Rave Runs

I like reading Runners World and always check out the articles titled "Race Runs"  In the articles, they highlight runs in different places of the US and world that are particularly beautiful.  It always makes me think of my own runs.  I do my best to mix it up, but only have so many options.  During my training for the Princess Half, I did go on two runs that I thought were "raveable".  The first was through a forest preserve.  It was a 7 mile run, so I wanted something to keep my attention.  I am always a little afraid of running in the forest on trails, but decided to just go for it.  It wasn't sunny, but soo pretty.  I took some pictures, but they do not give it justice.  I haven't been back since, but need to!  The second was a run around school where I saw a fox!  I took a picture but you can barely see him in the distance.  It was so cool though.  I saw him a few times and then was afraid he was going to get me!  I know, I'm a wimp...

If you look CLOSELY you will see the fox!  I couldn't get too close...

St. Patriick's Day

You may remember from last year, but I have a leprechaun friend and his name is Lucky.  I tell my students about him every year and then very seriously and genuinely believe he is real.  This year, I found something on-line that was so much fun.  I read my students a legend that I said Lucky had left for them.  It talks about leaving hats out for leprechauns and the leprechaun that comes will magically shrink them.  I had my first graders make hats with permanent marker on Styrofoam cups and then took them home that night.  I put them in the oven for 2- 4 minutes and they shrunk!  Needless to say, the class was thrilled and it was another successfully St. Patrick's Day!

Locked Out...

David and I planned on going to a 40th birthday party for a friend of his.  The party promised to be tons of fun and David was excited to go.  On the night of the party (we did something during the day...can't remember what right now!) we were all ready to go and started walking out as usual.  I am in the habit of locking the door from the inside because I always have my keys, and assume David does when I do not and he is driving.  Well, big mistake!  David wanted to go back in for something as soon as we left, and we realized we were locked out.  Not only were we locked out, we didn't have any car keys and were stuck.  If you know my husband, you know that he went crazy.  I had to be the calm one and figure out what to do!  I first looked up a you-tube on how to open your door with a credit card.  This is not so easy and we had zero luck!  Then, we decided that we could call a cab to get us there.  The problem with that was that we had to count on my brother to be home to let us in when we got there.  This was tough because he was at a casino in Indiana and was not so nice about trying to get home soon.  We decided to call the cab anyways, but I thought of just calling a lock-smith while we were waiting.  To sum it up, we went with the lock-smith because we would be able to get back in after.  We ended up showing up to the party about 2 hours late, but they hadn't even eaten dinner yet!  The night turned out fine and we even got Uggs as party gifts!  It was definitely a memory...Enjoy the pictures of David mad at the bottom of the stairs, and me silently mocking him!

MARATHON!

Coming off my high from the Princess Half, I knew that my running was going great and I was ready for a different challenge.  So, what is next on my racing calendar?  A FULL marathon!  26.2 miles!!  I am crazy, right?  We signed up on the day the Marine Corps Marathon in DC opened, it was a rush!  It was a good thing that we were all on-line and ready, because it sold out in 2 and a half hours!  Fastest ever!  My Dad and Margaret and friends Kathy, Jennifer, Ashley, and Lauren signed up with me.  It looks like we are going to have a big crowd down to cheer us on also.  I begin training officially at the end of June.  Until then, I will continue running and have a 10 miler race in April and another half in May.  I will keep you updated on my journey!

Disney Princess Half Marathon 2012 - A Race a Month - February

At the end of February, I went to Florida for my annual Princess Half Marathon.  I can not even begin to tell you how much fun I had during this weekend.  It might have been my most favorite visit yet.

I got in Friday night and spend the night at Kathy's apartment.  We woke up early Saturday morning, got her birthday cupcakes, and headed to Disney.  We first went to the Expo to pick up our things.  After, we checked in at our hotel, Port Orleans, and went to Downtown Disney and out to our annual dinner at Il Mulino.  The all star game was going on during the same weekend and we saw some NBA players at the restaurant!  Then, it was to bed around 7 to get up at 3:15 the next day...

The morning of the race started so early, but I was okay with it!  We had the best best time running the race.  We decided to stop at every character we wanted to and not care about our time.  We ran everything in between and felt so good the whole time.  It was truly a blast.  After the race was over, we felt great!!

We spend the rest of the day walking around the parks.  By the end of the day, we had put in over 21 miles!  Whew!  We ate at our annual dinner at The California Grill and slept well.  We stopped at The Animal Kingdom Lodge and Wilderness Lodge for a little visit before we went to the airport on Sunday.  I was soo sad to leave but grateful for such a fab weekend.

I can not even begin to post all of the pictures, so here is just a little glimpse...

Love Notes

I have to brag on my sweet class one more time.  How can you not love your job when you come back to love notes every day at your desk?  This is just a picture of a small selection of my daily reading pleasure.

Gorgeous Weather

During the month of March, we had some G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S weather!  I mean, it even got hot enough for me to not run.  Crazy, right?!  I decided to take advantage of the weather and take my sweet class to the park next door to have a picnic and play on the playground.  We had fun!