Market to Market 2014…

The trifecta of blogging.  I did it again…three days in a row.  I was way behind and what better time to catch than when Trent is away on a Minnesota game trip?  Yesterday and today I got a little fall deep cleaning under my belt and filled the rest of the time with a lot of being lazy!  Let’s just say I have made it through 5 seasons of the show Parenthood on Netflix in a ridiculously short period of time. 

Aside from that, I am quickly discovering that Murphy’s Law seems to come into effect when Trent goes to Minnesota.  Last time I locked myself out of the house.  This time our kitchen sink started leaking and soaked EVERYTHING under the sink.  Also, our ants are back!  We have had trouble with ants off and on for awhile now.  We have sealed as many gaps and holes as we can, but lo and behold, a week or two later they are back.  I have killed so many of those darn little things and tried everything natural.  This time, I’ve had it.  I have set out little squares of poison all over the counter and am anxiously waiting 24-48 hours for them to all disappear.

Anyway, back to things more exciting than ants.  Last Saturday I was back in Nebraska again for the annual Market to Market Relay.  It was the event’s 7th year and my 6th (darn bronchitis of 2010).  The team came together again and enjoyed the beautiful fall day and open country.  We did a little team bonding in our van and a little running in between.

In case you’re not familiar with Market to Market, it is a relay with teams of 6-8.  Each runner runs between three and five miles 2 or 3 times depending on the size of your team.  The race starts in Omaha and ends at the Haymarket in Lincoln.  It was 79.2 miles of running fun!

Part of the team waiting for one of our runners to finish their leg…

Sister bonding time… As luck would have it, I got to see this girl three weekends in a row!

Jamie dominating the gravel roads…

I finished a leg here my first year.  It was over 5 miles of awful.  Thankfully this year I got to watch and cheer on Jamie as she finished up here.

The end of my final leg…and thank goodness!  I didn’t have much gas left in me to go any further.

Our team…The Common Tread.  Running strong since 2008.

Market to Market 2014 for the record:

79.2 Miles

10 hours 6 Minutes 39 Seconds

22 out of 151 in our division

63 out of 511 teams overall

I also got to see this little pumpkin again while I was back!

Splish! Splash! Audrey’s takin’ a bath!

Somebody also got their first tooth while I was visiting and I love this picture.  Brian quoted it as Audrey saying, “Got my first tooth!  Oh yeah!”

Another great trip home.  There was a period of three weeks where I got to see my family every weekend.  It was nice while it lasted, but I also wish I could have spread it out a little more.  I am a big fan of delayed gratification.

Trent did, however, get a new phone this week and I had a little fun with Siri.  FYI…there are 40 days until Thanksgiving and 67 days until Christmas.  See you soon Nebraska, see you soon!

{The Launes}

29 and Holding…

Thirty.  The big three o.  No matter how I say it, it just sounds old.  I know I still got a lot of good years ahead of me and that the best is probably yet to come.  However, those big milestone birthdays where the decade rolls over to the next are a little hard to swallow.  Lucky for me I got to spend the day with some of my favorite people.  My mom and sister made the trip to Greenville to help me celebrate my birthday.  It was a quick trip for them, but we spent lots of quality time together while it lasted.

Jamie and I started out the day with a little run.  Market to Market was only a week away so there was no rest for the weary.  It was a crisp and windy fall morning, but not much feels better than a cool breeze in your face!

After a birthday jog we enjoyed birthday coffee! 

Cheers to 30!

Patty even brought cake to the game for half time! 

Me and Coach!  In a shootout to the end, Greenville came out on top 63-44.  Let’s just say it’s hard to find a happy defensive coordinator when they’ve had 44 points put up on them, but he was a pretty good sport and posed for a picture.

Thanks to Mary, Julie and Jane (the old FCA crew) we had a lot of fun and some good laughs with these fun waxed lips and mustache!  Nothing says happy birthday like waxed lips!

But really, I mustache you a question…

Nothing like a mailbox overflowing with cards to make a girl feel loved on her birthday!

Then, on Tuesday Delores, the sweetest neighbor you could ever imagine, took me out to lunch for my birthday.   We went to a little winery outside a nearby town and had lunch and cake.  It was so fun celebrating with her!

All in all it was a great birthday!  Lots of celebrating and I am so thankful for all of the love I felt!

{The Launes}

Big Brother 16 Finale…

I’m a little behind.  Behind like, I better blog three days in a row again to catch up on all the exciting things before it’s too late!  So without further ado, I will rewind to the end of September when I made my first trip back to Nebraska since July.  It was a jammed packed, much needed getaway from Greenville.   I seriously was on the go from Wednesday afternoon when I arrived until Sunday afternoon when I left. 

The main reason for the visit was the annual Big Brother finale party.  Kind of embarrassing to admit, but every year Jamie and I have a finale party complete with a pre-show jog, Valentino’s pizza and fro-yo while we rehash the season and root for our favorite to win (Derrick in this season’s case). 

It was a shootout to the end, but thankfully Victoria did not make it to the end and Derrick was named the Big Brother 16 champion.

Looking back on the season this screen shot could not have been take at a better time.  Zach lost his cool in the diary room and was a hot mess.  Big Brother…expect the unexpected.

Friday I got to eat lunch with Lainey at school.  Her birthday was coming up so I brought some Subway and we enjoyed a nice little lunch in the cafeteria.  I can’t believe she is six now and already in kindergarten!

Friday night we ate dinner on the deck. Audrey loves spending time with grandma! 

Lainey’s birthday party was on Saturday.  It was fun being back for it and getting to celebrate with her.  One of the hardest parts about being so far away is knowing that life goes on without us.  It was fun to be part of life again!

Lainey was excited to be turning six, but I think that these two were more excited about the cupcakes and frosting!

One of the best parts of the trip was getting to see this little cutie again!  She is getting so big and changing by the day.

She’s eating big girl food and has so much personality.  Her faces and expressions make me laugh out loud!  It’s hard not to continuously snap pictures of her so I can look at them again and again when I’m not around.

It was a fun trip that ended far too soon, but it was a nice refreshing getaway.  It was nice to be around people again and to get to catch up with some of my favorite peeps!  It was also nice to eat Runza, Valentino’s and gain ten or twelve pounds.  There really is no place like home!  And, with Market to Market on a few weeks away, I also knew that I would be back again soon!

{The Launes}