Our Track Star!!

Skyler and her friend Karlie

Skyler has been so excited about yesterday's track meet.  The 5th and 6th grade classes from Reynolds got to race up at the high school track.  They have been practicing and trying out for different spots in the meet.  Skyler qualified for the high jump, 800 meter coed relay, 70 meter hurdles and 50 yard dash.  Skyler did AWESOME!!  She placed first in 5th grade girls for the 50 yard dash, placed second in her heat for the hurdles, and ran awesome in her leg of the coed relay!!  It was so much fun for Paul and I to watch and brought back memories of when I got to watch Paul do so well in track back in our high school dating days.  Congratulations Skyler!

Ski Trip

It is Skyler's Christmas break from school.  She already went to work with me for one day (she actually likes it there) but yesterday I took the day off so that her and I could go on our yearly ski trip tradition that we started last year and spend some fun mom/daughter time together.  Last year when I took Skyler to Snowstar, she discovered that she loves to ski and is darn good at it.  So this year, as part of her Christmas present, I took her out again.  (I will say we appeared to be the only girls there in Carhartts and Camo...)

We fly down the big hills -- she has absolutely no fear -- which scares me to death.  I used to be able to convince her to try to slow herself down while skiing, but yesterday all I could see was a little camo girl with her ski poles tucked up under her arms and body tucked to achieve the top speeds possible.  I always saw this from behind because this girl wasn't gonna do that...I guess age has made me more cautious -- I know too much about what can happen if I were to crash.  However, neither of us wiped out all day!  We had a super fun day together and if money were no option I would go with her ten more times this winter!!

#7 - 30 Days of Thankfulness (Running)

There is a 30 Days of Thankfulness Challenge going on at The Story Matters blog. 

#7 - I am thankful that I have discovered I have a love for running.  I wish I devoted MORE time to it, but I have to keep a balance of everything in my life so I just get out when I can.  I love how much better I feel since that first time I decided to run about 1 1/2 years ago.  This is a picture of me runnig the Bix for the first time this summer -- nope I'm not that 1/2 naked guy on the right...  :)

Featured by Stephanie Lynn at Under the Table & Dreaming!!

I was so excited to find out that Stephanie Lynn at her blog Under the Table & Dreaming decided to feature this pallet art

along with some other SPECTACULAR crafts by some other INCREDIBLY crafty gals...Go check out her site for inspiration!!

2nd Place

This morning I was so excited to take part in my second Quad Cities Marathon...Did I run a marathon, seriously??  26.2 miles?? uh, no...but, I did run the 5K with the sole purpose of beating my time from last year.

My 2nd place trophy

Well - I beat my old time.  I placed 2nd out of 67 in my age division and 19th out of all 536 women who participated.  I have to admit -- I am very happy.  I shaved 1 minute and 20 seconds off of last years time.  Maybe next year I will give the 1/2 marathon a shot???  But then again, maybe not  :)

Honoring a Beautiful Buck

One of my friends called me Saturday night to say her and her husband were flipping through the Bow & Arrow Hunting magazine in HyVee when the following conversation ensued:
Husband:  "Boy, this sure looks like Ginger" 
Wife:  "That's because it IS Ginger!" 
She bought the last 2 copies of the magazine so that we could see it!! 

This 4-page article is kind of the closing chapter honoring the beautiful buck that I was fortunate enough to harvest last fall.  I know bucks like this come by once in a lifetime so I am not delusional thinking that this year will be a repeat -- however, every deer is incredibly special to me -- so reading through this article just got me even more pumped up to get this archery season started.  Paul and I have been doing a countdown for several months now and have again spent countless hours preparing for these upcoming months that are so special to us.  There is just nothing like bow hunting -- so for now I will fulfill my desire to hunt by walking back out to practice shooting the deer target in our back yard again.

Other than the Milan HyVee which is sold out, the October issue of Bow & Arrow Hunting magazine should be available wherever hunting magazines are sold.

Skyler's Turkey Article

On Sunday Bob Groene from the Argus/Dispatch came to Grissoms' Garage and interviewed Skyler about her turkey harvests this year. Skyler told us she was really nervous -- but by the time Bob left I think Skyler had loosened up a bit. If you are interested, you can see SKYLER'S ARTICLE HERE. I was laughing as I read the article because all the misses are usually rare in our family - so to have three listed in one story for all the world to see is a bit humbling...but I guess it happens to the best of us.

Worldwide Publication Holds my Photos

A couple months back I was fortunate enough to be selected to have a photo shoot for Lewis Machine & Tool, a local company who manufactures weapons for military, law enforcement and civilian use worldwide. They wanted a woman who hunts and knows how to hold a weapon. I thought this would be a "once in a lifetime" opportunity so I said I was game. The 2010 catalog is now in print and can be viewed here:

http://www.lewismachine.net/media/2010_LMT_Catalog.pdf

My photos are on pages 19 and 30 (or 21 and 32, depending on how you view it). Thought I would share my 2 seconds of fame ;-)

Quad Cities Marathon

I am so excited to report. . . I ran the 5k portion of the Quad Cities Marathon this morning with my friends Renee and Kathryn - - my first race EVER!! I have decided while training for this race that I LOVE to run (despite the fact that running on gravel means sucking road dust into my lungs and practically twisting my ankles on loose gravel). I have been faithfully running since spring. I finished the race today with a time of 25 minutes and 46 seconds (that is 4th place in my division - women aged 30-35, 3rd place of women aged 35) The fact that I am 35 and just started training this spring makes me INCREDIBLY happy with my time - - but I WANT TO WIN!! I am hoping to run the Turkey Trot this fall and the Bix next July so that I will have something else to keep me motivated and running this winter. :-)


Also - congrats to Angie Dieterich who ran the HALF MARATHON this morning and got 3rd place in women her age that ran it! Way to go Angie!