busy, busy, busy... sort of

Thought I'd post an update on what we're up to down here in MO...

I'm "done" with my thesis and waiting to get proofs back from the Graduate College so that I can print the final version and submit it to be bound. In the mean time, I've been working part-time for the school to bring some more cash into the house. The rest of the semester will be working on a manuscript for submission to a peer-reviewed journal.

Atalie has been training for her half marathon coming up in a few weeks. She has slacked off a little, but now it's crunch time (as if you can cram for a half marathon). She's up to ~10 miles as of right now (yay!) so she'll probably be ok on race day.

As some of you know, I'm addicted to a new drug: rock climbing. The past two Saturdays we took day trips down to Arkansas so that I might get my fix...

Trick or treat!

We started Halloween with something a little different this year... a 10K race! My friend Jackie and I are training for a half marathon in December, and part of the training includes running in a smaller race or two. The weather was beautiful and the atmosphere was very encouraging, so the 6.2 miles felt better to run than any of my exercise sessions have been yet, despite more uphill areas than I expected or prepared for. I'm not speedy but I jogged the whole way, and with more topography than I'm used to, I suppose my 1:07:10 time wasn't too bad. After the race, Patrick & I were busy decorating, cooking and cleaning all day for a little party we hosted that night. Our place had great ambiance, the food was delicious, and there were some creative costumes! The weekend was tiring, but overall very enjoyable. :) Take a look!

Meeting at Pat & Jackie's before the race. It was a chilly morning when I put my number on, but later I got warm and had to unpin and repin it to my shirt w/o stabbing myself while running, since I wanted to take off my jacket!

Patrick got this picture of the crowd gathered at the starting line in front of the store. We're about ready to take off!

I'm almost finished! Patrick & our buddies were cheering me on!

Our decor included jack-o-lanterns! Here's Patrick's- it didn't feel so well and had a bit of an accident on our cupboard.

Mine is a bat that looks a little like an owl.

Isn't Jackie's costume awesome?! :) She made it herself! Pat is Sam Adams (he made the vest on his own). To their left are our friends Ben & Scott.

It looked really funny seeing the two of them kiss though!

Derek made a great Captain Ahab, and Erin made a cute Moby Dick when she flipped her fins around. :)


You can see more of Pat's costume in this photo, which looks really good. And Patrick dressed up as his German grandpa- some of his pieces were authentic! (I think he looks quite cute. hehe!) He even had an Oktoberfest mug from Germany he broke out later.

I raided my closet and dressed as frumpish as possible. I think it worked! haha! Notice the lipstick on my teeth and smeared on my face- my friends seemed to like that small touch- and the Happy Valentine's day button. If I had turned around, you'd see the granny panties sticking up out of my pants.

October Rock Climbing at Horshoe Canyon Ranch

A few weeks ago was Missouri State University's fall break; so with the 4 day weekend, Patrick & our friends decided to go for an extended rock climbing trip. They left on a Wednesday night (the 14th), climbed all day Thursday & Friday, and I joined up with them after work for the rest of the weekend. After a full day of climbing on Saturday, I wasn't sure how they held out for so long, because even that was tiring & challenging. However, it was a good time & we all saw improvement in our performances, so that must have been what fueled them!

Patrick is already past the overhang, and nearly to the top to finish setting up the route!

At Horseshoe Canyon, somebody has to climb up first to set up the anchors/rope/etc.. Here I am, about to clip into a bolt on my first route lead-climbing!

Patrick and Jackie climbed routes next to each other so she was able to get this awesome picture of him with an autumn view in the background.

Patrick climbed a route ahead of me and waited at the top so he could make sure I set up the anchors properly and could get a new perspective caught on camera.

The view was a fabulous reward for making it to the top of a route.

When we got back from climbing on Saturday, I found this guy waiting for me on my sleeping bag in the tent! (shudder) I'm not looking for another roommate, so I promptly escorted him out!