family together for fathers day

it'd had been 2 years since all the fairchildren had been in the same room, and i don't know how long since its been all of us and our spouses and the 6 little ones!

it was a great, quick, chaotic, fun, hot (temps 106-108 degrees in chico) fathers day weekend!


we enjoyed each other, good food, meeting little Jacob (mr cuddly, calm, chill, kind of crawling, kind of attempting to walk 11 month old!

all fairchilds if you love ice cream

life father like sons

this is the cutest sweetest little finley, she was so much more engaging and outgoing this weekend than any other time i can remember


this is luke. mr independent.

till next time we all get to see each other!

my birthday weekend in monterey, ca

The morning after my epic surprise party, DB and I took off for Monterey!
First we set off on a hit along the cliffs, in search of possible whale siting and baby seals.

The weather was great, nice and sunny, a bit cooler than we thought it would be; but still beautiful.





DB booked us to stay at a b&b called the Jabberwock Inn(we highly recommend, the cook Ellie makes breakfast every morning, and its superb! we met some other couples; one from the UK, another from Houston and another from LA)


DB was excited for the 17 mile drive tour which took us to Pebble Beach


My parents booked me a massage at the Vista Blue Spa
the place was fantastic, with the roof deck, pools, lounge chairs; they let DB hang out in the sun while I had my massage; and then we both enjoyed the lounge chairs for a bit as well!


The locals recommended the Sandbar and Grill for lunch; the food was amazing!
If you're looking for the place, its hidden; nestled up to and under a pier...but walking up you can smell the grill!

On the way home from Monterey DB stopped and bought me an ice cream at Marianne's


My 30th birthday couldn't have been any better!
It was one fantastic weekend to kick off this new decade of life.
I am excited for the 30's and all that they have in store:)

quite possibly the BEST birthday EVER

i've been looking forward to 30 for...oh the past 12+ months!
and this weekend...delivered more than i thought possible!

(one of my original thoughts was we could climb half dome; but for MANY reasons, i am glad we didn't get those permits and book our stay at the lodge)
Saturday evening...DB & Jill together pulled off a SURPRISE party....and I was completely surprised!
I really did think DB and I were going to Jill&Sean's for drinks/appetizers and then off to a restaurant...
...little did I know..... 
when I walked into Jill's place, there were my friends and both sets of parents, and the Cogs:) 

We have some pretty amazing, fantastic, kind, generous and loving friends and family!





and our loving parents


I have never had a surprise party......the evening was PERFECT!

We didn't get home and into bed until after midnight, I woke up early with a smile on my face, as I replayed all the fun moments of the evening prior....it truly was my favorite birthday party ever!
THANKS DB and all my friends!!

(next post...sunday through monday of my birthday weekend)

see jane run alameda 2012.

this past weekend i ran my last race of my 20's!

i have been attempting to pull pictures from my canon, but for some-reason-unknown-to-me my memory card seems to be on the fritz, and therefore i am unable to get photos off my camera at this time.
:(
but luckily, ipods and iphones come well equipped with cameras too...and the day was documented with both my canon and my ipod:) and also sarah and shannon took photos too... thank goodness.
a day without a photo taken is a sad sad day for me!

the race.
sunday. june 3rd, 2012.
13.1 miles, out and back course, it was a warm sunny day with some breezes off the bay.

DB woke up early to take me to the event (gold medal goes to him...again...he is a gem!)


sarah met up with me at mile 10 to finish the race with me.
(a god send that lady...ohmyword, going into the run so tired and coming off a week of not feeling well, i was ready to call it quits at mile 10...but sarah put some wind in my sails and made the finish bearable)
thank you!


shannon came to the finish line...so sweet!!
she brought me flowers and a card...so thoughtful! 
 thank you!

when i get my camera all figured out...i'll post more pictures from this day:)

as of late

happy month of june!
june is by far my favorite month of the year; it used to represent school was out, and time off; but now it represents summer, warm weather, vacations, and my birthday!
i turn 30 in one week and two days.

my life, as of late, has been documented thanks to instagram;   its how i have new photos in my flickr feed without ever picking up my DSLR.
i went for a run, on a windy day near the beach..i was pelted with sand for an hour and when i got back to my car...i was covered in sand, in my hair, on my face, in my shoes,  in the creases of my neck...madness.

after that run, i went on a hike with shannon around lands end, the views are amazing

sunday night DB cooks dinner tradition has been his thing for almost 6 solid months now:)
so incredibly fantastic,
 i love his consistency, his enjoyment around creating the menu and seriously the food, amazing! 

inside this lulu lemon bag is a new running jacket from my in-laws!
and early birthday present...i love it:) lulu is not cheap, and they totally splurged on me!

this is my race bib and my timing chip for my race tomorrow morning!
my last race of my 20's!
i truly can't believe last year at this time I wanted to commit to running at least 1 half marathon before turning 30; and tomorrow's race will be my 6th half marathon in the past year!
i am crazy.
i have loved this year of running, i have enjoyed what the training runs have done for me both physically and mentally; i enjoy my training more than the events, i enjoy the solitude, the time to think, the solid hour of just being with myself, my breathing (sometimes gasping), my heart rate (sometimes pounding) and my the steady beat of my feet. 
its been a good thing, this running thing.
i am going to keep it up;
 logging the miles and the hours, buy new running shoes and hopefully get faster!