Terrible Blogger

Clearly, I am one of the more terrible bloggers. I can't seem to post even monthly, but pretty much no one reads this so I suppose I'm not offending anybody.

It seems all I post about is running as well...

Chantelle and I ran our 5K on St Patrick's Day long weekend - I was proud of her, we finished at 43 minutes (and change). Of course there is a pic on my mom's blog but not mine. :)

Next up is the Mother's Day 5K (May 13). We're hoping for a 35 minute time. We'll see. Today I also registered for the HSBC 10K (July 8) and the Capital Energy 21.1K in Edmonton (August 12). I couldn't find any half marathons in Calgary in August/September so Edmonton it is. Tyler and I will make a weekend getaway of it. Should be good. I have to say, the half marathon is quite motivating. People always say that goals motivate, but for me no little goal will do - I need something as big as a half marathon (but not as ridiculous as a full marathon) to get me going. But every day at the gym I work as hard as I can now because I want to be able to say I did my very best. I'm shooting for a 60 minute 10K time and a 2:30 21 k time. We'll see.

After the half marathon, I transition to triathlon training. I think my last race will be that silly Santa's one they do in December. I may get one more race in before then but I'm not sure. Maybe something Thanksgiving-ish before we get the inevitable Halloween snowfall. I'm not going to do any major distance running then, probably max around 10K because in most tri's that I've been looking at they do around that much running. The sprint triathlons are as small as a 200 yard swim, 5-10 mile (8-16 km) bike, 3 mile (about 5k) run. I think that would be manageable Olympic distance is 1 mile swim (1.5 km), 24.8 mile bike (40 km), and a 6.2 mile run (10 km). Ironman: 2.4 mile swim (about 4 km), 112 mile bike (about 180 km) and 26.2 mile run (42 km - marathon distance). I don't think I'll ever do an Ironman.

That of course means I'll need a road bike, bathing suit for training, and a wet suit for the tri next summer...I'll worry about the wet suit and the bike later. Uggg, biking. Hate it! I'm hoping though that if I get a good bike (I'm going to have to do some reading on that) it won't be so dreadful. I'm not worried about the swimming, I'll just have to add a couple of days of swimming a week to my normal regime to get that up.

Back to "real life", Tyler and I are heading to Radium, Monday-Wednesday April 30-May 2. We're looking forward to it! Yay, time with my hubby. I'm foreseeing a new puzzle in our future.

Also in the real life category, my final exam is on Thursday of next week then I get a glorious 3 weeks off. What will I do with all that free time, you ask? Probably just work. There's a few ministry things that I'd like to get cleaned up before the spring semester begins (3rd week of May). 4 more semesters left: spring, summer, fall 2007, and winter 2008. Glorious.

Speaking of glorious, I have a paper to finish before Friday.
~RK

New Software = No Fun!

U of C changed their student service software from "infonet" to "PeopleSoft". Today was my first run in with "PeopleSoft" as I attempted to register for my spring and summer courses. It was a serious drag.

By the end of it I could see the advantages of PeopleSoft, but learning a new system with no initiation or introduction is frustrating. "They" say we "young people" have no problem learning new things like that - well, either I've become one of "them" or I'm not so young any more.

On a lighter note, one of the grad schools I'm looking into emailed me back today and it seems that perhaps an M.Div is not in the cards. An M.Div is all good if you want to be a pastor, but I'm increasingly skeptical about holding that official post. The MCS they're offering seems to cater much more to who I am as a person and an academic. We shall see! Shockingly, they want a GPA of 2.8 and up. That shouldn't be an issue (I couldn't believe how low it was!). The scholarship race is much more competitive though: 3.8 is the requirement. I'll have to get working for that to happen.

A Post!/Updates

Running

Today I registered for the St. Patrick's Day 5K race: http://www.events.runningroom.com/site/?raceId=2626

I'm going to be running it with Chantelle. I'm looking forward to that. We're also planning ahead for the Mother's Day Run:
http://www.mdrunandwalk.com/default.aspx?lang=&city=calgary&page=map.html&col=2

I'm contemplating doing the 1o for that one. If I don't, I think I'll do 10 at the HSBC Calgary Marathon 2007:
http://www.events.runningroom.com/site/?raceId=2646

We'll see how that goes. Maybe next year I'll try a half-marathon.
I've never actually run a race before, so it'll be a bit of an adventure to be sure. I'm most stoked about the race t-shirt (lame, I know). I'll feel so proud wearing THAT at the gym!

Ministry & Music

I got an email from my friend JP this week about the Good Friday service at the Jubilee. He asked me to play saxophone at it. I've played the last few years, and it's always an enjoyable experience. JP gets musicians from Baptist churches in/around Calgary to be a part of the service - I don't know if he just asks people he's networked with or what, but if so, I'm glad I'm at least that networked. Hopefully we'll do an offertory again. :)

I said I'd play, but with a good deal of consternation. I barely play any more, and so I'm decidedly uncomfortable doing it. I wanted to though, so I called up my old jazz saxophone teacher and hopefully we'll get some lessons set up. I'd like to see him weekly until Easter, and then every other week after that, alternating with jazz piano lessons, if I can get in with the teacher I'd like to study with. I don't know if he's taking students or what. It's funny, I called my old band teacher, M, to get my old sax teacher, R's number. Well today M called and let me know that he actually saw R yesterday and told him I'd be calling, and not only did R remember me but he was actually happy to hear of it! I didn't think I was that memorable.

School

So those are some developments. I've been looking at various degree programs for my master's - hoping to start in September 2008. We'll see what happens...The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. Proverbs 21.1

Professional Wedding Pics

Some can be seen on my mom's new, non-wedding related blog: www.klp2007.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

Couple of Honeymoon Pics

These pictures are from our honeymoon in Canmore! The native nativity scene on the Canoe is my favorite - it was just some person's nativity scene on their snow covered lawn. I especially like the turtle adoring Jesus. The other is a picture of me next to one of the lakes at Spray lakes - it was REALLY cold that day so we were pretty much babies and headed back to the condo before you knew it!

Wedding Pics

These pics are from our friend Jana. We're still awaiting the professional photos.

Top Down:

Me;

Me & Lyden;

the Quintet;

Me & Mom, featuring the wedding cape that Erin and I made, and the purse Erin made for me and all the bridesmaids (mine was white and the bridesmaids had blue);

Mom, Grandma and Tyler;

Dad;

Christine & Chadley.

I'll post pics of Kristen and Erin when I find some good ones!

Domesticated & Other People's Incompetency

So, it turns out that when you don't wash the kitchen floor, it gets sticky. What's with that? I guess that's a weekend cleaning project.

My computer has been away for repairs for 3 weeks. It was brutal. This is how it went with our favorite electronics retailer:

Monday, January 8: Take computer in to said retailer.
Me: "My computer doesn't charge and my power cord is very finicky"
Computer Geek: "We'll send it to Gateway and get it fixed. We'll send it out today, and you'll have it back in a week!"
Me: *pleasantly placated*

Saturday, January 13: Message on my answering machine
Computer Geek: "I realized when I tried to send your computer out today that you have no warranty"
Me: *no longer pleasant*

Sunday, January 14: Visit to electronics retailer
Me: What's the deal?
CG: you have no warranty!
Me: Yes I do!
CG: let me get my manager
Me: *wait for 45 minutes, deal with general incompetence, then finally win the argument*
CG: We'll send it out tomorrow, and it'll be back by next Monday! [Jan 22]

Monday, January 22: call to electronics retailer
Me: I was wondering when I can come pick up my computer today
CG: I don't know anything about this, we'll call you later.

Monday, January 22: call from electronics retailer
CG: I'm sorry, I haven't sent it yet. You'll have it back in a week!
Me: *VERY ANGRY*

Monday, January 29: call to electronics retailer
Me: Where's my computer?
CG: Not here!
Me: *not surprised*

Wednesday, January 31: call from electronics retailer
CG: We have your computer back, come and get it!
Me: fine. *scowl*

So, I went to pick it up. It was free, but man, is good help ever hard to find... we'll never be buying anything from there again!

Premarital Sex Reality Check!

Go team 10%:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16287113/?GT1=8816

11 more sleeps

Well, well, well. Finally I am posting again. Here we go:

House!
Tyler has been living in our place since Thanksgiving weekend. I have been moving my stuff over gradually, so my room at my parent's house is getting more and more empty. I can't believe the amount of JUNK I've kept all these years. Last night I started to go through my closet, and have begun a big pile of clothes that will go to the lovely Brenda at Grace Baptist Church, who will use them for the community clothing sales. Brenda sets up clothing sales a couple of times a year at our church, and people from the communit comey and fill bags of clothes for 1 or 2 dollars. The money she gets goes toward buying food packages for people who come into our church and ask if we have any food for them. Altogether, it's a great place to donate.

I've been thinking a lot about simplicity lately; this moving business has really brought home to me how much JUNK I keep just because I think I "may need it later". No, I will not need those pants I used to wear in high school later. I will never be that skinny again. It's time to give them to high school students who are.

My thoughts on simplicity go beyond junk gathering of course. My schedule has been way too crazy for years on end. I have been so concerned about developing every possible skill that I may possess that I've just become kind of ok at a whole bunch of stuff. I'm tired of that. Now I have a husband-to-be to think about as well, and he is priority. When he comes home, I want to eat dinner together and be able to spend time having fun, not ignoring him while doing homework. I realized at the end of this semester that I can continue to try to know and do everything, never really experiencing life, just passing time, or I can do a few things exceptionally well (b/c whether I like to admit it or not, I am relatively intelligent and talented), and enjoy life as it comes. I've had enough of enduring my life. It's time to enjoy it.

Gifts!
Tyler and I have been showered with gifts. We have been overwhelmed with people's kindness, and in one very special case, brought to tears, but that event shall remain anonymous. People have started us off well, and we are so grateful. Where we are coming across duplicates, we're putting them away, and saving them so that we can bless others when they're starting out or just need something. Did I mention that we're so thankful? B/c we are.

Honeymoon
We're going to Canmore for our honeymoon, and we're looking forward to that. After all this busy madness, we're looking forward to sleeping in, going for long walks, and getting lots of rest.

My Dress Fell Apart!
So, as many of you know, I'm wearing my mom's wedding dress on Dec 30th. Well, we took it in to get it drycleaned (after we finally got it to FIT), and all the lace came off. HA! It's been suggested to us that the lace was probably glued on with some sort of fabric glue when it was originally made, and that over the years and through the drycleaning, it just fell apart. So, my mom's been sewing that back on. (Thank you very much, mom.)

Bridesmaid's Gifts
I was very happy to get my bridesmaid gifts (as well as a gift for both my mom and Tyler's) while shopping with Tyler on Satuday night. It was a fun time. I hope they like them.

Well, that's pretty much it. Probably by the time I get around to posting again, it'll be after my wedding, so Merry Christmas & Happy New Year...

one month later....

I can't believe it's been a month since I've posted. This is not a good way to keep faithful readers!

Tyler moved into our place on Thanksgiving Monday. It was a little later than anticipated, but our landlord didn't care, as he was being paid anyway, and Chadley (Tyler's sister, who he was living with) was gracious, turning down our offer to pay her for the extra week. Phew!

So, I still don't have pictures, because I have been lazy with the photography. I didn't get much in the way of pictures of the kitchen before we re-did it, so you'll have to do with my highly descriptive and excellent prose instead. ;) I hope to get the new pics up when I post again (which will hopefully be in less than a month's time).

Tyler moved in with the living room still incomplete - the walls were painted but the carpet was not down. In the way of painting, we just have touch ups and our bedroom closet to paint/carpet. That'll be good.

We don't really have a dresser, so all of Tyler's clothes are in piles on the floor. *thumbs up* He has a dresser at Chadley's still, but it's basically just filled with junk and I'm relatively sure he's never kept clothes in there. Apparently his Grandpa has a dresser for us, so we're hoping it fits in the room. If not, it's another trip to IKEA on pay day.

We carpeted the week after Tyler moved in (he had to get more scrap carpet tile from work ... we were pretty impressed with how good it looked in the end), and then my parents donated a couch & two chairs to our place, and our friend Brenda offered her couch cover, so that room actually looks like we planned it color-wise. Yay! The only other thing that needs to be finished is lighting in there - that'll probably happen Sunday, as we need to turn off all the power to do it and it's typically too dark by the time Tyler gets home.

OOOOOH, and we got the vacuum from Grandma. Thanks Grandma! I can't wait to post pictures of that.

In terms of wedding stuff, my final dress fitting is supposed to be the end of the month. You may be wondering, "didn't you say you already had a final dress fitting planned?" the answer is yes, but, well, the dress still didn't fit. So ... End of this month. I'm glad we got that started early when we did.

Invitations have gone out, mostly. There are a few addresses that Tyler and I have been slow in getting so those invites will go out soon. We've got lots back, almost 50, and so that's good. 50 back with 2 weeks or whatever until the RSVP date is good.

We have a cake decorator, which is good, so that's underway... There's probably a lot of other things that need to be done, but I think we're in good shape (even though my mom seems a bit nervous).

10 weeks, 2 days! yay!!! Almost to the single digits...

~R

Rachel's Survival Guide (& wedding updates)

I've realized that all students (at least "this-is-my-last-year-I'm-getting-this-done-so-help-me-God" students) need to have a university survival guide. Here is mine:

First 2 Weeks of September:

these weeks suck, just drink more coffee.

Third Week of September:

everything's cool, I've done this a million times before! I'm a veteran!

Fourth Week of September:

remember, just two more weeks til Thanksgiving, and I can catch up on my reading

Thanksgiving Weekend:

catch up on sleep, and really don't read at all.

The Rest of October:

is spent reminding one's self that there are only 4-3-2-1 more weeks until reading break

November Reading Break:

catch up on sleep....and do some reading.

The Rest of November:

Remind oneself that it'll all be over by December...less than one month to go.

This is the guide. Stick faithfully to the guide, my padawan learners!

Of course, deeply imbedded in my survival mentality is the fact that in 14 weeks and 3 days I will be a very happily married woman who will lounge around for at least one week with her husband in a state of wedded bliss.

Speaking of which, our honeymoon got cancelled. :P Turns out our hotel is being shut down. What are the odds? So we have to find a new hotel for the first week of January (and December 31) in Canmore. Suggestions anyone?

Dress fitting: next Saturday, with the lovely Kristen - the seamstress said she could alter Kris' dress too so that's a good thing.

Pew Bows: Mom and I solidly hung out with our friend Marilyn and made pew bows for a couple of hours last night. The highlight: actually being better at something crafty than mom. That never happens, so I will bask in the glory. I was not the black sheep yesterday evening! (although truth be told, I think Marilyn re-did over half of my bows)

I think that's honestly it from a wedding perspective. School is good, working is good, life is good.
OH YES, the basement suite. The countdown is on, we need to get it done so Tyler can move in next weekend. HAAAAAA. He assures me it's all under control. Pictures to follow.

~R

Engagement Photos!

We have engagement photos tonight by the river...I'm really looking forward to it. We're doing black & whites. I still haven't picked out an outfit. I guess I still have 2.5 hours. Mom wants us to dress up a little, but Tyler and I are authentic ragamuffins, and I can't justify us pretending we aren't! Don't get me wrong, we won't be in our sweats or anything, but yeah. Normal people clothes.

I have a dress fitting on Saturday, I'm looking forward to that ... I think. There isn't too much else to report at this point!

final pics from make over evening 1

Obviously, this is Lyden and Tyler pulling up tile, and below is Lyden and I after a good night's work - as you can imagine, that subfloor was pretty sticky, and we have glue and tile all stuck to our pants.

...I'll post pics of the kitchen once we start working on it. :)

After #1: Living Room Wall

This is the living room wall minus the not-so-hot wood paneling.

Before: More Living Room Pics

This is the rest of that wall, with more of those lights. We're hoping to put in some fun track lighting instead. That glass door is the one that enters into the kitchen.

Yup, it's solidly a car window opener.

Before: Living Room #1

Here you can see how our living room and bedroom connect. You can also see some pretty harsh lighting near the ceiling, and if you look carefully, yes, that is a car window opener on the wall, which at one time moved the curtain.

Bedroom After, #1

This is the bedroom after we un-tiled it. The wood subfloor is exposed, and that's a big pile of tiles in the middle there. You can see Tyler holding back that curtain that divides the rooms.

Bedroom Before, #1

This is (part of) our bedroom and its closet. You will notice the lovely lino tile, some tiles of which were pulled up by my dad on Wednesday, as he was examining the floor. You will also notice that there is wood panelling on our closet. Did I mention wood panelling is a bad idea? You'll also notice a wood divider of sorts on the ceiling. This is where a big curtain is pulled to separate the big room into two little rooms. It's also where we're putting a wall and doors (perhaps french doors, if possible).

Belated Update

The other day I had a weird wedding dream but now I can't remember what it was about. The point is, I'm already having weird wedding dreams.

On to the updates!

Master of Ceremonies

My "aunt" Sally has agreed to be the MC at our reception! We're really excited, as we know that she's going to do a great job. Thanks Sally!!

HOUSE!!!

We are so excited that God has provided us a basement suite to live in. It's small, and the decor needs some work, but we're up for the challenge. It's in Ogden, and the rent is VERY reasonable. Last night, Lyden, Tyler and I went over to start the renos. I took lots of pictures, so I will post the "before" pictures on here, and then some pictures showing the progress.

Tyler took down some wood panelling on the wall (never a good idea to put up wood panelling...), while Lyden and I pulled up the attractive lino tile. After Tyler was satisfied with the destruction he had done on the wall, he helped us pull up tile. We worked for about an hour, maybe hour and a half, then called it a night. We don't want to be making a bunch of noise too late into the night; I think we left at around 8:40. Tonight Tyler and I will be cleaning up the piles of tile we left on the floor (again, pictures to follow), and working on some other stuff.

Oh, and the silly registry is finished.

I'll post some pictures when we have them developed.