Long time no Spark!

I've been away for quite a while... and no, I haven't really backslid, just been very, very busy! However, my weight is sitting right around 168-170, and I'm better at 160, so I guess I still need Spark to keep me on track. At the beginning of the year I really started zeroing in on my finances, and have made some great progress this year in paying off debts and stashing more in my retirement accounts. It turns out that financial fitness and physical fitness have a lot in common, and I think I'm ready to fully embrace having both!

As far as what I've been doing, our renters moved out of our old house in March, so we spent time getting it fixed up and trying to sell it. FINALLY got it sold last month, and have that monkey off our backs! The horse I bought last summer has been so much fun. I started training her under saddle this spring, and now she's really getting more fit, and is a star out on the trails. I'm trying to ride her 5 days a week until the weather gets too bad, and at the same time trying to ride my old horse 2-3 days a week. Suffice it to say, my workouts have slipped a little bit. However, I did run the Zeitgeist half marathon last Saturday, finishing in 2:02:32, so no, I haven't gotten all out of shape or anything. I also got my deadlift up to 200# this summer, though I kind of (ok, totally) slacked off on weight lifting since then. I also gardened a ton this year, and started getting lots of food out of my own back yard. This is a big deal to me, and has been really enjoyable. Hoping next year will be even better! Also, I went to Washington, DC for the first time ever a couple weeks ago, and happened to be there during the Marine Corps Marathon AND the Washington International Horse Show. Super inspiring and fun to watch!

As far as future plans, I'm signed up for the Freezeout Challenge at the end of January, and then, the BIG DEAL is that my husband and I are going to Peru for two weeks in May. He WON a trip, and we'll be hiking the Inca trail, and then going to the Amazon. So I have great motivation to stay in shape over the winter. No wheezing when I'm up there hiking at 8,000 feet!

So I feel like I'm bragging a bit, and don't mean it that way, just lots of great stuff going on. Hope all my Spark friends are doing equally well!