Slightly obsessed with the Instagram app on my iPhone...

Grandma bought Ashley high top Converse shoes last week....and yesterday Ray bought her pink shoe laces to go with them.

Running and running and running

I have 2 races the next 2 weekends, this weekend is the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in DC and next weekend is the Flying Pirate half marathon in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. For Saturday's race, I will be driving up with two running buddies in my neighborhood for the race (can't wait to see how well Carmen does!) and the following Saturday with another running buddy and her neighbor. Running has been sort of sporadic since the marathon. Last week I only ran twice, one really crappy run where I thought I was going to die (ran right before dinner so I hadn't eaten in 6 hours and it was in the 80s temperature-wise) and another fabulous run (9 miles in 50 degree weather and it was perfect). I don't know what I will do this week. I am definitely hitting the gym tonight since it is sleeting outside (yes, we had 80s last week, 40 as a high today...where did spring go?). But I have been doing cross training and core work. Ashley is still tracked out of school and after a week at Grandma's house and two sleepovers this past weekend, she was toast last night. Seriously, I thought her head was going to spin around. She crashed hard. She is hanging out with her Dad today and with me tomorrow. The end of the week is questionable as she might be heading to Virginia with Ray to help his parents paint or she might ride up with me on Saturday morning. Who knows. Audrey did enjoy her week without her sister last week. Those two seem to constantly fight lately and it drives me nuts. Here's hoping it warms up later this week for good.

Like how I haven't posted in forever?

I finally got off my butt and ran last week. It was a measly 11 miles total for the week, but it's a start. I am going to try and hit all my planned runs this week and with the temps in the 80s by Friday, I think that's looking pretty good.

But has anyone else been bulldozed by the time change? I can't go to bed at night and then when the alarm goes off, I can't get up. It's a vicious cycle I am hoping to break up tonight by going to the gym and crashing into bed.

Ashley is tracked out of school right now (year round schools here), and she has 4 weeks off instead of the normal 3. She did a camp at Lifetime Fitness last week (our old camp standby that she loves) and she is at a gymnastics camp this week. If only I could find a running camp for her :). Next week she is going to Camp Grandma and Grandpa Fuzzy (my Dad and Stepmom) and we haven't figured out the last week yet. I think she may just hang with Ray and I at work. She loves camps, but unfortunately they are expensive. Lifetime isn't that bad, but the gymnastics camp is expensive and it's hours are short, but she begged to go with her friends to this one.

Audrey is counting down the days until her last day in Pre-K. Soon I will be finding camps for both of them to do (how scary is that). June 17th is her last day and she starts kindergarten July 11th.

And no, I am not going to discuss Virginia Tech being left out of the NCAA tournament. I assume you all know how I feel about that.

Recap of my marathon experience...

Melinda Hinson Neely has been a great resource for me while embarking on my first marathon. Not only is her website full of information, but she left me encouraging words on both my blog and facebook.

And I forgive her that she is a Boise State fan...

She wrote a post about my experience here as she is working on a book and collecting stories about first time marathoners.

Wow, is it really Thursday already

This week has literally flown by. I can't believe it's March already.

Ashley is getting ready to track out of school for 4 weeks. I have her signed up for camp for the first two weeks, nothing yet for the second two. Still trying to figure out if she can go stay with the Grandparents for a few days. It's hard because even though she is out of school, we still have all of our activities. She does Girl Scouts every other Monday, tumbling Tuesdays (to get better at tumbling for cheerleading in the fall), piano practice on Wednesdays and dance on Fridays. She can't miss dance since they are gearing up for their recital on June 4th. Same with piano. I guess tumbling she can miss as well as Girl Scouts (I am the troop leader, I think I could fill her in on what she misses!). And yes, having dance on Friday nights sucks, but it was the only time we could get for the class she wanted.

Oh, and I still haven't run yet. I need to since I have a 10 mile race and half marathon in April!

Shabby Apple - Giveaway

We are finally getting warmer and warmer (Raleigh had 80 degree weather days earlier this week...). With warm weather come thoughts of wearing dresses instead of jeans and jackets. And I am totally excited about that.

So enter in Shabby Apple - beautiful dresses that are vintage inspired, stylish and affordable for women and little girls. And not only cute dresses to wear, their fitness line is perfect for yoga or running.

Check out this perfect dress, the Azure Coast Dress:

It's the perfect faux-wrap styling that fits all body types. And cute little girls' dresses? Check out this one:

If you want to win the Azure Coast dress, just leave a comment on this post! I will pick a winner on Friday, March 11. Winners must be US residents. And be sure to hop onto Facebook and like Shabby Apple there, click here.

Good luck!

Turbo Tax - Giveaway!

As most everyone knows, I am accountant by trade. I now work for Ray's company, Dream Living Realty as their accountant and office manager. Best decision ever by the way. As an accountant, most people assume I can do taxes. Um, yea, no. Yes, I took the required tax classes in college, but that's it.

At work, we use a great Intuit product, Quickbooks, to manage all the accounting for Dream Living Realty. Another great Intuit product this time of year? TurboTax.

TurboTax 2010 is the #1-rated, best-selling tax software from Intuit. Below are some highlights of what's new this year:

Greater Ease and Accuracy: Automatically transfer essential tax information from last year's return and from hundreds of thousands of employers and financial institutions. Instantly transfer data and simply confirm it's correct.

Customized Guidance and Recommendations: Unique GPS feature provides additional guidance and recommendations, based on each customer's individual tax situation. TurboTax recommends the deductions and credits that will help customers get their maximum refund.

Better, Faster Answers: Customers have easy ways to get answers to their questions, when and how they need them, including instant answers from other TurboTax users and tax experts online via the TurboTax Live Community.

And I have three (3) TurboTax online codes to file your taxes for free this year. The codes are redeemable at TurboTax.com and good for one free federal + state preparation and e-file with TurboTax Premier Online 2010. The codes are only valid through the 2010 tax season.

So if you want one, leave a comment. I will post the winners on Monday, March 7th. Good luck!