Six Years

Earlier this month Michael and I celebrated Six Years of Marriage, though I've loved him for far longer.

We met in college, introduced through my brother-in-law-to-be and sister who were engaged at the time. We both were attendants in their wedding, but it was a whole year later before we started dating.

I had this huge crush on him. And I thought crushes were silly things for high school girls, not for college seniors. But he was just something special, something so different. He is still the most considerate, patient, kind man I know, and I couldn't help but want that in my life.

Super Bowl Sunday 2000 I told my sister Angie that I can't do it anymore. I couldn't keep pining over him. Ironically, that same night he walked me to my snowy car and helped me brush and scrape the windshield and asked me out to dinner. He has this adorable side-smirk-smile-thing that I love, and I can still picture it on that day.

We went out on Tuesday. To dinner at a small steakhouse called Malone's. I don't remember what I wore. I don't remember what he wore, save for his overcoat with what I called Paddington-Bear buttons. He picked me up and dropped me home, and didn't kiss me goodnight. A gentleman. And I was crazy for him.

This was special. This was different. This was big. Within a week I knew I was a lost cause, and six weeks later I was about to explode from not telling him the "L-word". We were in Ft Lauderdale, Spring Break, sitting on the beach after dinner, and I told him I love him. And he loved me, too.

Graduation, summer, flowers on my windshield, meeting families, etc., but by Christmas Michael decided to move to Hawaii to experience that adventure while he could. And I let him go. He left before New Year's, and we continued long-distance. I visited in April, and he came back for a wedding in October. Beyond that, I couldn't make sense of where this was going, and I broke it off and broke his heart.

We didn't talk for most of 2002, but occasionally I would hear from his roommate, and I was glad for the connection. As long as I had something connected to him, I felt like we still had a chance. I couldn't lose connection altogether.

In the spring of 2003 we had our first phone conversation. I was so nervous and so elated and we talked for a very long time. The calls became more frequent, and one morning he called me to say he'd booked me tickets to Vegas the next day! I was going to crash his brother's bachelor party, or he was going to ditch it, or whatever. I have never done something so impulsive, but the next day I was on the longest flight to Nevada with butterflies in my stomach. I remember waiting to see him for that first time again (and I remember what I was wearing this time) and the elevator opened and there he was. And my suitcase got caught in the door and I had quite the non-elegant, very nervous entry back into his life.

Two days later I flew home. And I knew I had never stopped loving him.

That summer my parents and I were headed to England and Scotland for a vacation. Michael, as fate would have it, was headed to France and Spain himself. We coordinated itineraries and he met us in London. Then we took the Chunnel to Paris for July 4th weekend. Sitting at the outdoor cafe Le Suffren, just blocks from the Eiffel Tower and the start of the Tour de France, he told me He Loves Me and wants to move to Florida to be with me. I couldn't stop smiling.

Sixteen months later he wrote me the most beautiful hand-written love note, placed it in a bottle on the beach, and proposed at sunrise by the surf.

Seventeen months later we married. Nearly four years after that Adam was born.

Six years. A lifetime ahead. Oh, what a life.

It's a Kite!

Last weekend we checked out the local annual Kite Festival. It was wonderful to see so many families out with their picnic lunches and flying their own kites. There was even an exposition of professional kite flyers with "routines" set to music. I had no idea there were professional "pilots" but they were really amazing to watch. 

As we walked to the event, Adam kept pointing and exclaiming, "A kite! Another kite!"

The "open flying zone" for the amateurs.

Two pros flying in tandem.

Really big kites.

Performance by the Chicago Fire Kite Team.

We love checking out these local events and festivals and look forward to a summer full of them, and we were glad to share the afternoon with Michael's sister Amy and family. More cousin time!

Easter Sunday, in pictures

Outdoor Easter service at a local cemetery. The dogwoods were in bloom and the sun even came out.

Easter Basket and Egg Hunt in the backyard.

Easter Brunch with my parents.

Visit with Michael's Grandmother.

Family Gathering at Scott & Amy's house, with all the cousins.

Another Easter Egg Hunt.

Easter Dinner.

A Good Day. He is Risen, Indeed! 

Krohn Conservatory

We hosted my parents Easter Weekend and loved being about to be out of the house and show them (and us) a little more of Cincinnati. And Adam LOVED having them here and getting to ride in Grampa's Truck.

We spent Easter Saturday at the Krohn Conservatory in Eden Park. I had been there before when Michael and I were dating but that was years ago. The Conservatory has several large greenhouses showcasing various foliage in different climates, and it makes for a lovely couple of hours to wander through and discover new plants and flowers.

And at places like this I get caught up in photographing the flowers. Four years ago on our trip to Panama I took loads of flower photos with the intent on framing the lovely exotic blossoms in some sort of collage in our home. I never did, but that's to say I never will. :) Here are a few I captured this day:

This Powderpuff tree was my favorite.

From the Conservatory we walked down to one of the lookouts at Eden Park and had a whole view of the river and Kentucky. And amazingly I didn't take a single photo of the view from here, or the view from Mt Adams where we had lunch, but I'm sure we'll be back.

Biggest Loser: FINAL RESULTS!

This was over weeks ago, so I apologize for the late post!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We did it! We made it to the end of the 10 week challenge, and we're all much smaller and hopefully healthier because of it! I didn't get around to updating you on Week 9 way back when, but that's old news now that the final weigh-ins are complete. And the winner is
.
.
.
 drumroll please
.
.
.
Michael!


I know, no shocker there. But if you haven't seen him lately, you should. He lost 43 pounds (17.75% of himself!) and man, does he look awesome! I'm so proud of him, especially since his last two weeks were spent abroad on a work trip, trying to squeeze in time for workouts and disciplining himself at 5-course dinners.

Josh Van and Josh M. both lost over 10% of themselves as well. Fantastic job, guys!

Angie was the biggest loser girl with a near 10% loss for her. She's been so great at keeping with her training for this summer's half Ironman she has planned. She's going to rock it! So proud of you, Ang!

As for me, I lost 8.3%, which I'm happy about. While I didn't end at my lowest point of the competition, I am still pleased with my 12 lb loss, especially since I had hoped for 10 lbs in the beginning. I have to admit, though, that I've fallen out of the workout habit while Michael was away, and I need to get back on it.

Overall, we did learn a few lessons:
- Most food has more calories than you think it does
- Portion control is so important
- Reading nutritional labels is key... and not so scary
- Calorie-tracking applications really do help keep you accountable for your food intake
- A 3-mile run doesn't burn enough calories to cover a Whopper Jr.

And to see the results, here are some before and after pictures. The Before shots were taken about 3 weeks in, so apparently we must have looked even worse than this!

Spring Break in Ohio

Last week my nephews were on Spring Break and came along with Gramma and Grampa for a short visit. They were only here a couple nights but we tried to make the most of it and check out some area attractions that even we haven't been to yet.

But First, we got the week off right by celebrating UK's win over Kansas to become NATIONAL CHAMPIONS for the 8th time!!! They gave us a little scare there at the end, but the late night was worth it (but why, or why do they start the games on a Monday night at 9:30pm??) We have loved being back in Wildcat Country for this basketball season!!


EnterTrainment Junction
For all you train enthusiasts out there, have we the place for you. EnterTrainment Junction is home to the world's largest indoor model train display. Adam was fascinated by all the trains appearing and disappearing in the tunnels, and the boys had a great time exploring the miniature towns looking for items on their scavenger hunt list. I was amazed by all the tiny details that could be seen through the windows of the buildings.

The place was much more expansive than I expected. The train display is massive with displays in chronological order from the start of the rail system to modern day, complete with subways. There is also a train play area midway through, a large train hobby shop (Kim, be forewarned of the Thomas merchandise!) and then a separate Fun House that the older boys really enjoyed.

Sharon Woods Park
After lunch and Adam's nap we just had to get outside in the beautiful weather. While the playgrounds were lots of fun, everyone enjoyed playing in the waterfall the most. It was a fun afternoon -- we just wished we'd packed a picnic dinner. Great park!

Slow and Sweaty

Last weekend I teamed up with my sisters for the Run The Bluegrass Half Marathon relay. While 4 people (we had a friend, too) may normally be a little overkill for only 13 miles, this course was the exception. Set in Lexington around Keeneland race track and private horse farms, this race may have been the most beautiful course I've ever been on. Beautiful homes, blooming trees, horses running on the fields, and rolling hills (beautiful but brutal!).

I was given the last leg of the race, which made for a lot of sitting around and waiting. My shuttle didn't even take me to my checkpoint until 45 minutes after the start of the race, and while it was warm enough to run, it was not warm enough to stand around and wait. That was a misjudgment on my part, and I would have benefited from hanging on to my long-sleeve shirt for the 90+ minute wait for my leg.

I was dropped off at my aid station and the main goal was to warm up and stay warm. This is challenging, though, because of the narrow roads. There was no good place for me to run and still have a good view of the course to look for my runner. While I had a rough idea of when Angie started Leg 3 (thank goodness for race day texting!) I didn't want to stray too far and risk keeping her waiting and wondering. And, with the fore-mentioned hills, the course visibility was pretty short, so I didn't see her until she was about 40 yards out.

I'll say it's pretty exciting to see people you know running! We also had our friend Rich, brother in law Josh (on a relay with friends) and Michael. When I saw Angie coming down the hill, I sure hoped she was boosted by seeing me, too. I took the wrist band from her and set off on my 3.75 mile run... pretty much straight uphill to start.

I didn't keep track of how many hills, but once you got up one, there was a lovely downhill before the next incline. The last mile was about three continuous hills with a quick plateau before finally making it to the top and then down to the finish.

I'll have to say, I'm quite proud of how well I'm adjusting to the hilly terrain around. They are still not fun, but at least I'm not huffing and puffing my way up them as much as I used to. I have no idea what my pace or what I ran the leg in as I forgot to start my watch and assumed that there would be timing mats at each leg (there weren't). But, overall, it was a PR half marathon for me! :)  Haha, not sure that counts, but we did finish in 2:13:51!

From post-race accounts, there was no easy leg. All of them were pretty brutal, ranging from 2.75 miles to 3.75 miles. (As my sister exclaimed, Holy Hills, Batman!) It sure felt like I had run longer than just the nearly 4 miles, and both my sisters did run longer than their leg. Kim ran her 2nd leg and continued to the finish and Angie ran leg 3 and also 4, just to get in additional training. I sure wish I had as much motivation as those two!

Michael impressed me with how well he did with only training up to 8 miles or so. He looked great across the finish, and it was fun to cheer him on, too.

I think relays are great fun, and I would love to do a 2-person Half some time, if we can find one. A 10k is a great, easy distance to train for.

Oh, and our team name (by Kim) was Slow and Sweaty, so I whipped up a quick and simple design and we made tshirts. Thanks, Carren, for doing that for us!