Toasted...

Ski season is upon is...and it is a short season here in PA.  We are lucky to get out before the new year and by late Feb it will be over.  I find that I often ride a fine line in the balance of family sport and training.  On Friday, I swam two lanes down from the kids swim team so that our workouts conicided.  With Ryan home ALL WEEK, we have tried to make this week filled with family activities.    There is certainly no energy lacking even lack of bedtime during the holidays.

On Saturday the weather was looking super to ski.  A high in the 40s and we had some cold weather the previous two days so the mountain was able to make snow.  I had training groups in the morning..so we decided to ski the late afternoon night shift.  

I got up and got on my bike super early and then ran out the door to the training group runs. We had a couple of groups going, so I was able to bounce from one to the other..and finished the morning with a friend training for a marathon...rolled back in the door in time to get the ski stuff packed.

Thankfully, I was able to get a quick 20 min nap..I was out..on the way to the slopes there was a small expresso and then I was good to go.

These guys skied HARD...the weather was warm for skiing and they were rockstars.. they did not want to come off the mountain.  Notice no pictures of Jack and Ryan..the speed demons ended the night on the terrain park...where Jack wanted to try some jumps.  Finally around 9, I called it good...my legs were fried.  Such a great time!

a little bit of merry

As we are wrapping up the holiday season...we are full of love, gifts and SUGAR.  This of course is probably my most favorite night of the year.  The kids love the tradition and it is just a great celebration of family and friendship.

 This year we added the gingerbread man to our merry little gingerbread party...and everyone had tons of fun with it.

Of course Santa came and brought so much stuff...and we are lucky because our kids still sleep until after 7 and that was GREAT....and I know the time will come where they will be up super early so I am okay with that.  

 

Up to my EARS in....

GINGERBREAD!  My most favorite day of the year is here!!!  We started this tradition when we moved to PA...as a way to meet others and it has grown to an annual tradition and our kids love it.

Everybody gets thier own house...and I make them the week before so that they are ROCK hard when the 2000 lbs of frosting are slapped on with copious amounts of candy.  Frosting + Sugar and just under thirty kids this year is sure to make a great time.  

Really though, this day is about celebrating friendship and the family we have built here in PA...we are lucky to have such a great group of friends.

New Beginnings

Group programming can be a hard egg to crack.  When I left Fleet Feet in October, and then the store closed I was not sure if the group programs would take off.  The momentum of the groups carry the individual programs as a business moves, sometimes the enthusiasm gets lost in the transition.  So when we put together the 2014 schedule, I was nervous to see what kind of initial turnout we would have.

Total Performance in many ways is a better fit for the mission I am trying to create.  We have injury prevention and rehabiliation covered since there are some awesome PTs.  We have a great location with some great routes and we can lead the charge in developing programs that fit the need of the athlete, and that is key.

Group programming can be a HARD sell.  You only get one chance to make a first impression....and that was this weekend.  While I wanted to believe that we were creating something AWESOME...I needed a substantial audience and group to stand behind it.  Anyone who has worked with groups before knows the initial setting is key in creating excitement and energy.

ENTER..the next best deal killer...the weather...the snow amounts started to climb and the forcast started to look dismal...given how close we were to the holidays we did not have a back up plan...so we forged ahead and prayed to the snow gods to hold off until 9 am...PLEASE...

Saturday morning came....and we found ourselves...with this

Over 50 at our Open House!  Honestly the support was amazing..many new faces who are looking to change their lives and so many returning faces who came in support of running.   Our running community has a new home and a new motto...

We are ready to take on 2014 and I am so excited!

Blessings

This might be my most favorite time of year!  For many reasons but I love winter and the joy that it brings!

I have no idea why it is snowing in the pictures but it is really pretty cool...if only I was savvy enough to figure out what I did.

apparently it stopped here.

We enjoyed a day off school, good friends and cookies and it was just a perfect day.  

My favorite time of year....

Let the festivities begin...

We are busy entrenched in the holiday cheer, Christmas trees, and GINGERBREAD.