Texans, Sun/Sand, and Cheese

Whew - this is by far the latest post I've ever done. Almost one full year late. And three at a time! Oh boy. My kids need to choose a new word to describe me (currently, the words are "fast" and "clean." (Clean is still true.)

I'm so behind (on the blog - I'm actually doing quite well staying on top of my 50 in 50 count) that I need to bust through these three as best I can. They are unrelated and it might not be my best post, but here goes.

It'll be like a triathlon of blogging.

Let me first take you back to December 2015. Donald Trump proves he's unfit to be president by calling for a ban on Muslims entering the US (please vote!) Star Wars the Force Awakens comes to theaters. And I travel to Houston, TX for a mini reunion with some of my favorite people.

Love these women! (kids, spouses, and dogs not pictured but also loved)

Yeti Hunting with 3/5 of Team Friends

There was never any doubt in my mind that completing a race in Oklahoma meant incorporating some sort of Team Friends reunion.

Team Friends is a really cool name for me and my four best friends from my time in AmeriCorps*NCCC. I'd love to tell you all about it, but that would take another blog. Or book. Or at least picture collage. Just know it was one of the best years of my life, with some of my all time favorite people. I talked a little bit about it before, here. If you or someone you know wants to spend a year in service as a young adult, check it out here.

Anyway, the whole crew couldn't make it for this reunion but Jake and I decided to take a trip to see Kara and her little Team Friend Jr. (my first time meeting her!) in Tulsa.

After the best airport pick-up ever...

Glow, Girl, Glow

It has been a long time. Once again. So to my one follower (hi dad!), I'd like to apologize and thank you for reading even after all this time.

Last year, the hubs and I decided to re-do our first honeymoon. We titled it our “no flu second honeymoon.” (You can guess some details of our first.) Where else to go when you want to not experience the flu, but Tennessee!

Wine, Gummy Bears, and Friends for Life

I knew long ago that I wanted my Oregon race to be in Portland, so I could visit some awesome friends.

I also knew I wanted it to be a race in wine country after hearing about races said friends completed themselves.

Consider both goals complete.

Okay, technically the race was outside Portland, but close enough.

Buffalo vs. Bison and Local Pronunciation

If you have been a reader of this blog for some time, you know that I don't have much luck with New York.

Way back in February, my partner in 50by50 (Chrissy) and I went to NYC for the weekend to try for a third time at a NY race.

The good news: We got to see Newsies on Broadway.

The bad news: We also got to see a lot of the Megabus as we ended up coming back early due to weather...and YES, ditched the race.

Sigh.

Running like a diva means running late

Sometimes I struggle with whether or not to keep up with this blog, for several reasons:

1. Google won't let me change the email address associated with it to another gmail address so it takes forever for me to get to it
2. I feel pulled in many directions in my new domestic life and am no longer good at getting these written quickly
3. I'm not sold that the blog itself is all that interesting

Those things may be true, but what keeps me going, albeit slowly, is this:

1. I want to keep up the kiva donations.

This is the part of the race where I'm starting to feel some pain. And maybe like in a race, I just need to shift my stride. Put less stress on certain areas, run a bit looser, remind myself of the goal.

So I'll stick with it.

And this time, I thought dressing like a deranged fairy princess might add a bit more fun to the mix.

A tiara can never hurt, right?

Presbyterians gone...wild?

Ooh boy, it's been a long time. That's what you get for planning a wedding, having the wedding, going on a honeymoon, and getting the flu. Oh yeah, and throw some awesome kiddos in the mix and you get the picture. My life went from single to domestic like woah. And I love it. Well, maybe not the flu, but the rest has been stellar.

Here's a wedding pic just for fun:

Yup, we're ordering hot dogs at our food truck-caterer. Our wedding was seriously pretty great.

50 in 50 by 50...plus Canada!

Whew...I ran all the way to Canada and boy am I tired.

Okay, that joke is L A M E but I am tired. However, I suspect it has less to do with the half-marathon I did a few weeks ago and more to do with the fact that I'm sitting on my couch right now and feeling lazy.

But, I did in fact run to Canada...starting in Detroit.

188 in 39

It doesn't have quite the same ring to it, but it's much more meaningful than 50 in 50 by 50. So far, our Kiva team has given 188 loans in 39 countries. I am so thankful to all those who have joined the team and given so much. And now, I'm ready to kick some serious butt. I think we can reach 5000 loans by the time I get to the end of my 50 in 50...seriously. But we'd need to grow. Tell all our friends. So let's do it. 5000 loans in at all 55 countries kiva partners with in the next 18 years. Who's with me?

Maybe sometimes two halves DO equal a whole

...or for people like me, whole and then some.

This post is way overdue as the second of my two back to back marathons was the first weekend in May. My excuses include laziness and summer, which so often seem to go hand in hand and unfortunately beat the stuff out of my running abilities as well. I could list other excuses like an engagement (!), a new job (!), and moving (blah), but...well...I guess I just did, so no excuses for my excuses.

Anyway, in late April, I drove down to Louisville to visit my friend Jake and to run the Kentucky Derby MiniMarathon. What an awesome weekend. I mean, as weekends go, this one had pretty much all the elements necessary for a perfect few days (with the exception of not having one certain awesome fiance along). It had good friends (old and new), a local Italian hole-in-the-wall, an art festival, beautiful weather, a really excellent race, late night pizza, youtube videos, lessons about crazy dog breeds that can kill pumas (yeah, that's right, I said KILL PUMAS), an amazing brunch location, and of course, nine almonds. Oh, you didn't know that nine almonds was the perfect number for killing it in a race? Well, let me tell you friends, it's a secret worth knowing.

Part of a banner you could sign at the race expo-- can you find mine?

There she is