race, originally uploaded by staarkidd.

Last weekend, I tagged along with Jim to Louisville where he ran a half marathon. This was my first race and I was nearly overwhelmed by the sheer mass of people wanting to run a long distance. I heard that there were 11,000 people running and i wondered how on earth I would be able to keep up with Jim along the way. He decided to run with his cell phone and send short texts letting me when he approached mile markers. At first i recieved simple messages like "1" or "2" but then started to get more descriptions like "I'm behind elvis". I can't even text and walk so i was impressed. It was a really fun event and i suddenly caught a glimpse of myself as a soccer mom. i suppose, if you live in america, some things are inevitable.

Winner!

finished, originally uploaded by staarkidd.

Less than two hours later, Jim took the medal . . . a medal. hmm, i'm not sure how that works, but anyway, I was so proud to meet him at the finish line! I was really impressed. Did i mention that he ran an awesome race?

Gregory's

Gregory, originally uploaded by staarkidd.

Marilyn, Windy and I manned the pace car. Actually, there was no pacing-we could hardly keep up with the race in the car! We had a great time trying though!

carriage ride

carriage, originally uploaded by staarkidd.

After the race, and a good clean up, we explored a bit of Louisville. Jim hailed us a horse-drawn carriage and we leisurely discovered the waterfront.

lafayette

lafayette, originally uploaded by staarkidd.

We finished the weekend in Lafayette where i got to see Jim's grad school stomping grounds and more amazing people to meet. In fact, i spent Saturday night at Patricia's house- a truly beautiful woman with so much grace to share. We visited the Alliance church that Jim attended for 6 years. The weather was beautiful so we spent much of Sunday afternoon on Randy and Sally's porch watching their dog be smart. The guy in the bottom picture is a good friend, Craig, who decidedly has the most joyful laugh i've ever heard. This was a full weekend, rich with good people and good memories!

space, originally uploaded by staarkidd.

This is a picture of Randy and Sally's backyard. Their dog is one of those shepherding dogs that needs something to do at all times. If you don't assign a job, the dog will make up a chore. Bree determined that it would be useful to the family if she ran from the porch to the woodpile everytime someone waved. Sally commented that it wasn't long before you could see the path from space. she's right! here's a shot of the dog's hard work taken from google earth!