exciting day!  My second full 26.2 mile marathon run.  I'd been training up all summer long with Amanda and unfortunately she was injured on our last long run and was unable to come with me.  So very disappointing for her; I hope we can train for a future marathon!  Trisha and Jeff were there for the half marathon.  For the marathon route; I was on my own!

You can see the route and timings of my run on my Runkeeper page.  I think having done a full marathon before gave me some good preparation for what to expect for this run.  It was still excruciatingly difficult and at times I wanted to give up, but I still persevered and made it through all 26.2 miles!  In this picture on the left you can see the 10 minute pacer with a pack of runners were right on my heels.  In the picture on the right you can see the decision point for half vs full marathon runners.  Half marathon runners were to head left back towards the start, full marathon runners headed right for the additional 13.1 miles.

As with the last marathon there were people there waiting to cheer me across the line and to congratulate me in the end.  Trisha, Jeff, Amanda and I got a finishers picture together.  So nice that Amanda could come down even though she couldn't run the race.  Jaime and her boys were also there and really made for a fun welcoming group.  Thanks everyone for sticking around or coming down to see me finish!

At this rate, I think the Santa Rosa marathon will be the one full race I do on a yearly basis.  The training plan sure helps me keep up my miles on those long weekend training runs leading up to the race.

Walking the Golden Gate

Today is the last day of Jake's visit.  We decided to go to San Francisco and do things in the city and then drop him off at the Oakland airport for his flight home.  I've always wanted to walk across the Golden Gate bridge- with my boyfriend and today Jake indulged that dream of mine!

We drove across the bridge from North to South and then were lucky enough to find a parking spot not too far off.  I started my Runkeeper in walk mode and off we went!  It was fun walking the bridge with Jake; but man was that bridge crowded!  With enough room for four people to walk side by side, there wasn't enough room for bikes as well.  So there was a lot of crowd walking adjusting to make it across safely- still worth the bucket list check!

Then we ended up at Morton's in Union Square in San Francisco for happy hour sushi tacos, sliders and drinks.  It was a nice afternoon spending time with Jake before it was time for him to fly back home.

Tahoe Trip

This week Debbie and Mike invited Jake and I to come stay with them at their cabin in Tahoe.  But before we could do that I had marathon training to do!  This morning I was up bright and early because Amanda was meeting me to go for a long run, one of the last ones before our Marathon at the end of the month.  We started out around 6:30am.  Unfortunately around mile 15 Amanda started having a terrible pain in her leg and couldn't run any further.  I ran back to the house and got the car to pick her up.  You can see our route on my Runkeeper.  Unfortunately, this looks like it may be serious and possibly stop Amanda from running the Marathon!  

After ensuring Amanda was Ok to head out on her own Jake and I got ready and headed up to stay the night and then come back Sunday.  The views at their private cabin right on the lake were beautiful.  We had drinks with snacks by the campfire all afternoon.  Then we enjoyed an amazing dinner prepared by Mike; wedge salads, cured pork steaks, chicken and homemade macaroni and cheese.  Delish!  We spent the evening lakeside by the fire enjoying our myriad of drinks.

Sunday Jake and I headed over to the Nevada side to get a feel for what the town had to offer.  I'm glad neither of us are gamblers, the casino's just weren't something we were interested in.  There were several merchant open air markets.  I ended up buying my Mom's Christmas present here, probably the first time in my life I've bought a Christmas present before December!  By the time we headed back home I was head nodding so Jake drove us back most of the way.  Thanks Jake!