Monument 10K

So this weekend was the 10th annual Monument 10K here in Richmond. It was a HUGE race with well over 40,000 people running/walking and it was Adam and I's first official 10K ever. We had been training since January and I honestly never thought I would be able to run the whole thing (6.2 miles). Well, the rain stopped for the morning, my old lady knees held in there, and we finished in a good time. It was such a fun race, too-- bands were playing every half mile or so, people were cheering with their families and dogs, and Monument Avenue is one of the "old money" streets in Richmond so you basically get to run beside beautiful homes the whole time. Not to mention the course is almost completely flat:-) This race is also one where you can enter into a costume contest and this year Pastor Wayne won! He's placed 2nd or 3rd every year up until this year, but if you can see this picture, you'll understand how he got 1st.


(Indiana Jones..complete with rock behind him and an Ipod playing the theme song)

But now that the race is over, I realize I kind of miss running. Now don't get me wrong, I have no aspirations of ever completing anything farther like my crazy half-marathon and marathon running friends (I truly envy them!!!) , but I would be interested in running some more 8 or 10K's. So if anyone has any suggestions, I'm up for it!

Meet Tammy!!!!

drumroll please)
I would like everyone to meet the new addition to our family: Tammy!
Tammy Two-Tone that is. ISN'T SHE BEAUTIFUL?!?!?!

Now let me explain. Putting almost 1000 miles a week on my 4-Runner was not cutting it anymore, so Adam and I have been shopping around for a "ghetto-commuter car". And look what we found:-) Tammy is a 1998 Hyundai Accent, has 137,000 miles on her, and is perfect for driving to and from work. No power windows or power, she shakes when she reaches 70mph, only an AM/FM radio (no cd/tape player), and a horn that sounds like someone is throwing up. The BEST part about the whole situation, though, is that she is TOTALLY two-toned. I mean, how many people can say they drive a purple car with a silver hood? Not many:-) We literally laugh out loud every time that we get in to drive her. And yesterday was the first time in my life that I have ever had to have somebody jump my car (Since there is no "dinging" noise that reminds you to turn off your lights, they were left on all day at work, resulting in a dead battery-and only the 2nd time I had driven her to work). But Tammy brings a life lesson with her: humility (and I am being really serious). Now please don't think I am being snobby, but I have always had a nice car. You couldn't have paid me money to drive something similiar in high school or maybe even college. But I'm noticing something changing in me (that I know still needs ALOT more work)-- I am starting to focus less on material things and more on things that are really important. It's a slow process, but I believe Tammy is really helping me out with this. It's really teaching me that it doesn't matter how the world views you on the outside, it's about what your heart looks like. And I believe Tammy is helping me out with this:-)

Unlucky Weekend!

This past weekend I was able to fly home to TN for a quick weekend visit. I knew it was going to be rushed and packed full of family and friends but I was up for the challenge. Now normally I am a pretty organized, on-top-of-things, non-clumsy, not unlucky person. This weekend, however, was the farthest thing from that! Here is the woeful tales of my clumsy weekend:-)
-Friday night: I left work at 5pm and had until 7:25pm when my flight was departing. The airport was only an hour away (according to Mapquest). Traffic was rough, the DC airport was insanely busy, and I checked in late enough for them to tell me it was too late to check a bag. (Thankfully I was carrying on!)Security took forever and I was THAT late person on the flight where everyone watches you walk down the aisle glaring at you and wondering how someone could be so unprepared. Let me also mention that somewhere in the shuffle I lost my parking ticket that told me what lot I parked in and when I entered it.
-Friday night on the way home: My wonderful friends Katie, Abby, and Courtney came to the ATL airport to pick me up. On the way home, it was raining and a big wreck happened literally 20 feet ahead of us. Courtney was the 1st person to call 911! (Granted this event was no related to my clumsiness, but it still happened!)
-Saturday night we were sitting around the dinner table and my brother threw a nerf ball at me. Of course I threw it back at him (missing him) and hit one of my mom's hurricane vases. This being the 3rd one that either Scott or I have broken.
-Sunday afternoon: I went over Abby & Katie's apartment and being the good patron that I am, saw empty parking spaces but still decided to park on the side, in the mud. The minute I pulled in, I realized that I was not going to be coming out easily. Brad & Steve attempted with no avail. Thankfully Cameron's brother came to our rescue with his jeep and helped pull me out. (Keep in my mind, this is all happening in a parking lot)
-Sunday night at the airport: I make my 1st flight to Charlotte without problems. I rush to my connecting flight and realize it is 2 hours late! This makes the departure time 12:30 AM (due to mechanical problems). So me and my fellow passengers wait in the airport together for >3 hours late in the night. We ended up taking off at 2:15 AM, arriving at 3:30. I finally arrived at Tim & Jessica's apartment at 4:40 am, slept from 5-7, and had a complete work day! It was pretty rough!

Now I hope you don't think I am being pessimistic, because I am really had a wonderful weekend. It just felt like everything I touched was falling apart:-) I think this is how my friend Paula feels all the time:-)

Snow Day!

Since Adam and I really don't watch the news all that much, we found out Sunday morning that apparently it was supposed to snow later that night. Of course, skeptical as always about snow, we didn't believe it and all I could think about was how I was in for a rough drive to work Monday morning. Well the heavens opened up and God proved our skeptical hearts wrong! We had about 1 1/2 inches Sunday night and woke up to a winter wonderland Monday morning. We got a total of 4 1/2 inches! Now I know all you northerners are laughing at us right now but I don't care! Adam and I both got off work that day and Chesterfield Co. schools ended up being closed for 3 days! Hannah and Brandon called early that morning and like giddy school kids, we headed out for some sledding. For lunch we came in for some homemade soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, and homemade cookies (we had made the night before to celebrate the snow:-)) We had such a blast the whole day and I realized I want to be a teacher so I can get out for more snow days! Here are some pictures of our day of fun!


Sunday night playing in the snow


4 1/2 inches!!


Adam helping the neighborhood kids build a ramp for snowboarding (in our front yard:-))




Check out my skills


Our hill of glory:-)


Snow beards


The bottom of our hill had an awful bank that stopped us


We took a little break for some of Chester's finest graffiti:-)


Jonny, Kate, and Sunny

Step by Step, oh baby, gonna get to you girrrrrrrlllll!

Step 1: We can have lots of fun!
Step 2: There's so much we can do!
Step 3: It's just you and me!
Step 4: I can give you more!
Step 5: Don't you know that the time is right???!?!!

Now for those of you faithful fans out there, you know exactly what I am talking about. New Kids on the Blocks. Jordan, Joey, Jon, Danny, and Donny. Step by Step. Hanging Tough. The Right Stuff. Some of the best memories of my childhood involved these guys (I might be slightly exaggerating here). Sleepovers with my NKOTB sleeping bag, playing with my NKOTB Barbie-like dolls, kissing Joey's picture goodnight at my friend Lexie's house, cutting out pictures of the guys from Teen Beat (and then organizing them into separate folders), skating around Courtney's garage to their music... I'm gonna stop there. The keyword , however, is "memories". I don't feel the need for this reinventing of New Kids on the Block. Why not let the memories linger pleasantly in my mind:-) The other morning on the radio they were giving away free concert tickets for their upcoming reunion tour and you would have thought they were giving away free tickets to Europe. Grown women were calling in screaming.
But does this make me less of a true New Kids on the Block fan? Is it ok to think grown men should not call themselves "kids"? Is it ok that I prefer to keep their songs on my 80's/90's playlist on my Ipod? Is it ok that I don't want to hear 30 year old men sing creepy lyrics about half-naked girls in the summertime? After much deliberation and soul-searching, I think it IS ok. And the next time I hear my boys sing "Hey girl, can I get your number", I'm going to have to say no.

Valentine's Weekend

I think Valentine's Day and all things associated with it (well, all except boxed chocolates and stuffed animals) is great. This year I decided to have Valentine's weekend. My goal was to have an all-things Adam and Shawn weekend. Weekdays can be soo stressful and with my new job, I cherish the weekend. So here's a run-down of our weekend: Friday night we went out to eat for our nice dinner at Maggiano's. Keep in mind that our reservation wasn't until 9:30 (Adam was a little delayed in making reservations:-)) But dinner was awesome and we had a great time. Saturday morning consisted of sleeping late and homemade blueberry pancakes at 11:30am. We then decided to take Ellie, the Franco's chocolate lab that we were dog-sitting for the weekend, to Belle Isle for some walking and swimming in the river (her, not us:-)) We went with another couple who has a dog and it made the dog-fever even hotter. (Insert random thought: Adam just sat down and put the "Find Pets" section of the newspaper down in front of me...Too bad he was looking for used cars on the back:-( ) When we got home, we exchanged gifts. Adam got me flowers (that he arranged himself), a red pair of my favorite Nike running shorts and mountain biking gloves (how romantic:-)). I got him the The Love Dare book from the movie Fireproof and a very cute sweater:-) We decided to go see a movie that night and saw He's Just Not Into You (or whatever it is called.. I never get it right). The other option was to see Twilight in the old $2 theatre downtown, which had specially balcony seating for "couples only" on V-Day- haha. We went with Option 1. Anyways, the movie was cute, with lots of famous faces in it, but I didn't think it had the world's greatest view on marriage. I did, however, inspire a new haircut which I am going to attempt to have my hairdresser try on Thursday (stay tuned for more). So anyways, that was our Valentine's Weekend 2009. I'm still married to the most romantic husband who makes every little thing special and I'm thankful for our relaxing time together.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!!

The other day it hit me while I was in the Christian bookstore. I realized that my parents 30th wedding anniversary was January 12 and being the horrible daughter that I am, I never properly acknowledged what an accomplishment this truly is. It's definitely not the norm anymore for parents to stay together and I am so proud that mine have! I thank them for this example and in honor of this momentous event:-), here are the 30 reasons that I am thankful for my parents: (in no particular order)
1. For making me and Scott 8 years apart. 8 years as an only child was awesome:-)
2. Sitting at countless tennis matches, softball games, basketball games, baseball games, ballet recitals...I could go on and on with this one
3. For dad secretly letting Courtney and me ride in the back of the truck to Dairy Queen
4. For buying me my very first car (the 93 Camry), then giving me the trooper when I wrecked the Camry, and then finally letting me have the 4 Runner as a graduation gift
5. For paying for my dream wedding
6. For not being TOO much in my business but ALWAYS being there for me at the right times
7. For moving me in and out of numerous houses and apartments
8. For building/sewing/crafting/painting/molding anything I can ever dream up
9. For always taking the verbal abuse if I've had a bad day
10. For making it a priority to take family vacations every year (usually to the Outer Banks or Snowshoe... you guys aren't much for changing it up:-))
11. Allowing opportunities to be around extended family as much as possible
12. For letting me believe in Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy
13. For being at church EVERY Sunday morning..bright and early at the 8 o'clock
14. For welcoming Adam into our family with open arms
15. Having family dinner every night at 6:00
16. For paying for me to go to college and supporting me financially through grad school
17. For always telling me how pretty I am.... even with braces, frizzy hair, acne (you get the idea)
18. For never claiming to know things they don't
19. For raising me in Tennessee... and NOT New Jersey or New York:-)
20. Sending me to public school, even though I always thought I wanted to go to private
21. For allowing me to have freedom in high school to hang out with friends and learn my own mistakes
22. For always being a phone call away
23. For always having brownies on hand when I come home from being far away
24. For living in the same house I was raised in (for 23ish years!)
25. For letting me stay with Bam and Doda after school when I was growing up
26. For having dogs.... NOT CATS!
27. For your involvement and generosity with the schools and the Cleveland community
28. For attending every awards banquet we ever were invited to
29. Always making sure I have cash on me:-)
30. For always letting me, Scott, and Adam know how much we are loved!

These are just a few of the reasons, but I just wanted to tell you guys how much I love you! Happy (late) Anniversary!!