A peaceful place or so it looks from space.....

We have chosen to ignore what this war is doing to our country. The media hides information from our eyes in order to feed the war machine. If we dont see it and what it is doing to our soilders, our economy, the country...then we will blindly support it. We are fighting a losing battle. Bring the troops home, lets fight this battle on our soil not theirs.

What you dont see.

What this is costing us..

Just had to get that off my chest.

walk me out in the cold rain and snow...

Sheesh, the last post on this thing was in MAY! Holy crap! So much has happened.

Purchased a home.....

.........in the hills of Virginia (view from our porch).

Took on another member of the family (me and PACO, our new dog).

Life is good. It has been quite cold here in VA, I have been on many runs wearing a face full of vaseline and the warmest running clothes I own. There is no such thing as cold weather, just bad clothes. Today, I ran 7 miles with a elevation gain of 2000 feet. When I am not out in the Shenandoah National Park or Massanutten, I haul around the dirt roads I live on. They are tough, like fire roads but better maintained. Thats where the 7 miles came from, on  ice, wearing my Yak-Trax.

I love this time of year, running in sub zero tempratures make me feel so alive. The cold is a challenge in itself, the bare trees are quite lovely. They show me the vistas they conceal in the summer months and allow me to have a view of the ridgeline throughout my run. These trees let the wind burn my face and the sun shine down, while they take a beating from Old Man Winter.....love this little mountain of mine.

I will however be happy when the winter running laundry heap is over. Damn, I wear a lot of clothes.

Ok, back to work on some jewerly. Been slackin' on that too! I will leave a pic of our road in the summer....

it was about 97 degrees F when this pic was taken. Today, it is about 70 degrees colder and this road is encased in ice!

Peace OUT xoxox

Being twisted a million different ways

add the stress of buying a house, working 11-12 hour days, trying to train for upcoming races, dealing with office BS, and the possibility of having to travel anywhere in the country at a moments notice...really makes for some interesting thoughts in my head...ARRRG!
How do you fit it all into one day? well, take it one day at a time. I got through yesterday ok and today is well on its way out. Tomorrow will be another day and the days add up. Pretty soon the rough patch is gone and a lot was learned. Yesterday, I learned the day was all in my attitude. If I let people or situations mess with my serenity, then yes...the day went awry. If I kept focused on myself and the task at hand, not worrying about what everyone else is doing....and the day went wonderful. Trying to stay positive and doing the best possible job I can do. What more can anyone ask for?
Things I am grateful for today:

• my health
• my family
• stable blood sugar (ha! I am doing a good job with nutrition today)
• clean drinking water
• clean clothes
• a job
• herbal tea
• a computer network that hasnt crashed
• phish and youtubes of phish
• the woods

Ok, thats all for now. Hope anyone who is reading this has a great day! If you are having a shitty one, just list everything you are grateful for today...at this exact moment and your day may not seem so shitty.
XOXOXOX

When the days go by...

And what a day it was. Capon Valley 50k was last Saturday and I have to admit, it is one of my favorite races. Sure, the scenery is lush and beautiful..but the people make this race. The volunteers who spend their entire day out helping the runners reach their goal. I am talking about lovely people who say, "thank you for running this race" when you reach their aid station. Volunteers who make a bbq chicken dinner for every runner. I am talking about a home cooked meal! Homemade dressings for the salads, pies, baked beans, and even the BBQ sauce is homemade. So much love is poured into this race, it makes for a lovely experience. I had a smile on my face the entire run.

And the run itself? Well considering it had a cumulative elevation gain of 11,000 feet and i had zero training (seriously, I havent run over 15 miles in months) I finished in 6:35. Not too shabby, considering. The best part is that I feel great. No soreness, tightness, nothing. The climbs were great and the downhills were my favorite, super fast and not very technical. As I recall, I actually threw my arms up and yelled as I ran down the hills..laughing like a little kid. Trail running and ultras do that to me. Maybe there was something in the bananas.

Today? I am fully recovered. Actually, I was fully recovered on Sunday morning. It may be the time i have spent strength training in the gym, or maybe it was the kindness of a community helping me along. Whatever it was, it was a beautiful day and I am glad I was around to see it.

The end of the month holds another 50k put on by a super talented and nutty ultra girl. She describes the course as having, "Barkley-esque climbs" and "dont plan on PR'ing this course". YEEEHAW! I cant wait.

Nothing much on the jewelery front right now except some sketches. My "studio" is a bit of a mess right now and I havent had any time to get in there and straighten things up. I did buy some really cool pieces of stone and petrified wood when I was out in CO. There are big plans in the works for those pieces.

Kiss the mountain air we breathe, oh its time to fly.

XOXOXOOX

Holy Crap! A lot has happened......

The super giganitc-normous-large-and-in-charge news:

Well, Mike done did it....he asked me to marry him and I said yes! Actually, I beleive the answer was, "f*!k yeah!"...I like to keep it classy. We are pretty excited, I am going to marry my best friend and his funny jokes. He will keep me laughing for a long time, well that and the solder fumes from my jewelery!

In training news:

My ass is lazy and I have been really slacking with my training. Must be a winter slump (although this did not happen last year). I have kicked my mileage down to 35 mpw and I have not seen a technical trail for an entire month. The snow is still on the trail from the December "blizzard" here in VA and my yaktrax have not touched a single icy rock or snow covered root. No clue why, but it is making me sad and its going to make my 50k time that much slower. AND i have gained 2 pounds from not running as much...UGGGGG. But that's cool, I know what I need to do. And its called self motivate.

My upcoming races are 2/13 (Holiday Lake 50++K) and 3/27 HAT Run 50k. I will hopefully post my results of non-training. HA. Thank buddah, I run a very hilly maintance route (1200 ft of cumaltive elevation gain in 6.8 miles), it helps out alot. But it also lets me slack alot...tempo runs? huh? see what I mean?!?!!?

My jewelry:

Well, I am having a hard time with my work space. It is very small and it is currently in the back room of our even smaller abode. This room doubles as a studio/sewing room/office/guest room (although we rarely have guests) I am so cramped in there and have to open a window when i solder (the soldering thing is another story). Plus I have realized that I need a different torch b/c mine burns way too hot. Lots of melted pieces and cursing have come out of my workspace. But learning all this stuff is so much fun! By the way, if ANYONE reads this crap, do you have any good websites for beginning metalsmithing? Like the absolute basics.

I did make these the other day:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=38853389

Made the chain and handwrapped the beads myself. I actually had fun doing it and am thinking about making a longer pair or a bracelet. We will see how that goes. Oh and one more thing, any advice on photographing

my jewelry? I have a decent camera but I have no clue how to set up my shots.!!!! ACK! HALP! And one more thing...I have a new favorite animal. Ladies and gents, may I introduce the Ferruginous Pigmy Owl:

He is so cute and wee. Measures 6 inches tall.....my he is the most handsome lil' owl I have ever seen. Ok, gotta roll....love, peace, and hair grease.