Looking Up Instead of Down

Warning to those who think I "brag" about my relationship with Nate - do not read this post. And if you don't necessarily think I brag but still roll your eyes, might as well stop reading this blog altogether ;)

Stress happens. A lot and always at the worst times. Come to think of it, there's never really a convenient time, it just sucks altogether. So lately there's been the usual stress, nothing special - work, life, lack of sleep, and OMIGOD WHY CAN I NOT CHOOSE A WEDDING DRESS?? So this week started off pretty roughly and with a very poor attitude. Got through the always-dreaded Monday and focussed on the endless to-do list for the week realizing I had no clue how to prioritize my week or pull of the to-do list.

When I stress I have the strangest nightmares, and they're scarily vivid. So last night I had nightmares about zombies. Yeah, sometimes I wonder too if I'm older than 5 years old. But it happened and made me shoot up out of bed. Tried to go back to sleep and then I hear the rare occassion of obnixiously loud work going on at the FedEx warehouse a short distance behind our house. Beep. Beep. Beep. BANG BANG BANG. Why do people work at 2am?? Yes, I realize the answer to this is so we can get our packages on time, but for crying out loud!

I looked over at Nate, sound asleep unphased by my constant rolling, sighing out loud, and I swear he had a slight peaceful smile on his face, enjoying every moment of the sleep I was missing. I secretly wanted to bop him over the head with my pillow out of jealousy. Calm down, I didn't do it.

So when the alarm went off after what felt like 3 hours of sleep, I wanted to call FedEx and tell them to knock it off after 11pm. Nate sensed my grumpiness, kept his distance, and would periodically give me "I'm trying really hard not to laugh at you but I do feel bad that you're grumpy" look. I told him I'm going to yell out the window like a crazy person if they decide to do work that loudly out back again tonight. I noticed the corners of his mouth twitch up a bit, trying hard to not giggle at me.

Of course, we were both running a little late so I drove him to the metro rather than him taking the shuttle. I simply told him I didn't want to talk about it and needed to just be grumpy. I got a few knee pats which said "ok babe" and we parted ways.

Came home tonight shortly before 8pm, throw dinner in the oven, collapse on the couch and Nate walks in the door with this....

Earplugs and a card that read "Guess who loves you today - same person who loves you every day, but today you get a card." Teared up because when I'm stressed I cry easily. Such a sweet, sweet man, love him!! It was exactly what I needed to put a smile on my face. The stress is still here but I have a reminder of how amazing my fiance is and at the end of the day that melts the stress.

It reminded me that I have a lot to be thankful for even amongst the drama called life.

It reminded me that life is only as stressful as you let it be.

It reminded me to look up instead of down.

Precious Moments in MI

Fair warning - this is that obnoxious post comprised of millions of pictures of my nieces' and nephew. I know, annoying proud Auntie moment but hey I'm allowed!

Nate and I went to MI this weekend for his friend Bethany's wedding. Why did we not take ANY pictures that night you ask? Not a fricken clue. So stupid, it was a breathtaking wedding at The Blue Dress Barn. Breathtaking doesn't even begin to describe it. The wedding was so magical and we found ourselves wanting to steal many ideas :) Many congrats to Bethany & Brian!

The next day we headed up to Lansing to hang out with some of the fam. These are the precious moments that I keep so very near and dear to me. I don't get to see the babes often and have to constantly hold back tears because I realize I'm missing so much - Alaina is talking, Taylor's walking, and Easton is crawling. Kenny and Marie are full blown tweens, no longer interested in dolls and GI Joes. They're all growing up a mile a minute and when we live far away we miss most of those minutes.

So I went a little overboard with pictures this trip and have every intention to continue going forward. Can never have too many!!

 Alaina swinging along with Kenny & Marie!

 Alaina asking Marie to show her how to play....

Jailbreak! (fuzzy pics brought to you by a crappy iPhone zoom). Alaina got the biggest kick out of Kenny joining her to yell down to the rest of us.

Contemplating how she should doodle on the iPad and talking to Kenny's friends playing Minecraft, she especially loves all their gadgets, naturally!

 Story time with Auntie Kyky!

The next day we went over to Aunt Cindy's and were so lucky to have Easton and Taylor join us!

More swing time!

Nate was determined to make Easton not afraid of him - success!

Some splashin time before closing the pool for the season :)

 Precious Taylor petting Alaina on the shoulder, so cute!!

I asked Alaina if she got her shirt wet... she decided to point to one little spot on her arm, not really noticing the entire shirt was soaked.

Goofy boy!

 Pow-pow Power Wheels!

 "Back away from my ride!"

Running from Kenny!

 Story time!

I know, it's roll your eyes time after picture overload, but aren't they so stinkin cute?!

Color Run 2012!

What a fun concept - run a 5k while getting blasted by several different colors. Start with a white tshirt, end covered head to toe in tie dye. Loved it!

I ran it with my boss, Jo, and one of my Leasing Consultants, Heather. It was Heather's very first 5k - what a fun first!! It was held at National Habor which was a beautiful location and it was a perfect morning as it was 64 degrees for the first time since spring.

So here's how it worked - there were several "color" stations with volunteers armed with bottles of colored powder. As you ran by, they'd spray you... everywhere! From all over your perfectly white tshirt to your face, ears, and shoes it looked like they enjoyed blasting people all morning long.

To make sure they were able to fairly spray each person, they needed to let us out in several smaller groups, so they were holding people back while letting out waves of about 100-200 at a time.

Because we were late, we were the very last heat. But it was fun to listen to all the pumped up starters. They also gave us these fun handkerchiefs in case you wanted to cover your mouth and nose, or look like a terrorist. 

Shortly after this picture my phone shut down, I'm guessing because it overheated. It was frustrating because it was the only camera source we had and the only way to time ourselves since the race was not timed. So we didn't get any during the race pictures, but ran back to the car to get Heather's phone to snap an after picture.

The pictures don't quite do it justice to just how covered we were. I love how splattered my shoes ended up! I think it's officially time to retire this pair...

 When I came home, it took a while to convince Nate to even let me in the house :)

Looking dorky awesome, but wanted to show my splattered face and this was after wiping quite a bit off during lunch.

For a better idea of what goes on during the run, check out this video from Vegas!

Probably the most fun 5k I have done and will ever do, hands down! If there's one in your area, sign up but don't delay - the DC one sold out in minutes! Since the run is not timed, it's prefect for children to participate in too. Most people walked, which is slightly annoying to anyone running, but would have been fine if there was a larger course (and people followed the rule of runners on the left, walkers on the right). Also, you should definitely have at least sunglasses on - not cool if you get the powder in your eye!

In review of the National Harbor location - I thought it was a beautiful setting and had a perfect spot for a finish line with a large area for the after party, but other than that I don't think it should be held there again. There were a few big complications:

• Getting there. National Harbor is infamous for their one road in, one road out problem and it's only amplified when there's an event. It took us over an hour to get from the exit ramp to parking (approximately a half mile stretch).
• Parking. There's plenty of it at National Harbor but they directed event traffic in the worst, most ridiculous loop possible. We were sent straight past the first parking ramp, looped around all of the half-full overflow parking lots in the back, back down to just before the main strip (Fleet St.) and then back to the right to the first parking ramp that we could've quickly turned right when we first came in and saved about 20 minutes. Once in the ramp, we were not allowed to park in the MANY open spaces and instead forced to go to the very bottom of the ramp, in a search for an open parking spot. Needless to say, by the time we got out of the car frustration doesn't begin to explain how we felt and this is NOT how you want your participants to feel!
• Start line. It was completely understandable that they needed to start us in waves of smaller groups. However, when we're told to get to the start line by 8:30am but the last heat didn't take off until 10:30am - you've got some grumpy people. In preparation for a 5k, you typically eat a light breakfast really early. But if you're not starting your run until 10:30am, you would've planned differently. This possibility should've been shared on their website so we had a better understanding. 
• Narrow course. We almost weren't able to run the entire course because it was too narrow and congested with walkers. No offense to the walkers - they have every right to walk so this is not against them, but the course was not appropriate for both walkers and runners.

I hope next year they host this 5k in DC (a loop near the mall) where there is plenty of room for runners and walkers to enjoy the course and plenty of routes to get there, lessening the congestion. Even with the negative aspects of this event, it was amazingly fun so don't let that discourage you from participating! If you're local and they host it at National Harbor again, just keep these things in mind - I will still participate next year!

After the Half Marathon

Once we showered up we bee-lined it to food... and mimosas!

Found it interesting that you can get fined for swearing in VA Beach. Good idea. Luckily they didn't seem to mind during the half marathon cause there was a lot of that going on!

We spent the rest of the day at the beach. We weren't going to let a little thing like 13.1 miles stop us from enjoying as much time on the beach as we could!

 Aly and I still favoring our right knees...

 The Jacksons joined us for an afternoon on the beach too!

 Andi & Lexi!

Chase nappin like he ran that morning :)

Lexi burying my feet. This girl cracks me up. She couldn't care less that she had sand everywhere, including in her eyelashes. The burying actually felt good on my sore feet!

 Yay us - what a great weekend!!

After riding home late that night, the pain really started to set in. Barely able to walk normally!

One step at a time...

I'm focusing on keeping my legs as loose as possible, including a short walk the morning after and periodic stretches. The longer I'm not on my legs the more everything tends to lock up. Surprisingly painful, my shoulders have been killing me just as much as my legs. Guess I need to take a look at my form!

While at breakfast with Nate the day after, I noticed the difference in our shoes. Nate and I bought them on the same day. They both started out white...

Clearly one got more miles than the other! Mine didn't even make it through training and started breaking down near the end, forcing me into a new pair just before the half. Crazy to think back through the miles of a pair of shoes...

All worth it in order to have this beaut!