Christmas in Disney?

Luke thinks that I would like a laptop and keeps joking with me that he is going to get me one for Christmas. I decided that a better idea would be to take me on a trip to Disney so we are there Christmas Day. I priced it out and we could leave on Saturday morning and return late Tuesday night with hotel and airfare for a few hundred less than the laptop would cost. His response to my research, "but we are having our families at our house for Christmas." Not a good excuse in my book because they can still have Christmas at our house, we just won't be there. Don't we want to make our first Christmas together special? I mean, just look at all the decorations and the magic of Disney... it would be great! What do you think?

Patio

I decided that I wanted a patio in the backyard. Luke would have preferred a deck, but is now very pleased with a patio. How do you decide how big and what shape to make a patio? Well, I hauled out the extension cord and roped off the size I wanted. Luke thought it looked too big and tried to convince me to make it smaller until I started whining about having people and a table and it being too crowded on the patio. My dad loves to be outside and did a huge chunk of the work for our patio.
He started out by making a frame for our gravel/crushed stone base. We had stone delivered and he spread it out and stamped it down.After that we had stone dust delivered (it reminded me of cinder track stuff). We used the stone dust at the recommendation of someone my mom works with. It turns hard over time and acts like concrete... a bonus is that weeds and moss stuff can't grow between your pavers. My dad leveled (well, at a barely noticeable, slight slope so water would drain off the patio and away from the house) and stamped down the stone dust. My mom showed up with a truck load of pavers one night and we hauled them to the back yard. Our lawn was still soft from all the rain and the truck that dropped off the stone dust almost got stuck--with his 4x4. The next day I arrived home to find:

Shoes and the Cat

I love shoes... well, just running shoes and crocs. I ordered a pair of these shoes earlier in the week and cannot wait for them to come in. They are super comfy and best of all match my Tink costume.I've put in several long runs with the pair I currently have and no blisters or achy spots since they are mostly a mesh/fabric construction and the lacing system isn't connected into a logo (which can sometimes create pressure points). The sole is flexible and allows for a smooth heel to toe transition. I won't bore you with the details of my awesome shoes... but if you ever want info on shoes let me know.
In other news, I think that Thunder Paws is feeling a bit lonely and wanting attention. She plopped herself on my school papers. I guess she misses all the hours she got to spend with me over the summer.

For my Sister

Well Jen... since you are bored since I've been so busy and haven't posted, here is a little something for you:
What the classroom looked like when I "moved in"
Now it is full of papers and pencils and stuff.
Followed by a cross country meets and a pasta load:

More running:

An out of town wedding (not many photos though from that, her photographer was taking a gazillion)

More running:

and another pasta load:


So, between the coaching, teaching and running I haven't had time for keeping this interesting for you. Now that coaching is over I will post once a week and more if I can. Have a great November... and I'll make sure to look for an embarrassing photo of you as a happy be-lated birthday post. Oh, never mind. Happy late birthday to my oompa loompa sister: