I once read somewhere that you should never begin a post by apologizing for not blogging regularly, so I’m not going to do that. Instead I’m going to tell you about a few of the random things that are on my mind this lovely Thursday afternoon…
1. Instagram
Way back in December when I had maybe …50 (?) followers I shared this image of Piper checking out her reflection in Ridley Creek. That photo was the first of many Piper (and Bailey) shots that have since been featured and shared on Instagram and I now have about 40 times the followers that I had last year. I think people are going to be shocked when someday I post a sweaty race photo instead of a cute Piper pic, but for now I’m having fun sharing my adorable little GSP with the IG world.
Want to see more of Piper? Follow me @The_Little_GSP 😄
2. Run Run Run!
The Broad Street 10 miler is 3 ½ weeks away and I am getting excited!! I restarted speedwork on the track last week and I had a fantastic 8 mile training run experience at Ridley Creek State Park on Saturday. During the run I never looked at my watch and just focused on staying relaxed and listening to Serial (the podcast) and the miles flew by.
Before I get to Broad Street, I still need to tackle the Tyler Arboretum 10K Trail Run this Saturday. I’m feeling less confident about that race after a tough time on the trails at Granogue, but I’m interested to see how I will do without snow on the ground. There might be some mud though… this is the current forecast for tomorrow. Eek!
At least Saturday’s weather is looking perfect!
3. Family
Last weekend Matt and I got to see everyone from both of our families on Easter. “Everyone” now includes 2 newborn babies! Plus 3 siblings, 3 step-siblings, 6 sibling spouses/fiancés, 1 toddler, 4 parents (/in-laws), and 9 (9!!) dogs. Luckily all 9 dogs did not participate in the Easter festivities because that would have been crazy.
I was designated the official family photographer but in the interest of everyone’s privacy (I’m looking at you, Suzanne! 😉) I won’t post the group shot. Instead here’s one of me and Matt.
This is what we look like when we aren’t hiking or running.
4. Food
The weather was beautiful over Easter weekend so Matt and I pulled out the grill for the first time this year. Yippee! Saturday we had patty melts (burgers with melted Swiss and grilled onions on buttered toast) and Monday we made what is possibly our fanciest grilled dinner yet: Paella!
Don’t worry, the recipe for this grilled masterpiece will be coming soon. And it’s surprisingly not that hard, considering how crazy it looks.
5. Piper
No post would be complete without a shout out to my little pup. (Oh, I already did that in #1, didn’t I? Well here’s more.) Piper is 7 months old now and has recently had some major breakthroughs. First off, she hasn’t had an accident in her crate since March 31st (not that I’m counting) and secondly, Piper has now graduated to sleeping in our bedroom in a big crate rather than all alone in her little crate downstairs. She has been very quiet so far and I think she likes the extra sleeping space.
Hopefully Piper’s next breakthrough will be summoning the courage to walk up our front staircase. These stairs are “floating” with open space between them that goes all the way down to the basement stairs below. Piper is, somewhat understandably, completely and utterly freaked out by these stairs. She won’t even come up for cheese! We’re taking it slow, one step at a time (literally).
Yes, the stairs are scary, but this is the puppy who climbs all over the place on hikes. Look what she did on Monday… what an agile little pup!
That’s it for today. I’m off to The Running Place to pick up my Tyler 10K bib. Wish me luck on Saturday! (I think I’m going to need it!)
The Little GSP 
My little pup was freaked out by the floating stairs too the first time she saw them. I had to coax her up a couple of the steps with some treats. After that a lightbulb went off in her head that they were no different from the other stairs and then she bounded up the rest. Puppies are so cute.
It’s funny because my last dog was already a few years old when we moved into our house and she never hesitated once on those stairs. It never occurred to me how scary they look but from a dog’s perspective all of that open air actually is pretty intimidating. I’m sure we’ll get her up them eventually, we just need more cheese!! 🙂
Loving this post!!! I squealed out loud a little bit when you said you’re listening to Serial. I wrote a post on it that I hope you ignore until you’re done.. then check it out!! Piper is so cute and funny! No stairs, but standing on this ball, yes, that’s fine. So silly! haha Good luck tomorrow! I’m sure it will be muddy, but more mud more fun I always say… ok I just made that up, but just try and convince yourself of it!
Yes, Serial!! You tweeted about it earlier this year, right?? That was the first time I’d ever heard of Serial and after that two or three other people mentioned it so I decided that I should definitely give it a shot. I’ve listened to 2 episodes so far and I’m looking forward to more! (But I only let myself listen when I’m running… a good motivational tool!) I haven’t read your post about it but I will when I’m done. 🙂
Hmmm… more mud, more fun. Sounds like a good motto to me! We’ll see how it turns out in real life tomorrow.
yes, I was tweeting about it! lol I could not stop listening to it! Here’s the link, for when you’re done… https://veryrach.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/thoughts-on-serial-the-podcast/
I would love to know what you think at the end. That’s a great way to motivate yourself to run! I would just listen in the car or while making dinner. …..speaking of which, that dinner you made looks amazing! Can’t wait for the recipe post. 🙂
Piper is such a beautiful dog! My dog has been with my parents for the last year, it sucks for us but she is so much happier there. Good luck Saturday, you’ll rock it!