Merry Christmas!!

Yea! Christmas is almost here. Most importantly my time off is about to start. I have tomorrow through January 1st off! I don't have alot planned but it should be a nice time. Tomorrow I am going to finish up my Christmas shopping and wrap presents. Then on Saturday I have some baking and cooking to do. I am making a cheesecake to take to my parent's for Christmas eve. I am also making Christmas cookies to take to Lindsay's house for our little Christmas party/dinner.

Not alot has happened since my marathon. I am resting my ankle and have not run since the race. I have a case of the shin splint (only one ankle). I think I might go to the doctor soon since it is still hurting and I have not run in almost 2 weeks.

Merry Christmas everybody! I hope everyone has a great Christmas where ever they get to spend it.

Whoo-Hoo: I don't have to look at my cube for 11 days!

Boo: We are in the process of looking for a house/condo. We were hoping to have found one by now. But we haven't.

13.1 Miles!!

I finished my first half marathon yesterday! I ran 13.1 miles in a little over 2 hours. The race started and ended downtown at the American Airlines Center. I also completed my fund raising last week. I raised $1,570 which is only $30 short of goal! It was a great experience altogether. Karen (our team capitan) ask me to join the team next season as a mentor. This means I will have a group of trainees that I will serve as a mentor in fundraising and to get them involved in the group. I get to train with the group and attend events but I am not required to fundraise. I am really excited because I was sad to not get to train with them anymore but I didn't want to do another fundraising campaign until next year. So this works out perfectly! Now a few pictures from the big race (over 10,000 participants this year).

Me in front of the starting line before the race.

Everyone lined up for the start of the full marathon.

Me after the race with my medal and flowers!

Amanda's Wedding Weekend

We had a great weekend going to all the fun wedding events. Thursday night was the bachelorette party. We had it at an Italian restaruant called Moni's. It was icey here that night so a lot of people didn't want to get out in the elements but all Amanda's best friends (and of course sisters) were there.

On Friday we had the Bride's Maid lunch at La Madeline. We (Susan, Neil, Ali, Sarah, and I) went to get our nails done. Ali and Sarah are my 8 and 9 year old cousins. They are adorable and were so excited about everything at the wedding including getting there nails done. It was causal and nice. Then the rehearsal dinner was at Shady Oak barbeque. The whole family and a lot of college friends were there. It was really great to get to catch up with everyone. They did a little slide show of Amanda and Josh growing up. Justin was in a lot of the pictures and I admit was a very cute kid!

On Saturday we met up at the church around 1:00 and did hair and makeup. It was a mad scramble to the finish but everyone made it in time for pictures. The wedding was great! Beautiful flowers, a tear evoking walk down the isle, lovely music, and of course a wonderful bride and groom. After the wedding, we headed over to the Wyndham hotel for the reception. The reception was fun and I got a chance to catch up with some old friends we don't see enough as well as witness everyone in Justin's family dance!

Amanda and Josh are now on their honeymoon and will be moving to Connecticut as soon as they get back. We hope to get to visit them soon but we won't get to see them for Christmas. Josh is on duty until 12:00 am on Christmas morning.

One of the sweetest parts of the wedding was that Sarah (8) started crying during the ceremony. Then by the time she walked out she was crying pretty hard. When her mom asked her why, she said b/c Amanda was moving and she wouldn't ever get to see her. It is sad to see family move away. Maybe we can get Amanda to join the blogging community to keep in touch. Please enjoy the few pictures below. I will put the website up once the photographer (our Uncle Billy) has it up and running.

The beautiful bride and me in my fancy gloves.

My father-in-law. Enough said.

Sarah and Ali before the rehearsal.
Justin and me at the rehearsal.