Thirteen, Baptism & Vacation

I haven't updated in so long, I figured I'd give you a picture summary of what's been going on in my life the last few weeks.

Maddie - one of my 7th graders turned 13, and this was at her birthday party.

Tori, another one of my girls, got baptized at our baptism service a couple of weeks ago.

Family Vacation. We went to Seattle for a few days, and then to Olympia for Deb & Dad to run their marathon. It was good, relaxing time with the family. I love that we still get to go on family vacation!

Deborah , Rebekah & me and a restaraunt our first day there.

Rebekah, Mom & Deb in the car on the way to Whidbey Island.

Pike's Market - so fun to walk around. Fresh fruit, flowers & fish everywhere!

Deborah & Dad finishing the marathon. Mom & I ran the 5 mile and then headed to cheer them on for the rest of their race. They did a great job!

25th Birthday

I had the greatest birthday week ever. It started Tuesday night with Julia & LB. They were leaving for a conference on Wednesday, so that had a birthday party with red velvet cake for me. Then Wednesday night my girls had a birthday party for me at small group. They had a beautiful cake for me and cards. I got several gift cards, which was so great.

Friday on my actual birthday, I went to Starbucks and used one of my gift cards then went to work for the morning. When I got there, Lindsey & Shawn had left a poster on my door. I went to lunch with my team at work, then I took the afternoon off and made some returns at the mall. We went to dinner that night at Gloria's with a bunch of friends and then to see In The Land of Women. It was really a great birthday. Here's some pictures from dinner:

Me & Michelle

Mallory, Linds, Amy, Me

Laura, Crystal & Shawn

Stephanie & Me

The Zoo Run Run is next weekend...I ran 6 miles yesterday...my longest yet!

Social Stretching

Lately, my goal has been to widen my social circle a little bit. I have fabulous friends, but several of the friends that I spend the most time with are going to be leaving Dallas in the next year, and I've realized that I need to branch out and really get to know some of the super fun people around me! SO, this weekend I practiced :)

Friday night I went to dinner with Shawn & some of her other friends from her Brazil trip. I wasn't really sure at first if I was very excited about hanging out with all new people, but it really ended up being super fun. I went home and iced my shin splints (I'll get back to that later) and went to bed to be ready for my run Saturday morning.

Saturday I took my 7th grade girls to the mall, and I think that was some social awkwardness of its own. They are all SO different and approach shopping in such different ways. One of them is an extreme shopper - we'll call her A. The last time I went to the mall with A she had her dad's credit card, and I can't tell you how many bags she walked out of the mall with! So, she was my real shopper. Girl M can only spend her own money at the mall, so she was very serious about debating her purchases. M didn't end up buying anything at all. The last girl, T, that went with us doesn't go shopping a whole lot. T had money for the day, but thought everything was too expensive and only ended up buying a present for her sister's birthday. It was absolutely amazing to watch these three very different girls approach the mall in their own way.

Sunday I went to church, then did a little room cleaning and catching up. Later in the afternoon I had Pokey-O's with some girls from church. It was so fun - we just sat outside and talked and ate our delicious homemade ice cream sandwiches. After that I met up with Sarah & Michelle because Michelle's sister was in town. We got to meet her sister for the first time and her boyfriend for the first time. We ended up going to Chuy's (one of my favorites) and talking for a long time. It was so good to meet both of these important people in Michelle's life!

Still training for the 10K. I got shin splints this week, which were SO painful. Really, not anything I want to experience again. It looks like I'll be running on the treadmill for most of this week - we're supposed to get rained on all week. I'm hoping it will clear up before I run 4 miles on Saturday!!

Nashville

Last weekend was my trip to Nashville and it was so much fun! Friday night when I got to Nashville Nat & Em picked me up and we went grocery shopping so that we could cook dinner at their apartment. It was great fun hanging out and catching up in person with those girls.

Saturday morning we woke up for a run in Percy Warner park, which ended up being more of a walk for me because it was so hilly, and I'm not in that kind of running shape yet! Then I got to meet child genius Wilson, Emily's nephew. He was SO adorable!! After that we made our way to downtown Franklin to meet Cos for lunch and ended up catching an Irish festival while we were there. Saturday night we went to dinner with some of their friends and Valerie, then headed downtown to the Stage where we heard some fabulous live music.

Nat, Em & me at The Stage

The Band LOVED Natalie!

Sunday I went to church with Natalie & Valerie. I helped Nat with the 4 & 5 year olds. I'd forgotten how much fun kids that age are - they warm up to you so fast and want to be your friend. So fun! After church we went to Emily's parents house for lunch and not long after that it was back to the airport. It was an absolutely amazing weekend, and I can't wait to go back in August for Em's birthday celebration!

I've decided to run a 10K with my friend Lisa. I can't believe I'm actually running. My parents are in town this weekend and Dad took my to the running store to get fitting for shoes tonight AND he payed for them. We are running the Zoo Run Run in Fort Worth April 28th. I'm really excited, but I'm scared that I won't be able to do it!

Vacation Here I Come!

I leave for Nashville tomorrow!!!!!! I have been looking forward to going to Nashville for so long - and I'm finally going! Hooray for free Southwest tickets! Nat emailed me today with our plans for the weekend - I can hardly concentrate sitting at my desk today :) I'm more excited about just hanging out with my girls than anything else!

Last night at small group we finished our talks about sex, and it was actually one of the best small groups we've had in a LONG time! The girls were so great about talking about boundaries and just everything. It was great to hear 7th grade innocence. One of my sweet girls said she didn't think she would even hold hands with a boy in high school. I absolutely love where they are right now, and I just want to keep them like this. I tried to tell them realisticly that they have to set standards, and let other people know exactly what those standards are, so that before they are ever in a compromising situation with a boy, they will have people will hold them accountable to their standards. I think it's hard to comprehend when you don't even want to hold hands with a boy! I'm sure this is a topic we'll revisit in a year or two!

Anyway - I'll give a full report on Nashville when I get back!!