My horses in the newspaper a long time ago. My family home is in the background (between the horses) on the side of the hill.

Recently while on our morning sprinting exercise, Jon tweaked his leg a bit. He tried to run it out but it was still a little sore. After we returned home, we drove out to the farm for some milk and to the supermarket. Along the way he told me that if he ever becomes lame (as in not being able to be physically active) then just put him out of his misery, like they did with my horse.

"My horse wasn't put out of his misery! He's playing on a farm somewhere right now. Anyway, I would go to jail." I said.

"No one would send you to jail." he said

"Yeah huh, Look at Dr. Kevorkian. He's there."

And then a guy jogged across the street in front of us.

"I used to be that fast." Jon remarked. "All fast and cool."

"You still are." I assured him

"No, I'm laaame." he said, stretching out the word "lame" and impersonating The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Glancing over at him I said, "I could put you out of your misery now." and we laughed and laughed.

I'm told marriage is supposed to get dull but to us, ours just gets funnier and funnier.

My history of running and a new blog

Jon along the route. Picture by Alan Campbell

So we ran a 5K on Saturday. Our first ever. It was the Amish Country Bird-in-Hand Half Marathon/5K.

We're already looking to the next and have set goals to make better time.

There was a gentleman who was about 80 years-old that I could not catch. He was not far ahead of me but no matter how I tried, I could not close the gap. He was my inspiration. Picking him out of the crowd was easy as he wore bright orange hunting gloves.

You see, I am not a runner. I played tennis and basketball during school years , which involved running, but I never set out to run distance. I ran with my college roommate a bit also. I had to run two steps to her one because of her 6 foot frame and long legs. She looked fabulous as she glided along the track.

Jon is a runner although I don't think he started out in love with it either. He gets in about 6 miles a day now. In the Army he was used to running and got me going with him. It seemed easier when we could run along the ocean in California. Time was forgotten as you breathed in the sea air. Jon was always encouraging me to keep up the pace and had words of praise when I would push to finish. And on Saturday, he met me as I was in the home stretch and cheered me on the same way. That made me so happy.

I remembered one day I felt winded and a little weak as we jogged. Jon encouraged me to keep going but I just couldn't. The fog rolled in on Monterey Bay and we slowed to a walk and talked. This happened with each attempt. After a few weeks and one trip to the Dr. later, we found out our first baby was on the way. That was a good reason to be sidelined.

That baby was now home tending to the others for us.

I have quickly become addicted to the invigorating feeling that a run gives. I hope to keep it up and one day, as a spry 80 year-old, I'll beat out those little 40 year-old kids.

What is your form of exercise? Anyone like to run?

Any advice on how to keep the motivation to exercise?

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Now about the new blog...

I have been really fortunate lately and have had steady business with photography. Each time I feel a little stronger in my ability. Thank you for trusting me!

The website is taking a little longer to finish than I thought so I decided to at least do the blog portion of it rather than post the session reviews here. So, if you're interested in seeing recent work, you can head over to http://www.lmontgomerystudios.blogspot.com/

Once the main site is finished, I'll merge the two for one cohesive look.

Thanks!

Home and office

I envy those women whose husband's work from home. Jon has returned to work after a week and a half of vacation time. It was so great. We accomplished a few things around the house and were able to get some canning of green beans, applesauce and salsa done. I love to have him here. People say I would get tired of it but I know I wouldn't.

Ever since we got married we dreamed of his commute being just steps away to the office down stairs or on a laptop as we vacationed in Greece. Maybe someday.

It's a lot better than it used to be when he was in the military, though. Those "commutes" took him overseas where I wouldn't see him for months at a time. So I can't really complain or wish too hard - Military wives and husbands are the ones who deserve to have their beloved work from home.

Jon cougar

I always enjoy having my trusty sidekick with me when I am working on a photo session. Jon calls it "recon" when we first scout the area and check for best lighting.

That's his military lingo. Yesterday we found some pillars that would make for a great backdrop so I took a few test shots. While he was staring at the camera, I told him he didn't have to be so serious, he could give some "pow pow" I always say. So then he went into Zoolander mode and started doing all of these hilarious poses.

And then he became a cougar. I laughed so hard I almost fell off of the step.

Most people don't know how funny he is because he stays fairly reserved never knowing if his humor will offend. And he usually doesn't drink much caffeine and then falls off the wagon and drinks nearly half a litre of Dr. Pepper...he's still embarrassed about that...