Another Lexington adventure weekend...

This weekend Jonah and I spent the weekend in Lexington to attend a friend's wedding.  The wedding was beautiful and I had a lot of fun meeting all the people in Lexington that Jonah works with.  We ventured out to take in some of the attractions while in Lexington.  The weekend was sunny and warm so we took little phil-dog to the giant dog park.  He ran around full speed for about 20 minutes, made a few friends, then just sat in the grass.  (Top photo: Phil running around being his happy go-lucky self bottom photo: Phil making a friend.

 

We have a love for hamburgers!  Lexington has a Hugh Jass Burgers restaurant with huge burgers (hence the name.)  Not only was the burger delish but they also have sweet potato fries with marshmallow sauce.....you read that correctly...marshmallow sauce (heaven!).  They also have an eating contest.....burger with 5 patties and 5 orders of fries in 25 minutes.  One of the groom's Aussie friends took it on.....he got relatively close, but no cigar.  It did feel like we were watching man vs. food since there were so many of us there cheering him on.

There are a plethora of self-serve frozen yogurt places in lexington and this time we tried orange leaf.....and of course it was amazing!  I got banana and pineapple fro yo with mango, pineapple, mochi, and these little bubble filled things.  To add to the experience, the spoons were shaped like little tiny shovels.  (We used fro yo as our post workout treat!)

Things that make me happy...

New Lululemon running tights with fun ruffles on the legs!

Walks with little Phil and finding fun sidewalk chalk notes. 

The positive from all the rain the past few weeks is that all the flowers are vibrant and in bloom and the grass is extremely green.  Love poppies!  

Mini-bathroom makeover with a new blue poppy shower curtain.  It brightened up the whole room.  

Other fun things from the past week that makes me happy.....

Co-worker inspired me to try making fresh homemade bread....it turned out delish.  

Lululemon running group on Sunday with Jonah for the Redlegs 10K/5K

Spending time with Jonah catching up on episodes of our new fave comedy...Modern family.  

Take delight in the small things :)

View from the river...

On Saturday as part of the conference I attended here in Cincinnati, we took a riverboat tour.  Here are some of the images I took while on the riverboat tour of the city at night.  Maybe it makes me sound like a country mouse, but I still love the lights of Cincy at night.

The riverboat ride was extremely welcomed since the conference was jammed packed with great science and by the third and final day my head was so full I thought it might explode.

Audrey Hepburn day...

Channel your inner Audrey today since it's Audrey Hepburn's birthday!  By far she was the most elegant and classy hollywood star who's charity work allowed her compassionate side to shine.

How will you celebrate her birthday?  I'm going to watch the most iconic of her movies, Breakfast at Tiffany's while I finish up the remaining thank you's from our wedding.  (Don't you just love how she sings moon river?)

It's only Tuesday and I miss the lazy weekend....

It's going to be a long week.  I have a conference to go to the end of the week, and I have a poster presentation.  That also means no relaxing weekend for this kid.

This past weekend was a lot of fun.....we celebrated a friends birthday at gameworks and I went on Sunday morning to cheer on all the flying pig marathon runners at hyde park square.

I've included the visions of my lazy weekends to help get me through the day......always including my two favorite guys (Jonah and Phil).

Hope everyone is staying dry with all the rain in the midwest!

Gatlinburg adventure

For our honeymoon we went just a bit south of Gatlinburg to stay in a cabin in the Smoky mountains with a spectacular view of the mountains and sunrise every morning.  We ventured into Gatlinburg to go to Ripley's Aquarium, went hiking, and to cades cove another day.  It was a nice time away after all the stress of wedding planning.

Wedding success...

Two weeks ago I was able to marry my best friend.  The day was perfect.  Mo and I started the day out with a 3 mile run ending at my fave coffee place (Coffee Emporium) then starting the long process of getting ready.  While getting my hair done the rain started and quickly turned into a downpour.  I was a little worried but feeling a little zen about the day.  That was the reason we got a facility for the wedding with an indoor area.  Just in the nick of time the rain stopped and it cleared up so we could have the ceremony outside.  We had the reception inside, but the first dance and cake cutting outside.  It was a wonderful day.  I've started the process of name change....according to the government I am now Mary Patricia Lee.  Yay.  I'll put up some images from the honeymoon soon.  We had a fab. photographer who took a ton of beautiful images (Lowry Photo, Cincinnati), some of which I included here in my collage.

It's almost the big day...

Our wedding is in only 4 days!!  I can't believe it's almost here.  It seems like we just started planning it.  Needless to say, I've been a little stressed lately so I put together some images that make me happy.  Enjoy...

Although stressful, I'm extremely excited for the festivities this weekend and the start of the rest of my life as a wife.

Race in review...

Last Sunday I participated in the AHA heart mini.  I ran the 1/2 marathon, the first time they've offered this length of an event.  Usually the events are 5k, 10k, or 15k.  I have to admit that this course was very challenging.  So many hills!!!  At one point I think I could have walked up a hill more quickly than I was running.  After combating the hills of Cincinnati we headed across the bridge to newport, KY  to run a few miles then head back across another bridge to downtown before we finished.  (The bridges added more hill work.)

If the hills weren't enough a challenge we also had a bit of rain.  About an hour before the event was scheduled to start I arrived downtown and then rain started.  Luckily, I had an emergency poncho with me in my handy dandy duffle bag.  After about mile 1-2 the rained died down and it was just cloudy and cool the rest of the race.  After the race the rain started again.  It was a perfect window of dryness.  I'm so glad I finished before it started coming down again.

Overall, it was a great race.  Even with all the hills I set a new PR of 2:01:36.  Totally surprised myself!  I think the extra strength training is paying off!!! I think I'm in a good place for training for my next marathon....the disney world marathon Jan. 2012!

The last month or so in review...

It's been a bit over a month since I've posted to the blog.  Since then ALOT has happened.  Needless to say it's been a crazy month full of presentations, wedding planning, and festivities.  Here are some the highlights:

• Valentine's day...Jonah and I had brunch at Nada in downtown Cincy and attended the Cincinnati Ballet's A midsummer night's dream!  It's was fantastic.  
• Committee meeting with the advisory committee of professors  to give an update on my research and progress.  I received some great constructive comments and confirmation that I'm on track for my Ph.D.  
• Helped with Saturday science, a day where middle school kids learn about development and have a lab day.  
• Bridal shower hosted by my amazing friends Lauren and Morgan.  Lots of delicious food, visiting with family and friends, and fun gifts. 
• Registered for the Disney World Marathon (Jan. 8, 2012).  Hooray for a disney adventure.  
• Nearly done with all the wedding details.  I just have a few reception things to assemble and print in the coming weeks.  

The image for the post is of a centerpiece made with a ball jar, an inspiration image for our centerpieces of our wedding.  (We met at Ball State :))  This weekend will be full of wedding preparation and a fun half-marathon benefiting American Heart Association!