The semester is over!

I have not posted much recently because all it would say is "reading & writing for my final papers."  I had two big final papers to end the semester and there was lots of work to do for each one.  But they were both turned in last week.  The semester has finally ended!  Two semesters down, four to go. 
I had some excitement this week.  I ran into a sharp tree branch while edging the yard and gashed the top of my head.  It bled like crazy.  I got 2 stitches.  My roommate took pictures while the doctor worked on me but I'll spare you them. 
This is what I'm doing now that the semester is over...

I love my new bike.  With school, I've only gotten in a few rides since I bought it but I put 2 rides on it this weekend.  Had a 17 mile ride with a friend and a 16 mile ride by myself.  I want to get out on it at least twice a week now.  I also got in a 4 mile run with a friend.  Having fun with being active and considering some long races for the fall. 

Spring excitment

I forgot to post last week.  I ran my first 10K race on Saturday at the Easter Sun Run.  I won't post the blurry picture but I did finish 10 seconds faster than my goal.  I did it in 1:02:50.  The first one was a learning experience.  Glad I did it.

This weekend has been full of excitement.  Thursday night I went with friends to a cookbook signing by The Pioneer Woman.  If you haven't heard of her, she blogs and has a show on Food Network.  Several of my friends are fans.  We got into her presentation and then waited a LONG time for our turn in line. 

But our wait was rewarded because we also go to meet her husband, Marlboro Man.

And one of their ranch hands, Cowboy Josh.

Then Friday, a group of biblestudy girls headed to Kansas City to see Beth Moore live.  We have done several of her studies and I always get a lot out of them.  Plus she's very entertaining.  It was a great treat to get to see her live!  And worship with 9800 women was incredible.

And the weekend ended with some Kansas weather excitment. There was a major tornadic, life threatening event forecasted.  My roommate and I gathered supplies and hid out in the basement Saturday night with the dogs.  One was barreling our way that then dissipated.  We only had high winds and rain at my house.  I didn't even had tree limbs down.  The south and southeast parts of town got hit by another tornado.  My work place is heavily damaged.  Praising God that so far, no reports of deaths in Wichita. 
Liz and I were very prepared. (Bike helmets to protect from flyng debris.) 

Nephews & more

I had the unexpected opportunity to spend last Sunday with my nephews.  I loved them so much.  It was a great day and a much needed break in the midst of my schedule that has been overwhelming and crazy.  Hannah and her boys came to spend spring break at Grandpa & Grandma's.

 Our dapper Jack

 Marshall loves being silly for pictures.

 JT & Sam

 This was as good as we could get of all four.  It's very difficult to get 4 little active boys to sit still for a picture and look at the camera all at the same time.

 After lunch I took Marshall and JT on an adventure in the park behind Grandma & Grandpa's house.  Logs, hikes in the trees, throwing rocks & sticks in the creek, wading in the creek and mud.  What fun!

 Mom's redbud tree is in full bloom and beautiful!

 These are the wonderful ladies I spend Tuesday nights with.  We took a life group picture for a scrapbook this week.  I love learning and sharing life with these women.

Skiing

I went skiing with some friends in Winter Park, Colorado two weeks ago.  I hadn't been skiing in 3 years.  It was great to get back out on the slopes.  I had never skied at Winter Park before.  It was fun, despite the high winds.  We skied for 3 days and the last 2 it was so windy they closed a number of lifts. I was glad I made it all the way to the top of the mountain (12000+ feet) the 2nd morning before lifts were closed.  Views went on forever.

It was a fun little trip!  Lots of beautiful views and good friends and food.

New stuff

As you know, I did a sprint triathlon last fall.  Afterwards my schedule got crazy and I dropped off significantly on my workouts.  But as the new year approached I decided to kick it into gear again.  I did an indoor triathlon at the Y on Jan 15.  I finished a little better than I expected, in 1:02.  A friend did it with me and convinced me to do indoor tri's in Feb & March too.  But my biggest goal for this spring is to run the 10K for the Easter Sun Run.
I spent a lot of money last weekend in pursuit of these goals. I had to get new running shoes and love my new Mizunos.  So much lighter than my old shoes.

But the biggest and long contemplated purchase was a new bike.  I trained last year on my 1983 Schwinn 10-speed. When we first moved to Kansas, Mom saved her first few paychecks and bought us each a bike. It has served me well over the years.  I didn't want to buy a new bike until I was sure I was going to stick with this.  But by the time my triathlon came along, the bike was pretty much worn out for anything but a leisurely ride.  The gears started popping the week before the race.  I had it serviced but in the middle of the race it started acting up again and I just prayed the chain would stay on for me to finish.
So as a friend was sharing research when he was looking for a new bike recently, I decided to go ahead and take the plunge.  I invested in a new bike and it is so sweet!  A 2011 Trek Lexa S. I took it for a ride and the gears are so smooth and effortless. I'm loving it.

Birthday

My birthday was on Friday this year - Friday the 13th that is.  Since it's a rare occasion, I couldn't let it go by so I threw a big party.  I had a number of friends who helped and it was a great time.  Cleared the furniture out, hired a band, a friend dj'd, and lots of friends came to hang out.

Christmas

It was a bit of a different Christmas for me. My parents went to Hannah's in Tennessee, so I spent Christmas with Sharon & David at their house.  JT was excited to have Diesel stay at his house.  We spent 3 days there and their little dog Nacho was Diesel's shadow.  D adjusted after a day. 
Christmas Eve my roommate and I met up to go to the Chiefs game against the Raiders.  Unfortunately the Chiefs lost, but it was a good game. 

I had a lot of fun spending time with JT and Sam.  I've said it a lot but I love my nephews!

JT loved the "hamster ball" he got from Grandma & Grandpa.

I am very blessed by my family.  I got to spend a day with my parents when they came back.  And I got to spend an afternoon snuggling with my best friend's baby boy.  It was a good trip home.  I've spent the rest of my week off working on house projects & deep cleaning.  I realize I was so busy this fall that I have tried to squeeze 4 months of maintenance into 5 days.  I'm exhausted and almost ready to go back to work.  I was so blessed to spend New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with many friends. 

May you be blessed in 2012!