Photo of the day: youth group

Alex and I are youth leaders at our church for high school students. We grew up with some amazing leaders and hope to be a fraction as good as they were. We love our students and love getting to be a part of their lives. We love getting to talk with them, pray for them and hangout with them. It may seem cliché but I'm pretty sure we get as much or more out of it than they do. 

Photo of the day: baking

Alex's birthday was yesterday and we celebrated....by running 13.1 miles. On Friday at our murder mystery party, I made apple crisp for dessert. Alex got a candle and of course we sang Happy Birthday. I know that this isn't technically a photo from this day, but it's a photo and I baked something.

The recipe can be found here.

Photo of the day: half marathon medals

Today is the day! We've trained, sweated and worked very hard to be ready for the St. Louis Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon! Yesterday we went to the health expo to pick up our packets, t shirt's and to get some general information about the race. When we got home, we got our clothes and shoes all ready and after a very exciting Cardinals game, we went to bed.

I set four alarms to wake up at around 4:15 am to give us plenty of time to get up, dressed and ready. I also set an alarm at 5 am so we could leave in plenty of time (they were going to begin shutting down the roads at about 6 am).  Unfortunately, I have developed a habit to snooze my alarms quickly,so Alex doesn't wake up....today was no exception. When the 5 o'clock "leave" alarm went off, we both sat up straight and began racing around to get ready to leave.

We made it downtown just fine, parked and walked to our corral to stand in the cold until race time.

When the race started,  it was crowded....I don't know why I thought it wouldn't be, but it was very congested. In an effort to get around the walkers and slowpokes, we set our pace quick....too quick to sustain for 13.1 miles. We ran the first 9 miles at about a 9:30 ish (I know it's not fast to everyone but it is for Alex and I). Somewhere between 9 and 10 miles my calves turned into rocks and Alex hit a wall. The last few miles were slower than we were anticipating, but we've learned our lesson for next time.

 We I had a great time and I can't wait to register for our next race. Alex is currently looking into the expense of a scooter, he's a bit sore to say the least. But, we made it across the finish line together in 2 hours and 35 minutes. I'm very proud of the Birthday Boy! He did great and stuck with me the whole way. Running was never something that Alex would describe as fun, but he trained hard, was determined and rocked the Rock 'n Roll!

We did it and have the medals to prove it! 

Whodunnit?!

Who doesn't love a good murder mystery?! Last year Alex and I went to the Lemp Mansion for a murder mystery dinner theater and we had a great time. So good in fact, that we decided we could host our own party! We set the tone of the party with invitations requesting "a meeting of the suspects in the conservatory," in full character to boot!

We cleared out our living room, brought in an extra dining table and chairs. Alex wrote the plot and set up the murder and I cooked a fabulous meal: salad, pork loin, green beans, dinner rolls and followed with a tasty dessert of apple crisp and ice cream. 

First, our suspects include (from left to right): 

Ms. Peacock and Colonel Mustard (aka Emily and Lee), Professor Plum (aka Alaina), Mr. Green, Ms. Scarlet and baby Scarlet (aka Kyle, Lori and baby Anna), Mr. and Mrs. White (aka David and Maggie) and last but not least the Butler and Maid (yours truly).    

Alex wrote our mystery and incorporated a little drama, love triangle, comedy and of course a (completely fictitious) murder. Captain Black was murdered at the Williams' Estate. Alex wrote the story so each of us would read our background of who we were, how we were related to the Captain and give details of how the murder occurred. He also added some "rules" that we were to keep to ourselves. For instance, anytime Mrs. White would speak, I would look at her disgustedly and tell her to be quiet. Mr. White was to flirt with all the women in the room, except his wife. Colonel Mustard was to give everyone off the wall advice with no truth or validity...etc. We read our backgrounds between courses to spread the game out so we could narrow in on the real suspect. Everyone stuck to their rules/roles and did a fantastic job. It was hilarious and very fun! I believe this may become an annual event! 

But, back to the drama...whodunnit?! and how?! and where?!  It would be easy to think that it was Ms. Scarlet, the soon to be ex-wife with the most to gain, or the Maid who loved him. It could be Mr. Green, who wasn't very fond of his personality. But, you would all be wrong. It was the quiet and oh, so jealous Mrs. White (married to the not so quiet, very flirtatious Mr. White) in the guest bedroom with a wrench! You see, the Maid and Mrs. White both loved Captain Black, but Mrs. White couldn't handle the love triangle any longer and took matters into her own hands....

Doesn't she just look guilty? I'll leave you with some candid's of dinner. We had a great time and are looking forward to the next party!