Challenge Yourself

You guys will never guess what I did about 2 weeks ago...

It is ridiculous

It was spontaneous

It will be rigorous

It will be physically and mentally challenging

It will be here in 136 days

It will be one of the biggest accomplishments of my life

...and I will probably want to pass out when it is over with.

You read that correctly

I am running the 26.2 on October 5th, 2013

How in heavens name did this even happen?!

I like to place the blame onto my brother-in-law, Tim.  

He called a few weeks ago to talk to Mark and I happened to be with him while he was on speaker phone. 

I heard Tim say, "You guys should come down to St. George in October."

We both thought that was a bit strange.  Why October?  What's happening then?

So of course we asked why, and he said "Cause your boy is running the 26.2!"

I looked in disbelief at Mark, but he seemed a bit confused.  But I knew. 

I just yelled, "TIM! You're running a marathon?!?!"

We talked about it and he said it is on his Bucket List and thinks it would be awesome motivation to get into shape, too.

I agreed with him on all levels and it made my wheels start turning in the back of my mind. 

It was the last day to sign up and he told me and Mark it would be awesome if we signed up too!

Unfortunately Mark has bad knees, so he won't be able to do it.  But I on the other hand got inspired and just freaking did it on a whim!

It is going to be so dang awesome because I will be running a MARATHON with my brother-in-law AND his wife (sister-in-law), Annie!  How cool is that??

My family members are astounding, huh?

New Member of Our Little Family

I had a coworker asked me yesterday: "Are you are your husband... trying?"
By trying, she meant are Mark and I attempting to have a kid...

To that I responded: "Oh heavens no!  Not for many years."

No kids in the near future, but we do have a new little one!

Lily

Also known as: Lily Lu, Lillers, Lillerbug

Birthday: March 20, 2013

Oh, and we picked her up on our 2 month wedding anniversary:]

She is now almost 4 pounds! 

Half Beagle, Half Chihuahua

Quite honestly, she is one of the cutest dogs I have ever seen in my life!!

Mark and I are obsessed with this little face!

The poor little thing, at about 4ish weeks old before we got her, was playing with one of her sisters. 

While playing, her eye got scratched and caused her tear gland to swell and come out of place:[

It is commonly known as Cherry Eye and isn't too big of a deal. 

Luckily, Lily doesn't really acknowledge it is there, so it isn't painful at all.

But it does have to be put back in place and the vet wants to wait a little less than

 a month to do it so she will be a bit bigger.

Even though the little puppy we saw at the park the day we got to choose one out of the three has a small injury, we still fell in love with her and needed to take her home!  

She will have it taken care of in no time :]

Not pleased with my face all up in her grill

She picked out this toy herself.

Lily loves this rope way more than her mini tennis balls that Mark and I picked out for her

She is such a hyper little thing when it is play time! Bouncing around, biting fingers and toes (we're working on that one), and running around and around the futon then darting under it.  But because she is so young still, she takes frequent naps during the day, so she is just a barrel of energy when she wakes up.

I must say, Lily has added a lot more responsibility to mine and Mark's shoulders.  We obviously love playing with her, teasing and cuddling, but she has needs too.

We have to feed her on time every day, we have to discipline her during potty training, we take her out to go potty all the time I feel like, even during the middle of the night (they say puppies can "hold it" an hour for every month old they are, so she can hold it in for about 2 hours now), and we have to make sure to take her on walks and give her the attention and exercise that she needs.

Ever since we got her, Mark and I get so dang excited thinking about our future camping days with her, going to the lake where she can run and swim around, and just taking her with us almost everywhere we go.

I am so happy about our little family!  

Feeling Nostalgic

WARNING!

Sappy

Post

Ahead

I had the day off today (praise the heavens) and was able to spend the evening with my dad and grandparents!

We all just chatted about my new job, life, future endeavors, etc. Not to mention my grandma made some tasty spaghetti and garlic bread because we were over.  She is so sweet and is always thinking of us.  My dad and I weren't planning on staying for dinner, but she offered and started making it even after we said "Oh no, that's okay. Don't worry about us!"  BAM!  and just like that, we were all eating at the dinner table.

When I got home I was texting Mark while he worked and I started to explore Facebook. 

While wasting time on Facebook, I found myself on my husband's wall scrolling down as far back as I could go.

I then came upon this photograph...

(This is kind of a creep photo seeing as I jacked it from his FB and those 2 women have no idea their faces are on here. Sorry I am not sorry)

This is a photo of my wonderful husband which was taken a few weeks before we had met. He was at his internship with his two mentors and he happened to post it on Facebook in 2011. 

Why would I post this on my blog?

Because the moment I saw this photo on my laptop tonight, it brought back so many good memories. 

This is the very first photograph I had ever seen of Mark.  

When we started talking, this was his profile picture. (Because I was totally looking for him on FB and adding him as a friend) And, hey, isn't that how the young people get together now a days; the internet?    I thought he was so dang cute! 

...Seriously though, look at that dimple!

Any who, it reminded me of the first time he sat next to me in class and asked if I played basketball (based on the T-Shirt I was wearing from my high school team)

-It reminded me of first adding him on Facebook.  I was nervous he was going to think I was a creep for adding so quickly.   Oh boy, the stuff we worry ourselves with when it comes to relationships... 

-It reminded me of my first impression of him:  sporty, academic, cute, funny and fun. 

-It also reminded me of our Facebook instant messenger conversation we had which lasted hours, HOURS people.  Not joking, 4 hours on messenger in one sitting after knowing each other like a week. 

-It brought back memories of us studying for our midterm where we had so much fun and began realizing Hey, I really like this kid!

-It also made me remember the day I asked if he wanted to play basketball one time.  Which he responded with a smile and YES. 

I love how the little things are what make us remember our wonderful pasts.  Just a simple photo I happened to stumble upon is what brought back so many emotions of our first few encounters. 

These shoes, for another example, have SO much meaning

These are the shoes I wore on our wedding day!

I refused to wear heels and go home that night with blistered feet and possibly a broken ankle. 

Dramatic?  

I think not. 

But I wore these shoes to work last week and I was so proud to sport them.  I stood in front of my fiancé the moment he became my husband in these puppies and I am proud of it!

Notice what is woven into the shoes  :D

The littlest of things can bring back a whirlwind of emotions and memories.

I love experiencing some of my happiest moments all over again.