yes, i am alive!!!

hello there! i'm sure by now most of you thought i would never return to blog-land, but i've gotten several emails and comments about the fact that i need to get back to it - so here i am! even though it has been forever (or 3 mos.) i am still going to attempt to "catch up" here on what has been happening w/ us all summer....don't worry, i'll spread it out over a few blogs. :)

well, to pick up where i left off, we had a great trip home to PA back in early july. we spent time w/both of our families and it was a much-needed break from the city. we hadn't been home during the summer time in several years, so it was quite lovely. we even went camping w/one of phil's brothers and his neices and nephews and we saw a lot of wildlife: deer, elk, and a BEAR! it was great fun. and then driving through the mts. to head back to my parent's a baby bobcat crossed the road in front of us. anyway, aside from getting a 24 hr. stomach bug of some sort, our trip was really great but as always it felt too short. we miss you, our wonderful family!!

the next wknd. after we got home from PA, some friends and i became TRIATHLETES! i was a little worried about how i would survive, as i hadn't trained as hard as i wanted to...but honestly, it was not that hard at all and we had a lot of fun. (sounds crazy, i know!) i actually did a lot better than i thought i would and finished in less than 2 hrs., here were my times: .5 mile swim in 19 mins., 12.4 mile bike in 56 mins., and 3.2 mile run in 34 mins. i was most amazed at my run time.....running is my least favorite thing and i am not good at it....but i guess being warmed up helps a lot b/c i ran 11 min. miles! :) we are planning to force more of our friends to do it w/ us next year b/c it really is such an empowering feeling and it's a tri. just for women so everyone is really encouraging.

aren't we cute?? we made our own shirts....well, phil did the design - the front had a stick figure swimming, biking and running (they looked like the ones they used for the olympics) and on the back it had the verse from isaiah "they will run and not grow weary"...but we inserted "swim, bike, and run" ;)....it was super cute and very appropriate b/c we are all in a Bible study together and had just finished the book of isaiah! we even put "team isaiah" on the shirts!
(in case anyone notices, my crazy friend marissa, who is next to me in the pic, has ice on her leg b/c she actually did the race w/a stress-fractured tibia - yes, she is certifiably insane but i love her!!)

so, to finish out the month of july we went out to MI for a few days to enjoy some R&R on a little lake where our friend's grandpa has a cottage. it was great to catch up w/ them and just to enjoy some peace away from the city. we even went to a nearby farm and picked black raspberries and flowers....so delightful! we are so blessed to have such amazing friends - we are truly grateful.

well i think that is all for now - i will finish catching up on the summer another time.....guess i shouldn't wait too long though since today is the first day of fall! hope you are enjoying weather as nice as we have been having - it's actually been in the 80's the past few days. :) trying to make summer last as long as possible! take care!