A desperately needed update!!!

Ok, so things have been pretty darn hectic for the past couple of weeks, so I have not had time to slow down and update the blog! As a result of so much going on, I have a lot of content to share, so I think I'm gonna break it up into topics. Hopefully this won't consume too much of my Friday. And if it does, consider yourself really important as you read!! So the week after Easter wasn't too eventful as I can remember and as there's nothing good in my planner. And I've totally blanked on that weekend. Except I do remember cutting out material for a purse I'm making. But maybe I should just cover the highlights rather than boring you.

Then that week of the 20th... Lee was out of town working and it just so happened that mister Marty (of our friends Becky and Marty) had to go out of town also, for training I think. Pause... I'm gonna find you a picture of Becky and Marty...
Sooo, Becky (my BFF/kindred spirit/common-law sister/roommate/etc) and I took the opportunity to hang out for a few days and also keep the loneliness of missing our husbands away. They also have a dog (Mattie) so I went over to her house to stay. It was as usual great to hang out and spend some time together, and I have to say Becky does a really good job of listening to me when I way over analyze situations (I've embraced it, I just like to think of ALL sides of situations, all possible scenarios, weighing all facts/people/emotions involved, no particular crisis at the moment, it's just what I do.), and she has a gift for humoring me and giving feedback while I do this. As do my mother and my sisters, and a few others, but if I start naming people I will leave someone out. Bottom line, female relationships are certainly something to be cherished! I try to return the favor whenever I can.

I also went to an event with my friend Katherine at the Georgia Tech Alumni Association called Women on Wednesdays, which had I been keeping up better with updates I may have given its own post. But since I'm summarizing, here are the highlights. It was called "Personal Presence: The Ability to Persuade and Influence with the Use of Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication" and it was basically about the image you portray and the language you select and how this effects relationships, the workplace, getting things accomplished, etc. It was actually a preview for a longer workshop she's doing next weekend, so it was abridged content, but I loved it, mostly because the lady was really inspiring. The point of her talk was pretty much how your presence influences people to think that you really have something valuable to say and to stop and listen and consider. And the second she opened her mouth, I was fishing for my notebook thinking this is gonna be good, I have to write this down! Haha, it was funny to stop and realize that she was the perfect poster-child for what she was preaching. And I pretty much wanted to be her best friend. So it was inspiring to try to be someone who people want to listen to, especially since I will be graduating and looking for a job soon! Her name is Nadia Bilchik. She's written books and stuff too, but I don't know much about those.

I also went to the Dave Ramsey "Town Hall for Hope" event on that Thursday night, which was pretty much his state of the union address. It was somewhere in Texas I think? But they did podcasts to something like 6,000 places all over the country for people to come watch (maybe some of you went?). I went to see it at a friend of my friend Jaime's church here in Atlanta. It was really good. He pretty much said suck it up and you know "be the change you want to see in the world", but more from a hopeful perspective that we can do it and we'll be fine, we just have to be active and responsible people who are accountable for their actions. He also used the phrase "Work like it all depends on you, and pray like it all depends on God.", which I think addresses a lot of the problem, that people aren't working like it depends on them, our culture has made everything the government's problem.... blah blah blah, I'm walking the edge of controversy that I typically like to leave for the more politically bold. Bottom line, it was really good, and inspiring, and hopeful, and all the things it was intended to be.

So that was a pretty busy week, and then that weekend, on to Nashville for the half-marathon!! But that's a post within itself...

Easter weekend

This weekend started out with Lee's parents coming in to town. They were lucky enough to have tickets to the oh-so-prestigious Masters on Sunday, so they came down early to hang out with us. We went to church on Friday night, which was really nice, then we just hung out on Saturday, walked around our town and went into some of the little shops. Then Lee grilled out some awesome steaks for dinner. It was a really nice day. Except I had a cold the whole time. Which was one of those just nagging congestion/cough nasty deals. I hate to admit that I may have been a little short and irritable at times, but Lee's parents were really nice and sweet about it and let me act all pitiful. They even made a big breakfast Saturday morning while I laid in bed and felt sorry for myself. Parents are pretty good house-guests to have.

Here's a really cute picture of Lee with his parents before church.

They left early Sunday morning to head down to the golf tournament, and Lee was so lucky that the Easter Bunny had come to see him during the night! It's fun to make Lee do cheesy things, he's a good sport. I had to give him some hints to find it, but he put in a good effort. And don't worry, I have a picture of him with it. Again, he's a very good sport.

Then after church the whole family met at my parents house for a big dinner and Easter egg hunt for the kids. My Granny and Papa were also in town this weekend so we got to spend the day with them too, which was really nice to see them (they live in FL). Here's a picture of me with them. They're very precious. If you've never met them, I'd recommend not passing up a chance to.
Then the Easter egg hunt, which I don't even have to tell you was super cute. You can't go wrong with little kids running around the yard with baskets of eggs. Here's a picture of them on the porch with their eyes closed waiting for the "Go!":

So now back to life and Monday tomorrow. I wasn't able to go for my long run this weekend due to my chest congestion (I googled it, illness above the neck you can proceed with workouts with caution, but below the neck is a big no-no), so I am gonna try for it tomorrow morning. The race is in less than 2 weeks! Hopefully tomorrow will go ok even though I had to skip several days last week. Oh! And speaking of races, Lee's little sister Mallory ran a 10-mile race in Louisville on Saturday (I'm pretty sure it was a Papa Johns event) in like 1:22 or something like that, which I think is just above 8 min miles! Crazy! But she's a pro, maybe I can be like her some day :) ... For now, don't be expecting any 8 minute miles out of me. Baby steps.

Happy Easter, and have a lovely week!

Camping with the Clarks

Last weekend we went camping with my sister Carrie and her family up in north Georgia. It was at this really cool state park that was pretty perfect for camping. My other sister Steph and her husband Jose were only able to stay Friday night, then Lee and I were only able to be there Saturday night, but we overlapped for an hour or so on Saturday so we were able to hang out a bit before they had to go. They all even got me a birthday cake since we hadn't all been together since before my birthday. It was a really fun trip, the location was great, it was good to spend some time with my sisses, and Carrie and Andy definitely have the coolest kids I know. So here are some highlights:

Here's a picture of Lee and Drew eating some birthday cake:

Evan became one with the rocks over the weekend, so here's his bed that he made for himself:

Then we all went for a little hike to find the "shoals". I lived in Muscle Shoals, AL for years and never really knew what a "shoal" was other than it had something to do with water (yeah, they tried to explain it in Alabama History, but let's be honest, not the most thrilling topic for a middle school kid)... well now I have experienced them first hand.

Here's me and Alli stopping on the hike for a picture:

Here's me and Lee at an overlook point:

Here's the kids at the first part of the creek we came to:
And here's where the action starts. There were people wading all through the water, it was all really smooth (and pretty slippery), so the kids wanted to get in. And I decided I could handle a little wading so I went in with them. So we waded for a while, but then they wanted to slide. Here's a super cute picture of Drew and Evan first sitting down in the water (it was COLD), I love how happy they look:

Here's the video of their first slide down the rocks. They had to stop first to pose for a picture, so the sliding starts around 28 seconds. Alli was a little more cautious than the other two. She'll do what they do, she just seems to consider it a little more before she jumps in. Her slide down is really funny cause she definitely went for a ride she wasn't expecting. But of course she loved it:



And then I decided to try (with a little peer pressure from Andy. it's his gift). I went a little higher to try to get a bigger slide, but it was a little grassy at the top so I had some trouble getting started. But once I got going it was really fun. The freezing water was the worst part, but it was worth it. Watching the video, it does look a little bouncy, but it really wasn't painful:

Some Jamaica pics

We finally got some pictures from our Jamaica trip from Lee's coworkers. So here are some highlights from what we got:

Here is a view of the beach, you can't really see the exciting part of the resort very well, but you can see a couple of the buildings with just guest rooms. But this is the best picture we were sent of the beach area. There as a volleyball court off to the side there too (you'll have to use your imagination), where we played a few games. And this is where we loaded onto the boat for the infamous snorkeling trip.

These are some coworkers that Lee is buddies with, they're really fun and we hung out with them most of the trip. Scott's on the left and Dale's on the right. They both have new babies (Scott- twin girls; Dale - a boy) so their wives weren't able to come, so I was the lone girl. But they were very welcoming of the new group member.

Here's me and Lee before the dinner where they presented the awards to all the guys. We had to get all cleaned up for it, and it was a really pretty night, so perfect picture opportunity.

And of course the whole reason for the trip, here's Lee getting his award. This is his former boss John presenting the awards. John got promoted when Imaje merged with Markem, so Lee has a new boss (who lives in Chicago). But I'm pretty sure Lee will always be in John's heart.
(Edit for my mother: This trip was actually for the sales guys who reached certain goals last year, but Lee (who is not a sales guy) was a "Presidential Invite" (the only one, mm hmm) because he was a very vital part of a lot of these goals being met)

And oddly enough, John has a friend named Doc with a dog named Einstein and he invented a time machine which John travels in sometimes. 3 times actually until it was destroyed by a train.
(Edit: I was implying that John looks like Michael J. Fox. At least I think he does. But maybe you can't tell in this picture. Whatever, I think I'm funny.)

On a completely unrelated note, I just wanted to share the pistachio/chocolate chip ice cream I made for St. Patrick's day... it was DElicious. And beautiful. And festively green. I sure do love that ice cream maker.

Running fool

So I am usually cautious in telling when I've set a goal that might be difficult in case I fail, or give up. I tend to set lots of goals and fill my plate a little too much, so giving up happens more than I'd like, which isn't necessarily a bad thing I guess in trying to keep some sanity. But I'm pretty sure I'm gonna actually reach this one so I'll share. I'm currently training for a half marathon (13.1 mi) in Nashville in late April... paid the money, committed to do it with friends, so I think I'm in even if I crawl across the finish line. So... today I ran 10 miles, which is officially the longest distance I've ever run, so that's pretty exciting. My stomach likes to fight against me sometimes (and my co-runners have made me realize I have quite a few issues with my stomach. who knew?) so I am in a constant quest to find the perfect solution to pre- and post-run fuel. At the moment I'm trying V8 (thanks to dear Katherine) which is surprisingly a lot tastier than I thought.

On a more interesting note than veggie juice... Lee and I went to Jamaica last weekend with a bunch of his coworkers (it was a reward trip from his company for being awesome) which was such a fun/relaxing trip. We had some setbacks in the camera-world so we're waiting on some of his friends to send us the pictures they took. And when that happens, I may just post a few.

Experimenting.....

Do people really care what Erin (and co.) is doing? Chances are slim... but we will see won't we. This blog may me deleted after a few weeks. Or the fail whale may come to get me. On that note... a funny video about twittering tweets.