well hello there!

oh, hey! it's me...finally posting on my blog. *ahem

 

Mah life has been super, s-u-p-e-r busy, of late...so that explains the lack of corresponding via the interweb. ;)

 

 

On Tuesday we had a Cross Country meet in Wautoma. This meet was really fun - and super fast! The varsity runners were actually "split up" according to ranking, and actually ran two separate races. I ran in the Master's race (which included the top 1-3 runners from each team) and ended up taking 1st place! I ran a 19:19 minute 5k, which was a 22 second PR for me. ;) It was a great race, and I enjoyed it! Clara (pictured aboovve) took 1st place in the Girl's "Novice race" (which included runners 4-7 of each varsity team) and I am so proud of her! She was strong throughout the race, and took home the win!

 

Clintonville did well at the meet, and we brought home a lot of medals and a 2nd place finish for the girl's varsity team. :)

Taylor, Brooke and I (we ran in the "master's race")

 

 

 

After our meet in Wautoma, we went out to Culver's as a team. :) #squuaaddd

Here's Clara, Vanessa and I cheesssinnn' after our Hortonville meet today (Saturday). :) I took 3rd place with a time of 19:47 today. I'm not very happy with the time, but I'll try to console myself with he fact that the course was hilly and challenging. . . :( However, our girl's varsity team took 3rd place as well!

 

Anndd, aside from cross country meets and practices you can find me doing school. ^^^

 

 

Drinking coffee...(or, well, tea in the above case...)

 

 

or going to work. :)

 

mah life

 

 

 

Since the last time I posted, I was asked to join and thus did join the Cross Country team at our local high school. I'm honored to run with these ^^^ amazing girls! :)

 

Um, yeah. This is the state our tent usually resides in during xc meets. ;) Gym bags, shoes, snacks...water, you name it, we've got it. ;)

 

Bussss riddeesss! :)

 

At our first meet in Amherst on Thursday, I placed 2nd overall for girls Varsity (and JV was included in the race). :) It was a great feeling to have tried my hardest on a tough course (very hilly, so says the coach!) and medaled!

 

Our girl's team won first place, as well! :) Win-win!

Yeahh...at the end of meets, we m i g h t sit in our bus and converse with other teams via yelling back and forth. ;)

For xc meets, I'll usually bring some sort of snack for mah team mates. :) The current favorite flavors are: peanut butter (ANYTHING!)
banana-chocolate chip
lemon blueberry
:) Runners need their calories!

So, if you've grown tired of my xc pictures and explanations, I'll let you take a peek at what I do in my spare time...when I'm not at practice or running a meet, that is. :)

First of all, I've been babysitting...the above picture will let you see that sometimes I forget a sweatshirt and FREEZE to death...so I resort to fuzzy blankets and hot tea while I watch my adorb charges. ;)

School! :) My senior year is filled with all kinds of great classes! :)

annddd, getting up while it's still dark to open the coffee shop. :) Gotta love early Saturday mornings!

There you have it...an abbreviated version of my crazy life...complete with weird selfies. :) So to make it a little better (and slightly more disjointed), I included a picture from my sister's (beautiful!) wedding day, since I haven't posted any until now.

Ta-ta!
 

Anna's Bridal Shower

 

 

The theme I went with was shabby chic-ish, with lots of peonies and blue mason jars. :) Pinterest is the best for bridal shower ideas!

 

 Cake table. Origionally, the community center we rented had a very...*lovely* bulletin board/4th of July display behind the "cake table". I made a streamer background and mom and I covered the bulletin board with a plastic table cloth... :)

 

 

 

For the gift table I made a sweet little burlap banner, and covered the originally *ugly* table with a lace tablecloth...I entwined some pink peonies in her bird cage card box, for a little extra something. :)

 

Prriizzeesss! For games we only had time for:
How Well Do You Know the Bride
What's in Your Purse
Does the Bride Know the Groom? (Bubble gum game)

For food, I made two different kinds of wraps. (I thought that would be a little different than the usual chicken salad etc. that is served at Bridal Showers. Below is the full menu:

Pesto-Chicken Wraps
Italian Wraps
Veggies in a cup
Fruit Salad
Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes

The beautiful bride to be! :)))

 

 

 

We had a lovely group of  40 ladies and girls who joined us in celebrating Anna and Ethan's upcoming wedding. Thanks to all who came and made her day special! :)

sneak peek

maid of honor duties + engagement photos sneak peek

We'll just call this: an excited M of H with her trusty BRIDAL SHOWER PLANS 101 notebook. ;)

 

 

 

 

This weekend Anna's boyfriend, Ethan, traveled from North Carolina on a surprise visit. :) Not only did he surprise her, but he also proposed on Friday, and of course, SHE SAID YES! We're super excited for them, and wish them the best on this new journey they are about to embark on.

 

We'll just say that right now, my time is spent in a flurry of room rental calls, picture frame distressing, guest list making and invitation ordering. :)) Stay tuned for more posts!

 

Now, for the sneak peek:

 

So. With the wedding set in August, we have two months to get everything in order.

The day after the proposal/engagement, we were off to take engagement photos. (Guys. All I can say is: THEY'RE SO ADORABLEEE!!!)

 

 

 

april

The other day, when it was "cold", blustery and raining, I had a moment of inspiration and. . .an old bulletin board. :) A little washi-tape, some happy-colored sticky notes, and random this-and-that's created a happy little display that I could hang on my wall. :) Fun stuff, hey?

I'm photographing the Iola Trail Race this Saturday for Great Lakes Endurance Club! I'm excited, but hoping for some warmer, less windy weather. . .The race has a 5K, 10K and Half Marathon, so it will be fun to document the events. :) (Bring on the LaraBars and coffee!)

Lots of good reads now that I've finished the mandatory reads for school. :)

 

 

 

Soooo, we decided to take a photo shoot this weekend. . .practicing senior poses etc. :) And all was going well until. . .

 

 

Anna found that the log I had so artfully placed her on was crawling with ticks. . .

 

 

Running!!! :) Sorry, I had to include some happy stuff at the end!  I ran a 10 miler last Friday, when it was reallllyyyy hot outside. (70* plus extreme sunshine = very hot and sweaty me.) My weekly mileage was in the 30's, and this week I'm hoping to achieve the same number.:)