Blog Milestone Celebration

   My fellow blogger and awesome friend Joshua posts lists of things about himself whenever his blog hits a milestone. My blog hit a big milestone for me, 2,500 page views, in the last couple of days I thought it was time to follow Joshua's lead and post 25 random things about me.

1. This picture never fails to crack me up. Almost every long distance runner knows all about runner's trots and fears this happening to them. I know I shouldn't laugh, but I am juvenile that way.
2. To get through my terrible pregnancies, I watched a lot of Mean Kitty. A LOT. I just love that man and his cats.
3. I am terrified of snakes. Like really really terrified. I have panic attacks after seeing one. 
4. In case you haven't figured it out, I love Las Vegas. LOVE. LOVE. We really tried to move there after we graduated college and have never been able too. Still, I would move there in a heartbeat if we got the chance. I love it, snakes and all.
5. This makes me happy too. It is a rare sight. 

   

   Notice anything missing from this picture? Yep, no cars on the Strip.  The roads are cleared for the Rock N'
   Roll Marathon 2012.

6. I wish there was a Just The Strip Half in Las Vegas. The race could start at the Welcome to Vegas sign and run to the Welcome to Downtown Sign and back. If I figured it right, that is about a half in distance. And it would be AWESOME! But it has to be at night. That is my dream race.
7. I never feel trained enough for any of the races I have ever ran. I wonder if there is a runner out there that would say different.
8. I changed my running playlist recently and tried adding Wannabe by the Spice Girls but for some reason, it wouldn't upload and this song did instead. I am so glad for the glitch now. This song has been there to push me through some walls recently and I love the message.
9. I love the Spice Girls. I watch the movie often.
10. My 3-year-old insists that Dad sings Eye of the Tiger. Mark looks nothing like Dave Bickler. Nor can Mark sing. 
11. She also insists that I like all Bruno Mars songs. She would be correct there. 
12. Same thing with Walk Off the Earth.
13. This is the BEST THING EVER! 
14. I am really excited to try some real carb loading this week. I am making Chicken Piccata with spaghetti noodles on Thursday and have been looking forward to it since I decided to make it 2 weeks ago. Plus, I will make enough for lunch the next day. This is probably Mark and I's favorite home date night meal.
15. I lived in Cincinnati in 2004 and still live (or run as the case may be) to eat Skyline Chili. Mmmmm. And this is a pretty good recipe for it if you can't get to your nearest Skyline.



Just in case you don't know what Skyline is, it is this yummy creation. This is the 3-way, which means spaghetti noodles, Cincinnati style chili, and lots of finely shredded cheddar cheese. THIS is worth being fat over.

16. Am I the only runner out there that doesn't really like oatmeal?
17. Why are my calves and thighs getting so large this training season? It is getting hard to get pants that fit my non-existent butt and hips with my large legs. 
18. I can't wait to go to Idaho after my half Saturday and share my finisher's medal with Isabel. I have another one from last July I also need to take her. Sharing our medals is a tradition we have started since we run in her memory.

    

    Isabel with my first medal from the Famous Potato Marathon. 

19. I recently bought duck shaped buttons to sew into my running gear so I can carry Isabel with me that way. I was running with her duck pictured above, but it took up a lot of space in my pouch and, because this duck spent time with Isabel, I was always terrified I would lose it. You can't remake memories with someone who passed. 
20. Mark was looking for something yesterday and we ended up pulling out Isabel's scrapbook. I was able to look through it with Addison and have the perfect centering moment I needed to get ready for the next race.
21. I can't wait until Addison can run half marathons with Mark and I. 
22. Am I really thinking about running a full marathon? Mark is several weeks into training for his full in June and so far I think I am keeping up okay. But we haven't ran an 18+ miler either...
23. I really really wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up. I was absolutely addicted to Apollo 13, The Right Stuff, and any book about NASA's early days. I watched a lot of space shuttle launches, no matter what time they were. Then I got into high school math with 2 really bad teachers that made me hate math. I am pretty good at math, but now find it boring. Without math, I saw no way to become and anything that would make me an astronaut. 
24. I joined my high schools speech team the first year it was created and, apparently, I am pretty great at public speaking. Speaking in front of others has never bothered me. I also competed on my college speech and debate team. It was some of the best times of my life.
25. I am 5 years older than my husband. I met Mark while he was still in high school. We graduated high school on the same date, 5 years apart. We both started college on the same day in 2005. We also started dating at that time. It has been really fun growing up together as adults. 

   Well, there is your 25 things you probably didn't know about me. As you can see, I am kind of a weird person. I'm okay with that. The weird ones always have the best stories! And a big thanks to all of my readers. People willing to read all the stuff I write is amazing to me. THANK YOU!