I had no intention of going hunting with Robin Hood last weekend, but circumstances changed and there we were, driving towards the Gila National Forest on Friday night. Gear was stacked in the back of the truck with a strategy to rival that of a Tetris tower. Ann was curled up on a blanket, and… Continue reading Fixing the Inside with the Outside
I don’t know about you, but by the end of most Fridays, I’m ready for a big ol’ nap, followed by a glass of wine and an episode or two of Parks and Recreation, followed by another nap. Today’s no exception. But rather than focus on things that make me tired, I’m going to focus… Continue reading Remembering to Say Thank You
We left Saturday afternoon and drove towards Socorro. In the truck we had packed an assortment of clothes, sleeping gear, plentiful water, a large cooler’s worth of sandwiches and snacks, and two shotguns. We were ready for dove hunting. This hunt wasn’t in the wilderness of northern New Mexico among tall pines and reassuring streams,… Continue reading When Doves Hide
It was one of the best yoga classes I’ve ever been to. A dozen or so of us sweated in the warmth of an Arizona August morning and worked through poses as patiently guided by the instructor. Many of us had barely known each other 24 hours earlier, but by the time the yoga class… Continue reading Bachelorette Party + Yoga + Dinosaurs = Yes, Please.
It’s been a heady week. Last weekend, we took Ann to a dog park for the first time ever. She’s been around other dogs when we visit or camp with friends, and she’s been fine (perhaps “ecstatic” would be a better word). But the off-the-leash, stranger-dogs, full-on dog park experience? New territory. I am delighted… Continue reading Oh the Excitement!
Our relationship with the Olympics has gotten complicated. Millions of people will watch the Opening Ceremonies in Rio de Janeiro tonight, but how many people will be whole-heartedly, unabashedly excited? With more and more tough-love scrutiny (read this and this), not to mention the banning of over half of the Russian team due to doping,… Continue reading Swifter, Higher, Stronger
When you exit I-25 at Las Vegas, New Mexico, drive through the town, and keep on driving, things get rural really fast. One minute you’re zipping north at 80 miles per hour; the next you’re doing 25 past forest-fringed fields dotted with horses and the occasional deer. It’s pretty cool. A group of us went… Continue reading Camping: Just Do It.
Forget frying an egg. Saturday was hot enough that you could have made a whole stinkin’ frittata on the sidewalk. Conditions were sublime for a trip to the beach, running through sprinklers, or just sitting in rapt stillness in an air-conditioned room. What did my husband and I do? We ignored all that sensible noise,… Continue reading Finding Beauty: the Los Poblanos Lavender Festival
Robin Hood and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary last weekend! I’ll get to the mushy stuff in a bit, but first the fun part. As you probably gathered from last week’s post, my husband and I take our celebrating seriously. This most definitely applies to anniversaries. First, we went to get massages. Roll your… Continue reading And the World Will Know…We’ve Been Married for a Year!
There are two ways to look at turning 35: 1) With gloom / mild panic, as in “I have officially entered the second half of my thirties and there’s still so much that I want to do with my life.” 2) As a reason to celebrate, and an occasion from which to wring every possible… Continue reading Those Times I Turned 35
Whew. For the last nine weekdays, I’ve been driving back and forth between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, with the result that my trusty Toyota is now way overdue for an oil change AND sports a lovely crack in her windshield. The reason? Jury duty. I got summoned to show up on June 6 at the… Continue reading It’s Not Just a Civic Duty, It’s an Adventure
Happy June! I hope you’re having a delightful start to this, the finest month of the year. Okay, my birthday’s this month, so I’m a little biased. My June’s going fine, but I’m even happier to report that my May ended on a good, adventurous note – the best way to end any month, no?… Continue reading Adventures in Oryx Scouting
I hadn’t picked up my bow, much less participated in a competitive archery shoot, in a year and a half. So going into the Sandia Crest Bowhunters Association’s annual traditional shoot, my expectations for myself weren’t high. I figured my main goal would just be to have fun and enjoy a Saturday in the East… Continue reading Recurve My Heart: The SCBA Traditional Archery Shoot
I’m getting to know my new neighborhood. It has friendly people, tall trees, at least two coyotes, and…hills. Lots of them. You can’t hardly walk half a mile without sloping downwards or upwards. I like it, though. Living with hills teaches you things. I’ve been toddling through a particularly…robust season, on all fronts: home, work,… Continue reading The Secret to Climbing Hills? Just Keep Moving.
I thought I had lost my running shoes. Days of planning, packing, unpacking, packing more, coordinating, frustrations, victories…and now this? It was a low point in the moving process. Thankfully, my concern – ok, mild panic – only lasted about 24 hours. I found the shoes, and all, for the moment, was well. And yes,… Continue reading The Emotional Roller Coaster Known as Moving
I had heard turkeys were wiley, and thought about that as I packed. I wondered if I would even see one, and if I did, could I get close enough for a decent shot? That concern didn’t gain much purchase – I was excited. Robin Hood and I hadn’t hunted since December, and we hadn’t… Continue reading Gobble! Or: My Introduction to Turkey Hunting
We bought a house. It’s ours! We closed on it yesterday. Now for a luxuriously long exhale…ahhhhhhhhhh. Or maybe more like “ooooffff.” “Relief” hardly begins to describe it. This is the culmination of a process that started almost four months ago, and I haven’t discussed it much here due to superstitious fear that something would… Continue reading Hey, We’re Homeowners!
Today I went for my first run in over a week. Why the hiatus? Well, let’s just say it involved a nice phlegmy cough that left me with energy for little more than slumping on the couch and finally learning the appeal of watching Netflix for hours. Speaking of Netflix, if you haven’t yet watched… Continue reading Motivation and the Long Arm of the Boston Marathon
It’s true: I had never been to Vegas before. At least not since I was old enough to remember. I wanted to go! I wanted to channel Clark Griswold, and to walk along the Strip, and to taste a “free” beverage (yeah, free, after giving $20 to the slot machine). So when our friends Kurt… Continue reading My First Trip to Las Vegas
Five. Five! Five years ago I claimed my own tiny corner of the Internet and started this blog. My first post looked like this: https://runningsunflower.wordpress.com/2011/04/02/zen-and-the-purple-running-shoes/. No, I don’t still have those purple shoes. Yes, I still inhale every new pair. If Running Sunflower were a child, I would be sending it toddling off to kindergarten… Continue reading Running Sunflower is THIS Many!
In Albuquerque, you know it’s truly springtime when there are blossoms all over…the ground. The wind. The wind has arrived. I don’t mean a brisk, refreshing breeze. This is the kind of wind that is the very definition of “blustery.” It whips blossoms off trees, it knocks over trash cans like they were toys, and… Continue reading Lessons From a Blustery Day
First, happy belated St. Patrick’s Day! If you’re like me and you’re attending a who-cares-about-the-calendar celebration this weekend, have fun, dance a jig or two, and may the luck of the Irish be with you. Now let’s get on to the bigger news: Ann, the redbone coonhound that Robin Hood and I brought home the… Continue reading Happy First Birthday, Ann!
What virtue do you find yourself continually working on? For me, it’s patience: patience with myself, patience with others, and, especially these days, patience with life. Too often, I see a bright glimmer on the horizon and I want to get there NOW. I tell myself, I’ve done the work! I’m doing the work! I’m… Continue reading Patience
The trees in my neighborhood are blossoming! Birds are twittering non-stop (without needing any hashtags, thank you very much) and warm weather has dog-walkers, cyclists, runners, and other outdoor-minded citizens popping up like weeds. Spring may not officially be here, but she’s peering around the corner pretty indiscreetly. Tennyson wrote, “In the Spring a… Continue reading On Spring and First Loves
I think I’m experiencing delayed onset hibernation syndrome. Maybe it has something to do with the weather, which suddenly got much colder and drearier after a week of lovely, spring-like conditions. I know, I know, it’s SUPPOSED to be cold and dreary this time of year, but that doesn’t make it any easier. Or maybe… Continue reading Leap!
I hadn’t really planned on watching the Olympic Marathon Trials. We don’t have cable, and while our Internet connection works fine for day-to-day stuff, for livestreams it’s…lacking. As fortune would have it, though, late Saturday morning I found myself at home with nothing urgent to do. I eyed my computer. Okay, I said. I’ll give… Continue reading The Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials
I know not everyone likes Valentine’s Day, but I choose to love it for the following reasons [don’t worry, they’re not all mushy. Several are downright crunchy.]: V – Vino! Red wine and Valentine’s Day go together like Bonnie and Clyde. Maybe that’s not the best example. Romeo and Juliet? Darn it…okay, chocolate and peanut… Continue reading Reasons to Love Valentine’s Day, Acrostic-Style
During my freshman year of college, the thing to do (for girls, anyway) was to make expansive collages. We would sift through magazines, looking for pictures and phrases that inspired or amused us. Then we would cut them out and glue them to whatever surface needed decorating: notebooks, binders, boxes, or good old posterboard for… Continue reading Never Underestimate the Power of a Tuesday Night
I needed a hilly run last Sunday morning, so to the hills I went. As I ran up and down along one of my favorite routes, I got to thinking (so easy to do on weekend runs, no?) about the “need” for hills. Why is it that on some days, I regard hilly runs with… Continue reading What Gives You Strength?
We all have projects that get shuffled to the side during the holidays. After New Year’s, when we’ve put away the decorations and we’re rubbing our eyes and re-entering the orbit of normal life, those projects inch back up the priority list. Then one day, the stars align in just the right way, and suddenly:… Continue reading Hanging Pictures
In April of 2007, about two months after I moved to Albuquerque, I ran a 10k. One of the sponsors of the race was a local business called ABQ Running Shop, and after the race, a representative from the shop mentioned that they hosted weekly group runs. Normally, I would have heard this and ignored… Continue reading Farewell, ABQ Running Shop
I’m not the world’s best cook. I don’t cook every day, and you’ll probably never find any of those shiny, spotless, professional-looking food photos here. But I love to play in the kitchen. Like writing, it’s a chance to get creative and combine pieces to form one (hopefully good) whole. On top of that, food… Continue reading Someone’s in the Kitchen
2015. My God. What a surreal, glorious, life-changing year it’s been. On New Year’s Eve last year, I had no idea — no idea — how much my life was about to change. And from the moment when the clock struck midnight right up to now, as I’m writing this, I’ve felt like I’ve been tumbling… Continue reading Careening Across the Finish Line of 2015
The fudge has been made. The peanut butter cup cookies have been made. The pecan pie has been made. The date pinwheels have been made…by my mom. And then carefully packaged and shipped to New Mexico. Yes, I DO have the best mom ever. All of the above, in addition to the remains of a… Continue reading ‘Twas the Monday Before Christmas
On a cold, drizzly Saturday afternoon, I walked into my second gun show. Having been introduced to the world of gun shows by my husband last year, I knew a little about what to expect, but I found that I still basically know…zilch. Strolling up and down those aisles, looking at vendors’ wares, and listening… Continue reading A Rainy Day, A Gun Show, and Debunking Some Myths
Hey, how’s everyone’s December going? For me, it is flying by, as usual, but [knock on wood] it hasn’t reached the red zone yet. You know the December red zone – when you find yourself at Target, or the grocery store, just staring blankly into space with eggnog stains on your shirt? Again, knocking on… Continue reading Tidings of Comfort and Joy
Personally, I say THANK YOU to Sandee M. at Forty-Something First Time Bride for nominating me! I’m honored. The terms of the Blogger Recognition Award are: to reflect on why I started my blog, offer a few blogging tips, and nominate bloggers who inspire me. Let me put my pondering cap on… I started Running… Continue reading What Do You Do When Nominated for a Blogger Recognition Award?
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone is having a peaceful day. As you read this, there’s a chance I’m dotted with flour and bits of dough, while still wearing the clothes that I ran in earlier, but that’s okay. That means I’m happy. Here are seven things for which I’m giving thanks, in no particular order:… Continue reading What Are You Thankful For?
I’ve never been an MMA fan. So, when friends invited Robin Hood and I over to watch the Holly Holm-Ronda Rousey fight on Saturday night, my initial reaction was “eh.” Living in Albuquerque, it’s hard to avoid MMA — we have a big training facility here, and lots of folks are fans of it. Me?… Continue reading An Education: Watching Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey
Every time I train for a marathon, I tell myself that I will get so much done during my post-marathon recovery period because I will have so much free time. Has it ever worked out that way? Not once. Sure, I get stuff done; it’s not like after a marathon I just park myself on… Continue reading Getting Back Into the Groove
If you had told me in 2013 that in 2015 I’d be hunting elk, I would have laughed in your face. Walking through a forest of Ponderosa pines, though, with the sun on my shoulders, pine needles beneath my feet, and a rifle at my side, I was as happy as I’ve ever been. Ah,… Continue reading The Adventures of a Rookie Elk Hunter
I’m happy to report that I’m starting to walk normally again. As many of you know, I ran the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday. It was my 13th marathon (still can’t wrap my mind around that!) and my second Marine Corps. Here are the highlights: Autumn in Virginia. Virginia is my home state, but since… Continue reading From The Miles Of Montezuma: The 2015 Marine Corps Marathon
My dear, I’m so happy that you’re coming to watch me run a marathon. You’ve seen me run a few shorter races, but marathons, I have to tell you, are something else. As much as you’ve seen me run and as casually as I may talk about running, marathons are in fact a big deal.… Continue reading To My Husband, Who’s About to Witness His First Marathon
Yesterday I decided to skip my run in favor of a longer-than-usual walk with my puppy, and it was the best decision I’ve made in days. My last couple of runs have been…not great. Oh, pace-wise and distance-wise they’re fine, but mentally? UGH. I started them in bad moods and finished them still in a… Continue reading A Brief Paws in Marathon Training
It wasn’t long ago that I shot a gun for the first time. I was with my then-boyfriend, now-husband, and I described the experience here. I remember feeling curious, but nervous. Was this really a skill I wanted, being able to shoot a gun? That day, I shot a .22 pistol, everything went fine, and… Continue reading Learning to Love a High-Powered Rifle
Fall is here! I would have published a post on Wednesday, but I was too busy buying caramel apples. Caramel apples are one of my favorite ways to ring in fall. Priorities, people! One of my other favorite ways to ring in fall is by cresting the peak of marathon training. Tomorrow, I’ll be doing… Continue reading Rising to Fall
My husband and I dropped off our puppy, Ann, at the vet last night to be boarded over the weekend. We experienced a mixed bag of emotions — sadness at leaving her for the first time since we brought her home; pride at how quiet and (relatively) well-behaved she was in the vet’s lobby; some… Continue reading Early mornings, and being a godparent.
Last Saturday, Robin Hood and I went on an overnight camping/hunting adventure into the Santa Fe National Forest. If you’ve never been, or if your idea of New Mexico is a roadrunner chasing a tumbleweed, I recommend it. We found a campsite and settled in for the evening. Thankfully, with all of the rain we’ve… Continue reading Just a walk in the woods…
Fourteen years ago, my oldest brother and his wife moved from Virginia to Florida. Several members of the family, myself included, tagged along to help them get settled. We took multiple cars, and I rode with his wife, Jessica. As we cruised down I-95, Jessica, being the driver, controlled the music. I don’t remember everything… Continue reading Sara Evans, finally.
I took Robin Hood out on a date. I owed him one, and lately we’ve taken to doing date nights during the week. This stems from our recent flurry of weekend activities: wedding! Honeymooning! Puppy wrangling! Four-wheeler fetching! And the less exciting, but so, so lovely sleeping! It likely will continue this way, because we’re… Continue reading One Monday night
