I love my fiancé

I can't wait to marry this man.

Thanksgiving

Despite the fact that Thanksgiving is tomorrow, I am going to go ahead and list things I'm thankful for tonight.

I'm thankful for:

*God's love, forgiveness, and provision. He has blessed me in ways I could have never imagined (most of which will be listed below). We have really felt His hand in our engagement and wedding planning as we've been able to get everything together so quickly and perfectly.

* My amazing and perfect-for-me fiance. Stephen is truly a gift from God and I am so excited to see how our lives will continue to be woven together when we become husband and wife. I can't wait to start our own family traditions for the holidays and to see where God takes our lives. The next year or so is going to be full of changes and adventures and I'm looking forward to taking them on together!

* My family- they're the best. Yeah, we don't all live close by and we don't see each other as often as we'd all like, but they are a blessing. All of them. We've expanded in the past year and will continue to do so as we get older and get married and start new branches of the family tree. I can't wait to see them all at our wedding!

*My new family- The Rabons. So we're not legally family yet, but I'm marrying into a family full of wonderful people who have raised Stephen to be the man he is and the man I love. I don't get to see them often, but I look forward to spending lots of time together in the future as our families join together to be one big family.

*My friends (aka the family by bonds instead of blood)- I have incredible friends. And the amazing thing about my friends is that I know I can count on all of them no matter what the situation whether I have known them for a year or 10 years. I can't wait to get us all together for the fantasy football party and the wedding... it's going to be so much fun. I'm so glad everyone gets along because I love having everyone in one place!

*My job- during a time when a lot of people are losing or have lost their jobs, I don't take for granted the fact that I am still gainfully employed. And I enjoy my job- I work in a ministry that "trains up children in the way they should go..." and I have some really great co-workers.

*That I live in the land of the free because of the brave-- I am so thankful that there are men and women in uniform who are out there serving the rest of us with such dedication and sacrificing time with their own families.

And now for the little things/ superficial things (in no particular order):

Running at a beautiful park, puppies (Paco might be a daddy again soon!) , Mom's home cooking for a few more months, Facebook- it keeps me in contact with friends and family who live far away, Chipotle- without which Stephen might never eat, laughing until I cry, our incredible engagement pictures (see below), cool toys like my iPhone and Nike+, Book Club, random balloon/Lego rescue missions at the Nugget, my car for having the soul of a monster truck in the body of a Corolla, Stephen's blanket- it's so warm and cozy, Glee, The Big Bang Theory, Chuck, and Lost, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Okay, so maybe not that last one, but the list could go on.

Here are a few of our amazing engagement pictures, taken by Charlotte Geary.






New Totals:
Since October 20: 37.7 miles
Since April 10: 132.08 miles

I've got a Turkey Day running date with Sandi tomorrow while the boys play basketball and Jack cheers them on. Should be a great start to a day filled with family and food! :)

Exciting Stuff

Exciting things have been happening on both of the major fronts that I write about:

Wedding:

-We got our amazing engagement pictures in! Oh, they are so great and I love them so much! They can be seen here: Charlotte Geary Online Gallery
-I tried on my dress with my slip and shoes and it was great. It had been so long since I'd had it on that it was like having that "oh wow" moment all over again. Plus, I remembered the earrings that I borrowed from Gram for prom and tried them on with the dress, so assuming that I don't find anything else that I simply must have, I have earrings.
-We've picked out some Save the Dates, so once we get the high-res files from Charlotte of the two pictures to go on them, we'll be able to order them and send them out.
-We have an officiant!! Mitch Ady called last night and said that he would marry us! We're both very excited about this and now we just need to set up our premarital counseling and we'll be set to go on that front.
-Sandi and Jen Mumaw both ordered their dresses in the last week, so I'm very excited about that. I can't wait to see Jen's in person and Sandi's is awesome. We had a lot of fun in Roseville picking it out and getting Mom and I some shoes :) I'm beginning to think that the "getaway" dress will be a honeymoon dress. We're literally going to be driving down the street to our hotel, is it really worth changing for a 5 minute drive? Plus, I can always send my dress back down to Vacaville with Mom or someone the next day. No big deal.
- We booked our flights to and from Hawaii for our honeymoon! We also rented a convertible Mustang to cruise the island in! It's going to be so much fun. We'll be living large for a week and I couldn't be more excited.


Running:
Since the last update, I hit a new low for average pace: 11:38/mi. I hit it yesterday. The crazy thing was that I didn't feel like I was doing that well (I think the cold weather and wind makes me feel like I'm going slower) but when I ran up to Stephen and looked at my iPod, there it was.

-I'm about 31 miles away from reaching Nike Level Green, which means that I will soon have passed through the first two levels (yellow and orange).
- I finished my goal of 5 runs under 12:20 in a month. It only took me 11 days. I really thought that I wouldn't be able to do it, or would cut it very close, but I continue to do better than I think I can. That's refreshing.
- On the Run Across America challenge, I have just entered Mount Pleasant, Washington. :)

New Totals:
Since October 20: 29.27 miles
Since April 10: 123.62 miles

I recently finished the second novel that my friend Nikki wrote and now have in my possession her first. I'm quite excited to read it!

I'm so excited about the Holidays this year... and I think that's mainly because I know that next year will be the first set that Stephen and I are married!!

The way you walk, way you talk, way you say my name It's beautiful, wonderful, don't you ever change

After taking off Thursday-Monday from running (in part because I was in Colorado Fri-Sun), I wasn't sure how today's run was going to go. It was pretty chilly when I left work and rather overcast, so I wasn't really feeling like it was going to go that well. However, once I started going, it actually felt like it was coming naturally to me. For the first time. I had some good runs in the past, but it never felt like this before. It was really amazing to feel like I actually knew what I was doing! I'm sure that it may not always feel that way and that I'll have some runs that aren't as great, but tonight, I felt like a runner. Running for Mortals really stresses the point that no matter what your body is shaped like (thin, muscular, and sleek like the runners in the Olympics or slow with more to love like us mortals) or what your time/distance is- if you're out there doing it, you're a runner. And today I really felt like it. I felt like little old me with my love handles and all was actually an athlete. I'm telling you, that book is a great read! I've read it twice and both times I felt like I gained a lot. So, without further ado, a picture of my iPod that I took while at a stop light showing the fruit of my labor:


I finally broke the 12 minute average mile time mark!!
I'm really proud and I was so pumped afterward. :)

My new totals are:
Since Oct 20: 22.94 miles
Since April 10: 117.29 miles

Our trip to Colorado was really great. Super quick turn around so it was slightly exhausting, but Brandon was an excellent host, I got to meet some of Stephen's fantasy football friends, and, of course, we took our engagement pictures! Charlotte is just awesome. We had such a great time and minus my brief fall down the mountain (haha), everything was really fun! Plus Charlotte said that we should be able to view our portraits tomorrow, so I'm pretty much dying to see them! Having worked with Charlotte for this affirmed our decision that she is definitely the photographer for us. She's super sweet, fun, easy going, not afraid to get dirty and very very talented! I'm looking forward to having her take our wedding pictures in April even more now.

Once I get a link to our online gallery, I'll be sure to post it here and on Facebook so that all parties involved can see them!!

Quick Update

Writing this on my phone so I am going to keep it brief.

My shoes for the wedding came today and they are even better than I thought they would be. I love them so much! Pictures will be forthcoming when I have a bit more time.

New running totals:
Since Restart: 20.85 miles
Since April: 115.20 miles

Taking the next four days off for the trip to Colorado. When I return, I will probably have to join a gym so that I can continue to run over the winter months when darkness and bad weather get in the way of my plans. I'd much rather run outside than on a treadmill, but considering there is only 30 minutes on either side of work that is light out, I'll probably have to cave.

The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.

The above title is a quote from John "The Penguin" Bingham. He's a columnist for Runner's World Magazine and co-authored the book I'm currently reading, "Running for Mortals." I actually read it once already the first time I was attempting the running thing, but felt that it would be just as valuable a read as before. And it has been. The book is encouraging and inspiring to a novice runner who isn't full of confidence. It's great. It's got some humor and some real down to earth writing that doesn't come from a position of expertise in a sense that he is better than you. Instead it comes from someone who has been where you are. It's a good read.

I'm taking on a new challenge- running two days on, one day off. I ran yesterday with Stephen (playing basketball) and today with Sandi. My legs are sore and I'm very much looking forward to a day off tomorrow. But both runs were decent and they both ended with a feeling of accomplishment. I had some right calf pain both days- I think I just need to stretch it out better/more and I'll be fine. Morning runs are nice (Saturday was around 11 and today at 8am) because you get to start your day off with some activity and increased energy. Evening runs are also nice because you get to work off the day and have the time to think and clear your head from the work day. Due to the daylight savings time change, I'm not sure when I'll have light to run. I'm going to have to pay close attention tomorrow as to when the sun comes up/goes down to plan my course of action.

Our trip to Colorado this weekend is also going to throw off the running schedule. I'll run Tuesday and Wednesday, with a break on Thursday. I would be running Friday and Saturday but we leave for Colorado Friday and don't return until Sunday so I'll have to adjust for the week and return to steady running next week. After this week, however, I don't have any trips planned to complicate the schedule. I'll still have put in three runs this week before we leave.

Here are the new totals:
Since Restart: 16.65 miles
Since April: 110.99 miles

According to the Across America challenge forums, today I crossed a bridge over the Columbia River. Just 11 more miles until I hit Mount Pleasant, Washington. :)

Other than that, there isn't much other news to report. My sample invitation should arrive any day now and my shoes are supposed to be in on Wednesday. Stephen and I went and visited/ made a payment on our wedding bands and I totally fell in love with mine all over again. It's SO pretty. Debating whether or not to get them soldered together. I don't want to be without my rings for any length of time... but according to online sources they can wear each other down spinning separately. Sigh. I probably will get them soldered, I just need to find out from Shane Co. how long that will take. And decide whether to do it pre-wedding or post-wedding.

Book Club meeting tomorrow night with Sandi and Nikki to discuss "Eat Pray Love." Should be a good time.