a chipotle burrito and tank of gas.

wow.....been only like a 1,000 years since I've posted. so sorry! not sure anyone even read this anymore since I am so lame. there is SO much to catch up on and I think that's why I have put it off for so long because I don't even know where to start! So I am going to attempt to catch you up on some of the epic and important events of 2011 before we move to far into the new year....attempt is the key word here.

Tdub headed back to the states (Little Rock, AR) in early Sept for a 2 month training to become an instructor pilot for the C-130. Aaron, my little but bigger brother was engaged and his wedding date was October 29th. So i Space A-ed my way to the USA and arrived in Texas mid-October. I got to spend about a week and a half helping prepare for the wedding and getting to know and hang my new sister-in-law (who I am in love with) and bro. It was a sweet time, we met up with the 'rents at the lake house for a last weekend of fun in the sun before it got too cold, and then back to Houston for the wedding bells!! Aaron and Marianne's wedding was perfect, so God honoring and a beautiful, fun celebration! They are a beautiful couple inside and out and Tdub and I were so honored and blessed to have been asked to stand beside them on their wedding day and in life. Here's some pics...

morning of the wedding we had a brunch for all of our out of towner family at Aaron's sweet pad:

Baby Bro getting ready for the big day...

Momma putting on the bow tie...little boy all grown up.

proud big sister. :)

my beautiful new sister!

Tdub headed back to The Rock while I headed back to Midland for a week and a half to hang out with mom and dad, catch up with some old friends, get some R&R and eat a lot of Chick-fil-A!! I rented a car and headed to the hill country to make the rounds in Kerrville, Boerne, and SA. It was wonderful but not long enough. Feel like I just barely got to scrape the surface catching up with people and definitely didn't get to see everyone I wanted too! (Sorry, if I didn't get to see you!)

We own a rent house in San Antonio and have this 5 bedroom house fully furnished for single AF guys to live in while they are going thru training in SA. We have needed to un-furnish it for a while now so we could rent it out to a family, but the whole living two oceans away was a small problem in that plan. We knew it had to be done this trip back to the states, one of those things you know needs to happen, but want to pretend doesn't exist. :) Weeelll, Tdub got done with his training mid-Nov and headed to San Antonio to help me and my sweet parents (huge shout out and thank you...there is NO way we two could have done it without them!) that came and slaved away to help us have a HUGE furniture sale (we are talking 8 TVs, 5 desks, 4 couches, 2 dinning room tables, 8 dressers, 5 beds, etc...) and un-furnish the house, clean it and get it ready to rent. a two day sell and few postings we sold everything!! and an added bonus...one of the families that stopped to look at the sale ended up renting it from us, so we never even had to put it on the market! yay! really thanking the Lord for that one!!

this is me placed and I do mean strategically placed into the car with boxes on top of me leaving the rent house in our cram packed rental car. it has to be unsafe to fit that much stuff in a moving vehicle.

We then headed back to the Schrank's lake house to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with my side of the fam. It was a sweet weekend full of too much food, playing Settlers of Catan, jet skiing and boat riding (guess this was the last time on the lake before it got too cold :), drinking coffee on the porch and just being together.

'merica...

T-dubs magic...

proud alumni...(if we are home our flag gets flown, first time ever all 4 were flown! thanks, momma!)

The Schrank-mans.

We said goodbye to Texas and the people we love there and headed to Colorado with the Chapman's to do round 2 of Thanksgiving...not the smartest choice for the hips and booty, but worth it for the family love!

We were reunited with all of T's brothers and sisters (he is the oldest of 8 kids plus two of us daughters-in-law), his Mom and sweet Grandmother I had never met before! This was the first time we were all together since our wedding 2 1/2 years ago! SO fun and sweet to all be together. It is no small or quiet function when the Chaps get together. We played the first offical "Chapsgiving Games" where the events ranged from a potato chuck to paper, rock, scissors, to a yell off. Tdub got 1st place in the games...guess he felt the need to defend his title as the first born and oldest of the kids since he is not the biggest/tallest any longer. ;) We spent a little over a week in Colorado Springs, hanging out, laughing, hiking, and shopping and eating more Chick-fil-A and Chipotle.

sweet G-ma.

T doing his magic once again.

Chapsgiving games:
Potato chuck...

drawing on our heads...

the great scream-boli...

paper, rock, scissors...

#1 and #2...in birth and in games.

closing ceremonies...you can't make this stuff up.

'da champ.

T very reluctantly fulfilling his Grandma's one Thanksgiving wish...to play the violin for her. it was truly a Thanksgiving miracle.

this is why we can't have nice things. keepin' it classy. (I have thrown away all his pearl snap shirts so he can no longer rip his shirts open in 2 seconds.)

she kept us laughing the whole week. oh golly!

wanna-be hipsters.

There was a rather large damper to the end of our trip...we went hiking for a couple hours with two of T's brothers. I had put my purse in the trunk of our car to "hide it". Now let me pause and say I had been traveling for a good 5 wks by this point and ladies you know what happens when you travel...your purse isn't so much a purse as a small suitcase that becomes a catch all for anything and everything you may need while traveling...well this was the state of my "purse."

this is me before the hike:

this is me during the hike:

We came back to our car after being on the hike for about 2 hours and popped the trunk to retrieve my purse and it was no where to be found. *stomach drops here* look again...yeah...still no where to be found. *blood rushing, panicked face, maybe a few small cuss words here* mind starts racing...ok what all was in my purse...uhhh, ipod, ipod nano, iphone (let's hope the robbers like Apple products), headphones, sunglasses, handmade leather wallet from China, scarf T got me from Nepal, cash money, American and Japanese drivers license, credit/debit cards, my military ID and the list goes on and on and on...ugh. From the same parking lot, same time frame there was a car stolen also, they believe the snatchers were hiding in the bushes and watching people leave for their hike and then went in for the kill. The police came out and filed a report, he said they would probably take the valuables and drop the purse so that is all we would get back...I'm thinking Mr. Policeman, no offense, but pretty sure they ain't gonna drop my super cute red leather purse with a huge flower on it. I don't care who you are, it's cute. :)

this is me after the hike:

After feeling sorry for myself and sick to my stomach I was able to give thanks and see some perspective that it is just "stuff" that was stolen. We were not harmed or hurt and the only thing that was not in my purse that was of importance was my passport. Definitely thanking the Lord that it was in my suitcase or I would still be sitting in the US waiting for a passport to be printed. The worst part is just having to replace everything, it takes a long time. We make a jokes about it now, Tdub will ask, "have you seen the camera case?" oh, yeah, it was stolen. Where's our full Subway stamp card? oh, yeah, it was stolen too... I'm sure we will continue to discover what is missing for a long while, but trying to keep the perspective that I can be sad, and feel violated and miss my super cute red purse with a flower on it but the bigger picture is it is just stuff. Praying that this is used in their life for good, somehow. Maybe just that they could see that this was a person with a life that they took a part of and not just a purse they stole. Just wish if they had really wanted that Chipotle burrito and tank of gas that bad they would have just asked.

72 kilometers.

4 1/2 months of training. gallons of water. tons of snicker bars, bananas, whole wheat bagels with peanut butter and honey, glasses of chocolate milk, and glucose chips. 2 pairs of tennis shoes. one 9.0 earthquake. new socks, sportsbras and running tights. hurting hips. sore muscles. many days-o-ponytails.

one day. 45 miles. 2 cheerleaders. 1 cowbell. 3 lakes. one mt. fuji. one finish line. one happy girl.

I'm proud to announce I'm an Ultra Marathoner. my first and quite possibly my last, but I will forever be able to call myself an "Ultra Marathoner"...it just takes one right? 

Training for and completely this race was a goal I set for myself back in November. I had no clue the time and discipline it would actually require. I learned so much about myself, what I can do and am capable of. It was a spiritual experience for me and drew me closer to my Creator and God, enjoying His nature and beauty and relying on Him to push me through. I found out that I am a runner. I found that I can run much farther than I think I can. I found that I can survive for 35 miles running without needing music. I found out that having support encouragement and love from your loved ones is the thing that makes it possible to keep going. I found out that if all you eat for 10:30 hours is snickers and bananas you may never eat them again. I found out what it felt like to be the minority (only 5 other foreigners that I saw, and I came with them) in another country, with a language you don't understand, and feel overwhelmingly encouraged and somehow feel like you belong here. I found out that my new sports bra and new socks are clutch...no blisters! I found out what it felt like to be at the end of myself and have to rely on something bigger than myself. I found out what it feels like to start running and finish running across the same line 10 1/2 hours later.

This race for me was...Epic. Wonderful. Hard. Emotional. Beautiful. Sweaty. and so very Sweet. You have no clue what to expect or how to gauge what this will be like or how to pace yourself or what you'll need for reserve, or if you'll make it back to this start/finish line later that day.

The first 30k and last 10k were the hardest for me. At the beginning it seems overwhelming and all you can think about it is how far you will be running. reality sets in. At the end it seems so close, yet so far away (especially when you're last 5k is straight uphill...who designed that race anyways?!). For me the best part of the race and most enjoyable part was about 40k-60k (25-38 miles). I hit my groove and great pace, looked down at my garmin and was running like 9 minute miles. I couldn't believe it.

My precious mother had come to Japan only 2 days before my race so she could be there to support me and cheer me on. So she and Tdub drove to Mt. Fuji area early that morning and found me at about the half marathon mark. We were just running on the side of the road so they were able to drive and follow me the whole rest of the race. I got to see them about 7-8 times along the course and honestly that was kept me chugging, knowing that they would be around the next bend, with cowbell in hand, smiling faces and cameras clicking to cheer me on.

I quickly realized that mom had not just come to Japan to encourage me, but rather all the Japanese runners as well. She was ringing her bell, waving, yelling in English her words of encouragement. And they LOVED her. Japanese people are very private/quiet people and even if they yell and cheer (except at baseball games) it is no competition to a Schrank/Chapman octave. so at first I personally was a little worried if it would annoy them or make them nervous. Even though they most likely couldn't understand her English words they were so appreciative and would wave back and thank her and Tdub for cheering them on.

T and Mom came up with nicknames for some of the runners because they saw them running in my pack for most of the day. My mom would not quit ringing her bell or leave a spot until there was a break in the runners because she "didn't want anyone to feel left out" if they stopped cheering while runners were coming by. That accurately defines my mom's spirit and character. She is a cheerleader and fan of all people. She loves and supports and encourages well. She was so popular with the Japanese peeps, a man at the finish line told her in his little English that her bell is what kept him going and it made him very happy. He requested to have his picture taken with her.

 Mom and Tdub were well known along that course that day. Maybe for their bell, maybe for their English, maybe because they were the only white people out there cheering. But I think more than that...they were known for the love they gave to perfect strangers in a country that is still hurting from March 11th and needed a friendly smile and a bit of encouragement. I was encouraged that day by the both of them, more than they will probably ever know, and I am confident I was not the only one.

At Marathon Distance...stopping for a little lunch with the fans...
Sea Salt Kettle Chips - lunch for champions!

Back on the road again...19 to go...

some of the costumed friends that T and Mom made friends with. :)

"pray for Japanda" clever, panda man.

have NO clue how this guy ran in this the whole way! I would like to mention, I beat him and his lighted wings across the finish line! ha! 

run your buns off!

i'll meet ya at the finish line.

she's always been my #1 cheerleader and fan.  i love you, momma. thanks for your continued love and support, couldn't have done this without you. promise.

it may seem that i am saying a cuss word here. i was delirious. i may have been. :)

exactly how i felt.

two of my favorites. thanks for ringing loud, yelling big and loving me. you should hire yourself out.

proof there was a mt. fuji involved.

to be honest, the medal made it worth it. bling! bling! 

thanks, T for believing in me. your love and encouragement and kicking me out of bed to go run over the past 5 months has kept me going!

I am thankful for water. I am thankful for tennis shoes. I am thankful for legs and strong bones.  I am thankful for sweatbands. I am thankful for family. I am thankful for cow bells. I am thankful for medals in the shape of Mt. Fuji with little pieces of faux bling on them. I am thankful to the Lord for the ability to run and the strength He gives to finish strong. He gets the points for this one.

Heb 12:1-2 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith."

As I reflect on the race and what I was feeling and thinking during the race it all seems a blur. But something that I have come to realize is that the same place I started the race was the very place I finished the race 10 1/2 hours later. I ran 45 miles in between touching that line again. I didn't end up in a different place. Now, that is just the way the race was set up, and it was great, I get it. But it causes me to think about how we "run around" through life. I don't want to be running around in circles hitting the same line over and over again. I want to end somewhere different. some place new. somewhere I'm changed. Somewhere I've made a difference. I don't want to just "run through" life, but be intentional with my direction and have purpose in my "running". I think it would be a shame for us to finish where we started, just running around aimlessly. I hope I will learn to "run" with purpose. I want to finish somewhere different.

May we be known for, the love we give away. It can come in many different forms, sometimes even in the form of a small ringing bell, a little wave and a sweet smile. The great thing is...love is bilingual.

 

word.