Triathlon Fever... it got me!

Those of you that read this may remember me writing about my sister's first Triathlon up in Franklin Lakes, NJ. Well, her husband, who does seem to latch onto things has moved on to the Iron Man competitions or something like that, maybe a half- Iron Man? I know he runs 13 miles, that's way too much for me!
So anyway, my sister is still into it, and after the last one, well, yes, I agreed to do one too! After much procrastination, only in the area of registration, I decided to go ahead and join her. But I'm not a big fan of the swimming, I mean, I can do it, but people swimming into me, over me, on me, not so good! Erin picked one that we could canoe, perfect!
I ended up riding Matt's bike, since mine is technically a hybrid, which wasn't allowed.

(It did give Brewster and I an excuse to ride our bike's on Saturday to the Liberty field hockey game and get some lunch afterwards at BeerBellies, all because I needed to practice!)
As I was saying, the bike worked out great, it seemed like most of the biking was downhill, and the only scary part was lifting my bike over the curb to get started, since the announcer did say that if you couldn't do a curb, you shouldn't be doing the race. He obviously didn't grow up in Shrewsbury, PA where there are no curbs, just nice rounded off little driveways! Matt could tell a whole ugly story right now about my first real curb in Bethlehem, but I'll save that for another time since he's in Austin, still.
The canoe also wasn't bad, I remembered to sit in the middle for better leverage, with the exception of other inexperienced canoers who were playing bumper-boats around the buoy! I made it out just in front of the girls in my sister's group, but had a hard time finding my bag. As Matt and my Dad would say, the transition wasn't as smooth as it should have been, I forgot where to look and I was all ready to just start running. Thankfully I saw the girls looking for their bags, ran towards them, and was able to change into the right sneakers. While the bike and the canoe had gotten shortened a little, the running was lengthened, thank goodness - that's my strength! ( I kept having horrible visions of me going over the handlebars and busting my face, or an arm, or a leg, three weeks from my wedding! Where's the aunt that brought that up?!) However, yes, since the biking was mostly downhill, the run was mostly uphill, and it was longer, ugh!

I finished in about 55 minutes, which I was most impressed with, and I didn't really ask my sister how my time was, because she did finish not too far behind me, and I really didn't want to know that answer. I'm just going to stick with the fact that it was an awesome time because I finished and I didn't even walk, or break any bones, on my first Triathlon! I think I'll give it another try, sometime!
For now, I'll just keep preparing for the Celtic Classic 5K in two weeks. You know, the weekend I'm heading to the shore for my Bachelorette! Yippeee!

My "Daughter" Comes to Visit!

Ok, so everyone knows I don't have any kids, nor will I for a while to come! However, I did have an exchange student come live with me for a while about four years ago! Nicki was supposed to come for the weekend, and she ended up staying a few months!!
We've stayed in touch, and I was hoping she would be able to fly back for the wedding. Well, she was able to come back through YFU, the organization that brought her the first time, but as an escort for exchange students. This meant that she was a few weeks early for the wedding, but we were able to get together and had a blast!
I had started school already, so she came in to visit me, oh, and she brought her boyfriend Torsten too! One of my classes got to meet her and she was gracious in answering some of their silly questions. She's decided to study for teaching, our version of an English as Second Language teacher, in German, so she was really good with the kids.

We made our plan and all worked out almost perfectly. She had a couple of visits already scheduled and was planning to hit NYC on a weekend that Matt was away, so my initial offer of us taking them into the city fell apart. But I braved it alone, and the three of us had a great time! We toured Central Park, the Empire State Building, 5th Avenue, Rockefeller Plaza, and Times Square! We headed back to the hotel to change then took the subway to Greenwich Village for dinner. We did dinner and a whole lot more! We did some bar hopping, but conservatively since we were in the city and not 100% with our surroundings. Next thing we knew the bars were closing and it was 4am! Real conservative, right?!

Well, we tried. Nicki and Torsten had their first ever jello shots, and she even said it was her best night out in the states, yet! Needless to say, getting up and out of the city the next day was another story. Nicki wasn't feeling too well, and based on Torsten's lack of focus while driving, I doubt he was in too good of shape either! They took me back to my sister's, hit Dunkin Donuts, and I headed home while they headed for a night at the beach.
It was soo great to see her, she's 22 now, and maybe she'll come back for a fellowship that she applied for. Either way, we will stay in touch, and maybe in another summer Matt and I can go visit her and Torsten!

My Bridal Shower!

It seems like it took a long time to get here, but it's finally here! And boy was it a blast! My best girlfriend, Karen, has done amazing things to what was once Brownie's bachelor abode, and it was the perfect setting! Lots of friends came, and family, and it was a really nice time! Just what I wanted. Small, intimate, but fun and festive! (Unfortunately my camera didn't come out until after most of the guests had left, sorry!) We even played one game that my sister Erin brought, and it wasn't too shower-y; I think everyone played! I do feel a little guilty for winning and keeping the prize, should I have given those cute little candles for my classroom back, hmmm?
My best memory of it is how hard my little grandmother laughed when she saw she had been very successful in embarassing me! She picked out some serious lingerie, and when I got red, she laughed so hard she cried! Thanks Nana!
Afterwards, some of us hit the local bars on Main Street to continue the fun, and we crashed back at my house, after returning to Brew's to raid the fridge first, probably later than even I had expected!


Hey, there's no such thing as too much fun, although I might have had a little bit of a headache the next day. And when I returned to pick up my gifts, I wasn't the only one!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Thank you to my bridesmaids who put the party together! It was a great time and I really appreciate it, now I have to write out all those thank you cards! Yikes!

Countdown to the Wedding!

Well, we're officially one month away from THE BIG DAY!
The weekend after Chicago Matt and I headed down to Cape May to finalize some last minute details. Ok, they weren't really details at all, they were just last minute things we had to get done, like the cake, the flowers, the chairs for the beach, the marriage license, the officiant, etc. Like I said, not really small details. But it all worked out!
Sooo, invitations are out, I just had my shower (a blog will be forthcoming), Matt survived bachelor party #1, and the next four weeks are all about paying off the bills!
Looking forward to it!!!!!!