Lately (Summer 2014)

I can't believe it's the last day of August. Tomorrow is September, summer is officially over, and all I have to look forward to is...

-the leaves changing color

-low humidity

-baking with pumpkin

-going to Cancun in October!

-breaking out the long pants. Hoodies. Boots.

-football

-chilly morning runs

-not having to run the air conditioner

-root veggies coming into season! 

-feeling the desire to turn the oven on again

-jacket weather

-apple cider

-Halloween

-all my shows coming back!

Ok. I must confess. I don't hate fall, and I might even be looking forward to it a little bit. But just a little bit. Don't worry summer, I will miss you! To gear up for the switch in seasons, I thought I'd share some summer happenings-

My little bro came out to visit in August. He arrived in Kentucky to relax for a week, right before he went back to school. He's a high school teacher and basketball coach. A little gearing up before the school year, if you will. We had a great visit, with lots of running, sight-seeing, Cincinnati Red-ing, swimming, and eating. Oh, plus an inordinate amount of video game playing. Ok, so I wasn't involved in that part! Haha. This picture was taken at The Yardhouse, a great bar and grill right next to Great American Ballpark. I mean, look at the size of those beers! Heaven...

The hubby and I are never ones to be serious!

Summer is watermelon season, and guess who loves watermelon? My crazy puppies. I couldn't cut into one this summer without being harassed. Come to think of it, they do the same whenever they hear a banana, a bell pepper, or a carrot on the cutting board. At least they're healthy monsters :)

Giz can't jump as high to get his watermelon, but he tries his best!

Sometime during this summer, I was out running by myself. It was a fairly hot day with high humidity, and the 5-miles I ran might as well have been 26.2. It was a miserable run, what with sunscreen-soaked sweat dripping and stinging my eyes every 2 seconds. But I pushed through, and as I was walking to my car, I froze. About 10 feet from my car was this baby bunny. He was so adorable. I'd barely taken a picture on my phone where there was a sudden rustling near me. Something sprang out of the bush close to where I stood, almost making me jump 10 feet in the air. It was his momma. She ran (hopped?) over to him, and they ran (hopped??) away. It was a sweet moment in nature, and it made melting away on that run almost worth it. Almost :)

Gizmo's selfie.

Haloti's selfie. I can't decide whose I like better!

A Chinese fortune I received. I normally roll my eyes at these silly, traditional scraps of paper stuffed inside those crunchy cookies, but I liked this one. In fact, I even put it in my wallet. A positive affirmation to keep on keeping on. 

Bib and goodies from our 7-mile race.

Crossing the finish line of that 7-miler. I'm so super-proud of that time. I've said it before, and I'll say it again- I am not a born runner. It's never come easy to me. In fact, I always tried to avoid sports involving running as a kid. Soccer. Basketball. Track. I stuck to volleyball. Minimal running. However, with the proper training, I'm slowly and steadily getting faster. I may never run a marathon, but I've come a long way since that girl that started out last September not able to run 1 mile. I couldn't feel better about my accomplishments this year.

A brotherly tongue bath is the way these pups start most days :)

To celebrate this holiday weekend, we had a family cookout at the hubby's sister's house yesterday. Everyone in the family has busy, full lives, so we really relish the time we all get to spend together. We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill, stuffed our faces with cupcakes, and even managed to take some family pictures. Oh, and if you thought I was the one to remember to take pictures, you would be wrong. So woefully wrong. LOL.

Happy Labor Day Weekend friends! I hope anyone and everyone is sending summer out with a bang. Because, before you know it, there will be pumpkin on this blog :)