Hitting the Streets

It's tradition. Each year, we train for and run Mercedes Half Marathon through the streets of the Magic City.

Training for this falls in step with some other traditions. Namely, eggnog, cookies, cream cheese based dips, casseroles and weather that looks like this.

All this to say, I can't decide if this is a great time to amp up the running routine, or the worst time of the year.

Nonetheless, no matter how cold or busy, I know how heartbroken I would be race weekend if we weren't running. (Heartbroken might be a strong word here, work with me.) So early in the morning, out the door we go. Tights and all.

I would be lying if I didn't say crossing off runs wasn't a big motivation. (Things we aren't fans of - first week of training, strength training and cross training. That's what New Year's resolutions are for, right?)

Maybe some day we will move past the Novice training. Today is not that day.

We are closing out week 7 and it's getting increasingly harder to get up and run out in the cold as the mileage increases. Not pictured: my hair paying the price of me running late this morning.

Five weeks to go. Updates to come.

Champagne and Cheese, the Finest of Things

I'm the first to admit New Year's Eve is incredibly overrated. Last year, I self tanned, teased and rolled my hair, got a mani/pedi, found a sequined dress (that I'm still looking for an excuse to wear again) and I would venture to say getting ready might have been the most exciting part of the evening. We had fun, yes, but the whole evening often seems really anti-climatic.

Now let Debbie Downer get to the point - we had such a good time this New Year's Eve! We went much more casual and started with dinner at an Italian restaurant. We split a medium pizza with jalapenos, sausage and ricotta. Bonus points: bottles of wine were half price.

 What to order???

The whole group.

The girls.

We headed downtown to a strip of bars that was hosting a NYE party. Look who we ran into!

I thought I had license on the eye roll.

I was a little sad to see 2010 go. I can't imagine a much better year, but feel free to surprise me 2011!

A Goal is a Dream with a Plan and a Deadline

Don't you love a good quote? This oldie but goodie came to mind when I started writing this post. I'm jumping on the bandwagon and sharing some of our goals for this year in hopes of being more accountable and more transparent.

Another tradition we began this year was our Goal Lunch. You can imagine how thrilled my Type B husband was when I put this on the books, but he always goes along with my requests. I like to think all the talk of good balance in pre-marital counseling has something to do with it.

We had loosely talked about some of the things we wanted to accomplish in 2011, but something about commiting to them on paper makes a big difference to me. I thought we would make this a little more festive, so we made a date of it at one of our favorite restaurants.

Here's a sneak peak of what we are aiming for this new year. I left a few of the more personal things off. No, those don't include a bambino. Yes, we broke them into categories.

Physical

1. Sub 2 hour half marathon

2. Run Statue to Statue 15k- main goal is to survive the mountainous climbs

3. Run two 10ks - time goal TBD

Spiritual - We've been visiting a church for a while now and we both feel this is where we want to be and want to further our involvement.

1. Find a Sunday School and become involved

2. Join the church. We are looking forward to this process and having a church home.

3. Continue devotional time together. We started this a few weeks ago and its something I really look forward to. Having a specific time to talk about our relationship and praying together can be a little awkward at first but I believe the benefits to this time together will be priceless. After finding this on a favorite blog this morning, I was even more inspired to spend this time investing in Matt.

Financial - This was the easiest category for me. If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you know I'm nerdy about the budget. It is refreshing this year to have a partner in budget goals. 2010 mainly went towards paying off the car and a wedding, so this year we're playing a bit of catch up in some other areas and trying to find some balance and enjoy life. Sorry Dave, I just can't get on the rice and beans plan.

1. Triple emergency fund savings.

2. Begin saving for a house downpayment - I got seriously burned in the housing market crash and I will never, ever again buy without a good e-fund and a down payment. One of my bigger regrets. Although, it is what fueled me to be more responsible with money. See, always an upside if you look for it....

3. Pay cash for travel. This is one of the things I'm most excited about this year. I'm really looking forward to doing some traveling with MS. We are already enjoying throwing around ideas for potential destinations.

That's what 2011, hopefully, looks like for the Searsons.

After all, "A goal properly set is halfway reached."

*I'll be changing blog addresses, since we are no longer 'soon to be'. I'll keep you posted!*

Christmas Catch Up

I took a nice blog vacation with my real vacation, and I'm back feeling refreshed and ready to catch up. I had some vacation time that needed to be burned up, which made me feel a little old. I've always been the one kicking it in my cube on NYE, but this year, I took nearly the whole week off. We did some shopping, running, cooking and a whole lot of eating.

Let's rewind to Christmas.

One of our traditions is to eat Chinese, watch Christmas Vacation and drink eggnog. It was fun carrying on this tradition now that we are married and in our first place together.

Christmas Eve we went for a 6 mile run, attended our church's candelight service, and spent the evening with Matt's family. We had breakast for dinner, complete with a bloody mary bar.

We woke up Christmas morning to presents and mimosas! The Grizz was super excited. Being nice went straight out the window when he realized the stocking was full. He got a new leash with a flashlight and a place for poop bags. The joys of city life.

Then we headed up the mountain to my parents house. It was my first white Christmas ever. So festive..and what a great year for it!

We were excited to open presents and drink hot chocolate. With lots of marshmallows!

And of course, just admire the snow.

Hope each of you had a refreshing and relaxing break and were able to take the time to remember the real reason we celebrate.

Bake, Bake, Bake It Up

It's the most wonderful time of the year. Filled with sprinkles, almond bark, red velvet and cream cheese frosting. I might have overextended myself on Sunday's bake-a-thon, but I was semi-pleased with the results and I furthered justified my Kitchen-Aid ownership. That baby did some major mixing over the weekend.

Had to start the day with some of this, paired with the gingerbread latte creamer.

I know we've discussed cake balls on the blog, but my good friend Laura, gave me the great idea to put them on a stick, call them pup pops, and take them to Namath's groomer. So after a batch of regular red velvet for the Bowman/Searson Christmas, I got to work.

Didn't realize styrofoam was necessary for this project. I have no clue how I thought these would stand up to dry. Thankfully we had some in a box, jusy lying around. For all the craft projects I make.

First batch. Post cursing and google searching "my cake pops are falling down the stick".

While I was getting my Jessica Simpson transformation hair cut Saturday, I sent Matt to Hobby Lobby to get bags for the treats. He swears these were all they had left. All in all, I think these turned out semi-cute.

He's so thoughtful.

Monday night was our annual Phi Mu Christmas ornament swap. After spending Sunday up to my elbows in almond bark, this was all I could muster. I never claimed to be Bakerella.

Looks like the making of a good night to me!

My box brownies fit in real well with the baked brie and salmon tarts. Better planning next year girls, I promise.

Aren't we so grown up?

Work is winding down and I'm looking forward to some new Christmas traditions with my better half. They are super sophisticated and I'll be sure to document accordingly.

A Weekend Full of Christmas Cheer - Old and New

There is something about tradition that makes the Christmas season come alive. We love the family traditions our families have set and as each Christmas passes, we are trying to begin traditions of our own. This weekend was a great mix of both- a little something for everyone, if you will.

Last year, Matt's friends hosted a Christmas party that turned into a dance party (for some of us). Hence the birth of the Christmas Dance Party.

I think the haircut was a nice compromise between trim and chop. I tend to get carried away in the chair. Blonder! Shorter! But, I digress...

While there wasn't as much dancing, this year's party provided fun with a taser gun and my first experience with deer sausage. In no particular order.

After a full day of baking Sunday (more on that later), we headed to Matt's sister and brother-in-laws for the Bowman/Searson Christmas. These two families have gotten together for dinner and gift swaps every Christmas since they were little. Now that all the kids are married, there are six families at our annual get together. I'm sure there's a country song that would describe this perfectly.

Sister did a wonderful job hosting. I love seeing everyone's serving pieces and trying new dishes. If Matt didn't hate olives, this dirty martini dip would be a staple. Olives and cream cheese? Yes, please!

Matt's sister married into an Italian family, so we were excited she was making their lasagna recipe! Fun fact - did you know Italians put a hard boiled egg in their sauce? Brother-in-law didn't know any different until he went to the Olive Garden at the age of 15 and asked where the egg was.

The hosts!

All the cheer made 5:45 come too early. Luckily, we had the foresight to snatch up the gingerbread latte creamer at Publix Friday night (yes-we are that exciting). Let the cheer continue!

HB

Let's do a little math, shall we? There are 168 hours in a week. I spend 56 of those sleeping. (I'm an 8 hour gal) 40 at work. That's a close second runner to where I spend most of my hours and definitely first place to where I spend the majority of my waking hours. The people you work with day in, day out, year in, year out, inevitably become intertwined in your life.

Today, on HB's birthday, I'm so glad she's my work neighbor!

When they first brought her to my cube on Main to introduce us, I'm pretty sure there was an eyeroll involved. I thought she was SUPER sweet and would have no appreciation for my sarcastic humor. Can't judge a book by its cover.

The past 5 years, we've seen a lot pass in front of our cubes on what we lovingly dubbed "Main Street". We've also lived a little bit of life. I'll never forget the morning I got brave and told her that I was probably heading towards divorce, being as caring as she is, she of course knew something wasn't right and had been concerned. Or the morning she got brave and told me about her new addition. She watched as I met and fell in love and married Matt. Her happiness when we got engaged is something I'll always remember. I even walked down the aisle in her wedding dress. It seemed things had come full circle and I'm so glad she was among the people that walked with me on that journey.

I so admire how she invests in other people's lives and have seen how excited she gets for the good things that happen to others. What a wonderful trait! She is a wonderful mother, an incredibly hard worker and so sensitive to other people's needs.

We share a mutual love for McDonalds, Greys and blogs. It's not a Thursday night if we arent emailing about the drama as it unfolds on ABC. (Much like we watch it unfold on Main Street, now that I think about it.)

We've moved cubes now, and Main Street is no longer "home". But HB does make work feel a little more like home, no matter the street.

Here's to you HB! Wishing you a birthday full of cheese dip and butter biscuits.