Iron Girl

I don't have a lot of time to update, but I thought I'd at least put some pictures from the Iron Girl. In brief - I'm glad I did, although it was the hardest thing I've EVER done! I finished in 1 hour 58 minutes, which is faster than I thought I would finish. My fast goal was 2 hours. I'm not sure if I'll ever do another one, but it was a good experience overall. Here's a few pictures:

Lisa looking in disgust at the canal we had to swim in the next day! There was definitely a "No Swimming" sign about 3 feet from where we started the race!

The morning of the race. You can tell we're newbies...everyone else was wearing their spandex with pride, we were covering ours up!

Finishing the bike....I almost fell off my bike right here!

Finishing!!!!!

LB, me & Julia - I had great supporters!

Me & Sarah - she finished in time to cool off & then take pictures of me finishing!

Proof I finished :) Swim 500m, Bike 20K, Run 5K.

Harry Potter

This month has been full of Harry Potter for me! I had never seen any of the movies, even though I had read all the books, so Julia & I went back and watched the first four movies in preparation for the release of the fifth movie. After I saw the fifth movie last weekend I decided I had to re-read the sixth book in order to get ready for the release of the last book this weekend. I finished the book last night, and I think i'm grateful for a small Harry Potter break before my book arrives tomorrow. One night this week I was reading it before I went to sleep, and I'm pretty sure it gave me nightmares!

Two days until IronGirl...I'm getting a little nervous. I know I'm capable of doing everything separately, but putting all the parts together definitely makes me a little nervous. The swim is definitely the scariest part for me - I am NOT a swimmer. My goal is just to finish, get my pink medal, and possibly never do another triathlon! It has been so good for me - it's caused me to be very disciplined in my exercise routine and I'm in the best shape I've probably ever been in. But, I think I'm going to go back to just running for a while. Dad & Deb are going to come down in December, and we are going to run the White Rock half marathon...should be fun to do something with them!

The thing that excites me the most right now is Brazil. After our meeting on Sunday, I just wanted to go home & pack. Put me on the plane now! I looked at pictures of my Brazil trip from college this week, which made me even more eager to go! We're praying the the plane crash in Sao Paulo this week won't cause any problems for us, as they are thinking of shutting down the airport where the crash happened. We will actually fly into the other aiport in Sao Paulo, but I've read that if they shut down the aiport, it could disrupt air travel all over South America.

I'll post pictures if I can find anyone to take them at the race on Sunday.

Pictures from the 4th & Jess's Wedding

I got some pictures from Sarah, so here's a little bit more of the the 4th & Jess's wedding:

At the lakehouse!
Nat & I showing off our mad Guitar Hero skills!

The boys & their fireworks

Jess's wedding with Sarah & Steph - so fun!

My favorite people in the world at Jess's wedding!

No Retreat!

Sadly our retreat got cancelled this weekend. The staff got out there Thursday morning to set everything up, and then when they woke up Friday morning, the water had been cut off. Apparently there was no water anywhere around Possum Kingdom because of all the flodding...crazy!

It ended up being a good weekend despite not getting to go on the retreat. Friday I hung out & watched Pride & Prejudice with LB & Shawn. Saturday I ran & had a great breakfast with Michelle at Panera - oh how I love cinammon crunch bagels! I sat around and read a lot this weekend. I finished The Lights of Tenth Street which was recommended to me by a coworker, and it is SO good. Not super light reading, but good fiction. I also started re-reading the 6th Harry Potter to prepare myself for the last one that comes out this next weekend. I'm kind of sad it will all be over soon. Saturday night, a group of us who were supposed to be on the retreat met up at the Northpark food court and then went to see the Harry Potter movie. I liked it, of course the movies never live up to the books, but it was good all the same.

Sunday I had a Brazil meeting. It got me super excited to leave on our trip. I can hardly wait to get on that boat & head down the Amazon river! Our team really seems to be bonding - I think it's going to be a great trip!

6 days until Iron Girl! I can't wait for it to be over. It should generally be fun, but I'm quite ready for a reprieve from the intense training schedule.

Great Expectations...Fulfilled!

The last week certainly lived up to my expectations! It was such a sweet time with my college roommates & with KXA friends at Jessica's wedding. It all came & went so fast. Now Natalie is back in Nashville, Stephanie is back in Little Rock, and I'm back to my everyday life here in Dallas. Well, I don't have any pictures because I forgot to take my camera to the lake house & the battery was dead at Jess's wedding, but don't worry, Sarah took a ton of pictures, I just haven't gotten them from her yet.

Tuesday Sarah & I both got off work early & headed for the lake. The drive down was uneventful, but fun....I love Sarah, I wish I saw her more considering she works across the street! When we arrived, it was just Nat & her parents there, so we got her to ourselves :) We played on their fancy kayaks (they have pedals) and hung out in the pool until her brothers showed up. Michelle & Charlie joined us later that night, just in time to shoot off part of the $200 worth of fireworks Nat's brothers bought.

Wednesday was a great day. We woke up and went on a run, then hung out inside and ate breakfast & played Guitar Hero while we waited out the rain. That afternoon we rode the jet ski's and the kayaks and Sarah & I went for an open water swim. There was also a fantastic guys vs. girls game of volleyball in the pool - we won't mention who won. That night we shot off more of the fireworks - the guys really put on quite a show. Really, the best part was just hanging out with my favorite friends! I wouldn't have traded that for the world.

The rest of the week I spent hanging out with Stephanie, having dinner with old exec KXA girls, and then Jess's wedding. It was really just a great week. I'll definitely post pictures when I have them.

IronGirl is in two weeks - most days I don't feel ready, but it will be fun anyways. If I can say anything about this triathlon thing, it's that I think I'm in the best shape I have EVER been in. I haven't had leg muscles like this since high school off season weight lifting four days a week. I think I might even like it if it weren't for the swimming :)

This weekend I'm headed to Possum Kingdom lake for a Student Ministries leader's retreat. It should be a ton of fun - I'm excited to spend time at the lake - I'm praying for sunshine!!

Joy in my heart!

I'm feeling so overwhelmed this morning. I just spent a wonderful weekend with my family, seeing what Rebekah does, getting to experience a little of her life, and it was just so good. And tomorrow I get to see my favorite people in the whole world.

I was sitting in my office this morning when I realized that tomorrow night I will be sitting at a lake house with the college roomies, and I was truly so filled with joy that I had tears in my eyes. These are my favorite people, the ones who know me and don't even have to try at it. The people who walked with me through those wonderful college years. And tomorrow we will all be in one place...words can't express how excited I am.

I love my life in Dallas, I really do, but I really miss walking in my front door and these girls being there. Life in Dallas is just so much more complex....starting over with friendships isn't fun. There aren't people here who know me that well yet. I know a lot of that is my own fault - The first year & a half I lived here I didn't try very hard at making friends and stepping out of my comfort zone. Since I started trying to branch out, I just haven't found those people who fit me like Michelle, Natalie, and Sarah do. I'm praying hard for friends like that here who are in my everyday life, but no one will ever replace these girls! Emily - you will most definitely be missed this week - it's not a 9106 gathering without you!

There's so much fun stuff happening this week. First the lake house, then Thursday getting together with a lot of my old KXA girls who are here for Jessica's wedding, Friday night Steph is staying with me, and then Saturday the wedding. What a truly great week!!!!!

I will give you the full update once it's over!