Hey! You! Get off of my cloud...wait, come back!

I have officially branched out here in Chitown. After lamenting about not having real girlfriends in Chicago (which by the way, it is very difficult to meet people if 1. you have been out of school for awhile, 2. you have no children, or 3. all your coworkers' ages/point-in-their-lives feels like a standard deviation of plus/minus 5 years - who knew 30 could be awkward!)....I digress...what was I saying? Oh yes, no girlfriends in the new city. So RJB suggested I sign up for a running training program to meet non-work people.  And I did. 

I have joined the CARA summer beginners/5K/10K running program.  I hope it accomplishes the following:

• start running more consistently
• gain confidence and not worry about being slow
• stop injuring myself (2008 was a bad year...)
• run races that are not so painful
• and last but not least, meet some peeps

I have already signed up for a 5K this summer and I hope these group runs will make race day less stressful (slow factor). And I would LOVE to run the Turkey Trot and not be in agonizing misery.  Here's the plan. The summer program is 10 weeks long and starts on the 22nd. Every Wednesday, we meet as a group for a clinic and then do a group run. Depending on the plan, I will also have a non-group run schedule for the rest of the week. I plan on doing the 5K now and sign up for the 10K program starting 9/16. (The whole point of the 5K program for me is to not stress myself out by signing up for a program that would negate the first three goals bulleted above.)

RJB started the marathon summer training program - he has a Wednesday group run (no clinic because they are pros) and a Saturday morning group run.  He is scheduled to run 5 days a week and cross-train 1 day a week, so I can ride on his coattails for motivation to get out there after work and run.  And who knows, maybe I'll actually meet some cool people.

See Dick and Jane build a routine

See Dick and Jane recover from excitement

I suppose it is now back to normalcy.  There's been a tremendous amount of change and excitement over the past 13 months, all starting with the trip to Europe. Big trip, big ring, big move, big job adjustments (for both of us!), big wedding, big honeymoon.....small apartment. Nonetheless, I am starting to wonder what normal really is. Clearly every moment of every day was not consumed with all our excitement, but now we just have day-to-day to be excited about. Which is probably why we planned a July 4th trip to NYC....

See Jane ponder the weather

I am now in month 7 of Chicago living and am wondering when the promise of "the summers are worth it" talk comes true. I think it hit around 80 a few weeks ago, but goodness gracious, it is mid-June already! I've worn my leather jacket to work a few times this month too. Something's just not right about that. Just not right.

See Dick and Jane frown at price-per-square-foot

RJB and I have started poking around at condo prices.  The real estate drop hasn't hit this city yet. Well, at least city prices.  For the size that makes sense to us (which would still be somewhat cramped living) it would cost between 300-350 a square foot. Hmmm....don't think my cost of living adjustment picked up that rate! :)  So why not move to the burbs? Because if we had to sit in 2+ hours of traffic every single day, I think our souls would wither away. Sigh...

See Dick make lots of ice cream

One of our registry items was an ice cream maker. My thoughtful friend CCB got it for us at the Dallas shower.  True to good engaged couple discipline, we kept it boxed and stored until we sealed the deal. Literally the weekend we were back from the honeymoon, the ice cream maker made its appearance.  The Hubs has made about, oh, 4? 5? batches in the last month. And this is all him...I don't eat ice cream so other than helping locate a recipe, it's been all him. So CCB, RJB thanks you!! :)

Mrs. B? Why, I guess that is me!

RJB and I tied the knot and it was wonderful.  The ceremony was great (though the limo picking me up from the hotel was late so many-a-folk saw me - boo). Music was lovely, my groom was handsome, I was quite the looker myself!  We then took pictures all over the city (Sally Ryan of Kevin Weinstein Photography did our photos - can't wait to see them!), then had our cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing. I was apparently the dancing queen!

Best parts:

• Seeing RJB looking so handsome
  
• Dad's camera announcing "Say cheese!" during the ceremony
  
• RTP playing Ave Maria during the wedding
  
• Sun coming out (horrid rain on Friday)
  
• Dancing the night away
  

Do overs:

• wearing sunscreen!
  
• dancing less, talking more (somehow though, I couldn't stop dancing...I guess I felt joy)
  
• should've gotten some anti-anxiety meds a few months before to cut down the stress that overwhelmed me (yes, I do all my craziness unmedicated)

We did enjoy our wedding and we couldn't be happier to be married. I guess that how's you know it is right. I am so excited to see what adventures we will have and frankly love saying "my husband".

A few of the details

Out of town guest bag inserts we did (not sure why it is sideways)

Saying my vows

Say Cheese!

Chasing that darned White Rabbit again!

So it's been awhile. But frankly, I've been a little tired, my dear readers. Rather than sacrificing quality for quantity, I have not written much. 

The big wedding is almost upon me. Today, I dropped off new eyeglasses frames to get lenses and was told they would be ready next week. Then I realized, all of a sudden, that I am getting married next week. Next. Week. Holy cow.

Things have been set at the normal level of mania.  Busy season publicly ended on April 15 (though insiders of public accounting know that the lull no longer happens), I had my BFF ADF in town that weekend (bridal shower), the following weekend I took off for Dallas (bachelorette party), and the weekend that just passed was wedding prep mania. Sigh. It is all very exciting but time is flying. FLYING. Perhaps this is what people mean then they say they don't remember anything from their wedding day.

Let's reflect on that - how sad to think that people don't remember such an important day of their lives. Especially one that people generally plan months in advance. I sincerely hope that does not happen for us. I hope that having the wedding ceremony is in the morning and the reception in the early evening helps slow the pace a bit. I suppose time will tell!

I have also been rather surprised by the number of people who are surprised that I am dropping P and picking up B for my name. I've gotten so many surprised looks that I am almost considering doing the JPB rather than JMB. But I truly love the middle name. Hmmm...I read on another blog that a woman said she wished "nee" was used more often. Perhaps I can bring that back in my own archaic way. JMB nee P. hmmm...has a ring to it! I will have to try that on my work email signature; see what response I get from that!

Hope you enjoy all the photos!

Bridal Shower - Arlington Heights

Dallas Bachelorette Weekend

Oh How I Shuffled

For about a year, I have been excited to run my first Shamrock Shuffle, one of the largest 8Ks in the country.  In Chicago, it is the official kickoff to the outdoor running season (contrary to its name, the race is not on St. Patty's Day, rather is it the last Sunday of March. However, it has become quite apparent that Chicago loves it some St. Patty's Day and so it is still a festive race). 

I have been kickin my training indoor style on the TM. Not a bad way to train in the cold weather, but TM training doesn't really prepare your body for the shock of running a road race. Nonetheless, I am Texan so running in snow, ice, or colder than 40 is not really of interest to me. 

The week or two leading up to the race, Chicago was treated to glorious 50 degree weather. Mother Nature finally bestowed her love on the Windy City. I was so excited to run through downtown Chicago in such nice weather! Alas, I was punked.  The big weekend was approaching and the weather report was moving around. Day before race day, it rained, then snowed. And was windy (25 to 30 mph gusts, in the 30s).  This continued through the night.  Race day, some accumulation, wind and rain (temp around mid-30s). Oh no! What to do! What a quandary this southern soul was in!

See, when you consider the weather, it not just for the racing time. You need to consider that you arrive about an hour before the race. And because I am slow, I would also be near the end of the pack, so it will take time for me to even cross the start line after the race begins (FYI, the field cap for the race was 32,500, though due to the weather, about 14,000 actually finished). 

Needless to say, I ran it. Shoes soaked through before crossing the start line, clothes damp, wind, chilly. The streets were not salted or plowed, so there were puddles of melted snow from all the runners trampling through the streets. This was not my best run. But it wasn't the worst either. While I was ridiculously slow, I arrived at that start line rather than staying warm in bed. I suppose I proved to myself that running is important to me, even though I am at a much lower level of intensity than other runners I know.  But I'll get there. 

Me on race day, looking tired and worried. (hey, its busy season)

RJB looking calm and collected

Photo from the race - holy slush!

 (courtesy of Chicagotribune.com)

Oh, and RJB rocked out the race. He got a corral A start this year.