Bear with me!

I'm really coming down to "crunch time" on my first full time semester... it flew by all in all, and I can only hope that the next 2.5 weeks also fly by bc dude, then I have an entire month to do the college thing. Now that part - the one where you have a month off? Yeah, that's the good part!

So, we're headed up to PA for Thanksgiving next weekend (and we get to meet our niece! Finally!)

I'm hoping to do fun things with my time off... and surely I'll blog about it! :)

Record: Most pictures taken in a day...

I got a KILLER new camera - it's so much fun!!! It's been a fabulous day - we just ate our weight in fondue and bread at The Melting Pot. Good times. :) It's been a happy day...

Halfing Fun

Yes, that's a cute title, and yes, I thought of it while running 13.1 miles. You get bored out there... Here's "the girls"! These fabulous girls are the ones I've been running with every weekend and some weeknights for the past 3 months. Sometimes I seriously wonder how people train for a half all by themselves - it was so nice to have their company through all the mileage! And of course, you recognize the "tall one" - Nikkkki! We had a great time, even though her first trip to the Outer Banks wasn't quite leisurely :)

Some more pics...


Jockey's Ridge - not that these pictures do it justice :) It was way cool.

A shadow running pic, we're so awesome.

And a "love" pic...lol. At least we have each other...

Here's the Pasta Dinner - it was so delicious! A bunch of the girls got a BIIIG house and then they made us a BIIIIG dinner, so pretty much an awesome set up! :)

does it look like we're sucking it in big time? Bc that pasta is hard to hide... :)


They got us cake! Bill's (Kathleen's husband) birthday was Sunday, and mine is ...coming up tomorrow. So technically, that's a week long celebration, if you count this cake as the beginning... not too shabby!

And here is another post race pic with our medals. Yay! I was so proud - I finished in 2:05:41, which is a 9:36 pace and I remained pretty constant at that. Seeing as my goal originally was "not walking", I kind of amended that once I realized I could do it to under a 10:00/mile... so I'm really pleased with how I did!

Off to the OBX!

I'm so excited! Nikki arrives in a few hours and we're leaving tomorrow morning to the Outer Banks! We're doing the half marathon on Sunday... and I can't believe I'm going to type this, I can't wait to run 13.1 miles.

I should add that I am MOST excited for the pasta dinner tomorrow night with my running buddies and the massages Nik and I are getting Monday morning. All around, a pretty exciting weekend!

A letter to my president

Dear President Obama,

I’m writing to thank you today. To thank you for the tremendous campaign you ran which reached out to new voters, disenfranchised voters – anyone who would listen and open their minds to a new idea of what government should be. McCain’s campaign was as divisive as any campaign I’ve witnessed, and the brainpower Palin brought to the table seriously made me doubt whether I could handle living in America if it went the other way. Seriously.

But, I digress… it didn’t go their way. Praise the Lord – we won. Mr. President, thank you for running as the candidate for change, hope and embodying all that is good and pure in America and Americans. You brought out what is GOOD in us, instead of pandering to the lowest common denominator and playing to our fears and politics of division. I want you to know, I believe in you. I know you can do what you say you can do. And if the campaign is any indication of what you can pull off, we're in for a great four years.

Here’s what I’m excited about: Having a smart president. You obviously are a bright guy, and you are even keeled and good natured. I attended three of your rallies in Raleigh and that much about your personality was obvious. I know this is going to rock! I’m proud to say I voted for you, and proud to say I shook your hand a year ago.

Good luck!

Jamie

- - -

Have you guys watched the Will.I.Am video again since he won? If not, grab a tissue or two and watch this... it's amazing. Oh, and NC is blue - the cookies worked! Yay!

Blue North Carolina?

If only just for tonight, Blue NC (cookies)! :) Do you think election Santa will come if we leave them out tonight??

We don't know what'll happen tomorrow...but since I'm *such* a good sport about March Madness and all that, I got Scott to do some Electoral Map predictions w/ me... here's what we think!

Jamie:
Electoral: Obama 351 (including a Blue NC... a girl can dream!, PA, OH, Montana! and a Red Florida. I just think the senior citizens will go for a peer.)
Popular Vote: Obama 55%, McNasty 41%

Scott:
Electoral: Obama 329 McCain 209 (I think he copied my map and just changed one so the teacher wouldn't notice.)
Popular Vote: 51% Obama, 48% McCain

If any readers want to make predictions - please comment! Here's the site where we found the interactive maps!