Seattle Rock 'N Roll Half-Marathon



Victoria, Lia, SuLee, Me, Kristin, Jenny & *Amy

So last weekend I did something I NEVER thought I'd do.  Seriously, if you know me, you'll think hell has officially frozen over.  And it has.  I ran the Seattle Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon.  It was pretty awesome.  My goal was to finish it, for one thing, and to run the whole thing.  I ran it with one of my best friends in the whole world (without whom I may have stopped and walked near the end), and we made quite the weekend of it.  We got up to Seattle Friday night to attend the Expo and pick up our packets.  That thing was cool!  Then we stayed in a great hotel right in the Seattle Center area, within walking distance to the start and finish.  Since the first corral started at 7am, we were happy to already be up there and not have to leave the house at 4:30am, park, etc.  And after many prayers for no rain, God was so good and kept us dry the ENTIRE race (13.1 mi. if you're wondering).  Not only that, as soon as we finished, the sun came out and it was beautiful!  We reunited with our other crazier than $#&% running friends and various cheerleaders.  I can't believe I did it, but so glad I did.  It felt great to accomplish something like that.

SuLee, one of my coaches, cheerleaders and a true bestie. 
*Note:  SuLee is a *"Marathon "Manic" which means she ran 3 marathons in 3 months (82 days) last fall. 
Yep folks, she's hard core.

My darling friend, Kristin, who really talked me through it at the end.  Those last 2.5 mi., my legs were pretty fatigued.  (Later she told me she got worried when I got pretty quiet at the end.  If you know me, you know that's not a good thing.) :)  Love you friend!

My OTHER awesome coach, Ward (my brother-in-law).  He too is a marathon crazy person runner, and a great motivator.  We ran together several times back in February when we were both in Arizona.  He's taught me ton.  Thank you Ward!

Brett captured this gorgeous photo of the "Spashe Needle" (Sam-ism) after the race.



What I thought about those last 2.5 mi. Reuniting with my loving cheerleaders. Thank you guys for coming up to support Mommy. It meant absolutely everything to me, and so do you.

A side note... before coming clean with my 13.1 mi. endeavor, Brett's brother Bryan (a.k.a. Uncle Buddy) told us his band had been selected to play at said "Rock 'N Roll" Marathon.  How cool is that?  After I told Bryan I was running, he requested to be on the half route vs. the full marathon route.  They ended up right at the location where the full runners split off from us half runners, at a beautiful location along Lake Washington.  It turned out to be almost the half way point for the half, so it really encouraged me to see them.  My Kiehl in-laws were also there cheering us on, as LaVonna had two sons, 2 daughters-in-law and 1 grandson running in the half.  Pretty cool family effort, I'd say.

So will I do it again?  Run a half?

Yes I will.  I'm signed up to run the Race for a Soldier Half Marathon in Gig Harbor, on September 23rd.  Three months to the day of the Rock 'N Roll Half.  This is for an amazing cause - check out the link. Plus it's in my home town.  Awesome!

Mr. Marker is the best!

Our beloved neighbor, Mr. Marker - cruising Curran Lane

Quality Time

Remember awhile back I mentioned I had a "hall pass"?  Well, here's the story...

For my birthday, my totally wonderfulhandsomeawesomelovelybrilliantdidImentionhandsome husband gave me a ticket to fly down to California and visit my bestie, Shah.  (Don't worry, round trip.  He expected me to come back.)  Shah and I were super excited to get to spend a long weekend together and catch up, but we soon realized that, what with her 4 girls ages 2-7, we wouldn't get SOLID catch up time.  So thanks to HER wonderfulhandsomeawesomelovelybrilliantdidImentionhandsome

husband, also named Brett, we skipped town and drove to Palm Desert for 3 days of sun and solitude.  The whole weekend was exactly what I had hoped for.  I spent the first night at Shah's, getting to visit with her precious family, seeing their latest remodeling of their gorgeous home.  Then I had 3 days with my friend to laugh, truly talk, soak up the sun, and laugh some more.  And finally spent one more night with her family before flying back to snuggle mine.  Thank you Bretts x2 for a wonderful weekend of restoration and relaxation.

A lovely Mother's Day

After hearing the girls sing at church, we headed over to Gig Harbor for brunch at my mother-in-law's house.  It was so great to sit outside and visit while sipping coffee and scarfing down nibbling a delicious slice of cheesecake.  Once we got home, my family showered me with beautiful cards, some homemade, which actually had me tearing up (remember, I don't cry), and I opened some wonderful gifts.   Next, the girls did a stellar cleaning of their room (UNREAL!), and I hung out with Brett on the couch watching golf.  Yes, I enjoy that.  Brett picked up some take out for dinner, also my choice, and we finished up a very relaxing day.  We even remembered to record it with a family photo out at Nancy's!  Thank you, my family, for spoiling me rotten.  I love being your mom.

See you guys later...

Hall pass!
Thanks honey!!



A to the K

Fun on a rainy day

I just love this kid.


A to the K

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