Missing MacK

I miss this puppy.


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Cruising

Our flights went smoothly this morning and we made it to our ship in plenty of time. You can see our room below in the photo that I hope posts (I'm using a new blog app from my new iPhone5 so no promises on post quality or organization)!


We're wearing our anti-nausea patches behind our ears and looking really cool doing it. ;)


We've not set sail yet so we're just soaking in the New Orleans skyline from the banks of the Mississippi. We had our first lunch on the ship already and were amazed at the sheer volume of food. Holy cow! I've also signed up for a yoga class to try to help compensate for the extra helpings we've already eaten. HA!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Port of New Orleans Pl,New Orleans,United States

The top 5 regrets

I lived this article.

Top 5 regrets

We've lost our minds...

I've always wanted to run a half marathon. I don't know why. I guess just to say that I did it when I'm an old lady. This year I convinced Jackson, my dear friend Amber and her husband Jon (simply by calling him a weenie when he tried to say "no" to me- who knew I was so persuasive?) to run the 500 festival mini here in Indianapolis. 13.1 miles on May 4, 2013. What was I thinking?!

Yesterday was our first training run. I was terrible. Jackson can already run a 5k (3.1 miles) without any issue so I'm way behind him as far as running for any distance goes. Tear. I forgot how painful running was, honestly. My lungs burned and my legs ached. I try to convince myself that this is a good thing and that a lot of people who are sick or disabled would love a chance to just RUN. I'm still working on appreciating it. I have appreciated my ability to walk for years. Running? Eh, I've just never gotten there.

I'm trying to convince Jackson and/or Amber to join me in a New Year's resolution of exercising every single day in 2013. No one is as into this resolution as I am. I can't imagine that. ;)

I've downloaded some apps for my phone and some running guides that all start at 12 weeks before the race date. I'm supposed to be able to run 3 "easy" miles when I start training. Umm...I have a TON of work to do before we even start training on February 9th. I can run for about 2 minutes before I feel like dying so I'm not super hopeful about my abilities, but I'm giving it a shot and I'll be lapping everyone on the couch so there. :) The good news is that we should be in Palm Beach in mid-February to see some of my college girlfriends so running there will be more enjoyable than running in the bitter Indiana cold.

This might be an expensive little exercise, though, because each time I'm able to add another mile onto my run I intend to buy myself an exercise-related present. HA! :)

"Why is she staring at me?!"

I was lounging yesterday and could feel MacKenzie staring at me. I couldn't figure out why for the longest time and then I saw it. She'd stowed a ball in the footrest. What a crazy little dog!

St. Martin

Friday afternoon lunch

I think it is important to have friends that are better people than you are. It challenges you to be better (or just makes you feel really bad about yourself...) and to give more. My friend Amber volunteers at St. Martin Community Center in Marion where her mom (bless her wonderful heart) is the director. I was having a particularly bad day at work on Friday and needed an attitude adjustment. I knew Amber was volunteering so I texted her to let her know I was struggling and needed help getting things back into perspective. She sent me the photo above with a caption reading, "One attitude adjustment coming right up. Tons of hungry people who have no food and live in Marion's abandoned houses without running water or heat." It was exactly what I needed and I'm glad she was there to help me just as much as she was helping others.

Too often tax managers at universities we get caught up in our little work issues and forget that someone else has REAL issues like where are they going to sleep and how they will secure dinner for themselves and their families. I needed to know that just because I was working really hard I was not entitled to self pity. I will be writing a check to St. Martin to help with their cause and hope that you'll consider doing the same. You can visit their website at: http://www.saintmartincenter.com and rest assured that, as a 501(c)(3) organization, any donation to the center is tax deductible. (Do you like how I was able to use a little tax knowledge in a blog posting? That never happens!)

If you cannot give money, give time, give prayers, give whatever you can. I don't have an abundance of free time so I tend to give with my wallet. I do hope in the future to figure out a better solution to be able to give time and money and should just make it more of a priority.

Anyway, I'm very proud of my dear friend Amber. She really does help keep me sane and I'll love her forever for keeping up with such a monumental task.

Justin's game

Friday night Jackson met me in Muncie and we went to Marion to catch our nephew's basketball game. We first met up with my parents, brother and mom's best friend for dinner at the smokiest bar on the planet. This place supposedly had great food. That claim was not supported by my time in the bar and I left pretty quickly. I still stunk like an ashtray for the rest of the evening. I will never understand smoking.

#42 :)

Anyway, it is always fun to be back at Marion High School because, even though I didn't go to school there, I have a ton of memories in that place. Justin's team was really talented and won their game. He had quite the cheering section with all of us plus my Dad and Diana there to support him. I was amazed at how big he is now and that his voice is deep. They grow up so quickly! 

Since I was smart and didn't eat at the world's stinkiest bar that sometimes serves Mexican food (not its real name), I got to have dinner from Ivanhoe's. That place never gets old to me now that I don't live in God's country.

After sitting with my "I run long distances for fun really quickly" older brother I felt really confident in my ability to start running. That was such a painful experience today that I'm not quite ready to explain it yet. Stay tuned. ;)