Happy 2013!

Its been A LONG TIME! I feel like I write that statement more now than I ever have before. I am in an Accelerated BSN Program where I am getting my second bachelor's in nursing in 12 months! I started in October and have been SUPER BUSY but I am LOVING IT!  Today we learned how to give injections and we had to inject each other (with saline of course)...I gave three shots and recieved three shots, and it was actually fun?! Never thought I'd say that...

Mick is doing well, excited to hunt now that football season is over. Jagger has been with my in-laws (they are good to us!) for the past 2 months while we traveled with football and I took my online classes for this program.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. We are so thankful for all of the Lord's blessings :)

I am making a resolution to start writing again, so I hope to "see" all of you more on blog land! xoxo

Lola's Half Marathon

Two Saturdays ago my friend Meredith and I decided to "wing" a half marathon. When I say "wing" I mean neither of us really trained for this half, but both of us had been running/working out. I would have trained for it had I known about it, but I didn't find out about the race until the week before. The advertisement said "Most Scenic Half Marathon in Minnesota," so I figured I had to run it! Luckily, my friend Meredith is a runner and when I asked her if she wanted to sign up, she of course said yes! ;)

Our day was quite the experience. We arrived 10 minutes after the start of the race only to have to run the first mile and a half rather fast to catch up to the rest of the group. Then Meredith took off and I didn't see her until I crossed the finish line (In my defense, she was training for a full marathon up to three weeks prior...18 miles was her longest run...mine was 7 ;)...).  Anyway, I had my music on the whole race and decided I was going to walk when I needed to. Doing a race using that approach is actually the best way to run a race in my opinion. No pressure, just out to get some good exercise, fresh air, and move those legs!

We both finished in better times than we had anticipated considering our lack of appropriate training. We had a great time and enjoyed a bloody mary post-race!

Jagger's morning bone.

This is where I find Jagger every morning waiting for his morning bone...

Happy Mothers Day!

I think this is my first Mothers Day away from my momma! As sad as I am that I am not with her today, the good news is she is coming to visit me on Friday with my little sister! YAY! I cannot wait to see both of them. 

Mom and Dani helping me get into my wedding dress; Mom and Dani together

My mom has been the best role model and friend I could ever ask for. I can talk to her about anything and everything, and she always gives me the best advice. I do not know what I would do without her and thank God everyday that he chose her to be my mom. She is the best! 

I have also been blessed with a wonderful stepmom who has put up with me since age 11...and I know I wasn't always the easiest, kindest, or most considerate kid ;) but she has always been there and loved me anyway. She also brought my gorgeous little brother into this world and for that I am forever grateful :) 

K and Dad <3

And last but not least, I have been very blessed with a great mother-in-law. She has been the inspiration behind many of my adventures..two of them being running and blogging! She has always been SO welcoming and has truly always made me feel like family. I love her for that and am so glad I have such a kind hearted woman to call my mother-in-law. I am so blessed to her in my life!

(I also married into a very good looking family :) Here I am with my sister-in-laws and my mother-in-law at my bridal shower)

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day and were able to spend it with their friends and family <3

Our first "garden"

I just LOVE this time of year. Everything is green, flowers are blooming, and the sun is shining brighter and longer. It is just gorgeous! Since our house was just built, we are still waiting on a few things to be done...one of them being SOD! Until the sod is laid, I cannot start my gardening, which I have been so looking forward to! In the meantime, I bought a planter and decided to start a little garden on my front porch :)

My garden is made up of: 
Celosia (the colorful little guys)
Vinca Vine (the vine-y looking ones)
Spikes (the spikes in the middle)

Up next...vegetables!

Does anyone have good advice on how best to grow tomatoes on a porch!?

My night time run turned photo-shoot.

A few nights ago I decided that it was too beautiful outside to go to the gym, so I laced up my running shoes and headed out of our development. The weather was SOOOO gorgeous! 68 and sunny with a nice cool breeze. And to make it better, the sun was setting. Ahhh, I love nights like these. It felt so good to run outside with the breeze blowing in my face...I couldn't help but feel so grateful that I have two legs that work and a healthy body that allows me to go for a run. How blessed I am!

I probably did not get the most "efficient" exercise, but I could not help but stop to take pictures! I have been running every night since this "photo-shoot," and am thinking it is time to register for another half-marathon (this will be my 4th). Anyone want to join me!?

Crazy Storms!

Man, I do not know what is going on lately but there have been some CrAzY storms out here in Minnesota! 


Last night, Mickey went to his teammates house to watch the Floyd Mayweather fight, and asked me to come but that was about the LAST thing I wanted to do. Boxing makes me sick to my stomach and I end up getting a headache from squinting my eyes and smacking myself if the head with my hands when I try to cover my eyes too abruptly. ;) 


Long story short, I stayed home to read my "Blogging for Dumbies" book, since I am still planning my blog redo/revamp/reworking/re-something. I laid in bed happy as a clam reading until Mickey got home around midnight, and then we went to bed. 


I love thunderstorms and listening to them while feeling comfy and safe in my bed. I do worry about all of the people who are homeless and all of the animals who are left outside :( , but other than that I love storms. 


I am not sure what time it was but I was abruptly woken up by Jagger barking his head off and Mickey yelling for me to get up...my heart raced and I sat up thinking that someone was trying to break in our house. I jumped out of bed as Mickey screamed "hail!" HA! drastically different from someone breaking in our house, but the car was outside so he was worried. 


We ran downstairs, pushed his new football pitching machine out of the way and he pulled the car in without any dents (thank goodness). But the hail was the size of quarters and was piled up on our windshield wipers. Crazy!


I wish I would have taken pictures but I was half asleep and I didn't get a chance. Hopefully the other cars in the area were okay, too!