Merry Merry!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I hope you are having a wonderful day filled with family, friends and awesome traditions. 

Growing up, my family had a bevy of traditions, but now that I am married, it is not so. 

This is because my husband does not think we should have traditions until we have children.  I get it-- not everyone loves Christmas like I do, but traditions are so important to me!  So, instead of forcing traditions on him, I have to be very sneaky about forming them without his consent.  He's so lucky. 

For instance, every year when we are driving from family to family (and thus, he cannot escape), I read a book aloud to him. The book called The Gift the Magi. Have you ever read it? Holy cow. I cry. Every time.  Which makes the husband even more apt to accept this tradition.

Wait...

I hope to have many more of these ensnarements traditions by the time we actually have a family, but for now, buddy reading is all I have been able to come up with. 

All in due time, friends. 

Before I sign off, I want to share with you my Christmas JAM.  Take some time and listen, it's worth it.  Lyrics below. :)

Love to you all, and a very merry Christmas!

When the babe was born
In a manger on the hay
God saw a veil torn
He saw Good Friday

He was born to die

Gold laid before the Christ
Incense, His presence is sweet
Myrrh to signify
Victory over death's sting

He was born to die

It came in a dream
To Joseph late one night
That Herod sought the King
But could not take His life
He was born to die

He said, "You don't take my life
You won't take my life
You don't take my life
I lay it down"

We came here today
To celebrate His birth
But let us not forget
Why Jesus came to earth
He was born to die

Bush Maternity

You've heard me talk about my work wife before, right?  We met the first day of work over a year ago, and are basically inseparable.  Besides being total opposites, we are the exact same.

How's that, you say?

She was the valedictorian at her high school. I was voted loudest at mine.  We both abhor the hazelnut coffee at work.

See? Exactly.

Work wife and her husband are pregnant again! I got to take pictures of the whole family, and since their Christmas cards are out, I thought I would share.

O-H-I-O

A while back, a few of my sisters and a few of my nephews loaded up a swager wagon with carseats, goldfish and enough ginger snaps to fortify a long journey to Oho. My father and grandparents live in Columbus, and I was personally long overdue for a visit.

While we were there, we did an early Thanksgiving, walked around the Columbus Zoo, played with 15 Chihuahuas and peed the bed.  Well, the nephews did the last one, but we were all pretty involved in it.

Here are a few photos from the trip.

Eating cheese out of Grandma Deana's hand

Duncan on a Moose. 

A real live reindeer. I often forget these are actual animals, unlike unicorns. 

A train track? Yes, please.

What are you looking at?

We get silly when we are all together.  Lauren being eaten by a bear.

Megan and Duncan. Can you spot Whit?

Duncan escaped and climbed onto a fake wagon. Because he's a boy. 

Ferocious. 

My favorite picture of the trip.
Standing under the food tank for the polar bears. Columbus zoo is so cool!

Pa holding my Tim Hortons (that's a thing, right?) while I snap away.

Whit would not sleep. There was just too much going on. 

Whit whit eating Muzzy's rutabagas

Snuggling with Muzzy 

What a hottie

My Grandparents, looking foxy.

Oh that smile.

The whole group. Minus Deana. Apparently she had to work? I don't get it. 

Pop pop and Me. 

Duncan at Mirror Lake. This might be the most awe struck I've ever seen him. 

Ohh! Water feature!

Loving it. 

So happy to have her boys with her on OSU's campus. 

At the OSU Oval

You can tell her level of happiness by counting the crinkles on her nose.

4 crinkles. 

15 crinkles.

Richmond Half Marathon 2013

PURSUIT. The night before... dun dun duuuuun

If you don't have time to read the whole post here are a few highlights:
-I ran my best time ever!
-I ran the whole thing!
-I didn't poop myself!


Now for those of you seeking a more in-depth narrative...

The night before the race, my little sister and her husband were kind enough to allow a big group of us to take over their very nice home for the evening.  Thanks, Katie and Dan!  

The next morning,  I was less nervous and more angry about being awake so early.  I always get that feeling before races. 

We arrived, found a parking spot (only by the grace of God), and got our tails in a porta potty.

In our entourage, there were two folks running the 8k, so we had extra time to stand around, freeze, freak out and use the porta potties again. 

Catching a theme?


Mile 1-4
I felt really good for the first four miles.  Normally during my runs I listen to music the whole time, but for the race I decided to save my music for when I really needed it-- almost like an audible GU.  

I also planned to keep a slow, steady pace during the first 6 miles, and if I was able to hold back on mile 1 and 2, I knew that I would be able to pace myself better.  I was SUPER tempted to run off of the start line like the rest of the runners- going way too fast.   I just kept thinking... let them pass me during the first 6 miles. I will pass them in the last 7.

Mile 4-6 (aka the park)
Before I entered the park, I started to get the itch to speed up, almost like I was on mile 1 again. Once I entered the park it felt like the pavement was sucking all of the bounce out of my step, so that urge was quickly snuffed. I was contemplating leaving the pavement, and running on the grass,  but had a nagging feeling that there was a ninja race official who would tackle me and I'd be disqualified.  I was, apparently, rather irrational through the park.

Mile 6-8
At this point, I was still running and I was thrilled!  Normally I around mile 6 I start to get whinny, and I walk for a bit.  I was still feeling really strong so I figured I would keep going, knowing I would walk eventually.  

Mile 8-10
At mile 9 I wanted to stop. Not quit-- just stop. Those are two very different emotions.  I normally reach that point in my runs often, but deal with them by telling myself that I will be in so much pain during the race if I don't train properly. Instead of trying to pass that one off (even to an illogical brain), I told myself that I could do this not because of who I am, but because of who Christ is in me.  Yeah- it got crazy spiritual during these miles. Then I popped in my headphones and the Spirit and I boogied on.

Mile 10-12
I don't remember a thing from these miles. It's probably best. All I know is, I still had not stopped to walk. 

Mile 13-13.1
During the whole race I kept looking down at my watch trying to do the math to see if I could actually actually actually beat my time.  At .6 miles to go, I had 10 minutes to get to the finish line to beat my time. I could do juuuuust enough math to know that I was about to blow my PR out of the water.  

But first, in an effort to transition from from just a regular odd ball (who pays to fun 13.1 miles??), to a full on nut job,  I started saying out loud - "Point six. Ten minutes. Point six. Ten minutes". I was practically barking it by the time I could see the finish line--which was all blessedly downhill.  I crossed the finish line with an obnoxious fist pump and a thumbs up to my sisters.  I was exhausted, so don't judge me.  

In the end, my time was faster than I could have hoped, and I ran the whole thing. But I have to say the jewel in my crown that day was knowing that contrary to my fears during the last downhill, I had not pooped my pants. SUCCESS!

Fall Festival 2012

Fall Festival is my family's yearly get together. Everyone comes, we eat cookies, and the kids play with Nonni and Papa. It's perfect. No holiday-like expectations, just good ole family togetherness.  Allow me to explain in photographs.

This year the boys decided to belly up to the appetizer bar.  Why not?

Whit found himself under the appetizer bar, but happy all the same.

New baby! 

The next collection of photos is of us trying to wrangle the four grandbabies onto the couch to capture their matching shirts.  It was... interesting. 

For some reason, they are all blurry...

I love this one :)

It was glorious. Louder than normal, but glorious all the same.  Thanks for hosting, Nonni and Papa!