Zumba Time!

Yesterday I had the privilege of being a part of the Dash & Splash event hosted by Snap Fitness and Generations Physical Therapy. The event was a 5K race, 2 mile walk and Zumbathon. There was such a great turn out from the community, and Snap Fitness and Generations Physical Therapy did an amazing job with the entire event. Following the physical activities, everyone kicked back for food provided by Barnyard BBQ and a free swim in the Hurricane Wave Pool! All proceeds from the event will benefit the WV Physical Therapy Association.

Check out some photos from my Zumbathon:

These are just a few photos from the day. There will be more added to my Facebook page, and the Snap Fitness - West Virginia Facebook page as well!

It's been such an awesome experience to add Zumba to my life this year, and I hope that others have enjoyed coming to my classes as much as I've enjoyed teaching them. I've made some amazing new friendships, and I've had the chance to catch up with some old friends! I've loved every single minute of it :)

If you're interested in coming to one of my classes, check out my Zumba profile for more details. Zumba love!

I Promise I'll Do Better...

Wow. It's been quite a while since I've blogged... and here I thought I would have plenty of time over the summer. I'm a terrible blogger. I apologize.

My summer has been pretty uneventful, and maybe that's the reason for a lack of blogging. I often feel like I don't have anything interesting to talk about. But I guess that's why people follow blogs...

Here's what you missed:

In May, Justin and I took a much needed vacation to the Dominican Republic. Talk about beautiful! We had an amazing week of pure relaxation, and after a couple of busy years since our honeymoon, it was a much needed break.

Buggy rides on the beach!

Sunset at the beach before dinner

In June, we went back to Las Vegas with two of our best friends, Wes and Karen, and their cousins Brandon and Kellie. We were there to celebrate Wes's big 30th birthday (which was a little early, because his 30th is actually today!). We had a great time seeing some of our favorite places and checking out some new ones (we didn't skydive this time around, but we did go to the top of Paris, and that was MUCH scarier than skydiving!).

At the Mandalay Bay Aquarium

The whole gang's here! Kellie, Brandon, Karen, Justin & Wes

At the top of Paris. I wish I could say this was posed, but I was truly paralyzed with fear. The wind was blowing and the whole thing was rocking. Wes was kind enough to hold on to me so Justin could take pictures :)

That was the extent of our travels over the summer (with the exception of a few little things here and there). I did read a few books over the summer. I won't review them for you individually, but they were all fantastic! If you get a chance, pick one up!

I follow a lady on Twitter that often recommends books. I picked this one up on her suggestion. It's quirky, but interesting!

Even if you've seen the movie, read the book! It's truly phenomenal, and it is so much more revealing than the movie.

I didn't actually see this movie, but I loved the book. I'm planning to pick up Something Blue soon!

This book is the freshman reading assignment at the University of Charleston (where I work). It gets a little heavy on the science side, but it's a fascinating insight into the world of cell research and consent. Highly recommend!

This one was just for fun! Chelsea Handler can be crude, but her stories are hysterical. This book is about all of the practical jokes she has played on her family, friends and coworkers. Seriously funny stuff!

So that's a little bit of what you missed since April (wow, I'm terrible). I promise I'll do better at updating. My job is about to take me on an eight week tour of the state of West Virginia, and I hope to blog from the road with pictures and experiences. (We'll see how that goes!).

Thanks for sticking around...

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 :)

Flashback!

My mom emailed me these old photos of Lindsay and I that she found. I love looking at old pictures of my sisters and I (mostly because my Dad let us pick out our own clothes and we usually looked ridiculous!).

This picture is Lindsay and I with my great-grandfather (Grumpy) in his berry garden in Kentucky. I don't know how old we are in this picture (and I don't know which one is me and which one is Lindsay!), but I think we look like little flower children in our wrap dresses!

This picture CRACKS me up! My Dad often took us on fishing trips and excursions, and this is us before one of our many adventures! Our outfits and hats are utterly hysterical, but we have our tackle box and worm can in tow! I'm not sure which one is me, but I'm taking a guess that I'm the one on the right!

Praying for Japan

Today, I am focusing on Japan.

In high school, I took two years of Japanese language. Yes, I went to a very small high school, and while many of my counterparts were taking the ever popular French language, I was privileged to be a part of a grant program that allowed me to take Japanese with an instructor that came to be with us from Japan. His name was Takeshi Sakai, and he was an amazing instructor. He had a young wife and a small child, and they loved being in West Virginia. They were from Gifu Prefecture, an area of Japan that is very similar to West Virginia with rolling hills and lots of green space. He inspired me to want to see the world, and that not only was there so much more outside of West Virginia, but there was so much more beyond the US. I kept in touch with them for a couple of years after they went back to Japan, but I have not heard from them in quite some time. I pray that they are safe today.

After taking that class, I dreamed of visiting Japan. Last year, on July 4, 2010, I was fortunate enough to make a stop in Japan! While traveling back from Taiwan, we switched flights at Narita Airport and spent about an hour on Japanese soil. Although I didn't get to "visit" Japan, I loved being able to understand some of the conversations and the posted signs. It was an experience I will never forget.

Jumping back to before I was ever even high school though, I had a Japanese pen pal. I was in elementary school, and my cousin (who went to another school) told me that they had developed Japanese pen pals as part of a class assignment. I asked her to send back my address, so that I could have a Japanese pen pal too! (Oh, the days of snail mail and having a real pen pal... there was no such thing as texting or Facebooking back then. Shocking, I know!)

A couple of weeks after sending my address to my cousin's pen pal, I got a letter from Reiko Miyoshi. She became one of my very best friends and over the course of about a year, we sent letters to each other very regularly. She often talked about wanting to come visit West Virginia, and that she would like for me to visit Japan as well. She was much older than I was though (probably late high school/early college age) and it was more realistic for her to come to the US because she also knew people in other states.

I went to 4-H camp that summer, and when I came home from camp, my mom rushed me to the airport. I had no idea what was going on, but while I was at camp she had opened my most recent letter from Reiko. She was arriving in West Virginia that day! (One of the only times I'm thankful that my mother has a habit of opening other people's mail...) Long story short, Reiko came and spent several days with me and my family, and I will absolutely never forget it! She showed me so much spirit and adventure (who just jumps onto a plane to West Virginia?!), and I am thankful that I got to know her.

Reiko and I exchanged letters for several more months after she returned to Japan, but then I stopped hearing from her. I'm sure that she got busy with life, as many of us do. She lived in Chiba Prefecture (one of the hardest hit with the most recent earthquakes). I do not know if she's still in Chiba, but I pray that she is safe today.

A friend posted on Facebook that he is praying through Psalm 46 for the people of Japan. I think it is most appropriate, and I ask you to do the same.

日本を祈ること