My Disney World 1/2 Marathon Results!

Well I'm pleased to report that with help from my fellow running partner, Krista Lavender, we finished 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 15 mins! Unfortunately I didn't feel as great as I would've liked throughout the run and there were times when Krista's positive attitude had to carry me along, but we did it. Normally I get a second wind at about mile 5 or 6 but not this time... it was a bit tough towards the end. But I think it still puts me in a great place to work toward the Country Music 1/2 Marathon in Nashville the end of April. Hopefully some of you reading this will join me on that run=}!! The more the merrier!

Jeremy did a great job as a spectator trying to capture pictures along the way. He had made a nice sign that said "Go Erin, I love you", and held it up as I ran passed=}! He had the sign in one hand and the camera in the other while shouting my name. It made me laugh and gave me a boost. I guess he had to wait in the same spot for an hour to capture a picture of me after running through Cinderella's caste. But boy was it worth it! I love this picture... this is at about mile 6 I think, so I was still feeling alright=}.

As we entered the tunnel in the castle there were characters above us playing the trumpets as if royalty were entering the castle. That was pretty cool. There were also lots of characters along the way to cheer you on including some pirates in their ship, chip and dale, Alice in Wonderland characters, Ariel and much more. It was a great experience and I'd encourage you to train for one! Even if you just walk it. There are plenty of people who walk it and have a blast!

Ok I'll post more from our fun times at the Disney parks soon! Thanks for praying everyone! I'm so thankful for the healthy body I've been given and working legs to even be able to be a part of such a cool experience.

With Minnie, and holding my Donald Duck medal=}!

Disney Marathon, here we come!!

So if you've read Jeremy's blog you'll notice we'll be running the Disney marathon this weekend! I will run the 1/2 (13.1 miles) on Saturday and he will run the full (26.2 miles) on Sunday. I like that it's split up like this so we can cheer each other on from the sidelines, and hopefully get some great blog worthy pictures=}. I'm running the 1/2 marathon with Glenn's sister Krista who stuck by my side to help me finish the country music marathon in Nashville! So her presence will help push me again for sure... thanks Krista! Below is the course map for us. It might be too small but it shows that we start running at Epcot Center and then up to Cinderella's castle and then back to Epcot. I guess there are characters out to cheer you on along the way, so that and the unique scenery combined should help distract me. Also the course is mostly flat!!!... which is wonderful since I've been training in hilly Tennessee. So if you think about it this weekend say a prayer for all of us running Sat. and Sun. Thanks guys!

A Montana Christmas!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope the new year has brought you a refreshing look on life and a time to reflect on all the good gifts God has given. Jeremy and I enjoyed our time off from the road life and retreated with my family in Montana this Christmas. So far we have successfully been able to pull off an "every other year" plan for Christmas with our families and this year happened to be a time with my family. However, we were able to incorporate some of Jeremy's family traditions such as having "Christmas crackers" at dinner and working on a crossword puzzle made by my Dad. We took advantage of the beautiful area that my parents live in and went snowmobiling, sledding and even went on a horse drawn sleigh ride!! My two sisters where there as well with their husbands and of course my little niece, Ella! I just couldn't take enough pictures of that girl. She says my name now and it's SO precious... it sounds like "owen". Here are a few pictures of the lovely time we had with family!

This is Ella before the sleigh ride! The sleigh was pulled by 4 percheron horses that were all decorated for Christmas. And Ella on Christmas morning!

Jeremy and I on my parents deck after snowmobiling. The mountains behind us are covered in clouds but when it's clear the view is spectacular.

I was smiling for the camera in this picture=}!

My beautiful fam on Christmas Eve after the candlelight service.

Decorating "Our" Christmas tree

We're so sorry it's been so long since we've posted here - things have been rather crazy in our world over the last few months. However, it's now Christmas time, which means it's time to decorate a Christmas tree!

A friend of ours was snapping pictures during the whole process and when we looked at them afterwards we thought it would be fun to let you in on how our tree gets decorated every year through a series of pictures - call it a "photo essay" if you will...

Erin deciding whether she's going to let Jeremy help decorate.

Erin decides to let Jeremy help but only under strict supervision ("This one goes here, this one over there...").

Jeremy deciding if he really wants to see this task through to the end...

Posing for a picture: "Jeremy 'helps' decorate the tree."

Jeremy decides his time would be much better spent (and FAR more productive) making eggnog ice cream.

The finished product... "We" did pretty good, didn't we!

Double the Fun!

So I've always wanted to try riding a tandem bike and this past weekend was my first opportunity! It was a lot more challenging than I was expecting. I had in mind a nice leisurely ride through a small mountain town. I realized that was not the case once we got started. First of all it was a serious road bike. Not a bike with big seats and handle bars and wheels like I was expecting. This bike was used in competitive road bike races! Plus the guy that was showing us how it worked and riding beside us around town decided to take us on a 13 MILE ride!!! Now, I did not have any padded shorts to wear like you should have on if you're riding this bike. So needless to say... I'm sore!
It took a little bit to figure out how to ride it. The way you start off is the person in back, me, puts their foot in the pedals that secure in your feet while the front person holds the bike steady. Then the front person, Jeremy, steers and puts their feet in while the back person pedals. Then once you start pedaling you need to try and match each others cadence. Then you really need to be in constant communication with each other throughout the ride so you know what the other person is doing. You can easily parallel this with marriage. You have to trust the front person as they are the leader and the back person must follow. One of the tricks I learned is that if Jeremy was going too fast or I felt a bit out of control I could just pinch his but because it was right by my handle bars=}!

Anyway, it was a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone, especially couples needing to sharpen communication skills!

Fun in Winthrop

Today we hiked up to Blue Lake in the Cascade Mountains in Washington state, otherwise known as the "American Alps". It was a gorgeous hike!!! It was about a 4.5 mile round trip and worth every step. Most of the artists on Centricity Records went so it was a fun time spent with friends. And of course when we reached Blue Lake Jeremy couldn't help but jump into the freezing water that flows off from the glacier in the background. He didn't last long but it made for a great picture.

Jeremy also started from the road below and climbed a few hundred feet without gear and I was able to get a shot of him finishing.

The downhere family at the top of the trail. Jonah is my little buddy!!

Washington pass overlook... amazing!

More pictures from the hike.

We attended the Winthrop Rodeo yesterday... such a fun experience!

Debbie and I at Sheri's, the popular dessert "hangout" in town... I have chocolate in my teeth from a yummy homemade peanut butter cup!!

Highlights from Northern Ireland

For those of you who have not yet seen these pictures here are a few highlights from our trip to Ireland. What a huge blessing it was to be a part of such a cool event. Downhere played in the Odyssey Arena - the largest venue in Northern Ireland - and opened for Chris Tomlin! It was such a great night and I am so thankful I got to soak in that experience. It was a bit stressful for me as we lost our largest merch suitcase on the way to the event so we didn't have all that we wanted to hopefully sell to 3,500+ people. But I had joyful merch volunteers and we sold out of all our Wide-Eyed CD's. AND I just loved having that responsibility that evening even though we didn't have all our merch. I am so thankful for my job and loved watching the guys give their all to a crowd who ended up loving them by their second song... and who, by the end of the night, enjoyed Chris Tomlin's set, but raved about downhere's set. God is good and he was glorified that night and I got to see him use these guys to make his name known in N.I.

We did get a day after the concert to sightsee around the coast. Here are a few pictures from the 4 days we had there. This was my first time so I couldn't take enough pictures!
Erin

downhere at the Odyssey

Giant's Causeway

Me and my new friend Cherith.

The Dunluce Castle on the coast.