Happy 4 Year Anniversary! Gotta love October...

The last few days have been pretty busy, which has been nice, but I wish I could get one day's to-do list done! I am slowly but surely working through it in preparation for the next trip home, but things will be a little rushed up until then. I am SO excited that Curt and I get to come home together this time, though! We have a bunch of stuff planned, and of course the whole reason for this trip is Courtney's wedding, so that should be a blast as well - we can't wait! Off topic, but wanted to include it is a picture of the Texas Hog Rally - right in front is Kendyl, Mom, and Dad so I just wanted to include here b/c I thought it was so fun! :-)

And speaking of to-do lists and Courtney's wedding, I did knock out a big to-do that I was stressing over a little bit one night this week... Courtney's quilt square! As some of you might know or remember, Curt & I did this for our wedding (Carrie, Curt & Court's mom put it all together and made it into the final masterpiece) and it turned out so wonderfully that Courtney wanted to do the same, which we think is great! I was stressing b/c I wasn't sure what to do and didn't have materials, or a clue where to get them, but I asked around and got some needles and a couple of different colors of thread (for free from our very nice tailor!) and decided to get to work... except I could never find a big enough time chunk to do it, UNTIL Curt mentioned he had a couple of nights ahead of a big quarterly meeting.


Poor guy, he'd worked all day, had an hour break for dinner and to get home, and then had to jump on the phone from 8 p.m.-12 a.m. on Tuesday & Wednesday, so this was my chance to be uninterrupted and get it done! First I ironed on some letters (same ones I used for me and Kendyl's Muddy Buddy jerseys - I just happened to bring them over to play with in case I got bored. thank goodness!). Then I used black thread to anchor them so that over time they'd stay on, and then I accented it with some red thread cross stitches, and even hand stitched a message to Courtney and Adam - without stenciling, so I think it looks pretty good considering! So he was on his conference call, and I was on the couch right next to him doing needlework... and after about 3 hours I finished it! YEA! I'm pretty happy with it, too, so hopefully they'll like it.

Another big to do that was overwhelming was finalizing my marathon schedule - I just want to find that perfect balance of training just enough but not too much, so I was consulting a lot of resources, all the while looking at some of these longer runs up ahead and wondering how the heck am I going to do this? And then the obvious and simple answer, only with God's help. I finally got it where I wanted it and it's completely customized to my schedule and what will be going on until January so fingers are crossed and I'm going to just take it day by day.

It seems as if this will take over my life, though, and I wonder what I will have to think about when it's finally completed?! Sometimes it makes me excited, and sometimes the fear starts trying to take over, and have to tell myself - it's just running - one foot in front of the other - nothing could be more simple.

I take a minute and go back 20 years ago where I was that little girl who adoringly watched her dad running his heart out...the memory is crystal clear - I remember his running shorts, the determined look on his face, and even the older man smiling at our family that was running alongside him. I remember us seeing Dad one time and him telling us to get him some chocolate (apparently a nice man along the way had given him Hershey kisses, I think, and they had really boosted him so he wanted more), so we went and got some, and came back....


I remember looking for him in the bed of the Nissan truck as Mom was inching along the course telling us girls to "look for Daddy," each of us armed with Kit Kats to hand off when we saw him, finally spotting him and going crazy ("There he is! There he is! Mom, I see him!!"), and then leaving him once again to keep running with our chocolate and encouraging words. I said to my mom, "I'm going to do that someday"because I was so proud of him and wanted him to be proud of me too, and when I envision crossing the finish line it makes me kind of emotional - to finally complete this - it just may be my biggest achievement to date.

This week I also spent some time over on Wedding Street. I'm having a dress made (from a magazine - can't wait), as well as my Halloween costume (I'm going to be Ariel, Curt is going to be Prince Eric) and also a copy of a top that I love! Half of the order will be finished Tuesday, and the dress will be done in a few weeks (Curt will have to grab that for me since I won't be here)! And below is a picture of some pretty silk that I may consider making into some bedding for us or a guest room... Chinese silk with Thai silk borders!

I also picked up some other dresses that I had copied that I brought from home, and I am impressed actually, at how well they were copied (without being taken apart or having my measurements taken or anything)! So that's exciting as well!

Last, but certainly not least, today is our 4 Year Anniversary! It was a gorgeous day, today... slept in a little later than I wanted to after Curt went to work, but got up, worked on my to-do list, thought about our perfect day 4 years ago, and then went for a run. It was a little hot by the time I got out at lunchtime, but it was another good one, so I'm thankful for that. Then I worked more on my list, and went and got a mani/pedi (they are so much cheaper here, and I wanted to look great for our hot date tonight!) and chose a dark purple for my nails and toes... kind of Halloween-ish I thought and I actually really love it!

Camera timer shots balance on an overturned glass on my dessert plate - Took several tries but we got some good ones!

Then Curt got home, he got cleaned up and we exchanged presents. I gave him a painting (by yours truly) which he loved, and he gave me a trip to Beijing for the weekend as well as a very good surprise when I get home! I'm so excited - we fly out tomorrow around lunch, and I finally get to see the Great Wall! It's just a short anniversary weekend getaway, but it's perfect... October is supposed to be one of the most beautiful months in China and to visit the Great Wall, and that's another "list item" I get to cross off (The Great Wall is one of the "Wonders" and another Life Goal is to see as many as possible).

For dinner we went out to Da Marco, a new Italian restaurant down on Bar Street and had the most lovely meal. It really was fantastic, and now we're home and going to do a little movie watching to finish off the perfect evening... Happy Anniversary to us!