ramblings

First of all - the world has gone mad.  Some people seriously have the craziest thought patterns.  It is unbelievable and breaks my heart.  All you can do is pray it works out for the best.

Our honeymoon is in ONE WEEK!  We stocked up on sunscreen and some other essentials yesterday.  Today I am doing the last load of laundry before we leave, and it will be time to start strategically packing.  Lots of swim suits, dresses, shoes, and sun screen.  That's basically all I really need ;)  It is going to be really awesome to get away from everything for awhile, and just enjoy my time with my husband.  Such a good opportunity to make memories while recharging for the busy Fall to come.

I am making progress in my school work.  One paper turned in.  Working on the second one, which I will turn in sometime this week (a week early) before we fly out!

Hopefully this week, I will get said paper done, and I will have the chance to go see sweet Brenna Bug (what her dad calls her - it is totally going to stick).  I can't believe she is 2 weeks old!  I definitely need some sweet snuggles!

running

I never thought I would be the girl WANTING to run.  When I finally decided that I was tired of being 20+ lbs overweight, I knew I needed to get cardio in, so I felt like running was my best option.  At first, I could barely run a 1/4th of a mile without stopping.  Since January, I have hit a few running milestones.  The first time I ran an entire mile, I was stoked.  Then I went 1.25, then 1.5, then 2!  2 miles without walking once!  Now that may take me a little over 20 minutes, but I can do it, and I feel awesome AFTER I do it.  Since then, I have even gone up to 2.5 miles without walking, and then a total of 3 miles (with a little walking thrown in).

Today, I ran my fastest mile.  9:15.  Then I decided to keep going.  1.5 miles in 14 min.

That's why I run.  I am past my original goal weight.  I don't really think I will lose anymore (but wouldn't complain about an extra 5lbs.).  But I keep running.

I run because it makes me push myself.  I start a run with one intention (today - run a mile to warm-up before doing some dumbbell work).  Then I decide, "I am not just going to run a mile, I am going to run the fastest mile I have."  And I do it.  I push myself, and it sucks, but I do it.  Then I get to almost a mile and decide "I can go 1.5 miles, even though I have been running faster than I typically do."  So I get to a mile, drop the treadmill's speed down a bit (b/c I was hurting), but I push myself to the 1.5 miles.

When I finish, and I look at my distance and my heart-rate monitor, I am proud of myself.  It feels good to know I am doing something healthy for my body, pushing it further than I thought I could, and thinking about how far I have come.  It is a cool feeling.

Not to mention the fact that it completely clears my mind.  All I can think about is pushing myself.  It is the most relaxing thing I have ever done for myself.

I am glad I have found something that I can use to make me feel this way!

slowly but surely

Hello, loves!  I am procrastinating (again) from my papers.  But!  I am making progress on it.  I am a little over halfway done with my lit review for my grant.  There is still a TON to do for this nearly 30 page paper, but I am getting there.  I have to get this paper turned in by Friday at the latest (but hopefully Thursday so that I do not have to make multiple trips to Edwardsville this week).  I also have a 1/3 of my lit review for my thesis due technically on the 8th, but I have to turn it in 2 weeks from today since we will be in Punta Cana on its due date.

It is going to feel so freaking good to get these two papers done and then have a few weeks of LITERALLY NO SCHOOL WORK.  So ready for that.

Along the same lines - 15 days until we leave for paradise!  We are pretty ready.  I pretty much bought a new wardrobe for it (whoops), including awesome dresses, swim suits, and pjs :)  We also got some new tervis tumblers b/c reviews recommend you bring your own cups (for bigger drinks!...yes, please!)

Hopefully we will be deciding on some excursions this week.  So fun!

OK-back to the grind :(

suck. it. up. (buttercup)

I am incredibly lazy sometimes.  Honestly.  How did I survive high school and undergrad? (With really good grades?!) And why did I think going back to school would be a good idea?!

Don't get me wrong - I am glad I am doing it.  I will have a more fulfilling career.  Blah Blah Blah.

But school sucks.  And I have zero motivation to do what I need to do.  By the time we leave for our honeymoon (in 20 days!  woot!), I need to write nearly 60 pages.  So here I am.  Writing.  On my blog. ... Helpful, I know.

I need a swift kick in the butt.  I need to just sit down and freaking do my research, and write the dang papers.  I will be happy when I start making progress.  I just need to get rolling.  That's the plan for the rest of the day.  DO SOMETHING RELATED TO SCHOOL! 

- read at least 5 articles, and take notes
- develop an outline
- organize the articles into their correct position for the paper

OK - hopefully now that I have whined about it (again), I can just suck it up and do it!

Welcome to the world, beautiful Brenna!

I am an aunt again!  Yesterday, at 5:42pm, a beautiful, 9lb 4oz, 21.5in long, baby girl joined the world!  She is absolutely perfect!

Brenna Claire Donovan - precious girl!

We were all anxiously awaiting her birth, as her mama, my SIL was induced at 6am.  Since we live 2 hours away, with puppies, we tried to time it right.  We got to Athens (where my bro and SIL live) to drop off some frozen dinners I had made them, a little after 5.  Dan and I then stopped for dinner, and headed to the hospital in Springfield.  At 6:30, we heard the chimes, indicating she was HERE!  Turns out the chimes were 45min late, but at the time, we didn't know that!  And we celebrated!  And it was EXCITING!  Justin came out a little after that, gave Aidan a huge hug, and let us know all the details!

Since they decided at 4pm that I c-section would be the best option, Lauren and Brenna were recovering until about 7:30, when Aidan got to go back to meet her big sister.  The rest of us got to see her a little before 8.  Let's just say, I have never seen Aidan smile that big in her entire life!  And she is a happy freaking kid!  It melted my heart to see her holding, smiling at, and kissing her little sister.

proud big sister

Brenna is lucky to have such a loving big sis -
Aidan will take such good care of her!

Then we naturally passed Brenna around like a hot potato.  She had a TON of people that couldn't wait to meet her.  (And there are even more still waiting to meet her.)  Brenna is already incredibly loved.  She is in for a lifetime of spoiling.  Sorry mom and dad ;)

First snuggles with Aunt Trisha/Moo/whatever she wants to call me ;)

Uncle Dan

proud daddy

kisses for my girl :)

hi,  Uncle Joshy!

It was beautiful to see Lauren, Justin, and Aidan crowding around this new life they brought into this world.  They are such a happy, adorable family, and I am grateful they have been blessed with this gift.  I am also grateful that they are sharing the gift with us.  There is nothing better than being an aunt!  (I am sure one day being a mom will also be pretty awesome ;) but for now, Aunt Trisha is my FAVORITE title).

Brenna and mommy

happy family!

Can't wait to see her sweet face and here her adorable coos again soon!

one-monthiversary!

Hello, hello!  It is July 2nd, which means I somehow managed to survive the insanity that was June!  June 1 - married, June 8 - Brenna's baby shower, June 9 - registry completion event, June 15 - Melissa's bachelorette party, June 23 - Dan's birthday and his cousin's wedding, June 29 - MELISSA'S WEDDING!  (all of June = way too much school crap).  So yeah...it was ALL lovely stuff, but this girl can't wait to catch up on some sleep this week...and I am pretty sure my Jeep needs some rest, too!

Quick recap of Melissa's wedding - it was LOVELY!  She did so many little DIY touches, and she did a fabulous job.  The decor was AMAZING, she looked beautiful, she was probably the most calm bride that has ever existed, the ceremony was sweet, and the par-tay was so much fun!  I have known Melissa for a long time, and I am so grateful I was there with her to share that day.  She deserves all the happiness in the world, and I know Mark is going to always do everything in his power to make that happen.  As a sad side-note -- saying bye to her was hard.  Melissa is moving to South Dakota, where Mark is stationed.  I have plans to go see her ASAP, but it's still hard when you just don't know when that will actually happen.  Time to start saving my pennies!  (as soon as this honeymoon is paid for!  oh yes, I'll get to that!)

Yesterday was July 1 - aka our one-monthiversary!  I am pretty much the coolest wife ever, so I got Dan an anniversary card (that I had to touch up to fit the occasion) and some champagne.  I also pulled out our wedding flutes...may as well get some use out of those things!  He was surprised, and I think it was a cute way to recap our first month as husband and wife.  It is my intention to do this each month this year, and compile the cards for him as part of his "paper" gift on our first anniversary.  

I am so cute/thoughtful!

After Dan got home, we worked together to make a scrumptious dinner.  He grilled out (and made his own tater tots...) while I made potatoes and veggies.  We even cleaned off our dining room table so we could eat a civilized dinner.  It was a good change of pace, that we definitely need to keep up!

Yum-o!

I also put together all of our wedding cards yesterday.  The single hole punch may have gotten a little beat up going through super thick cards, but I am happy with the result!  It was fun to look through the cards again as I put it together, and it will be nice to have this as a keep-sake.

Now about this honeymoon business - WE ARE OFFICIALLY GOING ON A HONEYMOON!  I am pretty sure I have never been this excited about a vacation -ever!  We will be flying out of BloNo on July 29th, with a layover in Dallas prior to heading to Miami, where we will spend the night (...) before heading to PUNTA CANA super early on the 30th!  Woot woot!  Our flight back to the states leaves early on the 8th, so that means we have 9 nights in paradise!  I am loving looking up excursion ideas.  Hopefully I can convince Dan that splurging to swim with dolphins is completely worth it!  

Brenna will be here this weekend!