This Awful Beautiful Life.

So much has happened since March 31st that it is overwhelming me to blog about it all.

First of all, Jman and I have started going to a church. This is a big deal for me and for us. Our relationship has never been built off of God or Jesus or any sort of religion. Really it all started by going to parties and hanging out around campus at college. Nevertheless, every day I am reassured that Jman is the right man for me and that our relationship is strong. Anyway, I have always told Jman that I want to raise our kids in a household strong with faith and christian values. He always agreed with me but wasn't sure that church was the best way to go about that. Well at the beginning of April, a good friend of mine got baptized at Bay Area Community Church. Jman and I went to be supportive and we were blown away. This was nothing like any church I had ever been to (and I have been to alot of church since I grew up Episcopal and went to a Catholic middle and high school). For the first time in my life I felt like I actually took away with a message that I could apply to my life right here and now. The church was huge, there was a band and everyone was so friendly. It took some convincing with Jman but a two weeks later we gathered the courage to go back again. Now, it has been almost 3 months and we consider ourselves regulars. We were talking on our way this morning about how going to Church used to feel like a chore... now it is something I look forward to. Every Saturday night I get excited about what I am going to learn about the next morning. Another reason why we love this Church so much is because it proclaims that it is not a church for holy people but a church for people who need to strengthen their relationship with Christ. In other words, no one and I mean NO one that we have met in this church thus far claims to be perfect or judges you for your sins. They embrace the fact that we as humans all sin and that God forgives. I am constantly inspired to "Get Better" and to abide in the word of the Lord. This might be the best thing that has happened to me in a long time and I am very very Thankful for it.

Secondly, Jman and I are buying  bought a house. Not the short sale. Last time I blogged we were still on the short sale train... Heres the short story to the long story about the short sale.. Last May, Jman and I went looking for a house and after the second house we fell in love (with a short sale).. Since we are living with my parents we felt no rush to get a house and felt like it was the best option and that we would get a great deal if we bought this house. Fast forward to January and the bank approved it.. but not really.. See they verbally approved it but we never got the paperwork saying it was approved. The next thing we knew there was an investor who wouldn't sign off on it because an appraisal was done that said the house was worth more than what we put our offer in for.. So they asked for more and eventually we raised our offer. Another few months of waiting and the next thing we knew we were tired of waiting and ready to move on. So we pulled out of the short sale contract two weeks short of one year of being under contract. Throughout this whole process Jman and I (and our agent.. Poor thing)..continued to go looking at houses. It took awhile but eventually we found one we loved more than the short sale. It's in a perfect area.. close to where we work, close to my parents, big but not too big, lots of yard but not too much yard, perfect back porch for eating crabs and drinking beer and it is updated but there are a few projects on our list that will keep us busy for a while. We are so thankful that this process is over and even more thankful for my parents who let us live with them for 3 years so that we could save up the money to buy a house. We would never have been able to afford it while paying the outrageous amount of rent local apartment complexes charge.

Anyway, this summer I have been coaching swim team again and loving mostly every second of it (expect when it storms!!). Life has been so crazy busy between swim team and buying the house/moving/unpacking/painting. I can't believe we have about 4 weeks left until school starts :( .. I am so not ready to go back yet.

Until next time,

San Diego!

Happy Easter All!!

I decided to give up Facebook for Lent and wow it was a challenge! There were advantages and disadvantages to doing so. 

First the Disadvantages: I felt very disconnected with some of my friends and family that I depend on Facebook in order to keep up with their lives. I also depend on Facebook as a news source (like eye on annapolis) and weather updates (like foots forecast). Also, I felt sad not being able to upload pictures and comments about major events that have happened over the past 40 days.. (like disney and san diego!) 

Now the Advantages: Well of course there is the obvious advantage of becoming closer with God (Duh!) I also learned that I waste a lot of time facebooking. My Saturday mornings were much more productive when I wasn't browsing the news feed for a few hours. I also learned other ways to stay connected with my loved ones (It's not unheard of to pick up the phone to wish someone a happy birthday!) Overall it was a good challenge and I am proud of myself for sticking through with it. 

The real reason for my Sunday morning post is to tell about our trip to SAN DIEGO! 

     At the high school I teach at, I am a "Co-lead teacher" of a major committee called PBIS. PBIS stands for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support. At school, the committee is responsible for breaking down referral data and coming up with school events and student incentives for staying out of trouble. We also do professional development sessions for teachers on how to build a positive classroom environment and a positive relationship. Although it is a lot of extra work (that I don't get paid for), I feel that it is a great leadership opportunity for me as well as a way for me to give back to this school and make a difference. Our school has been recognized as making major improvements over the past few years and was picked to give a presentation at a few different conferences. Now usually my counter part does these sort of things because he has a better way with words infront of a lot of people however he couldn't go to this conference so it was my turn to do the presenting. (AH!) 

     Anyway, so thats how I got the opportunity to go to San Diego in the first place. Our school is involved in a grant that paid for a team of us to go to the conference. Well of course this conference was conveniently over spring break and consequently during my one year anniversary. So Jman and I decided to make a trip of it! Neither of us had ever been to the west coast or California so it was very exciting and alot more affordable since we only had to pay for Jman's flight and our food. 

Here are my thoughts on San Diego (in case anyone is thinking about going): This city is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! The weather was mid to high 60s the entire time we were there. The city itself is very clean and everyone there was extremely friendly. At anyone point in time you would see hundreds of people outside running, biking or walking dogs. You can tell that having a healthy lifestyle is something many people in this city value. I was not impressed however, with the very small and outdated airport or the expensive food. 

Almost there!

The city skyline

Now about the actual trip: Jman and I stayed at the Hyatt which was by far the nicest (and most expensive) hotel we have ever stayed in. We had a beautiful view of the San Diego Bay and the city. 

The view from our room

Tuesday night we went to Coronado beach so that we could watch the sunset on the pacific coast. 

Pacific Ocean!

On Wednesday we got up early and went to the San Diego zoo. This zoo is one of the best in the world and I am so glad we had the time to go there! Overall, the animals look very happy and their environments are well kept and designed nicely. They have a wide variety of animals and the zoo had different educational presentations with the exhibits throughout the day which I enjoyed. While watching the elephant presentation (they were giving the elephant a pedicure), I asked the zoo keeper how he got his job in which his response was very funny. He said "Well I was a high school science teacher but I was tired of feeling like a professional babysitter so I moved from the fake zoo to the real zoo". I almost died! My child dream job was to be an elephant trainer so when he said that I thought about how fun it would be to do the same. Nevertheless, I am still a teacher..at least for now! ;) 

Me with the elephants!

That evening we went on a dinner cruise which was beautiful and fun. 

Us on the cruise with the Hyatt in the background

Thursday and Friday I had to go the the conference so Jman explored the city during the day and at night we went out to various restaurants and bars at night. Overall, it was an amazing trip and I can't wait to go back to California. 

The Hyatt

My Presentation was on Friday and from what everyone said, I did well. It was a 15 minute long speech and we had about 50 people attend our session. It was a fun learning experience and I enjoyed meeting a lot of teachers, researchers and professionals. I am excited to get back to school and start implementing some of the things I learned. 

Disney Details

I have now officially fallen into what I like to call Post Disney World Depression. This weekend surpassed all my expectations and was absolutely amazing. I don't even know where to start....

Jman and I had to work on Thursday but we got in late thursday evening and hopped on to the magical express to take us to our resort. We stayed with my mom, dad, sister and brother in law at the Wilderness Lodge by the Magic Kingdom. On Friday we slept in until about 8, had a nice breakfast in the room and then headed off to the expo. It was so crowded there but we managed to pick up our packets. Alot of people who have done other disney races were complaining about how poorly the expo was set up this year but we were just  glad to be there and take it all in.  The swag for this race included a t-shirt and a mesh bag but we also brought pins because we are all into disney pin trading.

Disney's Fit for a princess expo

They had a wall with all the participants.. I found my name! 

Friday even we went to Epcot to the Pasta in the Park Party. There was a buffet and a live Dj and also characters to take pictures with. It was fun but I don't know if we would do it again. The best part of Pasta in the Park was the reserved seating section for Epcot's firework show. It was by far the best seats in the entire World Show Case.

Pasta Party

The entire trip we were conflicted between taking it easy or enjoying all that Disney has so we tried to find a balance between the two. Saturday morning we woke up early and headed off to Hollywood studios. I discovered that my new favorite ride at disney is the Toy story ride! SO MUCH FUN! AHH! At lunch time we came back to the resort, ate lunch and laid by the pool. The weather was absolutely perfect. For dinner we went to olive garden and then the boys went off to the dog races while the girls came back to the room to finish getting ready for the big event. We went to bed super early because our alarms were set for 2:15 AM!

Jman and I on the 3D toy story ride

My sister and mom first ones in line for the 3am bus. We thought it would be crowded. 

I actually got a good nights sleep which was something I wasn't expecting. I figured I would be tossing and turning all night but I was happy with my 5 hours of rest. We caught the 3am bus (which didn't actually leave until 3:20.. we were not happy about that!) and headed off to Epcot. Mom treated us to "Race Retreat" a tent in the prep area with private bathrooms, a private bag check, a stretching area and a breakfast buffet/coffee. We all decided this was definitely worth the money however we wish we could have stayed there longer. Since we were in the last corral we wanted to get a place closed to the front so we would be as far away from the "balloon ladies" as possible. If you are not familiar with disney races.. the balloon ladies are two women that keep the slowest pace possible (16 min mile). If you fall behind them then disney busses come and sweep you up.

At Race Retreat

The wait for the race to start was painfully long but eventually it was our turn and it was so exiting. The Fairy Godmother was there to wish us good luck and counted down to GO. Fireworks blasted off and so did we! I would say the first half of the race our pace was really good. We stuck to our run walk interval and made good time. Disney did a great job of entertaining us throughout the race. There was music and characters pretty much every mile although we didn't get to stop and take any pictures with the characters because the lines were so long (especially for the princes!) My favorite part of the race was between miles 4-6 aka running through the Magic Kingdom. Words can't describe how fun it was. After we left Magic Kingdom however, it all went down hill from there.

Fireworks at the start!

There were so many people there.. 

Keep in mind that our corral (H) started 55 minutes after the clock time.. so our time at mile 4 is actually 53 minutes.. about a 13 minute pace! WooHoo!

The Magic Kingdom sign! 

I was having a great time! 

The castle! 

Mom tripped on a road reflector which was pretty scary. She twisted her knee just slightly but we were very worried for her so we all slowed down the pace and decided to take more walk breaks. Miles 8-9 were the toughest in my opinion. The road was very small and it was hard to go around people who were slower than us. This was pretty frustrating. I am not sure why people don't have the etiquette to walk on the right side so people who are running or walking faster can pass on the left. At this point most of the people around us were walking most of the race which I was surprised about. After we got through the hill on mile 10, the rest of the race went pretty quickly. Running through Epcot was like a dream. At one point I looked over at mom (who was teary eyed) and I had to plead with her to not get emotional until after the race! Crossing the finish line was the best feeling ever and I am so glad I got to do it with my sister and mom right by my side.

We made it to 12! (again take 55 minutes off the clock time...about 3 hrs an 8 minutes) 

I GOT MY HARD EARNED METAL!! 

Bling Bling :)

After the race we linked up with the boys and sat in race retreat where we enjoyed a hot breakfast and our post race vitamin drink. When we got back to the resort we took ice baths, drank some beers and then headed out to the pool to relax. Later that night we went to Magic kingdom were we got to show off our new bling! One of the best decisions we made was to come back on Monday. It was nice to be able to enjoy disney for one more day before heading home.

A very cold ice bath!

Now I am contemplating signing up for Las Vegas Rock and Roll Half Marathon. I have heard that it is fun and there are lots of bands that play thoughout the entire race. We will see...wahahahaha

Until next time,

My favorite new car magnet! 

We're Going to DISNEY WORLD!

I am writing this post as I procrastinate packing. I have never really enjoyed packing and running around trying to get things ready for a trip. It's kind of stressful. The only thing worse than packing is unpacking.. I do have to admit after Jman and I came back from NC over christmas break it took me two weeks to put everything away.

Anyway, One more work day!! WOOHOO. Can't wait to be on our way to sunny skies, 80 degree weather, sitting by the pool, relaxing...oh yeah and that thing we have been training since august for...the DISNEY PRINCESS HALF MARATHON!! AHH!! IT will be so rewarding to cross the finish line. I am so excited!! I know I am probably not going to get any sleep these next couple of nights. I have just been picturing the race over and over in my head, watching team MNM cross the finish line together, having fun and cheering the other runners on. I am trying to not think about all the things that could go wrong and stay positive (come on energy bus don't fail me now!)

I really can't believe it was last July that the idea first popped into my head. It seemed like such a distant dream. Now it feels like reality. I really wish I had kept a journal of how I felt after each of the runs. It would be fun to go back and read my entries.

I remember after our 5 mile long run way back in the fall.. I felt so proud to have ran 5 miles.. a distance I had never gone before. It was fun to run during october when the weather was cool, the leaves were falling off the trees and people were putting out halloween decorations. This one time we were running on a random weekday night and a man came up behind us who was also running. He was trying to be polite and said "good evening" but he actually scared the living day lights out of us (but mostly my sister). It was hilarious! Then there was another time that mom almost stepped on a dead squirrel..that was not so hilarious. I also enjoyed running through the neighborhoods during christmas time when everyone had their yards lit up with decorations.
There were some not so great runs as well.. At one point we had to switch to a different neighborhood for our evening runs after I got scared someone was going to kidnap us. Now I run with mace and a whistle. Our 10 mile was especially rough for me as I was in a lot of pain but managed to get through it.

I am so very thankful that my mom and sister decided to do this adventure with me. I don't know if I would have made it this far without them and no matter what I am proud of us and what we have accomplished so far. Now all we can do is pray for our safety and health over this weekend.  

Next time I post I will hopefully have tons of pictures of the race and our vacation.

Wish me luck!!

Until next time,

P.S. Still waiting on the house.. ugh!

Home Stretch

Well this New Years Eve was quite unforgettable. Jman and I were invited to hang out with my crafty sister, her husband and their group of friends. We have hung out with this group of people many times before on camping trips and for wedding festivities so it was nice to be with good company on this holiday.

New Years Eve has always been my favorite holiday. For many, its a symbol of a fresh start, something to look forward to or a great date for setting new goals. I love it for many other reasons though. I love the counting down at 11:59, the champagne, the good food, the kiss at midnight, the party, the fact that everyone is celebrating a new year.. It's just so much fun. This year however was especially exciting because Jman and I got "THE CALL".

If you have ever gone through a short sale before than you know what call I am talking about. The call we have been waiting for 6 MONTHS to get. The call that finally told us we would be starting a new life as a married couple in our own home. The approval call. AHHH!! Thinking about that moment when we were at the party still makes me smile. I was freaking out- the kind of freaking out when you are so happy there are tears, where you feel like shouting at the top of your lungs and telling the whole world how happy you are (in my case it was drunk texting..haha). It was perfect timing and it gave us another reason to celebrate.

We thought now that it was approved that the process would be shorter... well another two weeks have gone by and we are still waiting on paper work... sighhhhh.. But at least we know we probably have the house... except for the inspections.. Pray that they go well for us!

Anyway, thats the house update. There is another reason why this post is called "home stretch". Disney Princess Half is almost one month away! At this point I no longer dream about completing this. I feel very confident that not only I will complete it but I know my mom and sister will too (Assuming and praying that we stay injury free). Every run we have, I feel stronger and stronger (and I know they do too!). This Saturday will be one of our last long training runs. 10 miles! I never thought I would be able to run more than 3. It has been an amazing journey with many ups and downs. I can't wait to write a post about how exciting and awesome the race was.

Until next time,