Running in the Warmth

Indoor running? In the winter? Where it's warm?

Absolutely. My friend Morgan mentioned this indoor Groundhog 10K run to me a while back and I was SUPER excited. It's a 6.2 mile course that winds throughout the Kansas City caves. Temperatures there are maintained at 65-68 degrees year round and it was definitely warm (and in some parts stinky). The hardest part was simply figuring out how to get INSIDE the caves without your limbs freezing off in the 20 degree weather. Thankfully, my brother came to the rescue and picked us up from our parking spot and drove us right to the entrance. What a stud.

Overall it was a long, good run. I definitely don't run as much in the winter so my time wasn't a personal record by any means. The goal was to finish well and we both did! Thanks for the finish line cheers Mom!

The Final Countdown

For anyone who knows us, this clock has been looming lately as we prepare for these last couple of weeks...

Only this much time until.....

- Two halfs become one again

- Two four legged animals get their other parent back

- Falling asleep (and staying asleep) becomes a much easier task

- I can actually hug and touch the one who I vowed to live the rest of my life with!!

CAN.  NOT.  WAIT.

Favorite Pastime

When I was young, my brother and I would spend hours days on our Atari, then Nintendo, then 64, then Xbox, etc, etc etc. We would battle until our fingers couldn't move anymore. Come to think of it, that might even be where my hardcore "competitive side" was sprung.

Well for Christmas this year, Derek's sister got the new Mario Bros game for the Wii. I think I almost peed my pants with excitement as I couldn't wait to relive my youth through the eyes of a fire-spitting, short-person with a red hat.

That was December 25th.

This is January 14th.

Somehow, this little old school video game playing has officially turned into the "2010 Challenge to Beat The Game Before Matt Returns To School". Over the past couple of weeks Derek's brother and I developed this infatuation for the game and making sure we complete it in the next week. Are there endless free lives so you never really die? Yes. Are we pretty much dorks? Yes. Do we care? Nope.

So if I'm not picking up my phone, or responding to emails, I might just be on the last level fighting off the final big guy! Don't be jealous.

Midcourt Mayhem

Just amazing.

Baby Fun!

This weekend I was asked again by several people when Derek and I were going to start a family! Both at a baby shower on Saturday, and then visiting a friends baby on Sunday! (I honestly think God is now sending blatant signals.)

First was Kayla's baby shower on Saturday. Kayla and I used to work together a few years back before she moved on to another company. She is tiny, sweet and in love with the color pink. Madelyn Kay will be born late February and you can see how blessed she'll be with all the presents below!
On Sunday, my friend Brandy and I ventured up North to see our friend Allison's new baby who was born on December 17th. Little Levi is the cutest little boy !

Photo credit is Allison's sister Jenni

Fieldhouse Fun

This past Wednesday, I went with my little brother and dad to see KU barely beat Cornell! It was our birthday gift to my father and we sure did pick THE game to be at. It was too close the entire game and the Fieldhouse was CRAZY LOUD!

Happy Birthday again Dad!

We Have a House!

We signed our contract on our Cleveland home last week and the inspections are currently taking place! It was number one on our list after visiting there a few weeks ago and it's a great deal too. It's almost the same size as our old Kansas house, much cheaper and in a great area with young couples and families. It's open floor plan, basement, 2 fireplaces and fenced yard all enticed us, but there was one key factor that played a big part... the double sink! We looked at about 10-15 houses on our first visit and this is the only house with a double sink in the master. Because they were all built in the early 1900's up there, the bathrooms are very small and had limited counter space. Well not our new house! A double sink and plenty of counter space! Those who lived there before us were a bit eclectic so we'll have to get used to the black jetted master tub and the unusual tiles around the basement fireplace!

We close early February and are very excited to officially have a home for our next step in "the adventure" (otherwise known as our life!).



More pictures to come as soon as we move in!

Trip to DC!

This past week/weekend, we spent a few days in the DC area. We were able to spend NYE with some good friends (lasting until 4:30am!) and see many of the sites while there.


One of our favorite's was the Newseum where Derek enjoyed the FBI exhibit and I loved the Presidential dog portraits (of course!).







Seeing the Declaration and Constitution were also pretty neat.



But, to be quite honest, it wasn't the historical views, or the empowering tour of the Capitol, or even the amazing sights of the area at night that were my favorite parts. It was the gamers and sweets that made my weekend!

The "sweets" were the famous Georgetown Cupcakes that we indulged in throughout the weekend. I must say, they were by far the best I've ever tasted, even a notch up from the famous Magnolia Bakery in NYC.




And the "gamers" were those attending the Magfest convention held at our Hilton. They were up 24 hours a day in the meeting rooms playing their video games. Many dressed up and needless to say, it was the best people watching ever.