Cape Vincent Trip

After church yesterday, Seth and I loaded Shane up in the back of our little hatchback and headed to Cape Vincent. Cape Vincent is a small, sleepy town on a lake about 35 miles from Drum. I didn't take any pictures of the houses, but I can assure you there were a few that made Seth and I jealous that we aren't retired yet.

Unfortunately, since it is such a small town, most stores and restaurants were closed. We decided to check out the lighthouse that I had heard was cool.

Things got kinda weird when we headed into the "fog tower" though. I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Yeahhhh... we didn't stay in there long. Had a few good laughs though.
Unfortunately the actual lighthouse is not open to the public so that was a bummer.

No knowing exactly what else to do... we remembered we had passed a state park on the way in to town so we trucked it back there to see if there was anything fun to do.

It was closed for the season, but the gates weren't blocked off so we decided to check it out.

shane having fun smelling the bird poo

trying to get into the water

All in all, it was good  to just get out and take a drive. This past weekend wasn't a stellar one in the Trader house so getting out and getting some good time in together was refreshing.

Before I take off, could you please pray for my sweet Grandpa. He is having some tests done today so that he can hopefully have surgery on his heart soon. He really needs to have this operation as soon as possible. Thanks so much...

Enjoy your Monday :)

Hair update

Workout: Walked 2 miles with Shane and 45 minutes elliptical
Hi ya! So I did not run the half marathon this past weekend :(

Due to a combo of health problems and finding out it was further away than I had thought... it just wasn't best for me. Ohhh well, my legs have been feeling a bit heavy lately and I think I have a minor case of shin splints on my right leg. Better to stay off rather that get injured for sure.

So, we went to church Sunday which was great! Oh, and here's a pic my new hair and outfit for church :)
Been a while since I've done that so here ya go:

"new" hair

church look

As you can see it's not that much different than it was... but I like it! It's natural looking. She only put in partial lowlights but she made sure not to go too dark either so I'm happy with it. Kept the length, obviously.

I'm trying to stretch out my summer wardrobe as long as possible. So far, so good. But I know the temps are going to be creepin into the 30s and 40s soon so I better start switchin! Like right now.

Here are a few sweet pics I'll leave ya with before I tackle my closet.

cuddle time- so sweet!

Shane loves his Daddy!!

1st Fall Run

This morning at 6:45 Shane and I headed out for a lovely 4 mile run on the black river trail!

shane people watching from the back of our hatchback

morning face...

We ran 4 miles in 4o degrees temps...

whoops...forgot it was freezing out

Yeah...my arms, hands, and tummy were kinda frozen by the end of the run but I would take being cold over hot any day.

Oh well, it was a gorgeous fall morning and I got some great worship time in with God as I took in His creation. Not a bad start to the day if you ask me!

I came home and just finished refueling:

That would be a egg, egg white, cheddar cheese, turkey bacon, spinach, and tomato scramble with a side of 1/2 a banana with pb.  YUM :)

Now off to train a client, meet a friend for lunch, and get my hair did. I'll let ya know how it turns out!

See ya!

Time to think

Workout: 45 minutes cross-train on the elliptical and walking with Shaney Shane


Today is a good day. Not for any particular reason other than I'm just happy to be alive and well.

These days I find myself less busy (Kayla moved, broke my heart...) and thinking more. There are so many big things coming up in Seth and I's little life. I say "little" life because in comparison, our lives are really "but a midst".  When major changes ( moving, new house, school, jobs, etc) come our way.. it is so easy to get tangled up in it all and become nervous, anxious, and overwhelmed.

Knowing that we have a heavenly Father who is watching over us... guiding us... or as I thought to myself the other morning, "turning the pages of our story for us in His own timing" .. I become thankful and humbled. He is teaching us many things during this process about ourselves and about Him.

One thing God did put into me was a sense of independence. I am the third oldest out of a family of eight children . I love my family very much, don't get me wrong at all. New family and blood. Where we move, though, is not dependent just on where family lives. I have this thirst for adventure and thrill and excitement which has helped me during this process to not become so overwhelmed that every little detail be perfect worked out in our timing.  I find the unknown mysterious and interesting and am more than anything, curious to see where God leads us.

Anyways, I wasn't planning on posting about all of this but here it is.

I checked the weather for this Sunday where the half marathon is and it said sunny and a high of 70!!
Sounds like perfect running whether, no? :)

Hope you're having a great day!

"Always be joyful. ¹⁷ Never stop praying. ¹⁸ Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." I Thessalonians 5

Puppy has a cold :(

snugglin up with daddy sunday morning

such sadness in those eyes :(

barely keepin his eyes open

tucked in for bedtime :)

We love our puppy!

Having a ball and 10k race recap

Hi there peeps! It's been some exciting times around the Trader household lately. Starting with a Battalion Ball that Seth and I attended last night! My good friend Jackie was gracious enough to do my hair and make up for me and she did a WONDERFUL job!

We headed to the ball around 5:30 and enjoyed a bit of cocktail hour with some friends!

my handsome date!!

love the ecksteins aka cutest couple ever

Seth and Captain Comfort

waiting for our sub-par dinner-haha!

am i right or what?! so adorable!

First Sergeant Lafary and us had a nice conversation :)

Overall it was pretty fun and it was nice to actually get dressed up and try the hair and make-up thing :)
Haha...goodness knows that doesn't occur too much!
After the ball, we stopped in at the Ecksteins's house to chill until we were ready for bed and headed home. We wanted decent sleep because.... I ran the Running for Recovery from Addictions 10k the next morning!

pre-race posing

Mr. Shane and Seth cheered me on!

my good friend and client Star- love her!

I loved having my pup there! Although he didn't run it ;)

sprinting toward the finish

DONE!

I was super, duper pleased with my time on this race! There was an extremely hard hill at the beginning of the race and a few rolling hills throughout the race. Whoo, that got me warmed up real fast. I started at about an 8:30 pace and slowly picked up my speed through the race. I know it's a little mean, but this strategy worked really well because at the end I passed quite a few runners which always feels so good ;)

I finished in 49:30 and placed 3rd in my age division at an 8:00/min pace!!!


The race was really great and I even got a t-shirt (score!). Having my man there (and pup) to support and cheer me on means more than anything! I'm thinking a half marathon next weekend is definitely in order.. ;)

Have a GREAT weekend!

Running towards the prize...together!!!!

Well folks, here it is: the 2011 VA Beach Half Marathon weekend post I promised ya!

Let's start at the beginning: the car ride down to Fredericksburg, VA to meet up with my family!

Mom and dad and the boys minus Isaac

long car ride down south

We had a GREAT time with them even though it was short. I hadn't seen my family since May so I was very happy to spend a lil time with them. We stayed at a hotel in Fredericksburg and went to dinner at Carrabbas and then went for a little swim in the hotel pool/hot tub! The next morning we had breakfast in the lobby before heading out to the historical downtown area to walk around and take in the sights. It was a really cute little town and I'm so glad we stopped in and hung out with my fam!

But we had to leave eventually so we could continue our trip down south the VA beach and get to the expo to pick up our packets and swag bags! I didn't take a pic but we scored some cool stuff including two t-shirts that were on clearance. I'll try to take some pics of those soon!

Next we met up with Seth's parents! We all walked to the beach once they arrived and it felt so good to get out and stretch for both of us.

cussing is a no-no in VA beach ;)

We went out to dinner at Lone Star after we checked in to the hotel.

No pics, but I loaded up on bread and a southwestern style salad. Not bad!

Our wake up call the next morning of the race was 4 so we headed to bed at a reasonable time and woke up without too much trouble... Although it took Sethy a while to get in his groove ;) We had coffee and and half of a bagel with pb each.

We took the bus ride shuttle to the start of the race and Seth's parents were gracious enough to come with us and be our photographers and cheerleaders :)

still dark out...

my beast of a man- thanks mom for the shirt!

gettin pumped!

loved all the support!

Next thing we knew ( after several potty trips) we were off!

on the boardwalk at the finish!

We finished in 1:59 minutes!!! Our goal was under 2 hours so we met our goal! Seth did GREAT for his first time and it was so amazing to run this race together. It meant so much to both of us....

cooling off in the water afterwards

together and stronger than ever :)

I'm so proud of him!

It was a great experience overall and I think we might be back every year to run this race together...
it was emotional and wonderful in all the right ways... thanks to my in-laws for being there every second to support us!

After a one hour couples massage (which was AMAZING), we ended our trip on a high note at the Cheesecake Factory- as per tradition!

Great weekend and more good things to come... like a 10k this weekend and possibly another half marathon next weekend for me! Hehe.. I'm addicted just a little :)