San Francisco 2013

WE RUN San Francisco

10th Annual Nike Women's Marathon

So a while back my friend Traci called to see if I wanted to
go to San Francisco to run a half or full marathon with her
and several other co-workers from St. Luke's.  Against 
my better judgement, I agreed and thought it would
be so fun and I was very excited.  That was a Friday 
night.  Then on Saturday morning, I woke up at 6:00 am 
to go out and run 6 miles to prove to myself I could run.  6 
miles no problem.  Then over the next several weeks I kept running
and tired to get up to about 8 miles and thought I was going to die
and thought there was NO way I could run 13.1 miles.  Well, as many 
of you know, I am a pretty determined person and when I put 
my mind to something I give 150%.  So over the next several
weeks I really kept pushing myself and finally ran 8, then 10, then 11, 12
and even got to 13.1.  Yeah....I was ready.  All the hype and 
anticipation of going to San Francisco and running my first
half marathon was very excited.  I ended up 
going with my very good friend Aspen and the time was here! 
We flew into Oakland Saturday morning and got a great
tour of the city.  Saw many beautiful areas and instantly
fell in love with the city.  I don't actually have
any pictures from the race day, but I did
finish my 13.1 miles in the hilly roads of
San Francisco with 30,000 people.  My 
official time was 1 hour 45 minutes and 24 seconds.
I have to say it was hard, but very rewarding
and I was very happy with my time.  My PR!!



The Golden Gate Bridge

Coit Tower

Few of the city

We went over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and 

ate lunch at Napa Valley Burger Co.  This was 

Aspen's amazing burger!

Lombard Street

It is the crookedest (most winding) street in the world

On Monday Aspen and I drove out to Napa Valley

and as you can see the world famous wine country!

It was amazing and beautiful.  There were so many

different wineries you could visit and do wine

tasting and tours on.  I think we visited about four

and did tasting at two.  So incredible.  

The fall colors were beautiful.  It was actually pretty warm

there and they say it is about 20 degrees warmer out there

then in the city!

PEJU Winery

So glad we got to so out and see the wineries and 

the beautiful country of Napa! Such a fun day!

The Golden Gate Bridge from a different view.

The Embarcadero

Aspen and Rose

Rose was Aspen's friend that we stayed with and lives

in the city.  She was an amazing hostess and such

a great person.  We had an incredible time!

Our last night we went to La Mar's one of Rose's 

favorite places and had good Peruvian food!

This was my last dinner in San Francisco that I had 

with my St. Luke's girls and it was a beautiful 

presentation.  It was a great trip and felt

like a accomplished a lot.  

Owen's 7th Birthday

My boy is SEVEN!  I can hardly believe how big

he is getting, though it has been so fun to watch him

grow up and become the boy he is today!  He

wanted chocolate chip pancakes and eggs for

breakfast so that is how we started the morning.

Love you Owen so much and am so proud of you!

Minion Birthday Party

Owen wanted to have a Minion Party like his

cousin Ellis, so we did.  This year though I

decided to just let him invite a few of his friends

and have it a drop off party.  I tried to keep it

low key and not go all out, though I do enjoy

doing birthday parties.  He had five of his

friends over and they had a GREAT time!

Owen and his friends just before

opening presents

Owen being crazy, making his wish and

blowing out his candle!

Owen and Levi

Minion Display

Another Surprise.  Aaron's parents actually

were traveling and stopped in for the weekend

and just in time for the party.  I don't think
Owen knew they were coming so it was fun

to have them hear to celebrate.  Therefore

Owen got more presents and was thrilled!

Lego's!  Yes this child still LOVES Lego's

and plays with them a lot.  Grandma and

him had a lot of fun putting them together. 

It was Nancy's Birthday the next day so

we had fun celebrating them both! 

The many faces for Owen. 

His birthday was on a Wednesday and

  since I did his party on Friday and he had pizza

 his favorite food, we stayed at home and celebrated

with his second favorite food, spaghetti and meatballs!



Another face, LOVE THIS KID!

Making another wish!  We ended his night

with chocolate eclair his ultimate favorite

dessert!  What a fun day and way to celebrate Owen!

LOVE YOU BUDDY!!!