The trouble with Facebook.

My story starts a few months ago when Andrew and I decided that we needed to run and went on to decide that if we were going to run we needed a definite goal to work towards or no real running would happen. So, we set out to do the Indian Summer Half Marathon here in TC. Well, we got off to a great start, kept to our schedule, and then...August hit! For me, the month of August compares to getting sucked in face first by a black hole. Come about the second week in September I look at Andrew and wonder..."who is this guy and why is he so nice to me?" Oh yeah oh yeah, I do have a life outside of the fair and this guy is my fiance - cool! Needless to say, our running schedule got a bit derailed thanks to ME, I take full and complete blame for lack of forward motion during August and now into September.

This is where Facebook comes in. It's really easy to show someone website links but simply posting them to their Facebook page. So, I posted a link for the Seattle Half Marathon on Andrew's wall. The problem with that is that it them becomes public information. This is not a good thing! Andrew and I toyed with the idea of running the race and had pretty much settled on being lazy for a big longer and running a race in January instead, and then, Naomi logged on. Naomi being the runner of all runners sees mention of this on Andrew's wall and as it looks on Facebook (let's remember that most of what you see on Fb is lies, all lies!!!) Andrew and I are hoping to run the Seattle Half Marathon and she thinks this is a fabulous idea! Crap. So then she tells us that she had been planning on running it and blah blah blah blah. Can you guess what I did today? Yes that's right, figured out how in the heck I could be ready to run a half marathon in just 10, TEN, short weeks! Andrew doesn't know it yet but here is our training plan for this week, wish us luck!:

Monday, September 21: 40 minute run, easy/moderate

Tuesday, September 22: 40 minute cross train, moderate

Wednesday, September 23: Rest

Thursday, September 24: 40 minute run, moderate

Friday, September 25: 30 minute cross train, moderate

Saturday, September 26: 3 miles, conversational pace

Sunday, September 27: Rest

*Training plan adapted from the book "Marathoning for Mortals" by John Bingham and Jenny Hadfield.

Starting from the top left and moving right, a recap of my summer:

1. Dominic did Mutton Bustin again at the fair, always lots of fun!

2. The fair's second annual fun run, lots of stress but totally worth it! So exciting to see a dream come to life.

3. I got a brand new baby niece, Kira! I'm love her pieces already.

4. Annual camping trip with the Campbell's at Priest Lake. I'm getting better and better at camping.

5. Went to Mt. Rainier for the 4th of July with the girls. So pretty!

6. Amanda and I headed to Seattle to see Kenny Chesney at an amazing concert. I think we were both hoarse the next day from screaming.

7. Dad, Andrew and I took a helicopter ride over the Snake River down at Uncle Gene's. I think that a short ride was long enough for me.

8. Mom and I went to California to see Steph and Ellen. This is a picture of us at Disneyland, it was a great day!

9. Danielle had never been to Canada after living in the NW for almost 6 years - it was time, so again, we went camping. Holy cow, I did a lot of camping this summer. Strange.

10. Mom and I at Dana's graduation party. I love this picture of us. She is such a beautiful woman.

11. Andrew asked if I would marry him. I said yes. :)

12. Because I'm a dork, Dom is on here twice. He's cute, huh?

Summer Started

Summer seems like it has flown by. I wanted to put up a few pictures to highlight some of the events that took place this summer. It was a great summer filled with many blessings, too many apparently to fit into one post. So, here's a look at how my summer started....

My cousin Dana graduated, and became a Coug...

Andrew's cousin Kevin graduated as well and with in a weak moment made a bad choice, he is now a Dawg (bummer).

Mom and I headed to California to spend time with some of our best friends, The Keens. Steph and I of course soaked up our time together.

And oh yeah...on May 21st I got a new ring. :)

Fair Stories...This is mine, what's yours?

Dominic ready to ride his sheep!

Having a fairgrounds packs with animals implies one thing : Flies! Abby, was gracious enough to kill some of those in the office, even if they were sitting on my arm at the time.

I made it! We made it!

We did it, the fair has come and the fair gone. Sitting here on my bed now it feels as if we all stood through a hurricane and are left with the aftermath. The grounds are still covered with remnants but we are left with what is a virtual ghost town, a shadow of what was a bustling festival at this time last week. The office is crammed with leftovers, lost and found, supplies, banners, paperwork and four women tired and busy with wrap up. There are so many things that I love about the fair, among them are:
....the people that come to the fair. They are excited to be there having looked forward to it all year. People that come to the fair are not middle of the road, they are so glad that it's finally fair time again.
....the animals. It took me awhile to finally catch on to the fact that the huge sale that they were doing on Friday ended with all of the animals being sold, not being sold as a pet to another loving home, but that many of them would be bacon before next week. How had I missed this reality? Denial is a powerful defense.
....the mutton bustin. Dominic rode again this year. There is really nothing funnier to me than strapping a small child on to an angry sheep and seeing how things work out. What is up with that? Who came up with this game? Thankfully Dom is a good sport and finds it fun.
....but most of all the thing that I love the most about the fair is the people that I get to work with. There are so many things that are thrown at us during the week that I cannot imagine not having support from the people that I work with. These girls are some of my best friends. To go through a fair together is to understand the good and the bad of each person you're surrounded by. We know each others strengths and weaknesses. We know what makes each other smile and what makes each other bitchy. Thank you girls for making me laugh throughout the week! So many memories were made in the past week.
When I think of the memories that I made in the last week, I like to think about the memories that others made because we put on our fair. What does it mean to have a week of community coming together to share what they are proud of, what they are passionate about, what drives them. We have artists, cowboys, farmers, cooks, bakers, vitners, all coming together to show to others what they are most proud of, to share with others what it is that drives them. I saw a 99 year old gentleman run in a three mile run, running as part of his community. I watched as one of my employees showed her reserved grand champion hog as the two of them won fitting and showing. I saw a young boy donate his sheep to TETWP and raise $12,000 for women in OUR community with breast cancer. I also got to remember the place that started mine and Andrew's story. Every year it's fun to think about the week that I met Andrew and the week that I was given the man I would marry. I wonder how many other stories come from the week of the fair, how many stories begin, end or are made more full because of our humble fair.

Excitement

I am leaving to go to camping with the Campbell crew tomorrow. It's funny because when Andrew first told me that we would be going to camp in the middle of a lake on a small island with no power and even worse....no flush toilets, gasp!. I was totally freaked out, to say the LEAST. I did not grow up in a family of campers. When the rest of the family went camping my parents would get a hotel room, and yes, the apple does not fall far from the tree. However, in the last year or two I am slowly, slowly coming around. I still hate no showers and I still dread port a potties, but I can make do. I have decided that it's worth the dirtiness and bit of discomfort for the beautiful places that I have been able to see thanks to camping. In fact just the other day Andrew's dad Doug started to question my loyalty to our alliance. We joined forces when I first ventured up to the lake with them. I was so relieved to discover that Doug didn't enjoy camping either. He did not squeal at the mention of the A boat, Hill's coffee runs, getting "fresh" and tents. Thank goodness, I was not alone! But now, for good reason, he is worried that I have turned to what we will call the darkness. Yes, sadly, I am on the fence about camping and I'm afraid, about to fall over onto that side that will make me a full fledged happy camper, or at least, less of a bitchy one.
So on to the original intent of my post. I am so excited! I am so ready to head up to the lake for a few days of boating, chatting, reading and relaxing, yes, camping. There I said it, I'm excited to go camping. Although I feel this really strong need to be content today, this minute, here where I am and not miss out on the next two days because I'm constantly looking ahead. Excitement is such a cool thing, but really, for me it can have the power to ruin my present because I'm so busy planning, list-making and checking off, packing, dreaming about the days to come. Especially with the time of year that it is, my job demands that I focus and give it my all for the next few days. This morning when I woke up I was having a rough morning. I was just ready to go straight to vacation, ski pover the next two days and be gone. I went for a run early came back and promptly fell asleep which is not usual. Then I was running late, my hair was terrible, the shirt I put on had a hole in it. Yes, I was ready for vacation. I got in the car and was driving to work, when I heard a song that was telling how Amazing God is in THIS place. I was thinking about the fact that I could easily have missed all that God had planned for me in preparation and work the next few days instead of focusing on where HE is working RIGHT Now. THIS MINUTE. In THIS place.

Give me your best shot

Today we took the day and went down to Uncle Gene's house. Andrew hadn't been down there yet and it had been several years since I had made the trek down the palouse. Dad had told Andrew to pack his clubs so they could practice hitting golf balls into the river. Gene's back yard backs right up to the Snake River and makes an ideal driving range. As soon as we got down there Andrew was scoping it out, he was just sure that he could drive it clear across, something that Dad has only managed once. So after a very eventful day, which included an impromptu helicopter ride, Dad and Andrew headed down to the beach to try their luck. I enjoyed documenting the attempts, quite hilarious actually, as competitive as the two of them are. Unfortunately there was a strong wind blowing right back to the shore keeping their "old balls" just short of the far shore.

Mommy (Sort Of) for a Week

This week my youngest counsin Dominic came to stay with us. My mom being the oldest in her family has taken on the role of amazing aunt/grandmother for this little child. Well, he's not all that little anymore, he's six now and often talks about "when he was a little boy."

It has been fun to have him here this week. It reminds me of how much and how innate the desire is inside of me to be a mother. But, it also reminds me of how far I am from being ready to step up and handle that gift. I have never questioned whether or not I will be a mother, I have known for a long time that was something that was meant to come into my life. However, I view being a mother as a supreme gift as well as the greatest of challenges. I often have irrational worries about my children already...what if they dislike me? what if they don't get along with one another? what if they move across the country and never visit? or write? what if they are sick? what if they are depressed? what if they have problems that I am not able to solve?

All of these seem irrational now and of course, I'll say it, many of these things are inevitable. Right? What about the sleepless nights? what if I never get to nap again, ever? what if I get fat from eating their leftovers? what if? what if? what if?

Or what if, all of these things come and it turns out that I am completely inept at parenting? What if my husband is completely inept at parenting?

However, this week has struck a cord with me. It was funny because the first night he was here Dominic announced that he would be sleeping with me, in my twin bed. Hmmm, okay, although he's rather tall he's also really skinny so I thought maybe this would be fine. However, as soon as we get into bed he lifted up his shirt and asked me to "tickle" his back, which means he wanted to fall asleep while I continued to scratch his back. Must be nice huh? So we both pass out and I wake up the next morning to him giggling in the bathroom doing some sort or male peeing thing in the bathroom at 5 a.m. Apparently there was something hilarious going on that was lost on me. What is it that little boys find so funny about peeing?

Just this morning I woke up to go running with Andrew before work. I crawled out of bed and tried to get past Dominic without him waking up. But of course, he woke up and asked where I was going. When I got back from my run he asked me why I got up so late last night to go running. Ha. He made me feel impressive for getting up "in the middle of the night" to go running.

I had kind of a freak out momen when I was driving home from work on Monday. I was thinking about the fact that he is there when I leave and still waiting for me when I come home. I have to admit that Mom has had the bulk of the time taking care of him this week has given me, for the first time, a real feeling of what it must be like to be a mom.