Halfway to Race Day!!

So we are about halfway to race day, and I am getting excited!!!! I am currently up to running about three miles three times during the week, and every Saturday we increase our mileage...today we were supposed to do 6 miles, but I started getting a blister on my foot, so I only went about three miles. I will try again tomorrow with better socks.... Last weekend we did a group yard sale to raise money, and I got about $120. Thank you to all those who donated items for me to sell!!!
I completed my first 10k three weeks ago. It is 6.2 miles and I completed it in an hour and 20 minutes. I never thought I would be able to complete six miles!!!! I want to thank all of you who have donated to my cause, and I hope that you will pass it on to any others that you think will donate. I still need to raise about $3700, so every dollar counts.
Also, I am planning on asking businesses to donate items for a raffle, so if any of you have anything that can be raffled off here in Florida, please let me know. Or, if any of you have any ideas for fundraisers, I could certainly use the help.

Four Mile Morning

Okay, so most of you have heard by now that I have decided to train for a half marathon in Seattle on June 27, 2009. When people ask me why, I say, I don't know. When I first moved here, I had too much free time on my hands and realized that I needed to change that. I signed up for a 5K that I ran last August. Well, I figured, task accomplished, what next??? The next step would be a 10K, but a coworker of mine runs at least two marathons a year, and talked me into doing a half marathon. So I joined Team in Training, to accomplish my goal, and also raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

The picture above is from our group run on Valentine's day morning. I ran two miles that day and today I ran four miles. I have NEVER run that far in my life. Some people ask, "why would you run that far for any reason?" Well, I believe that this event will change my life in more ways than I can even possibly imagine. For starters, I am eating healthy, reading labels, not eating out as much, obviously exercising more, and I feel happier. Like Leane quoted to me when I was having a rough day, "exercising gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy, and happy people just don't kill their husbands." It's from a movie and it made me laugh so hard, and then I realized that is what I needed to do. Get my butt moving, and I have no excuse. I have all the time in the world... So, for the next four months, when people ask me if I have plans, my answer will be, "I have to run, but after that, I can do something..."

So today during my run, when I wanted to stop and walk, I thought, "You can't let negative thoughts in. Nobody is here to push you, so you have to push yourself." And now I realize that this applies to my life too; I have to push myself... Apparently running is very enlightening when you don't have your ipod going in your ears and you are left with your thoughts, lol. So, for the next four months of training, I will keep you all updated, stay tuned.

Motivational Thought:
"Perseverance is a great element of success. If you knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody."
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Donation link http://pages.teamintraining.org/cfl/rnrseatl09/tbaldwin

Thanksgiving in Florida

This being my first Thanksgiving ever away from my immediate family, I am thankful to Grandma and Grandpa Welling for inviting me to spend the day with them. I spent the hour drive to their place remembering all the Thanksgivings spent in Arizona, of baking SOOOOO many pies the night before, making the infamous Green Bean Casserole, and wondering if there was going to be anything that was forgotten, once the meal was over.
My Uncle Mark had flown out from Kansas City to spend Thanksgiving in the wonderful sunshine of Florida. It was actually a chilly 60 something degrees here, but Mark was basking in the warmth compared to where he had come from. Lunch was fabulous as to be expected, and then we went for a ride on the boat to enjoy the afternoon. No alligators were spotted, because, as I mentioned, it was chilly that day.
I left there and drove back to Orlando to have dinner with some friends that I have made. I was told dinner was going to be served at five, so I busted my butt to make it there on time, and lo and behold, they hadn't even started the turkey yet. Mind you, they were going to deep fry it, which doesn't take nearly as long as baking, but I was fully expecting to walk into the table set for food, and basically sit down and eat.
This being the inaugural attempt at deep frying the turkey, there was a lack of peanut oil........so being men, they figure they can just add vegetable oil..... They find all the vegetable oil in the house, and it still isn't enough. So they head to the nearest store that is open on thanksgiving, and buy some more vegetable oil.... Pictures and video tell the story...

Jesse and I attempting to make sure the turkey is clean and dry.


Jeff, Scott, and Jesse ( from left to right), assembly the fryer.






While we are waiting for the turkey to cook, Denise and I decide that we are going to snag a piece of pumpkin pie, without letting anyone else see. Unfortunately for us, Denise is a picture freak as well, and documented it...but it was still fun.

Finally the turkey was ready and we were ready to eat.



You can always pick out Jesse's plate because if it has any form of potatoes involved, there is always ketchup to accompany it.

Jeff and Shanna


Scott and Denise

And the room mates, me and Jesse.
It was really great to be able to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends. I miss being with my parents and brothers and sister and their respective families, but this is my Florida family and they made me feel completely at home.

Okay, I don't usually buy into these things, but since I was one of the four tagged, I guess I kind of have to...

A) Four places that I go to over and over:
Work, Wal-Mart, the Library, Taco Bell
B) Four people who e-mail me (regularly):
Jesse, Jenna, Krisha, Leane
C) Four of my favorite places to eat:
Texas Roadhouse, Rubio's (only in PHX), Taco Bell, Olive Garden
D) Four other places I would rather be right now:
In bed--asleep, visiting family, watching a movie, running
E) Four people I intend to tag:
Katie, Suzette, Christina, Alisse
F) Four TV shows I watch:
Fox N Friends. The O'Reilly Factor, Dr. Phil, America's Got Talent ( when it was on)

New Life in Florida

I have been in Florida for seven months now, crazy, it seems like I have been here forever. It's funny, cause people ask me if I miss home, and I say no, because Florida is my home now. And it feels like home...for now. But I know that this is not my last stop. I don't know what my next stop will be, but somehow I feel that I won't stay here. But I tell them I miss my family desperately... but I can't dwell on it, or I would never get anything done. But the reason for this blog is to tell you a little bit more about my life here in the last seven months. Not just activities, but thoughts and ideas that have come about from living here.
I have made a very diverse group of friends at work, and with that, brings new ideas and ways of thinking. I am not sure if many of you know exactly why I moved, but part of it was to get out of my comfort zone and meet new people... So it seems that I moved to the right place.
With every new person I meet that has different beliefs than I have, it makes me wonder if mine are right. Growing up in Arizona, most everyone I knew, had the same core beliefs I did, not just religious beliefs, but also politically. Florida is not quite the same. It is considered a swing state, which can go Democrat or Republican. So, when I hear views that are more liberal than my own, I try to be open minded and listen to their side. I take time to think about it, question it, analyze it, and make a decision. Usually I end up right back at square one, believing what I started with. It amazes me that your core beliefs are exactly that; the core of you. The essence of what makes you who you are. Questioning it has only made me stronger in what I believe.

Some times, it sways me a little, but I usually end up right back where I started. I have learned that every encounter you have with people around you, effects you, positively or negatively. But you decide how it is going to effect you. When I first moved here, I was incredibly home sick and questioned my move almost daily. But, family and friends helped me understand the changes and realize that I control how I let things make me feel. So every encounter I have, I try to make it a positive influence in my life and learn from it. I guess you could say I am maturing. haha. Anyhow, I just wanted to tell you all thank you for your help and support.

My First Cruise!!!

So, I know this was last minute, and some of you probably had no idea I even went on a cruise, but it was even a surprise to me!!! Robert, a guy I had started dating, had bought a cruise months ago, and had never found anyone to go with him, so the last day he could add someone, asked me if I would like to go. It took me about five minutes to think about it, and OF COURSE, I said yes!!

It was a 3-day cruise to the Bahamas, and I had never been so I was SO EXCITED!!! He had been on a cruise a little less than a year ago, so he knew "all about cruisin'".



Here we are in the car driving to Port Canaveral, where we were scheduled to depart from.


Here is a blurry picture of the boat as we are crossing the bridge into Port Canaveral.


This is my first time on a boat bigger than my Grandpa Welling's sailboat.

This is the lighthouse outside the harbor into Nassau.
This is the famous Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, owned by Mr. Donald Trump... Most people decided to take the ferry across the water to the island, or a cab, but Robert decided we should walk. Now mind you, I am not opposed to walking at all, but the Bahamas are exactly like Florida, in that humidity is always a factor, and it was September, so still in the 90's. Needless to say, I was glad to finally be at Atlantis when we got there.

The Atlantis Resort is a lot like the casino's in Las Vegas that have all the shops and all the tourist items. We walked around the shops and took some pictures with some of the statues and water fountains inside the resort. I have one comment to add, I think he only let me actually take a picture once, so there are more embarrassing pictures of me, than him. And he was very sneeky about taking pictures of me.



Most people would delete the bad picture, oh no, not him, he saves them and waits until after the trip is over to show me the horrible pictures, so I figured it was only fair to share them with you guys.

This is the one picture I got to take, the whole trip.

Here is Robert, playing with the camera while I finish getting ready for formal night.

But worth the wait, right???


That night we set sail for Cococay, Bahamas, an island that Royal Caribbean owns. We went snorkeling, which was a first for me. I had a little bit of a hard time at first, with the whole under water breathing thing, but after about ten minutes, I finally got used to it. I saw a jelly fish and thought of Dori on Finding Nemo, and swam away as fast as I could. We saw the most colorful fish, it was amazing.


Yet another picture taken of me, that I had no idea about until he showed me the pictures...

We had so much fun, I don't think I have ever eaten so much food in my life. and it was some of the best food I have ever had. If you ever have a chance to take a cruise, I would definitely recommend it.
The funniest part about the whole trip was when we came back into port, got home and was doing normal things around the house, I could feel myself trying to compensate for the rock of the boat, commonly known as sea legs... It took about two days for them to go away, but it was worth it.

Okay, Okay, Okay

I know it has been forever since I made my last post, but I feel like my life is kinda boring right now. So I will try to recap on everything that has happened in the last few months. As many of you know, I had spent the last few months training for a 5k race. I finally completed it on August 2, 2008 in just under 42 minutes. Being that it was my first race ever, it was also my personal best!! Here is the picture of me crossing the finish line.



I went back to Arizona the following week for Suzette's wedding reception and to see the family because I hadn't seen everybody since I left in March. It was good to see everybody and to hang out with Kiley. Here are a few pictures of her that I took while we were outside in Grandma's backyard.

This is Kiley wearing my sunglasses, posing like always!!!
















Here she is playing with the toy dolphin.

I had my first experience with a tropical storm, Fay, but the worst we got was a lot of rain. There are some areas near the Atlantic coast, and also north of Orlando that experienced flooding, but we are okay. Now we are getting quite a bit of rain from Hurricane Gustav, but it shouldn't be too bad either. However, there is another storm, Hanna, that is headed for Florida, so we will see what happens with that.

I have decided that I am going to run another 5k, at the end of October, so training starts tomorrow. Hopefully this gets everyone up to date, and I will try to do better at keeping my blog updated.