NYC 2011 (Continued)

Since the moment we planned this trip to NYC, I told Jan that one of the things on my "to do" list was to go to the top of the Empire State Building. I just love "Sleepless in Seattle" when Tom Hanks's character goes to the top of the ESB to look for Meg Ryan's character and that moment when they finally find each other. Remember that?! Ahh...we wish it were that easy, right? But it's just a movie. For a brief moment today, though, I felt as if I were playing the romantic role of a lover finding her soulmate atop one of the most iconic American landmarks.

Wow!! Love CAN be found at the top of the ESB!! :)

(It was only fitting that he kiss me since on this day 13 years ago, he asked me to marry him. Thanks for asking me, Jan. I'm glad you did.)

O.K., enough "mushy stuff". Besides, part of the reason I'm blogging about this is because my kids are reading this and seeing what we're up to in NYC!! hehe

Some other cool things we've checked off our NYC list in the last 24 hours include:

 Christmas decorations in NYC!!

 I videoed the Lord and Taylor department store windows today! They are spectacular!!

Grand Central Station

(And it's amazing what all is in under what you are looking at in the picture.)

Our first NYC vendor food! Jan bought some kind of gyro chicken thing...I opted for a warm pretzel.

This is a picture of one of the windows at the Empire State Building!

The model of the ESB here is made out of Christmas candy!!

This picture shows a comparison of the two structures Jan and I have traveled to the top of.

Today's experience was a lot different than our Eiffel Tower experience in Dec. 2004, but both amazing!

A beautiful day to look out from the ESB!

We decided to rent bicycles and bike through Central Park, and I am so glad we did. This was a great way to see the park and see it quickly, since our daylight was quickly fading! 

I just loved my blue bike!!

We have walked and walked and walked some more!

Then after biking, we decided to find a good restaurant and sit down for awhile before catching this...

Our 1st Broadway show...The Phantom of the Opera!

It was fantastic!

A wonderful way to top off the day in NYC!

A Day to Remember

Today, we embarked on a tour of the 9/11 Memorial. It was unforgettable. Our tour guide spoke of the events surrounding that day and the murdered men, women, and children on Sept. 11, and it was undescribably heartbreaking to think about the horror that took place here in New York 10 years ago. We saw the efforts New York has made and is making to rebuild from the horrific event on Sept. 11, 2001. As I looked around at the buildings and people and as we walked the streets around where the WTC once stood, I couldn't help but try to imagine what that day must have been like. I thought about the documentaries I have watched about 9/11, and my heart was overcome with grief for the helpless people who suffered this tragic event. I can't begin to imagine what it was really like. I hate that things like this have happened throughout history. Hate can bring about such devestation... I almost felt guilty in taking pictures at the memorial. I felt like this was such a sacred place where so much was lost. I cried thinking about how many names on the wall represented family members and friends for so many people. I do not know any of them, but I can identify with the sudden loss. If anything, New York is showing the world that out of such a tragic event comes hope. This is a picture of Tower One, the Freedom Tower which should be completed in a couple of years.

The 9/11 Memorial Museum is not yet open, but we walked past it on our way to the place where the Twin Towers once stood.

 And this is the Memorial.

The water flowing into a deeper void, a representation of the void felt by those who lost someone they loved that day and the lives lost by a nation. 

This is the only picture I got of St. Paul's Chapel which is next to where the towers stood. I read the Little Chapel That Stood to my students the week of Sept. 11th, and it amazing how this church suffered no damage when the towers fell. Our guide said it has survived city-destroying fires and the attack on the twin towers leaving it to be the oldest building in New York City, and it is believed to be God-protected. (Amen to that!) We are going to try to make a trip back there to go inside. (Our tour didn't include going in!) And I would like to see the Bible George Washington read from. :)

After leaving the financial district, we walked through the South Seaport area (beautiful) and boarded another boat to get to New York Harbor. On the way, we saw the Brooklyn Bridge,

the Manhattan Bridge,

and then...the Statue of Liberty!

(This picture is for you, John Owen, because you told me to send you a picture of the Statue of Liberty.:) I love you and miss you!!)



New York Times

We are here!

Our airplane landed in New York City around lunchtime today, and we are having a great time so far.
The picture above was taken at Bubba Gump's in Times Square. We figured we needed to continue this tradition of eating here since we ate at the one in Kona, Hawaii almost 2 years ago. (Which also marks the last "just us" trip we have taken.) I can't wait to wear my "Run Forrest Run" t-shirt I bought...maybe I'll wear it in a future race or something. :)

Here's some of what we've done so far:

Admired the view from our hotel window!

Picture taking opportunity outside The New York Times building

 Look, it's Covington!

"There's no place like home..."

Hey, kids, look...it's McDonald's!

Jan in Times Square!

Radio City Music Hall

(It was even prettier after the sun went down.)

 Who lives in a pineapple under the sea,

but is visiting New York City just like me?

Who could be mistaken for a big block of CHEESE?

Nobody but the Spongebob and me!



Rockefeller Center

 and the Christmas tree!!

We won't get to see the lighting of the tree, but I am hoping all of the scaffolding will be gone by Wed. so we can see the tree in all its glory before we head home to spend Thanksgiving with our family. I am also hoping to ice skate there before we leave. :)

 Me at Rockefeller Center with "The Rock" in the background.

 These people probably felt like royalty getting married in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York!

 My favorite part...the singing of "Ava Maria"! Beautiful!!

Oh, and the architecture was breathtaking, too! 

A nice girl offered to take our picture together outside the NBC Studios which are housed inside "The Rock".

 "The Ball" which will be dropped on New Year's Eve!

Times Square in New York City...check!!

On a Country Road...

I ran my last race before the St. Jude half marathon---The Country Store 15K this morning at 8 a.m. in Olive Branch, MS, marking the furthest distance I have traveled for a race in the last 5 months. We have had 2 sick kiddos at home the last couple of days, and I thought just maybe the country road and I would never meet, but Jan was willing to keep the kids at home to allow me to finish this "thing" I have started.
I walked out the door at 6:00 a.m., programmed the GPS for the Country Store address, popped in a Christmas music CD (alone in the car time = a perfect time to practice for the upcoming choir special at church and the solo I have on Dec. 18), and away I went.

It was a nice day, a little chilly, but I would expect nothing less this time of the year. No trails today, praise the Lord! (Whew! I learned my lesson about trail races last Saturday.hehe) Today, it was just a long stretch of a paved, country road beginning at a small church in a slightly remote part of Olive Branch. 9.3 miles of paved road...

I knew NO ONE there!! Which I thought might be a good thing. :) So, my day began with short, casual conversations with a handful of complete strangers. And let me admit here, I'm guilty of being a "people watcher". I watched the people around me as they stretched and ran warm ups and talked to their friends. I saw others who, like me, were alone in this "adventure". I saw 2 "girls" driving minivans, and I smiled as I wondered if they, too, had left behind a number of children and a husband in charge of those children so they could be here to run this race. I wondered if any of these racers were training for the 1/2 on Dec. 3rd, too. I also wondered if anyone else was like me in that this race was their FIRST 15K? I felt like I should be wearing a sign or something that read, "This is my first 15K!" Wouldn't that have been a sight? Bet I would've gotten some looks or maybe even sparked a few extra conversations with that.

And broadcasting my 15K maiden voyage might have bought me some sympathy in the end 'cause this group of runners, as I quickly learned after the start of the race, was a fast group!! Honestly, I just couldn't get myself in a "groove" for the first 3 miles today. I saw all these folks passing me and moving ahead quickly, and I thought to myself, "O.K., you are not here to win anything, just finishing this is your goal. Chill out!"

I have kept up with all of my finish times, and it's safe to say that I am presently averaging 9 1/2 to 10 minutes per mile. That's not fast, but it's not too bad for a start, I guess. If I could drop some pounds, I might could run faster. If I weighed 125 pounds or LESS like some of these other girls that run, imagine how fast I might be. Instead, my weight, which is currently almost exactly what I weighed in high school, would probably put me in the "Clydesdale" category of women who run races! When I told Jan that some races have this "Clydesdale" category and what the requirements are and how it depressed me that I could easily be a member of that category, he tried to make me feel better by saying, "See what you can do, Nicole!! I'd like to see how fast those girls would run if I strapped a 25 or 30 pound backpack on them and told them to run with it." Thanks, sweetheart. :)

Anyhoo...let me get to the end of this story and this day so I can take my sore knee to bed.

I finished in 1:33:00 today which from the looks of the group already at the finish and enjoying their "after race" food, was probably in the bottom portion of the race finish times. (I haven't actually seen the results at this time, so I can't be for sure.) I grabbed some grapes and a bottle of water and headed to my car.
The "unknown racer" makes her quiet and quick exit...haha
Goodbye, country road race and all you FAST country "bumpkins". (Oh, and no offense intended with that "bumpkins" comment... I am a certified "bumpkin" myself!)

What does the near future hold? Well, I don't have another race scheduled until the half! My plans for the next 3 weeks include: 1st- resting this sore knee, enjoying a trip with my husband next week before celebrating Thanksgiving with my family, and doing some running on my own before I tackle the 13.1 miles on Dec. 3rd!
Most importantly, I have learned from this "race training" experience that so much in life requires perserverance and faith and hard work. I have been reminded that God is good all the time and that even when we find bumps in the road, He's there. Maybe He even put that bump there to get our attention. My "bump in the road" or the thing God has been working on most in my life since January 2010 is: trust. Fearing tomorrow or what could happen tomorrow began eating away at me over a year ago when our Mary Claire was diagnosed with cortical dysplasia. I let fear take over in many ways due to the lack of control I had on the situation and her diagnosis. It was, and still is, something I deal with everyday. But with God's help, I know I cannot fear the future. I trust He's already there and He already knows and He already has a plan for the things I know nothing of. I will simply thank Him for the blessing of today, for His grace, and His mercy.

With Age Comes Adventure

The first part of this post is for my husband who just celebrated his 41st birthday this past Thursday, November 3rd!

Happy birthday, Jan! I love you more today than yesterday, and I cannot imagine my life without you in it.

 And I think your little girl loves you, too!:)

Several weeks ago, I told Jan I had signed up for a 10K trail race in Dyersburg. I had never done a trail race before, but the website described the course as "easy" and "a beginner's trail run". So, Jan and my mother decided to sign up, too. Jan kept saying, "41 and DONE!" (Only because of his 41st birthday and because he's not as into this running thing as I am.) He's done some 5K's this fall, but he was claiming this would be his last race and highest mileage to run for a race.
 I think Mom signed up just so she wouldn't be left to watch all 3 of our children while Jan and I

ran the race. hehe

No, really, she enjoys the races probably more than I do. And she's good!! Age certainly hasn't slowed her down. I hope when I'm 64 years old, I am still running 5Ks and 10Ks or, dare I say, even 1/2 marathons! 

 I hope Mom doesn't kill me for putting her age on here. :)

Yesterday's race day was cold, but beautiful. The drive to Dyersburg was foggy, but the fog lifted by the time we arrived at Fyrne Lake Farms. It was a family affair as my dad joined us, too. He had been "assigned" the task of watching the children, so his role in this was especially important. We made sure to stop at McDonald's for "Daddy Nick's" senior coffee with creamer before this adventure began. With all of us packed in the minivan, you would have thought we were setting out on some small vacation, but no...just a trail race in the woods was our destination.

There weren't as many racers probably due to the fact that this wasn't a Memphis run, and this was the first ever Fyrne Lake Farms 10K, so we should have felt like pioneers, right?! Hmm...Now, here's where the story takes a dramatic turn.

We were instructed to follow the guy on the four-wheeler. That is, if we could keep up with him. HA!

If not, then follow the little orange flags marking the trail. A slight feeling of relief swept over me when I spotted the flags ahead of the start line 'cause I knew there was no way I was gonna keep up with the guy on the four-wheeler. I wish I had pictures of the start of the course, but my description will have to suffice. There was no pavement, only grass(wet grass) and one small gravel road. Most of our course was grass through the woods, hills up through the trees, and a SMALL, VERY SMALL trail through more trees. There was mud! Slippery mud! About half way through, I even paused for a second to try to wipe some of the mud off on the grass.  And it was about 1/2 way through that I began to worry...not so much for myself, but for my husband and mother! What had I gotten them in to? This did not seem "easy" to me! I passed my mom as I looped around from mile 3 and she exasperatedly said, "I will never do this again!"

It got worse from that point, and I just kept thinking, "O.K., God, I trust that You are gonna see us through this. As soon as I finish, I'll run back to find them and make sure they make it to the end. Please don't let either of them get injured."
The last hill was extremely steep, and I was afraid of slipping. Once I made it to the top and out of the woods, there was a man at a water table. I took a cup of water, and he said, "You've got it! Only about 1/4 of a mile left." That was what I needed to hear. I threw my cup down and started running again. Now, I think I have run enough to kind of gauge a 1/4 mile, and let me tell you...that guy lied!!:) Yes, I was close to the end, but I am pretty sure it was more than 1/4 mile to the finish. (My thoughts were confirmed when Jan said the same thing after his finish. That guy had told him the same thing!)
I gave some cute little girl a "high five" as I neared the finish, and gave it all I had at the end. I filled out my card, grabbed a bottle of water, and headed back to find my mom and husband.
It didn't take long to spot Jan. He was doing great! As I got closer to him he said, "Go find your mom!" (He was worried, too.)
I made my way back to the guy who lied about the distance left. He gave me a funny look, and I simply smiled and said, "No, I am not a glutton for punishment! I am going back to find my mother." Down the slippery hill I went and back through the woods. I passed a few people on the way, some smiling, some with crazy, exhausted looks on their faces. Finally, I found my mom. She thanked me for coming back, and I told her she was close to being finished. I think she said, "This is crazy. It'll be a miracle if I don't twist my ankle." I informed her that there was a monster hill coming up.
 We walked the monster hill together. And when we reached the top and walked out of the woods, Jan was standing next to the guy at the water table. He had already gotten her a cup of water and was waiting to continue to the finish again with us. She crossed the finish at 1:30:00. The oldest person at the race that day and the only person in her age group... I think that is something she should be very proud of!
My time was 1:06:58 and surprisingly, I won 3rd place in the 30-34 female age group. My first award! Granted, there weren't as many racers as your typical Memphis area races, but hey, it's a start. And I have a tacky lovely custom plaque to show for it. :)
Mom also won a plaque for first place in her age group and...GUESS WHAT?
Jan won 3rd place in his age group!!! His time was approx. 1:13:00.
I couldn't believe that we all 3 placed!
We drug ourselves through cold temps, trekked through mud and woods, up unsightly hills, over holes, and down slippery slopes to great finishes for our first (and possibly ONLY) trail race!

We all laughed and laughed about it on the way home!
(I am thankful we COULD laugh about it. hehe)
Everytime I think about it, it brings a smile to my face.
What a great adventure!
Oh, and by the way, Jan says he's done with running, but I wouldn't count him out quite yet. I think getting an award yesterday might just push him to do this running thing a little more.
 Happy birthday, Jan! Age brings adventure, don't you agree?

Happy Halloween 2011

We had such fun this Halloween dressing up as superheroes, attending the annual Fall Festival at church, and trick or treating in our neighborhood with our friends, the Bondurants and the Dawsons. I liked that Mary Claire was more into the games at the Fall Festival and she LOVED going from house to house this year trick or treating. We still have lots of candy left!! Oh my! Here's some Halloween memories from 2011...

My superheroes!

"Mary Claire, is that really how you feel about taking these pictures?" :)

Captain Amerca giving Supergirl instructions on Mission: Fall Festival!
And notice Green Lantern is still posing as instructed for the picture. Go, Green Lantern!

Well, looks like Supergirl doesn't like sharing the spotlight with that guy called Superman!

Best friends Carter (Indiana Jones) and John Owen (Green Lantern)

"The Crew" on Halloween
(Mr. Skipper's finger)hehe, Carter, John Owen, me as Fancy Nancy, Jonah, Shelby, Mary Claire
AND if you look real close you can see Jan and Ginger peeking out through the doors behind us.

Halloween cupcakes!