What does Dave do in ALL of his spare time?

Last month, out of the blue, Dave told me he was going to run a marathon! Did it surprise me? No, not really. In fact, it really surprises me that this was his first one. He hasn't admitted it, but I think he is hooked! Needless to say, he did awesome! He finished in 3 hours and 55 minutes. He only did two long runs prior to this. I am lucky I got this shot as he neared the finish line. I almost missed him speeding by. It was a beautiful, chilly, and WINDY day!

Dave has two new friends from his psych program that he loves to run with whenever they can squeeze it in. This means, he always has his running gear in his car so when an appointment doesn't show up, he can take full advantage of that time.

As soon as I saw Dave run past, I yelled at Josh and Maddie to follow me and we sprinted (with Olivia in her sling) to try to find him before we lost him in the crowd. I was impressed that he finished strong and looked good. I could almost feel the pain and suffering as I watched many of the runners finish in complete exhaustion.
Mark my word, this will not be Dave's last marathon. I hope he will do another on in the spring. Now he feels the competitive urge to beat his time by at least 20 or 30 minutes.
We entered Josh and Maddie in a one mile race. This was their first official race too! Josh took off on his own, and I did my best to keep up with Maddie.
Maddie is wearing her little work out pants!

So, I have a funny story about this little kid race. First, check out 5957! She is 3 years old and NEVER stopped running the whole mile. I seriously was trying my hardest to keep up with a 3 year old! (Please remember I had a baby 4 weeks prior!) The 3 year old beat Maddie and I. I wanted Maddie to push it a little at the end, but she started becoming distracted by everything around her. She would stop to pick up a flower or stop to look at a bird. Come on Maddie! Focus girl! So, I said, "Maddie, see that girl in the pink? (You can see her in the picture) I want you to catch up to that girl and beat her!! " I think I said it pretty loudly when I said, "Come on Maddie, GO BEAT HER! GO!!" because the mom looked back at me like I was the worst person in the world for telling my 5 year old to beat her 5 year old. (Maybe I am.) She gave me a look I haven't forgotten and I felt soooo bad! I really meant it all in good fun.

Josh gave it his all! There is no way I could have kept up with him. He totally enjoyed the whole experience of the race.

Congratulations Dave on an awesome first marathon! Dave is turning 34 this Friday. Happy Birthday to my hot and fit husband!

Tyler at the apple orchard

A perfectly beautiful day!
When my mom and grandma were here we spent a day at Anderson Apple Orchard with Tyler's preschool class.

Adorable. Don't you think? It was a great memory.

Every night at about 11:00, Dave and I come upstairs to go to bed, and we always have the same look on our faces. It is as if we have just been through a marathon of a day and finally at 11:00 p.m. we can take a breath and feel grateful to have survived another day! It is definitely hard keeping up with everything around here, but despite the chaos, we are all happy and healthy and all doing well.

I just feel like writing about this crazy friend I have here in Indiana. She lives over an hour away from Indianapolis so I do not get to see her all that often. Every couple months we get together and I just can't express how much I love her! She is always bursting with positive energy, totally spunky, full of wild ideas, an amazing listener, hilarious, creative, honest, and so many other qualities that can be hard to find. So, Hannah called me tonight at 7:00 as she was taking care of some errands in Indy and said, "Let's meet at Starbucks tonight at 9:00." It is now nearly 1:00 a.m. and I just walked in the door. We could talk all night. In fact, we did the last time I stayed at her house. We went to bed at 6:00 a.m. I always tell her that it is the best therapy hanging out with her because of the way she can spark the passion back in people. By the way, Starbucks has amazing Carmel apple cider and peppermint hot chocolate. I had one of each tonight! I highly recommend them to you non coffee drinkers.

I feel grateful for so many wonderful friends in my life. Life would be pretty dull with out them. I am also excited that I am truly loving living in Indiana. I am so happy we have a few more years here. I am definitely not ready to move. This state is going to hold a special place in my heart. (Wow, this is getting sappy! I better stop.) I feel like I never have time to write my thoughts on this blog, nor can I find the words to express my feelings about life in general, however I could not be more grateful for my life.

HAPPY FALL!