Friends…

I have the best friends...hands down.  I am so grateful that I have them in my life, even if I don’t see them as often as I would like.

Sara, lives in Hawaii so I get to see her a couple of times a year.  She was back last week so I capitalized on one of my remaining personal days and met up with her for breakfast at Panera  Bread.  We stayed so long that we nearly had to eat lunch!   She is amazing at keeping up on things and I am terrible.  She is leaving Hawaii in a couple of months and moving to Alaska.  Total opposite, but she couldn’t be more excited.  My goal: to actually visit her in Alaska.  Never made it to Hawaii...

Last night I also got together with some of my high school friends.  So far we’ve all stayed in the area, but now Amy and her hubby are moving to Wichita.  I am happy for them, but also sad to see them go.  I do, however, see a road trip in our near future.

We met out at Mahoney and enjoyed a delicious dinner and good company.  However, the best part of the night came after dinner.  Amy and I had Amanda meet us at SAC Museum because Amanda didn’t have a park pass.  Great idea, right?  It all seemed perfect until we went back to drop Amanda off at her car and boom.  The gate was locked!  Amy’s instant advice was, “We’ll just have to curb it!”  Much better than my idea of how we were going to have to explain to museum officials that we had visited the museum and decided to get dinner only to come back and find the gate locked.  Amanda successfully “curbed it”, Amy got pictures and I laughed until I cried.  All in all, a great night!

Now, tomorrow is the last day of school.  It has been a whirlwind of a week as I have been busily preparing and finishing up all the last minute details that the final days of school entail.  Tomorrow we go on our class picnic.  It seems like just yesterday I was blogging about going back to work.  Now I am anxiously awaiting all that summer will hold...vacation, swimming, reading and more to be determined. 

Crossing my fingers for a smooth last day of school... 

{The Launes}

Ready to Run…

Last Sunday my alarm went off at 4:45 a.m.  As it went off, I could hear heavy wind, hard rain and loud thunder and lightning outside my bedroom window.  It was a flashback to 2007, the first time I ran the Lincoln Half Marathon.  In 2007 I was crossing my fingers and hoping they would cancel the whole thing.  I had hardly trained and had no idea what to expect.  However, this time I was extremely disappointed and hoping that it would stop.  I wanted to run.  I trained, I had updated my Marathon Mania playlist on my i-pod,  I had a goal in mind and I wasn’t going to stop until I reached that goal.

The weather cleared and it actually turned out to be a gorgeous day!  A little humid, but otherwise I couldn’t complain.  And so we ran.  We ran for 13.1 miles. 

Trent came down to Lincoln to see the race.  He is 1 for 3 on actually getting to see me run.  Better luck next year, TL.  But I was just very excited to have him there!

So thankful I have Jamie to run with.  On Saturday mornings and race day.  I couldn’t do it without her!

This half brought several firsts...

First time finishing in under 2 hours...1:58.17

My first time on the news...

I tried to put the video in...no such luck.  We were at 30 seconds in the 31 second video.  Be thankful I spared you the other 29 seconds!  I would have never known, but the amazing Pat Yardley caught it with her eye on the news and told me about it.

And, my first trip to the emergency room... 

I got so sick after the race. I usually get a little sick, but this time it was awful...I will spare the details. After about 4 hours of being so sick I knew I was dehydrated so we headed to urgent care.  The diagnosis – dehydration.  An IV would take care of it, but they didn’t have them there so I would have to head over to Lakeside for that.  After about 2 hours of being poked and prodded I felt like a new woman.  Praise.The.Lord.

Now, I haven’t ran in a week.  Need to.  Want to.  But no time.  However, in 4 days I should have nothing but time!  4 more days of school my friends.  But who’s counting?  Until then...

{The Launes}

The First of May…

The first of May always brings a celebration in our family.  Not only is it May Day, but also my mom’s birthday.  It tends to be a busy time of year, but there is always time to celebrate!  This year we headed into Omaha for a birthday dinner at Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse.  And as our waitress would say, it was phenomenal! 

Then is was back to Jamie’s for presents and cupcakes!

Chuck laid it all out there for the birthday celebration.  I think in his mind he is thinking “cake, please.”

While it is quite belated, I’d like to make it blog official...Happy Birthday Mom!

{The Launes}

Good Luck…

Where in the world did April go?  It seems like I barely blinked and suddenly it was May 5th.  I kept wanting to sit down and blog, but with everything going on, I have literal has like 2 seconds of spare time!

April in pictures...

a new{ish} couch

Women’s Night...

Ashley’s Baby Shower...

This week was an unbelievably busy week.  2 track meets, mom’s birthday, track and field day and a field trip to the zoo.  More about that crazy week later!

Now, tonight, I am working on updating my iPod, because tomorrow is the big day.  I am however missing game night right now.  Discipline my friends, discipline...

One of my sweet students delivered this sign and a flower to the apartment today.  Made.My.Day!

Now, I’m off to continue hydrating, finish up some laundry and hit the sack!

{The Launes}

Easter Break…

Spring break...we don’t really get a spring break.  Not a real week long spring break like the big schools.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, but we just get an Easter break...2 extra days off at Easter.  And that, my friends, is the last break until the end of the school year.  28 more student days starting tomorrow...but who’s counting?  This break was just what I needed to get me through all of the chaos that is better known as the end of the school year.  I am refreshed and re-energized.

I started things off right with a haircut.  It was much needed.  My last haircut was a back to school cut in August.  Needless to say, 4 inches off was a good thing.  The rest of the weekend was rather routine...grocery shopping, running and relaxing.

Sunday was Easter...one of my favorite holidays.  The week leading up to Easter is so powerful and humbling.  Growing up, my mom always decorated a bulletin board in the kitchen for each holiday.  One particular sign I remember most is an Easter one that read, “He didn’t rise from the dead to hunt Easter eggs.”  So often I get caught up in the commercialized side of holidays that I forget the true meaning.  I’m trying harder to really focus in, but often times, society makes it hard. 

Easter. Jesus paid it all...This is one of my favorite songs during the Easter season.  It puts things into perspective.  We are sinners.  We are not worthy of His love, but He loves us because Jesus paid it all.

Sunday was a busy day with church and family gatherings.  I quickly made up for lost time by eating too much candy and chocolate.  Just as my bellyache subsided, I headed in for round two of sugar overdose.

Hoppy Easter from the Launes!

{The Launes}

Sister Day…

I had been counting down to last Saturday for over a week.  My stress levels were a little higher than usual and with the start of middle school track, my extra time that I needed to be spending in my classroom became nearly nonexistent.   But Saturday was a sister day.  It included all things running, eating and movie going.

It started bright and early...9:30 on Saturday morning.  I wanted to sleep in a little and Jamie graciously allowed this.  We headed to Lake Zorinsky for some new scenery and a lovely little 10 mile jog.  The Lincoln Half is just over a month away so we wanted needed to get a few longer runs in.  It was a beautiful morning for a jog.  Temps in the 60’s, sun shining and my body even cooperated for the most part.

After our little jog we headed straight to Caribou to get our usual post run coffee before going home to get ready for the movie.  

Then, it was the moment I have been waiting for since early February when I finished reading the first Hunger Games book.  The movie.  It was everything I hoped for and more.  Now I can finally read the second book!

{Source}

The only thing missing from this great day was my camera...didn’t snap any pictures.  I did, however, find the above picture on pinterest.  It’s the best I could do.

Now, I’m ready for a 4 day week, Easter and hopefully some more spring weather.  Happy April Fools Day!

{The Launes}

Spring has Sprung…

and I love it!  It is the last week in March and I have worn capris multiple times and can no longer count the number of times that I have worn open toed shoes on two hands.  The grass is green, the flowers are in full bloom and the pollen count is off the charts.

Friday night mom, Jamie and I went to Stations of the Cross at Holy Family Shrine.  It was the perfect opportunity to reflect on the Lenten season as it quickly comes to a close.  Afterwards we explored outside and enjoyed God’s beauty as the sun was going down on a warm March evening.  Perfect.

 

I am still recovering from a busy weekend and anxiously awaiting a full Saturday...running, followed by coffee followed by The Hunger Games!  Middle school track started today so I am officially stressed until May 8th.  Too much to do and not enough time in my days...

{The Launes}