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So, I had to join Twitter for this conference that I just went to. I had no idea what Twitter was and hadn't done anything with it up to this point. My handle is @shaynamcooke and as I am figuring it out, I am actually enjoying it. I can't explain why or how it works but it's another fun little social media outlet of connection. Hopefully it won't be the vortex that FB was for me when I first joined!!!

Philadelphia!!

Brad and I had to go to Philly for a conference for work this week. I left on Thursday afternoon and he followed on Friday afternoon. Let it be said, this is the longest I've been away from Cy and the longest Cy has been away from both of us consecutively. I was nervous but thought it would be a good trial before B & I head to Colorado next month for Spring Break. Cy did great. He stayed with my parents and had a blast. He slept all the way through on Friday night and woke up a few times on Saturday night. Mom said he was missing us a bit on Sunday (we didn't get back until 5) but that he did well overall. This makes me feel so much better!!!

Ok, conference...it was really great. We went to Educon 2.5 at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. SLA is a magnet school in the heart of Philly that has taken traditional education and essentially thrown it out the window. They don't test, they don't lecture, they don't have AP classes, they don't worry about State Standards (although each child in attendance at the school blows the standards away). They have a project based inquiry curriculum that allows the students to somewhat direct their own knowledge based on the questions they find interesting to them. This is not to be confused with a Montessori type school, it's nothing like that, but the kids are taught through scaffolded inquiry in the 9th grade how to learn rather than memorize. I have been toying with this type of education in my classes for a few years but have a hard time really implementing it due to content expectations. So, this conference really helped me to begin to formulate some ideas that I can bring back to my classroom and to the department. I am going to come back to Philly in April or May this year and bring Pascal, Kelly, and maybe Mark, with me so that we can focus on the Bio curriculum for next year and the years to come. I think that will be a valuable trip for us to take together!!

The other side of the weekend was the awesome quality time B and I got to spend together, child free!! We stayed in this wonderful hotel and it was Restaurant Week in Philly so we ate at some delicious places. On Thursday night I went to The Capital with Jamie, Dan, and Paul. I thought it was going to be a Pub type setting but it was a pretty upscale steakhouse. It was delicious. The way Restaurant Week works in Philly is that there is a set price of $35pp and you get 3 - 4 courses, depending on the establishment. At The Capital, I ordered the Fresh Greens salad, Salmon over green beans with pearled onions, and finished it off with an Espresso Chocolate cake (I ate the whole thing, I couldn't help myself!). On Friday, we went to Novita Bistro which was this adorable little Mediterranean restaurant. I chose to start with the sauteed muscles, another salmon dish (I LOVE salmon), and the baklava for dessert which I gave to B after a bite or two. On Saturday night, we were supposed to go to Amuse which is an upscale French restaurant but after an elongated happy hour with everyone in our hotel room, we were all feeling a little tired and just wanted to wander down to the Irish Pub in the bar for a sandwich. When we arrived, they were totally booked for the night so we went to Asia on the Boulevard which was good too. It was not part of restaurant week but I had a delicious Chicken and Broccoli dish with brown rice. Super yummy!

I also got to run 3 of the 4 days we were there so I was happy about that. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend and I am refreshed and ready to head back to school tomorrow!!

I love hotel rooms!!

this was on the bathroom stall door in the rest stop, crazy!

City Hall in Philly, gorgeous. The architecture in this city is pretty amazing

can't be in Philly without a pretzel!!

It started snowing on Friday afternoon, so beautiful!

On the window of a salon, only in a city (and not a southern city at that!!) :)

so much snow!

Novita Bistro

Ole' Benjamin

The Franklin Institute

B being a weatherman

a GIANT human heart that you could walk through as an RBC

The moon rising across the city. Pictures of the moon never do it justice but it was awesome

Happy Hour;)

Daddy Daughter Time!!

Mom caught some kind of nasty bug at school and has been down and out for about 3 days with some kind of stomach flu. When I went over to meet them for Church today Mom was still in bed but Dad was dressed and ready. So, we headed off to Church together. It was so nice to spend that time with my Dad. I see my mother at least 3 days a week when I drop Cy off and pick him up from school but I only see my Dad weekly:( Now that he's picked up a job at Home Depot (he always said he wanted to retire and work at Home Depot...dreams really do come true!) I am not seeing him very much and it makes me sad. So, we had a great time at church and tried to grab some lunch at Joe's Inn after but the wait was over an hour. We decided to call it and he went home to check on Mom and I went to meet my guys for lunch. It was a wonderful Sunday morning :)

Rock Climbers

We took the girls and Cy climbing today. Thy loved it. Hailey was really good! Cy climbed a bit more than last time but still doesn't love it. I think it freaks him out a bit. I was so proud of all of them:)

Mon Amour

Brad and I got out for an official date night last night. We went to Cine Bistro which is an amazing experience. You can order dinner and drinks to enjoy while watching the movie in these incredible seats. We saw Les Miserables and I can't say enough about that movie. Simply heart wrenching! I loved it. I had a bottle of wine, and yes, I paid for that decision in a BIG way today:( Brad had a pitcher of beer (we sound like alcoholics...but it was a LONG movie!!). I ordered the humus and babaganoush plate which came with this delicious array of veggies and pita. Brad had a delicious looking chicken dinner. It was such a great night. Cy stayed with Jill and Doc and Hailey and Katie were up from Williamsburg...so he had a blast too:)

happy camper with his pitcher:)

Yep, this was only MY meal. Yum!

date night!

cozy

Cy with the cousins, they love to dress him up:)

painting fun

Purposeful Loving

In one of my previous posts, I had mentioned that Brad and I are committed to living and loving each other purposefully and with intention this year. We have incorporated The Giving Tree, which we both love. (I found two tickets to see Les Miserables tonight under there this morning). We have also incorporated two more meaningful practices into our marriage so far. The first is a collection journal of letters that we are going to write to each other this year. Not long letters, and not all the time, but a place where we can write a love letter to each other and leave it for the other to find and read. It's so sweet, there is just something nice about a handwritten love letter.


We also incorporated our "Love Box" which is really fun:) Here's the premise written in a letter to Ann Landers...
Dear Ann Landers,

Last weekend, we celebrated my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. This morning they left on a long-awaited trip to Hawaii. They were as excited as if it were their honeymoon! When my parents married, they had only enough money for a three-day trip 50 miles from home. They made a pact then that each time they made love, they would put a dollar in a special metal box and save it for a honeymoon in Hawaii for their 50th anniversary. Dad was a policeman, and Mom was a schoolteacher. They lived in a modest house and did all their own repairs. Raising five children was a challenge, and sometimes, money was short. But no matter what emergency came up, Dad would not let mom take any money out of the “Hawaii account.” As the amount grew, they put it in a savings account and then bought CDs.

My parents were always very much in love. I can remember Dad coming home and telling Mom, “I have a dollar in my pocket.” She would smile at him and reply, “I know just how to spend it.” When each of us children married, Mom and Dad gave us a small metal box and told us their secret, which we found enchanting. All five of us are now saving for our dream honeymoons. Mom and Dad never told us how much money they managed to save, but it must have been considerable because when they cashed in those CDs, they had enough for airfare to Hawaii, plus hotel accommodations for 10 days and plenty of spending money. Before they boarded the plane, Dad winked and said, “Tonight we are starting an account for Cancun. That should only take 25 years!”

Ann, I thought you’d enjoy this story about 50 great years of intimacy in marriage!

From a loving daughter in Abilene, Texas 

I love this story and think it is a wonderful idea, so, we've started our own Anniversary fund (I'm not telling how much is in there, but we are on our way). I also think this would make a wonderfully lovely wedding present for new couples as they start off on their own journeys! 

Daddy"s Little Helper

Cy was helping Brad gather firewood today, they are inseparable. Cy wants to do everything Brad does. It is so stinkin' cute. I can definitely feel the boy/girl separation happening a bit but I can also see our roles being defined in Cy's mind. Mom is for snuggling, loving, book reading, talking, singing, running errand (:)) and Dad is for wrestling, rough housing, yard stuff, etc...not that I am trying to make Cy aware of gender roles but he seems to be finding his own way with us and what he needs from both of us. Being a parent is so cool:)

2013 Frostbite 15K

This is the 29th annual Frostbite 15K in Richmond. I did not run this race this year, but Creighton and I are trying to run a race a month this year, so this one fit in perfectly. The course is out and back beginning and ending at Clark Springs Elementary School. Much of the course is flat, but there are a few testy hills. I was not feeling very good this morning, I think I'm fighting some kind of sinus infection so I wasn't sure what to expect. We went out FAST...way too fast this time which put a hurting on both of us, for different reasons. Creighton is favoring a bum ankle and got overheated (although it was only 40*) and ended up getting pretty nauseous. He stalled out a bit around mile 3.5 to try to work out his stomach/ankle issues and I kept running on. I was settling into a nice pace around that point and wanted to keep it going . Our first mile was 7:05 and the second was 7:12 so I knew I needed to slow it down a bit if I was going to hold on for 9+ miles. I settled into a comfortable 7:25 - 7:35 pace for the remainder of the run regardless of the hills and the wind (supposed to be up to 35mph today). As I crossed the 10K mark, I glanced down at my watch to see that I hit a new PR for the 10K at 46:55...I am super psyched about this. I can't wait to see what I can do for a flat and fast course!! I think, with proper training, I could push a 45:??. That would be awesome. I was happy with today's pace too because I was on track to break my 1/2 Marathon PR of 1:38 had I kept running. I was depleted at the end but not destroyed and could definitely have kept going. My running has come along way since we moved to Richmond. I don't know if it's the altitude or not but I'm happy that I keep getting faster as I get older. Now, if I could only get my legs/feet healthy enough to let me take a crack at a full marathon, I would be so happy. Anyway, I finished in 1:10, 2nd in my age group and 14th girl over all (458 runners). It was a good race.

Night On The Town

Alison, Casey, & Christy and I had a play night tonight with dinner and Sweet Frog's to follow. It was so great to be together:) We went to the Mediterranean Bistro for dinner, which was just ok:( I'm glad we tried it but it was definitely nothing special. The play, 13th Of Paris, was only ok too. It was super amateur and a little too long. This was a theatre we had not been too yet and probably won't go back to, but I'm glad we supported them and gave it a shot. We finished the evening at Sweet Frog's, of course. It was a lovely evening with my sweet friends:)

Precious Moments

Brad was putting Cy down for a nap today and I thought it was pretty quite and taking quite a long time. So, I tip toed in to take a peek...just as I suspected :) Love lazy Saturdays.

Running Skirt #2

I got a second running skirt, I guess I'm diving headlong into this "cute runner" idea;) I LOVE this one, more than the last. I have a run tomorrow that I would love to wear it for if it wasn't so darn cold!!! Looking forward to running through Arches National Park in this skirt, it reminds me of a sunset;)

The Giving Tree

I have found this wonderful blog by this couple that I find to be so inspiring. They are madly truly deeply in love with one another and make it their goal to intentionally pursue and purposefully love each other on a daily basis. I find it inspiring because i know how difficult it is to find the time to truly love your spouse, especially on a daily basis. Life is so busy and all consuming and I feel like the most important relationship in my life is the one I neglect the most, sometimes. So, I tune into this blog as a daily dose of inspiration and to find tips that I can incorporate into my life and my relationship(s) as a wife and as a mother. I am working on a few pieces of inspiration but already have one up and running, The Giving Tree. It's such a wonderful idea. We have erected a sort of year round Christmas tree in our living room where we can leave special tokens of love for each other at any and all times of the year, just because. Brad's primary love language is definitely receiving gifts so this is particularly perfect for him. So far, a new pair of swimming shorts for our summer CO adventure, dark chocolate covered ginger pieces, a sesame seed blend, and a Sanders chocolate bar have all graced the Giving Tree for B. Cy has found a package of organic lolly pops, and "Fynn", one of the Cars characters. It's a really cute idea and one that I hope becomes somewhat of a mainstay in our living room.

SNOW!

It's SNOWING in Richmond, it's hard to believe. They've been talking about it all day and it's finally happening. We're having huge flakes (which means it's not very cold) and I hope they'll stay so we can have a snow day tomorrow. We had a family snowball fight in the front yard tonight, Cy loved it. It's a shame that only now will he begin to remember things like this. All those amazing moments in CO and they are fleeting to him. We'll just have to make the best of these moments and spend as much time out west as we can as he grows up.