What a Difference 10 Years Makes

10 years ago, we were in the beautiful mountins of NC beginning our lives together. Two children, two dogs, two houses and a handful of careers later, here we are still, against all odds, running the race, fighting the fight, living the life. I'm not going to lie and say that the past 3650 days have all been perfect, but in the words of a favorite song, "it ain't about how fast you get there, it ain't about what's waiting on the other side--it's the climb!"

It's been a great climb! Happy Anniversary, Jack--I love you! Here's to another 10!

No Spookley Here!

Trunk or Treat

Wednesday, our AWANA kids at church enjoyed trunk-or-treating in the parking lot.

Max the "Square Scrow" and Dorothy Kinsey really landed a haul of candy and had a great time.


Here are some of our sweet Cubbies that Jack and I teach.

26.2

What an AWESOME JOURNEY, simply put. The training, the weekend, the race itself--all of it together--an amazing experience. So much to reflect on, so much to remember and so much to share.

Georgetown, the White House, Smithsonion, Ray's Hell Burgers, fried Twinkies, the Metro, Lincoln, Vietnam, WWII, and Korean War and oh, yeah, the RACE!!! :)

My new tat!

Me and Teresa at the White House

Me, Teresa, and Julie on the Key Bridge

In front of Paul Revere, or "some man on a horse" :)

Picking up my race day package

In front of Washington Monument near the starting line

About mile 10 through Georgetown, having a ball!

Post-race--what a run!

BOO from the patch

I leave for my marathon tomorrow morning, so as a kind of pre-race celebration night, we took the kids to the pumpkin patch for some fall fun and pumpkin-picking. Petting farm, giant slide, pig races, trike track, hayride, and of course the favorite--the cow train. We picked out a cute pumpkin, short and fat and two teeny ones for the kids. The only way I could get these two jack-o-lanterns to cooperate for a picture involved a pumpkin on someone's head!






Watch out, DC, here we come!!!

The Big Stuff

Lately, work has been a bit stressful and overwhelming. Hopefully, things will start to balance out and return to normal, but this year has definitely had its unexpected bumps. This morning at 6 AM was the peak of the Orionids meteor shower, which is a result of Haley's Comet being close enough to Earth for our gravity to pull some of the debris from it's tail into our atmosphere causing a beautiful light show! I was so excited to get to run this morning's run (the next-to-last run of our training program) down a dark, flat country road and get to witness several meteors. Even better, though, was coming home, getting Kinsey ready for school and getting a blanket and bundling up on the front porch and sharing the last few shooting stars with her as she stared in wonder. After she saw the first one, she asked if she could make a wish and when I told her she could, she said "I wish I could reach up there and grab a star." THAT is the big stuff that counts.

Stuff that Dreams are Made of

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Today was back to reality for all of us after an amazing trip to the land of dreams. For our school's fall break, we decided to take the kids to Disney for the first time. I must admit that I was a little concerned about Max not being old enough to really appreciate it all. Fortunately, my worries were for nothing. We had an amazing trip filled to the brim with fun. We left after I got off work Thursday and drove all night until we arrived at about 2 in the morning. Based on our past driving experiences, the kids both usually fall asleep at their regular bedtime. Not the case this trip. Max didn't fall asleep until almost midnight he was so excited. Then, of course, when we arrived, they both got all worked up again and didn't get back to sleep until almost 2:30. We worried about what the next day would be like.

Day One: Animal Kingdom--we arrived at the park a little after 8 and hit the safari ride first. It was great! We did a lot of animal watching and Kinsey and I rode a scary dinsosaur ride and a tubing water ride, then we all head back for naps to get ready for our big Halloween party. That night, we met up with our friends who were also down there for the Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain (Kinsey's fav--she rode it 5 times,) Peter Pan, Small World and lots of Trick-or-Treating plus a cute parade and big fireworks show followed by a dance party ended the night.

Day Two: Hollywood Studios--Highlights from Hollywood were Movie Ride, Star Wars, Indiana Jones show, Little Mermaid show, first encounter with Mickey and on the wilder side Tower of Terror (Kinsey rode it but gave it "two thumbs down" and Aerosmith Rock 'n Roll (onlyI rode that one.) Aerosmith was my overall favorite as it went from 0 to 70 in some ridiculously short period of time and I got the front seat--sweet! That night we had dinner at the Port Orleans Resort and strolled through the dock checking out the boats and water wheel.

Day Three: Magic Kingdom--By FAR the best day! Everyone loved every minute of the MK. Max and Jack spent some time on the trains and trams while Kinsey and I hit Thunder Mountain (again and again) and Splash Mountain. We met back up for some Buzz Lightyear and lunch at the Liberty Bell and crashed for a four-hour nap back at the resort. At nine, we woke up and went to dinner at the lodge and then headed back to the MK for extra magic hours from 11-2. We really didn't know what to expect, but the time of night became completely insignificant once we got into the park. Dumbo, Pirates of the Carribean, Jungle Cruise, more Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, carousel, Snow White's Scary Adventure, and Philharmagic show and it was 2 before we knew it! We even hung around after the rides were closed. On the way out, we ran into Kinsey's best schoolmate buddy and her family. What are the chances?!?

Day Four: We finally got to enjoy the resort a little before checkout and played in the pools, found the geyser and slid down the slide. The kids got a treat when a flock of duck decided to take a bath in the pool and were quite friendly with the other guests! A quick trip to the gift shop to bring Minnie and Goofy home with us and we hit the road.

What a trip!

Dash to Dance to DISNEY

Kinsey's school had a great idea for a fundraiser that concluded today. Called the Dash for Excellence, the kids have 15 minutes to run laps and they get people to sponser them a certain monetary amount per lap. Cheap, easy, and GREAT exercise for the kiddos. Kinsey did FABULOUS and ran almost the entire time, somewhere close to a mile. I'm not sure WHERE her competitive nature comes from, though?!? ;)

At dance today, they had an impromptu performance (handy that I had my camera, huh) of a piece from Dear Edwina.



Oh, yeah--just in case some of you out there have ever wondered, car DVD players do not, I repeat, do NOT have the capability to play quarters (or even eject them) if some small little devil just happens to stick them in while the mommy is climbing into the front seat. Just in case!

Mickey, here we come (after Mommy gets off work--ugh!)

Pre-Order Cookies Now!

Kinsey joined Girl Scouts tonight as a "Daisy" and the little gals had their induction ceremony and reception. Afterwards, we celebrated with Nan and Granddaddy at our favorite pizza hangout, Fox's. I can't wait for cookie season to come!

Speaking of counting down, only 2 more days 'til Mickey Mouse!!!

Welcome Glorious October!

Ah, it is finally here! One of my very favorite months of the year. We rung in this weekend with some beautiful fall weather, and some great autumn fun. Here are some shots from the higlight of this weekend, an awesome tailgate at an exciting game, all celebrating the completion of "Peak Week" in my training and our 20-mile run!