Underneath the Stars

Oh the aches and pains this morning.  Does anyone have a new pair of feet they can let me borrow? Even with blisters on my feet,  I think I want to go on another hike. It was much more enjoyable than the treadmill.  I'm becoming a monster one of those people!

Other news from this weekend is I completed the invitations for my mom's party.  It wasn't that hard and I saved about $300 dollars printing them myself.  Please let me take the time to mention, that I could not have done it without the help of the husband.  There are pros and cons to marrying a computer guy (mostly pros of course, my pc is super fast and always virus free!), and this was one of them. He helped me with all the mail merging, printing, and even placing stamps on the envelopes.

Also this weekend the pup got into some trouble. She had been outside playing in the mud.   Which is most of the time ok, because I stop her at the door and wipe her feet.  She even knows that command and will lift her paws up one at a time. So cute! Well, when she came in this time she bolted past me and there was red, muddy, paw prints everywhere!  I counted about 48 or so.  What a disaster.  Now, everywhere her paw print was, it's whiter than the other parts of the carpet.  Oh well.  Hopefully I will have a wood floor sooner than later.

Today's song is "Underneath the Stars" by Mariah Carey. It's a nice slow song for  Monday morning.  Enjoy your day!

Sunday Special

You are in luck! It's Sunday Special time!  Every now and then (on Sundays) I'll actually write about something.  This post is about my hiking trip.

This past Friday the husband asked if I wanted to go hiking with his co-worker Jeff, and Jeff's wife Jenny on Monday.  I told him I could not because I work on Monday.  Inside I was feeling a bit jealous that I would be left out.  Then on Saturday morning, the husband said the hike was moved up to Sunday (today) because there is a chance of rain on Monday.  He asked if I wanted to go, and I said yes. This gave me a 24 hour period of time to prepare for a 6.7 mile hike!  I want to let you in on something, I was scared of the commitment.  Sure I work out maybe 3 times a month, but this was very ambitious of me and the husband.

This morning I woke up with a bad feeling.  I was very anxious, a bit negative, and completely apprehensive.  Well it turns out that bad feeling was for a reason, although not a life-or-death reason.  Jeff's wife Jenny couldn't make it for the hike.  Immediately Jeff and the husband wanted to know "Do you want to go home or stay with us?" I wanted to man-up and not be a puss. What were all those years of Girl Scouts for, if not for situations like this?  I was all in.

The first half of the Blue Trail was pretty steep.  I thought I had made the wrong decision to stay. I even had to go through a fallen tree.  Not over or under it or around it.

During the first half of the hike, we decided to go off the beaten path.  If we went straight up a mountain then we would reach a boulder at the highest peak for a breathtaking view.  This meant basically crawling on hands and toes because the incline was that severe.  There was a lot of stumbling on small rocks, leaves, and pine straw during this trek.  I even slid some distance on my butt! While off the trail I thought I saw something move under a rock that I was about to step on.  I told myself it was just a leaf and to calm down.  Then whatever it was hissed!

Here is the view from the boulder.  And yes, it was worth it.

The second half of the trail really flattened out and I was thankful for that.  We took a break for lunch. I consumed a Lunchable (really this is the only time its acceptable for an adult to eat one), a cinnamon raisin cookie, and Jeff's homemade granola mix.

The trail eventually ended at the Peavine Falls.  My muscles, joints, and bones hurt.  But the proudness I have at achieving a 7 mile hike is worth it.  I never thought I could  accomplish something like that!

(Pictures courtesy of the husband)