Monday, May 9, 2011

2011 Lake Lowell Half-Marathon (May 7th)




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On Saturday morning, John completed his first half-marathon.  Yep, John Seable did a 13.1 mile footrace, and he finished it in 3:06.  He has been training like a champion:  up every morning (but Saturday and Sunday) at 4:45, to the Rec Center by 5:00 and working out until 6:45.

One of the funnest parts of the day was running out to meet him so that we could cross the finish line together.  I've always hoped he'd grow to love running as much as I do, and we'd one day run together.  Today was a great memory for me!

#9 Finisher Overall / #1 Female Overall

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I was thrilled to cross the finish line, too.  And what was better, I did it in 1:46:04, a PR by like nearly 5 minutes.  That time was good enough to earn FIRST PLACE for the Women Overall.  Can you believe it?  It'll likely never happen again, but I sure got a "runner's high" from that finish.




Friday, February 4, 2011

Sunrise as we sailed into Puerto Vallarta.  Wow...
So the cruise to Mexico was delightful.  Despite John so generously sharing his raging head cold with me and then dosing me with Benadryl (which knocked me out for 2 hours straight IN THE BLAZING OCEAN SUN, from which I woke up scorched and smoldering), I had a lovely time.  I must confess, though, I was so nervous about making it home safely that I breathed a sigh of relief when we finally disembarked the ship in the land of the free. 

Some of my fears were obviously warranted, too.  We were supposed to dock and spend a day in Mazatlan, but were told over the loud speaker on the ship that, "because of recent world events (which translates to: the cartel had killed a tourist) we will be sailing past Mazatlan in an effort to provide safe traveling for our passengers."  I was scared for a minute, then realized they were being pretty diligent about keeping us out of harm's way.  That gave me a little more security. 
Here is a lighthouse as you leave the harbor in Los Angeles (with a bonus feature of a nifty little sailboat in the yonder background). 
All in all, it was amazing and intriguing and a grand adventure, but it made me realize how much I love my home, my little family and my (usually) predictable routine.  I'm grateful to live in this great country and grateful I am free (and not looking over my shoulder every day like some of the people we met down there).  God Bless America!
This is not necessarily impressive in a picture, but for me and my vast experience with international attractions, this rock formation was a real humdinger! 

So, I got a new camera for Christmas for the express purpose of taking pictures with it on this cruise.  Guess how many I took... twelve, and 2 of them were duplicates because I got spots on the lense.  Therefore, since none of the rest of the pictures are very interesting, my little presentation has come to an end.  Next time I go on an amazing trip to somewhere exotic and fascinating, I vow to actually get the camera out and snap a few more.  Rookie mistake...

  

Monday, December 27, 2010

Thanks Dad and Mom! I love my present...


John thinks it is way too late to be messing with this now, and I have to agree since 5:04 a.m. comes way too soon.  Nevertheless, I am so excited that I figured out how to design my own blog.  This certainly is a big day in our house!   Grandpa Steve and Grandma Jonie gave me a new camera for Christmas, and I am giddy in anticipation of posting often.  I spent last week going through all of my Grandpa DeVon's pictures to prepare for the display at the viewing prior to his funeral.  It made me want to be better at visually archiving the memories of my little family.  So, my New Year's Resolution is to update this blog at least weekly (hey, for fun take the poll at the right).  I hope you'll check back often and enjoy yourself while you are visiting.