recap tuesday @ 7200 feet.

we didn’t have any major plans for tuesday.

1.) visit the campus.

2.) go to the game.

I was wanting to get in a run, but you all saw how well that turned out. if you forgot…check it out HERE!

I was all gung-ho about having lunch on campus that day, but Hubby decided to sleep until 1pm, and I didn’t feel like repeatedly trying to wake him up…he tends to get cranky. so I just enjoyed left over pizza and lounging with all the pups.

we finally made it to campus at about 3pm.

it was a gorgeous day in laramie. no wind. sunny. just a nice “spring” day.

there are some gorgeous buildings on campus.

prexy’s pasture (I guess UW’s version of a quad?).

that’s most definitely a “typical” wyoming christmas tree.

I won’t lie. being on campus makes me miss it. I love the vibe that being on campus gives. I love the idea of going from class to class. I hated all the time I spent studying and working on projects, but I do miss college.

we went to dinner later that evening with our friends in historic downtown laramie.

the buckhorn bar. you haven’t really been to the buckhorn bar until you do the buckhorn roll. and the buckhorn roll is often complete inadvertently after too many drinks. the Rents…er….maybe Dad has said he’s completed the buckhorn roll.

I kept a close eye on the clock. I was starting to worry we were going to miss tip-off. but we didn’t. we were still early enough to see the Pokes do their entrance.

my boys in red and black. Hubby might have been a little impressed with my knowledge of the boys. I picked them all out, and knew first names. I can get a little crazy when it comes to “my teams.”

let me be perfectly clear who I was rooting for that evening. and yes, we sat in the student section (my Rents might have disowned me after they learned that I was fully rooting for the aztecs that evening)….I think Hubby might have been a little worried when we started getting looks from the drunk students. I can take them. I wasn’t worried.

a slushy to enjoy! its kind of like rockies games and squishy’s…its not a Pokes game without one.

final score? aztecs won by 20+. I went to get a picture of the scoreboard but they turned it off before I could get there. who does that? I probably would have done it too though. poor Pokes. they just need this season to be over with and move on.

no partying after them game. we had to hit the road early in the morning. we had a couple pooped puppies from all the playing they did with the other 3 puppies. the ride home was quiet.

we stopped off in casper to have brunch with my sister.

hi sister!

we got home and relaxed. caught up on our dvr shows.

our home away from home

MONDAY RECAP

Hubby always has a weird schedule, so our “weekends” don’t always necessarily land on the weekend. this week he has monday, tuesday, wednesday off. and with me not having a job right now…well it makes it easy for us to kind of do whatever when his schedule allows and not have to worry about planning around 2 schedules.

monday, Hubby got off work at 0800am. he had worked all night, so he took a nap in the morning. I still hadn’t gotten much sleep but wasn’t really feeling going back to sleep when he got home. so I got up and finished packing for our 3 day trip. I was scheduled for a “cross training” day at the gym, but just really wasn’t in the mood for anything. so I took the day off. there is a lot that goes into packing when you have 2 dogs to tote along with you. I can’t imagine the amount of packing involved with kids.

we left sheridan around 1230ish. the roads were perfectly dry. nice sunny day out. around 40* the whole way. when we got to casper we hit a major slush pocket. that’s all fine and dandy, but my subaru doesn’t do well in slush. we were sliding all over the place. there was a car coming up fast on our rear and a semi in the right line. we were headed for the ditch, but thankfully we hit a dry patch of pavement and got straightened out. and the a$$hole behind us narrowly missed us.

we stopped only for a quick potty break and hit the road. we still had two hours to go. the roads stayed nice until we hit Shirley Rim, and well…then…

we got typical Shirley Rim in February.

there was nothing but snow, snow fences and giant snow drifts that might qualify as mountains if you live in Nebraska or Kansas.

these babies were cranking all gathering lots of wind energy.

luckily though it was packed ice and not much slush so we weren’t sliding all over the place.

hello laramie. oh…I just enjoy being here. Hubby and I lived in laramie for 2 years while I finished up my degree. if there is another place in wyoming I HAD to live….it would most definitely be here.

we made it to laramie just about 530pm. which is saying a lot since it usually only takes 4 hours.

we are in laramie for the college basketball game tonight night. University of Wyoming v. San Diego State University. You better believe I didn’t bring any brown and gold with me on this trip. sorry Cowboys, but you’ve been kind of embarrassing this season and well…my boys in red and black are just rockin’ it.

we are staying with some good friends and they have some playmates for Twogwotee.

meet Diesel.

meet Boog.

those boys are only 5 months old. and weigh 75ish lbs.

and they think they are lap dogs.

I’m was going to attempt a little run tuesday morning, before it gets got windy. the birds were chirping, the sun was shining. it was glorious. and I brought my clothes to run in, but forgot my vest. I had someone preventing me from changing though.

and that’s as far as my running clothes made it that day. to the couch and right back into the traveling bag. I just couldn’t get warm enough to want to go outside to run in cooler weather. laramie sits at 7200 feet above sea level compared to sheridan at 3700 feet. oh boy. 

tuesday/wednesday (wednesday was boring just the drive home) recap coming tomorrow.

my regular bloggin will return in a few days.

hey ya'll!

i'm currently enjoying the thin oxygen at 7200 feet above sea level in gorgeous laramie, wy!

i'll be back to "normal" on thursday...with lots of pictures!

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running outside=glorious!

current temperature in sheridan, wyo is 36*.
about an hour ago it was probably 25*.

I was half “forced” to do something other than the gym today. I went to the gym with all intentions of doing a “cross training” workout. when I got there I noticed, not a single car in the parking lot. sweet. the whole gym to myself. I scanned my key card to get in. it unlocked, but the door wouldn’t open. after a closer look, I noticed that the door was pushed in beyond the door jam thingy. I jerked and jerked and never got it to open. it appeared the only way you were going to get it open was by pushing from the inside. no wonder no one else was at the gym. so…I climbed back in my car and drove home. I had already taken my pre-workout supplement, so I felt like it was a waste if I didn’t do something.

the weather was gorgeous. not cold if you had the right amount of clothes on. no wind. sunny. pretty perfect. so I braved the outdoors and told myself I was going to do the 5K loop that I know in town. too get to the beginning its about a 0.5 mile from my house. I asked around the house to see if anyone wanted to join me.

I got this look in response.

“a run?! I’ll go for a run with you Mom! oh please, oh please! pick me!”

so I stretched out, walked outside to make sure I was really going to do this. I doubled checked that Twogwotee was ready to go.

I’m pretty sure this is a face of…”are we EVER going to do this?”
don’t mind her ears…she’s lucky if she’s got them going in the same direction at the same time. they’re a little big for her….I wonder if she’ll ever grow into them.

the only snowy part of the run was the beginning and ending. my side road to get to the main road and the nice little bike path they have through town. the city does a very nice job of plowing the path through town immediately after a storm. its better taken care of than some of the streets. this run tested me, that’s for sure. the elements are a LOT different outside than on a treadmill (as I expected). this is the first time I had hills thrown in. I wanted to stop. I wanted to walk. I pushed through. the first little walk I did was over halfway into my run, and it was only for the purpose to take a few snap shots of the surrounding gorgeous-ness.

ignore the fence, really. the fence is for the “zoo.” there are a few buffalo (including a baby from last spring) and some elk in this “zoo.” you usually only see the buffalo. they were on top laying in the feed/hay. I was trying to get a picture of the glorious Bighorn Mountains.

nice clear running path. made it easy to focus on the running, breathing, and not tripping over Twogwotee. this actually only happened about once…and it was at the beginning. she likes to play with the leash for the first few blocks of our walks. this was the first day we tried a run. I think she did an amazing job. I was very proud of my little girl.

still glorious! just a few weeks ago when I was out walking this same path in a tank top and shorts the creek was completely open. not any more. I think the sub 0 temps had something to do with that.

“how you holding up Twogs?”
“great Mom! this is fun. but maybe could you slow down? I’m getting tired.”

remember I don’t have a garmin watch, so I just kind of have to guess how well I did with my regular watch and my splits I had set up.
for the first 0.5 mile; 4.54 minutes. perfect little pace.
the next 3 miles-ish (I may have taken off about 0.1 mile without the cut through the park where the start and finish were set up last fall; 28:35.
(side note: this 5K was walked last year by my mother and I for breast cancer awareness, that’s how I know the route is a 5K. )
the last 0.5 mile back to house; 5:24
total time for ~4 miles; 38:55
not too shabby for my first outdoor run. I’m more than happy with it. I felt great. I felt confident, except on the hills, but that will come with time. I’m happy that I finished under 40 minutes. better than a 10 minute mile.

nice stretch at home post run.
1.) don’t mind the crazy look in my eye.
2.) don’t mind the crazy woman hair…I had already taken my buff off.
3.) don’t mind my bright red legs. I really wasn’t cold.
4.) don’t mind all the dog toys surrounding me. my whole house is littered with them.

I did change out shoes for my outdoor running experience. felt great.

 

this is what I ran in. sports bra (not seen), tshirt (not seen), long sleeve North Face shirt (blue), North Face down vest (black) and shorts. and I was perfect! If the temperatures were a little higher, I might opt out of the vest. I did have my buff on and also gloves so my hands didn’t get cold. I even managed to break a little sweat. it felt great. who needs the gym? I can’t wait to get back outside for another run with my new partner.

rough night

most nights are better than others…but I still have some rough nights.

it will be 5 years this fall.
I still struggle.

flashback to November 2006.
I was attending my first semester at San Diego State University in San Diego, CA.
I had 3 roommates.
roommate 1 and I shared a room, while roommates 2 and 3 shared a room.

on this particular night, roommate 1 was out of town for some family reasons.
roommates 2 and 3 were out with their friends doing what almost every college student does on any night of the week…having fun!

I was the only one home.
I decided to turn in for the night.
locked the front door and went to my room, but something told me to lock my bedroom door also. so I did.

0200am rolls around.
I’m fast asleep. still home alone.
I hear voices. rustling of personal belongings being gone through.
first thought. roommates 2 and 3 are home for a quick stop, brought some guys friends back.

I wait.
listen for familiar voices.
then I hear the people try to get into my room.
I call out, “yeah?”
footsteps bolting out the front door.

I am terrified.
this can’t be happening.
I come from Wyoming.
I’m living in “on campus, gated apartments.”
I thought we were suppose to be “safe.”

I get up and open my door.
look around the apartment.
notice nothing major missing.

I investigate into roommates 2 and 3’s room.
I notice a computer missing.
I notice a purse contents dumped on the bed.

I immediately call the campus police.
”I’m pretty sure someone just broke into my apartment.”

they respond quickly. thank God.
men, football sized men, running from the police.
men, football sized men, being tazed.

I call Mom, hysterical.
”I’M COMING HOME!”

the police catch 5 men, football sized men.
our apartment isn’t the only one they broke into.
they had been let into the locked, gated apartment complex by someone else coming or going at the same time.
they have stolen a bunch of others belongings including roommates 2 and 3 belongings.

I finished out my only semester at SDSU and came home to Wyo in December 2006.

I have struggled being home alone ever since.

Hubby is on nights currently for his job.

I have been doing really well, but some nights I just have overwhelming anxiety and barely get any sleep, sleep with every light on in the house.

Having Twogwotee makes me feel a little more secure, although I’m sure she would lick anyone to death, but she does sound pretty mean when she does bark out back.

Last night was just one of those nights.
I woke up feeling like I didn’t get any sleep. I felt like I tossed and turned. I woke up numerous times soaked in sweat. I slept with the hall light on. If Hubby’s at work, I sleep with the front and back porch light on.
We sleep with a handgun on the night stand.

I pity the person that ever does really break into my house if I’m the only one home.

hopefully tonight is a little better.
I just wanted to sleep well last night.
I had 6 miles to run today.
I managed to pound them out in 56:08. 9:20 minute/mile.
I know I will be taking a nap later today.

I’ve got to get showered and cozy-ed up on the couch. my boys in black and red (SDSU boys basketball) made the big time today. they play BYU on CBS in about an hour and half! yippee.

date night

last night was Hubby and my date night. we don’t do these often, but when we do…we always try to change it up.
last nights date was a first for us as a couple. we went to dinner (not new) and a high school play (new).

I loved this as a little kid on video. Hubby obviously hadn’t seen what I had as a kid. He was impressed when I was singing along…”I don’t wanna grow up. I don’t wanna go to school. To learn to be a parent, and recite a silly rule.”

we got all prettied up.

the boots (often referred to as my “hooker boots.”) complete the outfit.

we headed out the door for dinner.

subway…because we are classy like that.

steak and cheese for me.

chicken bacon ranch for Hubby (he tried with all his might to refuse this picture until I started making a scene inside Subway…he quickly agreed).

before we headed to the high school we stopped off at Safeway for some snackies. the play started at 730pm and I wasn’t sure there was going to be a intermission WITH snacks or not. plus I felt kind of rebellious.

thank the lord for a purse with lots of room.

flipz, hershey’s drops, a mountain dew and water. no room to spare.

before the crowds showed up. it got packed and really hot in the theater. not fun. had I known it wasn’t going to be freezing, I might have decided on a little less clothing. but I didn’t want to freeze considering it was below 0 outside. you just never know.

we were able to put the snackies in a very easy accessible location to sneak them during the show. I’m pretty sure it was so hot inside the theater that the chocolate on the pretzels started to melt.

 

the play was decent. long. but decent. there was an intermission, but I don’t think they had snacks available. only vending machines. the intermission came 2 hours into the play, and I over heard someone say there was still an hour left. I asked Hubby if he wanted to leave. I was not really into it, but we decided to stay. I’m ok that we did. We didn’t miss anything too spectacular. We got home close to 1100pm. So it was a “longer than I expected” performance. I remember when I was in high school that I would go to EVERY play performance to see how they differed with the different people playing the rolls. I won’t be doing that this time.