Mother, Run, Hike

One of my favorite things in magazines used to be the What's In Your bag page. I realize now that most of those were just Another ad. But, because I am on the process of changing bags, I wanted to give you a peek at what is inside my work bag . I carry a very small purse, so that post would be three sentences... I carry my wallet, and my phone in it.   The first bag- I got a promotion at work a few weeks ago, and I decided to switch back to my supervisor bag.  Bag #1 I've had this bag since 2008, I got it at Target, it was from their Isaac Mizrahi line. I loved everything about this bag, the size, the shape, the color, the inside lining.  But this bag no longer fits my needs.  This is what I had inside of it.   Food... chocolate hazelnut candy is my favorite !  I have the hazelnut Hershey kisses, Mexican hazelnut candy and this tasty wafers I picked up at Aldi.  I also always take my Tajin to work, but can't l...

Happy Monday! How are you today? I'm sure glad I'm not Warren Beatty this morning! I'm  linking up with Holly and Tricia  this week for the weekly wrap. Last week was tiring, and it felt like I couldn't find my running rhythm. Workouts Wednesday: easy 3 miles + weights Thursday: 4.5 miles easy and zumba Friday: running exercises' and pull up bar exercises Saturday: Zumba Sunday: Squirrelly Tail Half Marathon Not My Best! On Monday our office volunteer to help out Dress For Success set up their store, for their semi-annual sale. I know I talked about this before, but what is a good deed if one can't keep referencing back to it? right? I'm telling you about it again because 1. I was told by an older gentleman that I shouldn't carry boxes, because I'm "A little Girl "...( Insert eye roll here)  his exact words! to which, I rudely responded by asking " you mean like this?" and lifting two boxes at one time. Th...

Happy Friday! How are you today? This weeks has been super busy! I'm joining the Friday 5 Link up with  Running on Happy  & Fairytales and Fitness . I'm bringing you 5 Random things I loved this week. 1. My son stayed home sick on Wednesday, we spent the day cuddling in the couch and watching Chopped. He loves watching Chopped and Cooks Vs. Cons. It sucked that he was sick, but quality time with him on random days always makes me happy. 2. Hidden Figures - We went to see this over the weekend, and it was amazing! if you haven't see it yet, make sure you check it out. 3. Helping out- Last Monday, our office was closed to participants, and we helped out Dress for Success to set up their sale. We set up their temporary store in 3 hours! all the work my co-workers did was amazing! After helping out with unloading the truck, I snuck out for a pretzel, because I was super hungry... but I was there emotionally! 4. This amazing post from Suzy- ...

Hello, how are you today? Last year I did a post on things that I don't like to hear when when pmsing.  Last week, Roger and I got into a flight and he reminded me that I also say thing that are annoying to him. A little background for you, Roger works from home, and often he will do things around the house, like taking out the trash, washing the towels, taking out the recycling..... Well, last week he asked me to take the trash, and said to me " I am not the maid here!"  And I answered something really mean, I said " right, because if you were the maid, I would have fired you." In my defense, I had just walked in from work, I was hungry and my son was refusing to work on his homework.  We made up, and got past it. But this made me think of other things I say that annoy Roger. 1. Do you know how much toilet paper/ paper towels cost? He hates this one! he uses paper towels for everything, and I use reusable towels for wiping things. 2. This conversation : ...

Hello World! It feels like I have been away for a long time! Last week was crazy busy, and intense. We had birthdays, running, new workouts, it was amazing! Workouts Tuesday: Cardio Funk and 5 mile run Wednesday: 1.5 miles run, and Ripped class Thursday: 3 miles sprints Friday : 10 miles tempo Saturday: 3 easy miles Sunday : 10 miles tempo (ish)   Loved On Tuesday I was making friends and talking to the Cardio Funk instructor and my friend Melissa, they told me about this Ripped class at the Y, and I gave it a try. It was an intense work out, lots of cardio, core, burpees and weights. I will be coming back for this class next week. Last week was a mix bag with running, I ran on the treadmill, I ran long, I ran with the sunrise, and with the sunset, I ran wearing layers on the cold, and shorts for the warm weather. It was all enjoyable! Very much Loving This weekend was all birthday celebrations ! My niece turned 2 and my younger sister also had a...

Today I'm linking up with Wendy for the TTLWH book club, because this time I got to read the book! I found the book My Marathon by Frank Shorter on the NPR book list. As soon as I saw the words Marathon, I knew this was going on my reading list. I made the request to my library and picked up two days later. Reading about the physical, mental and emotional abuse towards him and his siblings was heartbreaking. I just kept asking myself how did the community that lived and glorify his father never knew about the abuse? At times during the book, when Mr. Shorter talked about the exclusivity of running back in the days he was in college and high school, it made me feel inadequate. For me, it was when reading his words saying how the goal of some marathoners nowadays, is to finish, and not so much to wining it... That rubbed the wrong way. Maybe it was me reading it with a very critical eye, maybe I was feeling over sensitive, I do that sometimes. My favorite part of the bo...

Race Info Date: February 11 at 10:00 am Price : $20 Weather : cool 35, light wind. I have wanted to do this race since 2015, but my schedule didn't allow for it. But this year was my time to run it! The thought of a 2 mile race sounded easy... until we arrived to Mesiah College and saw the hills on campus! Registration was easy, and I got a long sleeve shirt, which I wasn't expecting, it was a nice surprise! The race is also a costume contest, there were a few couples dressed on couple costumes. There was a girl wearing flowers all over and the guy that she was with was wearing a heart shaped chocolate box on his head, and had chocolate candy taped all over his body. There was also a girl wearing a long gown and the guy that she was with was wearing a suit and a church made out of a box on his head. As we lined up for the start of the race, I wondered how they would be able to run on those costumes, but told myself to be ready to be surpri...

It is no secret now that I was born in Mexico, but what might not know, is that for the first 15 years of my life, I was not known as Ana, but as Luisa. Back in 1982, my mother first picked my middle name, based on the Saint of the date of my birth, Saint Louis (San Luis). The first name was up for debate for about a week, she went back and forth between Maria, Fernanda and Artemisa, the last one rhymed weirdly with my middle name, so it was immediately tossed. She settled in Ana, and never used it again until 1997. In Mexico, we don't put a lot of value on the first name, hence a lot of girls are named Maria, and a lot of boys are named Jose. The name we give priority to, is our middle name. When asked, we answer our middle name, and only dig out the first name for official documents. Anybody who knows me in Mexico, knows me a Luisa . Close family here call me Lui . So, when I first moved here, my first day at school, all my teac...

Happy Monday!! Last week was weird again. I was sick at the beginning of the week and barely got in any workouts. I say it was all about recovery from this evil cold! Workouts Thursday : 3 miles easy, and Zumba Friday : 3.6 miles Saturday : Love Run 2 miles and weights Sunday: Zumba and weights I'm  linking up with Holly and Tricia  this week for the weekly wrap. On Monday , after completing most of my work, I went home sick. I could barely hold my head up and couldn't concentrate on anything. I spent the rest of the day napping and taking cold meds. Thursday we had a snow day! My son and I enjoyed our extra sleep! then we did some light work at home. I also ran with the Fleet Feet group, which ended up being another woman, Fred and I. Did Not Love On Friday I joined the HARRC group for their full moon Beer Run. It was fun, but I ended up awkwardly waiting for people to drink their beer, because I don't drink beer and I am not a very socia...

Happy Friday! What a week it has been! I'm l inking up with Running on Happy  & Fairytales and Fitness   for the Friday Five 2.0. Today's theme is Love. So I'll share with you things that I LOVE hearing as a runner, in no particular order. 1. Yes, Let's do that race! I invite family, friends and co-workers to do races with me. I have no problems doing them alone, but a race with others is always more fun! 2. Race is Chip timed - When I started running, I would do whatever races I could find... now I'm picky, and prefer chip time races. 3. I'll watch the kid(s) while you run - a mother runner is eternally looking for somebody to keep an eye on the kids, while one goes to run! But it's even better when said kid says #1 on top. 4. I brought Donuts/ bagels/ banana bread/ muffins this morning ! To be real, I love this one at the office, no matter the day or time. 5. "The weather today will be sunny, high of 55 with li...

I am not exaggerating when I tell you that I have been studying to become a citizen for 15 years now. Back in 2000. There are 100 possible questions, 10 are asked, and the test taker needs to answer 7 correctly. I have helped everybody in my family study for the test, most predominantly, my mom. She went all out for her test, she had two study guides, one in Spanish, one in English, flashcards, a video and a CD. When I was helping her study, I realized that I struggled with a few of the questions, so I'm dedicating extra effort to those. Here are the questions that I struggled with before, and hope that writing them down will help me remember them. Questions can be found Here *Highlight for answers* 1. How many members does the House of Representatives have ? Answer : 435. My answer: 425 2. Who is your current Senator a. Bob Casey Jr. I knew this one! b. Pat Toomey (I intentionally block out his name and can never remember it when I need it). 3. If both the...