I DID IT!!! I ran my first 5k on 9/26/09. Three days before Lily's first birthday/1 year after giving birth, I ran 3.1 miles. I had been doing some practice runs and was coming in around 38 minutes. My official time was 35:19 - I shaved off almost 3 minutes! It was crazy.

The day of the race Sarah, Emily, Amy, Franni and I decided to meet and pick up our packets, etc. We put on our numbers and warmed up with the very energetic lady from the fitness center. I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to be able to finish after spending so much energy on the warm up. We got in place and had a little pep talk. We all got our head phones in and music on (and I had my run keeper on so I knew how fast I was going and how much I had left). About a minute before the start all I could think was how bad of an idea this way and that I can't believe I signed up for this - I actually volunteered, no one is forcing me to run for the next 3 miles!

Then we started. I felt like I started at a pretty good pace but I was keeping up with Franni and I knew that she had been training faster than me. We passed a sign with a big 1 on it and I was shocked to figure out that we had already gone a mile! We had to run the loop two times so when we came by the first time the clock read 17 + minutes. So in my mind, I'm thinking I'm right on pace because 17 +17 =38. About a half a mile later I realized that 17 + 17 does not equal 38 it equals 34! I checked the run keeper program and sure enough I was definitely going faster than usual. I should mention as I went by the clock the first time, my mom, sean, josh and Lily were all there holding up signs and cheering me on! Even Lily had a sign that read "my mom is running her first 5k!" It was great!

So as we passed the 2 mile mark, Franni and I looked at each other and said "one more mile!" Coming around the last turn and knowing that the finish line was so close was so exciting! Both of us picked up our pace and crossed the finish line. Franni came in about 4 seconds before me. I was so excited and couldn't believe that it was 35 minutes! 

Emily, Amy, Sarah, Franni and I took some pictures for the organizers website because they liked our shirts and that we were running our first 5k at their event. We are hoping to be on their website but honestly I haven't looked. I should check that out!

Moral of the story - c25k works! You can ask Josh, I was not a runner - I hated it. But I was committed to this program and within 12 weeks I ran my first 5k in under 40minutes (that was my personal goal). 

So in my excitement about the 5k (which just to remind you, is THIS weekend!) I forgot to write about the new adventure I (we) have started with my mom (and Sean). My mom and I started a small business called Silly Goose Soups and Dips LLC (check out our website www.sillygoosesoup.com). INstead of rewriting all of this I am posting the email updates that my mom has been sending out. In addition to mom and I, we have sucked in Josh (web design) and Sean (booth design and amazing stapler).

Here are the email updates (I've separated them in colors so it is a little easier to follow):

 Family and Friends,
As if we weren't busy enough these days Cheryl and I have created a mother/daughter Soup and Dip business. We would like to introduce you to our new company Silly Goose Soups and Dips. Our company creates and sells pre-packaged soup and dip mixes. We are working with a licensed kitchen that packages our product and we intend on selling at craft fairs, festivals and on line.
Our initial offering on line showcases our favorites to start which we intend on expanding as we grow. Featuring 4 Soup Mixes, 6 Dip mixes and 1 Chili we hope you will find a favorite and enjoy with your friends.
Please stop by our newly built and still under construction web site (sillygoosesoup.com) to see what we have to offer. Don't forget to check out the About Us tab, we think you will get a kick out of it!.

Please share our site with your friends and family.

We gladly accept Visa and Mastercard.

Enjoy,
Cindi and Cheryl

Friends and Family,
This weekend Cheryl and I will set up our booth for the very first time at the Bloomingdale Septemberfest (Bloomingdale Rd/Lake Street) on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.  If  you are in the area and want to stop by we are in booth #21. We shouldn't be too hard to find as it is a small festival. There will be lots of live entertainment thruout the day.
If you have friends or family members that live in or around Bloomingdale, please share this email and ask them to stop by and say Hi.
We have also already expanded our line to add additional soups and new dips, check it out if you get a moment.
www.Sillygoosesoup.com
Wish us luck that it doesn't rain and have a great weekend everyone!
Thanks everyone for your support.
Cindi & Cheryl

Hi Everyone,
Cheryl and I set up our first and second Silly Goose Soups and Dips booths over the past few weeks, first in Bloomindale then the following weekend in Dwight.

I've been so busy lately I neglected to follow up with you to share how we did. Thanks to all who sent emails and texts inquiring.

Bloomingdale was a kick. Thanks to Aunt Kathy, Mia and Dylan for stopping by and checking out more of our products. We set up early and stayed til 10 p.m. We sold almost all of the dips we brought and some soups and were high fiving each other all the way home we were so excited. Everyone was great to work with and loved our product. The live entertainment that was set up directly behind us kept us going during the few slow spells that we had.

Dwight Illinois this past weekend was even better. We were located in the Flea Market area instead of crafts or commercial ( the coordinator of the festival messed up) so we didn't have any electric to sample our soups. No worries. We tripled sales at this show even being rained out the second half of the second day. During one of the slow periods Cheryl headed outside the booth with a sample tray and brought customers up, I got so busy she had to stop and help me check people out. We sold out of 3 dips and two soups, we better double up inventory next time. Speaking of next time, our next festival is October 9-11 in St. Charles Illinois. This will hopefully top the other two....wish us luck.

Thanks again everyone for your support.

Cindi & Cheryl
sillygoosesoup.com


So that is a little bit about what is going on with us. This weekend is the big weekend for the 5k. I am excited and nervous. I know I can do it because I have been training and now I just wish it was over! I'll keep you posted on how I did and hopefully someone will take some pictures to prove that I really did do it!

Immediately following the 5k we will be celebrating Josh's grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary. Then Sunday we will be driving up north for Maison's baptism - it's going to be a busy busy weekend but it will be great to see friends and family!!!

So this summer I decided (pretty much out of no where) that I was going to start running. So I downloaded the C25K (couch-to-5k) app on my iPhone. Its a 9 week program that starts with intervals of walking and running and eventually you are running for 30 minutes. Just the other day I completed my 9 weeks and sure enough - I ran for 30 minutes! So while I was in the middle of this, everyone was asking me when the 5k was. And I kept saying that I wasn't doing a 5k I just wanted to learn to run. Well then I decided I should have  goal. So there is a 5k in Champaign on September 26th and that will be my first (and maybe last) 5k! Its been really fun "training" for this 5k because in the process I have recruited about 15 people to c25k. Its great to have all of their support and encouragement. For the 5k we are going to make matching shirts that say "This is my first 5k" I can't wait! So keep me in mind on Sept 26th!

In other news, I have taken a new position at Carle Hospital. I was previously working as the Pediatric and Surgical social worker. I was assigned two floors and had anywhere from 40-60 patients per day between both floors. I am now the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit social worker and discharge planner. This is a full time position which has been quite a change for me as I was previously working part time (3 days a week). My new schedule is really nice though because I work 4 ten hour days and the way the schedule works is that I get a 4 day weekend every other weekend, so its really great! I started two weeks ago and am still learning and adjusting to this new unit. I now have about 20-25 babies/families that I'm assigned to, some stay for a couple of days and others have been there for 3-4 months. The baby that is discharging tomorrow will be 101 days old. I am considered "dedicated" to that floor which is a very unique position to have in the model of our hospital. I'm really excited about the new experiences and learning new things. I'm even going to have my own space to work on the floor! On most floors, the social workers just have to find a computer that is open and hope that a doc or nurse won't need it while you are working. So its really awesome that they are making room for me on this floor! The staff seems to be accepting me pretty well (their previous social worker was awesome, so I heard "you have big shoes to fill" for about 3 days straight!).

 Other than that, Josh and I are off to St Louis to see friends from college tomorrow! I am so excited and I'm sure we'll have some fun pictures to post! 

We are back!

 After 6 wonderful days in Nags Head, NC we are home! We had such a great time and the wedding was wonderful!

Let's start at the beginning. For those of you that don't know, Lily was supposed to come with us on this trip as Chris and Corrin are her GodParents and we really wanted her to be there for the wedding. However, the week before we were supposed to leave the H1N1 (swine) flu hit the news! We debated back and forth over bringing her or not or maybe we should drive instead of fly. In the end, we decided that she would stay with grandparents, who all supported us in this decision :) 

We left for Nags Head on Monday. After driving to Midway for 2 hours, flying for 2 hours and driving from Norfolk to Nags Head for 2 hours, we arrived. Chris and Corrin rented a gorgeous beach house for the wedding party to stay in all week. We were greeted by Chris, Corrin, Bogart, Ryan, Maranda, Jeremy, Kenzia and Jack who had all arrived the day before us. We hung out that day, got ourself acquainted with the house and I think we may have gone swimming or we did at some point. We went to Owen's for dinner which was amazing! I had scallops and they were to die for!!!

Tuesday... it rained. Pretty much all day. We did make it to the beach early in the morning and built our lovely sandcastle. While we were building dolphins swam by! It was awesome! There were probably 5 or 6 that just swam along.  By the time we got home it started pouring so I'm pretty sure that was the life of that castle. Oh well, we had fun! We hung around the house Tuesday reading, talking, and just being with friends. Ryan, Maranda, Josh and I went to a little beach bar/grill called Tortuga's Lie! It was awesome! Josh got a Corona poncho for his beer bottle which he sported the rest of the week. I got a drink called a shark attack. They put grenadine in a toy shark and you spill it in the drink and it looks like blood. Sounds gross, but very fun and cool! In honor of Cinco de Mayo we had tacos and margaritas that night! 

Wednesday the weather was much better. We went on a 2 hour kayaking tour with our tour guide Wes. And yes, I know that I titled the pictures canoe instead of kayak for those of you that are picky picky. Anyway, kayaking was great. Josh and I had a turtle swim under our kayak! For lunch we went to the Outer Banks Microbrewery, again, very yummy!

Wednesday night was dubbed bachelor party night which really turned out to be Poker Night! We started with 10 players in our Texas Hold'm tourny. After like 5 or 6 hours, it was down to Josh and Chris and Josh won it all!

Thursday, more rain! We decided since it was raining to go to the Wright Bros museum... boy that didn't work out. Turns out the museum is spread out and parts of it are outside. But we saw it! After the museum we just had to eat at Dirty Dicks Crab Shack. All over the outer banks there are billboards that say "I got my crabs from Dirty Dicks" so how could we not eat there? It was entertaining and the food was pretty good but really it was the atmosphere. Thursday night was the rehearsal dinner at Kelly's. The food was AMAZING!!! Probably my favorite all week. I was so full when we left there! After Kelly's it turned out to be Pictionary night! We had 4 teams playing and I was teamed with Anita - we rock at Pictionary! Anita drew a flower and I guess growing and it was right! All the other teams were jealous of our teamwork! And we did end up winning despite some close competition at the end. 

Finally, Friday - the wedding day! During they day a group went go-carting (I went shopping). This was seriously the first moment I had had by myself all week and I took advantage! I went to a super cute little used book store and then to the outlet mall. All the same stuff we have here but I did manage to find some shoes :)

The wedding was amazing! It was on the beach and right when the violinist started to play a family of dolphins swam by! After rings were exchanged and I dos were said, pictures were taken! Then we headed off to the reception. The food was great but the dancing was even better! We danced and danced and danced until we shut the place down! It was great!

Saturday we ate some pizza with everyone and headed out. We had a fabulous time but we missed Lily a lot! We called every day and we called the daycare too. But she was fine without us! I really think we made the right decision! It was a blast! A lot of the pictures are already posted but there are more to come so keep an eye out!