Joe's Hat

I finally finished Joe's hat, so here it is - as promised!

Merry Christmas...a little late

Took me a while to get these uploaded, but here are a few pictures from our Christmas.

Silly Sarah...

Sunday was marathon day - only six months of training and preparation (and sacrificed Sunday walks to Starbucks). We had a really nice weekend, stayed along the beach the night before the race and enjoyed some lovely shopping in Santa Barbara - including a quick stop at Coach to use my 25% off coupon (great success!). I ran a personal best, hit my goal, and killed my half-marathon best time in the process.

So, where does the silliness come in? I strategically set Joe off with the camera and he did a great job getting some photos of me during and after the race. Unfortunately, those pictures are currently stuck on my camera, as I forgot to put the flash drive back in the camera before the race and the cable for the camera has mysteriously disappeared. As such, please enjoy a few pictures from the official photographers of the race at this site: http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=55842&PWD=&BIB=938

I apologize for the inability to not show you the less attractive pictures, but let me just say - its ok to have unflattering pictures after 26.4 miles. :)

Penny and her new bone

Penny got a brand new bone last week, and we couldn't help but snap a few pics of her doing her favorite things, jumbo bone style - playing with Joe and sleeping.

Wine Tasting

We finally got out to wine tasting and picking up our wine shipments a few weekends ago. We only had four months of wine to pick up! Guess we should try to drive out there more often...but, to make up for it, here is a cute picture of Joe, Penny and I outside the winery with some of the yummy future-wine grapes in the background.

Halloween - Roller Derby Style

Last night was the Santa Maria Ruff Rollerz (my roller derby team) Halloween party. All the girls dressed derby and the guys were supposed to wear a costume. Joe decided that a $5 Wal-Mart shirt, some makeup, and his new Real Deal Tarp Hat counted as costume enough. And since you can't see them in our couple picture, here is an added close-up of the cute glow-in-the-dark undies that my mom got me for my birthday. (Its a derby thing to wear undies over your tights to show them off...I don't mind the look as long as I have a skirt covering it most of the time).

Pumpkin Time

Joe and I decided to carve a pumpkin this year, like usual. Here are a few pictures of me "lubing" up the pumpkin to keep it from rotting so fast, Joe modeling with Jack Skellington, and the finished product. The roasted pumpkin seeds we made afterwards (Cajun seasoned) were also most delish. Wish you all were here to share them with us!

For Donna, et al

For those in the crowd who would like a little more about Joe, here are a few pictures of him stylishly modeling the new scarf I knit him. Its been nice to have time to get back into knitting since school is out, and Joe already has my next project picked out - an orange ear-flap beanie hat. Enjoy!

Grapes and Grains

Last Saturday, Joe and I went to the Grapes and Grains Festival in town. For a small fee, we got to taste unlimited wine and beer. It was really tasty, until they ran out of wine. Unfortunately, we didn't get to try everything, but we did get a good bit of beer. My favorite was the Hoptoberfest, both for taste and cute-name points.

Another race

Here are a couple of pictures from my race last week. I tried to post is earlier, but the site crashed out on me - better late than never. This race, I managed to come in 4th in my age group. I didn't get a PR like I was hoping for, but I came in pretty close. Only about 8 weeks to go until the big marathon and counting. The best part is the great photo that Joe managed to get where I actually look like I am running, with both feet off the ground. :) Way to go, Joe!

Happy 3rd Birthday Penny!

Yesterday was Penny's third birthday, so of course we had to celebrate. (Because honestly, who needs more than the slightest excuse to bake cake?) This year, Penny got some carrot cake, and she sure enjoyed it. I hope you all enjoy the pictures!

Time to Celebrate

I am finally done with my master's degree. Only two full years of constant classes and thousands of hours of homework, and I've done it. Well...mostly. I took my final on Wednesday, and now I am just waiting for my final grade to prove that I actually did pass. But, I am confident and Joe and I already cracked a bottle of champagne in celebration. Once the grades come in and its official, I'm going to make him take me out to dinner somewhere really nice. Now, its time to remember what I used to do with all the free time I am going to find myself with. Wedding planning might take over! Standby for updates... :)

Ripley's Birthday

Ripley's birthday is on Wednesday (12 Aug), but we decided to celebrate a little bit early, since I had time to bake this weekend. Here is a picture of her and I with her cake. And yes, you read the cake right - Happy 17th Birthday Ripley!

KISS!

Yesterday, Joe and I went and saw Kiss at the Mid-State Fair! It was a super fun show, although I think it kept us both out a little late for a work night. :) Part of the fun was walking around the fair before the show and seeing all the people in Kiss shirts and make-up. And, of course, I was able to convince Joe to get me a cool "Kiss Alive 35" shirt. It seems like Paso Robles somehow managed to be on the tail-end of their Canadian tour - not sure why, but worked out for us.

Guadalupe Half-Marathon

Saturday was the Guadalupe Half-Marathon. Minus the fact that the weather tricked me (it was foggy when we started and then the sun came out within 30 minutes), and I wished I had more water, it was a good race. The course was really flat and a straight shot out along the river levy. And the best part is that even though I didn't run my best race, I still came in 3rd in my age group! Yeah for small races. Here are a few pics from the race - like I said, it got hot really fast, so I apologize for the shirtless photos. Not my typical running attire. :) Best part, in the bottom one you can see me passing that guy in the last 100 yards or so.

Knitting

When I finally get some free time after this class is over (less than 7 weeks to go!), I am really looking forward to getting back into knitting. It is so relaxing and I love that when you are finished you have neat (and mostly useful) items that are great for gifts or yourself. If anyone else happens to be much of a knitter, I would really recommend checking out Operation Helmetliner, which has directions for knitting helmet liners and neck warmers for troops stationed overseas. Here is the website (which also has some neat and easy projects that don't require knitting and some simply projects for kids): http://www.citizensam.org. And, just because I love my dogs, I'm adding a picture of Daphne with a little doggie sweater I knit for her last year. My dogs chill at night pretty easily, so they wear sweaters or shirts almost year-round to stay warm, and this was a really fun and challenging project.

Run Sarah Run!

While school and work keep me pretty busy, one thing I make a big effort to find time for is running. (I used to be a big fan of triathlons as well, but my participation in them has decresed significantly after a bicycle crash during a duoathlon that ended with shoulder surgery last August). I love to go for long runs, which give me some "me time" to rethink events of the day and strategize about others. Unfortunately I haven't had a lot of running time in the last month or so, and so I am a little apprehensive about the half-marathon I was planning to run on the 18th. But, it will be fun either way, since I am never very competitive anyway. For fun, here is a picture of me finishing up the last half marathon I did in May.

Puppies

Since my dogs are such a big part of my life, it would be a crime to not mention them on here. My finacee and I have 4 dogs and they pretty much run the house. We have two mini schnauzers, Ripley and Daphne, who are 17 and 14, respectively. (right picture)

We also have a 15 year old schnoodle, Duke. (picture on the left)

And lastly, we've got a 2 year old bull terrier/boxer mix named Penny. She is quite the handful! Here is a picture of Penny with the cake I baked her last September for her 2nd birthday. If you look carefully, you can see the one edge of the star that she managed to eat while I left it out on the counter to cool.

School

I realize that I completely forgot to mention in my first post that this class is my LAST (of 12) in my masters in project management. I have been working on this for two years straight through and am so looking forward to all the extra time I have once this class is completed.

Job Info

I am currently serving in the US Air Force and I am stationed at Vandenberg AFB, on the central coast of California. I work as part of the safety team for the launches we do. The last launch we did was about a week ago, and here is the video about it:

While launches sometimes come at the price of normal work hours, they are definitely the most interesting part of the job.

All About Me?

So, here is my first post on the first blog I have ever done. I will be blogging for the next while because my current master's course in E-Commerce requires us to keep a blog about ourselves. So - here is a picture of me one night doing some homework on the couch with one of my four dogs, Penny. Wish me luck!