Quality time.

Of course another week has flown by and here I am, trying to remember everything I want to post! Probably not so much about running... and more about pictures and fun. Sure why not!

First of all, I have super exciting news.... I met my fundraising goal!!!! As most of you probably know, I'm doing the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll with Team in Training and set out to raise $3,600. Right now... my page says $3,614.76 with more donations to be added soon! WOOOOO!! I am just so amazed, touched, speechless, happy, and excited by this. Thank you SOOO much to everyone who helped make this happen. You are all amazing.

Sheesh. I could go on forever about how excited and thankful I am.

Now onto the quick running part of this post... 10k River Run. With 16 miles on the schedule for Saturday a 10k obviously wasn't going to cut it, so Madison and I met up with Hannah and Yvette for 10 miles then headed off to finish our training run at the River Run. I just love the atmosphere of races. Everyone cheering for everyone, people taking fun pictures, the excitement of crossing the finish line and getting a medal... love it!

After the race, we ran into our friends Nickki and Janelle and of course had to pose for a quick pic with our medals! Madison and I finished in 1:02:47. Not our best time, but considering our 10 miles before... I'm okay with it! Especially since the 10k River Run was not the race I'm training for... Seattle here I come!!

Saturday night, my friend Kari talked me in to going out with her and some other ladies. Okay, maybe she didn't have to talk me into it that much... I was definitely ready for a night out on the town with the girls. Clear my head before cramming all week for finals.

Us girls about to go downtown and start a riot.

Then of course Sunday was Mother's Day so I headed to Sedgwick to spend some time and cook dinner with the family. Pretty flowers for a pretty mom...

She was SO surprised!

At the beginning of the year, I set my vacation for this entire week... to study for finals. I did this last semester and it helped a ton. Kept my stress down, had plenty of time to study, to rest, to think. Well, my vacation got approved... but studying for finals? Ummm...not so much. My closet was in dire need of summer clothes, other clothes, summer shoes, other shoes, summer purses, other purses, ha you get the point.. basically everything. So I had this grand idea that I wanted to take a shopping trip to Kansas City. I loooove shopping in Kansas City, beats the heck out of shopping in Wichita. But when would I do this? What better week than finals week?! So.. long story short... I talked my mom into going with me! Oh my golly... we had a blast!

We set out Tuesday morning at about 7am (after an early morning workout of course, can't miss those runs!). I love road trips. Jammin out to music... pretending that I can sing.

We arrived just as there stores were opening, ready to do some damage!
First mall... check! Legends was definitely a success! Woot!

After Legends, we ventured over the the Plaza... which was another success! Beautiful day for Plaza shopping.

By the end of day one of shopping, we were exhausted! We ate dinner then headed to the hotel and basically crashed right away... had another full day of shopping adventures ahead of us.

Wednesday morning, I woke up and ran a quick 4 miles at the hotel workout facility. A "quick 4 miles" was actually a grueling, overheated longest 4 miles ever. The workout room did not have a fan! No air flow whatsoever! I had plans do to 6 miles, but thought I was going to pass out of heat exhaustion so decided to call it quits at 4. I'm actually really proud of myself for waking myself up and trucking out those 4 miles. I remember back in the club volleyball days... I went to a tournament in Texas with my coach, she got up and went for a run in the morning and I thought she was absolutely nuts. And now there I was, doing the same thing.

Anyway, after we got ready we actually headed back the the Plaza... I just had to get this shirt that I couldn't stop thinking about. After a quick stop there, we stopped at this place...

The coolest coffee shop ever! I've seen this place a few times but never had a chance to stop. I'm a sucker for cute little coffee shops. Wish we had more in Wichita.Look at the middle of the menu. French Press coffee??! No way!! I was JUST talking about how I wanted to try French Press coffee a few days before. So excited! The verdict? Amazing! Fresh, black, and delicious.

After enjoying my wonderful coffee, we headed to our last destination... The Oak Park Mall. More shopping, more fun, then a long ride home... in a storm.

Was skipping studying for finals to go shopping worth it? Definitely! This is not even a valid question. I had a blast spending time with my mom, got a lot of awesome new things, and I'm really not too stressed about my finals. Actually took one last night and breezed right through it. Only one more to go!! Woot!