Non-Running Highlights of 2017

I didn't realize how much happened in 2017 until I wrote my family's summary for my mom's infamous Christmas letter.  Although these are non-running highlights, traveling was a major highlight and most of our trips also included races, so running events are listed (although I did not link them to race recaps)...running is certainly woven into our lives.  It was very difficult to narrow down the photos to include with this post!  Oh, and my top running highlights of 2017 can be found here.

With my husband, daughter, and parents

• January 
• We hosted my brother-in-law, sister-and-law, and their 3 children over New Years.  My sister-in-law ran a half marathon in Springfield on New Years Eve, we ate lots of good food and watched some movies, the kids played, and we all went to bed around 10:00 p.m. on New Years Eve!
• I traveled to Phoenix/Tempe with my awesome father in the dead of the Midwest winter.  Highlights included the Barrett Jackson car show and auction, the Desert Botanical Gardens (it rained while we were there!), and the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Half Marathon. 
• My husband Jon, my daughter Albani, and I attended our running club's yearly banquet (Albani's bling pictured below).

  

  

  Desert Botanical Gardens

• February 
• I went back to Phoenix/Mesa with my awesome husband!  We explored various local establishments (restaurants, shops, antique malls, etc.) and I ran the BMO-Mesa Phoenix Marathon.

• March 
• Jon, Albani, and I spent a weekend in St. Louis, including the Zoo, the Arch, and a 10,000 m track PR for me. 
• Albani designed a car for and competed in the Awana Grand Prix.  She named the car the Purple Beast.
• We hosted several family members for a nearby family wedding, and also took in Pythian Castle.
• We took a spring break weekend with my brother-in-law's family at Silver Dollar City, Top of the Rock, and other Branson fun.

Silver Dollar City is exhausting!

St. Louis Zoo

St. Louis Arch

Awana Grand Prix

• April 
• I took a solo trip to Kansas City (combined with a work trip) and watched my niece perform in a ballet.  I also ran the Rock the Parkway half.
• We visited my parents in Benton, Kansas for a long weekend for Easter, also including the Easter Sun Run 10K and 2 mile races.  My sister's family visited too, enabling my mom to spoil all three of her grand kids simultaneously.

Easter

• May
• Jon, Albani, and I went to "Sucker Days", a local festival in nearby Nixa.
• We spent Memorial Day at my in-laws' with my husband's huge family, including visiting Ibbetson grave sites in 4 different cemeteries and running the Iron Horse Kids K (Albani) and 5K (me).
• June 
• I traveled to Des Moines with my amazing friend Missy.  We walked all around downtown, taking in many neat shops, unique works of art, and city specific coolness.  We also ran the Dam to Dam Half Marathon and ate lots of good food!
• My husband, daughter, and I traveled to Florida with my brother-in-law and his two children.  We visited Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, NASA's Kennedy Space Center, and Sea World.  I didn't race or even run much on this trip, but every day I felt like I'd run an ultra-marathon!

Animal Kingdom entrance

• July 
• We visited my husband's extended family in Southeast Kansas for their huge 4th of July celebration, which my parents also attended.
• We visited my parents in Kansas for a long weekend and boating/tubing at El Dorado Lake.  Albani then spent a week staying with and being spoiled by my parents (I'm not sure she wanted to come home)!
• Jon, Albani, and I spent a long weekend in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  Highlights included Turpentine Wildlife Refuge, Quigley's Castle, an underground tour, walking around downtown, Cosmic Caverns, and Onyx Cave.

4th of July

Boating at El Dorado Lake

• August 
• Albani started 4th grade! 
• We recovered from our summer of non-stop every weekend trips.  :-)

• September 
• We took short trips to Branson, Missouri and Bentonville, Arkansas over Labor Day weekend.  Highlights included the Brandon Landing, the Branson Scenic Railway, Crystal Bridges, and visiting my friend Mary in Arkansas (I also ran two races). 
• We did a weekend trip to Kansas City to visit my sister's family, and I ran the Plaza 10K. Most of the time I go to Kansas City for races I go alone, because I plan my monthly-ish work trip there for the Fridays before Saturday races, but Albani loves visiting her cousins so I always feel bad she isn't with me!
• I went to Indianapolis with my parents.  My dad was kind enough to drive nearly the whole way, and while we were there I met up with my friend Briony who was coincidentally there as well (she lives in Wichita).  I ran the Indy Womens Half on this trip.  When we returned home we all went to church and the Bass Pro Wonders of Wildlife museum together on Sunday.
• We built a 4 car garage/workshop adjacent to our home to house Jon's truck, our boat, our UTV (also purchased this year), our lawnmower, etc.  We had the roof covered in solar panels and now our electric bill is nada!

Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, Arkansas

Cousin love in Kansas City

Jon convinced me we needed this

• October
• We did several fall-related activities close to home.
• I did a solo Kansas City trip and ran the Kansas City Half as workout.

  

  Corn maze on an unseasonably warm day

• November
• Albani attended a USATF clinic hosted by Courtney Frerichs.
• We spent Thanksgiving and the weekend after in Cherryvale, Kansas at my in-laws', along with Jon's siblings and their kids.  My parents also came for the day on Thursday.  It's always a full house there and Albani really enjoys her cousin-time!  We also cut our Christmas tree from the Ibbetson farm on this trip, and somehow I got talked into going Black Friday shopping in Bartlesville. 

Courtney was very sweet

Thanksgiving family photo

•  December
• Jon and I traveled to California along with my parents. After I ran the California International Marathon in Sacramento, we took in all that San Francisco had to offer, including Fisherman's Wharf, Muir Woods, the Golden Gate Bridge, Piers 31-39, Lands End Look-Out, Twin Peaks Look-Out, and Alcatraz.  Pictures from the trip are here.
• We spent Dec. 22-24 at my parents' for Christmas, joined by my sister and her family.
• We spent Dec. 24-26 at my in-laws' for Christmas, joined by all of Jon's siblings and their families.
• We hosted a houseful of Ibbetsons Dec. 26-27, taking in the Bass Pro Aquarium and Wonders of Wildlife Museum, Lamberts restaurant (home of the "throwed rolls"!), and watching the new Star Wars movie.  I didn't participate in about half of this because I went back to work on Dec. 27.

This is Christmas

• Closer to home throughout the year, we enjoyed the Springfield Zoo, Rutledge Wilson Farm, the Ozark Christmas Parade, Top of the Rock, Titanic in Branson, and Silver Dollar City (we always get season passes).  We also like to take in our local nature center and go fishing in nice weather.  Springfield has approximately 1 million good restaurants and we still have not tried them all, despite living here over 7 years.
• We are active in our church, Union Hill.
• Albani participated in the Awana program, our local library's summer reading program, and our running club's runner of the year competition (she was 2nd in the child category in 2016 and we won the parent-child category...2017 awards coming in a few weeks!).  She also enjoys swimming at the YMCA and has a crazy fondness of any and all hotel pools.  Her favorite subjects in school are science, math, and art, and right now she says she wants to work at NASA on computers when she grows up.  She is now 10 and growing up too quickly, and is absolutely a daddy's little girl.  She also loves all things Minecraft and Star Wars.
• We purchased some investment land about 20 minutes east of our home, which was how Jon convinced me on the UTV!  Jon is self-employed and has undertaken several projects related to this land (Timber standard improvement, etc.), in addition to flipping properties, but the best thing about his job is that he can be home get Albani onto and off of the school bus every day!  He spends a lot of time being a stay-at-home dad too, which I am both thankful for and jealous of since I work an awful lot.
• Jon expanded our garden, giving me lots of fresh organic produce during the growing season!  Beets were particularly a winner, but we had everything:  about 6 varieties of tomatoes, bell peppers, mini-sweet peppers, eggplant, summer squash, zucchini squash, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, jalapenos, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, apples, pears, and probably things I am forgetting!  He has already plowed a larger plot for next year.

Bandit loves the garden too

We were and are very blessed - more than we ever deserve.  There were down times and struggles in 2017 as with every year, and sometimes it's easy to get caught up in them and what is wrong and what we don't have, but I try to stay positive.  It's better to focus on all that God has given us and not what I expect to have or what others have (the "don't let comparison steal your joy" thing!).  I am thankful.  2018, we are coming for you!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His love endures forever. - 1 Chronicles 16:34

Top of the Rock