Thursday, June 21, 2012

Riding the Summer Heatwave

Wow, June has rolled in with a heat wave. I heard on the radio the other day someone saying that June and July will feel more like August and September, and I couldn't agree more. Although I really don't mind it--I would much rather have sunny days then gloomy-stay-in-side-and-pout-rainy days. It has also been good for running outside, which is the ultimate relief from being couped up in a gym all winter.

We have been really busy this summer already and its only June. I am glad that I am not working two jobs this summer so I can be busy with family and friends instead of work and crazy scheduling. Its been nice to have a few busy weeks and then a weekend off to do nothing, but honestly "doing nothing" is not in Dusty's vocabulary so we have rarely "done nothing." One of the major projects that we took on in the Spring and has rolled into the summer is clearing out the back part of our yard. Dusty cleared it when he first remodeled the house and for some frustrating, looming reason we let it grow back up. Not sure why, but obviously I have some inward anger issues to deal with about this :) We've fought through sticks, debris, trash from the church dumpster next door, and I have gotten lucky and am allergic to poison ivy--it is filled with poison ivy--no turning back though, we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

This is a before picture..please excuse my ghetto Blackberry picture taking skills.

This is how it looks now--the light!! (we used the infomercial before and after photo technique).

And THIS is what it will look like completed...
I wish! But we are planning to move our vegetable garden back there, maybe hopefully possibly a chicken coop if I can convince grumpy pants that it will benefit us in the long run haha, and also some wild flowers. Rus will be able to run back there and hopefully not scare any small children. We need to till up the rest and have a few bonfires this fall to get rid of the debris-so if you're reading this you're invited, please bring some hot dogs to share.


We've also been busy attending weddings-this photo is from Carrie (Deal) Power's wedding, which was beautiful and eventful. We've been on some fun short weekend trips to Gatlinburg, TN from which I will probably never be able to drink two days in a row ever again, and we also celebrated two years of marriage on May 29th. We still have stuff to look forward to...trips with girlfriends (okay--I have a trip with girlfriends, Dusty better not have any trips with girlfriends to look forward to), a mission trip to the Appalachian area, and a few more weddings. All I can hope is the rest of the summer goes niiice and sloooww...
Enjoy the rest of June!



Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Gratitude



I don't want to get too gushy...but I wanted to share that I have probably never been so grateful for my husband than this moment in my life. He is ALWAYS there for me, no matter what. He does things that I know he doesn't want to do, like being at my work at 6am on Saturday for the IU Mini marathon...probably not on his Saturday to-do list.

I think when you get married you are caught up in lust and happiness and then real life sets in. For a little while when we were first married I definitely took him for granted and have learned how lucky I am to have him. He is honestly one of the most caring and giving people I know. When others have walked out of my life he remains constant. Even though our marraige isn't perfect, (my mom always said don't believe anyone when they say their marraige is perfect), I feel like we have grown so much together over the past 2 years and I have especially grown up as a person. I wouldn't take anything back, and I'm excited to continue living our life together.

okay, no more gushies this week-promise.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Life As Of Lately

So its been awhile since I last posted, I thought I was going to be really good at blogging--really committed--mmmm...no didn't happen. I think I might put too much pressure on the kinds of blogs I think I want to do, and how simple they really could be.



I finished the Chicago Marathon and it was one of the best/weirdest experiences of my life. I say weird because a lot happened prior to the race that I just wasn't prepared for. Dusty and I and my sister and Brett were all staying at my cousin Lora and her husband Pier's--we'll get to him in a minute--place in Chicago. It wasn't right downtown, but they have a beautiful home just outside of Wrigleyville, very modern. So their upstairs neighbor had ran the race 10 times, yes-I said 10! So she said the night before that I could ride with her down and get dropped off that way not everyone had to get up so early. So we get downtown with only 20 minutes to spare, I was FREAKING out. I still needed to check out the bathroom situation, find my coral/pace group and this lady wasn't at all concerned, and let me add that there were thousands of people. CRAZY!



So we go to porta-pot city, seriously the most johns I have ever seen in my life. I get through that, with ten minutes to spare. I also stood behind this guy that I would later see around mile 24 getting wheeled away on a stretcher, very surreal. I get to my proposed coral and the gates were closed. I had signed up for a 4 hour ace group, so by this time they were only letting people in at the 5 hour mark coral. I was silently freaking out, and trying to attach myself to people who were moving up the corals inside to try and reach where they are supposed to be. With the minutes counting down I only got to the 4:30 pace group. So in my mind i was stressing out so bad, that I tricked myself into thinking that I needed to sprint to catch up to the 4's. I sprinted the first 6 miles. I'm sure people were thinking..."wow what an idiot!" Rightfully so. By the time I caught up with the fours I was exhausted and knew that my family was going to be thrown off by timing.

I had to settle in and get back in my comfort zone and calm down. I found my sister, Brett, Lora and Pier three times and Dusty only once. I felt so bad because of my stressful mind and antics I threw him off his plan to ride around on his bike to find me. It was getting so hot during the race, that I valued my strides under the overpasses and bridges savoring the shade. I slowly got to my 26--it was one of the most challenging experiences of my life, you want to quit because you honestly can't physically move your legs but want to keep going because you've trained so hard. Its all mental--and obviously my mentality was shot by mile 7. I rounded the corner for the last .2 miles and heard Pier screaming in his french accent! It was in turn one of the best moments of my life as challenging as it was. I'm not sure if I will complete another one, but I think I might have caught the bug because now I am itching to find another one. sigghhh.



Okay so I know your dyyying to hear about Pier. He has a full mullet--business in the front and party in the back. He has a french accent and smokes dubies all the time. He also chants dooouubiedoubiedoo which really makes me laugh. Him and Lora (my cousin) used to be vegetarian, then he started hunting and recently just shot a black bear--he also showed us the bear's peepee bone when we were there. Awesome. He's great, and him and Lora have a successful makeup line, Medussa's makeup. They made my Marathon stay full of good memories.

Until next time...

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Chicago Marathon 2011

So this is my first Blog Entry. Yes, thankfully I caught the blogging bug. Your welcome, be gentle :)

I am running in the Chicago Marathon this Sunday. I can't believe its finally here. Its been a long journey for me...I have been consistently running for about 6 years now. I started in College with my RA actually...we had a close relationship but its funny we don't event talk anymore. I guess that happens sometimes, but she played a great part in my life and I will always remember her for getting me started in long distance running. I used to do some really crazy stuff when it came to running thinking back on it now...like I could have really gotten hurt or something bad could have happened. I used to go in the morning before class in Lafayette out by this pond thing, by myself, in the pitch dark, no mace or firearms (thinking back on it now I wouldn't have minded packing), oh did I mention, part of it was through a corn field? So now I realize how big of an idiot I was and thankful that I am still here able to blog on this October afternoon--also while I'm at work, oops.

Through my running career I have gone through 5 pairs of shoes, and yes, I am a cheapskate when it comes to running shoes, I should have changed a lot more than that in 6 years, but they are so expensive and close to my heart--I have a serious problem with change. I have ran 6 mini marathons, with a PR of 1:47. I am not a Kenyan obviously, but I think that's pretty good for a noncompetitive type of runner like myself. I started training for the Chicago Marathon in June of this year with a coworker. I am thankful that I have a very supportive husband and he is coming to support me, along with my sister and brother in law. I know that I am ready for it, but I am unbelievably nervous. I am thankful that I have good running friends and have gotten some good advice. So Chicago..bring it on!


Awesome video that Dusty found--makes me want to run out of my cubicle and get on the course!
http://video.l3.fbcdn.net/cfs-l3-snc4/79204/678/10150371212230037_33281.mp4?oh=e86919cd26060904995ee0eec9c7f988&oe=4E8CC400&l3s=20111003134424&l3e=20111005135424&lh=0bcf23a11ce20987079e9