October

At the beginning of this year I decided to aim for completing a half-marathon.  I accomplished that goal on October 14 by running the Prairie Fire half in downtown Wichita.  It was fun at time, hard at other times, but I finished and felt a great sense of accomplishment.  I finished just a minute over my goal, at 2:21:04.  I'm not fast (but not super slow) but I get it done. 

The other big October happening was being a part of Marc & Ellen's wedding on October 20.  I hosted the bachelorette party and houses 3 of the out-of-town wedding guests.  It was a busy & fun weekend.  Most importantly, they got married and are very happy!

Banff

It has been awhile since I posted.  In August I took a trip to Banff, Alberta, Canada with Mom.  I've avoided posting pictures because it means I have to choose a few out of a few hundred.  The scenery there was beautiful and overall we had a great time.  I got to go on a few hikes and we had a visit from an old friend.  We also went into British Columbia.  Found the hospital in Invermere that my sisters and I were born in. 
Lake Louise

On top of Sulphur Mountain looking down into the Bow River Valley and Banff.

Mom and I in downtown Banff.

Along the highway up to the Columbia Ice Fields

A herd of big horn sheep wander around Radium Hot Springs. 

A view from atop Sulphur Mountain

Tennessee

It was time for my annual trip to see Hannah's boys at their house.  We had fun playing trains...and playing trains...and petting their kittens. The boys are growing up too fast! But so much fun at each stage. 

Family time and the Color Run

Friday was Marshall's 6th birthday and since they were visiting Grandma & Grandpa, we got to have a family birthday party.  I loved getting to spend time with all 4 nephews.  We had dinner, a Thomas the Train cake, presents, and slip-n-slide time. I even got in on the slip-n-slide. It was lots of fun and the birthday boy said he'd never forget this birthday.

Hannah and her boys

Then I went to Kansas City to meet up with some friends to do the Color Run. It is a 5K where they douse you with a different color at each kilometer, so you end up multi-colored.  We had fun. Starting out clean...

Ending up a little colored.

Bits of June

June has been busy.  I finally have had time to tackle everything that got pushed to the side because of school.  I'm slowly progress.  In the midst of the chores, there have been fun moments.  There have been a few weddings and times with friends.  Runs and bike rides among all the yard work - I think I've finished all the big stuff! My front yard finally looks like someone who cares lives here.
Taking a tour of the Allen-Lambe House has been on my Wichita bucket list.  It's a house designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright. We couldn't take pictures inside the house but here's one of the back garden.  I was excited I finally got to see it!  (Unfortunately I can't get it to load in rotated properly.)

Summer is beginning

Summer didn't officially start for me until this weekend since I took a two week presession class, but I got to head to my parents for part of Memorial Day weekend.  I had lot of play time with JT and Sam.  I love spending time with my nephews.  It was great to have a break from the intensive class and get family time.  JT is a goofball who is at an age that he likes to make funny faces for pictures. And Sam is just adroable.

And now this weekend signals the start of summer for me.  I finished my class. Yay! Two and a half months off from school.  RiverFest started this weekend. I ran the 10K River Run on Saturday morning.  It went well considering I didn't get a lot of consistent training in due to school.  My second 10K is under my belt. My roommate and I went down to RiverFest Sunday night to kayak on the river.  It was fun and relaxing. Now on to more summer fun.

 

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.