Preview of Photo Shoot

A couple of weeks ago while Ryan Chowning and Steven were on a trip to Chicago for a PGA tournament Ryan's wife Candace brought their 4 month old little girl Avary over to the house to have some photographs taken.  Here are a couple samples.

Day 4 of 21 and going strong.

21 Days is not THAT long!

Searching on pinterest the other night I found a post that was no junk food for 21 days. While reading this it included: no chips, white bread, peanut butter, ice cream, candy, other bad spreads, etc. Well some of my favorite things are on this list including peanut butter and ice cream. I eat ice cream everyday- No kidding! So talking to Steven we came up with a bet that if I did this challenge he would buy me a new lens to my camera. Now if I lost and gave in I would have to let him get the NFL Sports Zone (or whatever it is - for Sunday Football games). I am definitely not loosing because things have to get done around here besides watching every game on a Sunday afternoon!

I am on day 3 and it isn't that hard, but I know that cupcakes are being brought to school tomorrow for a birthday. Plus we are going on a float trip this weekend. The best thing on float trips are junk food!!!! I will let you know how it goes! Let me know if someone else wants to do it with me. Maybe he will buy you something too. Ha! Ha!

Training for Life

As we said earlier, Steven and I, are training for a half marathon. We are running 8 miles tomorrow, which will be our longest run to date. I ran a half back in April but this is Steven's first half. We are excited to be running this half together.
We have been doing good on our eating as well as our running. We are making our lunches to take to school with us and are also making majority of our dinners here at home. It has really helped out with our training ability as well as feeling better in general.
Steven is in the middle of Girls Tennis season right now and the girls are doing really good. There record is  7-1. He has a tennis match most M,T,R,F nights which leaves us Wednesday nights to spend together.
We enjoy these nights to be together and catch up more than just how the day went.
I have recently started back to school to get my education degree and masters to become an art teacher. I am very excited about this new adventure and clear vision of what I should be doing. Along with this I also have joined Pinterest which I am obsessed with. Steven says I spend too much time on it - but I think that it has paid off because I have started to redecorate our entry way, master bedroom, hallway, and just tonight went to Hobby Lobby and bought 3 Canvas that I am going to paint. I think that I am well on my way to redecorating the entire house! Ha Ha! I will post pictures when I get the projects complete!
Have a blessed week.

Time to Get Healthy!

Lauren and I started our training for a half marathon last week. We are participating in the Bass-Pro Outdoor Fitness Festival Half-Marathon on November the 6th. Lauren has already completed a half-marathon this spring in Kansas City, and this will be my first half-marathon. We have added a training partner as well. In late June we adopted an abandoned puppy named Daisy Duke. She is a beagle-shepherd, according to Lauren's step dad Dave, a local vet.

Along with our half-marathon training we are also beginning a goal of eating better at home. Not only does this include eating better but also cutting down on our eating out and saving a few cents along the way.

One way that we have worked on eating at home more is by grilling a large amount of chicken breasts and then refrigerating them to use in dishes throughout the days ahead. This has simplified our cooking and shaved time off of our meal preparation.

We shall see how this trend progresses. Stay tuned for further updates.

Oh Canada....

From one trip to another. Wednesday I left with my father in law Dan, brother in law Ryan, Kevin Korner, Ernie Giddens, and Ben Giddens to go fishing in Canada. We traveled to Separation Lake Lodge just north of Kenora, Ontario Canada.

Upon arriving we were taken by taxi to where we thought would be the lodge. Instead we were arrived to see all of our luggage stacked up on a dock. After about five min of wondering what was supposed to happen next, a boat pulled up to the dock. We loaded all of our luggage and seven people into an eighteen foot boat and took off across the lake. After a fifteen min boat ride we finally arrived at a group of cabins on a point overlooking the lake.

While at the lodge we were treated to three meals a day. Eggs, choice of bacon or sausage, and either pancakes or french toast for breakfast. We had to work for our lunch everyday but on the lake it wasn't to much work. We would catch walleye every morning for our lunch. We had our lunch caught by 10:15 everyday though. With the fried walleye we also had fried potatoes and onions, cream corn, and pork and beans. Dinner was steak the first night and ribs, pork chops, and fried chicken the following evenings. Needless to say we never went hungry.

Each day we had a guide that would take us around the lake to all of the best fishing spots. Ryan and I had a guide named Daren. Daren was very optomistic. He was always saying "I feel a big one in this hole" , "It's happening" , or "That's a good sign, no little ones biting means there is a big fish in here."

Overall the trip was great. Beautiful views, great fishing, and good times. We brought back 48 walleye filets and 14 northern pike filets. Ready for a good fish fry. We were not allowed to keep any smallmouth but we caught plenty. I can't wait to go back.

One Year!

Wow that went by fast.  This weekend we celebrated our one year anniversary.  We traveled to the Big Cedar Lodge Friday night where we stayed until Sunday morning.
Friday night we had dinner at Cantina Loredo on the landing.  Excellent place to enjoy a meal at if you are ever on the landing.  On Saturday we went to Silver Dollar City for half of the day.  The highlight of the day at the city was, as always, the skillet medley potatoes.  Saturday evening we went to the Imax to see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  Great movie.  We finished off the weekend Sunday with a great breakfast at the Devil's Pool Restaurant at Big Cedar.  I think that combined we at a pound and a half of bacon.
Overall, it was a great weekend and a great celebration of our first year of marriage.  Pictures will soon be posted and we will work on keeping up with the blog better.  Thank you to everybody that has helped us get through our first year.

Steven

Half Marathon

For my 25th birthday my goal and present to myself was to run a 1/2 marathon ( I guess it was also my new years resolution too - so check!) This past weekend was by birthday and the day after on Saturday I, with Steven's Dad - Mac, Brittany Park - Friend, and Brittany Welton - Future Sister in Law all ran the 1/2 marathon. It was a beautiful day. We couldn't ask for a better day. Started at 7:30 and ran the entire thing. My time was 2 hrs and 45 minutes. For my first one not to shabby. They say the goal on the first 1/2 should be to finish and that was my goal. On my next one in the fall it will be to get a better time. Probably in 2:30. Plus Steven is going to run that one with me so I will have a constant training partner this time!

If anyone else wants to run the one in the fall let me know!! It is very rewarding and lots of fun. Not lying!

I guess I should also mention what a great husband I have... After the race he got us a couples massage for my birthday. I think that is the ticket to not being so sore so I told him I need one after every race. Not any surprise he just laughed.