13.1!!!!!!

On Saturday Lindsey and I ran in the Kentucky Derby miniMarathon in Louisville, Kentucky. This was my first miniMarathon, and also my first race! We had spent the last four months training for this run and had a lot of fun doing so. The most milage we had ever got up to was about 9.5 miles so by Saturday we were still slightly unprepared. 

We arrived in Louisville around dinner time Friday evening. Olivia and Lauren came along with us as our personal cheerleaders! : ) They were both so great! Lindsey's parents also ran the miniMarathon with us. On Friday evening all the runners gathered for registration at the Expo center. There, we eat dinner and picked up our shirts and running packages. 

That night we stayed at a Hilton Hotel in downtown Louisville. The city was insane on Friday night! There were pre-party festivities going on everywhere, and crowds of people everywhere! We all hung out downtown amongst the crowds for a couple of hours then headed back to the hotel room to get to bed. Of course, because of me being an absolute complete nervous wreck, I was unable to sleep well.

 

Saturday morning approached real fast! We were up by 4:45a.m. and out the door by 5:15. Lindsey, her parents, and I caught the bus for the race in downtown Louisville at 5:30a.m. At this time I was even more of a nervous wreck (and truthfully I'm not even quite sure why). 

As all the runners gathered in their corrals at the starting line, my nerves finally began to fade and I was getting excited. The race began at 7:30a.m. 

My goal for the race was to run the entire thing, no matter how slow I was or how long it took me! I also made a goal to complete the race, 13.1 miles, in two hours and thirty minutes, which would be just under a 12 minute mile ( fast was not a goal of mine!!)

Well I completed the race! And it took A LOT out of me. I ran the entire time and my final time was 2 hours and thirty-three minutes. Three minutes over my goal, but I was still satisfied and proud of myself! : ) Running the race was such a blast, and it was such a huge accomplishment for me. I can honestly say that Saturday was one of the most memorial days of my life. When I crossed the finished line I thought to myself, Wow, did I really just run that?!!

I thank Lindsey so much for pushing me and for training with me and for encouraging me and convincing me that I was capable of running a half marathon! She was so awesome. I could not have done it without her! Also, I could not have done it with out Christ. I know running a half marathon may sound like nothing to many people, but for me it truly was something! I trucked along and pushed myself, and prayed and prayed and prayed until I reached that finish line! I was not going to give up! 

I am thrilled and so happy I was able to be apart of that! It was an experience I will never forget. Now, I can't wait for my next one!! : ) 

puppies!!!

I was asked to house sit a couple weeks ago for a family while they went on vacation to Florida. The day before they were leaving for vacation their cocker spaniel dog, Brownie, had six puppies!!! 

I had never seen puppies so small. They fit right in the palm of my hand. They were absolutely adorable, but a lot more work than I ever thought they would be! They cried alot. This was Brownie's first litter of puppies, and she's usually an outside dog, but when the puppies were born she became confined to the garage all day to look after them. I could tell she was going nuts! It was kind of fun to think of what Brownie might have been thinking, especially when all six of the puppies would cry for hours straight! I imagined Brownie thinking "OH MY GOODNESS, I CAN'T HANDLE THIS!", cause that's definitely what I was thinking and I was inside the house : ) 

..it's been a while!

So it's been a pretty long time since I last blogged! 

I'm not really sure if it's because not much exciting has been going on or if it's because SO much has been going on that updating my blog has been last on my mind, or possibly not even on my mind at all! 

For the most part school has been going pretty good as well. I have been extremely busy, especially the last two weeks, but finally got a little rest over Easter break. Just prior to break I completed a 32 page paper I was required to write for one of my classes. Along with the paper that week I also had two exams... if that kind of gives you an idea of what I meant by "extremely busy" : ) But it is behind me now. Things are somewhat downhill from here, for a couple weeks at least, until finals! 

I FOUND A HOUSE FOR NEXT YEAR!! I am so excited about this.

Lauren, my current roommate, and I had been seeking out places to live for the next school year for a while and we were just not finding anything that we liked or felt was a safe place. Finally though, at the very last minute, plans fell through for some other friends of ours which then gave Lauren and I an opportunity for housing! 

The house is absolutely adorable and we will be moving in with two other girls starting in August. We are all very excited! The house has tw0-bedrooms/two-bathrooms, a laundry room, a front and back porch, and it has a huge living room and kitchen! 

We are going to have such a great time there! We have already begun to discuss decorating plans, and have been saving fun recipes so the four of us can cook and bake together! What a fun thing to look forward to : )

Well I have finally completed my well over due post. Hopefully my next post won't be too far behind! 

fyi- my half-marathon is in less than two weeks! I'm beginning to get very nervous. Please, if you think about it, say a little prayer for me! : )