today & an answer

Today I was here...

A track meet...a middle school girls track meet to be exact. And I was there until this happened...

until after the sun had set.

It was technically the second time I've been able to make it to one of my hubby's track meets (But I'm not counting the first one because it was cold & rainy and I didn't stay long)

From the time he started coaching (before we were even engaged!) I had always thought I would be the "coach's wife" who did cool things for the team and what not. Turns out I don't have the time or the money, and honestly? the girls don't really care. HA! And let's really be honest and say that I'm really okay with that. It means that it's special when I get to go and I don't have to feel obligated to be there or to do something special. To be honest one more time? I think..no, no I'm SURE that the team would like my husband 50 times more than me. He's just that kinda guy. :) 

Now to the answer from this week's What in the World Wednesday:

Yesterday's picture was....

SPRINKLES!!

Lightroom vs. Katy

I was so excited about using Adobe Lightroom...until I lost my pictures. Turns out that even though I couldn't find them on my computer anymore, they were still on my camera. Here are my favorite pictures from our trip to Asbury Park, NJ. I'm sure you'll notice how they have very little to do with running. HA!

I'd say, I won this time.

I.O.U.

I owe you a post. It feels like it's been forever. I actually wrote a couple other posts but opted not to post them simply because they were written by a girl in a HUGE life funk. So while I'm trying to get past it here are some pictures to catch you up on the past week.

A Saturday walk @ the women's retreat during my photography lesson.

My view Mondays-Fridays

My "fr-enemy". The custard machine and I have a
love-hate relationship. It's learning that I'm in charge.

Saturday we left @ 4am to drive to New Jersey for
a half marathon. [more on this to come]

Me and niece #2
**dreaming & wandering when God will grant me
one of these**

The beginning of my Prayer Journal

Weekend Update...it's kinda long & picture heavy

This was one jam packed weekend. It feels so long, probably because mentally it started on Thursday. Thursday morning, Greg had to make ice for Rita's and I had to close the registers from Wednesday & prep for a really busy Thursday. Then we had a meeting with one of the owners about how things were going. So far it seems as though we are doing a good job. phew! We worked basically up until 4:00pm between the meeting and lots of customers. Then we came home and 15 minutes after arriving home, we got a phone call from the girls who were working saying that they were running out of ice. Sssssooo back down to Rita's we went. It's about a 20 minute drive for us, so it's not really that long but when you are on a time crunch and are driving back and forth multiple times it gets to be a little much. Finally by 6:15 we were leaving Rita's stocked full of ice for a busy night. We had to buy dog food and pack for New York. Thankfully we were not called again to make anymore ice for that day. 

Friday morning, we had to close the registers and make LOTS of ice for another beautiful Spring, hopefully busy Rita's day. We made close to 13 buckets/flavors of ice!! But by 12:30 we were off to New York. I was ecstatic...seriously excited to go to New York. We really thought that we would be able to see some things in New York. But sadly we didn't. We were too cheap to pay $21.00 to park our car for a few hours. Plus the whole point of being in Manhattan in the first place was to pick up the race packet--not sightseeing. Maybe another time..like when we hit the lottery, or have jobs. So these are the only pictures I was able to snap on the way & in the city.

I snapped this picture in the car. Greg told me not to take a picture of the projects...
I didn't notice until just now that the Empire State Building is right in the middle of the picture. I thought
I was just taking a picture of a skyline. HA!

As we realized we were driving through Queens towards the hotel, we realized traffic wasn't really moving much at all. Obviously we hit traffic, but this was different traffic. After half an hour to go a mile or something like that, we realized that a block party had broken out in the middle of the street we wanted to go down. So we said hello to a detour that turned out to be soo much faster! Praise the Lord. I will admit it seemed weird to be staying in a neighborhood where I couldn't read or pronounce most of the signs and stores I was seeing. But the hotel was fabulous--nothing special, but so much nicer than I expected. We stayed at a Holiday Inn. First of all--hello KING bed with luxurious sheets. It even had a restaurant downstairs so we ordered take out after a walk in Flushing Meadows park. Here's a picture of the room. Sadly we were only on the 2nd floor so there was no view other than the air conditioning unit and such, but it was dark most of the time we were there anyway.

We had to check out before the race, but they were kind enough to let us keep our car in the parking lot for a few extra hours--which was super helpful. The race didn't start until 9:15 which was late compared to the races in Philly that were starting at 7ish. We walked the 3/4 mile to the race and it was a beautiful day! Here are some pictures of Flushing Meadows & my hubby running :)

Flushing Meadows Park

Flushing Meadows Park

Flushing Meadows Park

Mile 2

Mile 4

Mile 5.5

Tickets @ Arthur Ashe Stadium

Mile 10.5

Finisher Medal

Finisher w/ Arthur Ashe Stadium

Finisher w/ CitiField

Flushing Meadows Park

Overall, he finished at 1:32:12, which is a great time! 41st finisher overall, 39th male, 9th in age group. Such a proud wife am I.

ohh..and Happy Easter of course. I will leave you with just this song that is in my head.

"There in the ground His body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain. Then bursting forth in glorious Day up from the grave He rose again! And as He stands in victory sin’s curse has lost its grip on me. For I am His and He is mine; Bought with the precious blood of Christ."

So thankful to know that I have been saved by grace and that Jesus Christ died for ME and for YOU.

Weekend/Vacation/Excitement

Tomorrow we leave for New York. Greg has a half marathon in Flushing Meadows, New York. What we just found out today is that he has to pick up his race packet (and goodies) tomorrow between 12 and 6 and it is pretty much in New York City. I can't believe it! I have never been to NYC and I've always wanted to go. Granted I'm not going to really be visiting...more like driving through. But STILL! I am super excited about this trip. Not to mention the course route includes lots of laps which means Katy doesn't need to run around to different spots for hours trying to catch a glimpse of her husband! hooray! PLUS, it is going to be B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L weather.

Let's see, what else?!? I don't have to work or really even think about Rita's until Monday--except for a teensy bit tomorrow morning, and the schedule that I need to fix as soon as I'm done with this post. AND I got my first paycheck...wowsers. I haven't gotten a paycheck like that in a very.long.time. 1.5 months shy of a year.

I'm just about all ready to give my presentation next week on photography. I'm really excited to share with people that they can do it too! and I created this super cute brochure [aka cheat sheet] for everyone to take home with them. 

Now I must finish the schedule, clear off my memory card, charge batteries, and ahh pack! Maybe you'll get lucky and get some updates throughout the trip?!? who knows!

November has come and is going...

Well it has indeed been quite awhile (I know a month is actually more than awhile). But regardless here I am. I've really been trying to work more lately. We've been busy around here lately. Last weekend Greg and I went to the Penn State football game with my family and this weekend was scheduled around the Philadelphia Marathon. No no, I was not running. Not a chance. Although sometimes I think I would like to try and run some kind of race like that to say that I did it--but I don't know if that will ever come to fruition. Anyway the day started early (3:45am) so that we could leave by 4:30 and arrive in Philly with enough time to park, walk to the start, and Greg could warm up. I on the other hand would consider it more of a 'cool down' time for me as I got cold quite quickly. I tried to occupy myself taking pictures, but my hands were too cold to want to do that so I only ended up with a few. These pictures tell the day quite well!

Greg's corral (black) and just a generally really cool flag. Although I will admit this picture was taken around 10am instead of 6:45 when I was actually standing next to it.

Greg REALLY near the finish. Mile 26 and just a tenth or two more to run. And yes, his face accurately represents how he is feeling...although I know mine would look much worse BUT he is STILL running.... [and so that you don't get confused he is the one on the right ;) heheh ]

3 hours, 24 minutes, and 4 seconds after crossing the starting line Greg is finished with his 26.2 miles. After much walking in pain we took our traditional 'after the race' picture. And he is still smiling.

"Was it worth it?" "Did you have fun?" "Do you think you'll do it again?" One answer...

Yes.

It seems that I have many more of these in front of me. Aiming for 3hrs. 10 min. to qualify for the Boston Marathon. But that's okay. It was fun to watch the moms who are there with their kids supporting their husbands & dads....I just think to myself--someday (hopefully soon).

...and of course I am an immensely proud wife.  On to the next adventure--