Reflecting on last night I thought that my post today would go "way back" to four years ago.
I won't, though, because even though this is my blog and I should do what I want, I fear that talking about politics on my blog will result in people lecturing me for my beliefs and memories or take things out of context.
So instead of writing about the hope I still feel and how happy I was four years ago accompanied by pictures and memories, I will just say two things:
First, thank you for caring so passionately about this election. I am so proud to live in a country where we can argue freely. I pray we keep voting every year for the local and state elections. Those are just as important.
Second, and I think we can all agree, I am so thankful that I will now fast-forward through holiday commercials on my DVR instead of political commercials.
First up is my princess costume...or at least I think it's a princess costume judging by the tiara. However, the outfit suggests I'm about to bake a pie with help from my Barbie.
Second, my ballerina costume. I never took a dance lesson but I NEEDED a tutu.
I guess I also needed to wear it mid-torso.
Next up is one of my favorites, a family picture. Hello, my name is Mary, and I was a little lamb.
I loved my lamb costume (apparently my brother did NOT like his), but I think my favorite has to be this gem:
I couldn't even stop eating candy long enough to take a picture. At least I struck a pose mid-chew.
So there you go, awkwardness through the years.
Speaking of awkward (as if I could avoid it), 6 of my co-workers and I are dressing as an awkward family photo at our work party later this afternoon. I'm pretty pumped!
Well, I hope I didn't turn away too many of you after this post! Please leave a comment and tell me about yourself, especially my new Readers! Do you have three things you can't live without...or can't avoid throughout your day? Any favorite Halloween costumes to share?
Way back in 2009 and 2010 I "competed" in a couple of races.
I just wanted to complete them and say I did them.
Complete them I did!
Sure it's cool to say I ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler and competed in a Triathlon.
(OK fine I only did the sprint distance of the tri which isn't as impressive.)
However, I didn't really lose any weight, and I didn't train as hard as I could have.
But I still had fun.
I trained for the tri with one of my friends through the DC Triathlon Club. It was a really fun spring and summer! The 10-miler was also fun because my friend from grad school and I ran it side by side. Neither of us had run 10 miles before so we did it together, giving each other high fives at each mile marker and swearing together on the silly hill right before the finish line.
Now it's time to do it again.
As I mentioned on Monday, the marathoners inspired me.
No, I will NEVER run a marathon. I don't think my knees would let me.
Or my social life. Or my want/need to sleep in on Saturdays.
BUT yesterday I signed up for the Soldier Field 10-miler over Memorial Day weekend.
I also found an indoor pool in my neighborhood...meaning that once the registration opens for the Chicago Triathlon I will sign up for the sprint distance and start to run, bike, and swim again.
I'm excited.
I'm writing this in my blog to keep myself accountable for these goals I set for myself. I feel that if I put it in writing and you are all my witnesses then I can't back out. Besides, they aren't crazy goals. These races truly aren't that big of a deal. Look at those pictures above again: I am certainly not a poster child for fitness and strength and those pictures definitely aren't flattering. But if a girl like me with a big butt like mine can cross those finish lines once, I can certainly do it again. Bad knees or not.
For the record, post-race beer tastes better. Especially when you double-fist. Just sayin'.
Today I decided to snap a few pictures from my freshman year scrapbook to share with you. These pictures are all from pledging! I was 18! It was fun to look through all of the pictures and think back to those crazy days.
Today I'm linking up with Rachel from Can't Google Everything to dedicate this post to my best friend, Callie. It's her Birthday today, too, so please go send her some love and enter her giveaway!
I sadly don't have any digital pictures from our pledging days, but here are a few from back when.
haha the top two pictures are pre-highlights days. Annnnd a couple of others are from my spray tan days. Ohhh memories.
The most recent is the bottom left, from my 26th Birthday/Grad School Graduation in DC when Callie came to visit!
Recent pictures will be here on Monday! Can't wait to see the Birthday Girl and our Theta Nu gals at Otterbein Homecoming this weekend!
Two years (and two days!) ago, on my mom's Birthday, my sister had her baby!
Here's the first time I went to visit when Lizzie was five weeks old:
And here she was yesterday, playing with the toys Andrew and I got her for her Birthday!
She's such a big girl, and don't even get me started on those pigtails! Cute!
OK and here's a video of her learning to walk...really it's a succession from crawling, to walking, to swinging, and all of the adorable smiles in between. It makes me misty-eyed every time!
I am so excited it's already the middle of the week. Today I'm linking up with Rachel from Can't Google Everything for a little throwback. It's my ode to football season.
Here's my first NFL experience, at a Redskins v. Steelers pre-season game in 2007. It was amazing. Until me and my girlfriends got lost after the game and couldn't find the Metro. Meh, details.
Here I am at my first Big 10 game, wearing Andrew's hat, cheering on the Spartans.
(Yes, I'm from Ohio and have never been to an OSU game for fun. Just fundraisers for Theta Nu. The tickets are expensive.)
Here's my first Lions game with Andrew and our buddy, Kim. They grew up Lions fans and introduced me to the frustration that entails.
Here I am at my first Steelers game at Hines Field in the 'burgh. Gosh it was so amazing I can't even describe it!!!
(Plus, look how freaking cute Andrew is!!)
Annnnnd now I just want to kick back on the couch, throw back a few beers, and cheer on our teams!
Since today was a random half-day off, Andrew suggested that I tribute this throwback post to another random day...the day we went to the zoo.
Way back in the winter of 2010 Andrew got a random day off from work. I, being a grad school intern, took a random day off of my internship. We decided to make a visit to the panda pen at The National Zoo. Why?
Better question: Why NOT?
OK, but seriously it was because one panda (Tai Shan) was soon-to-be shipped back to China and we wanted to see him before that time. If you lived in DC, Tai Shan's departure was headline news. Every day.
We had so much fun walking among all of the other random families out and about. The best part (other than seeing Tai) was our visit to the gift shop when we bought our own panda stuffed animals.
Thanks to Kate for the idea to combine When and Wednesday!
Who's Kate? Funny you should ask. I referred to her in this postbecause she says inappropriate things and our group of friends would laugh, roll our eyes, I would blush, and we would all exclaim "X!" Kate was my co-worker Kim's roommate. We met at Tombs in Georgetown and for the three of us it was a match made in Party Girl Heaven. (Soon after I met the rest of our soon-to-be tight-knit group of gals and angels sang.)
So today I'm going to go way back to the first time Kate, Kim and I partied together in DC. We played Bar Golf in Adams Morgan for our friend's birthday. For the non-DC folk, Adams Morgan is like a smaller version of Wrigleyville. We had score cards and everything to document the night.
Polos and pearls? Check and check. I couldn't think of a better way to initiate myself in a new city.
How did you party when you first moved to a new city?
Today I'm nostalgic for Otterbein, my undergrad alma mater.
I recently wrote a letter to prospective students about how I got to where I am because of Otterbein. Plus, I just saw my Big, Cat, this past weekend. And I also recall Taylor's sweet post about missing her sisters. So yeah, I picked a couple throw back shots from Fall Formal senior year...which wasn't really formal, no one really brought guys (I brought a recent grad from our chapter!), and it was at one of my sister's apartments, so basically it was a girls' night where we wore LBDs...and had a couple dudes there to take our pictures.
Anyway, are you feeling nostalgic these days as school is about to start?
