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| Walking to the start of the race (I'm up by the person with the bright yellow shirt) |
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| Ready to go!! |
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| Coming around the last corner! |
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| Waving at my fans....and there's my new friend Russ in the white. :) |
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| My "littlest" fan! |
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Sturgis Falls half.....continued (pictures)
Here are some pictures that my adoring fans took.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Sunday Funday
Today was the day of my 2nd half-marathon. I wasn't feeling great about it, but I knew I could finish. The hardest part going into this race was that I didn't feel confident that I would beat my time from my first half....and I didn't.
The race started at 7:00am and it was PERFECT race weather. It was in the lower 60s and when I finished, in the 70s. The majority of the race was done on shaded trails through Cedar Falls anyway. Through the first 7 miles I was feeling pretty good and averaging about 9 min miles. I started to slow down a little after that and started hitting every water station just for an excuse to walk. :) At about mile 9.5 a guy who I had been running alongside earlier came by. He said some encouraging words and told me to run along with him (no, I didn't know him). He kept me going and helped me finish strong. I think I was even more encouraged not to stop and walk because I DIDN'T know him.
When I was going around the last turn before the finish line, I saw my favorite fans: Tyson, Elizabeth, Wendy, Ava, and my dad. It was refreshing to see a familiar face as there were very few people cheering us on during the race because it was on the trails. My new friend Russ (I think that's his name...hahaha) and I finished in 2:06. So, like I said before, I didn't beat my first time but that didn't matter when I finished. I was just happy to be done. Now I have a new time to beat! :)
(Pictures to come!)
The race started at 7:00am and it was PERFECT race weather. It was in the lower 60s and when I finished, in the 70s. The majority of the race was done on shaded trails through Cedar Falls anyway. Through the first 7 miles I was feeling pretty good and averaging about 9 min miles. I started to slow down a little after that and started hitting every water station just for an excuse to walk. :) At about mile 9.5 a guy who I had been running alongside earlier came by. He said some encouraging words and told me to run along with him (no, I didn't know him). He kept me going and helped me finish strong. I think I was even more encouraged not to stop and walk because I DIDN'T know him.
When I was going around the last turn before the finish line, I saw my favorite fans: Tyson, Elizabeth, Wendy, Ava, and my dad. It was refreshing to see a familiar face as there were very few people cheering us on during the race because it was on the trails. My new friend Russ (I think that's his name...hahaha) and I finished in 2:06. So, like I said before, I didn't beat my first time but that didn't matter when I finished. I was just happy to be done. Now I have a new time to beat! :)
(Pictures to come!)
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Goodbye BlackBerry, Hello HTC EVO
Yep, we did it. Tyson and I both gave up the BlackBerry (aka CrackBerry) for the HTC EVO. So far, so good (although we've only had them for about 7 hours now). Tyson had been having some issues with his BlackBerry lately; it just wouldn't charge!! He would charge it all night long and wake up to a 1/2 charged phone....which would then immediately die. I, on the other hand, was due for an upgrade (in February!!!) so on Saturday we went on a shopping spree at Sprint. Our new phones were ordered and they finally came in today!
Tonight we went to eat at Beck's and we were both playing/learning to use our phones that the waitress had to come back several times before we were finally ready to order. The first three times we hadn't even looked at the menu yet!!
I've only heard good things from others with the HTC so I'm guessing we'll be more than satisfied. The one thing I know I need more practice with is the touch-screen keyboard!! I think my first few text messages I sent took me about 5 minutes to type!
Tonight we went to eat at Beck's and we were both playing/learning to use our phones that the waitress had to come back several times before we were finally ready to order. The first three times we hadn't even looked at the menu yet!!
I've only heard good things from others with the HTC so I'm guessing we'll be more than satisfied. The one thing I know I need more practice with is the touch-screen keyboard!! I think my first few text messages I sent took me about 5 minutes to type!
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| Isn't it beautiful? :) |
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Beginning of Summer....
Sorry, I've gone AWOL again. I wish I had a good reason. It's really just because I'm never really sure what is blog-worthy. However, from the multiple requests lately to update...maybe anything and everything is blog-worthy. Who knew?!
Over Memorial Day weekend, Tyson and I made a spontaneous trip to Minneapolis. Spontaneous as in Tyson sent me a text message Saturday morning from work asking if I wanted to go, and we left Saturday afternoon. We went to the Twins vs. Angels game (Tyson has a friend who is the bullpen coach). After the game Saturday night, we met up with his friend, Steve, for drinks at the W hotel. (Ever heard of it? It was pretty amazing!) On Sunday, we caught the first few innings of the game and then headed to Dumont to end the weekend there. Darren, Wendy, and Ava were there as well, however, only Ava and the Burton's made it a sleep-over! On Monday morning, we ate breakfast and went to the Memorial Day service at the cemetery before heading back to Cedar Falls.
The following week was going to end my first year as a teacher! The kids were in school Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then the teachers had a short in-service and room-cleaning on Friday. It was an amazing year! I couldn't have asked for a better class or better colleagues! However, summer break is nice too.
On Friday after school, Elizabeth, my mom, and I left for Wisconsin! On Saturday we were going to be walking/running in the Susan G. Komen race. We arrived at Kim's house in Mt. Horeb on Friday night and enjoyed a few drinks on the deck. It was a great way to end the last week of school!! Saturday morning started early! We left for Madison (about a 30 min drive) around 6:30am. Elizabeth and I ran the 5k, while the others walked. Saturday afternoon was spent playing Farkle and indulging in one too many margaritas! Elizabeth and I even had to take a nap before finishing the night at the Mt. Horeb Frolic!!
Other things happening: I've been training for the Sturgis Falls 1/2 Marathon (it's officially 2 weeks away!!). Tyson is still as busy as ever with work!! He will be competing in another 1/2 IronMan, with his friend Kevin, in August so he's started some training for that as well.
Over Memorial Day weekend, Tyson and I made a spontaneous trip to Minneapolis. Spontaneous as in Tyson sent me a text message Saturday morning from work asking if I wanted to go, and we left Saturday afternoon. We went to the Twins vs. Angels game (Tyson has a friend who is the bullpen coach). After the game Saturday night, we met up with his friend, Steve, for drinks at the W hotel. (Ever heard of it? It was pretty amazing!) On Sunday, we caught the first few innings of the game and then headed to Dumont to end the weekend there. Darren, Wendy, and Ava were there as well, however, only Ava and the Burton's made it a sleep-over! On Monday morning, we ate breakfast and went to the Memorial Day service at the cemetery before heading back to Cedar Falls.
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| First time at Target Field! |
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| Action shot of Steve pitching during warm-ups! |
The following week was going to end my first year as a teacher! The kids were in school Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then the teachers had a short in-service and room-cleaning on Friday. It was an amazing year! I couldn't have asked for a better class or better colleagues! However, summer break is nice too.
On Friday after school, Elizabeth, my mom, and I left for Wisconsin! On Saturday we were going to be walking/running in the Susan G. Komen race. We arrived at Kim's house in Mt. Horeb on Friday night and enjoyed a few drinks on the deck. It was a great way to end the last week of school!! Saturday morning started early! We left for Madison (about a 30 min drive) around 6:30am. Elizabeth and I ran the 5k, while the others walked. Saturday afternoon was spent playing Farkle and indulging in one too many margaritas! Elizabeth and I even had to take a nap before finishing the night at the Mt. Horeb Frolic!!
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| After the race! |
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| Farkle....Mike was getting too much sun :) |
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| Nap time |
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| We had to get a picture with a Mt. Horeb troll! |
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| Rejuvenated and ready to Frolic!!! |
Other things happening: I've been training for the Sturgis Falls 1/2 Marathon (it's officially 2 weeks away!!). Tyson is still as busy as ever with work!! He will be competing in another 1/2 IronMan, with his friend Kevin, in August so he's started some training for that as well.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Chicago!!
We spent the weekend in Chicago for my friend Elizabeth's birthday (which was on Wednesday). We (Elizabeth, her boyfriend Grant, a friend Nile, Tyson, and myself) loaded into Elizabeth's car and we left around 5:30 on Friday evening. We got to Elizabeth's sister's house (Melissa) a little before 10:30. Although Elizabeth and I were tired, everyone else was ready to go out! So...out we went! We walked a few blocks, in the frigid temps, to a pizza place. Melissa and the guys ordered a PB&J which consists of a huge slice of pizza, a 16 oz PBR, and a shot of Jameson. Well....Tyson ordered 2. Ha! After the pizza place we walked back to Melissa's and she drove us to our hotel which was in the Lincoln Park. (I don't know Chicago but people were saying this like it's popular).
We got to bed around 1:00am. After a glorious 9 hours of sleep, Elizabeth and I headed to breakfast in the hotel. The guys had been up earlier and eaten. We needed our beauty rest. :) After breakfast, we got ready for the day, although we had no plans. Tyson and I hadn't been to Chicago before, but with temps in the 30s, we really had no plans and were up for anything. Tyson had a list of food options, and we hit one up for lunch....Frontera's which was a short walk from our hotel.
After lunch we kept walking and decided that we would go to Millennium Park, which is where The Bean is located. We knew it was about a mile walk, but once we started seeing signs, we decided we would forget about our freezing toes, faces, and hands and make it there. On the way we saw a group of 5 boys playing the "drums" on buckets! They were so amazing!!
We finally made it to Millennium Park and took a few pictures of The Bean. Then we watched some ice skaters fall and decided we should head back. The walk back to the hotel seemed MUCH shorter. However, Tyson requested a stop at Harry Caray's (the late Cubs announcer) for couple drinks. I welcomed this stop as I was cold!
After finally making it back to the hotel, we left again soon to go to Melissa's. We had a few drinks at her house while Tyson and I taught everyone how to play Farkle. Elizabeth and I got ready while the guys continued to play. :)
**I should mention that Melissa won a free "happy hour" at a bar and could invite anyone she wanted. We got 2 hours of free drinks and then we all paid an extra $10 to last another hour.**
The night out ended up being more eventful then planned...but doesn't that always happen? :) On Sunday we headed home around 11:00am. We had a great weekend. Tyson and I can't wait to go back when the temperature is warmer and we can enjoy walking around Chicago without freezing! :)
Here's a recap in pictures:
We got to bed around 1:00am. After a glorious 9 hours of sleep, Elizabeth and I headed to breakfast in the hotel. The guys had been up earlier and eaten. We needed our beauty rest. :) After breakfast, we got ready for the day, although we had no plans. Tyson and I hadn't been to Chicago before, but with temps in the 30s, we really had no plans and were up for anything. Tyson had a list of food options, and we hit one up for lunch....Frontera's which was a short walk from our hotel.
After lunch we kept walking and decided that we would go to Millennium Park, which is where The Bean is located. We knew it was about a mile walk, but once we started seeing signs, we decided we would forget about our freezing toes, faces, and hands and make it there. On the way we saw a group of 5 boys playing the "drums" on buckets! They were so amazing!!
We finally made it to Millennium Park and took a few pictures of The Bean. Then we watched some ice skaters fall and decided we should head back. The walk back to the hotel seemed MUCH shorter. However, Tyson requested a stop at Harry Caray's (the late Cubs announcer) for couple drinks. I welcomed this stop as I was cold!
After finally making it back to the hotel, we left again soon to go to Melissa's. We had a few drinks at her house while Tyson and I taught everyone how to play Farkle. Elizabeth and I got ready while the guys continued to play. :)
**I should mention that Melissa won a free "happy hour" at a bar and could invite anyone she wanted. We got 2 hours of free drinks and then we all paid an extra $10 to last another hour.**
The night out ended up being more eventful then planned...but doesn't that always happen? :) On Sunday we headed home around 11:00am. We had a great weekend. Tyson and I can't wait to go back when the temperature is warmer and we can enjoy walking around Chicago without freezing! :)
Here's a recap in pictures:
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| PB&J! |
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| THE BEAN!! |
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| Self-portraits in The Bean |
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| The Bean needs to be cleaned!! |
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| Me with the Farrell sisters |
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Birthday parties!
February has been a great month so far! We had a blizzard and I got the snow days I desperately needed! Now, 2 weeks later, the snow is melting and it's feeling a little more spring-like today (and this week as well)!
On Friday (2 days ago) I picked up our wedding photo book from our wonderful photographer and it is AMAZING!! We couldn't be more happy with our pictures, but the book is just as amazing!! We haven't gotten around to ordering any prints yet (I know...I know) but hopefully we'll do that soon.
So anyway, I brought the book over to Wendy's to show her...and guess what?! Ava decided it was time to walk!! So I got to watch that little turkey show off her skills! We all got a good laugh and did lots of clapping and yelling to keep her going!
Tyson and I ended the day by stopping at Panther Lounge :) for a few drinks and then off to Tony's for dinner. We went home after dinner because I was TIRED! I didn't even make it through an episode of OC when we got home. I crashed on the couch in less than 45 minutes.
On Saturday, I slept in and then took another nap! :) It was great! I had to be ready to party for Wendy's birthday that night. We went to Brown Bottle for dinner and then to Toad's for the rest of the night. We had a lot to celebrate.....Wendy's turning the big 3-0 tomorrow!
Next weekend, Tyson and I are going to Chicago to celebrate my friend Elizabeth's birthday. We're leaving Friday after school with probably no plans for Friday night besides spending time in the hotel. On Saturday, Elizabeth's sister, Melissa, won a free happy hour at a bar, so we'll get free drinks for 2 hours! We can't wait for a weekend away! Stay tuned for updates from next weekend!
As always, it seems like this month is flying by. The month is half over already!!
Sorry Wendy, I didn't even get a picture with the birthday girl!
On Friday (2 days ago) I picked up our wedding photo book from our wonderful photographer and it is AMAZING!! We couldn't be more happy with our pictures, but the book is just as amazing!! We haven't gotten around to ordering any prints yet (I know...I know) but hopefully we'll do that soon.
So anyway, I brought the book over to Wendy's to show her...and guess what?! Ava decided it was time to walk!! So I got to watch that little turkey show off her skills! We all got a good laugh and did lots of clapping and yelling to keep her going!
Tyson and I ended the day by stopping at Panther Lounge :) for a few drinks and then off to Tony's for dinner. We went home after dinner because I was TIRED! I didn't even make it through an episode of OC when we got home. I crashed on the couch in less than 45 minutes.
On Saturday, I slept in and then took another nap! :) It was great! I had to be ready to party for Wendy's birthday that night. We went to Brown Bottle for dinner and then to Toad's for the rest of the night. We had a lot to celebrate.....Wendy's turning the big 3-0 tomorrow!
Next weekend, Tyson and I are going to Chicago to celebrate my friend Elizabeth's birthday. We're leaving Friday after school with probably no plans for Friday night besides spending time in the hotel. On Saturday, Elizabeth's sister, Melissa, won a free happy hour at a bar, so we'll get free drinks for 2 hours! We can't wait for a weekend away! Stay tuned for updates from next weekend!
As always, it seems like this month is flying by. The month is half over already!!
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| Celebrating Wendy's birthday!! |
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Irony
Funny how my last post was about how all of the snow was melting and I was sad because I didn't think I could get a snow day in my first year as a teacher. Well...I guess I jinxed us there!
On Monday I missed school as my grandpa passed away and I was at his funeral. It snowed/blew all day, but nothing too bad. The roads were a little slippery on our way back to Cedar Falls. Then Monday night it started snowing more and more. I woke up Tuesday morning at 5:00am and put off getting out of bed in hopes that I would see "Waterloo schools - closed" scroll across the bottom of KWWL. Finally at 5:30am I knew I had to get out of bed. I turned on the shower and heard a *ding* from my phone - signaling a text message. It was the KWWL text telling me school was closed!! I shut off the water and went back to bed!! :) Yay!!
I knew the weather was supposed to be worse Tuesday night and Wednesday. I took advantage of the fact that Tuesday morning and afternoon were pretty calm and made a trip to Target to waste some time. On Tuesday night I got a call from Waterloo schools informing me that school would be closed on Wednesday as well!! YESSS!!!
Today was spent writing thank yous from our wedding. Tyson didn't go to work today either so we both got to join in on the fun! (Yes, we're 6 months into our first year of marriage and just got our thank yous done). I made a goal to have them done by February 1st, but I'm thinking the 2nd isn't too bad either! :)
Anyway, I'm about 99% sure that we'll have school tomorrow, so I need to get out of sleeping in/staying up late mode and get ready for a 2 day work week! By the way, did I mention how amazing these snow days have been? I don't even care that we'll officially be in school in June. These days were MUCH needed! Thank you weather Gods!
On Monday I missed school as my grandpa passed away and I was at his funeral. It snowed/blew all day, but nothing too bad. The roads were a little slippery on our way back to Cedar Falls. Then Monday night it started snowing more and more. I woke up Tuesday morning at 5:00am and put off getting out of bed in hopes that I would see "Waterloo schools - closed" scroll across the bottom of KWWL. Finally at 5:30am I knew I had to get out of bed. I turned on the shower and heard a *ding* from my phone - signaling a text message. It was the KWWL text telling me school was closed!! I shut off the water and went back to bed!! :) Yay!!
I knew the weather was supposed to be worse Tuesday night and Wednesday. I took advantage of the fact that Tuesday morning and afternoon were pretty calm and made a trip to Target to waste some time. On Tuesday night I got a call from Waterloo schools informing me that school would be closed on Wednesday as well!! YESSS!!!
Today was spent writing thank yous from our wedding. Tyson didn't go to work today either so we both got to join in on the fun! (Yes, we're 6 months into our first year of marriage and just got our thank yous done). I made a goal to have them done by February 1st, but I'm thinking the 2nd isn't too bad either! :)
Anyway, I'm about 99% sure that we'll have school tomorrow, so I need to get out of sleeping in/staying up late mode and get ready for a 2 day work week! By the way, did I mention how amazing these snow days have been? I don't even care that we'll officially be in school in June. These days were MUCH needed! Thank you weather Gods!
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