summer off

Alright, folks.  I know it's been a while since I blogged - but sadly, I'm here to tell you, that I'm going to take the rest of the summer off from blogging.  I've got a lot to think about, and although I'm sure it's good to air everything out on my blog, I really just need to work this one out on my own.

Stay cool this summer!

Until next time,
A

Mud Run

I have a ton of updating to do!  Before I do... let me bring you up to speed on my last race: a 5k Mud Run!  This mud run was on a Friday night at 6pm - it was blazin' hot outside.  The course consisted of a few obstacles - going in the James river, jumping over a wall, going up and down numerous stairs, and of course, the mud pit at the end of the race.  My friend Steph ran in the race with me - I really don't know anyone else who is crazy enough to do a mud run in 80+ degree weather.  My friend CJ cheered us on and took pictures.  Check out the photos!

Walking to the start line.

Starting off strong!

The race was intense.  I definitely was not prepared.  Even though it's only a 5k (3.1 miles), running on trails is completely different than running on a track.  Plus, the weather conditions almost made it unbearable!  Steph and I stuck together, which was really cool - especially since I felt like I was in the TV show LOST while running through Belle Isle.  As we approached the mud pit, one of my favorite songs was playing over the loud speaker, and I hear Steph say "I love this song!" and we plunged into the mud.  It was a blast!!

Almost done!

Heading to the mud pit.

Steph and me

I for sure thought this was my friend Sprad

We did it!

There were hoses to rinse off, but Steph and I decided to go into the James for a quick rinse.  Hey, it was my first time in the river, why not!?

In the James River

Me and Steph

Steph, CJ, and me enjoying dinner in the VIP tent

The race was awesome!  I think what I liked most about it was my running buddy.  Steph was awesome, encouraging, and we were able to crack jokes during the run.  I also loved the fact that my friend CJ was there.  She is the best at taking running pictures - plus, I feel like she's a cheerleader for me :)  I love these gals, and was so happy to spend the evening with them!

xo-A

P.S. I haven't ran since this 5k (which was on May 18).

Who is your hero?

It has been a while since I've blogged and a lot has happened!  

About a month ago, I was randomly selected at work to participate in a focus group discussion.  Apparently more females are leaving at a higher rate than males at Dominion, so essentially HR wanted a bunch of women in one room to let it all out - frustrations, concerns, fears, thoughts, feelings, etc.  The woman leading the discussion passed out name cards, but instructed us not to put our own names on them.  Instead, she asked us to write down our childhood heros - the person we so desperately wanted to be like.

Two gals put Wonder Woman.  I considered it, but she wasn't really my generation.  But I thought about super heros... I really liked Superman and Batman - but the truth is, I only liked them because my older brothers liked them.  Besides, I wouldn't look cute in their outfits.  So who did I want to be like?  Who did I aspire to be?  For the next hour, I was known as "Judi".

My name card

Aren't moms the best?  My mom is one of the kindest people I know.  To this day, she always mails me Valentine's Day and Easter cards.  My mom is always in style - I love how in her wedding pictures, her wedding dress is sleeveless and v-neck, whereas everyone else in that time frame (the majority of her friends) had wedding dresses with long sleeves and turtlenecks.  She's not afraid to be different.  She's bold, honest, and direct - and I love that about her.  Some may call her bossy, especially with that "teacher lady" voice she has - which I think is great, because it says she's in charge and doesn't put up with any students' crap.  She's thoughtful and cares about other people - I don't know anyone else who would play Scrabble with the 90 year old neighbor next door.  My mom is a servant leader, always putting others before herself.  She's a fantastic cook, and even now I hope I can cook like her someday!!  My mom has such a big heart... and that's what I want to be like when I grow up.

Thanks Mom, for cleaning the puke out of my suede boots when I made a fool out of myself.  Thanks for pairing me with John Henry out of the other two old people in Florida, as the others were much more difficult to herd.  Thanks for altering my black dress at the last minute when I no longer could fit into it.  Thank you for always cracking a joke when I'm down, as laughter truly is the best medicine.  Thanks for never getting it with me (although Rick would say that's not by choice - what can I say, I am my mother's daughter).  And thanks for reminding me that I'm beautiful.  

I love you Mom, thanks for being you!

All my love,

Your little peep

CrossOver Challenge 5k

My friend Leila has really encouraged me to be a runner.  I am not a runner y'all.  Far from it actually.  I'm amazed that people actually enjoy it.  What is this "runner's high" that they speak of?  I have yet to experience it.  When I'm done running, all I want to do it set up on the couch and stuff my face with something amazing, like moose tracks ice cream.  Someone once told me that when you're done with one race, you need to immediately sign up for another.  This way, you'll still have to run and exercise to train for your next race.  So after the Monument Ave 10k, I signed up for the CrossOver Challenge 5k through Cross Over Ministry.  I was a little anxious because I didn't know anyone else running in it, so my friend CJ drove me there and cheered me on.  (I told her I would buy her brunch afterwards).  This 5k was nothing like the Monument Ave 10k.  I have no idea why I was worried about finding parking.  There was hardly any runners there!  We got there early, so CJ snapped a few photos of me.

Ready to Run!

I told CJ that my goal was to finish the 5k in 30 minutes.  CJ waited in her car (watched some Downton Abbey), and as it was close to the 30 minute time, she jumped out of her car to cheer me on.  As I was approaching her, I could see her smiling with a camera.  I felt like such a goob.  But I loved it. 

 Here I am!

My body is so pale, it's glowing!

(Does anyone else find this picture hilarious?!?)

I thought the race was really hard because it was so sunny and bright outside and there was absolutely no wind.  It just felt muggy and hot.  But my time proved otherwise which was exciting :)  I finished in under 28 minutes which put me at a little less than a 9 minute mile.  This blew my mind!  It was really, really encouraging.  This goes to show that even if you're not a runner, with practice, patience, and persistence, anything is possible! 

After the race, I treated CJ to a delicious brunch at Weezie's Kitchen.  Mimosas had to be ordered.  

Cheers!

My next race is in two weeks... and I haven't ran since the CrossOver Challenge 5k.  Whoopsie!

xo,

A

CJ's Birthday!

One of the gal's in the wolf pack turned another year older, so we had to celebrate!  CJ wanted to go to a very happy hour and dinner at Melito's, a local restaurant known for their famous hot dogs.  None of us got hot dogs, but we all ordered cosmos, as each of us are obvious characters on Sex & The City (don't even pretend like you don't relate to one character on the show ladies, because we all do).

Cosmos

Laura and CJ

"Do I have anything in my teeth?"

Osl and me

Laura and CJ

I love hanging out with these ladies because we always have a blast, no matter what we're doing.  It's always fun to celebrate them and with them.  CJ is awesome - she's smart, witty, can wink like a champ, loves Downton Abbey, and is a fantastic cook.  CJ is my friend where we can set up lawn chairs in her front yard and drink margaritas (yes, we did that last weekend...).  There's no shame.  And I love it.

Happy Birthday CJ!!!!!

xo,

A

Made for Each Other

Do you ever think that two people are made for each other?  Just the thought and feeling of something working out perfectly?  The type of feeling where you know in your gut that it would be a perfect match.  I had one of those feelings the other day folks, and sadly, it wasn't about me.

Meet Khloe girl:

Khloe is Katie's cute Boston Terrier

Meet Harley:

Harley is my brother Dan's pleasantly plump / meatball-ish French Bulldog

Harley came into town for the day, and I knew he just had to have a play date with Khloe.  After months of text messages to each other (um, no, that's not weird that me and Katie send picture text messages of our dogs), it was time for them to meet face-to-face, paw-to-paw.

Well, I'm here to tell you that sometimes in life, you just can't play match maker.  That even though you think you know a perfect match when you see one, it just may not work out.  And that's ok.  Harley and Khloe wanted nothing to do with each other.  It was quite depressing.  I kept wanting them to work it out, but no, it just wasn't meant to be.  We couldn't even get them to get together for one picture.

Attempt #1

Attempt #2

This photo pretty much sums up the afternoon

(notice how they're not even looking at each other)

Well that was a big swing and a miss.  But it definitely made for an interesting afternoon!

-Anna

Introducing Mrs. Allison Suddeth!

It's official folks, Allison Adams is now officially Mrs. Allison Suddeth!  Jason must be one heck of guy to make Allison move from an "A" all the way down to an "S".  I mean, that stuff matters!  I've know Allison for seven years, and it's amazing to see who she was back as a sophomore at JMU and now as a married woman.  Laura and I were both bridesmaids, so we left Richmond on Wednesday afternoon to make the drive down to Hilton Head Island.  We had a big day planned for Thursday, but Friday was THE day.  Allison and I woke up early Thursday morning to go for a run - this was the first time we had ever gone running together, and it was so cool because we have very similar running styles and we run at the same pace.  It was perfect running weather, too.  I loved having that time alone with her. :)

Two of the other bridesmaids arrived later that day.  One of the things I love about Allison is she is always more than willing to connect you with her friends.  All of her friends have said to me, "Oh you're a friend of Allison's?  Then you're a friend of mine!"  There was definitely a strong bond between all of Allison's bridesmaids.  

Allison, Nicole, Laura, Emily, and me 

The rehearsal dinner was amazing.  They had a slideshow containing pictures of Allison and Jason growing up.  I of course loved seeing pictures of Allison from when she was younger.  But the weird thing is (and I can't believe I'm about to write this out for everyone to read), I got so teary eyed seeing the pictures of Jason growing up.  I know, weird, right?  But as I was looking at the pictures, I just kept thinking, this young boy with a funny haircut was always going to be the guy for Allison.  (The slideshow joked on Jason's haircut when he was in elementary school).  It was just really cool to see pictures of Jason growing up and knowing that this was the guy we had been praying for all this time.

Jason and Allison at rehearsal dinner 

Me and Laura

Emily, me, and Laura

Since all of Allison's bridesmaids were from out of town, we had the bachelorette party that night.  We went to a local bar where these guys were playing - one of Allison's favorite local bands.  We danced and had a great time.  We made sure the bride-to-be was home before midnight.  Come on, she had a big day the next morning... we didn't want her to have bags under her eyes! 

The bride-to-be! 

Nicole, me, Charity, and Carrie 

Allison

Allison said she slept great the night before she got married.  I can't even imagine.  We all "slept in" which for us wasn't that late.  We were ready to start the day of pampering and relaxation.  We had a delicious brunch, and before we knew it, we were getting our hair and make up done. 

Laura and me 

Allison gave us all hangers - how cute is that?! 

The bridesmaid flowers 

Allison's bouquet! 

There's so much love in this picture

Before we knew it, it was 3pm and time to head to the church.  Getting ready was so stress free - there was nothing to worry about; everything went according to plan. 

Nicole and me 

Me and Emily 

Alisa (Allison's mom) and me 

Allison! 

Laura spilled lotion on her dress, so we told everyone she was lactating

(even though she doesn't have a baby) 

There she is, Miss America! 

On the way to the wedding!

The ceremony was so great.   It was so cool to see Allison say her vows.  I thought to myself, "Wow - she's mature; she's a grown woman.  This is it."  And I loved it.

I of course loved the reception as we all know I love to dance.  

Me and LD

Father / Daughter dance 

Melissa, me, and Kevin 

Me and Jeff 

Me and Laura 

Me, Ryan, Laura, and Terry (Ryan's mom) 

 Breakin' it down!

S-o-l-o 

Alisa and Allison 

Mr. and Mrs. Suddeth! 

And they're off! 

CONGRATS!!

Nicole, Emily, me, and Laura

The wedding was fantastic.  I had a wonderful time, as I'm sure everyone did.  They even had a photo booth which was awesome.  It's crazy that my best friend is married.  It's weird because I always considered me and Allison a pair - two peas in a pod.  And now we are three.  I mean, I guess Jason is in our group now ;)

I love you Allison.  Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your special day!  I'm honored that I was a part of it - I had my fro face on the whole time!!!

Joyfully,

Roxana