Planning for Colorado

We leave in two days for Colorado.  I am so excited!  I have never been to Colorado but I've heard it is pretty incredible.  Here are some of the plans we have while we are in Denver and Vail:

• Hiking
• Landscape Photography Practice with my SLR
• Denver Botanical Gardens
• Touring the Red Rocks Amphitheater (it’s on my bucket list to see a show there but I wasn't able to pull that off this trip)
• Visiting a Hot Springs
• Touring Local Breweries
• Outdoor Sports (looking into options like rafting, biking, horseback riding, etc.)
• Reading – I’m taking No Fault in Our Stars and The Book Thief 
• Relaxing – it will be so nice to have a full week off work! 

Expedition Everest

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to finally blog about our big race from early May!  I never thought I would get into running but slowly over the last year and a half I have taken an interest.  I still don’t love it by any means but I do feel great after running and I love doing 5k’s with friends.  My friend Larissa mentioned that Disney had a 5k and we decided to go for it!  The best part is we talked the guys into running the race with us as well.  It was so much to share in the training process and the race itself with Kyle.  It was also such a fun break to get to spend a few days down at Disney!

The weather was pretty terrible the whole trip but we still had a blast and made the best of every moment of the trip!  We managed to visit Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios in our whirlwind weekend trip.  The rain was a bummer but it also meant the parks weren’t very crowded and lines were short! 

It was a night race which was a new experience for me.  I really liked the later start time.  The weather was cool and it didn’t require waking up crazy early in the morning.  I was worried about feeling tired or about how my meals that day would affect how I felt while running but it wasn’t an issue at all!  I ran my first obstacle 5k in 45 minutes in March of last year.  I had worked my way down to 39 minutes in my races in March and April.  I really wanted to break 36 minutes in Orlando.  I was so thrilled when I saw my time was 35:51.  I had done it with only 9 seconds to spare! 

The best part was watching Kyle cross the finish line.  I was so unbelievably proud of him!  He had no interest in running but signed up so we could go together.  At the end of the race and scavenger hunt we each got a medal and it was an awesome feeling.  After the race we took lots of fun pictures with our medals (which are AWESOME) and then we got to play in Animal Kingdom for the after party.  Disney races are so well run and it was such a positive experience.  I sincerely hope we get the chance to go again in future years!

Time Flies – Congrats Grads!

 This year marks a major milestone in the lives of three people I care about.  The first two graduated from Georgia Southern University on May 10^th.  

My cousin Emily is 7 years younger than I am but we've always connected really well.  She was such an adorable little girl and she has grown into a beautiful young woman.  It’s crazy to think that time has flown by so quickly and now you are heading out into the “real world” as a college graduate.  You have a heart of gold and a loving family that will serve you will during the highs and lows of the next phase of your life.  I can’t wait to see you continue to grow and change and I’m so incredibly proud of you!

Lindsay was part of the first small group I led as a high school youth ministry volunteer.  I only got two and half years with her since she was halfway through her sophomore year when I started helping out but I connected with her right away.  She had this awesome balance of girly girl and tomboy; she was athletic but loved dresses.  Over the time I had with her I watched her confidence grow and blossom.  I know her first year at college was tough but the challenges she overcame have strengthened her into a warrior of her faith and I think she is ready for just about anything!  She is moving to Atlanta for a job in radio and it’s been amazing to watch her work so hard to get a job in her dream industry.  Plus she'll be just down the street from us.  I’m so proud of you!

Kaleb is my best friends little brother.  This year he graduates from high school.  When I started hanging out with Alyssa he was 6 years old and now he’s an adult.  Time flies.  He is heading off to UGA for his freshman year (awesome!) and then for his second year he plans to transfer to GA Tech (boo!) since his dream job is to be an engineer.  I think he’ll fall in love with Athens the same way I did but it’d be a cool opportunity to get to experience both schools so I wish him the best as he heads off to college!  

Look What I Did

I’m not sure how time flew by so quickly but as I reflected on my 29^th birthday a few weeks ago I realized I only have a year left with this blog.  When I named it Adventures of a Twenty Something I felt like I’d be in my twenties forever (not literally forever but it felt like such a substantial period of time).  I know I still have a whole year but I wanted to begin to prepare my transition to my next blogging adventure.  To continue the theme I’ve named it Adventures of a Thirty Something.  It will still be about a year before my first post there but I created the page and locked down my URL.