Reindeer Ramble

Yesterday morning we ran the Reindeer Ramble - and by "we" I mean me, Shane, Natalie, & Tab. The Ramble is a 5K Run/Walk event that supports YMCA Campaign for Kids, our annual fundraiser. It was pretty cold out when we woke up... though thankfully most of us were prepared for the bitter temperatures. When we left the house it was 19 degrees and was probably about 30 degrees by the end of the race. I had on what seemed to be 15 layers of clothes to keep my body from breaking out in hives (ugh!) and was actually successful! Shane has run in these temperatures many times before so it wasn't any huge deal for him. Natalie & Tab had to borrow gloves because they don't own any... are you kidding?! How does someone not own a pair of gloves? Though I guess living in Georgia doesn't really require them. I live in a very different world coming from upstate New York! :) In any case, I was able to run just about the entire race - with the exception of one HUGE hill - and I'm pretty proud of myself! I wasn't sure how my lungs would hold up in the cold, but once we got going it wasn't too bad. After the race, the four of us got back into the car to head home and we all began coughing. You would've thought we smoked 3 packs a day the way we sounded!! It was quite an adventure - but a pretty fun one! I'm glad I ran the race this year... it was certainly more fun than sitting by and watching. You should've seen some of the costumes people had on. There are always awards given out for the most creative individual and the most creative "Santapede" team. This is a team of 3-10 people who tie themselves together and must remain connected throughout the entire race. They also must be dressed either to match, or to stay within a certain theme. There was one group dressed like the cast of "A Christmas Story" - so classic! I wish I had my camera so I could share the hilarious sights of the morning. :) But for now you'll just have to take my word for it! There was also a team of Christmas ornaments - they had large decorated discs covering their fronts & backs, as well as these silver hats that looked EXACTLY like ornament tops. I must say, whoever put those costumes together spent a lot of time and money! These people go all out :) All in all, it was an exciting morning and a great way to kick-start the day. Hope we raised lots of money this year!!

'Tis the season...

... to be missing family. Okay, so here's a serious blog for once. It's tough being this far away from our families - though I know I'm certainly not as far away as I could be. My cousin is living overseas so I really shouldn't complain, but it's still a struggle for me. I always thought I was such an independent kind of girl - not worried about leaving one place and moving on to the next. Not afraid of a big change. But as each year passes I wish we could be closer to family. The more I consider starting a family, the greater my desire is to be near mine. Don't get me wrong - I'm so thankful for this time in Kentucky. It has stretched me in ways I didn't know it could. God has given us a beautiful home, wonderful friends, and great jobs. He has taken care of us in more ways than I can count. But being here has also helped me to appreciate my family so much more. I think I took it for granted - the fact that we were an hour and a half away from both families when we lived in Orchard Park. And now that we're far away, I find myself longing to be back where everybody knows my name... oh wait, that's Cheers... but I digress. I think what's keeping me from calling Kentucky "home" is the fact that I know we'll be leaving here once Shane is done with school. At least that's the plan at this point in time. We want to move close to our family - and only time will tell where that place may be. My family is a treasure... and I hope that they will always know that. I need to be more deliberate about telling them how much I love and appreciate them. How blessed I am to be a part of the best family I can imagine. How amazing it is that God has given me parents & siblings who "get me" and can laugh at my randomness. How thankful I am to not only have been raised in a home where Christ is at the center of everything... but how I came to marry a man whose family believes just the same! And now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, and the Christmas season is upon us, we find ourselves wishing we could be closer to home - because for us "home" is wherever family is.