Pure Bliss!

I have been waiting Forever for the Farm Chicks show!!!

I can remember first learning about it when I lived in Ohio.

IT IS FINALLY HERE!!!

(following pictures taken from past Farm Chick shows)

V I N T A G E

A N T I Q U E S

J U N K

I N S P I R A T I O N

H A N D M A D E

C O U N T R Y

Windermere Half Marathon

If you were to ask me four months ago if I ever though I would run a 1/2 Marathon, my answer would have been no. I never thought about it, nor was it ever a goal of mine. However, it was a commitment I made in February and finally accomplished in May. I am addicted. I am already talking about running another one in the fall.

As I have said before, it was hard to get my runs in while working 50-60 hours a week. After I ran Bloomsday (May 2nd) I did not fit in one single run before my 1/2 on May 15th!!! That's Horrible! I didn't know what to expect. My longest run was 10 miles...and a hard 10 miles at that. I set a goal of 2 hours and 15 minutes. I finished 2:11

Breakfast of Champions ~ Courtesy of Joe

Early Start ~ 7am

aaaaand we're off

2 hours and 11 minutes later...

Right before crossing the finish line.

Joe & his Mom ~ taken right after I finished

yes...the back of my jersey says "Hennessy"!

talking about our strategy

Me, Kelli, Dee, Chris & Siri

We did it!!!

Chris & Siri Herzog are the ones who got our jersey's

Joe's Mom & his brother Noel

and finally the chica that got me into this whole thing!

~ Joe's sister Kelli

13.1 miles = 02:11:42.1 finish time

What an emotional day! There's something about running and accomplishing your first Half Marathon that makes you cry sporadically throughout the day! lol. (I think I might have been missing my family a bit too)...As I approached the finish line, every one's families were waiting for them. Waiting for them with signs and cameras, hugs and congratulations. I was blessed to be greeted by Joe, his mom, his brother Noel, and Kelli's fam.

After going home and taking a nap, we went to his mom & dad's for a little get-together. Here are some pics:

Olivia

The Lofstedt's

The Hennessy Clan ~Derek, Joe, Jeff, Kelli & Noel

Happy Birthday Joe!

Well, Joe's Birthday was more than a week ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting some pictures. (Does that suprise you?) Good news is we are getting the Internet tomorrow. Yep, tomorrow!! YIPEEE! I am so excited! I have many things to write about and many pictures to post...my 1/2 Marathon...Noel's visit...pics of my apartment. But, those are going to have to wait for now. At least until tomorrow.

For Joe's Birthday I surprised him with a brand new Mountain Bike. I knew he really really wanted one, but all month I had him convinced he wasn't getting one...

S U P R I S E ! ! !

"Check out my new ride"

He was like a little kid on Christmas Day :)

Happy Birthday Sweets!

Continuation of Mother's Day

If you read my Mother's Day post you'd know I had a pretty long day.
When I got home from work there was a card with "Happy Girlfriends Day" on the outside of the envelope and a "Flea Market Style" magazine. (my favorite!!)

I Love my boyfriend!

Mother's Day

Set my alarm for 5am so I can call my mom and wish her a Happy Mother's Day before she goes to bed. (she works mid-nights and gets off work at 8am) She's expecting my call at 10amEST, but I don't want her to wait up for me.

I fail to wake up.

My alarm precedes to go off for another 2 hours, every 5 minutes as I keep hitting snooze.

By the time I wake up at 7am, I'm confused as to why my alarm has been going off all morning...can't remember if I have to work at 7:30 or 8:30...and crap, when am I suppose to call my mom? it's too early to do the math! ...10:00 ohio time minus 3 hour difference= 7:00am...

ok, that's right now.

I call mom. Then realize I have 1/2 an hour to get to work.

Feel bad for talking to my mom for a total of 2 minutes, but I promised her I would call her later in between jobs.

No time to shower.

Quick breakfast.

Throw hair back and out the door.

Get to work and realize they might send me home an hour and 1/2 early if we're not too busy.

We're slammed.

All day.

I'm in charge of ringing front.

Nothing but children and their Mothers... Son's buying gift cards... Daughters having coffee with their Moms.

I miss my Mom.

Time for my lunch break.

I can't even hold back the tears long enough for me to get to my apartment.

Bawl my eyes out.

Call my sister.

She consoles me and calms me down.

My sweet boyfriend has left me a turkey & cheese sandwich in the refrigerator along with an apple, a baggie of doritos, and a butterfinger.

Back to work. (with red eyes)

Fellow baristas notice I'm a little glum.

Keep it together Tabitha! no tears at work!

But I still miss my Mom.

and everyone is with their mom.

Before Darylann leaves work she asks if I like hugs. I look at her funny and say yes. She gives me a hug and tells me that she understands what I'm going through and she hopes my day gets better.

I tear up.

I get to leave work early. yipeeee!

Now I can shower.

Have one hour before I have to be at the Golf Course.

Drive over to Joe's parents for a cookout.

Fun festivities. Grilling out. Cornhole. Little kiddies running around. Noel making homemade guacamole. Chaos.

I don't want to leave.

Cry as I walk to my car.

Miss Mom.

Finally get a chance to call her.

Wish I could be with her and give her a hug on Mother's Day.

Break down and cry on the phone. Tell mom I miss her.

We talk about her coming to visit.

Brings a smile to my face, but feel bad that every penny she is saving is to come see me.

Get to work. (with red eyes)

and still here at 8:40pm

thinking about my mom and how much I miss her.

My First Bloomsday!

As most of you know I am training for a 1/2 Marathon... the big day is May 15th. Coming up here real soon!! When Joe's sister, Kelli, asked me to run it with her I laughed. I am not a runner. I played sports in High School, but the last time I really ran was the summer after I graduated in 2011. I thought about it for a few days (back in Jan) and decided to make the commitment. I am so glad I did!

I decided to run Bloomsday this past Sunday. For those of you back in Ohio, Bloomsday is the largest road race in America. It is a 7.46 mile race through Spokane, with over 50,000 participants this year! Google it! I was a little nervous to run the race b/c my training has been so pathetic this past month. It has been so hard to fit in my runs when I now work 50-55 hours a week. I think I calculated that I ran a Total of 15 miles for the month of April!! (I should be running more than that per Week!) You know your in trouble when someone asks you "how's the training going?" and you don't even know what they're talking about! Training? ...obviously it isn't going well b/c it's not happening.

So as the 1/2 Marathon approaches, and my last long run and longest run so far (10miles) took place in Ohio when I was visiting the fam (over a month ago!!) I needed a little pick-me-up. I was in much need of some kind of motivation...I needed this race to go well to boost my confidence and it did just that. My goal was to run it in 1:15, my final time ended up being 1:11:54 (that's a 9:38 mile)

This was my first road race and I'm not going to lie, as I neared mile 6 I almost began to cry. LOL!!! I brought my IPod with me (or I should say Joe's IPod), but didn't even turn it on. There was just too much going on along the way...bands playing, people singing, people cheering people on, photographers...I had so much fun listening and watching everything around me I didn't need my IPod. But, 7miles of no IPod and no one to talk to, you think about a lot! And at mile 6, close to the finish line, that's when I had this huge sense of accomplishment. haha don't laugh! (I can be a bit emotional at times.) But I had so much fun! I can't wait to run it again next year and knock some minutes off of my time.

And if you want to laugh, check out the link below...you will find some candid pictures of me running Bloomsday! Let me warn you, I am not a graceful runner! There are a couple of pictures where I'm not sure how my foot is even pointing in the direction that it is.

brightroom event photography

My First Birthday Away from Home

It's been so long since I've gotten to really sit down and update my blog, I apologize! There are so many things I want to write about! I'll start this one with my birthday, which was almost exactly one month ago...

I think I'm always a little home sick, but the week leading up to my birthday this year was hard. I knew I wasn't going to be able to make it home and it made me sad to think I wouldn't be with my mom & brothers & sister to celebrate. My mom always makes a Birthday cake of our choice and a Birthday dinner of our choice. I usually always choose German Chocolate (my fav!) and I usually always go home with a WHOLE cake b/c no one in my family likes German Cholcolate. Hehe, it's all part of my plan...more cake for me. Just kidding!!

So needless to say, this year's Birthday brought a lot of tears, but Joe and his family made it a very special day. First off, I started the day waking up at 4:20am. I had to be at work at 5:00, but I didn't mind b/c I was scheduled until 12:15. I came home on my lunch break to find a little surprise:

On the counter, were Hershey kisses laid out to spell "LOVE YOU"
with my favorite bottle of wine.

a cute Fire Truck Birthday Balloon :)

new running shoes!!!
^much needed


and best of all... a coupon book, Joe MADE me!

It included 6 different "coupons"

I love the "use sparingly"

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After I got home from work, of which I got to leave an hour early, I received a card from my mom and package from Quentin & Melissa. I think it's always so much fun to get mail... mail besides bills and junk mail. My package wasn't the normal cardboard box, but instead a cute decorative country style printed box that said "Live, Laugh, Love" on it (of which now holds all of our DVDs)...well this box was wrapped and wrapped with packing tape. I don't think I have ever worked so hard to open a gift! And to my surprise as I pulled off the 50 pieces of tape, it didn't damage the cute box one bit. Inside I found a cool vintage-looking lamp that I (and Joe) love. The base looks like a vintage coffee can. I had the perfect spot for it!

Also, inside the box was this really cool 1970s VINTAGE scrabble sentence game that I have never ever seen before! (Joe & I love Scrabble!) To play this version, you shake all the cubes out onto the table and try and make sentences, intersecting the sentences. Each player gets a turn, the more words you have in a sentence the higher the point...the more sentences you create the more points you end up with. It's actually pretty hard, but lots of fun!

I love the red leather bag it came with!

It screams vintage!

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In the evening we went over to Joe's Mom & Dad's for dinner & cake. It was nice that Kelli, Shane & the kids and Jeff & Aiden could join us. The plan was for Joe & I to go downtown afterward and enjoy a drink and maybe some dancing...something we haven't done in a really long time, but unfortunately I fell asleep somewhere between 9-9:30!!! -Hey! I got up at 4:30am. So, needless to say we didn't make it downtown, but it ended up being a great day!

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The next morning we went to this really neat cafe called Cafe Maron, close to downtown Spokane...Eclectic atmosphere & very yummy breakfast!

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Thank you to everyone for sharing my Birthday with me. Whether you sent a card, a quick text, a sweet email or simply just gave me a call, it meant the world. Thank you for all the wonderful, thoughtful gifts! I can't wait to use some of my gift certificates and "coupons" :)

Well, if I would have posted this a day earlier my Birthday post would have stopped there. However, I must mention as my family picked me up from the airport late last night, they had a cupcake & candle awaiting for me on a plate and they sang me Happy Birthday.

My Birthday is complete.

Road Trip: Moving from OH to WA

It seems like forever since we made the trip, but in reality it was only 5 weeks ago. Joe flew to Ohio on Christmas Eve and 1 1/2 days later we got on the road. As I said before, we packed my trailblazer to the brim! And, although it was a project getting something out of it, it was nice to have the cooler Corey bought me for Christmas and all the food my mom gave us, including a plate full of cookies!

We had pretty decent weather, except for the snowstorm we ran into when we left (up until Columbus) and again in Idaho. The trip took us a total of 2 1/2 days... we drove through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois during the night. Iowa was the next state, and that seemed like it took all day to drive through! Very boring! Highlights include: windmills, the World's Largest Truckstop, and more windmills. Once we got into South Dakota, the plan was to stop at Mt. Rushmore and drive through the Badlands. Well, I didn't realize (until we got a brochure) that Mt. Rushmore closes after Christmas. (I just looked up when Mt. Rushmore reopens and it says it is open 7 days a week all year round except for Dec. 25th.... Bummer! I guess we could have gone!! I must have read the brochure wrong! It would have been nice to see in the winter.) We did however, get to drive through the Badlands. There wasn't much to see, but it was just nice to get off the highway for awhile. When you're in a car that long, the smallest things will excite you... deer frolicing in the wild, a Porky Pine hanging out on a tree branch...

After South Dakota we drove through part of Wyoming and then Montana. Montana is by far my favorite state to drive through. It is so beautiful! You'll see a couple great Mountain pictures I took through the windsheild. Once we got into Idaho we hit a couple snow storms driving through the mountain passes, but we made it through. Once you cross over the Idaho/Washington boarder, Spokane is only 15-20 minutes away.

So here I am, living in Spokane, Washington. 2200 miles away from the fam. Although it might be awhile, I can't wait to make a trip home. I recently got a job at Starbucks. I'm only working 20 hours a week right now, but I get benefits...if anything it will be a nice 2nd job. I get a free bag of coffee once a week and the great thing about it is I'm saving money by walking to work (it's only a 3 minute walk), but it's funny how walking to work and not relying on a car gives you such a pleasure. New York here I come! just kidding :) So Starbucks is good so far...minus smelling like a coffee bean when I get off work! My plan is to get something part time or even full time at one of the golf clubs in the area, working in the golf shop.

Other than that, nothing else is new... I committed to a 1/2 marathon (13 miles!!!) in May. Not sure what I was thinking, but Joe's sister asked me to do it with her & her friends. I haven't ran in a LoNG time, but it will be good for me...I need to start working out again. I've been trying to go antique shopping on my days off. I really love this cute little shop called the Vintage Rabbit here in town. I've found some cute buys. I traveled to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho yesterday...it was a perfect day...45 degrees, sunny, cute little shops, beautiful scenery...the only thing that was missing was Joe :)

I've including a slide show of our Road Trip. There aren't many pictures, but I hope you enjoy!