I've got some news too...

No, I'm not pregnant... BUT my sister Kristen is!!! She is due around the end of May/beginning of June- about a month after Meghan who just annouced her good news!!! Yeah! (Can't wait til Steve and I are married so that we can start our family too!!!!)

Another Tri In The Books

On Sunday 8/26, I completed my fourth Triathlon!!! I finished the Accenture Chicago Triathlon in 3 hours 37 minutes and 10 seconds. The race was a 1500 meter swim (approx 1 mile) in Lake Michigan, then a 40k (approx 26 miles) on Lake Shore Drive, and finally a 10k (approx 6 miles) run along the lakefront. Here are some pictures of me!

Just enjoying a little swim!

Just getting out of the water to go and hop on my bike!!!

Rounding the last corner before the finish line- almost done!!!

Below is the video that was shot while I crossed the finish line. It lasts about 30 seconds and you should start to see me about 15 seconds into it. It's hard to tell that it's me, but I am the third person to cross the line in the video clip- the person that crossed right after me raised her arms up in the air.

Steve and I after the race- he's so proud of me!

Finishing Second to Last in Second Place?!?!?!?

Yep- that's me! I decided on Friday afternoon that I was going to do a 10k "fun" run down in Momence, IL as part of the Gladiolus Festival. I'm supposed to be training for my triathlon next weekend and the last part of it is a 10k run so theoretically I should be able to do just a 10k without any problems right???

Well, I haven't been training as much as I should- this whole falling in love and getting married thing has definitely distracted me from my workouts this year :) So, the run wasn't nearly as fun as it should have been- although I am really beginning to question the thought that running can be fun because I really do hate it!

Anyways, me and about 150 of my closest friends start out on our various length runs (you had the choice of a 5k walk, 5k run, or 10k run) on Saturday morning at 8am. The first mile went really good, I had a nice 10 minute mile pace going and was feeling good. Then came the first water station... I have tried and I cannot continue running and drink liquid- it doesn't work for me. I slowed to a fast walk and drank my dixie cup of water and began running again. My legs decided to disagree and we fought over walking vs. running for the next 4 miles. I was tempted to turn at the 5k turnaround point, but I convinced my legs to keep going. I did manage to run the last mile of the race but it took quite a bit of convincing on my part- plus I haven't mentioned that there was only one person behind me. Yep- I was second to last of the 35 people who ran the 10k and I did not want to be last so I kept an eye on the 60+ year old lady that was behind me.

So, I finally finished the race 1:17:34- 34th out of 35 10k runners. I cooled down for a few minutes and hopped in my car to head home and shower. There was an awards ceremony, but I opted not to hang around for it- 34th place, like I'd really get any awards!

I got home from work yesterday and there was an envelope with my name on it from the Momence Lions Club (they organized the run). I opened it to find a 4x6 plaque saying that I got second place in my age group (females 20-29). Who would have thought! Come to find out there was only myself and another girl that were in that age group! Yay for me!!!

Great Smoky Mountains- I just love it there!!!

This is from the 11 Mile One-Way road through Cades Cove. Almost all of the bears that we saw were along this road- a must see if you ever get down to the Smokies!

Also from the Cades Cove Loop Road


Steve and I at Abram's Falls- a 2.5 mile hike to get there, but well worth it!

The bottom part of Laurel Falls- only 1.25 mile paved hike to get there- one of the more popular falls to see!

The North Carolina side of the Smokies

Self-portrait :)

Mingo Falls- the tallest that we saw 180 feet!

We also took quite a few videos of the trip and if I get motivated, I may just try and see if I can post some of them too, but that will have to wait because I am at work and the camera is at home! :)

Updates, Updates, Updates...

The Aquarium-
Within the first couple of days three of the four angelfish died and just yesterday I found the fourth one laying on the bottom :( We have three new (and much larger) angelfish that we bought last week as replacements- Steve is supposed to go and get a fourth today. Otherwise all of the other "kids" are alive and well!

The Vacation-
We spent a wonderful week down in the smokies! We camped for four nights in Cades Cove which is in the National Park (no showers!!!) and then camped the last four nights just outside of Gatlinburg (they had showers and even free wireless internet!). While we were there we hiked, saw several waterfalls, saw at least 10 Black Bears, had a family of owls in our campsite, toured two caves, went to the aquarium, shopped, and went to check out the wedding site.

The Wedding Plans-
While we were on vacation (once we had showered) we went and met with the Minister who will be marrying us next summer and got to see the chapel and tour one of the cabins. Everything is so perfect! It looks like our date will be August 11, 2008 and now all we need to do to officially set the date is get a good idea of how many people we will have there so that we can reserve a reception site! Here are the websites for the chapel and the resort: http://www.smokymountainwedding.com/ and http://www.thepreserveresort.com/

Guess that's it for now! I'll post some pictures from our trip too!

Proud Parents

Announcing to the blogging world the addition of 22 "children" to our household!!!

Our Aquarium

An Albino Catfish (1 of 2)

Three of the Four Cory Cats (We have one loner who rarely hangs out with the other three)

One of the two Plecostomus' (The sucky fish that eat algae off the sides of the tank)

And our pride and joy- the 4 Angelfish!

We also have 10 Cardinal Tetras that I didn't get any good pictures of yet. We're so proud of our little family!

Yikes!

So, I just realized that I'm 9 days short of a month since my last post... WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE???

Well... The week after our official engagement I think that my head was in the clouds :)

The week after that... Minneapolis from Monday afternoon until Thursday night and then on Friday morning driving up to Door County for Becky's wedding (it was beautiful). I only took one picture (well, someone else actually took it)...

Then Steve and I spent the rest of the weekend seeing the sights of Door County. We got home on Sunday afternoon in time to hang out with his family for Father's Day. I love that I feel like such a part of his family already!

This week has been spent getting caught up at work and doing some training for my triathlon this weekend- I feel sooo unprepared, but at least it's a shorter one... Yikes!