Barefoot Running

Today I ran 3 miles barefoot around the Smith Fieldhouse indoor track. There has been a lot of hoopla online and within the running community lately debating shoes vs. barefoot, footstrikes, etc. There was even an article in Nature recently about a footstrike study. Barefooters say it is more natural and that shoes mess up your form and footstrike, actually increasing impact forces and leading to injuries and stuff. Shoers say that they protect your feet and help cushion impacts to reduce impact forces and injuries. I say I don't really know one way or another. Most of the scientific studies are biased (funded by shoe companies, ulterior motives, small sample sizes of biased parts of the population...) and so far I haven't seen convincing evidence from a peer reviewed legitimate study that favors one side or another. As for my experience, I have noticed that altering my footstrike to a midfoot/forefoot landing seems to alleviate lateral knee pain (ITBS), and that it doesn't matter whether I have shoes or not. This is just my experiment of one. I ran barefoot today for 2 reasons: wanted to try it out, forgot my running shoes at home. It was fun, and I think I will do it again, but I still feel like shoes are a good idea esp. for outside conditions.

Jacob

Minnie Mouse

We put Mouse asleep today. She had a tumor and it was well past time. She was old (we got her when she was at least a couple years old). She kind of took a while to finally kick the bucket, which was funny. All and all, I totally didn't anticipate this being so SAD. Seriously, this is a crappy night.
Peace Out
P.S. I'd post a picture, but that would be gross.

~Becca

A Painting in the Process

So I'm sitting at our desk, it's 10:23 and Jacob is asleep. To some, Friday nights = date night; apparently to Jacob and me it means nap time. We totally fell asleep at 6:30.
Alright I guess we did do something. Jacob met me at work after his bike ride (which is soo uphill from where we are, awe so sweet) with my favorite: a veggie burro from Diego's. (We are dangerously short of having an addiction.) Once I got off, we ate at an outdoor table - chatting and chilling. So there, we aren't totally lame...right?
Anyway, I woke up, he's still out. I was looking through pictures to give me some inspiration because blogging does NOT come easily. (But we have a striking audience of Jen, Andrea, and Michelle whom we must entertain! ha jk). And I saw some before/after shots of a couple paintings I've done. I thought it might be neat for some non-painters.





And yes, there are things in the first painting that I wish carried through to the final product. But that is okay, paintings have a mind of their own.

While I'm on the subject of paintings, can I just express a pet-peeve of mine regarding other people's taste in art? I hate how people only like paintings that look picture-perfect, like a photograph. Don't get me wrong, if a painting can achieve that while maintaining a 'painterly' style... where up-close especially, you can tell it is a painting, see the brush strokes and yet the further you move back - the more realistic it becomes. And when an all-out impressionistic piece achieves that, that is GREAT... pure talent. But when a painting looks like a computer, not a hand, created it? Gross! And yet that is the art many people 'appreciate.' Yeah that takes skill, but accomplishing realism in art while presenting it as a painting, not a photograph, takes far more skill in my opinion. Besides, I love art rough and messy. (yeah, abstract doesn't really cut it for me either, but you get my drift). So the next time you buy a painting of flowers, or Christ, or a landscape, look up close: Can you see the brush strokes?

In the first painting, I mainly mixed my colors with turpentine (paint cleaner/thinner) to get a thin layer over the entire surface: It makes painting much less intimidating to get all that white out of the way.
In the second painting, I really got some color in there. I love autumn colors, thus the theme of the painting.
In the third, I made really simple changes... detail touch-ups. Mainly, I added some highlights. Lights and shadows make all the difference in any painting, with any colors.

And I just have to brag: I am freakin proud of this painting. It is a "Glaze" - which means, in short, there are a good 50 layers of paint on this baby!!! Yeah, I'm telling you, the painterly ones take work:) (not the case all the time, but whatev.)

It All Started With a Microwave

So, Jake and I had been married for a solid 10 months, and we decided it was about time for a Microwave. Yes, we have survived without one for that long. How? I honestly don't know. What were we thinking??? We weren't. Anyway, we surfed the internet for prices, commentary, etc. Of-course, the lowest-prices caught our eye, but the reviews never seemed to satisfy. We finally went looking at Bed Bath (we still have wedding money there), but didn't see any under around 90 (barf). Then headed to Low's that was close by: there was one for 70 that looked okay. But could cheep-skate Jacob and Becca make such a purchase? Of course not:) We left empty-handed. Next door stood a Pet's Mart. "Jacob," I pleaded, "can we just go there and look at the animals so I don't feel so depressed about money?" --"Of-course."
First we looked at the cats. Most were grown (yuck), but still so cute. Then we headed over to the hamster section. BIG mistake. You know why? Because it left me even more depressed about money - because after watching the cute little runts and playing with them a little, I WANTED ONE!!! I wanted a pet! But after adding the cage, and the bottle, and the bedding, and the food, and the wheel to the mix, it would have been seriously foolish to spend our money on completely unnecessary things. With the microwave, we had some logical reasoning: saves time and dishes, etc. But a hamster? -bc. I need the emotional support? Yeah no.
But I"m not gonna lie, I really wanted the darn thing. So when we got home, cute Jacob jumped on Craig's List and KSL (best sites created) and don't worry, "Free female dwarf hamster along with cage, wheel, food, and bedding" popped up. So, we got a hamster. The girl just got a dog, and didn't want a pet overload. So we got her, so cute and little and white and free free free! I love that word.
We picked it up right after Jacob's intramural Softball/Frisbee game. It was pretty hilarious. We just looked at each other and said "Are we seriously getting a hamster?" haha

Here's the cool thing about all of this: My visiting teacher and her hub stopped by Kara's (chocolate store where I occasionally work). I recounted the story to them. They asked, "Wait, do you still need a microwave?"
-yes
"We have one, our neighbors moved out and they left there's telling us to just tell the next tennents to take it."
hooray!
After work I met them at our apt. with the microwave, the FREE microwave, and we all enjoyed some left-over choc covered strawberries. Yum.

So how cool is that, right? We needed a microwave, wanted a hamster---- all to become discouraged about $ and how everything costs $, all to get both for zero dollars!!! I love our life:)

Her are some pictures of her: Name: Minnie Mouse, but mostly just Mouse. Sex: Female. Type: dwarf hamster.

Fat Book!

I just finished reading To Green Angel Tower, 1066 pages of fantasy goodness. This is the third book in Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy. The first book was about 500 pages, the second book was about 600 pages, and so in total I read 2166 pages!

Many of you may not know this, but I have special powers. For example, this is a picture of me flying through the air. I also have glowing hands and arms. These abilities come in very handy when the porch light burns out and I can't see the keyhole, or when I need to cross deep chasms. Every ability has it's drawbacks, however. It seems like every time I turn around Becca is asking me to fly to the store for a stick of butter or a cup of flour! And I am not that great at capture the flag, people on the other team can always see me. Ugh.

My First Post!

Haha, I am now posting on the family blog. Momentous occasion indeed :)