Council Bluffs Half Marathon

The Council Bluffs Half Marathon is Sunday! I have stayed on schedule with my runs and feel more or less ready – but still super nervous! It has been great to run long distances again after my sluggish winter! This even is sure to be filled with people I know. Therefore, I want a fairly decent finish time. Ideally I would finish under 2:05 but realistically may be closer to 2:10. I am just not a speedy runner for some reason. Last year’s race was brutal as a full on thunderstorm! But I had a fun running partner, this year I don’t have a running partner as everyone else running is speedier than I. I am hoping for clear sunny skies, slightly cool temps, and a great for me finish time.

Mother’s Day in Niobrara

The original plan was to spend a long weekend over Mother’s Day weekend in Niobrara. However a family death put a crink in the plans. Luckily we were able to adapt and just went a few days earlier for a short version. It was so much fun to spend a few days with my entire family as this is a rare occurrence these days. We started the mini-break with dinner at Two Rivers (well the rest of the crew started earlier at Sportsman’s but I was a late arrival).


Thursday entailed a tasty morning breakfast.

A morning of fun and adventure out at the land for my brothers (which may have resulted in a fall into the pond….)

A 12 mile run for me. And then a trip to our new favorite nursery in Verdigree for more plants. Little by little the yard will look more ours less blank weedy space!






I love the small additions (there were more but it started to rain so didn’t get better photos) and pops of color and can’t wait to add mulch so it looks more finished. Even the dogs were able to come along for the family fun.


Sadly they didn’t get along so it made things a bit difficult. Our last evening in Niobrara we hosted Pam and Brock. My brothers decided to teach him early that Iowa – not Nebraska – is the team to root for!


Oh yeah and Erik made a scrumptious dinner!

(my wonderful dad and brothers removed a few hideous cabinets in the kitchen so we now have a more open floor plan!)
Can’t wait to return Memorial Day weekend and see how our yard looks and just relax a bit.

Simple pleasures

I love every minute of our spring weather! It was such a rough winter (and my first winter in Iowa in five years) so warm sunny weather is a welcome change. I have spent countless hours in the yard, weeding, planting, mulching, and painting (photos to come soon). But I am also taking time to enjoy the offerings of Spring. Such as these lovely smelling lilacs from my grandpa’s lilac tree.


And my first attempt at homemade strawberry rhubarb pie - fresh rhubarb from my mom’s garden.

What do you enjoy most about spring? The weather, sports, longer days?

Just call me Pepper.

For those not familiar click this link to learn who Pepper is….I had to do the same as a kind Fire Fighter called me Pepper after viewing my photos from the range. We started out with the simulator which was a lot of fun and a good chance to test out our skills (or in my case lack of skills). The instructors were awesome and gave us each a few pointers. Then we proceeded to the range for a few more pointers.

A few trial shots

Then 10 rounds fired.

I was quite impressed with my results! We were supposed to hit the target in the middle. All of mine were well grouped and several hit the target. Who knew I had such skills? Not I!!! Believe it or not I did the best of all in the class and have had several comments that I am dangerous. Always a good way to impress the boys?

Shooting Range

I am participating in Citizens Police Academy through the Council Bluffs Police Department, as part of my City Council stint. It has been an amazing experience finding out more about the police department, how they operate, why they use certain tactics, along with meeting many of our local heroes. Tonight’s topic is Firearms. Not only will we learn about the various firearms used by the department, we are also going to be shooting them…

How is that for scary!?! Me with a weapon is questionable (I think the soldier kept all his kevlar on as protection against me?). My last few tries at shooting were in Iraq and I was a horrible shot. I have been gathering pointers from the sharp shooters in my life all week but have a feeling if grades are assigned I will probably get a failing one :( Lets hope I am wrong and I can pull off a miracle this evening. Most importantly I am hoping for a safe evening with little to no embarrassment. Must admit I am a wee bit nervous.

The Shed Needs Pizzazz

This state of this poor shed is quite sad. My grandpa built it so I want to keep the overall structure. Eventually I plan to side it, maybe add a window, window box, and other cosmetic upgrades. But for now I need a quick fix, aka paint. Here is my dilemma do I paint it green like the trim of my house to add a dose of color?

Or the same brown as the house?

I have both colors available as have to do a bit of touch up work this year. Planning to use the shed to store gardening supplies on one half and host chickens on the other half…

Spring Planting

Sadly the spring weather has temporarily (I am hoping its temporary!!) disappeared. But that hasn’t put a damper on my excitement to get my hands dirty and work in the yard. I stopped by a plant sale Saturday morning and stocked up on goodies for my yard

(the photo doesn’t include the flowers I bought later in the day). Now I just need the rain to cease and the sun to shine so I can plant. Luckily last weekend we had gorgeous planting weather at the cabin. We took advantage and planted a few trees, shrubs, and plants.







Can’t wait to see how everything looks when we return Mothers day! All the goodies were purchased at a local nursery in Verdigree, Green River Garden Center.




It was the cutest little place with a huge selection and amazing prices! Super helpful staff also, my mom dad and I had a great time.


Oddly enough we were going to drive to Yankton (about 30 miles) until Friday evening at Two Rivers a local informed us of this gem less then 10 miles away. Another reason I love small towns! Did anyone get lucky with awesome spring weather? Can’t wait to see what others are planting.

My first Chalkboard Wall

I know this is old news to most bloggers. Sadly I am behind on the trend and honestly it doesn’t quite fit in my home (still contemplating it if I ever tackle the basement). However, in our new cabin a chalkboard wall seemed like the perfect way to spice up the kitchen. Here is the wall leading to the laundry room.

Bland. I applied two coats of the chalkboard paint.

And per directions “prepped” the wall by rubbing chalk all over it.

And voila.

A fun new wall for leaving notes to those staying in the cabin or other family members. I love it and it was such a quick and easy project. One small step in making 24 Spruce ours. (I do need to go back and retouch a bit but sadly threw out the tiny bit of paint left. Ooops). Not sure what to do about the light receptacle?

Huntington Beach, CA

This post is a few weeks late but figure better late than never.


Huntington Beach was the perfect much needed recharge. The weather was perfect, the beach was gorgeous, and the company top notch! My parents and I along with The Scott’s and their daughter all went down for a Taco Johns convention (The Scott’s own several) but really it was just an excuse for a vacation.

We stayed at the Hyatt on Huntington Beach and it was very very nice.




They had the coolest fire pits all over the property that you could roast marshmallows and make s’mores at.


Of course we spent loads of time walking on the beach and enjoying the sights.





Such as a surf competition.



And gathering shells.




I had several long runs on this path and I can assure you 8 miles has never went by so quickly. Beats running through the city.


I would run by this RV park daily – would be the perfect way to spend a few years of retirement. Cruising the country in an Airstream!

Of course we also had to partake in a happy hour



Or two…this one was for Taco Johns.




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(That is the founder of Taco Johns with my dad!!)
An oyster shooter


And amazing seafood on our last night (anyone have Photoshop? I need to Photoshop out the pink….).


It was very hard to leave!