Officially Official - The Disney Half

There is no turning back now. Registering just made it a lot more real. I'm officially out of the "thinking" stage and into the "registered" stage. Disney Half Marathon, here I come.

Ok, so during the registration process, there were a few things that stuck out to me. First of all, I took WAY too much time trying to decide what size shirt I needed. I realize I may have taken it a bit far when I was measuring my favorite t-shirts and comparing size measurements, but if I'm doing this thing, the t-shirt sure as heck better fit. Thus, I am happy to tell all of you who may be a little self conscious about your clothing size, that a girl who wears an x-small can be just as out of shape as one who wears an XXL.

Second, I couldn't bring myself to read the waver. I didn't want to know the risks of running 13.1 miles. I already know it's going to be painful.

Third, during registration they ask what county you are from. For the first time ever I had to select the "not from Florida" option. I love Colorado, but to be honest it caused some serious physical pain to check that box. I kept looking for a comment box in which I could further explain. I really am FROM Florida, I just don't live there right now.  

Fourth, I bet you were all wondering what online registration company Disney used for the event? Or maybe the geekdom of working in IT is just starting to rub off on me. Either way, Disney uses RegOnline, the same online registration company we use at work. I setup events with RegOnline almost every day. I'm even going to get a little cocky here and say the event registration setups I have created are a little more user friendly than Disney's marathon registration. So to whoever setup the online registration, I have some pointers for you.

Finally, and most terrifying about the whole thing...after reading through some of the information, I noticed a small little fact that I managed to gloss over during the "thinking" phase of this whole half marathon decision. Apparently if you do not maintain an average 16 minute mile throughout the race, then a kind Disney employee takes the liberty of picking you up in a golf cart and driving you to the finish line. I think I might have nightmares about a mouse chasing me in a golf cart. How embarrassing to be driven to the finish line. This can NOT happen, under any circumstance. They are going to have to physically tie me up and throw be into the car kicking and screaming. I realize I could probably walk the whole thing backward and probably finish in less than 16 minutes per mile, but still, it's the fear that keeps me running when all I want to do is stop and walk.

I'm still working out the details of my training plan, but I have a rough idea of my plan of action. Here we go. I'm really doing this. 

Hats, Pearls, Tea and Me

My friend Tara is pregnant with their third child, a baby girl! Since I moved to Colorado there has been no shortage of baby showers in my group of friends. In fact, it's practically becoming routine.

Usually these are pretty low key and sometimes they are even joint showers because we really do have that many babies to welcome into the world. This one though, well, my friends went all out. This shower was an early afternoon tea on a friend's back porch. The required attire included summer dresses, pearls and hats. Yes, I said hats. I'm telling you, the things I do for my friends.

I don't know why, but I think everyone honestly expected me to show up in jeans. Although I will argue my way into wearing jeans and a t-shirt for any and every occasion, if we're going to do this whole themed shower thing, then we are really going to do it. Go big or go home, although I drew my line in the sand at the idea of wearing gloves. I had a few options for summer dresses and pearls so that wasn't the problem. The hat however, well, that was another story. I spent hours at multiple stores and found nothing. I was telling a friend about my frustration and then my friend's mom piped up and said she had plenty of hats I could borrow. The next thing I knew she had a hat box in her hand and was laying out hat after hat on the counter. What a life saver!

Hat, gift and my infamous truffles in hand (yes, I have a truffle recipe that is in high demand at almost every social function), I arrived at the shower. Even though it probably goes without saying that tea parties and doilies are not my thing, being surrounded by those sweet ladies certainly is my thing.

Tara, me and Kacy

Kacy, Tara, Amber, me, and a dress malfunction that made me look 4 months pregnant

And what do you know? I even won the prize for best hat at the party. There were plenty of hats much cuter than mine, so the win probably had more to do with the fact that everyone was so shocked I actually wore a hat, but a win is a win.

me and my award winning hat

Congratulations Tara! I can't wait to welcome your new baby girl into our church family...and by "welcome" I mean shake her little hand because holding babies younger than six months old (when they start to look like actual people and not breakable dolls) totally freaks me out.

A Little Piece of Heaven

This time last week I was sitting around a dining room table at someone's house I had known all of 45 minutes eating barbecue and talking about the Lord. How did I get here? Well, because sometimes God likes to bless you just because he loves you.

A little over a year ago I spent five days at Covenant College visiting/helping with a Student Life camp. That week I met Daniel. Daniel was born and raised in poverty in the slums of Kenya, but thanks to God's grace and Compassion International, today he has a college degree and a bright future.

Even though we only spent five days together, Daniel and I bonded pretty quickly and continued to keep in touch over the past year. Well, low and behold Daniel ended up in Colorado Springs last week. He was accepting a scholarship from Compassion to continue his education with a Master's degree and then heading to Chicago to start classes at Moody Bible Institute.

Daniel told his host home about me and they insisted I come to dinner. Their house was only 15 minutes away from mine. Seriously, what are the chances? During dinner I not only got to know Daniel's host family, but three other Compassion scholarship recipients (another one from Kenya, one from Haiti, and one from Uganda).

All of these young adults have been through more pain than I could even imagine. Their stories are so compelling it's impossible to walk away from them the same, and yet, there was so much laughter around that table.

Daniel told the other Kenyan (Antonie) that I knew some Swahili phrases and games. His face lit up when I started singing along with him and he was so impressed at how much I knew (side note, Hakuna Matata really DOES mean no worries in Swahili). Really this is thanks to my friend James. When I worked for Student Life, James was the Compassion representative on my team in 2009 (the Daniel of my team, if you will). Gosh I love that guy and am so blessed to call him my friend.

me and my friend James

It turns out, Kenyan's in general can't handle spicy foods. It wasn't just James. I couldn't help but laugh to myself as the host families were comparing notes and discussing what foods the Kenyans liked, tolerated and hated. I feel like if I knew these sweet families about two weeks ago I could have helped them out a little. I mean we had to learn the hard way with James too. You can't exactly take a Kenyan to Chipotle and expect them to walk up to the counter and order something.

Anyway, back to the dinner...Antonie was also excited to talk to me about my job. He is a product of the Navigator topical memory system and in Kenya it was Navigator curriculum that helped him to develop his faith. He couldn't wait to tell me that he knows everyone in The Navigator's Kenya office, which is hysterical because I know a few people there too. I've never met them in person, but because of the way donations are processed, when I worked in the Accounting Process Center, I had to email a few people at the Kenya office almost every week. I never had the privilege to meet them in person, but we've developed a great relationship via email. How crazy. Antonie and I have mutual friends in Kenya.

So for those of you who may be wondering...what was Daniel's favorite thing in Colorado Springs? The mountains? Garden of the Gods? The weather? Nope...it was the water slide at Villa Sport - the gym I did not join.

That night, as we stood in the kitchen all holding hands, we prayed for the meal. But it was unlike any prayer I've ever experienced. Everyone took turns praying over the meal and each other in their native language. I have no idea what was said, but I can tell you it was powerful. I couldn't help but to think this might just be what Heaven is like...and not just because of the amazing chocolate cake we had for dessert.