26.2

Well, I've just about recovered from this:

Cowtown Marathon 02/28/09

Place: 480/924
Time: 4:27:04

I'm definitley glad to be done, but I'm also just a little sad that it's over with. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and I was so lucky to have so many friends and family members there to cheer me on. People keep asking if I'm going to do another one and I keep telling everyone that I'm not even ready to start thinking about it. It is mentally exhausting to train for one of these and my brain needs a break! Everyone realizes the physical challenge that it entails, but few understand that it literally takes over your life. Early bed times, very early mornings, entire Saturdays devoted to long runs and then the recovery, turning down plans with friends b/c you have to run the next day...it definitley takes a toll on you. It is definitely worth it though. I will never forget the moment I crossed the finish line. I burst into tears as Jake hugged me and when he said "I'm so proud of you" I said "I'm so proud of me too" and I really really was.

Marathon Weather (Ft. Worth, TX)

Sat
Feb 28

Partly Cloudy

63°
39°

This would be absolutely perfect if the humidity wasn't expected to be 53%. I'm definitely not accustomed to any type of humidity while running.

HGTV Dream Home

Jake and I have been working so hard to win this for the past 2 months. When I say working, I mean: me entering myself, my mom, and my dad in the daily online entry (you're only allowed to enter once a day) and Jake did about a million hand written entries. Ok, not a million, but let's just say that the postal service is not going to have to reduce their work week to 5 days b/c of us. We know that our chances are still very slim, but we are so excited and hopeful that we will win. We're not sure yet what we would do if we won. Our ultimate goal is to move to northern CA so that Jake can start his own business and the house is in northern CA, but is about an hour away from where we need to be. So we're not really making any decisions until we get the call saying we won ;) Keep your fingers crossed for us. And watch HGTV on March 15th to see if we won!

5 years ago on Valentine's Day....

Jake and I went on our very first date. We drove to Tulsa and went to Kilkenny's, an Irish Pub. The waiter sat us next to each other instead of on opposite sides of the table. This made for a slightly awkward first date, but we made the most of it. Upon returning to my place, I checked my mail and noticed that my friend Ryan had sent me a cd of love songs. Ryan was my "gay boyfriend" at the time, but when I mentioned to Jake that my "gay boyfriend" had sent me a cd, he thought I meant "gay" in a different sense and thought I actually had a boyfriend. This assumption resulted in him not calling me for almost a week. Luckily he mentioned it to a mutal friend who was able to clear up the confusion. So besides the confusion, it was a great first date and I've enjoyed every date since then.

Last night we went on a date to Paymon's. It's a Mediterranean Cafe and Hookah Lounge. We had a hookah, some hummus, and tabuli. The tabuli was not as great as the tabuli I've grown up eating though so it was somewhat of a disappointment. Go here: http://www.paymons.com/pop_tr_gallery_fr_set2.html for a virtual tour of the restraunt and lounge. It was really neat and I want to go back soon.

On Monday we are going on another date to The Melting Pot. I'm so excited!! I LOVE this place and I haven't been for several months so I'm excited to have lots of

cheese and chocolate! Well that's all for now. I must begin my exciting day of cleaning and grocery shopping!!

Laughing Starfish

My mom purchased a necklace from this website (laughingstarfish.com) a while ago and then gave me the necklace because she thought it would go well with many of my clothes. She then purchased another one for herself because she loved it so much. I just now got around to looking at the site and I fell in love with so many things! Here are some of my favorites:

All of the pieces are so amazing and the prices are fanastic! Check it out.

More Arts and Crafts

I made this about a week ago. The top is a piece of scrapbook paper, the things on the front are some leftover stickers that I had from another project, and the paint is some leftover paint from the kitchen. And the furry little thing on the right is Sydney.

I confess my love for....

Nike Dri Fit. I purchased two shirts yesterday at the Nike outlet for about $8 each. This is an amazing deal b/c they are usually around $35. Over the course of my training I have come to realize that I will never be able to comfortably wear a cotton t-shirt to run/work out in. I am too spoiled to go back now. I firmly believe the inventor of this material deserves a Nobel Prize. A regular cotton shirt quickly becomes saturated with sweat during a normal workout, sticks to your body, and makes you feel like you've gained 10 lbs, but the the miracle dri fit wicks all the sweat away, is super soft, and basically just the best thing in the world. My only complaint is that is smells horrible after a good work out. I mean, duh, sweat smells, but for some reason the dri fit material makes it smell worse. This is only a minor inconvience though and would never provoke me to return to the archaic cotton shirt.

If I had a lot of money I'd buy these from Anthropologie:

The Best of 08

Here's a recap of my favorite times in 2008:

New Years Eve on the Strip:


My Christmas present from Jake (Christmas of 07, but used in 08):


Hoover Dam tour:


My birthday:


Disneyland:


Summerlin Arts Festival:


Hiking:


Siggy's visit:


Week long vacation in California:


Sky diving:


Rock Band Concert:


Pumpkin Patch:


Canoe Race:


First rodeo:


Things not pictured that were also fun/exciting:

Sister's graduation

Jake's b-day

1/2 Marathon

Family visit/ snow storm

2008 was a pretty fun year and I'm looking forward to 2009. Happy late new year!

Water for Elephants

I just finished reading this book and I want to recommend it to everyone. I started it a long time ago and wasn't able to really get into it, but then I picked it up again over the holidays and I couldn't put it down. Give it a try!

An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932, by the bestselling author of Riding Lessons.

When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.

Beautifully written, Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford.----taken from bookbrowse.com