Hip Hip HORRAY!!!

Gonna be a great day to run 13.1 miles and become a princess at the Disney Princess Half Marathon!!!

Making my lists and checking them twice...

It's that time of vacation prep... the list making!  One for carry on; one for checking.  That's right when you fly Southwest you can check a bag for free!  Taking full advantage of it; however, all necessary race day supplies will be with me at all times!

5 days till the Disney Princess Half Marathon!!  2 1/2 days of work till Disney!!

new trails

I love finding new trails in familiar parks.  Yesterday I went out for a light run leaving around 4:30 with my only goal of finish whatever you do at dusk.  Even though I love these types of runs I very seldom do them.  You know the type... just run where you please for however long you please; see a path, go down it; see a set of stairs, run up them.  Typically I stick to my plan to ensure I get my miles in; you know, cause I can only ever be motivated to run if I have a race I'm training for. 

Yesterday I threw all of that behind me and just ran for fun; did what I pleased.  Passed a huge flight of stairs and I ran up them, saw a new trail and went down it. 

Ever find something so beautiful that it makes you stop dead in your tracks, admire it, and take a picture.  This did it for me.  I had to force myself sprint up that steep hill lingering right beside the lovely creek.  As I sprinted I looked back to get one last look and what did I see...

About a dozen or so army men in full combat with guns drawn in my direction.  They were moving in formation to take control of the creek I was just admiring.  My first thought was "who the hell is in the park!  Are we under attack?!"  I ran on figuring the area they just came from was surely safe and came upon another group of fully combatted out military men.  As I turned a mile or so later to head to my car there were another couple army guys who had pitched a tent in the tall grass; one reading a book the other laying on the ground with a gun ready to fire. 

In other news... 8 days till the Princess Half Marathon!!!!!

Welcome back...

...it's been a long time friend!  I've missed you tremendously!

I can feel it!

 It's getting warmer!  I'm soooo sick of cold, icy runs.  Last week I was bound and determined to run outside.  Even though Monday was an incredibly busy day, I managed to sneak in a 5.5 mile run... OUTSIDE!

 It was so cold my hat literally turned to ice. Forest Park normally plows it's long path; however, after the last 5 inches they seem to have given up.  I skated my way out to the long path only to find it completely covered in a sheet of ice and snow.  Never to be one to give up I made my way back to the street and rain around the whole park on the street.  The only REALLY scary part was crossing Hampton.  Then it was off to work again...

Can't wait to run in sunny, warm Florida at the Disney Princess Half Marathon!

A Wedding of Epic Proportions!

As mentioned earlier, one of my best friends got married a couple weekends ago.  Following one of the most Christ centered ceremonies I've ever seen, was the funnest reception I've ever attended.  Their wedding matched their personalities perfectly... Christ-centered party people!

Earlier that day I got to help set up their reception site.  I'll spare you the details of how the venue double booked the space or how they still had inappropriate decorations up.

Kara's family setting up the photo booth

I LOVED the dessert table. She had friends and family bake cookies and pies.

And, just a small cake to cut. Which actually never got cut.

Jake Gehret and the Brokedown Sound... book them for your next event!

Seriously...book them!

Karaoke!

the final touch...

Snow-prise! Saturday I woke up to about 5-6 inches of snow covering my car.  I wasn't going to let this stop me from driving up to my parents to put the final touches on my Disney Princess Half Marathon outfit!  I pulled up to my parents house to this view...

Yes, a four foot snow drift covering the entire front of my parent's house.  I literally stood there for several minutes wondering how the hell to get inside!  I finally made my way near the garage and around to my mom's sewing studio.  I had ordered two pink running shirts that she had waiting to embroider.  We looked it over and she got to work.  By the time I had finished shoveling a path to the front door, she had created this...

15 days to go!

I just got a pony...

Okay... I really didn't get a pony, but my reaction to what I got in the mail this afternoon resembeled that of a three year old girl getting a pony for her birthday.  My outfit for the Disney Princess Half Marathon is almost complete... 

Cancel Reinforcements...

One of my best friends got married this past weekend.  They are by far one of the best couples I've ever watch go from acquaintances to dating to marriage and it was awesome to get to watch them do so.  The absolute best thing about these two people is the way Christ shines through them.  They are fabulous.  And, she trusts me.  Trusts me enough to have me do her flowers, set up the reception site, and coordinate the reception festivities.  Now, if you only knew her, you would understand how huge of a deal this is.  Not that she doesn't trust people, but she's well... in the details.  She LOVES weddings and events and details.  She LOVES schedules and lists and fun and details.  After a 4 mile run (hey, a girls still go to train), I met her bridesmaids, her dad, and the bride herself at the church where they dropped off tons of flowers.  We chatted, we hugged, we laughed.  Then I got to work.

I always start out looking so neat and organized.  Give me about 5 minutes and I can do this... to any workspace.









Two hours in and I only had 2 horrible looking bouquets done.  I panicked... yes full out panicked!  I texted my roommate and asked her to come immediately over; then sent a message to one of my other good friends to see if she could come early to the rehearsal.  While panicking I kept working and within 5 minutes had arranged the best bouquet!  Cancel reinforcements.

 

I know I'm extremely bias, but I really love her flowers.  They were perfect.  Perfect for the event, for the bride, for the occasion.  Perfect.  There were so many flowers left over I made a couple little arrangements for the foyer.  

Then set to work on the alter.  Oh! the alter... how awesome is this...

So perfectly homespun, perfectly Kara.

Baby it's slick out there!

Snowpocalypse was a HUGE let down in St. Louis!  Must over-hyped storm of the century.  I left work early on Monday when the sleet started falling and expected to wake up to a winter wonderland Tuesday morning.  Yes, there was ice.  Yes, it was slick.  But, where was the 1-2 feet of snow?!  Since I live on a hill and my car is less than agile in winter weather, I stayed put all day Tuesday... cause you know... the snow was coming!!

All day I waited and waited.  It kind of started snowing late in the evening.  This was it... charge the laptop, charge the cell phone, charge the kindle!  I went to bed again expecting to wake up to a winter wonderland Wednesday morning... no luck.  I started seeing pictures from friends in Columbia, MO and Chicago, IL.  My brother sent this one of his car...

My sister-in-law said there were drifts over her shoulders.  My mom sent this pic of our farm...which doesn't look so impressive till you know that bush is well over my head and that's a solid pile of snow drifting behind it!

After spending a day getting these pictures, I sent them both the view from my front door... wondering how I was ever going to dig out of this mess...

We got two inches with drifts up to my ankle... it was a nightmare!