Married...

I promise to blog again soon! Here are a few pics though...

Arthur before the wedding

Danielle before the wedding

Just a fun after wedding shot!

Burn after reading

Tonight Arthur and I watched Burn After Reading. The best part is when Brad Pitt gets hit in the face. It is the only part worth watching. Enough said. I don't recommend watching this movie.

As Arthur has been working on his training plan for Pikes Peak, he has been creating a training schedule for me to get back into running. My last 10k was 8:40 minute miles and my last 5k was not much faster. I would really enjoy running races at a faster pace. I am not expecting to PB, as I used to be able to run 6 something miles. For my next goal I would like to run around 8 minute miles for a 10K which would be a 49:36 and around 7:40 mile for a 5k (23:48). Also, to help this endeavor we have converted our basement to a workout room, put a bid on a weight bench on Ebay. This means I will be getting in shape. Wish me luck!

IOM

For those of you who don’t know what IOM is it is the Isle of Man. It is an island between Britain and Ireland. This is part of the United Kingdom and is a tax haven. We went to the IOM for Easter for a running festival. There are three races, a pub crawl and a few beer races. The first race is a 10K on Friday, after that is the first beer trials, there are two rounds. Saturday there is hill race, and a 10 mile pub crawl. Sunday is a 5k and then a party where teams compete in beer races. This is the IOM running festival web site.

Friday, Arthur ran the 10k this was the only race I didn’t run. Then we went back to the Bed and Breakfast and had the beer races. There are two rounds each round you drink one pint as quickly as possible. The first round is randomly assigned and Arthur and I were up against each other. It was a close race but Arthur won. The second round they have you race the person with the closest time to yours… I had a race against two others and beat both my competitors. ☺ After the beer race I was off to bed.




Saturday we hung out then headed for the hill race. The guys raced first, so I hiked up the hill to cheer them on. Then I ran the race, this was very challenging as it is a very very steep hill. As I think the picture accurately displays. Then we dressed as bees for Emma’s hen do (Bachelorette party). Another fun picture of all the girls dress like bees. Then we started on the pub crawl. This is a 10 mile pub crawl, between bars there can be up to a 2.5 mile run. This ended up being a very late night.

Sunday we woke up early for the 5k race, which I was convinced would be a wonderful present for my mothers birthday, which happened on Friday. I ran the 5K, very slowly as I was sore from the hill race and 10mile pub crawl. That afternoon we watched a football game, then went to the final party of the festival, and enjoyed some team beer racing… again here are a few pictures.

Weekend part #1

This past weekend Arthur and I went on an adventure. We have decided that we need to take a small weekend trip about once a month. This past weekend a friend named Katherine had her 30th birthday party in Norwich. Since it is so close to Arthur parents, we left Friday and drove to Blakeney. We did arrive till about 9 had dinner and fell asleep. The next morning we woke up and went out for a run. We did some wedding planning and finalized our reading and reduced the list of hymns. Then we made lunch and got to eat it on the back garden. I love blue skys!

Saturday night we drove to out for the party in Norwich. It was a blast getting to hang out with Steve and Anthea and they have the most beautiful home. Unfortunately i didn't take any picutres of their house. Saturday night was filled with a few drinks, a bit of dancing, and a great time!

Here are two pictures, one of Arthur and me. The other is Arthur with his childhood friends. I think that they might get in to some trouble.

Speeches at the wedding

While reading about toast at a wedding I came across the following guide of wedding speeches for the UK.


The Toasts

Once the champagne or chosen drink has been served the Toastmaster will introduce the speakers who will be proposing the traditional toasts, of which there are usually three:
- This first toast is to the Bride & Groom and will normally be proposed by the father of the bride or an old friend of the family.
- The second toast is proposed by the groom who, after thanking the bride's father and making his speech, will conclude by proposing the health of the bridesmaids.
- The third toast is proposed by the best man who will respond on behalf of the bridesmaids and conclude by proposing the health of the parents of the bride and groom.

I'm not sure wedding toasts follow this format as much in the current day. In previous generation the man was the head of the house, but I have to say the UK tradition baffled me. The grooms thanks the brides father then toasts to the health of the bridesmaids then the best man responds for them. One, I would think the groom thanks everyone, not just the brides dad... then toasts to the bridesmaid. Two, I love my bridesmaids, but feel the groomsmen /ushers are getting a bit of a short stick why do we not toast to their health as well. Third, after toasting to the bridesmaids the best man responds for them... not sure that would fly with some of the woman's rights groups. I did find this very interesting and thought I would share it with all of you!

P.S. As I am not a huge fan of making speeches I have no problem following tradition and giving Arthur the opportunity to give a wonderful speech :).

Mountain Biking in Langsett

This past weekend the weather was finally nice enough to mountain biking again. It quickly became one of our favorite weekend activities, last fall. I have been looking forward to the weather getting nice enough for us to enjoy this activity again. In anticipation for nice weather we bought a new book showing rides in the Dark Peak region, near Sheffield.

The ride we selected in near a town of Langsett. There was a beautiful reservoir on the ride. We stared on a easy road work that lead to a path with a gentle slops. We were supposed to turn off the main path and add an additional loop. This section was SUPER muddy. After not being able to get any traction I told Arthur to go ahead and I would take the short cut on a path with a LOT let mud and I would bike toward him on the other side of the short cut. This was the best decision! Arthur had to basically walk 1k, because the mud was so bad. The path I took was perfect… the ground was a little tacky but not really muddy and it was a very well maintained trail. I then met up with him and we road back on the best past. After the first loop, Arthur went out for a second loop cutting out the muddy section… I went for a walk around the reservoir, so he wouldn’t have to wait for me to keep up.

The first picture is Arthur coming down towards the reservoir.

This is the reservoir.

Another (this was from my walk)

And Arthur riding away while I am still taking photos...

Because we both have bright yellow biking jackets I could spot him a mile a way and took several pictures him biking up the hill towards me.

He is cranking it up the hill! I am sure I make it look a lot more difficult!

Pancakes

America, WAKE UP and heat up that frying pan, for today is Pancake day!

As is tradition in the UK, the day before Lent starts (Shrove tuesday, fat-tuesday, mardi-gras, or whatever you wish to call it), we make a point of using up all the butter, eggs, etc that are all banned during this period of fasting, and what better way to use all these up than by making pancakes. Well, if you are going to do this properly like me, then I don't simply use up any left-overs, I go out and buy more ingredients, lots more ingredients to be exact. And then I cook.

Now listen up, Pancakes in the UK are somewhat different from the US variety...

US pancakes are exactly what it the describes itself to be, a cake in a pan, thick and fluffy.

UK pancakes would be better described as a paper thin sheet of batter, cooked for no more than a few seconds each side; it is not thick and definitely not fluffy. Basically, a french crepe or a thinner version of a flour tortilla.

Sounds tasty doesn't it. That's because they are.

The beauty of these pancakes is in their versatility. They can be made sweet or savory depending on taste, ice-cream, salsa, chicken, roast veg, take your pick. And if you are still hungry after all that, then your next pancake is only about a minute away.

As for me, I get very excited about Pancake day. I will eat it which ever way you prepare it: hot, cold, sweet, savory, flat, rolled. I'm easy.

Tonight, we are going to a friends house for a Pancake party. Plenty of fillings are on offer apparently. I must admit though, all this talk of Pancakes has my sweet tooth come to the fore and therefore I cannot wait to sample the delights of a Pancake filled with a healthy helping of Ben & Jerry's ice cream! Mmmmmmmmm! Pancakes!

Many people (myself included) think that Pancake day should be a national holiday; for some reason the powers that be disagree!!

Incidentally, this time last year, when Danielle and myself had just started dating, she refused my offer of Pancakes on Pancake day as she failed to understand its significance. Wow, that was almost a dealbreaker for me...! After much explaining about Pancakes Danielle came round to the idea (albeit about a week later), lucky for us otherwise our relationship might have turned out little crepe.

More info about Pancakes can be found here

AC