Emma's Graduation Edition

I know I've been slacking on my posting lately. I confessed to some of my closest confidants (aka my sisters and a BFF) that I felt like I was slowing down on my blogging because no one seemed interested. At first, it really took off, and then it started to die down. I assumed people were getting tired of hearing from me, and my confidants assured me this wasn't true. If you ARE one of those that's tired of hearing from me, I apologize. But, I have to give the people what they want :)

And the people just so happen to want a post about my sister! My youngest sister, Emma, told me that she loved my blog, but that I don't talk about her enough. So, I thought I would devote this post to her, particularly considering the fact that she graduates from college in just three short weeks. Three weeks! And she'll be a college graduate! I remember when she was born... wow.

Emma in her high school days... before bangs and dark hair!

Emma has always been... (what's a nice word?)... determined. When we were little, she was down right mean (and she's even kind of mean now!). I like to consider that maybe she wasn't mean, maybe she just knew what she wanted in life. And Lindsay and I were in her way :) Growing up, we knew her as Katie. In fact, everyone knew her as Katie. Her name is Emma Katherine, and Katie was what my mom wanted to call her when she was born. When she left for college, she became Emma. It's a pretty name, but man was it hard to catch on. I think everyone except my husband calls her Emma now. He politely refuses, and I think she accepts it.

Doesn't she look lovely on the beach?! Summer 2009

Long ago, Emma decided she wanted to be a dentist. I have no idea why. We have a great family dentist, (in fact, I think he's one of the best), but in no way was she ever one of those kids that absolutely LOVED the dentist. This career path came out of nowhere, but once she set her mind to it, she just went for it. I mean, the girl majored in Biology. Only the crazy and/or mentally ill follow such a path in life! But she's done awesome. No matter what happens next in her life, she's accomplished so much more than I ever could in the last four years.

She has always been such a beauty... she gets it from her mom!

In addition to her Biology major, she's worked as a resident advisor in the dorms for the last three years. In her time as an RA, she has seen more (and put up with more) than I could have ever imagined with a busy schedule. I mean, can you imagine being "in charge" of rowdy college kids? Seriously, I could get into some pretty intense stories, but I'm sure there's some kind of HIPAA violation involved with that...

She thinks she's a princess... probably because she's the baby!

And now, she's a mom! Well, sort of... she adopted a puppy from our friend who rescues animals. But, she's been a great mommy to little Sam Henry, and he's just a peach. He loves his mom so much and he's just waiting for her to graduate so they can finally live together :)

Love our family time together :)

I hope you've enjoyed hearing a little bit about my pride and joy, Emma, in her graduation edition of my blog :) It's hard to believe that in just a few weeks, she joins the real world with the rest of us. I'm so proud of her! But, in my mind, I think she'll always be my "little" sister.

Love you, Emma!

The Reading Room

It's been a while since I've done a reading room post, and there's a reason why. I've hardly done any reading lately! This can also be blamed on my newfound desire to get active, but who doesn't have time for a good book?! I know... it's unacceptable.

I recently finished The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy by Bill Carter. I have been trying to finish this book since January, and it wasn't because I didn't enjoy it... there was just no time! The title is pretty self-explanatory as to what the book is about (when Jay Leno left The Tonight Show for his 10:00 p.m. program and Conan O'Brien took over the coveted show. But, as fate would have it, O'Brien was kicked out of the seat, and Leno was ushered back in as top dog).

This book is a great read if you're interested in the power of media and what it takes to "stay on top" in the entertainment industry. (I think that many of my fellow public relations and integrated marketing communications colleagues would enjoy this book.) There are parts of the book that get a little jargon heavy (and there are many players that you have to keep up with), but overall it's extremely interesting to find out what really happened to Team CoCo and how Leno got The Tonight Show back. 

I promise, it will leave you with a completely different impression of the late night industry and how hard these individuals have worked to get where they are! Keep checking back for more book reviews (I promise they won't be as few and far between)!

Cooper River Bridge Run

I've been a terrible blogger lately... I'll admit it. But, I completely blame it on my race training. I have been so consumed in fulfilling my New Year's resolution of running and Zumba that I've had very little time for anything else. When I'm not doing Zumba, I'm running, and vice versa! I will say though, I have absolutely LOVED training for the Cooper River Bridge Run. In fact, I'm already thinking about my next race which will be the Drew's Day 5K at the end of April.

The Cooper River Bridge Run was indescribable. I cannot put into words what a gorgeous area Charleston, SC is, and to have the opportunity to run across this gorgeous bridge on a flawless day was unbelievable. In addition to being unbelievable, it was CROWDED! There were over 40,000 people that registered for the race, and just over 34,000 completed it. Talk about a lot of people!

Ravenel Bridge...  yep, I ran across that!

I did this race with my husband, Justin, my in-laws, Terrie & David, my husband's aunt and uncle, Patty & Winston, and his cousin, Mark. It was such a great experience to do this with so many wonderful people :) Winston is a great runner, so all of his motivation and tips really helped me through this race!

Winston, Patty, Justin, me, Mark, Terrie & David at the finish! Our team was the Almost Heaven 7 :)

My bib number! I started in Corral F with runners between 49 minutes to one hour. The corrals went all the way back to 'K' with runners over one hour and walkers!

There were aspects of the race that I had not anticipated. One was the amount of people. I knew it would be crowded, but I had no idea that I would be boxed in for quite some time. Additionally, I didn't anticipate such a strong headwind over the bridge. It's quite a steep climb up the bridge and with a strong wind in my face, it definitely slowed my time down. Overall though, I was happy with how I finished. Because of the corral start, I finished in the top 15,000 overall runners. My time was just over 67 minutes, and that placed me in the top 17,000 runners by time. I was also in the top 8,000 female finishers! Not too bad for my first 10K :)

Results in the local paper the next day... I feel good about it!

After the race, we had a chance to relax and wind down at Folly Beach. What a great atmosphere, and an amazing end to a wonderful race. I definitely recommend the Cooper River Bridge Run to anyone looking for a fun 10K. There were competitors of all shapes and skill levels, and it feels like such an accomplishment to have been a part of this race!

Folly Beach, SC

I can't believe my first 10K has come and gone! Next up are some 5K races, and of course, a half marathon looms at the end of the year! I promise to try and blog better now that I'm not as busy :)