A Year in Pictures: 2009

2009 Has been an amazing year. Full of ups and downs, good times and hard. I'm really excited for 2010 and all of the possibilities it holds, but I want to look back at 2009 and be thankful for the amazing year it was. I think JJ and I both worked really hard to set ourselves up to be really sucessful in 2010.

Some highlights from 2009 in photos...

JANUARY

We had a huge snowstorm dumping more than a foot in Bloomington. It was JJ and Pumpkin's first big snow storm. We didn't have shovels, so we resorted to digging our cars out with cookie sheets...

FEBRUARY

My co-workers and I decided to do a group Valentine's Dinner at a Japanese Steak House, then dessert and games and Michele's house. I absolutely love my former co-workers, job, and the YMCA. I am so lucky to have worked there!

MARCH

During the month of March, I wrote my cookbook. I am so proud of the way it turned out! I had so much fun making all of the baked goods to model with, and I'm so thankful to The Smiths for letting me use their kitchen for the photos!

APRIL

Easter was so much fun this year! With Becky in Switzerland and JJ in Iowa with the baseball team, I was pretty bummed. However, it meant that I was able to do the egg hunt by myself and look for all 4 dozen eggs. Kris and Dan tried to sabatoge me and cheat, but I was victorious!

MAY

May was an amazing month for both JJ and I. We spent Mother's Day in Cincinnati with my mom. The next weekend was my birthday, which was great. I had a fun party at work and then went out with some of our friends. The next weekend was the Big 10 tourney in Columbus, OH, where the IU baseball team went on to win the Championship. It was probably the highlight of JJ's career thus far, and I'm so glad I was able to go and cheer for the Hoosiers!

JUNE

In June I got the first copy of my cookbook, and continued to edit and re-write recipes.

During this time, we also found out we were moving to Jacksonville, so I began packing up. I had my going away dinner with my co-workers, and a wonderful going away party at work. It was so hard to say goodbye, I can't say enough about how much I love Bloomington!

JULY

In July, my family chose a weekend to all go home and have one last family party before JJ and I moved. My mom wanted us to go to the park and take some family photos, so here are some of the photos she took.

It was really fun spending time together, I miss my family!

AUGUST

As sad as it was to leave Bloomington, it was exciting to move to Jacksonville. JJ grew up in St. Augustine, and had been living far from home for 6 years. He rarely saw his friends during this time, so with his birthday being August 21, I planned a birthday party for him. I surprised him with organizing our Fantasy Football Draft to be that night.

SEPTEMBER

During September, JJ started working his new job, which he really enjoys. We also had the opportunity to spend a lot more time with his family. And enjoy the beach, pool, and lovely Florida weather!

OCTOBER

Wow, what can I say about October.... We got Charlotte and Belle, house-hunted and bought a house, I got my job with Folio Weekly, we moved.... it was an exhausting but AMAZING month!

NOVEMBER

We celebrated our 2nd anniversary 2 weeks early by going to a Florida State game, which they won in the last minute of the game!

We also drove to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving. We had a successful 10k on Thanksgiving Day, and a great visit with the family!

DECEMBER

December was quite busy! We had our second anniversary on the 1st.

We had our housewarming party on December 12.

We had a surprise 25th Anniversary Party for JJ's parents on the 19.

We hosted a Christmas Eve Brunch and Christmas Day dinner at our new house. My grandparents came for Christmas, and were our first official house-guests!

It was a great month!

What a wonderful year!

Here's to a happy, healthy, and wonderful 2010!

I'll see you EVERY DAY 

12.27.09 Nike+ Results

Here's the results from my first run with the Nike+

You can see where I have to cross the street and wait on some traffic! I cross many neighborhood entrances, so there are a few dips there.

I love the Nike+, it gives me the exact information I'm looking for, distance and pace!

As I start blogging daily, I'm going to include my run results and keep track of my pace and PR's. I'm also going to start posting my playlists, which I try to change monthly.

I'm going to blog a few recipes here and there, and then just daily life things.

Is there anything you especially like to see?

Tomorrow I'm going to post some exciting news/plans for the first half of 2010...

Santa thinks I'm a runner!

I must have been a VERY good girl this year, because Santa sure did hook me up with workout gear!


I was elated to open my presents on Christmas and find one gift after the next that I could use for fitness!
JJ got me a running jacket from Old Navy, a pack of 4 Under Armour running socks, 2 Nike Dry Fit Running Shirts, a Nike Dry Fit Running Tank, Nike Athletic Shorts, and a car charger for my ipod since it always seems to be dead!
My in-laws got me a pair of Asics running socks (identical to the pair I have that I love).
My brother in law got me a Nike+iPod running chip and shoe chip holder.
My parents gave me a gift card, which I used to buy a new pair of Nike Pegasus running shoes and a pair of Under Armour running pants.


I'm so glad I was able to get a new pair of my running shoes because it's been a year since I got my current pair, and they're pretty worn. I love the Nike Air Pegasus shoes, they were the best fit for me when I had a custom fitting last year. I highly recommend getting fitted by a professional for your first pair. It might cost a bit more, but if you find a brand/style you're comfortable with, you can buy them elsewhere in the future and pay less.


I already have logged a few runs with the nike+, and plan to post the results as I will be blogging EVERY DAY in 2010. Whew! I'll get today's 6.21 mile run results up tomorrow.


Not only do I appreciate the gifts my family gave me, but it means so much that family believes that I'll contine to run and workout, and they see how important it is to me.

My New Year's Resolution...

I've decided to make one single New Year's Resolution... but it will end up in a million little ones, I'm sure!


In 2010, I am going to blog every single day on Ash is Fit.
There are a few reasons I'm going to do this, and I'll elaborate over the next few days....
For now, have a wonderful Christmas weekend :)

Fernandina Beach Reindeer Run 10k

Last Saturday, my coworker/friend Lou and I ran the Fernandina Beach Reindeer Run 10k. He had never run a 10k, so back in October we decided to sign up. We've been running a little during the week after work, but he was a little apprehensive.
It was a little chilly when we got to the race, about 55 degrees. I just tried to stay warm, he stretched a lot. (JJ took the photos, he's such a great cheerleader!)


Here's me, wondering why JJ was taking photos of me standing around... when I should have been stretching...
Here's Lou stretching...

Waiting at the start line

Santa at the start

Super excited!

The race went through Fort Clinch State Park. It was an asphalt paved road that was in a tree lined grove. It was misty and about 65 degrees. I actually got pretty hot as it became really humid and the air didn't move much. We were about 100 yards from the beach, at some times I could see sand dunes.

Lou finished at 1:06:50

It looks like :54 for me, but my official time on the website was 1:08:51, so I PR'd by about 40 seconds! Had I not been so hot, I think I could have done better. I might have been the only person sweating at the end. People in Florida seemed to think 65 was FREEZING. It's weird...

Overall it was a nice race. I'd do it again next year! However, my housewarming party was that afternoon, so I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day!

Follow me on Twitter!

I broke down and got myself a twitter! If you want to follow me and keep tabs since I'm not posting here as frequently, you can check me out there @ashleezorn


I'll be doing a mixture of general tweets, cooking tweets, and fitness tweets, so it's not just about my health/fitness.


Tomorrow I'm going to get a post up from the 10k I ran Saturday!


Also, if you have any questions or comments, my email is ashisfit@gmail.com

Thanskgiving 10k and Recap (yeah, i know it's almost Christmas)

I hope everyone had a great Thasnkgiving! I know, it's been 3 weeks, I'm a little late and behind. To be honest, I've tried posting this 5 times, but when I save my photos in here and keep it in draft, it disappears! I don't know what's going on with blogger!


Thanksgiving was great. We drove from Jacksonville to Cincinnati with the 3 dogs. It was about 13 hours there and 15 back (thanks, Atlanta traffic...)
Here I am driving through Georgia...



Here's JJ driving through Kentucky...



Pumpkin hung out on the cooler for a few hours... she's quite obnoxious in the car!



Char and Belle made up for Pumpkin's craziness, they slept the entire time!

We got in on Wednesday, and ran the 100th Thanksgiving Day Race in downtown Cincinnati! It was really fun, as it is every year, but there were SO MANY PEOPLE! There is usually 10-12k people there, but this year, there was about 18,000 people! It was really hectic, crowded, and hard to run. Usually by mile 2-3, I have room to run my pace, but I had to weave and pass and run zig zags the entire race. I didn't even cross the start line for 17 minutes after the race began!

Happy 100th, Cincinnati T-day 10k!

Though the race was rough because of the massive amounts of people, I still PR'd and beat last year. I finished at 1:09:29

Aren't race photos always so hideous?? I do NOT look good running!

I celebrated my awesome PR by making and eating a bit of each of the 6 pies! Want the recipes? www.ashleescooking.blogspot.com

Since Thanksgiving, I ran another 10k and hosted my housewarming party....which I'll post in the next few days!

Hello!!!

Has it really been a month since my last post?!

Time sure flies on the weekends when you buy a house... I never imagined I would have so much work to do AND so many things to buy.

However, at this point, I can happily say that for the near future, we're done with the house. There are a few more things we need to/want to do, but they can wait. We finished just in time for the holidays!

Here's our Christmas Card photo:

And here's my favorite photo of the inside of the house so far!

By the way, I LOVE POTTERY BARN! Unfortunately I can't read, and thought JJ would come out JJ even though it explicitly said 1 capital letter, the rest lower case on monogrammed stockings. JJ's came "Jj". Pottery Barn sent a replacement for free.

Thank you, PB!

So what else have I been up to....

The past few weeks I've been focused on long runs on the weekends. 3 weeks ago I did a 4.5 miler, then last weekend and yesterday I did 6 milers.

Thursday is the 100th Running of the Cincinnati Thanksgiving Day 10k!!!!!!!

I am going to try so hard to get some great photos... This is a historic race, and I'm so happy to be running it with my whole family. I'm shooting to beat last years 69 minutes.... however no hills in Florida, lots in Cincinnati. Eek!

We leave tomorrow for the 14 hour drive...with 3 dogs.... should be interesting!

This past Saturday I got tickets to the FSU game for JJ for our 2nd Anniversary. Hard to believe it will be 2 years on December 1!

Here are some photos...

That's about it for me... just trying to balance health/fitness/house/dogs/blogs/work/friends... it's tough, and sadly my blog is the easiest to drop when I'm busy!

One more thing though, I just got this email from Jill that I'd like to share with everyone!

Have a great Thanksgiving, be safe, workout hard and eat lots!

Dear Ashlee (and Ash is Fit Readers)

My name is Jill Duffy, also known as girlrunningaround (http://girlrunningaround.xanga.com) and runnergirl13 (http://www.twitter.com/runnergirl13). I have a goal and I think you can help me achieve it.

I just joined the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. If I can rain $4,000 to help find a cure for blood cancers by April I will be able to participate in the Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville, TN. Having the opportunity to do this makes my heart swell with hope.

My father-in-law is currently battling lymphoma. Anything that I can do to help researchers find a cure makes it possible for him and others like him to live better and longer lives, makes all of the training miles I will be logging seem like a walk in the park. These people are the real heroes on our team, and LLS needs your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

On Tuesday, November 24, 2009 I am going to use all of my social networking connections to try to raise $500 in one day to support LLS. I will be posting on Twitter, Facebook and my blog to help get the word out.

But that’s not enough.

What am I asking you to do? Just two things.

First, make a donation, if you can.

Second, use your audience to help me reach my goal. All that I am asking is that you retweet my message on Twitter. Post a blip on your blog. Tell your friends. Help me get the word out.

I am asking you because I read your blog. I respect your work. And I think you are a good person. If you are willing to help, please let me know.

Thank you for your support,

Jill Duffy

http://pages.teamintraining.org/mi/cmc10/jillduffy

****FOR EACH PERSON WHO COMMENTS ON THIS POST WITH WHAT THEY'RE THANKFUL FOR THIS THANKSGIVING, I WILL DONATE $1****

(cutoff is tonight, 11/23 at 10pm EST. my max is going to be $100 though.... I just bought a house!!!)

Overwhelmed.

Overall I had another good, but super exhausting weekend.

Friday night I left work and drove to St. Augustine because we had our carpets cleaned in the house, and JJ dropped the dogs off at his parents on his way to work. It meant getting home from work/picking them up at 7:30pm rather than 5:40pm, so I was starving! I stopped at Starbucks and got an iced soy latte, which held me over.

Since I was eating at 8pm, I didn't want to wait on food to go, but we didn't have much at home, so I made a garden salad with hummus on top and a cup of butternut squash soup. It was filling because of the bulk, but I found out Saturday morning that it was not sustaining.When I woke up, I set out to do a 4.5 mile run. After the first mile, I was so hungry and my legs felt like they weighed a million pounds. It was not going well, so I did a lot of walking and took a short cut. I did 4 miles in about an hour. I was pretty bummed out by that, but I attribute it to the lack of food the night before and the weather (it was very humid and hot considering how cool it had been). When I got home, I was drained. Hungry, depressed, and tired. Between all of the painting, exercise, and trying to really eat well, my body was done.

We did our usual grocery shop, I painted 2 bathrooms while watching football, and then we went out to dinner for Jay's birthday. I decided to just eat whatever I wanted (without eating total crap) and not feel bad about it. I can tell that I've lost a few pounds in the past few weeks, but since I threw out my scale, I can't confirm it.

So I started with the beer sampler, it was great. Then we had boniachos (nachos made with boniato chips). I ordered a portabella mushroom sandwich, and we had dessert spilt among us (cheesecake and bread pudding, amazing!).

Sunday morning when I woke up to run, I felt much better. My legs are still a little tired, but I was able to run close to 5 miles and only take 3 1 minute walk breaks. Then we picked up some breakfast on our way to furniture shop. I got an egg mcmuffin with no canadian bacon and a fruit and walnut salad. I can't remember the last time I had McDonalds, and it was good! However, furniture shopping for hours and hours took it's toll on me, and I was starving by 3 pm. It was bad to let myself get that hungry, I really don't want to mess with my metabolism. We almost stopped at a drive-thru, but I couldn't do it. I worked too hard on my run, so we went home and I made soup and salad, but planned on dinner at 6.

After my crappy run, and then my just ok run, I'm really starting to think I don't want to do the half marathon in February. Kristine told me she's decided not to, and I don't want to train alone... I feel like I'll skip it this year, still do the 15k in March, and see how that goes. I think with all of the changes going on, and how busy I've become just makes me not want to do it. It's at the bottom of my priority list. I actually think I need to focus on losing a bit more weight before I try for half training because a few pounds less makes a huge difference when running.

My health and physical well being are still at the top, but completing a half marathon in 2010 are not. And I think I'd like for my first half to be at Disney, much better scenery than running down a highway, so I'm going to shoot for the Disney Princess Half in March 2011 if the 15k goes well, and I still feel up to it.

Oh, and the highlight of my weekend, finding this at the grocery store: