So anyone that knows me well knows that I have an intense fear of bridges and more specifically my car going into the water and not being able to get out. When I read this story yesterday, my heart sank. My greatest fear happened to these girls and it makes me cry thinking about it. The panic they must have felt and the realization that they couldn’t get out of it.

I had crazy dreams last night about being in that car and feeling that panic. I woke up in panic, sweating profusely.

I know this doesn’t happen a lot and that it’s probably an irrational fear of mine but now I know I need one of these:

This is Res-Q-Me. It’s a tool that hangs on your keychain. It has a seat belt cutter and a spring loaded tool that helps to shatter a car window. Again, this is me being irrational and paranoid but I think I would feel a lot better if I knew I had this with me.

1. Where is your cell phone:
In my purse

2. Your hair:
looking good today

3. Your mother:
good heart

4. Your father:
is just like me (or I am just like him)

5. Your favorite food:
Nachos

6. Your dream from last night:
Kind of crazy

7. Your favorite drink:
Tea

8. Your dream/goal:
to be in a job that I don’ t hate

9. What room are you in:
My office.

10. What are your hobbies:
crocheting- hopefully a blog post coming on that soon, reading, running (need to get back into that)

11. What is your fear:
not being good enough

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years:
With my family, in a different job

13. Where were you last night:
home

14. Something you are not:
motivated to work

15. Muffins:
not really a fan

16. Wish list items:
I have a whole blog page of those

17. Where did you grow up:
mostly Paris, IL but I spent my summers in CA and MD

18. Last thing you did:
reviewed a contract

19. What are you wearing:
a jcrew cashmere sweater and black dress pants

20. Your pets:
Lola

21. Your friends:
help me get through the week and give me something to look forward to

22. Your life:
is good

24. Your mood:
defeated

25. Missing someone:
my family

26. Vehicle:
Nissan Rogue- love it

27. Something you’re not wearing:
heels

28. Your favorite store:
J.Crew, Ann Taylor Loft, The Limited

29. Your favorite color(s):
navy blue and kelly green

30. When’s the last time you laughed:
this morning

31. When’s the last time you cried:
I tear up watching tv sometimes

32. Your best friend:
i have several great friends that make me laugh

33. One place you go over and over:
home or to the Mexican place with Tana- it’s kind of our thing

34. One person who emails me regularly:
Robyn and Amy

35. Favorite place to eat:
Mexican (almost any will do), Carrabba’s for the best alfredo

I was sooooooooo excited for the first Halloween in our house. I was sure there would be tons of trick or treaters and so we bought a ton of candy. We had a total of 5 ppl show up.  The ones that did were adorable but it made me sad. Are people not going door to door anymore? Not even in Kirkwood??

We waited until Halloween to carve our pumpkins. I was sooo excited because I had found a boxer template and wanted to make Lola pose next to my awesomely carved pumpkin. Failed there too. Here is the professional version from Better Homes and Gardens:

And mine…..

FAIL!

Collin’s pumpkin, on the other hand, was adorable.

Crossed off my thirty before thirty list.

This post is a long time coming. We’ve done a lot of changing stuff around in the house and I finally remembered to download the pictures and show you what’s been happening around la casa.

WARNING- Lots of pictures, long post!

A tacky brass light fixture was removed for this rubbed bronze beauty.

Collin bought me this awesome hammock for our two year anniversary (cotton). Too bad October sucked and rained 18/31 days.

When I was in San Francisco with my dad, Collin stained the entire deck!

This chair was once an ugly black with a horrible cover. Now, it’s super cute!

We lowered the light fixture to the appropriate height (thanks google) and added window valances.

A tacky brass fixture was removed from the front of the house. This one is adorable. We need new house numbers now and maybe a new mailbox…

My favorite new addition is this sideboard. We don’t have anything in it but I love it. Ignore the price tags on the decor…we were deciding what to keep and what to take back.

The next big change was the art project for around our tv. This was our inspiration:

And our version:

Just added yesterday:

We found the side table on clearance at the local Ashley furniture store. Topped with a Home Goods lamp and our living room is finally complete!

I know several of my blog buddies are awesome photographers and can help me out with this one. I’m looking for camera recommendations. I don’t have any experience other than the point and shoot cameras. I would like to upgrade before my trip to Italy in January. I am thinking about an SLR but am not sure if they are too much for me. I’m not looking to do any kind of fancy photography but would like it to take good pictures.  I’m open for ideas on what to consider, i.e. upscale point and shoots or a beginner’s SLR.

HELP!

Thanks in advance, ladies

I need a new hobby…a new goal…something to get me out of this funk. I’ve spent the past year in training mode. First it was the Nike 10k in Chicago, then the half marathon in Champaign, then the All-Star game 5k, then the full marathon in Chicago. And now….there’s nothing.

I really thought that when I crossed the finish line of the Chicago marathon I would be elated, on top of the world even. Only 2% of the world’s population have crossed a similar finish line and I was one of them. Instead, I felt nothing. I felt disappointment. Granted, my marathon experience wasn’t what I wanted it to be but I still didn’t feel like I had accomplished anything.

I’ve diagnosed myself with post-marathon depression. Apparently it’s pretty common- at least that’s what my google search tells me. It’s just like Christmas… every year there’s a big build up and then it’s gone faster than you can blink an eye. I’ve been thinking about this marathon forever and now it’s gone and I don’t feel any different.

All the websites tell me that I need a new goal but where do you go from here? I guess I can try to run a faster half marathon or another full marathon but I just wonder if I’ll still feel the same way- empty.

There’s really no way to wrap this post up with a pretty little bow so I’m asking for suggestions. Has anyone felt like this? Anyone have any advice?

After many months of training, freaking out and sleepless nights, I did it. Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

Gear all laid out the night before. The 5:30 time was my anticpated finishing time with a pace group.

My number! They went from 1-44,000

My sister in law, Candy, was kind enough to borrow a bib from a friend who dropped out so she could show me the ropes. It was a balmy 33 degrees when we left the house.

Check out the dragon.

My crew made me some awesome signs. They met me several times during the race and helped me tremendously.

This is early in the race. I was ditching my gloves and feeling pretty good.

Someone ditched these sweet Bears gloves on the side of the road and Collin couldn’t pass them up. It was cold!

First shot of me post-race. Wearing 4 layers of clothes and a mylar wrap and still freezing.

I’m totally Michael Phelps here.

Finisher’s Medal

Flowers from Collin and the Chicago skyline.

With two of my biggest fans.

The pictures don’t really tell the whole story of my marathon experience. I felt great and was running at 5 hour pace until mile 16 or so. At that point, I had to pull over to the side to puke (sorry for the detail) and then hit a brick wall. I started to walk/run for awhile and then when I met up with my family again at mile 20.5 I was done for… My kidneys/back were screaming with pain and I just couldn’t run anymore. Collin’s mom offered to walk awhile with me (just a breazy 6 miles) and off we went. I stopped off to try to pee hoping that the back pain would go away but instead I ended up throwing up again. I met up with Nick and Collin again pretty close to the finish line. They were super supportive and helped me get almost all the way there before I had to throw up again. I picked myself up and ended up jogging (slowly) across the finish line.

I’ve never had any problems like this with running before. I’m pretty sure I was dehydrated and that’s why my kidneys hurt but I couldn’t keep water down so it was a lose-lose situation.

I go back and forth between being proud of myself and being disappointed in myself. I can’t help but think I could have done better or pushed myself farther. My training could have been better for sure. I know not that many people can say they finished a marathon but I feel I could have and should have done better.

I make good haircuts look bad…lol. I’m not the most photogenic person but here’s a pic of my darker/shorter/chic-er haircut.

Since I’ve taken a blog hiatus (unintentionally)- here’s something to fill the space until I get back in the groove

1.What was the last thing you put in your mouth? Crystal Light

2.Where was your profile picture taken? in my old apartment’s kitchen

3.Can you play Guitar Hero? Yeah, I’m pretty decent at it

4.Name someone who made you laugh today. Melanie

5.How late did you stay up last night and why? 10:00- that’s about normal

6.If you could move somewhere else, would you? well we just bought the house, so no. unless we both got awesome jobs somewhere else

7. Ever been kissed under fireworks? don’t think so

8. Which of your friends lives closest to you? Emily

9. Do you believe exes can be friends? Yes

10. How do you feel about Dr Pepper? It’s ok…nothing I would ever buy but if it was around, I’d drink it.

11. When was the last time you cried really hard? I had a freakout moment a few months ago

12. Who took your profile picture? Collin, I think 

13. Who was the last person you took a picture of? Collin

14. Was yesterday better than today? No

15. Can you live a day without TV? Probably but I wouldn’t be happy about it

16. Are you upset about anything? Not right now

17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it? I think you get out of them what you put into them

18. Are you a bad influence? No

19. Night out or night in? Night in

20. What items could you not go without during the day? The internet (emails with the girls) and my ipod

21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? Collin’s gpa over a year ago

22. What does the last text message in your inbox say? “Tell Collin happy bday for me tomorrow”

23. How do you feel about your life right now? The home life is good…I wish we could get the work life straightened out

24. Do you hate any one? I don’t know if it’s a hate but I severely dislike a few ppl

25. If we were to look in your Facebook inbox, what would we find? secret messages between me and nikki

26. Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass? yes

27. Has anyone ever called you perfect before? perfect for them….

28. What song is stuck in your head? The lion sleeps tonight…it was on a Tony Kornheiser podcast

29. Someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m., who do you want it to be? Whoever delivers the publishers clearinghouse checks

30. Do you want to have grandkids before you’re 50? oooh…no…the math on that would not work out

31. Name something you have to do tomorrow. get my hair done

32. Do you think too much or too little? too much

33. Do you smile a lot? no… that would be weird- me sitting in my office smiling… creepy