Two + Two = Us

Indy times Three

2015 was the year of road trips to Indianapolis. We ended up going three times!

Lissie's godmother and one of my best friends now lives in Indy, and we had been meaning to visit her for a while. We finally got around to it in August of this year. We checked out Indy's amazingly awesome Children's Museum. We splashed around in a fun splash pad. We ate lots of yummy food. But mostly, we enjoyed spending time with Amy, Brad, and baby Henry. It was such a fun weekend!

We went to China at the museum, and Lissie "cooked" us a delicious meal.

Meanwhile Xavier enjoyed "eating" a banana.

Go, speed racers, go!

Lissie with her godmother.

Bye, Henry! 'Til next time!

Our only family pic taken at this awesome brewery that gave kids pizza dough to play with at the table! Win-win for all.

Fast forward to October. My cousin, Stephanie, was getting married in Carmel, Indiana! We were so excited for a fun excuse for a family reunion and, of course, to pay a brief visit with Amy and family while we were there.

Lissie with her godfather.

The beautiful bride and X

Most of my first cousins.

Cousin kiddos

Everyone

Cousins and their families

And, finally, we returned to Indy in early December to attend the baptism of Amy's second child, John Thomas. I was honored to be his godmother. It was a short but fun and definitely blessed last trip to Indy to round out the year! We had to make a return visit to the Children's Museum, simply because it is a spectacular place!

As always, he's the happiest with food. Even pretend food.

Can't forget seeing Santa!

Friends since 8th grade. Godparents to each other's kids.

It seems we can't get enough of Indy. We've already got a trip lined up next April for the Carmel Marathon. I started training for it this week, and Justin (along with Amy and Brad) are gearing up for the Carmel Half-Marathon that same day. Whoo-hoo!

Ragnar and Running Recap 2015

This is one of many posts that I've been meaning to write.

Back in October, I headed up a repeat Ragnar Relay from Chattanooga to Nashville. It's always a fun challenge to run a 12-person relay for almost 200 miles, but I also wanted to do something to remember Stacy, my running buddy and friend who passed away Christmas Eve 2014.

Eight of us ran together last year, and we added four newbies to the mix. The first van consisted of the oldies: Sara, Jeff H., Seth, and Jon - plus Nyk and Jeff K. My van consisted of the oldies: Brent, Tony, and me - and we added Alfred and Patricia to the fun.

The afternoon before the big race, we got our rental vans only to realize that ours was just a little too small for 6 smelly folks and our gear. After a huge fiasco with Jeff K. from the other van trying to help us out, we ended up getting a new van later that evening. After carbing it up with a pasta dinner, we partied it up decorating our van to our liking.

The next morning, Justin and I woke up to texts and messages from Patricia saying that she's in the ER with severe back pain. Despite her trying to tell us that she could join us later, we encouraged her to get her rest and stay home.

It was an interesting morning trying to figure out how to cover her miles, but we managed to figure it out by having Jeff K., Justin, and myself run additional legs. Justin, however, at the last minute, decided to err on the side of caution (probably smartly so), and Brent ran one of his legs instead.

Our van had a lot of fun - Alfred may have been new to the Ragnar races, but he definitely added a lot of laughs and good cheer. He had such a positive attitude that it made running a tad bit easier. Brent, as usual, was a powerhouse who didn't complain at all about his extra miles. Tony made good on his legs this time around and was a lot more relaxed and upbeat. Justin is now a self-proclaimed runner and has been convinced to run a half-marathon (his first) next year. And I enjoyed being along for the ride.

My first leg had an elevation gain of over 1100 ft.!

Future Ragnarians? These two cheered us on!

This all made for an interesting race, and one that was a little more challenging. Of course, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. And, given that I'm now a "pro" at taking on extra legs, I kind of am thinking that my next Ragnar should be on an Ultra team (a team of 6 people instead of 12 running the 200 miles). Anyone wanna join me???

Also, as an aside, my 2015 New Year's Resolution was to 1. run 900 miles, and 2. run another marathon. Apparently only 8 percent of people actually follow through on their resolutions, and I am proud to say that I am one of them. I am actually now at 910 miles (some of them walked, elliptical-ed, or BodyAttacked, etc.), and I'm now in my first week of training for my next marathon.

Next year's resolution? The same. But this time with a faster marathon time. We'll see what 2016 will bring - I can't wait to find out!

Oh, and here are a few pics from one other race that I did this year that hasn't been documented on the blog: the Firecracker race on the Fourth of July. Justin and I ran a 10K while the kids tore it up during the one-mile fun run.

He barely beat me. Not bad for his first 10K.

I love how she loves running!

This guy took two shortcuts! Cheater. Haha.

Halloween and Other Fall Stuff 2015

Wow, so I've been super slacking on the blog. There've been many posts that I've wanted to write, and maybe one day I'll get around to them. Here's a super-belated Halloween post that I'm finally getting around to only because I know I'm going to want to look back on it later!

So Justin was hoping to be able to use his creative skills to make another killer costume for the kids. I was hoping the kids would continue their streak of being a food item.

2011: Cupcake; 2012: Donut & Tootsie Roll; 2013: Pumpkins, 2014: Homemade Pizzas

Unfortunately for us, the kids wanted to go "commercial" and so we had ourselves a store-bought Elsa and Ninja Turtle this year.

As always, Halloween lasted more than just October 31st. This year, we had ourselves an entire week of fun festivities.

On Sunday, while the boys were home mopey and sick, Lissie and I enjoyed a fun Girl's Night at Boo at the Zoo. We had never been before, and we both had a blast checking out the trick-or-treat trail, hayride, games, dance party, glow golf, and other neat Halloween-y activities that the zoo had to offer.

Just a couple of princesses at the zoo

Trick-or-treat!

Enjoying a s'mores treat

Thursday, the kids had their school parties and trick-or-treating around the church offices. Thursday night was costume night at Lissie's dance class.

Spider snacks for Lissie's class party - yum!

Lissie and her classmates

Xavier and his school pals getting ready to trick-or-treat around the church!

On Friday, we went to a costumed playdate and to a Trunk of Treat at our church.

Finally, Halloween! We started the day at a Fall Festival at the Brentwood Y. Unfortunately, X woke up from his nap with a 101 temperature, so we left him behind while Lissie and I went to our friend's annual Halloween party and trick-or-treating.

Elsa Trick-or-Treating

Justin met us at the party after work and "dressed up" as a pharmacist.
Here he is trying to advise Snow White from eating the poisoned apple.

We got a decent-sized stash of candy from all of our events. We'll devour some of them and add the rest to our "blessings bags" that we are working on to give the homeless this Thanksgiving/holiday season.

Oh, and while I'm blogging, here are some pics of another fall-y things we've done: our trip to the super fun Honeysuckle Farms! It was our first venture to this pumpkin patch, but it definitely won't be our last. Worth the trip, for sure!