St. Ignace and the Mackinac Island Great Turtle

Last year I started running because my sister was running. Then Nathan decided to join me and we trained ,ost of the year for what we thought would be the half marathon at Mackinac Island in October. But come August we both felt that it was time for us to have another child. And I was going to be doing 5 classes at UNLV so we decided to just do the 5.6 mile race instead. We planned this trip to be our 9th wedding anniversary celebration as well. About 2 weeks before the race we found out I was pregnant! Boy was it hard to train! I was so sick with nausea I could barely run. We prayed right up until the race that I would be able to run and finish.

We stayed in the UP at a lovely Bed and Breakfast that overlooked the water and was in a perfect location for the ferry, right across the street! I forgot to take pictures of the place, sorry. But we enjoyed it there. We drove up the night before and the next morning we were up early to head over to Mackinac Island to be there for the race. The ferry ride was fun and the views were beautiful. We got there pretty early and were able to walk around and enjoy some of the sights of the island.
Then it was time for the race. I had been drinking a strong ginger ale the entire day to help with my nausea, and we continued to pray. I felt gross right up until the race started and then I miraculously felt much better and I was able to run the entire way without stopping! And from that point forward in the pregnancy I felt very good. Thank you Heavenly Father! The race was really hard. We started on this horrible hill that seemed never to end, but the weather was nice and cool. We ended up running through these trails in the woods, and ended up running along the very edge of the island with the most beautiful view, which was hard to appreciate because we were so tired. Or at least I was :) We finished the race in 1 hr and 5 minutes and I couldn't walk straight for a week afterwards. But it was so worth it. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I hope to be able to do the half marathon sometime before we move away from here.
Here are the pictures I did take while we were there:

10 year reunion

It is hard to believe I am this old but I had my 10 year high school reunion. In true Keeley fashion I couldn't attend the reunion where I actually graduated. Oh no! After attending 3 different High Schools in 3 different states I decided the only reunion I wanted to attend was the school where I spent the most time and knew the people the best. So I went to New York! Go Blue Devils! It was great to see everyone, especially since I hadn't seen any of them since freshman year. It was amazing to see people who I remembered as little 14 yr olds who were now all adults. I had such a great time. I also had a great girl's weekend with two of my favorite girls in the world! My oldest and dearest friends: Aleta and Joleen! It was an amazing weekend, but I have had my fill of reunions. Wow! We are all grown up. What a great night!

This was my crush from 3rd-9th grade :) It was so funny to see him, and not awkward at all. It was great to catch up with everyone. (Can you tell it was seriously humid???)

Later we had a bonfire and smores. This happens to be an enormous strawberry flavored marshmallow.

Yum!!!! (I really like how my nails look here! Why can't they look that good all the time???)

There is nothing like a good bonfire. I was wishing my family was with me to enjoy it.

Summer fun!

So I am starting where I left off in January. Hopefully I can get all of last year done before teh baby comes, and then I can be current. So here are some posts for last summer.

Thanks to our friends the Crouch's my children were able to go on a tube ride for the first time ever! You can tell they are kind of nervous, but they eventually warmed up to it and loved it! I of course stayed safely in the boat away from the yucky lake water :)

Just look at how excited they are!

It's a Runners World

Soooo...I never thought I would ever say this...but I ran a 5k! It was so great! I started running in March of this year when my little sister told me she was training for a half marathon. Not to be outdone I of course had to start running. Which I haven't done since High School. But we had already bought a treadmill, so what the heck? I also got some friends from church to run with me, so it was a lot of fun. Nate finished a few minutes before me and then ran back to get me, isn't he sweet? Corbin was really proud of us.

Nate got 2nd place in his age group. It was also his first race. Go Nate!

This is my friend Jessica who ran it with me. She and I run at the same pace so it worked out great for both of us.

Here are the other friends from church who ran the race. It was a great event, and a beautiful day. I am really surprised at how much I like doing races. I am hoping to do a half marathon in the next few years. There are definately more races in my future.