It is what it is

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Whitener Wednesday-Our First Year

Welcome back to the next part of Tom and I’s love story. I left off last week with how Tom and I met at Worlds of Fun in 2007.

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Our first year together can be described in one word: bliss.

It was the perfect year.

When Tom and I met, he was taking a semester sabbatical from school to focus on working. He was a little lost with his life, and work was the only enjoyable thing for him. He gave me the liberty to say here that I was the reason he went back to school that fall. Yes I am that awesome folks.

So we were both seniors at the University of Central Missouri, and our apartments were mere minutes from each other.

I was doing my student teaching and graduated that fall. Tom pressed on to finish his criminal justice degree. I stayed in Warrensburg after graduation for another semester knowing that I would start a grad program in the fall. I had the illustrious career that spring of working at a gas station and as a administrative assistant at a dance studio. It was great to still be in our college town with my best friends and boyfriend for a few more months before I started traveling the country.

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We just lived it up as we continued to grow further in love. Our life was fairly typical for a college couple.

He went with me to Phi Sigma Pi functions. We went to parties. We stayed in and watched movies and played lots of rummy. We ate scads of Chinese food at our favorite buffet. We had the world at our fingertips. (And all that love sick mumbo jumbo)

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He got along with my friends, and I with his.

We were just on cloud 9 that year.

It did not take us that long to realize love was the feeling, and that there was a long future ahead of us.

(If you didn’t guess it already, I had crumbled the beast exterior, and now Tom could see marriage and kids in our future.)

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While on the surface as a fairly odd couple (me being the nerdy shy gal and him being the boisterous fearless guy), we managed to have it all that year.

This was the same year, I started searching for grad schools. None of them were in the state of Missouri where Tom would continue to be.

So we had to have a serious conversation as I applied to assistantships and various programs to decide if we could handle long distance for two years. It boiled down to two serious offers that meant two very different futures for us.

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What would each place look like for us?

Depending on where I went, there could be months in between seeing each other. We talked about engagements and if he could follow me after he graduated during my second year or possibly third year of grad school.

In the end, I chose to go to Clemson, which also happened to be the farthest school from MO that I applied to. Nothing like challenging our relationship to the max.

The decision was to do long distance for two years, and then figure out the rest as it came.

At this point, I was ready for Tom to propose. This however did not happen before I left.

That summer before I left for South Carolina, we both lived in Kansas City. Tom worked in the downtown district, while I finished my last season at Worlds of Fun.

We made the most of that summer and tried to not count the days until the long distance began.

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The picture on the left is about a month after we started dating. The picture on the right is a year later right before I left for Clemson.

We had grown so much together during that year. We were sure we were ready for what lied ahead.

Come back next week to read about the first long distance portion of our relationship.

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It’s a Wonderful Whitener Wednesday

Tom and I met about 7 years ago, and we are about to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary this summer. Our time as just a duo is quickly coming to an end, so I thought I would celebrate the last 7 years each Wednesday leading up to our anniversary. Every Wednesday I will tell just a small fraction of our love story and how we made it to where we are now. A little bit of focusing on us before George gets here!

So here is the first Whitener Wednesday and the story of how we met.

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No we didn’t meet in a water ride, but it was very close.

It was 2007 and the start of a new season at Worlds of Fun, which is an amusement park in Kansas City.

I was a Rides Supervisor and Tom was a Park Ranger.

Our department offices were right next to each other.

Tom came in to talk with some of the other rides supervisors that he knew, and I happened to be in the office.

My first impression of Tom was that he was fearless and not at all shy. He was/is one of those guys who can talk to anyone and knows how to work a room. And as you can see with “Talks with Tom” he has a one of a kind sense of humor.

Unbeknownst to me, Tom did some recon (stalked me) and found out which rides were in my area of supervision. For the next month, he found reasons to show up at ride calls so we could have a “chance” meeting.

He friended me on Facebook and started a Facebook poke war. (Those were the days huh?)

We both had been semi-dating other people at the time, but neither of us were serious or had committed to relationships with those people. We were both 22 when we met and were at the time of our lives where we were having a good time seeing what was out there.

So then came the night he asked me out.

We were always there late doing our supervisory duties, so it was well after the park had closed. I wasn’t surprised when he came in the office to chat, since he had found his way to our area quite often that summer. But the story after is one I will never forget.

Tom told me that he just pulled over my brother (who also worked at the park) for running a stop sign.

I thought he was joking so I just brushed it off, but then he was just so adorable because of the visible nerves he kept my interest. Nerves was not something I had ever seen in Tom.

He told me the full story of my brother going through a stop sign and the car coming up as my vehicle. (I had gotten the parking sticker for him). So Tom at first glance thought he was going to be catching the guy who stole my car. Jackpot right?

After he told me this whole story, he then spit gum at me as he asked me out to dinner.

From what I had seen from Tom in the past month I knew he was something special. He was different than any man I had dated before, so I was intrigued to see what I date would be like and finding out more about this Park Ranger outside of the park.

And I felt bad for him spitting gum at me, so I said yes. Hey it was at least a free meal right?

Then we had the date.

It was the best first date ever. The conversation just flowed naturally. There were laughs, and the nerves just melted away. There was just something different that neither of us could describe.

The funny thing about the date though was that Tom told me he didn’t really see himself getting married or having kids. And I told him that I would be moving in a year to go to grad school and had no intention of staying in Missouri. So with that, it didn’t really seem like we would ever get serious.

And obviously I wasn’t sure how I stood a chance when he often saw me looking like this:

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or this…

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Nothing like pocket protectors, bow ties, skorts, and brown tennis shoes and constantly being a hot sweaty mess to grab a guy. Oh and did I mention that I was wearing braces at the time? Real winner…

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Some days I did look half way decent in the Missouri humidity, but still that pocket protector…

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I don’t have any pictures of Tom his Park Ranger get-up. Let me tell you though, there was no surprise that I was attracted to that guy on bike patrol.

So while it may have seemed like there was no future for us, I continued to say yes to Tom’s dates. We were 22 and enjoying hanging out with each other. Plus as I said, there was just something I couldn’t describe pulling me towards him.

I mean he did have a vase full of flowers waiting in my office the day after our first date.

It was very soon after that we became exclusive and started our journey towards the couple we are today.

Come back next week to see how our relationship blossomed into something more serious than a summer romance.

Things have changed so much since that summer of 2007.

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Half Marathon Recap-Yeehaw

This last weekend I accomplished something I never thought I would do.

I completed my 5th half marathon.

Not only did I complete it, I finished it 20 weeks pregnant.

(I really must be crazy.)

I have to say thought that it was one of my favorite races to date.

I signed up for this race back in December long before I knew that George would be in my belly at the time of the race.

Even then, I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to ever beat my PR time. So I came up with the idea of just having fun with this race and doing a scavenger hunt with my sister-in-law, Emily.

But then life happened, and the pregnancy took it’s toll on my body during the first trimester. I debated whether it was even a good idea to keep this race on the docket. Finally though, the morning sickness lifted, and I could exercise again. I began testing how far I could walk. The most I had done in the past month was 6 miles. Even up to last week I was unsure if I could do this. I talked with my doctor about running, and she said as long as I listened to my body and stayed extremely hydrated she was not concerned because I have an active past.

Emily and I decided to just go for it. We knew our options if we wanted to stop and knew that a truck would pick us up if we went too slow. I had been feeling great the past couple weeks, so we figured why not give it a whirl. We just wanted to have fun with everything!

And we did it full out! (Get ready for a ton of photos.)

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Emily and I before the race began.

I have to say the costumes were the best part of the race. About every 5 steps someone shouted/pointed/showed their extreme jealousy at our awesome cowgirl get-up. We pretty much won the best costume award! We are waiting for them to ask us to be the next year’s poster girls! (only slightly kidding)

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This is our favorite shirt from the day.

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This was at the beginning of the race. 30,000+ runners (and walkers)! Such a beautiful day for 13.1 miles!

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The first band of the day.

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Some of the bands were good, and some were not so good.

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It is a naked statue behind us.

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Walker selfie in front of the Brooks man!

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In front of Belmont University! We ran about 20% of the race, which were mostly on the downhills. It gave our legs a change of pace every once in awhile.

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This was one of our favorite signs. And yes, we both pooped that day. There were also a lot of signs about peeing. This was the first race that I used a Port-A-Potty, and I used it three times because I was chugging water like there was no tomorrow to stay hydrated. Each time there was no toilet paper…awesome.

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There weren’t many of us in costume for the day. These were some gals we passed a couple times before they eventually left us in their runner dust.

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Giddy Up!

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This was our favorite!

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No beer for the preggo. Sad day.

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One of the coolest parts of the race was going through Music Row where all the recording studios are. We were starry-eyed so we didn’t take pictures of hardly any of them. Whoops. In our defense, this part of the race was also on a downhill, so we were taking advantage of that momentum.

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You can’t read it, but this is a wedding chapel.

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A little praise band action!

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Very cool!

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Just a little bit country.

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And a little bit rock and roll.

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I think this was around 8 miles.

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The studios were surprisingly small.

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This is where we both started hurting a little. Also, I was starving. I needed carbs. I got some snicker-doodle cookies from a stranger and some jelly beans I had. I eventually had to ask a medical tent if they had a granola bar. George was hungry! And then soon after they had orange peels. They need to space this out more.

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The bump making an appearance with this lovely cop who was cheering us all on!

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This was a pleasant surprise! It was fun to shout a little Clemson love! Tiger Nation!

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Only two miles left. We can do this!

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The capital building.

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Emily tried out for American Idol here.

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We did it, and with smiles on our faces!

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Knowing there was food at the end got me through the last 2 miles. I took two of everything.

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I just have to say, I love my husband for coming and capturing our moment of crossing the finish line and also driving us back to our car. However, what this picture captures was my least favorite part of the day. The guys said this was the only way back to the car, barring walking another mile or so around the road barricades. This was a steep hill that I had to take my concrete legs and pregnant butt up. Not a happy camper! Tom loving braced me and pushed me up the rocks as I muttered curses at him all the way up. We did make it safely up this hill, but it was not a pleasant experience! I really am thankful for them coming though!

All in all, we had a blast. I feel really accomplished after this. It is funny that each race has brought it’s own challenges that I have had to overcome. It is one of the things that I love about race days. You really get to see what you are made of.

The participants were great. Besides Disney, you really can’t beat the atmosphere and environment Nashville brings (at least of the races I have done, I am sure there are other great race destinations). The organization was fairly good for the race. My only complaint is the lack of food throughout the race and the location of port-a-potties.

We didn’t really follow our scavenger hunt list we made previously. Instead we just took pictures of whatever moved us, and looking back we did get a lot that was on our list. We also saw a lot of things but didn’t take pictures of it like a barefoot runner, cheer team, and every water stop we took advantage of. We finished with a time of 3 hours and 41 minutes, which I would say isn’t too bad for walking pretty much the whole thing and making a ton of stops!

Who knows if I will ever do another one, but this was a great one to add to the books.

**As a caveat, if you are pregnant and planning on doing races, I would seriously think about your past activity and talk with your doctor. It is an individual decision, but it can be done! Just make sure you are taking all the necessary precautions and doing what is right for you and your baby’s health.

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Talks with Tom #23

To our group of friends here in TN, Tom and I are considered hipsters. I smile at this each time it is referenced because I would never personally call myself a hipster.

I guess I don’t really know what the technical definition of hipster, but regardless, I would not say Tom and I in that category.

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When we were in Indiana, we knew we would see a lot of hipsters since they are more prominent in a college town.

While we were getting ready for one of our outings this is a conversations we had:

Me:  Do I look ok? (I have just recently started wearing skinny colored jeans, so I get a little self-conscious still.)

Tom: Yes your red pants look great. It’s like hipsterflage.

And then Tom proceeded to put on these sunglasses.

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We were ready to blend I guess by standing out.

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A Weekend Refresher

This last weekend, Tom and I finally made it up to Indiana to see some close friends of ours. The four of us met in Iowa while Kate and I were working at Iowa State. Tom and Jordan started “The Husband Club.” So naturally the four of us became fast couple friends.

If you have hung around the blog at all, you know that our transition into the Army life has not been all roses and rainbows. Despite the struggles, we are making the best of it and are not quitters. We still put all that we are into the things we have here. There are days, however, when you lose hope and pieces of yourself.

This weekend gave us both a boost that we desperately needed. It reminded us of things and reignited our hope for our future.

(Nothing like a road trip in the middle of no-where to talk about your dream house, especially when someone insists that we take back roads the whole way there. We did successfully make it there by only using an atlas, so there is something we have going for us.)

Being able to spend time with Kate and Jordan was just the refresher that we needed. We were able to relax and chat about nonsense. It was great to be in a college town again, which is something we didn’t realize we missed so much. There is just something in the air in college towns:  always living the dream and pursuing even bigger dreams. It is really energizing (or we are both just huge college nerds…)

They were the greatest hosts who showed us around the area and provided us with great meals and fantastic company. And I am not sure our dogs wanted to leave their cute window filled home.

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We hopped up to Indianapolis for a night to see a minor league baseball game. Who doesn’t love baseball and hotdogs?

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We had a wonderful Easter brunch including a grown up Easter egg hunt.

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I will say that this brunch will always make me chuckle because Tom and I go from Army talk on a normal basis to this brunch where it was mostly doctoral students talking about their trips and plans of study. Two different worlds…

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Sometimes you just need little reminders that things will be OK. (God is good like that.)

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And sometimes you just need randomness to take stress away and reconnect with those around you.

This was the perfect change of pace for us.

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Tom did not win the egg hunt despite his best efforts.

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Kate got the most, but she didn’t manage to find any eggs with stuff in it.

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We had such a great weekend. And many thanks to our friends for letting us crash in their abode for a few days. Hopefully, we will not wait as long until the next time we reunite.