91 Down, 91 to Go.

Today at lunch, I realized that i hadn't logged onto theknot.com in a while to check off items on the 'to do' list. I felt so accomplished as I was checking off item after item. After I was finished with the completed items, it looked like this:

Yep; we've officially completed half of the items on the list: 91 down, 91 to go! All of the big things have been taken care of, and the remaining 91 tasks are little things or reminders to follow up (etc).

Not actual size of a game ball

Ever since last night, I've had the song that goes "All I do is win, win win, no matter what..." in my head, haha. We had our kickball championship last night, and for the fourth straight season, we won, and that song was played as soon as the championship game was over. We'll be taking the next season off from our Tuesday night games, so this was a great way to go out on top. Patrick did a great job pitching (he alternated innings with Will), and I had fun behind the plate. In the competitive leagues, the catcher runs out on the kicker's heels and is there to scoop up the ball on a bunt. From there, the catcher either throws it to 1st base, or (in most cases) quickly tips the ball up to the 3rd baseman or pitcher to be thrown to 1st. It was definitely a challenge, and I loved it because I got to be in the middle of the action (imagine that lol). We've signed up for a Friday night team, so we'll get to start playing with them next week.

Each day this week, I've come home to a present from the registry waiting for me. I could DEFINITELY get used to this! We leave for St. Louis on Friday, and since the trip is going to be such a whirlwind trip, I need to rest up. Off to bed for me!

- Lisa

More Cleveland Shower Pictures

Since I didn't take many pictures during the trip to Cleveland, I'm having to rely on others for their best shots. Nell recently posted some of the pictures from the shower on facebook (she gets full credit for these pics), and I figured I needed to add them to the blog... with potentially more to come!

- Lisa

A Full 360

My bib number was 360, and I think it was completely appropriate. A year ago, I was doing my best to just be able to jog. Period. It was a huge step when I slowly jogged one lap around my neighborhood, and Patrick has been amazing in helping me get back to 100% since then. At no point in my life before that (or during the recovery) did I think I would EVER finish a half-marathon. Today's finish in about 2 hours and 49 minutes proved that I could do it! The 360 represents the amount of work I've put in to get back to - and PAST 100%.

I'm so proud of the medal saying we finished the race. It wasn't easy, and there were multiple times during the race that I questioned if I could get to 13.1 miles (including thinking both of my calves were going to cramp up with a mile left), but we did it!!

I didn't feel so hot afterwards. Patrick wanted to get a big burger afterwards, so we went to Red Robin. My nauseous feeling went away after eating some fries dipped in baja ranch, but I wasn't able to even get close to finishing my burger (I think I took 3 bites). My body was so confused about why I made it go 13.2 miles and then I was trying to put food I wasn't used to eating. Maybe I'll be able to eat it later. My big toes are good, but I'm pretty sure every other toe has a blister on it. 8 miles had been my longest run previously, so I guess that's to be expected!

The starting line

Tired - but proud - finishers

One of our very cool medals

Now, I'm off to a much-awaited nap followed by some celebratory drinks and relaxing in our new hammock (that Patrick is going to put together later) and sitting by the firepit!

- Lisa

The Race is in the Morning

When I picked up our registration packets, I couldn't help but get nervous butterflies. I admit I felt a little bit resentful/jealous of the two girls with bouncing ponytails who were walking in to check-in at the same time I was. They seemed so excited about the race, and all I could feel was nerves.

My dad has always told me to visualize the result I wanted to achieve; when I did it, I'd be able to know how to handle a situation when it happened. Driving home, I couldn't help but visualize crossing the finish line and the pride I would feel at that moment. I teared up with emotion and was overwhelmed just thinking about it. Part of that reason is because I've wanted to do the race in Mike's memory, and that got me. With my reaction when I was just visualizing it, I'm not sure how I'll actually react.

Cross your fingers for us, and I'll be posting an update after the race. Time to get a few hours sleep before Patrick gets home... Well, at least I hope I can sleep!

-Lisa

We Chose Our Baker

That's right, the final major item has been checked off the list!

After a long process of weighing the options and going back & forth, we decided to go with Tiffany's Cakes & More, the original baker we met with. She's been FANTASTIC about communication, customer service and just trying to make us happy in general. That means so much to me, and as compared to the second baker option (who took more than a WEEK to respond when I asked her for a quote - and then didn't even include the quote in her response), it's very obvious that she cares about her customers and will do whatever is needed to make them happy.

She sent a picture of the cupcake stand she constructed and used for the last wedding. The teal color is similar to our color, and I think it will look even better in our colors.

One of the things I really like about Tiffany is that instead of saving the top layer of the cake for the first anniversary, she'll remake the cake for us at the one-year mark. I like the general idea of that tradition, but I wonder how stale the cake would taste after a year! This way, we get to look forward to having a kind of flashback to our wedding on our anniversary.

On another exciting note, my cousin (and Matron of Honor) Lindsey announced today that she and Luke will be expecting their 3rd little one in October. Logan and Gavin are adorable, and Lindsey/Luke are great parents. I'm so happy for them!

- Lisa

Mission Accomplished

In April (a few weeks before Patrick proposed), I had hit a low - by hitting a new high in weight. It was 6 months after my Achilles surgery, and I had gained somewhere around 15-20 lbs through my recovery. Add that to the weight I had gained little by little over the 6 years after college, and I was not a happy camper.

That's when I started slowly working on losing it again. I set a goal to get back to my college basketball weight: which would mean losing 28 pounds. As of Wednesday, I HIT MY GOAL! The picture is just one I found online, but it's actually how I've been feeling (and I do have pants that look like that now!). I've gone from having to find my one pair of jeans that fit because they were the biggest pair I had - to having to find the one pair of jeans that fit b/c they're the smallest. I've been feeling great and finally seeing the major results I've been working so hard to achieve.

We're up to 30 "yes" RSVP's and down to 93 days. I really feel like I JUST posted the '100 days' post, and it's almost 10 days since then. That's one-tenth of the remaining time. If one of those goes this fast, holy cow the wedding will be here really soon!

Our race is this Saturday. I'm getting nervous because I tweaked my quad at kickball on Tuesday, and the other one has been hurting today. They need to get better - stat. Patrick gets back from training in Ohio late tomorrow night, and he's really looking forward to getting back in town and sleeping in his bed for the first time in more than a week. I'm just looking forward to getting him back in town!

-Lisa

14 Guests and Counting

I had wondered when the invitations would start to arrive... Well, I got my answer pretty quickly, because we got our first RSVP on Friday evening: a little over 24 hours after I dropped the invitations at the post office.

The first people to RSVP were - drumroll - our friends, Will & Adrienne!

This picture is the 4 of us from a few months ago - when we made wine together as an early wedding present. That reminds me: the wine is probably ready; we need to call and check on that to see if it's ready to be bottled! They are expecting a little girl a few weeks before our wedding, so exciting things are in their near future, too.

We're up to 14 'Yes" RSVP's for the wedding, and I haven't received any emails/calls saying anyone is having issues RSVP'ing online. Phew; that's a relief, and it's exciting to get the emails saying we have new RSVP's and seeing who will be joining us!

- Lisa