Category Archives: engaged

Weekend Recap!

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I had the most wonderful weekend ever with my favorite ladies! We went camping (yea, we’re tough), built all our own fires with damp wood and without lighter fluid (except for the last fire and even our kindling was wet!), and went on an amazing hike.

The picture of our feet was on the top of one of the Blue Ridge Mountains last Saturday, about a 1.7m hike up from the parking lot. Since we hiked from our camp site, it was about 5.5 miles round trip. Since it wasn’t a super loooong hike, my friend and I went for a little run up the mountain… I’m guessing it was about a 4 mile run total. Either way, I’m really sore!
Camping with a bunch of girls was such an amazing experience, as we were all out their to prove to our men that we would survive, not starve, and actually sleep well. I can’t speak for the rest of the girls, but I did all three. Quite well. And even got a “I’m proud of you” out of my man for our awesome camping abilities!
Of course, we all missed our guys on the trip and talked non-stop about them… whether married, engaged, or dating.

The second picture is our feet when we had an accidental detour to Colonial Williamsburg as we were looking for a bathroom pit-stop. Of course, none of us complained and bought sandwich at the Cheese Shoppe!

Back to fitness… it was really great to switch up the running and biking and enjoy some hiking. It took us awhile to hike the trail, and I can definitely feel it in my legs today! Tonight I’m going to bike and spend some time in the weight room trying to strengthen my core doing the V-sit and planks… any other ideas to help me strengthen my core?

SHAMROCK RACE!

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I woke up Sunday morning after about 2.5 hrs of sleep because there were gun shots(yes, gun shots) outside our apartment all night. I almost didn’t run in the race because I woke up feeling miserable, but Tyler was so encoraging and supportive, and helped me decide to run! (thanks hunny!)

My goal was to run the first six miles, and then run/walk the rest of the miles because my training had gone so poorly.

Parking for any Boardwalk race is a mess, and yesterday was no exception. The irony of parking in a bank parking lot in the handicap space while running a half marathon kept me smiling until the start! For the first couple miles, Tyler and I were smiling at each other in sheer happiness of being able to run this race.

Because, exactly one year ago, after the Shamrock race (we were running 8k’s back then) he took me to Fort Story and proposed. It was so precious and one of the happiest days of my life!

Back to the race. It was so glorious to run by Fort Story and remember our proposal exactly one year ago… and we actually ran RIGHT by the Lighthouse (on mile 8) that we visted the day he proposed!  The terrain was wonderful, we consistantly run on the boardwalk, so we were used to the route. While we were on base, running by the lighthouse, there was this mommy with two little kids in her stroller that allowed her kids to get out and RUN along side her! This was the most adorable site ever, and I was laughing for the remainder of the mile :) I was truly inspired to keep running. And I did keep running! At each mile marker, I decided to run that mile, and walk the rest. Until I got to mile 11, and then decided I was going to run the WHOLE thing! I’m so glad I did, and I’m so proud of myself!

I set my all time Personal Record yesterday. Not because I did great time, but because this was the FIRST TIME I’D EVER RUN 13.1 MILES! Setting my next PR is going to be easy since I really took it slow and ran it at 11:21 minute miles (according to my tracker), and 11:49 according to the race timer. They are different because I turned off my tracker during our washroom break… because I wanted to know our exact running time.

Seriously, I’ve never been prouder of myself in my whole life. I never thought I’d be able to run STRAIGHT for 13.1 miles, and I DID! I crossed the finish line, strong and feeling good. I’ve never been happier to stop running!

My favorite moments of 2011…

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As our year is ending (in 15 days!) I’ve been thinking my favorite moments of 2011…

March 19, 2011- Our proposal…

Tyler picked me up at about 6:30am Saturday morning for the Shamrock 8k race, which we ran in 53 minutes! He ran along me and encouraged me the whole race, and practically carried me across the finish line. We then got all cleaned up and he took me to Fort Story to see the beautiful lighthouse on the beach. It was a breath-taking view with all the barges merrily floating down the coast. The water couldn’t have been bluer or the sky brighter!
After enjoying the magnificent view from the ancient lighthouse, he suggested we walk down to the beach… which of course I would have suggested had he not. Since it was a little chilly, he offered me his hoodie and we started to wander by the water.

He got kinda quiet, which is slightly unusual… and then started telling me things that he loved about me, how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, and how precious I was to him. I tried to grab him in a hug and tell him the same things, but he pulled back…

so he could…

get down on one knee… whipped out the ring box… (which, at this point I was completely SHOCKED) and asked me if I would marry him. 

As per tradition, after big questions, I just hugged him instead of answering him. Poor guy had to ask again, at which I just laughed at him and answered “Of course!” And then I pulled that ring out the box and slid it on my finger before that boy changed his mind! We just held each other for awhile… until this older gentleman came up and asked if he could take some pictures…. which is how we have pictures of our special moment.

In early May my friend Jody came out to see me, and we tried to lay out on the beach, got coffee at Starbucks (wasn’t a huge fan of the Starbucks pictures we took, so I grabbed one of my wedding, in which we look SO much better!) and drove up to Williamsburg! It was so good to talk about our lives, relationships, start planning my wedding, and vent about our jobs! I’m so grateful for you in my life, Jody!

 

My Next Favorite Moment was running the “Run for the Dream” 8k in May… a rough run in Colonial Williamsburg, but we finished and enjoyed the most needed relaxing weekend ever, with my sister.

Because Tyler was medically discharged from the military and considered a ‘wounded warrior’, his registration was free, PLUS we got SPOILED to hotel rooms and Busch Garden tickets! It was an incredibly fun weekend and one of the highlights of the year for me! =)

The next highlight is obviously our wedding on August 6, 2011! It was such a beautiful day, and I could honestly go on-and-on about how blessed we felt by Tyler’s family and friends. Some of my best friends flew to Texas to hold my hand while I made the most important decision of my life… and I will forever be grateful for the love they showered on me! It was a small but intimate wedding, and we had a wonderful reception with speeches, dancing, and looooots of wine! (Saved a bottle for our six month anniversary!)(This is a picture of my amazing bridesmaids that come out for my wedding – SHOUT OUT TO ELINA FOR FLYING FROM VANCOUVER ISLAND!)


My best fall moment, I think, was our Halloween Run in October! It was a wonderful 10k (6.2m) run in 55F weather! We had the best time running averaging a 9:30 pace, and finishing at 59:35 min! I was really excited because running the race in under an hour was one of my October Goals! We didn’t dress up this year, but NEXT year we’ll dress up as something obnoxious, and will spend all fall thinking about it!

Finally, a little shout out to ME- I finished my SEMESTER! (I know it’s not a big deal, because I only did one class) but I’m REALLY excited! No more papers, classes, tests, and posts until Jan 3rd! YES!

I know Christmas is going to be AMAZING and I’ll obviously add some days and moments to my favorite days in review, but this was a pretty incredible year!

What are some of your favorite moments/days of the past year?

his very first look

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He finally was in place. I’d been waiting for the guys to drive up for almost an hour, and Joel started taking a few pictures of just me (shown here)… and we had a blast. So now that Tyler was in place, I snuck up behind him and gave him a hug. Then he turned around and gave me the biggest smile ever! He gasped when he first saw me (I like to think it’s because I looked so gorgeous), and gave me a huge hug!

He told me over and over again, “you look soooo beautiful” (the emphasis on the soooo is to mock my accent), and we laughed over and over again because we were so excited! Ever since we met the previous November, we’d been crazy about each other and it seemed like we’d known each other forever.  I don’t know who was more excited, Tyler or I. We’d both been ecstatic to finally get married… even though we’d only been together for nine months, it had been one of the most craziest seasons of my life. We were both so happy to FINALLY get to have our wedding official and start our forever!

married : 26 days

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In 5 days, I will have been married one month. Being engaged was a whirlwind, and married life is MUCH better than my engagment ever was. I would tell all my worried friends that it only gets better!

Well meaning people would say stupid things like “if you think it’s bad now, just wait till you get married!” I would look at my stressed, frazzled self in the mirror and wonder if I should pass this vital info to my victimized soon-to-be husband, and then dissolve in tears. Again. Planning a wedding in another state was incrediably stressful, plus of course, all the added family drama.

No, married life… (as I obviously know, having been married a grand total of… let me check theknot.com… 26 days) is so much more relaxing. Ofcourse, there are things to stress about… like bills… but I feel so much more comfortable with my husband… much more than I ever did dating or being engaged. Without sharing too much information, I would say the best part of being married is waking up next to him. Knowing he’s right beside me the whole night, holding my hand.

As of 26 days, I’m incrediably happily married!