Slacker here...

Wow! Apparently, I've been quite the slacker at keeping up with my blog. I just realized that it's been 4 months since I last blogged. It's not because I've been super busy or anything. I'm guessing it's from lack of motivation. In the next few days or so, I'll try my best to update you on what's been happening in my life. Don't hold it against me if it takes a week. I mean it's been 4 months...what's another 4 days right?

I'm a busy girl

This week is a very busy week for me. Last night, the girls and I attended the first girls volleyball game of the season at Grace. They won all three games! Tonight was bib assembly for the Marathon. It went so smoothly and we all got home way earlier than last year. And I'm excited for tomorrow night when Angie, Sarah and I head to the River City Roundup. Those of you not from around here, that means a rodeo and a concert. Taking the stage is Rodney Atkins. :) Hopefully, there will be pics to share. Friday is going to a busy day of gathering all the much needed supplies for the Marathon. Saturday is the Marathon Expo and Pasta Party...aka very busy day. And finally, Sunday is race day for the OMAHA MARATHON. So if you don't hear from me for a few days, that is why. :) Here's a pic from after the game last night. Enjoy!

Angie, Tara, Judah (official Grace mascot), Sarah & Me

I'm still here...

That's about it...I'm still here. Haven't had too much excitement since the last post. Well, actually, the gang and I went to Kansas City in August for our second annual day at Worlds of Fun! That was a great time had by all! Then the next day, I participated in a community outreach project with my church and several other churches in the Omaha area called Step Out. We basically just completed projects through out the Omaha and surrounding communities to clean up our neighborhoods. My group of about 10 people went to a park here in Bellevue. We cleaned out the old mulch from about 30 pine trees, put new mulch back down and trimmed the trees a bit. The rest of my time (well my evenings anyway) has been devoted to the Omaha Marathon. This year an added task of mine is to enter all the offline race registrations into our online database at active.com. The task hasn't been too bad. We're beginning to get down to crunch time. Last week, we stuffed 2500 race packets. So far our numbers are close to 1900 and we are still 2 weeks til race day. September 28 will be here before we know it.

P.S. If anyone is reading this and wants to come volunteer, let me know! I have so much fun and have met lots of great people!

Wolf Wedding

Two weeks ago, I was in Stanton, NE for Becky & Tate's wedding. My friend, Andrea, and I traveled out there together. Since there is no where to stay in Stanton, we stayed in Norfolk 10 miles away. We were supposed to have one room with two double beds. When we checked in, they said they were negative for that. So they gave us two rooms with king size beds for $25/room a night. It was a pretty sweet deal...had the whole room to myself. I don't think I've ever stayed in a hotel room alone before. It was kinda nice and I didn't have to clean up.
Again, here's what you're waiting for:

Becky patiently waiting for the ceremony to begin
me & the beautiful bride (I got to be one of two personal attendants)
Madi & I (a co-worker's daughter)
the happy couple at the end of the night

Thanks for letting me be apart of your special day!!

Garrison Wedding

Sorry it's been almost a month since my last post. It's been a busy month or at least it seems like it.

Anyone who's been reading this knows that I took the train out to Colorado at the end of July for Sam & Mike's wedding. I left Omaha on Tuesday, July 22. My train was supposed to leave at 10:40pm that night. It was running late and I was expecting that. My friends told me that it's always late when they take it. It rolled into Omaha about 11:05pm. We (as in me and the passengers in Omaha) boarded the train shortly after that and finally rolled out of Omaha at 11:30pm. The train was pretty crowded when it got to Omaha. The guy telling people where to sit (not sure what his title is) said there were only 9 seats left on the train. Amtrak has been extra busy since the high price of gas. I found my seat (there are two seats together and I had to share b/c it was so full), put my stuff away and made myself comfortable. I managed to stay awake for a bit, but eventually fell asleep. It was a pretty rough ride going out. My seat was on the end of the car. That meant you felt all the jerking even more and heard all the clanking where the cars are connected. People had to go through our car to get to the dining car to go eat breakfast. So when you're trying to sleep, they are in and out and the doors are opening and closing. This being my first time on the train, I didn't really know what to expect. It took a bit longer getting to Denver that it was supposed to. I was supposed to get in at 7am I believe, but didn't get to Union Station until 8:30am. Once we were there, it didn't take long to get luggage. Then Sam picked me up at 8:50am and it was off to have some fun. The rest of the week was spent preparing things for the wedding and just hanging out. There wasn't enough time to do any touristy things. That just means I have to go back. Here's what you've been waiting for....pictures:

The Garrison's:Dajana, Sam & Mike

Grace U Reunion: me, Sam & Sara (Hackett) Manning

me & Theo (Sara's son)

Jarod, Dajana & Autumn
Sarah, me, Sam, Vanessa, Dajana & Autumn

I was there til Monday night and managed to keep myself occupied until then. My train was almost 2 hours late getting into Denver. We finally left for Omaha at 10:00pm. This time I had a seat in the middle of the car and I had both seats to myself. The Garrison's and I went to Target on Monday afternoon and purchased a book to read on the train. So I read for probably two hour before turning out the light and settling in for the night. Let me just say that it was a totally different experience heading home. We arrived in Omaha about 8:30am and Angie picked me up shortly after. All in all, it was a really good trip. I'd definitely take the train again even though it was so late every time. It was definitely cheaper than driving. Thanks again to Sam & Mike for toting me around. And to Jim and Sandy (Sam's parent's) for letting Jarod (Sam's brother), Autumn (Jarod's fiance), Sarah and I take over their car for the weekend. We were all staying at different people's houses and didn't have our own cars. Can't wait for my next trip to COLORADO. Oh yeah, never really got to see the mountains except from a far. Little bit of a disappointment, but the trip wasn't about me. It was about spending time with friends. Just a quick note, I was honored to attend the guestbook at the wedding, light the candles for the ceremony and attend the guestbook/gift table at the reception. Thanks for asking me to be apart of your special day!

Countdown is over!

Tonight's the night I leave for Colorado. My train doesn't leave until 10:39 tonight and I arrive in Denver at 7:15 in the morning. I'm a little anxious to leave, but I'm ready. My clothes have been packed since Sunday and only have a few last minute things to toss in my carry-on. My friend, Angie, is kind enough to take me to the train station. Thanks again! Please pray that the train is on time and that I'm able to sleep the ride to Denver. I only wish it was going to be light out so I could see things along the way. Better get things together...don't want to forget anything. I'll post again when I get back. Later!

Countdown to COLORADO!!!

Eight more days until I head to Colorado. I forgot to mention in my post yesterday WHY I'm going. My friends, Sam & Mike, are getting married on Saturday, July 26, 2008. Sam and I met as freshman in college at Grace University here in Omaha. We were even roommates, along with our friend Marianne, the third year we were there.

Sam & I celebrating my 27th Birthday (2007)

Sam & Mike mini-golfing at my 27th Birthday

It's been a little over a year since I've seen them and their beautiful little girl, Dajana. That's when they moved to Colorado. Can't wait to see you guys!