A Kind of Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

Saturday morning I slept in until 8:00 a.m., which seemed really late considering I usually get up at 5:00 a.m. I ran 9 miles and then came back and started shoveling our driveway because we had gotten several inches overnight. Shortly after I started shoveling, Craig came and took over, so I went in and made breakfast for us.

Craig’s plate: open-faced, over easy eggs with cheese, avocado, hot sauce, and sunflower seed butter on the side. He swears this combination is good, but I’m not convinced.

My breakfast sandwich was much more plain, which was fine with me because it still tasted awesome.

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After breakfast, we headed out of town north to Palmer to cut down our own Christmas tree. There is a section of land north of Palmer where you can go and cut your own Christmas tree down for free. I was all over this because I am not a fan of fake Christmas trees and the ones in town cost about $100!DSC_0007It was a great day to be outside. Not too cold, the snow wasn’t that deep, and it was nice to have space to roam—I sure miss living in the country.

Sadie went with and had a blast sniffing everything she could. DSC_0008

Now the only drawback to cutting down our own Christmas tree is that most of the trees aren’t exactly the prettiest looking things. We cut a tree down and then just took the top off since the bottom was so scraggly.

My lumberjack man. DSC_0009We spent about 45 minutes searching for a decent tree.

Umm. . . . yeah, it definitely is kind of Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Haha! It makes me laugh.

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There, if we rotate it a little, it doesn’t look quite so bad. It’s all about the angle. DSC_0011

Sadie found a piece of moose hide she started chewing on. I made her stop after she started choking on some of the fur. DSC_0016We drove through white-out conditions on our way back—the snow was coming down hard! Once we got home, we put on our best ugly sweaters courtesy of the thrift store.

There are cute ugly sweaters and then there are just frumpy ugly sweaters, like mine. I was not a fan of my sweater and regretted picking out the one I did. You can’t see Craig’s sweater very well, but it was pretty sweet. DSC_0019Sunday night I decorated our tree. It doesn’t look quite so bad with lights and ornaments on. (I’ll just keep telling myself that.)

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I think I’m finally getting back into running. I’ve had two physical therapy appointments to have some dry needling done of various parts of my hamstring. Overall, my hamstring is much better, but there are still a couple spots that flare up when sitting, walking, and running.

Here’s a quick recap on my mileage and workouts this past week.

Monday – 6 miles/52:49 + 60 minute Yoga Sculpt class
It was a pretty pleasant running since it wasn’t as cold (30*F).

Tuesday – 4 miles/35:40 + 20 minutes weight lifting

Wednesday – 4 miles/38:46
Everything has been slow this week, and I’m sure will continue to be the entire winter.

Thursday – off
I ended up going straight home after work and getting things done around the house.

Friday – 4 miles/38:00 + 60 minute Body Blaster class at the gym

Saturday – 9 miles/82:43
Tough running in the new, fallen snow (which made it feel like I was running on the beach) and ice underneath. But it was nice to get out for a longer-ish run.

Sunday – off

Total: 27 miles

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I will probably need one more physical therapy appointment this week. Hopefully I will then be able to start increasing my mileage. It feels like it has been forever since I put in any sort of decent mileage in.

Hi, I'm Michelle

I love running around the lakes of Minnesota, running after my two boys, and racing anything from the 5K to the marathon. I have been blogging here since 2010 when I ran my first marathon. I finally secured my sub-3 hour marathon after trying for 8 years.

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7 Comments

  1. 12.16.13

    I did some yoga this past week too…it was a much needed stretch!

  2. 12.16.13
    Sarah said:

    even if your tree is charlie brown-esque, it sure is cute 🙂 and what a great (free) find! our tree was like $50 and it’s dropping so many needles that it might be bare by christmas.

  3. 12.16.13
    kristenk said:

    Getting a free tree is awesome! And it looks pretty cute too!

  4. 12.16.13
    nlporath said:

    LOVE your tree! 🙂