Blog Layout Update

I fell down a rabbit hole over the weekend and spent more time than I should have messing around with the layout and look of my blog. I like parts of its new layout, but there's other parts I don't like.

Just as a reminder, here's what it used to look like:

Here's some thoughts I've had on the new template/look. I've done some customization, but not all the code I've used works like the author claims, so I need to find some other ways of customizing the things I don't like. I won't have time until next week at the earliest to mess with the blog again, so maybe it will grow on me in the meantime.

Like:
The post layout on the front page- a picture and the first paragraph of each post, which makes it easy to see the previous posts at a glance

Dislike:
The sidebar on the right has disappeared- it had my picture, contact info, etc. There's a streamlined sidebar, but you have to click on it to see the parts (my picture, contact info, etc). So it gives a cleaner look, I suppose.

Dislike:
I can't get the header bar to do what I want it to yet- I added the code to make the title hide behind the picture (the title is in gray), but it's not hiding. So I'll need to do some more research to figure out the proper code.

Dislike:
The header doesn't re-size with the window, so the title of my blog disappears when the window becomes smaller. I might be able to change this since I've already customized the header. If I can change one thing, I should be able to change more. I think. I'll have to research this one some more as well.

Like:
The search function and results display is easy to use and I like how the results displays on top of the window instead of taking you to a new window.

Like (I think):
When you click on a post title, it opens the post in a pop-up type window that allows you to navigate to posts that came before and after it. When you close out of the post window, the blog is still where you left it.

Not sure:
I'm not sure of the brown in the header bar. Maybe change it to blue like this? I didn't apply the changes to the template, so I only have a small portion of the page to compare. I think I like the all white background, and blue has always been one of my favorite colors. I think the blue and white is a cleaner look than the brown and cream.

So tell me: what do you like or dislike? Is there anything that bugs you that you'd change if it was up to you?

Thanks!

Corn Maze 5k Recap

view of some of the trails in the corn field

The corn maze 5k was originally scheduled for the first Saturday in October, but due to all the rain we received at the beginning of the month the race was re-scheduled for this past Saturday. In previous years the Saturday before Halloween has been the the Halloween 5k. I initially thought I'd have to choose between the two, but for some reason the Halloween race wasn't held this year. The website said they'll hold it again next year, though. In any case, I didn't have to choose which to do and I have a few more days to finish our Halloween costumes (which I'm working frantically on in between everything else).

We actually went to this corn maze two years ago, just before River was born, with our History Club.  That time we had paper maps we carried with us to help us find our way out; this time the correct path was marked with plastic trail tape that blocked off the paths we needed to avoid. I never worried about getting lost.

This was a fun race! Except for the first 150 yards the entire race was run in the corn maze and there were 300+ turns of 90* or greater. The maze is on a bit of a slope, so those turns took us back and forth and up and down the slope. I really wasn't sure what to expect, so I went into this race without any expectations other than to finish. I've been fighting a cold since Wednesday night, but I woke up Saturday morning feeling a bit better and I don't feel that it hindered me as I ran.

The race started in waves of 10 or less people, one minute apart, which kept things from getting too crowded in the maze. I think there was about 30 or so participants divided among six waves.

I ran the whole thing! I haven't done that in a long time (the New Years 5k in 2013 is the last time I think I ran an entire race). I think all the turns kept me at a more steady pace than I usually run, so I was able to run the whole thing because I didn't wear myself out earlier in the race.

The race was a little short at 3.06 because I ran the diagonals wherever I could and managed to shave a smidge off the distance. I finished in 37:42, which is just a few seconds slower than my September 5k. I expected to run this race a lot slower, so I'm really pleased with my time. The weather was perfect for running- mid 50's and overcast (no sun shining in my eyes).

3.06 miles in 37:42 min at a 12:20 overall pace
1st mile- 11:38
2nd mile- 12:25
3rd mile- 12:58

A side benefit to running in a small race? I won my age group! Yay me! I think that's the first time I've ever done that. I won a pumpkin (this was at a corn maze after all) and a stainless steel water bottle.

I'm not sure if I'll do it again just because October tends to be a busy month with Cub Scout events and other races I like to do, so we'll have to see what next October looks like.

This was a 5k that was run in a corn maze; it's hard to beat that for a unique race to add to my 40 by 40 list, which is why I signed up for it in the first place :)

Next Saturday is the Trail 5k I ran last year. Three races in October will bring me up to six races towards my 40 by 40 goal. Four months in to my goal with six races is a better place to be than three races in three months. 

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The races I've run in 2015:

Month	Race Time
Corn Maze 5k (October)	37:42
Hill Valley Virtual Half Marathon (October)	3:43:00
September 5k	37:36	Almost 10 weeks postpartum
August 4 mile	1:00:18	almost 6 weeks postpartum
July 5k	47:44	38 weeks pregnant
June 5k	41:19	34 weeks pregnant
May 5k	40:05	29 weeks pregnant pushed River in the jogger
April 5k	42:36	28 weeks pregnant pushed River in the jogger
March 5k	35:32	22 weeks pregnant
February 5k	33:55	20 weeks pregnant
January 5k	33:25	12 weeks pregnant

My progress towards achieving my 40 by 40 goal:

	Date	Event	Distance	Event Type
1.	July	4th of July 5k	5k	Pregnant
2.	August	4 Mile Fun Run	4 miles	Road Race
3.	September	All Terrain	5k	Mixed surface
4.	October	Hill Valley Half	13.1 miles	Cumulative virtual
5.	October	Corn Maze 5k	5k	Corn Maze

Sunday Funny

I was editing the photos from the park and had to laugh at this one.

Let's see that a little closer, shall we?

Doesn't he look absolutely thrilled?

3 Months

Little Ocean isn't quite as little as he once was. He's growing so big and strong. He can hold his head up now with just a tiny bit of wobble and his chubby little legs are growing stronger. He really is chubby- I don't remember Sunshine or River having quite so many rolls :)

happy baby

Ocean is much more alert and interested in what's going on around him. His next hearing test isn't until next month, but he still shows evidence of being able to hear at least some of what's going on around him, so that's reassuring.

hanging out with mommy

Ocean is starting to have a more predictable rhythm with his napping and eating and such, which makes life easier. He sleeps in the co-sleeper next to our bed but we're just about ready to start having him nap in the crib in Sunshine's room. We'll have him get used to sleeping there during the day and then eventually move him in there at night as well.

bubbles!

He's started babbling and can be quite vocal when he's in the right mood (i.e., fed, dry, and well rested). He's discovering all that his mouth can do- it can make babbling noises and blow raspberries and spit bubbles. He sometimes has so many spit bubbles that it looks like he's frothing at the mouth. I don't remember the other kiddos blowing raspberries this young, and it keeps throwing us off- we think one of them did it rather than Ocean.

fuzz with the longer fringe at the nape of his neck

Ocean has lost most of his baby hair except for a fringe at the nape of his neck and a long tuft in front. He has new fuzz growing in, but it's lighter than before and lighter than River's, who always had dark hair. Sunshine had light hair as well, which contributed to her looking bald for her first year and a half.

longer tuft in front- Sunshine and River both had one as well, though Sunshine's consisted of 8 hairs and River's was thicker than Ocean's 

His eyes are starting to change, but not enough yet to know which color they'll settle on. Brown or hazel are the most likely options.

River really wanted to hold Ocean, who was tired and not thrilled with the idea at all

He did not appreciate spending the weekend in his carseat, so I'm a bit concerned about our road trip in December, which will be a lot longer but still in a short time frame (3, 4 days max from start to finish). Hopefully he'll be happy and cute while we're with family and the full-on crankies won't kick in until we're on the way home.

Ocean still uses the pacifier, but he still doesn't love it and won't take it all the time. He's started finding and sucking his fingers more frequently. As much as I don't want him sucking his thumb, it's way better than sucking his fingers. Among other things, it's way worse for his teeth. So anytime we catch him sucking his fingers we redirect him to his thumb. Though all my efforts to keep River from sucking his thumb didn't work, so we'll see how successful we are this time around.

Family Photos, Part 1

While we were at the park this weekend, I played around with the 50mm lens we got for Christmas. Why did I put it off for so long? (oh wait, I've been pretty busy since Christmas...) It made a huge difference in photo quality and I can't wait to use it more.

We are getting family pictures done next week, so these are part 1, and just individual shots of everyone. I edited them a bit, and I'm quite happy with how they turned out.

Ocean has such an expressive little face. And look at those cheeks!

River decided to practice his solemn faces in his photos. I would have liked to get some smiles, but the fact that I got two clear photos of him sitting still was a win that I'll take.

This was the only one of Sunshine that I really liked, but I think it tuned out well- she even has a happy, non-forced smile. Which is harder to get than you'd think. I like how the pinks and blue pop against the fallen leaves.

It's hard to get good pics of Mr M. He gets self-conscious and ends up looking like he's in pain. So I'm particularly happy with these photos of him. In the first one he was laughing about the funny faces he always makes. In the second one it looks like he's pointing something out to Ocean. I love their expressions. And we actually got a good smile in the third photo :)

After I took photos of everyone, Mr M took a turn behind the lens and was able to get this one of me, which I thought turned out pretty good.

Weekend Road Trip

This past weekend we drove to West Virginia to check out the area of a potential job location. The job sounds like it would be a great fit and way more stable than what Mr M currently does, but we wanted to make sure we liked the area before we moved forward with the job hunt. If we hated the area, it would be time to look for other job options.

We tried to time the trip with peak fall foliage, and we were partially successful. Some trees had lost all their leaves already, some were beautiful technicolor, and some were still green.  We thought this overlook was quite scenic.

While we were driving around, we randomly found this really cool park. Ocean needed to eat, so Mr M took the older two to stretch their legs while Ocean hung out with me.

Mr M was way too tall for the zip line, and even Sunshine was a bit too tall for it. It did spark her imagination though and now she thinks we need a super-elaborate zip line for the tree house.

River didn't want to hold still for the camera, so I "helped" him.

Sunshine has no such issues and had fun hamming it up for the camera. I think she was pretending to be scared of a dragon in the photo above.

This is just the front side of the play structure- there was a lot more on the backside. Isn't it so cool? The sad thing is, we were the only ones there. It was a little chilly, but we thought there'd be at least some kids there on a Saturday afternoon.

We went to the local ward Sunday morning, and we've never been welcomed to a ward by so many people. It's a small ward and they were very excited at the prospect of a new family. We've lived in a small ward, so we totally understand :) They were disappointed that we were just visiting, but hopeful that we'd return.

Will we return?

Probably- as long as we can find a job. The job we want was available 6 months ago, but the application website wasn't working. So we know the job we want exists, we just have to wait for the right timing, which apparently isn't right now. Hopefully in the next year or two, though.

The area is beautiful, though parts are more hilly than our current location, which brings an extra element of adventure when driving on narrow, twisty roads. And there's definitely neighborhoods that haven't seen an influx of money in a really long time. There are also some nicer areas, so it's not all crumbling abandoned houses and derelict single wides (seriously- so. many. single wides). The lure of affordable acreage with a nice mix of pasture and trees and the possibility of building our dream log cabin has us excited for what the future could bring.

In the meantime, we'll focus on getting out of debt and fixing up the kitchen and master bath- the last major projects in the house.

Edited to add (because I forgot to mention this): We haven't taken too many road trips lately, and none since Ocean was born. We have a longer road trip coming up in December when we head west for my brother's wedding, so this was a good opportunity to see how things work on a smaller scale. Three kiddos in the backseat of a Camry Hybrid is a very different experience from one kiddo in the backseat of a Chevy Avalanche pulling a travel trailer. Not as comfortable, but the mileage was soooo much better.