I blame my mom for the bad knees really. Those were her genes.

But back to running and the reason for this post.

My knees just don't fair well when I go for distance runs. Short and sprint runs, they're pretty happy, but after a long run, we have to break up with each other for a few days.

Nonetheless, I decided I would step it up and do a 10K. It was time. We signed up in March for the same runway run that we had done last year (I did the 5K, Joe did the 10K). Since we signed up in March, I had plenty of time to train for the race in May. I just never did...with the exception of running a couple 5Ks the month prior. But I knew I was in good shape and just needed the mental discipline to do it. So, I put together my (stellar) playlist, loaded up my sports bra with energy chews (where else is a girl supposed to keep those things?!), gave myself a stern pep talk, started up my RunKeeper Pro (this app is awesome, by the way) and as Adam Lambert sang, "What do you want from me..." I began my first 10K.

The weather was absolutely perfect. The race started at 7:30am. It was around 50 degrees and perfectly clear blue skies.

Now, I have to say that although both Joe and I do the runs, we do not run together. He thinks I run too slow to which I remind him that his legs are as long as I am tall. It's an unfair advantage really. But I enjoy running by myself. I get completely immersed in my music and just enjoy the ability to be outside and be active.

I set my RunKeeper to update me each kilometer so I would know my pace and time. This was awesome and a huge motivator because every time that female voice interrupted my music to tell me how far I'd run, I'd pick up the pace knowing I was one kilometer closer to finishing. Mile 3 and 4 were the hardest. I think mainly because I've conditioned my body to think that we're done running after 3.1 miles. So when I watched all the 5K people turn off to begin their sprint to the finish line, I was tempted.

When I heard "9.0 kilometers, 52 minutes" from the little female voice in my ear, I was ecstatic and determined to finish my first 10K in under an hour. My last two kilometers were my fastest, and I crossed the finish line at 57:04. I hadn't set any expectations for myself since I hadn't trained, so I was super happy. I wasn't even sure I'd be able to run the whole thing let alone finish in under an hour.

The running bug gets me every time after I run a race and I'm ready to sign up for the next one, but the two days of icing my knees and having trouble walking, makes me reconsider.

We had to take a turn on the carousel before leaving the park. It reminded me of being on the carousel from our cruise on the Allure of the Seas this past November!
Joey grabbed a ($4.00!) street vendor hot dog and we both got slices of New York pizza before heading to the bus stop for our trip home. We left NYC at 3:45 and made it back to DC around 8:00pm. It was a weekend filled with lots of sights and sounds, interesting characters, cigarette smoke, and tons of walking.

We checked out some of the shops in SoHo before taking the subway down to South Ferry and hopping on the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. Our weather was pretty cloudy and dreary so not the best photo op.

And while everyone else was checking out the Statue of Liberty, I spotted this beauty off in the distance... It was as if it was calling out to me.

After our ferry ride we ventured back to Washington Square to meet up with one of our (now college) girls from the youth group who attends NYU. I'm certain I was standing in urine for this photo.

Kyleigh gave us a little tour of her area and then took us to a restaurant called The Grey Dog for lunch. Super good! It was so fun getting to see Kyleigh and catch up on her life. Love that girl! After we walked Kyleigh back to her dorm we continued our (intense) day (of walking) in Little Italy. We stopped at Ferrara's where I got some lemon ice gelato and Joey grabbed a couple cannolis at a bakery. We made a brisk walk through Chinatown...I was not a fan and the crazy woman who yelled at us ("loitering illegal") for stopping to get our bearings in front of her (empty) store made me like it even less. After our short time in Chinatown it was on to The Brooklyn Bridge.

Our feet were definitely feeling it after walking the bridge (2.2 miles round trip) but we still had a couple more stops before heading back to our hotel. Doughnut Plant and Katz Deli. These were the two stops I think Joey was most looking forward to...and both were slightly disappointing. We hit Doughnut Plant nearing the end of the day so it was slim pickings in the donut department. However, this place was so impressive to me. I was in heaven as a designer, marketer, and small business lover. I thought they did such an awesome job with their branding and attention to detail. No donut for me but lots of design love!

Katz Deli, famous for many reasons including the famous scene from "When Harry Met Sally," was a bunch of hype but not much in delivery. It was definitely a busy place but we weren't that impressed. It took forever to order at a counter and then the food wasn't that great. Not much flavor and over priced. At least we can say we've been there.
We went back to our hotel to rest for a bit before venturing out for a late night stroll through Times Square and a quick stop in at the largest Toys R Us.

After Schnippers we checked into our hotel and then ventured out to explore the city. We went to Rockefeller Plaza, saw Radio City Music Hall, the NBC Studios and had some fun in the NBC store.

We grabbed some Jamba Juice on our way to Times Square and then stopped at Herald Square to check out the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade spot. It was definitely not as impressive as it is on TV on Thanksgiving morning!

We hung out in Bryant Park for a bit before ending up in Grand Central Terminal for dinner. The grand finale of our day was a stop at Dylan's Candy Bar and late night desserts at Serendipity 3 where the menu was as big as me and the desserts were as big as my head. We got there around 10:15pm and had to wait 40 minutes to get in. We shared their signature "Frozen hot chocolate" and the "cowards portion" (ha!) banana split.

It was nice getting to just sit and talk with Heather while I was there. She was told to do nothing for a couple weeks to recover following Avonlea's birth so we watched movies and even went on a couple slow walks to the top of their parking garage since Heather wasn't supposed to do any stairs and they live on the fourth floor of their building.

This night was probably my second favorite part of the cruise. We had our second formal night. We ate dinner most nights with these two ladies, Alice and her grandmother Sue, along with some other very interesting characters. Alice and Sue were from South Carolina (southern accent and all) and were such sweet women.

After dinner we spent a couple hours chatting with people on the Promenade (including our stateroom neighbors Jack and Jen pictured below) before heading to karaoke. Karaoke was on our list of things (for Nicole) to do. Much to Nicole's disappointment they didn't have any of her go-to karaoke songs but she did great with a little Shania Twain number.

After karaoke we went to the Quest which is basically a hilarious, giant adult scavenger hunt that always results in men wearing bras, lipstick, and high heels. And I have to say that our team (Team 10) stole the competition! After the Quest we danced the night away at the after-hours "Twenty" party. We had a blast. This was by far our latest night. I think we actually made it til 2:30am...unlike most nights where we were exhausted by 10:30. Pansies.

Our last day at sea was spent...by the pool, where else?! We got virgin peach daiquiris, BBQ by the pool, and lots of sun.

...And we had our final lunch onboard at Johnny Rockets.

It was bittersweet getting off the ship after six days but we had such a great time. I am definitely a fan of vacations with girlfriends. There will be more of these!

I have to give a little background before I begin our day in Jamaica. Our stateroom (and the surrounding staterooms) had the pleasure of a clanking noise that graced us throughout most of the nights on the ship. It was a mysterious noise that came and went, led to numerous complaints, and created a platform for bonding experiences with our neighbors. The best way I came up with to describe the noise is a zipper in a dryer, clanking as it spins, sometimes hitting loudly and other times just soft rhythmic clanks. Because of this noise we were often awake at very early hours. This particular morning, I had been awake for awhile and finally decided at 6am that I should get up and go for a run. I threw on my athletic clothes and tennis shoes and headed to the gym where I found a treadmill right in front of the windows facing the ocean with nothing to be seen for miles. It was beautiful.

As I was running, I noticed what I thought was a faint gray cloud on the horizon. But as I watched it I realized it was getting bigger and appeared to be sitting on the water. It wasn't a cloud but a ship. I watched it slowly make its way closer to us and realized I had been watching the Allure coming into port. It was very cool for me and made my early morning 5K even more memorable.

We were originally going to stop in Ocho Rios, Jamaica but our ship was rerouted to Falmouth, Jamaica where we joined the Allure in port. I had never been to Falmouth so I was actually excited for the change in our itinerary. Our excursion for the day got canceled so  Nicole and I spent a couple hours in the morning strolling around the shops. It was a beautiful new port.

We got to watch and cheer on the runners in the Royal 5K sponsored by the Allure. I was so close to jumping in and running despite that fact that it was pretty intense heat. One guy was running in jeans, and I almost passed out just watching him. (Good thing there was a gurney there! *see photo below)

On our ship looking down at the port

We ate lunch back on the ship and laid by the pool. I got a disappointing mojito...I try to like alcoholic beverages but in the words of Sheldon Cooper, "Jeepers. That's yucky."

That night we watched the Love & Marriage Game Show which is always hilarious, but the best part of the night was dancing under the stars at the midnight buffet! We learned a few new line dances which were so fun and no one cared when it started raining. Dancing in the rain under the stars was even better!

Nicole and I met at Taylor University when she was a student and I was working there waiting for Joey to graduate. We became friends on the front porch swing of a guys' college house talking about life and singing while Nicole played guitar. We soon realized how similar we were and even dressed as twins one Halloween to complete our sameness. Nicole was also our very own wedding singer. It wasn't until this cruise when people asked us how long we'd been friends that we realized it has actually been almost ten years. Time flies. Nicole is currently living in England so this was a big adventure for her to fly to Florida and spend the next week on a cruise ship with me!

Our Caribbean adventure on the Navigator of the Seas began with a day at sea. My favorite. Laying by the pool for hours, listening to steel drums, people watching, eating soft serve, doing nothing. Ugh, so amazing. I need to live on a cruise ship.

Day 2 we were in Grand Cayman. We spent the morning walking around all the shops. I again tried to find the ring that I should have bought six years ago. No luck. We had lunch back on the ship and then decided to head to Seven Mile Beach. This is where our day got a little more interesting. We paid $5 to the woman whose taxi sign clearly said it was $4. On our way to the beach we watched a hit-and-run happen right in front of our taxi. Our driver immediately begins honking frantically and yelling to no one in particular, "Get his licence number", "That person is evil, I'm telling you." She then proceeds to take it upon herself to chase after the car. All we wanted to do was get to the beach. When our driver finally realized she was not going to catch the car, she dropped us off at some random point on the beach. I told her that I had wanted to be dropped off "way back there" but to no avail. I finally hopped out and Nicole and I decided to trek back down the beach to where I originally planned. We finally found our spot and spent a short time on the beach before we had to get back to the ship.

Interesting encounter #2. As we wait to catch a shuttle back to the ship, we notice an older gentleman loitering around saying, "Pain in the ass." This wouldn't be strange except for the fact that he kept saying it with different inflections as if he was trying to get it "just right." I look at Nicole and say, "Maybe he has tourettes." Well, luck would have it that we are loaded into the shuttle with "Pain in the ass guy", his wife, their daughter and another couple traveling with them. The game changes from "pain in the ass" to "hopper." The man and his friend say "Hopper" after almost everything someone says. Finally I ask "What on earth is 'hopper'? Why do you keep saying that?" They laugh and proceed to explain that it's from a commercial. Some guy is really saying "Harper" but has a New England accent so it comes out "Hopper". Anyway, I know this seems insignificant but stick with me.

That night Nicole and I go to dinner (our first formal night) and then head to the nightly show.

We're sitting in the theater chatting about something and then they introduce the comedian for the evening. Bobby Collins. Bobby Collins comes bounding out onto the stage and smiles. I immediately grab Nicole's hand and say, "That's the 'pain in the ass' guy!" I was SO SO SO SO tempted to yell "hopper" when there was brief silence during his opening but I chickened out! Ugh. I still kick myself for not doing it but I got nervous! So this is for you, Bobby Collins...

"Hopper!"

Stay tuned for Day 3 through 6.

Joey went out of town April 2-5 for work so I was home alone for a  few days. Heather and Chuck decided to come visit me one evening to give me some company. They came April 3 bearing dinner which is always a bonus when someone arrives at your door with food. Heather and I went on a long walk around my neighborhood and before she left I gave my (in utero) niece a small lecture. I informed Avonlea that I was leaving April 8 for vacation and she needed to come out before that.

The next morning I went to the gym, ate breakfast, and as I was walking into Whole Foods, I got a text message from Heather, "Been having contractions since 4AM. Will be leaving for birth center by 1." Well, well, well. I guess my niece knows to listen to her aunt. This made the rest of my grocery shopping trip a little frenetic but I managed to get every thing on my list even whilst my cell phone was being lit up with group text messages from my overly anxious family members. I was the point of contact for everyone when Heather went into labor so all info was being funneled to and from me. I'm pretty sure I sent and received more text messages on that one day than I have in an entire year.

Chuck called a couple hours later to say that Heather wanted me to be at the birth center with her when they arrived so I grabbed a few things and headed to the center.  Heather and Chuck arrived around 2:45pm and after a quick check, the midwives said she was in active labor and already dilated 5-6 centimeters. Heather had an awesome team of women at NOVA Birth Center assisting her throughout her entire labor so I was there more just to be with Heather and help her as I could, including spoon feeding her chicken soup in between contractions, and reading her facial expressions to tell the midwives what she was thinking when she wasn't speaking. It did make me laugh how much I knew what she was thinking just by reading her face!

Around 6:20pm, as Heather's contractions were becoming more intense, the midwives encouraged Heather to get up and use the restroom. Perfect timing because that was when her water decided to break. Heather immediately went into the big jacuzzi like tub and within two hours, Miss Avonlea Noelle was born! Heather did awesome and the midwives were impressed with how well her labor progressed, especially for a first time mama. I was super proud of Heather because I know she worked so hard to educate herself and prepare for labor. Being a pilates instructor also gave her such awesome insight into her body.

Naomi meeting her new cousin for the first time

Avonlea Noelle was born April 4 at 8:25pm, weighing 7lbs 14oz. She was 21 inches long, and as sweet and serene as can be.

I have to apologize for the poor quality of some of my photos. I realized in the midst of the labor that I was the only one there capable of taking pictures so my little iPhone became the official labor and delivery camera. Where's the family photographers when you need them!?