Tall Tara

What the past six days have looked like…

Mexico was pretty amazing. More pictures (and video!) coming soon.

I’m still unpacking. While packing.

(Unrelated but also puzzling…how is it already February?)

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  • Categories [#31adventures, Trips]

Ask and you shall receive.

We made a list of things we wanted in our next living space. The day after, we found that space for rent on Craigslist. We saw the house two days later and got the call that the house was ours soon thereafter.

The universe made our wish manifest quickly.

Although we were content to simply peek in and check things out…

it seems that life wanted us to take a deep breath and crawl forward.

Turns out it’s not as scary as it looks.

Among many piles of boxes, we’re making our way through the tunnel together.

We are headed to Mexico today for a family wedding. I’m pretty sure there won’t be any blogging going on while away. BUT! There will be some adventures to report on when I return.

Salud!

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  • Tags [#31adventures, fun with babies]
  • Categories [#31adventures]

So I’m totally off track with the daily adventures.

(I know what you’re thinking…Tara, what a surprise! See also the non-daily series: #best09, #reverb10, and the 18 days of the 21-day salute. Ahem.)

Anyway, there was a recent adventure (day 9 maybe?) that involved food, either eating or cooking something new. Since this entire month has been an experiment in letting Eli feed himself, I thought I would share how our son is doing with self-feeding.

Big props for effort.

The tooth helps. He just misses his mouth. Often.

And in the week since this picture was taken, he has another tooth. You can see the tiny beginnings of it up above, if you squint hard. The addition of another tooth brought with it some fussiness but seems to be making Eli extra brave in his eating.

Here’s to trying new food, getting more of it in your mouth and making every meal an adventure!

(Yes, I’m using the Merry Christmas bib in January. I also still have some of my holiday decorations up. Whatever.)

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  • Tags [#31adventures, babies are blog gold]
  • Categories [#31adventures, The Prophet]

Today’s adventure asked me to focus on engaging my senses. With a Crossfit workout at 7am, my day started with a host of opportunities to do just that.

I felt the cold air against my bare arms as we warmed up by running in the twenty degree weather.

I smelled donuts (serious torture btw) after we hit the halfway point on our run.

I heard my heart pounding and breath increasing after a few minutes of our workout.

I saw the blood on my leg from yet another rope burn. (I spared you the picture this time. You’re welcome.)

And since balance is considered one of the senses (something new I learned today!), I ended my workout with one of these.

This is the first time I’ve actually stayed up in a handstand (sans wall) long enough to have it documented. Hell yes. And this is post-workout.

Consider that shit heightened yo.

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  • Tags [#31adventures, crossfit]
  • Categories [#31adventures]

Technology is an adventure. If you would’ve told me nine years ago, when I first moved to Boulder, that I would one day be working in the tech field and even know a few lines of code, I would’ve asked for some of what you were smoking. You know, because it’s Boulder.

The fact that I’ve worked as tech support for a web conferencing company as well as working at not one, but two, early-stage tech startups is absolutely amazing. I was never the one into computers. And look at me now.

For the most part, I consider myself mostly self-taught when it comes to tech. I’m not afraid to click buttons and figure out how programs work through trial and error. This isn’t always a good thing but I learn from my mistakes.

Beer helps.

The daily adventure challenged me to learn something new.

I read today about MyPermissions.org, a service that allows you to see all the apps that have access to your different  social media accounts, and decided that I would learn about revoking permission. FB was the surprising winner with how many apps I had granted access to my information. Some of them aren’t around anymore (Social Thing) and some of them I definitely don’t use anymore (Dopplr).

It felt good to revoke permission. An unsubscribe from nonsense and a clean slate, online anyway, for the New Year. I learned about taking the power of my personal information back and I liked it.

The more you know…

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  • Tags [#31adventures, learning is fun]
  • Categories [#31adventures]

I ran today for the first time in three months. Since this race. (I’m not counting an occasional CrossFit workout; running a 5k or 1600m here and there does not a running practice make.)

It may seem weird, but when you’re in a long term relationship with running like I am, it’s essential to take time off. I’m in my thirteenth year of running and I know that taking breaks from the sport is what keeps me loving it. In fact, during the three months that I wasn’t running, I was reading books about running, watching videos about running and dreaming of running.

Today’s adventure invited me to pause and notice the littlest things.

With this being my first run back, there were many things to notice. I noticed my hips and my foot strike. My hamstrings, my glutes and my ankles. My core, my arms and the feeling of my body moving. The sound of my feet on the path and my breath.

Not to mention, this little thing I noticed…

And then, to top of the day, I had a date night with my husband at a new restaurant.

Another little thing I noticed…

…how in love I still am.

Not too bad for a Monday.

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  • Tags [Adam, always with the Mondays]
  • Categories [#31adventures]

A new perspective for a new year.

Today’s adventure called for taking a photo of something familiar from a new angle. After an amazing hike on Green Mountain, I came home and took this shot on the back porch.

While I do have a thing for taking self-portraits, I don’t think I’ve ever taken a picture from this angle in my backyard. Normally, it’s all mountain and wild life shots.

I like that I look content and a bit magical.

(Related note: nice static in the hair. Dry much in Colorado?)

Happy New Year friends. May the adventures be plentiful in 2012.

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  • Tags [crazy hair, new year!!, self-portrait]
  • Categories [#31adventures]

In the past month, Eli started pulling himself up on anything and everything within reach. Turns out standing and climbing are fun! He also got his first tooth, celebrated his first Christmas and discovered the awesomeness of storytime at the library. You might say it’s been an exciting month.

Although the month nine video features a majority of holiday pictures, I couldn’t bring myself to actually use a Christmas song as background music. I have, however, been obsessed with the soundtrack from the movie Drive (totally awesome, btw) and therefore, decided to use a song from that instead.

It is pretty amazing that he’s a real human being.

{music credit: A Real Hero (Feat. Electric Youth), College}

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  • Tags [babies are blog gold, videos are fun]
  • Categories [The Prophet]

I’m pretty sure he’s killing the bad guys with cuteness.

I mean, right?

(Although Tyra would be proud of the pose…)

Thanks to Holly for the amazing onesie.

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  • Tags [fun with babies, superhero baby]
  • Categories [The Prophet]

Working out feels like play.

As it should really. When working out feels like just another chore on your list of things to do, it becomes much easier to talk yourself out of doing it. But who doesn’t want to play?

Last week, the CrossFit workouts were ghosts of our P.E.past. On Tuesday, we did front and back somersaults. Sounds easy enough, right? Not if you’re someone (LIKE ME) who had a remarkably hard time doing back somersaults as a child. My parents have a VHS recording of a tumbling performance when I was about three. I am unable to do a back somersault and I just keep trying and trying, holding up all the other kids behind me in line waiting to make their parents proud by actually doing a back somersault.

Turns out not much has changed in the back somersault department. I found myself still unable to do one and still holding up the line of other people waiting to get on the tumbling mat. But you can bet that doing a back somersault has made it onto my 2012 list of goals. Along with doing a freestanding handstand.

Yes, I’m back in the fourth grade.

On Thursday, I showed up to CrossFit and instead of the usual 10 or 12 people, there were only three others. Turns out we were climbing the rope in class and it seems some people were still traumatized by their rope experiences in junior high. You remember that rope. My memory is of the Presidential Fitness Challenge in the 7th grade where I totally failed in my attempt to climb the rope. Like I didn’t even get off the ground. And of course, this happened in front of my entire co-ed gym class.

I can understand the trauma.

Fortunately, that did not happen this time.

I climbed more than halfway up the rope on my first attempt, learning two very important lessons along the way. Never underestimate your abilities when trying something new. And never wear capris when climbing a rope.

{Thanks to Nicole, my coach, for the photo of me in action and the constant encouragement.}

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  • Tags [crossfit, rope burns are not fun]
  • Categories [Life Lessons, Training]