Cross it off the List!

The training has been intense, the miles have been long, but finally we have something to show for it! Our marathon is complete!! Yay!!! This is a week of celebration, not only for my legs, but for my tummy as well. I’ve made a dozen batches of cookies, laid on the couch and watched movies all week long (well, at least the past two days, and mostly because I couldn’t get off the couch because my legs hurt so bad!). But we did it, we accomplished what we set out to do, we ran 26.2 miles, and we ran it in the time we had set for ourselves.

Thank-you for all your support, prayers, well-wishes, texts, e-mails, and blog comments. There is no way I could have run this race without them!! Of course, Tim ran with flying colors, with little to no problem at all. I’m pretty certain he could have skipped through the whole race, running at my pace. But he was gracious enough to keep my speed and encourage me the whole time! He wants to run it again and attempt to beat his previous time (3:30, or something like that).

Well, the race itself was AWESOME! We hit no walls at all, even though everyone told us at mile 18 you'll feel like crashing and burning. Mile 18 came and went, and I kept thinking, oh my gosh, at any moment it’s going to happen, I’m going to get sick, or hit the wall, or cramp up. But nothing happened, I felt the same, and just kept running.

The last two miles were the most excruciating, but that's because Tim had us sprinting to make our time! Really, the worse part of the whole thing was walking around after the race and feeling like your legs might fall off. We were pretty sore the next day, extremely tired (we had to wake up at 3am the morning of the race), we've got some swollen knees and possibly pulled IT bands, but Tim assures me to give it ice and time and I’ll get over it (love being married to a Physical Therapist!). Besides that, I feel like a million bucks!

A long time ago, I made myself a list of things I wanted to do before I died, and although it sounds silly, this was one of things on the list. I’m so excited I get to cross it off! For most people, this is probably not a huge accomplishment, but for me, a non-runner and a non-workout enthusiast, this is pretty big. Now, I have no idea if I’ll try to run another one and beat my existing time, but I have to say the race itself wasn’t that bad. It was the actual training for the race that was killer.

Oh, forgot to actually tell y'all how we did... Our time was 5hours 7mins, which Tim says was faster than his first marathon. Bragging rights for me, so he says, but seriously, I was just happy I survived!! We crossed the finish line hand-in-hand with our arms waving in the air, it was very ROCKY style. You can check out the pictures here. All in all, it was a really fun experience, and i'm glad i did it!

Marathon's Tomorrow!

Tim and I will be running our first marathon together tomorrow morning. It's not Tim's first marathon, it will be his third, but it will be my first and i'm a little nervous! So if you get this in time, send up a little prayer that I'll survive my first 26.2 mile run! Lots of Love!!

We had our first visitors last week. Tim's sister, Ruth, and her husband, Stephen, sacrificed their Thanksgiving to come spend a few days in Hawaii with us =). It was wonderful having family here, especially for Thanksgiving, lots of mouths to feed, which always makes me happy. The week flew by, but we were able to incorporate lots of sight seeing, hiking, beach time, and of course plenty of yummy food!

It's different being so far away from family around the holiday season, but what a wonderful place for them to come visit! My family will be coming for New Years, and Tim and I are planning on skipping Christmas and taking a vacation to the Big Island! Hope you and your family has a very merry and blessed Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yay, for family, friends, and food! There's just so much to be thankful for!!

Twilight Mania

Yes, i'm one of the millions of people across the globe that waited in line for hours last night to see the opening night of New Moon. And it was SOOOOOO worth it! I realize some people just don't get the whole Twilight craze, and that's cool and all, to each his own, but if you've read the books, then you know what i'm talking about!! The books are incredible, lots more depth than some teenage heart-throb. I could attempt to explain why the books are so mesmerizing, but to save time, i'll just say read them for yourself and then make your own opinion.

Unfortunately, the first movie was very disappointing, in my opinion, because they didn't stick to the book script at all. It was too theatrical and lovey-dovey, and just silly. But this second movie, with the new director, was AMAZING!! They did such a wonderful job keeping with the script and plot of the book, and the characters really came to life.

It was insane though! The whole island of Oahu was sold out. When we arrived at our theater at 8pm to watch the 12:01am showing, there was already a three hour+ line waiting to get in. They had to open 12 movie screens, and each theater was full to the max. We got awesome seats and managed to be in the largest movie screen room! It was SOOOO much fun, i felt like i was in college all over again, which is fitting since we were surrounded by mostly high school and college kids!

And i do have to say, I have the absolute BEST husband in the world! Because not only did he go with me, he bought our tickets early, he waited in line with me, he brought me hamburgers and french fries and starbucks to snack on while we were in line, and he even walked to Borders to buy us magazines to read! What a man!! =) And to top all of that off, when we finally got home at 3am, he set his alarm for 6am to get up and go to work. And he did all of this because he loves me. How could i ever, ever ask for more?!! We had the best night ever together! It was so silly and crazy and fun; i'm so lucky to be married to my best friend!!!

Running Blues

It's official, after 3hours and 18 miles of running in one day, I officially HATE marathon training!! In the past 11 weeks, i've run a little over 400miles, that's more than anyone should run in their lifetime!! And i still have about 200 miles left before i even reach the marathon and get, yes get, to run 26.2 miles. This is officially the dumbest idea i have ever had in my entire life. Whatever possessed me to run a marathon needs to be taken out of my head, trampled on, and never be allowed to see the light of day again!

I know, I know, you're probably thinking, 'oh what a huge accomplishment, how wonderful to be able to tell your kids one day that you ran a marathon', HA!! Are you kidding me, it is SOOO not worth it! And besides, i don't even have kdis!! Ok, so now you are probably thinking, 'why in the world are you still running? why haven't you quit yet?' Are you kidding me??? If i quit now, then it would completely erase the 400 miles i've already run, it would be like they never even happened. So i'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, and both hurt my feet very badly.

Yet here i am, 4 weeks away from the marathon, feet aching, back sore, toes bleeding, and of course, LOTS of complaining, but i'm still running. Running, and Running, and Running... as if my life depended on it, as if each step takes me a second closer to crossing that finish line, as if some day i'll look back and remember when i was young and capable of running 26.2 miles in one day without dying. Yes, maybe one day i will look back on this time in my life with joy and jubilation, and maybe even feel proud of this accomplishment, but until that day comes, i truly HATE marathon training!

Our Home

We'll have our first visitors in just a few weeks, and we are so excited! Having company always motivates me to clean, organize, and hang more pictures on our walls. So that's what i'm in the process of doing. Unfortunately, this process is going rather slowly. I really do enjoy cleaning, organizing, and hanging pictures, but I have to motivate myself to get in the mood to do all these things, and lately, well, i just haven't been in the mood.

Since i haven't posted pics of our house yet, I decided to make this blog a before and after glimpse. This will give you an idea of our traumatic move-in experience, and will testify to the fact that we really weren't exaggerating, it was horrific, and a good learning experience. Prepare yourself, these pics are pretty shocking! =)

Before the movers delivered our stuff, borrowing Army furniture:



After the movers came and destroyed our stuff. Literally, they just opened each box and dumped it upside down. Fun, huh?






But don't worry, we've learned we can pretty much survive any crisis! This is our house now. The downstairs was set up for my book club, so normally we don't have 15 chairs in the living room, but you get the picture! You'll just have to come visit to see the upstairs =).

Kauai Continued

Kauai

Our first trip to another island was awesome! We found out why Kauai is considered one of the wettest places in the world. And the rain didn't dampen our moods or our fun, we had a great time hiking, checking out sites, and just enjoying some quality time together. I think Tim and I have learned the secret to traveling, make the most of wherever you are and whatever you're doing, just make the most of it. It's all about attitude, and although we were very wet this entire trip, we had the very best time together!!

We took so many pictures that i'm just going to start with one slide show and add more on as time allows me. Oh, and we took this trip a few weeks ago, on Columbus Day weekend.

October is a beautiful month!

October is my favorite month, and not just because of my birthday, but because of the way it feels and smells and looks. There are pumpkins by the doors, the leaves change colors, it feels cooler outside, AND starbucks serves their pumpkin spice lattes. Everything feels warm and cozy and snugly (is that a word?). Of course, in Hawaii this is not really the case, BUT i like to pretend this is the case, and i have a pretty vivid imagination so this works out pretty well for me.

I get all bundled up and go to the movies, where they have the A/C kicking, and wear my fall clothes and pretend the leaves are changing colors, which actually some of them do, although they'll be blooming again next week, but whatever. Then I walk to the commissary with my pumpkin spice latte and buy as many pumpkins as i can to decorate my house with, and i bake as many pumpkin recipes as i can to serve to my friends. I'm learning it's what you make of things, what you make of life, you can really learn to be happy anywhere, you just have to be a little creative sometimes!

Yet, I am a little sad October is almost over, and i'm even more sad i haven't blogged for the entire month, because honestly, we've been up to sooo much! I guess i'll just have to fill you in with some pictures, and maybe November i'll do a better job of keeping up. Oh, and by the way, we finally got internet at our house, YAY!!! Now i have NO excuses!!


Tim surprised me with the perfect gift: an organized, surprise birthday weekend. He knows i love surprises, but he also knows i love order and organization. So he made me a notebook with a timeline for the whole weekend, and i got to choose what events we did. It was the perfect birthday weekend and such a sweet surprise! Of course the weekend included shopping and the cheesecake factory!




I love birthday presents!! Thanks to everyone for their thoughtfulness and love!


Tiger loved all the presents my Mom sent me via mail...he loves to eat the boxes! Thanks Mom!

Random Birthday Pics...