March new find...

I'm going to go a little Texas on ya'll today. I have been in L-O-V-E with big jewelry since my sophomore of college when I was introduced to the one and only, Randa Yezak, while I was an intern at the American Hereford Association and several of my K-State friends were good friends of hers. You can't be from Texas or in the horse, cattle-showing business without making a statement in your clothing, and she totally capitalized on that. She has since BLOWN up her at-home jewelry business to a full retail store in College Station, Texas. I think it is so cool to have watch her grow from her college days at A&M to pursuing this dream of Southern Jewlz to what it is today.

While Southern Jewlz is not really a new find to most of my friends, I do want to give a shout out to Randa and her business while also introducing you to a line that she carries, Sookie Sookie.

Sookie Sookie Lucky Wildflower Jewelry
Photo courtesy of Sookie Sookie Boutique

Oh my, ya'll, this is such a fun line of jewelry! I love, love, love it! And not to mention it is made by a bonafide artist and no piece is exactly the same. So cool!

How fun is THIS for spring?! I want!

You can purchase Sookie Sookie from Southern Jewlz and a number of other boutiques or online here.

*~*Any unique jewelry that you like? What piece from Sookie Sookie would you get?*~*

**This is not a paid advertisement from Sookie Sookie or Southern Jewlz. This post is merely a shout-out to some of my favorite finds. 

Love of Purple...

K-state celebrates 150 years of higher education.
Photo courtesy of Kansas State University.

Today is Valentine's Day in case you forgot! Hee...but it also happens to be the first kick-off day for Kansas State University's 150th birthday celebration.

There are few things in life that bring me much more joy and pride than my alma mater! I BLEED purple. Now, I may not be the biggest sports fan of our teams. I mean I fly my K-State flag more than anyone in the state of Missouri or wear my K-State apparel on game day, but I don't go to games anymore. I just don't have the time, nor make the time.

The thing that makes me much more proud than our sports team is the idea that K-State truly was the first "people's" college. You see, K-State was the first land-grant university in the country. The Morrill Act of 1862 set aside federal dollars for universities to purchase ground to build institutions of higher learning in agriculture and sciences. K-State was formed on February 16, 1863, as Kansas State Agricultural College. Not just that we started the first school for common people to receive an education, we also were the second school to admit men and women equally.


Fast forward a few years, and K-State is well-known nationally and internationally for multiple reasons. We are the top-ranking public university with Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, and Udall scholarships. We also have the Biosecurity Research Institute, which houses infectious disease research found no where else in the country. The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility will also find its home at K-State. Not only is research done from university professors, but the highest ranking officials in our country ensuring a safe food supply against bioterrorism. We also have some pretty awesome competitive teams like the debate, livestock, crops, and other judging teams. BIG STUFF, YA'LL!

I am so proud to be an alumna of this university. In my opinion, there is not a more well-respected, research and teaching university than that of K-State. Not only is the College of Agriculture one of those, but so many other colleges like architecture, hotel/restaurant management, and others. When I tell people I went to K-State, they almost instantly talk about how I received a top-notch education.

I am so thankful I stuck with it, did all that I could do to be involved, and made the most of experiences, friendships and classroom/internship opportunities.

I try to support my alma mater as much as possible, from wearing purple on the most special occasions (like my wedding!) to financially supporting the university. When that phone call for Telefund comes in about another week, you bet I'll be sending my money to K-State! Go State!

Did you see it?...

Well if you're one of my more than 1,500 friends on Facebook or one of the millions of people who watch the Super Bowl, you saw it last night. Did it silence the room at your party like it did ours?

My newsfeed on Facebook blew up the second after the commercial played. By far the best Super Bowl commercial in a long time in my opinion. It was impeccable timing during the game and what a better audience than those who don't really "get" farming. I know several of my non-ag friends even commented that it was their favorite commercial! The Budweiser one was super, too!

I hope you saw it during the game, but in case you didn't, here is a clip of the Dodge Ram/Paul Harvey, "And God made a Farmer," commercial. Click on it and Dodge will donate up to $1 million dollars to the National FFA Organization! Holla!! What better organization to support than one who supports developing the potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success?! I sure would not be the person I am today if it were not for the skills, confidence and connections I made from being in FFA.

Shout out to the farmers, today, ya'll!

In other Sunday news, the Super Bowl was a fun party at our friends', Ryan and Lauren's, home. They are farmers as were most of the audience that were with us that night. Each one of us out of the 15 or so people has some tie to agriculture. We also love to eat, so there was no shortage of good food to go around. I did my best to keep the bad snacking to a minimum, but oh boy, that was hard, so I did sample everything. I got a 7-mile run in that morning to burn off a few extra calories. I don't usually account for the calories burned in my allotted calories for the day, but I did yesterday! Shame, but you gotta live a few times by splurging. I made a yummy chicken enchilada dip and funeral sandwiches I'll share the recipes for later this week.

*~*What was your favorite commercial? What was your favorite Super Bowl snack?*~*

Spreading the Love...

I am a small business owner, therefore, I understand the power of networking and word of mouth from customers. In fact, just this past weekend I had a fabulous facial/makeover with a referral from a friend. It is refreshing to meet some new people in the new year.

I hope to "spread the love" in future months too, but without further ado, two of my friends:

First, I am often asked who does our photos or who would be a good photographer on my Facebook feed, so I oblige and happily tell friends they will find no other more creative, natural, easy-going photographer than Laura with Laura Benitz Photography. 

Without words, her work can transform you to a number of emotions. Like this one, just watch...

She will forever have captured the moments in our life that I hold most dear. Like these...

That special walk with my dad and the sincere emotion of marrying the man of my dreams
surrounded by God's love and our family and friends. 

He is my love!

She and I are working on a few things together, and I'd like to formally announce she is my preferred vendor of choice when talking to brides while working my Mary Kay business as well as taking our (and future family's) photos. If you'd like to contact her please check out her website or call Laura at 816-676-8054.

Next up is a friend whom I have only met a couple of times from our ties to agriculture, but she is a great friend of my best friend (small world, huh?) through their careers. When my best friend, Kelsey, had her Christmas cards done this year, Claire helped her design them. I was in need of a few things designed for my business and asked if anyone would be willing to help. Claire jumped on the chance, and I am so impressed by her skill and timeliness. I didn't give her much notice, and she still delivered a great product. I am definetely going to use her much more in the future for design help with postcards, graphics for this blog, and other things that a creative eye can make. Please let Claire know any of your needs, and she is your girl! 

The cute button she made for one of the blogs I am featured on. 

Claire Masker can be reached at clairemasker@gmail.com.

**These recommendations are in no way a paid advertisement on this blog. Simply, they are a few of my good friends with small businesses whom I love to spread the love and word about if you're in need of ideas for the future.**

Christmas Cookie Swap...

 I checked off another thing from my 101 list this past weekend. My sorority sisters, Pat and Kelsey, and I got together for a little Christmas Cookie Bake/Exchange. It was so much fun checking out Pat's new home, spending time baking, talking, eating, and reminiscing. I hope we do this every year!

P.S. My friends, coworkers and family have loved the cookies, girls! Yum!!

Pat's glass sugar cookies on the left and us girls on the right

Kelsey taking off her sugar kiss cookies to the wire rack. 

Kelsey's delicious toffee

Another one bites the dust...

I finished another half marathon this past Sunday with the help of my sorority sister, Danielle. You may recall this post where I announced I was running another half. I'm glad Danielle pushed me to do another. Now that I have two under my belt, I hope to run two a year as a challenge to stay in good shape.

Now onto to the race...

I was nervous it was going to rain the entire time since Saturday was a soppy, wet mess here in Missouri and pretty much the entire drive to Wichita. I honestly probably would not have ran on Sunday if it were raining. I know, I know...I put all that work into training for months, yet the thought of ruining my feet and getting sick were not exactly pushing me to really want to run 13 miles in the rain.

We picked up our packets, did the prerace meal (DELICIOUS! thanks to Danielle's mad cooking skills), and visited some amazing boutique shops! We even saw another Theta sister, Mandy, at Frou Frou. I was so surprised to see her since I haven't for such a long time and she just got home from studying in London and Madagascar!

Danielle and I captured all smiles during the race!

It was gorgeous though for race day. Cooler weather, thankfully. We had our ritual pancakes and eggs for breakfast and my green tea for energy. I wore my Team Beef jersey for a little shout out. They gave us awesome cowbells. We lined up for the race, and we were off. Danielle's mom and mother-in-law were at almost every two miles cheering us on. So sweet of them!

We passed some great landmarks in Wichita, including the food bank, cool restaurants, hospital, old homes, and lots and lots of fans/dogs cheering us on.

It was a great race, and one I would definitely recommend to anyone who is new to distance running. It was flat and fast. We finished in 2:24, which is 2:30 minutes faster than my first half time. I am proud of that. Decreasing your time by that much on any lengthy race is hard to do. I hope I can keep improving my time and move on to more challenging courses in the future.

Cheers to us for another one down!

Our finish line pic with our awesome medals!

So much to update...too little time

Story of my life!! I'm going to give ya'll a run down of the last month instead of creating tons of blog posts. I tend to write too much anyway. Here it goes:

1. I started a new J-O-B on September 4th. That's probably the biggest news! I'm back at Second Harvest Community Food Bank. I love it! I work to get food into our food bank, and that's my job to work with producers, food manufacturers and the like to increase our food donations! Fun times. Check out my legit page above!

Photo courtesy: Second Harvest Community Food Bank
Pictured above are the great folks from Apple Market in St. Joseph. They donated 28,000 lbs.
of food for our corporate food drive challenge, Food Fight in September. 

2. We have slowly been finishing projects around the house. We are putting a roof on half the deck. We are waiting on the spindles to come in for the rest of the deck railing. I am painting our entire bathroom at the moment a great purple color. Next is new lighting and a new medicine cabinet/mirror and vanity.

3. I've been super busy with Mary Kay! Great problem, right? I had a $1,000 day in September. Holla, to being that much closer to Queen's Court of Sales! I also was crowned the Queen of the Star Consultants at our last quarterly event and picked out a free black patent leather bag for my prize.

4. Todd got a new truck. Spoiled...but it's a pretty one. It's a 2012 white Chevy Silverado with everything on it.

5. I'm almost finished with training for my second half marathon. This weekend was 9 miles, and it's only two weeks to go until race day!

6. I'm trying to figure out some health issues I've been having lately with my upper GI tract. Prayers please for some relief and comfort.

7. Lots of exciting news happening lately with new baby announcements. We'll have a busy spring, no doubt!

Group of us friends at the Eric Church concert. Rocked my world!!

That is all! I'll also post this week an update to my 101 list!

Until next time...

To be a Southern Girl...

Ever since our trip to the South for vacation, I have been ooohh'ing and ahhhh'ing over all things monogrammed. I was explained that proper etiquette for your name once you are a Southern married woman is to take your maiden name as your middle name. Who knew?! Needless to say, I've been putting my monogrammed things as MCM not MCL. I did not change my middle name when I got married, and I'm not sure I would. My middle name means quite a deal to me, too. Marie is my given middle name and it has been the Christian name for every lady in my lineage for seven generations. That's a big deal! I have a beautiful gold necklace from my great grandmother with a beautiful "M" monogram for that very reason.


But with all that said, some days it's just fun to get lost in all the monogram craze that my friends have sucked me into! Like these:

 

Party in slow motion...Motorboatin'

Well I have been in a slight vacation mode ever since the 1st of July. There are numerous blog posts I should have been writing in the month and a week I have failed to make a post. Oh well...

Back to reality of not traveling finally this week, and I'm going to make time to make a few posts about the last month or so.

For our birthdays, Todd's in June and mine in July, we treated ourselves to a little vacation to Mexico Beach, Florida, to spend time with one of my best girlfriends, Katelyn, and her family. We did go there on our honeymoon, so it was awesome to go back to places we already knew pretty well. Todd was talking about oysters and fish for weeks leading up to our trip.

Here is a little recap:

We flew into Panama City and Katelyn picked us up. We arrived in a downpour of rain. Not exactly the kind of Florida sunshine welcome I wanted. We drove the hour to Mexico Beach and settled into the beach house where we met Kyle, Katelyn's husband, her dad and mom, Mark and Janora, and sister and cousin, Abigail and Morgan. Kyle took us to the marina to get our fishing licenses and we went to the fishing shop to get some gear. I knew I HAD to fit the part of a legit Florida fisherwoman so I got my Columbia fishing shirt in purple, of course. That night we had red snapper the gang caught the day before on the Gulf and grits. Mmm boy...good Southern food!

The next day was our day on the water. I ran 3 miles that morning on the beach and it was gorgeous!

We then got ready to head out on the boat. Mark, Katelyn, Abigail, Morgan, Todd and I all went. Now, I was not fully prepared for the fashion that I should have brought with me to go on this trip. The girls were dressed to the nines in their amazing jewelry, cover ups, hats, and shoes. It is also a must that everything be monogrammed. Not that I would disagree with all of that, but being from Missouri, we definitely have a different way of fashion. We also listened to the best tunes, hence the name of this post. Here are a few pics from being on the Gulf.

Todd in his element. He loved fishing for even the bait fish.

Our catch for the day, king mackerel

The next day was rainy so Todd stayed with Mark on the canal all day and bs'ed and drank beer. His kind of day! Us girls did a little shopping in Mexico Beach and Port St. Joe. There are only a few shops, but they are great. One of my favorite is Persnickety. I was introduced to Lilly Pulitzer, oh my...fun fun and girly! We then ate at my favorite Mexican restaurant of all time, Pepper's. I had the fish tacos. Yum!

We then went to the beach that day to layout and try our hats that Katelyn got us. Yes, they are monogrammed!

That evening we went out with the entire gang, around 40 of us, to Boondocks. It is the restaurant at the resort we stayed at for our honeymoon. It is a tradition of all the families that go to have at least one dressy dinner together.

All of us "young" gals on the trip. 

On Friday, it was rainy again so we hung out most of the day at the beach house and tried to go out on the boat one more time. We didn't catch anything this time. The water was incredibly choppy. Thankfully, none of us lost our lunch!

We left on Saturday morning to head back to Missouri. I was so sad to leave as I hardly get to see Katelyn on a yearly basis, but I know we have such an amazing friendship that started back in college. I love her to pieces, and hope that we can make a trip to Florida every year to spend time together. The best part of our trip was the great conversations and getting to know the Crow family even better. Such amazing Southern hospitality!

Here I Go Again...

Dun Dun Dun...que music, please....

Just kidding! I did commit a couple of weeks ago to my friend and old college roommate, Danielle, to run the Prairie Fire Half Marathon in Wichita in October. So we've been swapping ideas and tips on how to train in this ungodly heat. I officially start training on July 1st since I have a couple of weeks of vacation that I am not sure how much running I'll get in since I'll be in Hades Dallas and Inferno  Florida in July.

I am like a little girl on Christmas waiting for my new present for my feet since it is payday today, and I desperately need a new pair of running shoes. I got these:

Photo courtesy of: Asics.com
These new pups are rated as Editor's Choice from the Summer 2012 Runner's World Shoe Review Guide.

~~Are you all doing anything to stay in shape during this extreme heat? If so, what are you doing?~~

Time to Celebrate...

Summer is my favorite time of year (and fall too). I don't like 100+ degree days, but really who does? However, I LOVE 80-95 degree days, and we've had our fair share of them lately. I love the heat to make you feel like you're working hard while working out or in the garden. I also have been a water baby since I can remember so I love swimming, lakes, rivers, fishing, anything with water.

We spent last weekend celebrating Todd's 30th birthday on our annual float trip to the Niangua River in the Ozarks of Missouri. We stay in Todd's parents' camper at Bennett Springs State Park and float with the NRO company. I think Todd's family has gone a float trip every year for 20+ years so they get really excited about it. We have to  have the perfect snacks, drinks, water toys, tunes and suit.

Here are a few pictures from our float trip:

Todd's beer cake that I got the idea from here. 

Some of the guys taking it easy in the river. Tony is pointing  to me to not take photos!

Todd and my catch from one day of fishing trout. We both caught
our daily limit in about 20 minutes!

Todd's mom, Jeff, and Laura enjoying a stop on the river. 

Showing off our fishing catch!

It was crazy packed on the river! Definitely an experience if you have
never been on a float trip!

Tony and Regina on another stop to enjoy drinks while on the river.

~~Do you all go on any fun trips with your family during the summer? If so, what do you do or where do you go?~~ 

Oh, What to Say...

So it's been 10 days since my last post and I'm feeling guilty about it. I'll share a few photos from the past couple of weeks so I won't feel so guilty anymore.

You can bet that when you go to a Mary Kay event, you'll feel
like a million dollars when you leave. I am so thankful for
this opportunity to be around positive women. I earned the Queen
of Star Consultants last night as an Emerald Star. 

A quick shot while on the Might Mo' while setting bait
for catfish a couple weeks ago. You know it's summer
in Missouri and you have a bit of country in your blood
when you are anxious about getting the largest catfish. 

Miss Tillie enjoying our new carpet one lazy afternoon. 

Brandi, me, and Christi all taking a photo after the
Wathena UMC 5K in June. It was a great run where I PR'ed with 31 minutes.

Passing on The Liebster Award Love...

Have you heard of the Liebster award? No? Well me either until I was reading through my usual blogs this morning and came across my friend Nicole Starr's blog. She created an interesting post on this concept for others to share up-and-coming blogs. Love that! So here are the details of the award...

1. Choose five up and coming blogs to give the award to, must have 200 or less followers.
2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. List the blogs you gave the award to with links to their sites. Leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.
5. Share five random facts about yourself.


So here goes my part of the award-giving:


My thanks of course goes to Nicole because she gave a shout-out to my blog and I was so gosh-darn-excited to see that! I just love her, even though we have only met each other a few times back when I worked at the American Hereford Association. Since then we have kept in touch about things ag, cattle, advocacy for agriculture, etc., and I love hearing about her craftiness, new career in the ag PR world, running feats and other things. You should definitely check out her blog here. 


My five blogs you should check out:

1. Living Mama Style--Oh where to begin about my sweet friend Janie? Janie and I met a number of years ago because of past relationships we both are no longer involved in, but have stayed in touch through K-State and now our blogs! She is one of the most tenacious, bright and compassionate ladies I know. Janie and her husband had their little girl a little over a year ago and had some challenges with their baby's skin. Janie took it upon herself to research and create house cleaning products that were natural and safe. How cool is that? I personally LOVE the laundry soap she created. It smells divine and works! She also has great recipes and advice for families who like hers are always on the go.


2. A Little Birdie Told Me--I would be completely remiss if I didn't mention my best friend's blog for this award. Kelsey and I are "twins" through our friendship that started as sorority sisters in Kappa Alpha Theta at K-State. She is truly one of my dearest friends whom I have so much admiration for with all she does to promote agriculture. Her husband, Ronny, and fur-child, Hank, live in Nebraska. You can read on her blog about all of her travels (so jealous!), gardening tips, craft projects, and other happenings. 


3. Roth's Child--If you want one of the best belly laughs you've had in a while you have to check out Carra's blog. By no means am I laughing at her family, but only empathizing at what I am sure to be my life in a couple of years. She is oh-so-witty, and I love how she is using her blog as a way to remind her children of details of their childhood in future years. 


4. Aspiration--Another sorority sister, Mandy, is half way around the world studying lemurs in Madagascar. Yes, you read that correctly. How totally awesome is that? She is so smart and ambitious, and I would not have expected anything less than what she is doing now. You'll love reading about her adventures most of us only dream about in the jungle! 


5. Born to Pharm--A great blog about life as a wife and daughter to farmers and soon-to-be pharmacist. Melissa has been a friend since high school in FFA and became my sorority sister at K-State. She finished her degree at K-State in agriculture but is now studying to be a pharmacist at UMKC. She does a fantastic job relating ag and farming topics to things every day consumers she comes into contact with are concerned about. I also love that she and I have a mutual love for advocating about agriculture even though our careers have taken a different path out of agriculture. 


And finally, random facts about myself:


1. I actually love to go turkey hunting and fishing with my husband. It's a newly formed hobby since meeting him, but I really enjoy being outdoors, enjoying nature and of course being with him. 
2. I have been on a "magazine" cover twice. I was featured in the local Josephine magazine once for a contest and the other for my Mary Kay business. 
3. I have a guilty obsession of office products. What most people find mundane in Office Max or Depot, I find as heaven. I love organization and new office supplies!
4. Food is one of my favorite things, and I think of myself as a lover of all types of food. I am really not picky at all. I am, though, the worst cook as I never have time to truly make great meals. 
5. I shop almost 75 percent of the time at thrift stores and garage sales for my clothing. I used to be so embarrassed by it because my mom would only buy clothes the same way for us growing up. However, when I can find name brand clothes for pennies on the dollar as that of a regular store, I get very excited. How else can I change my wardrobe almost completely every 6 months?! I do love buying accessories so I splurge on those but buy staple clothing pieces at a bargain. Smart consumer!

It's Go Time, Baby...

Bobbie Jo, a friend's sister, Bobbie Jo's friend, and myself at the Happy Camper Scamper
5K which was a trail run throughout MWSU campus.

Laura and I at the Rock the Parkway 5K. I ran a PR for this one! Thanks for pushing me Laura.

Alas, I guess I can finally let the dogs off the hook they aren't meant to be runners! Ha!

You can tell it's full on running mode for runners once it hits April 1. I've been thankful to keep it up throughout the winter thanks to the weather. I have to be honest the last two weeks have not been fantastic about my "training" schedule. I only have gotten in two to three runs a week. Yikes, considering my half is in four weeks TODAY! I'll get there though. This weekend is nine miles, and I HAVE TO DO IT! No excuses.

I have been obsessing lately though over running blogs and running gear and all sorts of things running. I think is this the time I can finally say, "I'm a runner". Maybe after my half that will feel more comfortable. But what makes you a "runner"? Is it just putting in the miles, week after week, month after month, like I have done for a year now or is it some distance you have to achieve in a race?

Either way, I am excited to see where this "running year" takes me and have three races already down. I ran the 10K in Manhattan on St. Patty's Day (race recap), a 5K in St. Joe in pouring down rain on April 7th and the Rock the Parkway 5K on April 14th.

One thing is for certain, I am getting stronger in my distances and running 3 miles does not scare me any more at all. Even running 6 miles doesn't scare me any more. We'll see how I feel after 13.1 in May! It's Go Time Baby!

Picking up where we left off...

I was going 100 miles an hour this week with lots of things going on. First, it has been absolutely gorgeous this spring for weather. I have loved being able to run in great weather. I'm not sure if I am ready for all the sweating though as the temperatures get warmer!

Wednesday was the test of all tests in my life this far with my comprehensive exam for my Master's degree. It was a 4-hour test in Kansas City, and it was one I was really nervous about. It is either pass or fail. You can complete all of the coursework with a 4.0, but if you do not pass this and the oral defense, you do not pass the program! I won't find out for another two weeks if I passed or not, but there is nothing more I can do.

On Thursday, I had the honor of having lots of ladies join us for our monthly MK girls night out in St. Joe. It was a lot of fun, and I got a couple of bookings and a new team member from the fun evening!

Friday, I had my last task force meeting before our annual campaign at work starts on Monday. I am praying all goes at it should, and we raise a good amount of money and get as close to our goal as we can. I then left work to head out West to Manhattan. I met up with Ronny and Kelsey Pope, Craig and Patricia Betzold and Kelsey's sister, Emily, for dinner at Olive Garden. You know we ate there because we had to load up on carbs! :) I love how we all can pick up right where we left off in conversation. We all have not been together since Ronny and Kelsey's wedding in September 2009, but it was so wonderful being together and talking about everything. Makes my heart so happy to have such great friends and husbands who are equally as fun to be with (you picked some good ones gals!) Kelsey, Pat, Emily and I then toured the Theta house since we had all not been back since last spring and had missed the renovations that happened over the last year. They have a pop machine in the kitchen!! No more 15 cent pops from the pop machine! We all loved being back at the house. It smelled the same, and looked cozy just as we had remembered it.

I apologize I can never get the pictures to save as they should! Regardless, how cool is this at the Theta house?!

Kels and I by room 11 where we first lived together! The room even has a MK consultant/Theta (which is where I started my business right in room 11!!!)

We all stayed out at the Pope ranch north of Manhattan for the evening, and it was really nice of Ronny's parents to host us for the night.

I didn't realize the race had been pushed back to 10:45 am on Saturday, so in a way I was bummed as I would not be able to stay around Manhattan as long after the race, but we also got to sleep in a bit longer, which I think we all needed from traveling. We even ate breakfast (I say that because I normally do not eat anything before a race as it makes me sick to my stomach). We headed into Aggieville and got ready to go for the 10K race.

Here are some highlights from the race:

Here are the girls before the race started.

• We started out all together.
• At mile 1.5, Pat had sped ahead of us,
• By mile 3, I had to scale my pace back from Ronny and Kelsey so I had to run alone,
• By mile 4, my foot cramped hard core and I thought I was going to have to take my shoes off but I didn't and I found a nice guy to pace with the rest of the race,
• At mile 5, we entered Aggieville where a bunch of people were cheering us on, but we still had 1.2 miles left (what a bad joke!),
• At mile 6, I really felt I almost had to walk the last .2 but that would have been crazy,
• At mile 6.2, I finished ahead of my goal of 1:15. I actually finished in 1:09:32! That is an 11:13 pace, which is what I have averaged on most long runs so far this spring.

Ronny, Kelsey, Pat and I at the finish line!

And what St. Patty's Day Race/K-State game day would be complete
without a green beer at Rusty's?!

 It was a great race day! It was a bit windy, which proved to be hard on the way back, but we all finished and were in good spirits after we were done. I completed half of one my goals with this race, too! I cannot wait until the next race we all decide to do together.  Maybe one in Nebraska this time?

Updates to 101 list...

I have a few updates for you from my 101 list plus a few other exciting things that have happened over the last couple of weeks!

1. Have not completed a blog post for each week this year, but I'm close!

11. I am this <----->; much closer to becoming a Team Leader in MK thanks to two lovely ladies joining my team in one week! Welcome Crystal (my cousin) and Katie (a friend from Hiawatha)! I cannot wait to see where your work and dreams take you in this company!

32. It wasn't exactly a production at the Robidoux Resident Theatre but I thought it was supposed to be there, so I'll let it count. Robin and I went to watch our friend Kasey in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang this weekend at the historic Missouri Theatre. It was a great production and so funny!


44. I am proud to say we now have four months of my salary built up in savings and have not even filed our taxes yet! I am more than excited to use our tax refund to pay off some student loans!

49. I contributed to the K-State Telefund this year and supported the College of Ag!

53. I did visit Derek and Christina last weekend while making a road trip to my best friend's wedding in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It was amazing to see Joplin nine months after the tornado and still see the damage left. There has been a lot of progress, and they are just starting to break ground for the new hospital where Christina will work. I can't wait to go back in May to run the half marathon in honor of the day the tornado took 162 people from their families and friends. It will be an amazing day I'm sure! It was also nice to go down to visit Derek and Christina and have a little bonding time since we do not get to see each other all too often. The trip was a short getaway and fun to witness a new marriage full of second chances and new hope! So glad I could be a part of Julie and Nic's big day!


65. I also met with my one mentor here in St. Joseph for lunch last week and was so thankful to bounce ideas off of her related to our new campaign and event we are getting ready to launch here at work. I know the stress and work leading up to the events will pay off! I am also glad I have a friend who is that much more ahead of me in our line of work so I can ask her questions and get feedback on what I should do next.

68. I also am so thankful for how well my MK business has been going this year. I cannot wait to see where the end of the MK year goes, but I will be in Dallas celebrating another amazing year because of some very inspiring and lovely customers who make it all happen! I am so incredible thankful!

I think that is all for updates so far! I have a long ways to go...I'll be sure to keep you updated!

*Sorry there are no photos in this post for some reason blogger is not liking my photos today!

How Far Can I Push Myself...

Well here is the big announcement I have waited a few days to let it sink in before I announce it to the world.

I am kicking things up a notch on my running endeavors and am training for a half marathon. I trained for one back in 2008, but never really got to finish the full race because of some injury. I ran only part of it. I really hope I can actually do the event on May 19th in Joplin. This is the newly changed Joplin Memorial Run as it is on the first anniversary of the tornado that struck Joplin and killed 162 people. (On a side note: did you all watch Extreme Home Makeover on its final episode?! Oh my, how much that hit home with my sister-in-law and her husband, Derek, actually helping with the event but also living it each day after the tornado. Derek was featured in a commercial for American Family because of their efforts in rebuilding Joplin.)

The only problem is the night before 3.5 hours north in St. Joseph, my work is going to have its first ever fundraiser, which I am entirely in charge of. So we'll see how "wonderful" I really do at the half marathon on less than 5 hours of sleep. I'm praying my mother-in-law will drive with me so I can catch a bit of a snooze on the way down to Joplin.

So now the hard part...training. I have read lots and reviewed some training and believe I have found a perfect solution. I am using the Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer. I am not training for the full marathon, but the two trainers sure make you feel like you could do one! The training is based on a class at the University of Northern Iowa that has been going on since the late 80s. They have trained all sorts of people, 250+, to run a full marathon in five months. All but one student completed a marathon. That says something about their plan. They are big on saying it's not about the time on your first one, just finishing. I agree with that. I just want to finish, and finish in enough time to where I don't get culled out because I am running too slow. They really push for only four days of training to avoid injury as that is the number one problem (as was mine) of most first-time marathoners. I am using another Runner's World method to reach a 10K distance for now until the middle of February when I can start using the real marathon training. At 2.5 months you should be running a long run of 15 miles with the Iowa training so that would put me at the first of May running a half marathon which is perfect timing. Let's hope it all goes as it should.

Throw in there a bit of Trails West! planning, finishing my master's degree in May, finishing my best MK year yet, Junior League, and oh yah, that little fundraiser/annual campaign we are doing at work which is a HUGE undertaking itself. BUT...you only live once, and I need to do this for myself to say I did it. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention I have a pretty good support group with my brother, sister-in-law who is running in Joplin too, and my best friends, Hannah, who is also training for an April half marathon, and Kelsey, who is a running buddy too. Hannah has been my running buddy since this whole thing started last May. Wow, I just realized that in one year's time I will have gone from walking part of a 5K to "cross your fingers" finishing a half marathon! Whoo to that!

On that note, I'll keep you updated as the progress goes along.

So far these last two weeks I have done 2-3 miles four days a week. This weekend is my long run of 4 miles. ;0 Oh boy!