South Mountain Climb

February is also the time for the South Mountain "Climb for the cure" for cancer. Last year although I had already achieved my weight loss goal and had been working out on the glider daily, it was kind of tough and I ended up with shin splints. It is five and a half miles to the top, with the steepest incline towards the top. This year i spent more time on the stairs in preparation, and did a lot more stretching before we started. It was still a bit of a challenge, but all of us felt that it was much easier this year than last. Once at the top, we walked around a bit, got some water and a banana, took some photos and admired the amazing view of Phoenix. The weather was beautiful, and I found myself saying "I am only going to say this once, I think we should walk back down!" Last year we took the bus down to the start, but this year we walked down the road for about 3 miles and then found a trail and hiked down the rest. It was a great workout and I think I clocked 30 something thousand steps that day and about 17 miles which was a record!! So here are some of the pictures, courtesy of Deneb and Ben.

As you can see, it was dark when we started, I think we finally started climbing about 7:30 AM.

FIrst mile, still kind of dark, but having fun!

Still climbing!

Still climbing!

We made it to the top!! Now the silly stuff :-)

How often does a girl get to wear a tutu!!! Next month (March) The Heart Walk, Stay healthy and Happy photography! :-)

February 2016 5K Insane Inflatables

Happy February,

If I keep up with this, one good thing in addition to the health/fitness piece, is that I will be posting monthly.

This month I got talked into doing an Insane Inflatables 5K!!! It is a course with huge inflatable obstacles that you go through. The back of the Tee Shirt they gave us says

"RUN BOUNCE SLIDE"

which is pretty much what we did! About 3/4 of the way through the race, there was a sign that said something to the effect of

"Imagine how you are going to feel walking tomorrow!"

not something I wanted to think about at the time. I went with friends from work, Deneb (who did the Santa Run with me in December)and her two boys, Tina, and Angela.

We went in Super Hero shirts, but put on the Tee Shirt they gave us at the end of the race, hence the different outfits. Can't wait for some races that we can wear our tutus to!!

We ran in heats every 15 minutes so there was no pile up at any of the obstacles.

Here are some pictures and if you google "Insane Inflatables 5K", it will show you some of the obstacles and pictures from the race.

The mustaches came from a beer company that was at the end of the race, they were giving out samples of their beer, fake mustaches and had the fun mustache teeter-totter. I hadn't been on one of those in a really long time.

All in all, it was really fun, I made it thought all of the obstacles without killing myself, and I am surprisingly not very sore at all today.

Until next time, Happy Photography!

2016 New Year, New Goals

Hi,

Hope 2016 is starting off well for everyone.

How many of you set a New Year's Resolution? Better yet, how many of you set a New Years Resolution and KEEP IT!!?

If you looked at my last post, getting fit and staying healthy are two goals I am going to continue persuing and see where it takes me.

My goal is to try to complete at least 1 5K a month for the year, and display my medals in December.

In January, I did the "You are stronger than you think" 5K at Kiwannis Park in Tempe AZ. It was is a beautiful park and the race took us around the lake and playing fields and back. As I said earlier, my goal is not necessarily to run, but to walk/power walk the races, and obviously complete them. I currently walk about an 11 minute mile. Here are some after pictures with the medal, I will do a better picture of all the medals in December.

Until Next post, Happy Photography

Santa Run 2015

Deneb, a friend of mine from work and I have challenged each other to be more active. I work out on my glider, averaging about 5 miles a night, and she goes to the gym and works out and takes some classes, like Zumba. We are going to try to do at least one 5k or similar activity a month for the next year. So, we kicked off our new challenge by doing the Santa Run 5K in Glendale this weekend. It is a fairly new race, this was only the 3rd year, but it was a lot of fun. We walked it but that is how we plan to do our 5k's to keep the stress off of my knees. Here are some pictures from the day, hope you like them.

Until next time, Happy Photography :-)

The Shed

If you know anything about me, it's that I don't sit still very often. My husband jokes that if we don't go away for vacations, I am likely to build on an addition to the house. So I have just finished a lovely staycation at home with the family. As usual I did not get everything on my "To Do" list finished, but I am pleased to say I did make some progress.

We had the house painted earlier this year, and ever since it has been painted, I have be trying to come up with an idea for the front of the shed that faces the street. I have been trying my hand at some Zentangle inspired art for a while, and hope to someday become a "CZT" Certified Zentangle Teacher. The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com. It is very meditative and an amazing art form, I would encourage everyone to check out the website.

In any case, I decided that this would be the idea for the shed, so here it is

I thinks it's fun and whimsical, just what I was hoping for.

Hope you like it too!

Until next time, HAPPY PHOTOGRAPHY :-)

Beautiful Drive to Mt. Lemmon in Tucson AZ

If you want to get out of the valley and head to cooler weather, Mt. Lemmon in Tucson is a great option. We went today, and it is a beautiful drive. You go from 1000 feet above sea level to over 8000 feet above sea level, going through 3 different ecosystems. Supposedly there are mountain lions and bear, but we didn't see any.

The drive is amazing, with all sorts of places to pull off the road to take pictures, hike, picnic, or just enjoy the views. The rock formations are AMAZING, and the views are SPECTACULAR!! Here is a taste of what you can see.

Also the ski lift is open all year round so you can ride that to the top if you like. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Until next time, Happy Photography! :-)