10 years

It was about 8:30 pm on April 30, 2002 when I got the call. After endless chemo treatments, radiation, and doctor visits, Kerri had passed away.

Kerri and I met through our church youth group. She was always someone you could depend on to give you a laugh if you needed one. Her faith, even at 18 was something I still admire to this day. She was an awesome basketball player and a great friend.

I remember the day before Kerri's first appointment. She has been playing basketball and thought she has just tweaked her shoulder. However this particular Sunday she was never pus about her appt because basketball had been over for a few weeks and she was still have shoulder pain. That next day is when she got the news that she had Osteosarcoma- bone cancer.

To this day, St. Jude's has a special place in my heart. For my non-catholic friends, St Jude is the patron saint of hopeless cases. St Jude's Hospital is where Kerri had all of her treatments. While she was one of the older patients there, she was an inspiration to so many. I can't watch the St Jude's specials or telethons without thinking about Kerri, and normally without crying.

One of the reasons I wanted to get married at St Jude's Catholic church was because of Kerri. Yes, it was Robert's church growing up but I have always loved that it is St Jude's.

I cannot believe it's been 10 years since Kerri died. But I am so incredibly thankful that I was able to know her for as long as I did.

Just say no...

I despise Valentine's Day.  Robert and I have a strict policy that we don't celebrate this holiday.  In my opinion if you love someone you should tell them everyday and not because hallmark/dove/ftd florist tells you to.  If you want to do something special, do it any other day because that shows me you really care.  The first year that Robert and I were dating and this holiday rolled around I told him of my hate for it and that I don't celebrate the holiday.  He thought it was a trick so he cooked me dinner, under my protest.  

Call me a scrooge of this holiday, but I can't stand it!  Am I alone in this one?

Good bye 2011

Like every year, you have to take the good with the bad.  It just so happens that our bad has to do with Robert's employment status.  We are both hoping that 2012 is a better year!

The Good:
- Auburn winning the National Championship
- Running 2 half marathons
- Week spent at St Simons Island
- Spending Thanksgiving with the in-laws
- Spending Christmas with my family
- Getting to see both my brother and sister in law (although separately)who live in WA
- Celebrating 1 year of marriage
- Births of 2 babies to some of our good friends

The Bad:
- Robert being offered 3 jobs, taking the 1 he liked the most only to find out a week later the position has been put on hold as they review the department
- Following up on the other 2 offers to find out they have already moved on 
- 18 months of unemployment, and counting
- Deaths of Robert's grandmother and good friend from growing up

Yes, Robert got 3 job offers in December and he was really excited about them.  2 involved more of a learning curve and travel and 1 was similar to what he was doing in his previous job.  He choose the one that was similar to his previous job and submitted his paperwork for a background check the week before Christmas.  Last week he found out that they brought in analysts to see if the department was running efficiently and that all hiring was on hold until further notice.  Hopefully they are running efficiently, but at this point it's 50/50.  
 

1/2 Marathon in Review- 2 months late

I had actually written this post the week after completing the race, but apparently never posted- better late than never, right?  

I completed my second 1/2 marathon on Thanksgiving morning!  While I was hoping to do 2:05 or better, I did have PR by almost 2 minutes from my last run.

Carb loading:  Wednesday night Robert and I decided to go eat Mexican food instead of the "typical" pasta meal.  I figured I should be ok if I stuck to chicken tacos and didn't go crazy on the salsa, and of course passed on the beer!  My meal choice worked out well-I've read that you shouldn't eat anything you haven't done a long run on before.  With our frequent trips to Taxco and my running schedule lately, I was fairly certain I should be fine.

Morning meal:  Like my last 1/2, my pre-race meal was 2 pieces of bread with peanut butter and half of a powerade zero.  I started hydrating on Monday, making sure to drink as much water or powerade zero as possible-but I also knew I needed to drink something before.  There is a fine balance with this because if I drank too much it was going to require a potty break, and I really didn't want to add time waiting in a line on the course.

Pre-race:  The race started just outside of Turner Field, so I had Robert drop me off as close as possible and then I made my way to my corral.  Since it was a tad chilly to actually stand in the cold, Robert dropped me off and then went to work out, and came back in time to see me near the finish line.  It was about 40 degrees when the first wave started at 7:30 but it turned out to be ideal running weather.

Course:  If you are familiar with Atlanta at all, you know that it is deceivingly hilly.  We did a loop through the city, going past the CNN center over to Northside Drive, through Atlantic Station, over to Piedmont Park, then up and down Juniper (more on that later), near the MLK memorial, past Oakland Cemetery, and then around the Capital Building, back to Turner Field.  The first quarter of a mile was up hill, but I ended up not minding as much when I was running down that hill at the finish.  I was actually on pace to do 2:05 or better up until mile 9, which is around the time of Juniper.  It was a lot of rolling hills until the end.  This is also where my back started hurting.  My back hurt a little in the 1/2 back in March, but I was either able to work past it or it went away.  This time around, it came and only got worse.  I was so close to walking at a few points, but I knew I had already slowed down so much that if I walked I would risk not getting a PR.

I told Robert he was at the perfect location on the course.  He was about a quarter of a mile from the finish line, at the top of a hill and right before the downhill portion to the finish line.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to find him, but he was like a light at the end of a tunnel.  I ran over towards him so he could take a picture (my Mom's request), and then picked up the pace until the finish.

There weren't nearly as many people out on the course this time around, which wasn't surprising since it was Thanksgiving morning.  But I was able to get a good chuckle out of one of the signs someone had around Atlantic Station, it was "Worst Parade Ever."

After the race Robert and I headed home to relax for a few hours before heading up to my in-laws house for Thanksgiving.  Overall it was a good day, and it totally made the huge plate of food I ate for dinner worth it (though I was proud I didn't go back for seconds).