And now I am.....a runner?

Well, today I signed up for the Detroit Half Marathon which I think officially makes me a runner. I've only gotten really into running this year (which means I've ran a 9.6 mile charity run and a single 5k) and I have a LONG way to go before the race, but I figured if I signed up there was no turning back. It will be a long way to the finish line in October. A long way filled with too many miles of running, sore shins and feet, and that feeling of exhaustion that comes when you wake up before the sun even thinks of gracing the earth with its presence. I'm looking forward to the challenge.

For now, I'll be training for and running the race by myself but I would love the company if anyone feels like joining me! I mean, my Ipod is a trusty companion filling my ears with all of my favorite music as I trudge along in my runs, but nothing beats someone running along side of you forcing you to keep running when what you really want to do is stop at that bar you just ran by and enjoy a nice cold beer.

So, if you see me at any point between now and October 19th and I look like I haven't been running you should probably ask me about it. 13.1 miles will be terribly painful if I don't keep up with my training!

Castle Wedding + 25 years of love

This past weekend my sister and I attended Ethan and Kara's wedding in Charlevoix. They married in the courtyard of a beautiful castle on a perfect summer day. Everything was so beautiful that it could not have been more perfect. Unfortunately I didn't get a ton of pictures of the castle itself, but here are a few of my favorite pictures from the weekend:


The beautiful bride and groom

Krystal and Gavin in the courtyard

Me, being silly as always, sitting in a throne inside the castle.

Gavin is getting so big! Gosh is he a beautiful baby.
The king!

It was really great to attend a wedding this weekend and see the beginning of a couple's life together while thinking of my parents getting ready to celebrate 25 years together today. It was so amazing to see how much love can grow from that first moment of marriage into what my parents have today. I am so thankful to have grown up in a household filled with parents whose love you can feel all the time. Its the way my dad leaves flowers for my Mom on random days just because. And the way he used to clean the house everytime she was out of town on business just so she could come home and not have to worry about household things. And the way my Mom calls him every morning when she is out of town so that they can catch up on the day. How she supports all of his fun habits and adventures. And when they are together its the way they hold hands walking down the street, laugh at each other constantly, and how neither of them can sleep through the night when the other is out of town. They have built a life together full of love and friendship, of new adventures and laughter.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad, thank you for showing your family what love is. I wish you nothing but the best for the next 25 years!

Country Runnin'

For those of you who don't know, I am playing on a summer church volleyball league. We play twice a week at a variety of different places and tonight we had a game at this cute little church way out in the country. Nestled between the cornfields was this little red brick church house and a gravel volleyball court. The girls play first and since I had ridden with another family we had to hang out for the boys game. I had brought my running gear hoping to sneak in a run while the boys played so right before the start of their first game I decided to hit the road: a paved, straight, flowing road surrrounded by cornfields, farm houses, and the smell of fresh cut hay. I ran a good few miles, right into the sunset, surrounded by flat land for miles and miles. Gosh it was a good feeling. There is something beautiful and peaceful about the country-running on the open road that is all yours while looking infinitely on into the setting sun. Something about that moment is timeless...like you can run forever but never reach the end because everything seems so vast around you. For a moment, one single moment, time is standing still and nothing in the world matters but you.

I hope that you find something in your life that makes you feel timeless and endless and alone in the best kind of way. Maybe it will be running down a country road like I was, or sitting on a boat in the middle of a lake with nothing around but the fishing rod resting in your hands, or even driving home from a long days work through roads and places that seem to never change. Wherever it is, when you've had that moment you'll know it. And you'll want to tuck it away and hold onto it, not let anything separate you from you and the perfect solitude of country runnin'.

21 years of Adventure!

My 22nd birthday is quickly approaching. Birthdays are always milestones...when you turn 10 you have finally reached double digits, 13 and you're a teenager, 15 you get your permit, 16 your much coveted drivers license, and at 18 you become a real "adult" with voting privelages and everything. Then birthdays begin to become a little less exciting: 20 feels so in-between because you're no longer a teenager and still not able to drink. 21, though, feels like your last real milestone before every other birthday just means you're "old". Instead of feeling old, though, I think I'll look at these next few birthdays as points to recap all that I have done in my young 21 years of life. Here's a list I've brainstormed recently of some of the awesome places I have been and the cool things that I have done there
I have:
-Windsurfed in Cancun
-Played guitar at a gypsy village in Romania
-Summitted a mountain in Colorado
-Stood beneath the Eiffel Tower at night
-Swam with an electric eel in the bahamas
-Fed wild fish from my hands in the Virgin Islands
-Seen Moose in Maine
-Ran along the Atlantic Ocean in Miami
-Skiied a black diamond in Vail
-Sat on a boat in the most beautiful lake nestled quietly in the Swiss Alps
-Climbed to the top of the bell tower in Dracula's Castle (the real one!)
-Drank wine while cruising along the Rhine River in Germany
-Learned how to surf in Cabo
-Dove over a waterfall in Mexico
-Whitewater rafted in West Virginia
-Drank Mojitos in NYC
-cliff jumped into a huge lake in Tennessee
-Rock Climbed in Utah
-Gone whale watching
-fed stingrays in Grand Cayman
-Tasted my first Sam Adams straight from the brewery in Boston
-Stood above the wonder that is Niagara Falls
-Sat at the feet of Abe Lincoln in DC
-Felt my intelligence rise as I walked around Princeton and Harvard campuses
-Participated in morning songs at an Afro-Centric school on the west side of Chicago
......

The list is nearly endless, but for a mere 21 years old I have got to do some really cool things in some really awesome places. As a child, my parents took us everywhere and a lot of those experiences were had with them by my side. As I have grown older and high school and college happened I began to create my own adventures and continue to see new places and try new things. Now, out in the "real world" I continue to fill my life with new places, new adventures, and new friends. 21 years of seeing the world....I can only imagine how much more this list will have grown 1 year from now, 5 years from now, 10 years from now...50 years from now!

I hope I never lose my sense of adventure.
-

FAMILY!

I practiced my photography on my family this weekend. Here are a few of my favorites:
The whole family around the pond

Thats the look of 25 years of marriage.
Family!
Admiring our littlest member and newest addition to the family!
The boys hanging out!
Definitely my favorite picture of the day.

I consider myself lucky to have grown up in a house filled with good friends, laughter, and lots of love.

a penny for your thoughts

The power went out at work for a little while today. Enjoying the break, I walked outside and sat at a picnic table enjoying the tiny bits of sunshine peeking through the clouds. As soon as I sat down I noticed a shiny copper colored item sitting next to me. An old penny, dated 1957 was sitting there as if it was waiting for me; face up and also enjoying the sunshine.

Remember when you were a small child and it was the highlight of your day to find a penny? If it was heads you picked it up for good luck, and if it was tails you left it their not wanting the bad luck that tails would bring. Funny idea isn't it? To put your luck in the hands of a penny-an item worth less and less as the economy continuously slows down. Yet growing up, finding a penny could make your whole day different; giving you the courage and luck to do something you may not have otherwise, cheering you up when the whole day had gone terribly wrong, or calming your nerves before a sporting event, big test, or important date with your crush from the first grade. Pennies used to mean something.

And I think pennies still do mean something. I felt lucky today, picking up that penny and laughing at myself for doing so. I wonder if children still get as excited over finding a penny on the streets as I used to; as I do even today. I wonder if it has become as meaningless and worthless as it seems. I sure hope not. A penny, heads up of course, can still brighten my day and make me feel luckier, or more confident, or more like the world is on my side. To me, that is worth far more than 1 cent. I believe that pennies are worth even more now than they were as a kid, now that I understand luck, that I value simplicity, and that I truly value the the feeling of uninhibited joy that comes in the simplest forms to remind me of all the things I can do with my life. And it only takes a penny to remind me how lucky I am in the first place.

I kept that penny. Tucked it away. Hopefully I will come across it again when I need a good feeling of luck or some extra encouragement one day.

I hope that you find a penny today, face up and soaking in the sunshine, and I hope that it reminds you not only how lucky you are, but also gives you that extra feeling of confidence and feeling like the world is on your side. We could all use a little more of that couldn't we? Bring on the pennies!