Rock'n'Roll Nice 10 Miles du Carnaval: February 2014

Last weekend I had the awesome privilege of road-tripping to southern France with two friends for the sole purpose of running in a race.

We went on a racecation.

Somehow our friend managed to score us free entries to the race, so we decided to see if we could pull off the rest of the trip on a shoestring budget! That meant that even though we could have flown there and back in a few hours, we chose to drive 16 hours roundtrip and pack a cooler with our own food. This was only the second time I've been on a true "road trip" here in Europe and while it does sound exotic and fabulous (which it is), driving on the Autobahn is pretty much exactly like driving on the Ohio Turnpike, except the tolls are WAY more expensive!

I begged Jacob to take us to Milano but he refused...

We got cut off by Italians from BOTH sides while waiting for the toll booth!

The Rock'n'Roll Marathon Series tours big cities in America and Europe hosting marathons, half marathons, and other events. The race we chose was the Rock'n'Roll Nice 10 Miles du Carnaval event, which was just a few miles shy of a half marathon. I'll admit, the thought of training for a midwinter race was rather daunting but thankfully we've had an extremely mild winter so it turned out to be very doable.

Carnaval in Nice (Photo: Megan)

I would do this race every year for the rest of my life if I could - it really was that good. The scenery was amazing (um, hello, ten miles on the coast of the Mediterranean?!), the spectators were encouraging, and the camaraderie among the runners was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. Because of the Carnaval season, there was a costume contest for the runners. Being the amateur that I am, I didn't think that many people would participate. Boy, was I wrong! My friends and I actually looked out of place just for NOT wearing a costume. If you know me at all you know I live for a good costume so you better believe that next time I WILL be in costume, much to the embarrassment of my friends...



Warming up with Zumba (Photo: Jacob)

I didn't think a sumo wrestler would run faster than me ... but these guys did!

Found them.

 Anyway... the atmosphere of this race was incredible. The course was set up in such a way that allowed you to be in the middle of the action no matter how fast or slow you ran. There were about five or six different stages set up along the course where live bands performed, and the majority of the course was a two-way path, meaning there were always people running the opposite direction on the other side. I never felt like I was being left behind even if I was on the slower end.

The finish line was so festive, complete with paparazzi (seriously, there must have been a dozen cameras and not a single one got a flattering shot of my finish, haha) and music and a huge cheering section. In terms of pacing, I didn't have a specific goal, though based on my training runs I expected to finish shortly after two hours. As it turns out, I ran faster than expected and finished in 1:57! This made me really happy because it means a 2:30 half marathon time this summer isn't an unreasonable goal! I met up with Megan and Jacob, we posed for pictures, then took advantage of the bountiful refreshments: bananas, muffins, and water.

On our drive home, we decided to have a little fun and stop in each country for a picture. Yes, each country. Believe it or not, it was a faster drive (by at least an hour or more) to go through Switzerland and Italy than to just drive through France. So, over the course of nine hours we set foot in France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany - if you're counting, that's five countries!

France

Monaco

Italy

Switzerland

Germany

Basically, the race was amazing and I am pumped to run another Rock'n'Roll race this summer. I signed up for Chicago in July, and I also won a free entry to another European race. I'm not sure yet whether that one will work out, but hopefully it will!

25 Days of Christmas Photo Challenge Day 1: Lights

Well, I can't seem to finish anything I start these days! I'm going to give this another go with a daily photo challenge for December. I'm off to a great start, already a day behind!

Day 1: Lights

These are the traditional Christmas lights that can be seen on the main street in my village. I love them!!

Project November Day 10

Day 10: Five guys whom you find attractive

Ok, I have to admit this was a hard one. There are plenty of guys in my own life whom I find attractive for various reasons. Admitting it to them, however, is another story. In an attempt to avoid creating awkwardness for everyone, I'm going to limit this to people I will most likely NEVER meet in real life. Also, note that for each of these guys, physical attractiveness is a given...I'm trying to explain their other, more significant attractive qualities. Go ahead, judge me for writing a post about attractive guys. But before you do, hear me out.

Adam Young

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Based on his tweets and blog posts, he has a very quirky sense of humor that I enjoy greatly. Even though I've been listening to Owl City for years, I still catch something new each time I listen. His natural talent for writing such beautiful poetry is another quality, as well as his deep love for and dependence upon Jesus. I appreciate that he is able to communicate theological truths in a way that even nonbelievers enjoy hearing, and I love that one of his songs is almost always stuck in my head. They make me super happy. If I ever knew Adam Young in person, I think I would enjoy his company very much.

Zachary Levi

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He is one of my favorite TV actors (Chuck!) AND he has an amazing voice. Did you know he did his own vocals for the songs in Tangled? Swoon. Also, I tend to geek out over his nerdy tweets and Facebook posts referencing StarWars and other topics. Perhaps the icing on the cake is that he is a Christian, and openly so in the Hollywood setting. I remember how excited I was when I read this Relevant article and found out! My respect for him grew even more when I read this article, in which he shares a bit of his personal testimony. If Zachary Levi and I ever met, I think I would definitely like to be his friend.

Jordan Taylor

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He, along with his brother Josh and sister-in-law Kelli, is the face of Messy Mondays. Their videos use humor, hyperbole, and alter-egos to drive home a point. He addresses issues such as dating, church culture, and trending controversies.  Jordan's videos are the cheese to my macaroni Mondays. I think we would be great friends.

Ridiculously Photogenic Guy 

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In the middle of running a freaking marathon, he looks like THAT, while I, on the other hand, look like this ...

I think that says it all, folks.

Channing Tatum

That is all.

No seriously, I can't find a decent picture of him because recently he always seems to be half naked, and I'm not about to post that. But allow me to be a female for five seconds and admit that he is definitely attractive. Disclaimer: I prefer him pre-Magic Mike. I'm not thrilled about him becoming a sex object for middle-aged women ... or any women for that matter. Instead, I'd rather remember the uncorrupted version of Channing Tatum, as seen in Step Up, She's the Man, and GI Joe.

Project November Day 9

Day 9: Something you've always wondered "what if" about

For most of my adult life, I've wondered how life would have been different for me had my father not taken an honerable discharge from the United States Air Force when I was five years old. He had already completed two tours to Spain and Saudi Arabia while my mom stayed in Indiana with me and my younger brother. His next assignment was most likely going to be a more permanent station at one of the USAF bases in Germany, and our whole family would have gone with him. Instead, my family moved to Ohio and I lived there until I left for college.

I wonder what my family dynamic would have been like. Would I have chosen the same carreer path? Would my exposure to the missionary community have been the same? What would my spiritual growth and development have looked like?

I wonder if I would have become a military brat, or if I would have enjoyed living overseas as a child. Could I have learned German?

I wonder if I would have met students from Black Forest Academy by competing with them in sports like track and field. Is it possible that I could have even attended BFA myself?

Just a few fun things to think about.

P52 / 20 / libero

Pictures for week 20 come from my trip with the eighth graders to Lugano, Switzerland. Read about our adventures here.

P52 / 20 / libero

P52 / 18 / up

This week Germany celebrated International Worker's Day, also known as May Day. The towns put up tall maypoles with decorations, then guard them all night long so nobody from another town can steal them. This week I inadvertently parked under the maypole a few days after the festivities, and when I looked up through the sunroof of my car, this is what I saw...

P52 / 18 / up

P52 / 14 / break

My first week of spring break went something like this:

P52 / 14 / break

Don't judge me!!

P52 / 13 / work

During the last week of classes before Spring Break, I put my life science students to work dissecting owl pellets! Yummy!!

P52 / 13 / work

P52 / 11 / green

This week I attended my very first St. Patrick's Day party. A couple from BFA hosted a green dinner, at which everything we consumed was green. The evening began with a walk around town where we found shamrocks with St. Patrick trivia written on them. Then, our meal was served in three courses:

• Course 1: Salad, cucumber dressing, broccoli, cucumbers. Pretty normal, until you add in the green cheese (Wasabi gouda! You have to see it to believe it.).
• Course 2: Here's where things start to get weird. Green noodles, Swedish meatballs in green sauce, and homemade sweet rolls with butter, both tinted the most magnificent shade of mint I have ever seen.
• Course 3: Green applesauce, green cottage cheese, and green lemon bars.

The beverage of choice was "pond water" - apfelschorle (bubbly apple juice) tinted green.

It was a fun evening spent with people I don't have the chance to spend nearly enough time with!

P52 / 11 / green

*TMI: I was concerned that there would be awkward ramifications of consuming so much food coloring, but today everything appears to be normal. Just thought you should know. :)



P52 / 10 / excitement

So, this post is almost a week late but that's what happens when life gets busy!

These shots are from our middle school activity day - we loaded the vans and headed off for a morning at the bowling alley. Watching these third culture kids attempt a rather American sport was fun to watch! And for whatever reason, I managed to score a 122 on my first game! Excitement abounded that day.

P52 / 10 / excitement

P52 / 08 / spirit

My friend Katrina hosted a Dominion tournament for her birthday, and when she first announced the party I followed her around announcing that it would also be a costume party. I started rumors on Facebook, telling everyone who RSVP'd to the event that they needed to wear a costume. She laughed, thinking I wasn't serious. I convinced a few others to go in costume with me - after raiding the drama closet we put together costumes representing various action cards: the Schmied (smith), the Dorf (a royal villager), the Jester, and the Hexe (witch). I also brought along Katrina's monk costume, which represented the Kappelle card (the chapel). The ones who didn't think to wear a costume jockingly mocked us, but we know that deep down, they were just jealous of our epic costumes.

I dressed up in costume to play a strategy card game tournament on a Saturday night.

I am officially a nerd.

P52 / 08 / spirit

P52 / 07 / love

This week I received an outpouring of love from friends, colleagues, and parents of my students on Valentine's Day. Here's just a taste of all the goodies!

P52 / 07 / love

P52 / 04 / travel

This weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Hannover, Germany with 9 other BFA staff members to attend the Association of German International Schools educators' conference. We took the train and spent about 7 hours traveling!

P52 / 04 / travel

foody friday: wiener schnitzel

This week I whipped up some wiener schnitzel using a nifty little packet of seasoning that only cost about fifty cents! I'm sure there is a more "traditional" way of doing this, but I liked the ease of using the premade seasoning. I wasn't quite sure if I did it right, but when my friend Katrina (who grew up in Austria) came over and saw them she said they looked great. Yum!

P52 / 02 / breakfast

I wish I could say this was my typical morning meal, but unfortunately I am never up early enough to actually cook myself breakfast. Usually it involves yogurt and granola that I eat out of a coffee mug at school while gearing up for my first period class.

P52 / 02 / breakfast

#364: got milk??

Today is the last post for 2011 (even though it's being posted in 2012!). I've known for awhile now that my numbering is screwed up because obviously this post should be titled #365. I went though every post and couldn't find my mistake, so just go with me on this one.

We bought all this cereal in one shopping trip. Don't judge, it was on sale!! I might smuggle some of it back into Germany...

Happy New Year!

show&tell #364: got milk??

#363: sideliner

The position for which I am most qualified - the sidelines!

show&tell #363: sideliner

#360: happyccino

Had my first McDonald's peppermint mocha today. The cup was happy to see me. (I know, you probably can't see the face, but it's there!!)

show&tell #360: happyccino

#356: SADCC Day 23: the basic loop

This one seems an awful lot like the modern one loop from Day 5... another one of those that is too similar to truly call a different style, but whatevs. Only two more scarf ties to go!!

show&tell #356: SADCC Day 23: the basic loop

#355: SADCC Day 22: the shell roll

Eh, I don't really prefer this one... it's doubtful that I will tie my scarf like this after today.

show&tell #355: SADCC Day 22: the shell roll

And although it's hard to see here, I'm wearing my Christmas present to myself: this awesome shirt from Threadless that I've wanted for a long time (but my size was always sold out) and finally managed to snag during their $10 tees sale!! (In case you can't tell, it's a tribute to the four houses of Hogwarts. Recognizeable only by other nerds like me!)

House Brawl