Happy 35th Anniversary Ma & Pa Kaney!

Tonight we picked up Ma & Pa Kaney from the bus terminal in Rockford after they returned from their two week trip to Ireland and Scotland. I know you're so jealous...and so are we. We're so happy they were able to take this amazing trip to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary though. Thirty five years is a major accomplishment for a marriage in today's society that is filled with divorce. These two are a wonderful example to their children of what a Christ-centered marriage looks like. 

We surprised them by having Ryan & Cory and their two daughters (Rachel & Rebekah) join us as we picked them up and taking them out for a nice dinner at JMK Nippons in Rockford. Sadly, Christi & Justin couldn't join us, but it was a great evening celebrating Ma & Pa Kaney's anniversary.

Congratulations on 35 wonderful years! We know you have many more ahead of you. We love you!!

It's finally over!

The past six months have been grueling. Aaron and I have a pretty busy schedule, and in every second that I had down time, I was trying to fit in a long or short run in order to train for the Chicago Marathon. It really became a chore more than something I enjoyed. I started out this training because I wanted to do something with my sister, and don't get me wrong, I am glad that I was able to do it with her, but I'm even more glad that it's finally over. She'll agree with me, and I'm sure Aaron will also.

Aaron had to put up with my whining and complaining over the last six months..."I don't want to run today...I'm so tired...my legs hurt...my feet hurt...will you bike with me so I'm not lonely?...I'm so sore." He heard it all. Thank you, sweetie, for your support through my training. You are the best part of my day - every day, and I'm so thankful for your support. I love you!

Andrea and I ran most of the race together (at least until mile 20). Our original plan was to cross the finish line holding hands, but my knees completely gave out on me around mile 21. The last 5.2 miles were excruciating for me, but I finished. It was by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I knew I was holding Andrea back because she could go so much faster. So I told her to run ahead of me. I'm so proud of her. She did so well. It took me, on the other hand, 5 hours and 15 minutes to finish. I'm actually pretty embarrassed about that, but that's a pride issue I have. It's really too bad that my knees gave out, but at least I finished. Today I am in so much pain from the race. It's going to take me a couple days to fully recover, but I'm so thankful I'm done with the race. No more marathons for me...two is enough. 

I just thought I'd give you a little bit of the facts about our marathon...
The course was beautiful. Chicago in the fall is beautiful in general, and the weather was perfect. There were 1,700,000 spectators along the course. There were 109 countries represented. There were 45,000 bananas available to participants (enough to feed the apes at the Lincoln Park Zoo for 19 years). We didn't die, but one man, sadly, did. And one woman started getting contractions around mile 13 and then finished the race just in time to give birth to her baby. It was an amazing journey, and even though I have some regrets, it is still one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Those 26.2 miles were unforgettable.

Here's a few pics from the weekend...

Getting pumped up at the Expo

We were a little bit excited to see our family around mile 14. We'd been looking forward to it for a while.

Chicago in the Fall

My amazing sister...so proud of her!

Big Sis...Little Sis

After the race...I had to get a pic with my handsome supporter.

Later that night...exhausted, in A LOT of pain, feeling sick to my stomach, no makeup, and hair wet, but I needed a pic with my medal. This is the smile of someone who is glad it's over.

This was my second and last marathon race. Praise God for getting me through it because I couldn't have done it without His strength. Now that the race is over, it's time to pause, reflect, and enjoy other aspects of my life that may have been neglected during my training. Praise God it's over!

Goodbye marathon running...it's been quite a journey.

Sewing Club

I feel like this is typical of my life...I blinked and two weeks went by. Sometimes I think I blink and 6 months have gone by. Life can be consuming sometimes, but this past weekend I was very thankful to get a weekend away with Sewing Club. I've been looking forward to this weekend for some time now, and for those of you that don't know, I'm not a member of Sewing Club and this may be kind of difficult to explain, but Sewing Club actually doesn't sew.

Sewing Club is a group of Christian women that get together once a month to just be women...they hang out, share food, laugh, cry, and share in one another's lives. My mother-in-law has been a part of this group for years, and this particular group of women started about 20 years ago. You have to be a member of the group, and to be a member of the group you have to be invited. And in order to be able to get an invitation someone has to either die or move away. To make a long story short, it's just a group of Christian women that decided to start meeting once a month to escape from the every day demands of life. It's not a Bible study or a "church group" per se, but just what it is...a group of women sharing life. And they each make a commitment to stay a part of the group until (like I said above) they die or move away. There's so much more to it that I can't explain well enough, but you just have to trust me that it's an awesome group of ladies.

That being said, I was privileged to be able to go on their annual weekend getaway this year. My good friend, Heidie, and myself were allowed to go because we were interested in starting a "next generation" sewing club, and they had a few extra spots, so we were able to join them. And it was an amazing weekend!!

This was taken Sunday morning before we left. It's just too bad that some of the ladies had to leave earlier that morning and couldn't be in the picture.

And of course...Sue and I had to get a picture.

I learned so much, and I'm so excited to get the next generation of sewing club up and running. It's so important to have Christian women to do life together with, and I can't emphasize that enough. God made us each unique and wonderfully made, but He wanted us to mold each of our uniqueness's together and walk through life together. 

This past weekend...I learned a lot from a great group of women, but we also laughed so hard that we cried, we stayed up late (ummm...3am) , we ate and ate and ate, we shopped, we got massages, we talked about everything, and we just had FUN. A woman needs that sometimes.

And I definitely don't want to leave out the fact that my wonderful husband stayed home all weekend and worked around the house (cleaning out the garden beds, painting around the outside of the house, etc., etc.). Thank you, thank you, thank you Aaron for allowing me to go away for the weekend, and for all you did around the house! I'm so blessed!