Another 13.1

I am officially registered for the Lincoln Half Marathon on May 1st - have I lost my mind?  I think so.  This time around the emotions are much different than training for my first official 13.1 miles.  In case you are new to my blog, let me back up.  Last September I ran the Omaha Half Marathon.  My completion time was 2 hours and 21 minutes, and I couldn't be prouder of that finish time.  I have always been very athletic but never considered myself a "runner".  Over the last few years I have spent lots of time in Hawaii and have surrounded myself with friends who do marathons for fun and people who compete in Ironman's just cause they can - something must have rubbed off on me!  Maybe its peer pressure or the sheer fact that I wanted to be able to participate in their conversations and say "hey, I've done that too!" - and so the Omaha Half Marathon became a reality.  I don't really think I knew what I was getting into, but as I have said before it is one of the biggest accomplishments thus far in my life.  So why am I more nervous for my second 13.1 miles than I was last September???  The first time around my fears were simple - "I hope I can actually cross the finish line!", "I don't care what my time is, as long as I finish", "what if I have to pee while running!", "what should I wear?!", "is it possible I could be the last person to cross the finish line!" - you get the point.  I am laughing at these thoughts as I type them, but at the time they seemed like a BIG deal.  This time around I have all these questions answered - but a whole new set of questions and thoughts are racing through my mind.  The reality of the challenge is that no matter how experienced you are, and how many races you have run, there are always going to be doubts about yourself.  Here is what I do know, and what I am reminding myself - I am not racing for anyone but myself.  I can GUARANTEE you that when I cross the finish line this time around, even if I am in last place, I will be just as excited as the first place finisher.  Physically, I know from experience my body can handle 13.1 miles.  Mentally, I think I have a ways to go but that's what training is for - and friends and family are for.  I am so lucky to say that I am going to run my second half marathon with my sister in law Emily!  I couldn't have done it with out her the first time around and I hope to be a better support system for her this time around!
I will keep you all posted on how things are going!
Thanks for reading!
Kathryn =)

Emily Tricia, Kath, Dana and Jeff at the finish line of the Omaha Half Marathon

Me and Emily about the cross the finish line at the Omaha Half Marathon!!!

How many days til spring??

So I realize I write about the weather a lot, but since this is my blog I can write about what I want, and when I started writing on this blog I said I was going to write about what was on my mind - and, that's what has been on my mind!  So basically this weather is making me kinda stir crazy.  I now understand why people think we are crazy for living in this climate.  I am not sure why this year is different than other years (maybe because I spent most of last winter in Hawaii?).  This weather makes me crabby though.  I won't ramble on again about how much I hate the cold but I think I need to get to a warm climate ASAP!

Since the last time I wrote have been doing the usual - babysitting and working at bbw.  Last night though was SO much fun!  Me, my mom and sister went over to Zachary's for a wine and cheese night to celebrate Tricia's engagement!  There is nothing I enjoy more than drinking wine, eating appetizers, and having girl talk! ha ha.  I totally meant to take a picture of everyone to put on the blog and I forgot!  oops!  Well, the food was excellent - I pretty much ate their entire jar of salsa, it was delicious!  Laura's grandma made the salsa and it was sooo good!  Clearly we are a group that likes to eat (ha ha) so we had lots of cheese, and different dips, and even some pizza!  We sat around and talked wedding planning and then Tricia opened the engagement present that they got her and it was so nice of them!  They got her a wine decantur from pottery barn and a bottle of wine!  Such a thoughtful engagement gift and will be really fun to have at their new house!

On a super random note - is anyone else as obsessed with "pop chips" as I am???  I have been following Hungry Girl for a while now (if you don't subscribe to her emails, you really should! she has lots of good  healthy eating tips and recipes! - good cookbooks too!!) anyways, Hungry Girl has talked about pop chips for a long time and I had never bought them.  Well a few weeks ago I got some, and I am OBSESSED.  Probably one of my biggest diet downfalls is chips - I LOVE chips.  Any kind of chips really - I just love chips!  Well, Pop Chips can totally satisfy my chip craving!  So far I have only eaten the original kind because I think they are so delicious - but any recommendations on other flavors?

Thank you all for reading!!
hope your staying warm!
Kathryn =)

6-9 inches of snow!

Can you believe we got so much snow!!  I am typing this as I sit under a blanket, drinking coffee and david is out snow blowing the driveway!  He is the best!  I am not sure exactly how much snow we got last night, the news says 6-9 inches, but I will have to get the full report from David when he comes back inside!  I don't know about you guys, but I am so sick of this snow!  I actually think what I hate more than the snow and the cold is how dirty everything is.  I don't even want to put on nice jeans or a nice coat because I am paranoid its going to rub up against a dirty car!  It makes me kinda crazy to look at all the layers of dirt on my car too.  I kinda want to just go wash it to get it all off, even though the minute I pull out of the car wash it would be dirty again, it might make me feel better!

Lots of fun stuff going on!  Last night, me, Tricia, Mike and David went to the Rascal Flatts concert at the Qwest Center.  It was a blast!  They are great performers and I love going to concerts so it was a super fun night! They have so many songs that we all know and even did some fun cover songs.  We got down to the Qwest Center and got some cheeseburgers and beers - my idea of a perfect night right there! =)  Yesterday during the day (i guess I should back up), I went to a shower for Paige at the Macks house.  Paige is marrying David's cousin Pat in March in KC, and David is the best man.  The shower was hosted by David's mom and aunts and it had lots of good food and drinks!  I don't know about you guys, but I do love drinking Mimosas! =)  Between the bridal shower and the concert I came home and took a nap - I knew I would have more fun at the concert if I slept for a bit!  I was definitely right!

Other than that, I have been babysitting a lot and working at BBW.  Both have been going really well and keeping me REALLY busy.  Oh, one thing from last week I forgot was that we had a super fun sip n dip!  I think I have talked about sip n dip in previous blog posts but just in case I will again - we have a group of friends who get together about once a month and we sip (wine) and bring different dips to try!  Well, this last sip n dip was at our friend Kathy's house and it was an engagement celebration for Tricia! I will include a few pictures from that night!  They got a really cute "bride" hat for Tricia to wear and lots of good food to eat! Ok, will write more later!
Thanks for reading!
Kathryn =)

Tricia and Alyssa

Sip n Dip group

Sip n Dip group!

Toasting

1.16.11

Hey Everyone!
Lots of exciting things have happened since I last wrote - the most exciting being that Patricia found her wedding dress!!!  We had SO much fun the night we went to look and the dress she picked is PERFECT on her!  Of course as her older and very wise sister the dress she picked was the first one I saw when I walked in the store and said she "had to try on!".  I can't give you any more details on the dress because she wants to keep it  a secret, but I will tell you that it is absolutely beautiful and literally looks just like Patricia.  I guess I should back up a little bit - the night we went to Bridal Traditions we met my Aunt Laura and cousin Caroline there.  It was so fun to all be there and see Patricia try on different style of dresses.  After she picked her dress she tried on some fun accessories (which I also do not want to give any details about until the big day).  Then me and Caroline tried on a few bridesmaid dresses to get an idea of styles and colors.  We didn't pick the actual bridesmaid dresses because we got kinda tired and wanted to go get dinner.  So we all went to Pasta Amore for dinner to celebrate finding a dress and talk more wedding details of course!  We are going to look at wedding invites tomorrow morning so I will keep you posted on how that goes!

Aside from wedding planning been babysitting a lot during the day and working at BBW at night.  The semi annual sale has been going on, but luckily things have slowed down from the holidays.  We have started to get in new spring stuff and that has been super fun to see and help unload and stock.

I am still sick of the cold weather, and wish I was in Hawaii this winter.  I had a great golf lesson this week and really really want to play golf outside.  Hoping to get over to Hawaii soon!
Thanks for reading!
Kathryn =)

1.12.11

Hey Everyone!

If you are reading this and you are in Omaha you are probably also freezing.  OH MY GOSH ITS COLD!  I now remember why I spent last winter in Hawaii!  I must be crazy for staying in Omaha when it's this cold!  I will admit, when it was snowing the other day it was very pretty and if i lived in a warm climate I think i might miss being snowed in.  Ok, maybe i wouldnt, ha ha.

Lots of exciting things going on!  A couple highlights - me and David just bought a new washer and dryer!  If anyone has any wash they would like done, feel free to bring it over to my house because I am washing everything in site!  I feel like i am getting old that I am this excited about a washer and dryer. ha ha.  But really, it's cool.  I will try and take a picture of our new set to show you!  The second most exciting thing going on has been wedding planning for Tricia's wedding!  We are going today to try on wedding dresses and i am SO excited!  They set a wedding date of August 27th so gotta get that wedding dress ordered!  I am excited to see what kind of dress she picks!

Ok, gotta go switch my wash out - will write more later!
Thanks for reading!
Kathryn =)

1.6.11

Hey everyone!
Well we are already 6 days into 2011 and I feel like this is going to be a GREAT year!  We rang in the New Year with a super fun party at our house with all of our best friends and family!  My 18 year old cousin Caroline was staying with us that weekend because my aunt and uncle were out of town - and we had so much fun!  The day after the party me and Caroline were "sick" so we watched movies all day - it was seriously the perfect way to spend the first day of the new year!  So when i say this is going to be a great year, I KNOW this is going to be the best year yet and here is why.  Every year people - myself included - get so caught up in setting resolutions.  Whether its to eat healthier, exercise more, loose xx pounds, stay in touch with friends better, and on and on and on.  My resolution this year is - to NOT have any resolutions!  Now don't get me wrong - I'm all about goal setting and if you are someone that set some new years resolution and you think i am being a downer right now, please do not take me that way!  Here is the reasoning for my non-resolution new year - its really simple actually - I am very happy the way my life is right now!  Could I exercise more - you bet, do I need to loose weight - you bet, could I do a better job of staying in touch with old friends - you bet, but the bottom line is I do the best job I can at all of those things without resolutions.  I'm not going to put myself in a position where I made a resolution to loose 10 pounds and then Sunday night rolls around (me and david go to old chicago every sunday night!) and me and David are sitting at Old Chicago and I have to turn down pizza and beer!  Sorry, not gonna happen.  All you dieters out there are probably sitting there saying (yes I have done weight watchers before - so i get it and this is why i am saying this), "kathryn, its ok to eat pizza every once in awhile".  What I am doing with my "no resolution new year" is taking the guilt out of it.  If eating pizza and beer every Sunday night makes me happy and it means I am 10 pounds heavier - that is a price i am willing to pay.  So the point of me typing this post isn't to be a downer - its actually the opposite!  It's to let everyone know who reads this how happy I am with every aspect of my life and how lucky I feel to have all of you in my life.  We are all passionate about different things - whether its sports, reading, cooking, working out, etc. - and if you set a resolution related to any of those things I hope you are doing it because it makes you happy.  If you did set a resolution please comment on this post and share it with us!  I would love to hear about some of the new years resolutions people made!

Well, I am going to have to wrap this post up because its 10pm and I dont' stay up very late =)  I don't have much going on this weekend so I will try to write another post in the next few days and maybe even upload some pictures from New Years!
Thank you all for reading, and Happy New Years!!
Kath