A Whole New Experience.....

The pool opened today and of course we had to check it out!!

Well, today is "Carb Day" at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, this is actually my most favorite day of the whole weekend and I am very sad to say that I am sitting at my desk at work instead of in the grand stands! This year is most definitely proving to be a bit different. Chuck is actually at Carb day but he was entertaining clients for work, definitely a different perspective for him. I think he is still managing to enjoy himself and got to see TK's car (my personal favorite) close up!I actually made it over to the speedway bright and early this morning. My company actually has a suite on race day and I had to head over to pick up a couple extra suit passes. I thought by getting there early I could get in and out of Speedway quickly, unfortunately I ended up sitting in traffic and actually sitting at the same intersection FOREVER.....um..please notice the green lights that are pointing at me telling me to GOOOO!
My mom is coming in town tonight, she will be hanging out with Hannah tomorrow and Sunday while Chuck and I are at the race...thanks mom!! On a side note...check out this post to see what I did this weekend last year!
Hope everyone has a fun Memorial Day Weekend!

Looks like Hannah might be taking after Aunt Amy....look at those shoes!!

Look at the pretty sign Hannah and Daddy made for me today!!


Well, the results from the Geist Half Marathon are in and they aren't exactly what I was hoping for, but I did it, I did it on my own and it is over! I woke up to a balmy 60 degrees, Ashley picked me up about 6 am and we headed to the starting line. I will spare you all the exciting details, I can tell you that I knew by mile 2 that this was not going to be a good race, but I can also tell you that I had a couple of the best spectators a mom could ask for.....



Ashley did awesome today, Congrats Ash!!
AWWWW...Hannah giving Momma a "Good Job" kiss!!




On a side note...Hannah turned 18 months old today!! Where has the time gone???

Pictures, compliments of Aunt Amy....

I am running another mini.....next weekend! I signed up for the Geist Half Marathon on May 22nd! Chuck has done this half marathon before, 2 years ago when I was pregnant with Hannah, but after running the Indianapolis Mini Marathon pregnant that year I vowed to never run a mini again while I was pregnant!

So it will be just me and my ipod for 13.1 miles and I am really nervous about it....this will be the first mini marathon I have run without Chuck, it is also the first time running a mini marathon that is not the Indianapolis Mini Marathon! Chuck said that he and Hannah would be happy to come cheer me on, it will be so great to have them on the sidelines and now that we live in "the burbs" this marathon is practically in my back yard! So instead of being in recovery mode this week I am tapering, hopefully so I can at least have the same time as last weekend if not better! Cross your fingers for me....

Just a couple quick recent videos of Hannah....

Well, it was a VERY busy but VERY fun weekend.

Let's start from the beggining. I met Ashley at her place after work on Friday to head down to the expo and pick up our bib numbers and other goodies. Downtown was packed and I have to say that the expo was a bit of a disappointment, but we did make it down there and back before the storms hit. When I got home Chuck, Hannah, Mom and I all sat down to have our traditional spaghetti dinner then it was early to bed for all of us. Unfortunately, the night before things like this I have trouble falling asleep and I was up way too late! Anyways, the alarm went off at 4:45 and Chuck and I just laid there listening to the wind howling outside, when the news finally came on we learned that the temperatures would not be above 50 and that we could be running in wind gusts up to 20 mph, Sweet!! So after trying to figure out what we should wear and making a couple PB & Banana sandwiches we picked Ashley up and headed downtown.

Once we got downtown we stretched, put our bib numbers on and headed to our corrals to wait for the start, it was FREEEZING, but iat least in the corrals we were protected from the wind! The Indianapolis Mini Marathon is a HUGE race, we started in corral I, so it took us 8 or 9 minutes to get to the starting line then the first mile is always long because there are just so many people. Our first mile was rough, both Chuck and I were cold and stiff from standing around, the wind was at our faces and there were just so many people, it took us 10:13 to see the first mile marker!!! After that the crowd thinned out a bit and we started loosening up, I think both of us felt great and the miles were flying by. It really wasn't until mile 10 that both of us started feeling a bit sluggish, our legs were just getting heavy, but at mile 10 you only have 3 more miles to go, and that is what we kept telling ourselves. Chuck is a wonderful running partner, even when he could use a little encouragement himself he can always remind me of the chocolate chip cookie waiting for me at the finish line (yes I look forward to the crappy chocolate chip cookies that they hand out at then end!).

Even with the wind and the chilly temps, Chuck and I had a great race, we finished in 2:07:56, which happens to be a personal best for me. So I still haven't done it in under 2 hours, but we did beat last years time by 10 minutes (although last year was just a complete bust all around), and we had a great time.

Here are our times for all 7 Indianapolis Mini Marathons!
2010 2:07:56
2009 2:17:56
2008 2:16:52
2007 2:13:02
2006 2:17:25
2005 2:28:08
2004 2:32:27

The rest of the weekend flew by, we spent it hanging out with family and friends, doing yard work and celebrating Mother's Day! Can't wait for next year.....

Well, it is almost here, Indianapolis Mini Marathon weekend!!! Chuck and I have been running this mini since 2004, but it is still a weekend that we look forward to every single year!! Not only is it something that we spend time training for (time that is getting harder and harder to find) but it also kicks off the month of May which is Chuck's most favorite month of the year!

On a side note...look at this cutey before daycare this morning....

Looks like Hannah has been training for the mini too!!

I couldn't believe she left this in all the way to daycare this morning!!!

Well, nothing like hosting a shower and the "annual derby party" to get a new home whipped into shape! Saturday morning we woke up to a humid, not so pretty morning, but regardless, it was a day full of showers, parties and a tons of fun!
First we started with a fun shower for Steph! While we partied "girl style" the boys headed to Sun King Brewery! I wish I had taken a picture of all the growlers we ended up with!! Lots of old friends showed up for the bridal shower, Stephanie ended up with a ton of great stuff and was able to catch up with people she hadn't seen in a long time!

Next up... The annual Derby Party, the one we host every year, normally held the same weekend as the mini marathon but for some reason the mini is a weekend later this year. Since the mini was a week later, we were missing a few "regulars" that were greatly missed! Nonetheless, we still managed to have a great time and lots of great company!

Look at this cute little guy! Talk about a sweetheart!

He wasn't the only cute little guy in attendance...look at these two!!

It was nice to have so many friends and family in one spot....as the day went on the weather improved and Hannah had a ton of people toplay with who were much more fun then Mommy and Daddy!!

Aunt Stephanie is awesome at swing pushing!!

And apparently Uncle Dave and Ben can juggle, who knew???!?!?Instead of settling down at the end of the evening, hockey was on and even Hannah was getting angry at the Blackhawks! It was a great weekend and we are so sad it is over! Next up...mini marathon and Ball State Graduation weekend!! Congratulations Aunt Amy!!!