Skype-tastic!

So for Mothers Day/Dad's Birthday this year I sent my parents a web cam. I've been living in IL for four years now, so I thought it would be really nice to see their faces while talking to them (Now that I have a Mac with a built-in camera, I can actually do this!). They've had the camera for about three weeks now, but were having sound card issues with their Dell. They finally got it all set up this evening.

Can I tell you that Skype in FANTASTIC!!!! This was my first time using it and I LOVED it. My mom and I just giggled for the first five minutes of our chat. It was great to see her laughing face. It totally made my day. They had some family over for a BBQ, so I got to see my dad, their dog Jack (my little spotted cow), three of my aunts, some cousins... I even got to give my dad a tour of our townhouse! (He hasn't been up to visit since we moved into this place). My parents got to say hello to hubby & the pup too! I had no idea how fun video chatting would be - I can't wait to chat with my brother & his wife so I can see my Bella. :)

Anyway, tomorrow is Memorial Day. Everyone enjoy the day off and say a prayer for the men & women who fight for our freedom.

See you soon...

Currently listening to: Deep Inside of You - Third Eye Blind

always makes me think of summers passed...

Silent All These Years - Tori Amos

I can see everything she sings...

Yesterday was my last long run up at LOW. I had some muscle twinges going on so Coach & I just walked for 6.6. We chatted the entire way and it was wonderful. The day was perfect, and the park looked awesome, and I was in great company. Couldn't ask for anything else (except a few more Saturdays to enjoy with my runners). Afterwards we sat outside at Panera while we ate breakfast and chatted some more. I will really miss these people. It's funny - you never imagine when you first meet a group of people, how dependent you'll become on their presence and their friendship. I'm sure I'll meet other people to run with, but I must say that these friendships are some of the deepest I've made in years and new people won't come close.

No tears. This is not "good bye". It's "see you soon". The reunion will be at the Lewis & CLark Marathon in St, Charles, Missouri on October 3rd. A little more then 4 months. See you all there!!!

Magic train ride

Yesterday was a loooong day. After an early morning 5.2 mile run, we got all of my big stuff moved onto a U-haul, down to Carbondale, and into my new apartment. Then we had a late lunch with some of my lovely Carbondale ladies. I was excited for Justin to meet the girls, so it was a good day. After all this we hopped on the Amtrak and rode back to Mattoon.

This was my first time riding a train, so I was very excited. <--- That might even be an understatement. Once we got going Justin kept looking over at me to see the look on my face. I'm like a small child when it comes to new experiences. I think Justin finds it amusing - hopefully he finds it endearing. :) I had a cheesy grin on my face for the majority of the train ride (which lasted 2 hours). I totally felt like I was on the Hogwarts Express.

There was even a Cafe' Cart. I asked Justin if he would go with me. He declined but told me to go ahead. I tried to abstain, but I was just sooo curious that I had to go see it. I got a Sierra Mist and some cookies (it would have been AMAZING if I had found some chocolate frogs or Bertie's Every Flavored Beans!!). I returned to my seat with a HUGE smile on my face! Justin laughed. We shared our snacks and continued our ride while reading - I was totally re-reading Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows. It was perfect.

When we got back to Mattoon we had to go to Charleston to pick up a mattress. It felt awesome when I finally crawled into (our new queen size) bed.

The count is down to 9 days till my White Coat Ceremony. Aaaaaaaaaah! Crazy. I'm so excited and very nervous. I've been up & down all day today getting things ready. I picked up some cool stuff at Big Lots & Walmart today. Lovely candles, towels, home decor items & such. I can't wait to set everything up. We were really limited on time while we were in Carbondale yesterday, so my stuff is in the apartment, but it's not set up the way I want it. Some of the girls are having a BBQ at their place this Saturday and I'm tempted to head down for the day. We'll see. :)

I hope everyone is having a FABULOUS week!

Sketchy Thursday 5.20 Challenge

Hey everyone!

Today's been one of those days. Hubby & I were stressing out about getting my stuff moved down to Carbondale. We were not on the same page about dates, but we got it all worked out and we'll be heading down tomorrow! :) Anyway, after that headache I decided to relax and work on the Sketchy Thursdays challenge. It's a great double page layout and I was looking forward to finally using some pictures from my parents' 30 year anniversary. I hope you like it!

Please excuse the poor picture quality. I didn't have very good lighting when taking these.

When my parents got married in 1977, they had a city hall wedding and then celebrated at my aunt's apartment. Mom always looked forward to having a big wedding celebration for her 25th anniversary. They made it happen after 30 years. It was a BEAUTIFUL night. :)

These pictures are from a local park as summer was changing to fall.

One last time...

This summer a fair few of those in my running group will be moving. Some of us will be moving for school, others for work. This means that our group runs are numbered.

Yesterday a few of us ran in the Buffalo Trace 5 mile trail race through Lake of the Woods (LOW) in Mahomet. It was 5 mile of wet, hilly trails... and it was GREAT! The day started off cool and foggy, but by the time we started running at 8am, it had turned into a beautiful day (although a bit humid). Our Saturday morning runs are usually at LOW but we mostly stick to the bike path, so the trails were a nice break from routine. I must admit, though, that as I finished my final mile I was cursing whoever thought it was a good idea to end the race on an uphill. I crossed the finish line to cheers from my awesome, runner friends - always a great feeling! My time was 54:34.50.

Afterwards we stood around eating delicious orange slices, watermelon slices, bananas, & tootsie rolls! <--- the tootsie rolls were a nice surprise, but nothing compares to a yummy orange post-run. Awards were then dispersed and surprise, surprise - Allison won 3rd in her age group!!! Rock Star. :) We then headed over to Panera for a yummy breakfast & smoothies.

All in all, it was a fantastic day!

Mike, me, and Joanna pre race :)

The gang: Joanna, Randy, Allison, me, Jaymie, and Mike post race. Randy & Jaymie were awesome! They ran from spot to spot on the trails cheering us on. :)

Allison with her awesome Buffalo trophy :)

Looks like next Saturday will be my last run with the group for a while. We plan to run the Lewis & Clark Marathon in St. Charles, Missouri together this October. Some of us will be doing the full marathon, and some will be doing the half. I can't wait!

All out mile

I like to consider myself pretty gangster... the truth is that I'm not. But frankly, I'm okay with that. Today I was scheduled to run my first ever all out mile with some friends. These friends are much faster than I am - one of them is working towards qualifying for the Boston Marathon! (THAT'S pretty gangster!) This said, I was pretty nervous about this all out mile.

Since state track championships are being held at EIU this week, we headed over to the Charleston High School track. We putzed around (and stretched) for a while before getting started with our warm up. We were clearly trying to put the whole thing off. I wasn't the only one who was nervous - that made me feel a little better. :) We jogged 2 laps to warm up and then toed the line.

I took off too quickly and was gassed at the end of lap 1. As I started lap 2 I seriously considered running straight to the bleachers instead of finishing! How pathetic. Anyway, I toughed it out and completed my mile in 8:34.59. I wish it had been better, but I can't really complain. Prior to today, my fastest mile had been 9:51 (mile 1 of the IL half marathon just 18 days ago).

Now I know where I'm at and where I'd like to get to. I'd like to continue working on this and come in at a sub 8:00 mile. I can do this. It just means incorporating speed work into my schedule. I'll keep you posted on my progress with this goal.

Happy running!!!

Sketchy Thursday 5.13 Challenge

Here's my take on this week's Sketchy Thursday's sketch. I'm rushing to get it in before the deadline for tonight!! :)

These pics are from our trip to Disney in September 2009. We went to Mickey's Not-So-Scray Halloween Party. It's the coolest time to be in the Magic Kingdom because you get to see all of the really cool villians!

P.S. Sorry about the grainy pics - not sure why they came out this way.

iTunes random plays

So, this morning I'm really procrastinating on cleaning the house. I hate cleaning, but I love when the house is clean. I got a new febreeze scent that I really like - I just need to get cracking, so I can enjoy the day. Later today I'll be running my first all-out mile with a friend. We're gonna hit the track at EIU. Wish me luck! I've cut 4 minutes off of my 5.18 mile loop in the past week, so I'm feeling good, but I don't really have a goal for this mile. I'm wondering if I could pull off an 8 min mile... We'll see.

Anyway, my iTunes library is currently on shuffle. Here's what's popped up:

Absolute - The Fray

Halleluja - Vitamin String Quartet (Paramore)

City - Sara Bareilles

32 Flavors - Alana Davos (originally by Ani DiFranco)

Love Ridden - Fiona Apple

23 - Jimmy Eat World

Everything I said - The Cranberries

This started off as a list of song that played randomly on my iTunes library... but I guess it evolved into a list of some of my favorite

"sad old bastard music". I've been trying to find something that suits my mood right now, but nothing seems to fit today. I just keep going to

the next song....

Stop this train...

Music often strikes a chord within me that is otherwise unaccessible. No matter how many times I hear the song, it affects me the same way. I can't explain it, it just is.

This is one of those songs...

So scared of getting old, I'm only good at being young.
So I play the numbers game try to find a way to say my life's just begun...

Oh now once in a while, when it's good, it'll feel like it should
And they're all still around, and you're still safe and sound.
And you don't miss a thing, 'til you cry.... when you're driving away in the dark.
Singing stop this train, I wanna get off and go back home again.
I can't take the speed this thing is moving in
I know I can't, cause now I see, I'm never gonna stop this train...

Happy Anniversary!

Today is May 13th, 2010 and it marks four years that Justin & I have been married. Incredible. This morning I asked him where the time went.

I remember when we started dating - it still feels like that was just yesterday. We met while working on the Walt Disney World College Program in Orlando, Florida. We were neighbors in building 30 at Chatham Square Apartments. When we first moved in, my roommates and I would leave our front door open so we could meet other people in the building. We were celebrating a birthday, so I had made a cake and this cute guy wandered into the apartment with his hand in a bag of popcorn. We chatted and I offered him some cake (I learned quickly that he didn't turn down offers of food). Not long after that, we chatted at a party. One night when I came home from work, Justin was sitting at the top of the steps reading a book. We talked all night. Almost every night after that I found him on the steps when I came home. We were inseparable. We would sit on the couch talking until we fell asleep...

That was the summer of 2004. It's six years later now and I love him even more than I did back then. I'm blessed to share my life with someone so special.

The beginning of our story...

Behind the scenes at the Lion King show @ Animal Kingdom while we were dating.

This pic was taken in St. Louis in the summer of 2006

I love you, Justin. Happy Anniversary!

Big things are on the horizon...

In just 28 days I'll be sitting through my first day of graduate school. That means that in LESS than 4 weeks, I'll be living in Carbondale... away from my husband and my dog. The thought of this makes me sad and anxious.

On top of the emotional difficulty that I'll surely be experiencing in reference to the aforementioned realities, I'll be dealing with the stress of school, and getting used to living with a roommate. After being married for 4 years (this Wednesday is our anniversary!), I'm thinking that this transition is going to take some getting used to. With less than 4 weeks left here in Mattoon, I'm not willing to spend any time apart from Justin & Lucien. Another thing, our administrators keep reminding us that the class schedule is tentative. This is probably fine with some people, but I'm a type A personality. I like to have things planned, set in stone. How can I plan when I will see Justin, knowing that our test dates may shift? Justin's schedule changes today, so going forward he'll have Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday off, which will be a nice change. This means that he'll be able to come see me in Carbondale! This makes me really happy, but then I worry about who will take care of Lucien. My apartment doesn't allow pets on property and it makes me feel guilty that Lucien will be all alone. I know that he gets lonely, and it's really not fair to him either... :(

I'd love to plan some races, but what will my study schedule be like? Will I feasibly be able to fit long runs into an already intense schedule? Who will I run with? Will I be training all by myself? How will I stay motivated without my runner friends there to push me?

Please don't get me wrong - I'm blessed to have been accepted into this program and I'm very excited. I'm just know that some sacrifices are going to have to be made to accomplish this. Reality is that I fear the unknown. I know I'll overcome this fear in time, but right now is not that time.

Mothers Day

Living in Illinois since May 28, 2006 means that I've been apart from my mom for the last 4 Mothers Days. I think of her every day, but this holiday makes it especially hard. We talk on the phone every day. Sometimes multiple times each day! :) It makes me realize how lost I would truly be if she weren't around. (These thoughts make my stomach hurt...) I am incredibly blessed to have such a giving, loving woman to guide me through life's challenges. Thank you, mama.

While mom was relaxing back home with dad in the pool yesterday, Justin, Jill, and I were having a yummy Mothers Day brunch at Richard's Farm in Casey. The place is an cute restaurant that was once an old barn. Behind it is a cute garden that you can walk through to see the beautiful spring flowers in bloom.

Upon arriving home, I spent the next few hours lying out on a lounge chair & basking in the sun with my four-legged son, Lucien. I swear, he loves to be in the sunshine just as much as I do! All in all, it was a nice, relaxing day. There's nothing better than lying in the sun with a good book (I'm re-reading Charlaine Harris' Dead And Gone, so I can pick up the next one in the series, Dead in the Family).

Scraptastic!

This past Saturday I spent the day cropping at Daisy Lane (a FANTASTIC scrapbooking & craft store in Mattoon). Once a month they do a 12-hour crop from 9am-9pm. I spent the day chatting & laughing with friends as we worked on layouts. I wasn't very productive - I only finished 3 pages. I felt like I used up all my creative energy earlier in the week. Oh well. Here's what I finished.

This first LO is based on the sketch for this week's Shetchy Thursdays challenge.

These pictures were taken at a winery in the Redlands (south of Miami, FL). They use all tropical fruit to create their wines - NO GRAPES!

[P.S. I'm kind of in love with these collage photos from Walgreens.com]

Hubby & I met while working at Disney World in Orlando, FL. These are some pics from our time there. :) This is where it all began!

Have a great week, everyone!

Up In the Air

A quick movie review here.

I just finished watching Up In the Air and I LOVED it. The film was directed by Jason Reitman (Juno) stars George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, and Anna Kendrick. It was nominated for a slew of awards for 2009 including best achievement in directing, best motion picture of the year, best performance by an actor in a leading role, and best performance by an actress in a supporting role for BOTH Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick!

Synopsis: With a job that has him traveling around the country firing people, Ryan Bingham leads an empty life out of a suitcase, until his company does the unexpected: ground him.

Do yourself a favor and watch this one. I think I fell in love with Clooney (again).

Winner!

Yesterday I posted pictures of some scrapbook layouts that I created. I also entered one of them into a weekly sketch challenge at the Sketchy Thursdays blog. Well, I was randomly chosen as the winner! How exciting. My prize is some really cool scrapbook product. I can't wait to get it in my hands and play with it! :)

I got all my Mother's Day gifts (and Dad's b-day gift) sent out yesterday, and also sent out Bella's album. Afterwards I was still feeling crafty, so i decided to work on some more layouts.

Here they are:

Oh, How the Sea... It calls to me - this is from our recent visit to Miami.

This is from my 27th birthday dinner.

I was working on these last night when Hubby called. He had forgotten his wallet at home and was now at work. He thanked me for delivering his wallet by treating me to Subway. :) He's pretty fantastic. And may I also add that he's quite dapper in his uniform... ::wink::

I've been more creative this week than I have in a long time, and I'll be at a 12-hour crop all Saturday! I can't wait.

This song was stuck in my head last night... I love the lyrics and hope you enjoy (even though it's country!).

A Crafty Day...

My niece will turning one this Friday. I'm still wondering where the time has gone. It's even harder because we're so far away. I've only seen her on three trips. Poor Justin just met her over Christmas break. We're missing so many of the day-to-day things: her first words, her first steps, and all of her little quirks. It makes me sad.

For her birthday I decided to start an album for her. It will be pictures of her with Justin & I. My hope is that when she gets a little older, she'll pull it out and flip through the pages whenever she has an urge to see her. I hope she looks through it and knows how much we love her, no matter how far away we are. So, I spent the evening (and most of the night) putting together some pages to start the album. Every once in a while I'll make two more and send them down so Jay & Natalie can add them to the album.

Here are some pics:

This is the first page and has a note for Bella. (I have a thing for these cute owls!)

This page is based on a challenge from a scrapbooking blog (Sketchy Thursdays).

This one was also inspired by a page I saw on Sketchy Thursdays' blog.

I hope you enjoyed! I also made some Mother's Day cards yesterday, but I won't be posting pics of those. :)