Marcus 5K & Smalltown Fair {Curing #NOtivation}

This past weekend I traveled 2 hours north to my hometown for the biggest event of the year...The Marcus Fair! I grew up on a farm outside of Marcus which has a population of around 1200 people, but if you added in livestock we would be about the size of Omaha ;) What Marcus doesn't have in population it makes up for in heart! Being home for the fair always feels like being part of a big family and it is always great to see old classmates or kids I used to teach swimming lessons to.

I'm Linking up again with Mal Smiles and Life Oceanside to stay fit and cure #NOtivation!

Friday

Sisters Finally Reunited after over 2 months apart!

Got into town around 7 pm and after hugging my wonderful family, my sister and I headed up to the Methodist Food Stand for some delicious food! I met up with Trisha, Anna and Kelli at the bar and headed to the street dance. But only one drink for me because the next morning was the day of the big race! Unfortunately my mom had made some amazing O'Henry Bars (I will have to post the recipe on here!) and I inhaled them when I got home late at night...Not a good idea for running bright and early in the morning!

Apple Pie, Taverns, Taco in a Bag Oh My...

Day old Piglets!

Anna and I (Soon to be roomies in the Spring!)

Marcus Fair Partner in Crime - Trish!

Yes, We got carded...

 Saturday

All those oats, sugar and peanut butter from the bars must have fueled me decently for the 5K because I got my second best time for a 5K. My goal was to be under 29 minutes but I got 29:52 which I was still happy with. This 5K is special to Marcus because it is in memory of Michael Letsche, Hunter Heidesch and Sawyer Leavitt who lost their lives at a very young age. Sawyer Leavitt was friends with my brother and we had a moment of silence before the race started to remember these wonderful guys. 

My sister, mom and aunt Nancy participated in the 5k and my Aunt Nancy, Grandma and cousins did the 1 mile walk. After the race I showered up fast and returned to the fair to set up a stand in the fair buildings to display my Etsy Shop Items . At 4:00 pm we watched the parade and then shortly after Trisha, Brendan and I went to Germantown for some broasted chicken! 

Ready to Run!

Aunt Nancy (2nd place in her age category!)

Something Beautiful Inventory on Display at the Fair

Look at this Cutie!! Little Brady Man!

Ready to Catch A LOT of candy at the Parade!

Sunday

Went up town to watch some of the mud volley ball tournament and also try to sell some more items for my shop. I received several custom orders and sold a few items so that was exciting! The fair always goes by too fast and when I was little it was especially sad because it meant school would be starting within the next weeks. 

Mud - Volleyball Tournament 

Taelyn with Uncle Kyle

So whether you are running in a small town 5K this summer or a big city Marathon, stay Motivated! No matter what the distance is it is worth the effort ... just try not to eat a whole bar of O'Henry bars before the race ;) 

Black Hills Vaca {Post 2}

I have so much to write about, I don't know where to start! It has been such a fun and fulfilling summer and I feel that I could write about work experiences, vacations or daily crafts. But for tonight I will tell you about the second half of our wonderful vacation we had in the Black Hills.

Tuesday (July 2nd) afternoon we went to Wonderland Cave. My brother had been wanting to go to a cave and that one seemed to be the best in the area. So I rode on the motorcycle with my dad and the rest of the family drove in the Morano. It was a long trek there and were signs that would say "Wonderland Cave this way" or "Almost there" or "200 yards". My dad kept saying "this cave better be worth it!" and it was a pretty neat cave! We went on a 45 minute tour through the stalagmites and stalactites. I loved riding on the bike with my dad and even though it was a little scary at first I trust him and he was pretty cautious just because he hasn't been riding that long on it. I will cherish that moment on the bike with him forever. It was good to have that quality time on the open road with my dad. We totally didn't look like the "biker" type though. We had just jeans on, and I had sandles on. We kept trying to figure out the "biker signal" that every biker uses when they meet on the road but we still don't know if we got it right..haha!

 

 

Mom & I after our muggy run

Wednesday (July 3rd) The guys went to a course and golfed 18 holes and mom and I had breakfast at the lodge while watching Kathy Lee and Hoda (one of my guilty pleasures). We decided that we should check out the running/bike trail that was very close to our lodge so we headed there around 11:00 am. It was already pretty hot and we set out on a walk. Soon I ditched mom and jogged up the trail on my own with my pandora playing :) It was a great run and somehow I had the energy to run a total of about 5 miles. Like I said before, during my runs I feel close to God and this run was no exception. Being among such beautiful nature and able to have the motivation and endurance to run that far made me feel truly blessed. I always think of that ability God has given me and think of Fidel or my patients that can't run that far because of their conditions. It makes me very thankful for what God has given me.

After the trail we met up with guys and went horse back riding. We went to a nice little horse back riding place that had many beautiful horses and even a few little colts that were just the cutest. We all were assigned horses and quickly shared the horses names with everyone.

 

Me = Colby

Alex = Jamie

Mom = Trigger

Alex G = Sky

Mike = Baby

Michael squishing mom before the trail ride

Alex learning how to handle his horse.

Mike made a hilarious comment by saying "no one puts my horse in a corner" haha! I loved the Dirty Dancing reference. We set off on the trail with 2 young girls that were leading us. They were really great because they told us a lot about the horses and by the last part of the ride we were able to gallop on the horse which was fun. That was the fastest I had ever gone on a horse and was really exciting! The area we traveled was wonderful! The horses had to go on some pretty tricky terrain but they did great! Horseback riding is something that I have been wanting to do for many years now and was so happy that we got to in the area we did.

My Beautiful Horse!
 

That night we ate at restaurant in Deadwood and then I played a little roulette at the casino that was connected to the restaurant. They had the electronic roulette game that I played in Las Vegas so I texted my friend Kelli and told her I was going to play. She told me to put money down on number 1 so on my first turn I put money on 1 and it HIT!! I won $18 on that spin so was feeling pretty lucky. I ended up winning $14 total after going back and forth. We were going to head to a movie after that but sorta got lost in Spearfish and would have been really late so we just decided to get ice cream instead at DQ. I had a s'mores blizzard that was delish!

 

The fourth of July started off really rainy and stormy so we waited to do anything until a late morning. Dad and I started off on the bike while the rest of the family followed but we had to park the bike in Deadwood because it started raining again. We all hoped in the truck and headed to Mount Rushmore. We stopped in Hill City to grab a bite to eat and went through some of the tourist shops there. I bought Easton (Alex's nephew) the book "Who Pooped in the Black Hills".

 

 

It was really neat getting to be at Mount Rushmore on the 4th of July and I thought it would be more crowded but it wasn't too bad. I had been to Mount Rushmore when I was younger but it was really neat to see it again. I still can't imagine having a vision to create the four presidents' faces out of a mountain! And the whole project happend from 1934-1939. The monument was orinially going to show the presidents from the waist up but did not have enough funding to sculpt that much. As you walk to Mount Rushmore there is a aisle of all the state flags which is a really cool sight to see.

 

Land of the Free...Home of the Brave

My wonderful parents

I forced them to pose this way..though it would be a cool picture :)



My husband and I



Black Hills Vaca! {First of many posts}

Well I'm back in good ol' Nebraska but already missing the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota! Family vacations are a tradition for the Deichmann's and we do one every year no matter if it is accross America or just down to KC. Last year I missed out on the KC vacation because I had to work but this year I was super excited for 5 days away with my husband, parents and brother despite my sis not being able to go. Vacations are much need for several reasons but 3 big motivators are spending quality time with my family in a new atmosphere, relaxing by getting away from work and the city, and getting closer to God through nature! In my time away this past week I definitely got in all 3 of those and let me tell ya it was hard getting back in the flow of working again after all those days off!

Setting off on the 9 hour road trip!

We left Sunday afternoon and took my cousin Alex with us because we had plenty of room in the 4 bedroom cabin. Then we met my parents and Michael in Sioux Falls for dinner at Chili's. After a break from the car we caravaned to Al's Oasis in Chamberlain where we spent the night to split up the drive. We all stayed in a one hotel room which was pretty humerous with our 3 beds packed in there. We stayed up watching Daniel Tosh's stand-up comedy and all had a good laugh :)

 

The cute bears all around Al's Oasis Hotel

Isn't he FABULOUS!?!?

Then in the morning we left bright at early at 8:00 so that we could make it to the cabin at a decent time. We stopped at Diamond Lil's which is the restaurant Kevin Costner owns. He fell in love with the area when he was filming Dances with Wolves and his parents still live in Deadwood. The bar and grill is pretty neat because it has the exact outfits that he wore in all of his movies. Alex and I really like the movie Waterworld and of course Field of Dreams.

 

Linda sent me this picture of my lil Kobe!

 

With full stomachs we were ready to find out what our cabin looked like and move all of our stuff in - or so we thought! When my mom opened the door to the cabin there were 3 pairs of shoes by the door and clothes still in the rooms. We were all a little freaked out because there was noone there but the cabin was obviously being lived in still. Mike figured that they had been murdered in the woods for sure! Since the people before us didn't move out and the owners of the cabin couldn't get ahold of them they said we could stay in a different cabin in the same area and OUR cabin would be ready the next day. So we were a little bummed but the other cabin had a hot tub so our disappointment didn't last long :)  My mom, Alex and I went on a bike ride/hike right by our cabin. I was breathing hard and my thighs were aching from the uphill climb but it was great to be out in the fresh mountain air with two of my favorite people! We grilled steaks that night and I even facetimed with Megan to show her around our place. We all waved to her and missed her so much! Dad and I took a soak in the hot tub before we turned in for the night.

 

Our running obstacle!
  

Tuesday morning, Michael and I went for a hike along a ski lift. Alex had treked the same slope the day before and we figured we could do it too! Well it was brutal! The incline wouldn't have been so bad but all the brush/ tall grass and thistles made it so much harder! By the time we got to the top we felt pretty accomplished and wondered just how crazy we were! The view was spectacular though and I climed on of the posts of the ski lift so I could get a true bird's eye view! I mean look at those clouds suspended in the blue sky...you could see for miles!

 

( to be continued....)

5k - Plank - Junk

What a great weekend! A high school friend, Anna, was in Omaha visiting a friend and I was lucky enough to get to meet up with her for dinner! We went to the new restaurant Plank down in the Old Market. It is a seafood restaurant but luckily they also had "landfood" for this girl! Anna, Casey, her friend Claire and I had a wonderful time at the restaurant that was completely nautical theme. From the tall glass vases filled with flowers to the salmon colored booths, the atmosphere was wonderful and the food delicious! 

Skeleton of a boat on the ceiling of the restaurant! And the "caged" alcohol

Afterwards I went home and got about 15 minutes into watching tv and was passed out on the couch! It was only 9:00! I don't think it was from the Seaweed Sangria I had at dinner though...it probably had something to do with leaving Omaha at 5:30 am to run in a 5K in Anthon. 

With a 90 minute drive fueled by coffee and an energy bar I was ready to run! I met my aunt Lynn, Grandma Carolyn, Great aunt Cathy and uncle Clayton at the start of the race where we waited for my mom to get there. My mom was going to run in the 5k but she "mysteriously" hurt her foot and decided to do just the 1 mile walk with my aunts and grandma. The rain held off for about 5 minutes into the race which was still nice because it was pretty hot even for that early in the morning. I got my second best time that I remember for a 5K so I was really proud of myself especially since my 2nd mile was faster than my 1st which is always a goal I like to have :) 

Grandma made it through the rain!

Aren't they cute with their umbrellas?

Our before and after pics!

Sunday Alex and I slept waaayyy in and headed out to JunkStock in the afternoon. I heard about this through facebook and knew of some friends that were also planning on going this weekend. The motto for the event is "Peace-Love-Junk" and features refurbished items by various vendors. There was music and yummy food vendors at the farm where the event took place. Alex and I browsed around the area and soon I was off wandering through tents by myself when Alex comes back with his parents!! They were just saying how much I would like this event and that they should have invited me. Well luckily I was one step ahead of them ;) It was a really neat event and awesome that it was right here in Omaha! There is another one in October and a friend and I are going to set up a display so that I can feature my Etsy Shop items!

love the "50 Shades of Grey" reference

Huge Peace Sign Display with real flowers inside the tires!

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”  2 Peter 3:18

I know it's Not {Tuesday Topics}

Hey everyone, I know that I'm a little behind but I found this a few days late so I'm going back in time for a {Tuesday Topics} post on a Thursday night. I found this topic list from a fellow nurse blogger named Lauren also and really liked all the ideas :)

Ten: Things that make you happy

Well I can think of a lot more than ten but I will save you the long list and just tell you a few! 

1 // Jesus! My heart sings for Him and I know the creator of the Heavens has my life in His hands. I really don't know how people go through life without faith and I'm not about to try and find out!! I rely on God for so many things and pray to Him often during times of fear, anxiety, and blessings! If you have any questions about The Man Upstairs..feel free to ask me :)

2 // My Family Another easy one, they make me over filled with Joy! They have shaped me into the woman I am today and have given me the best morals, childhood, and foundation that a girl could ask for! 

Love them to Pieces!

3 // My Husband I brag about my husband often because he does just make me so happy! He is a strong, caring man that does remarkable work with 2 kids that are handicapped and his second job also shows his amazing heart because he works at Omaha Home for Boys which is a place that helps troubled teen boys. He is a wonderful role-model for those kids and I'm so glad that God picked him to be my partner in life! I find the little things he says to me to be the sweetest even if it is just telling me to drive safe to work!

4 // Kobe Ok this lil fur ball just makes me giddy! He is so stinking cute and makes me laugh everyday. I love his split personality between cuddling with me while I sleep and trying to attack my wrist when he wants to play. He is a Siamese cat that has a lot of energy and climbs on the counters far too often but I have a hard time disciplining him when he looks at me with those precious blue eyes. 

5 // Coffee This is a must for a night shift nurse and I really do have an addiction to coffee. I crave it even when I am the slightest bit tired and give other nurses a funny look if they tell me they don't like coffee! My "usual" from Starbucks is a Grande Skinny Hazelnut Latte but if I'm in the area of 114th and Blondo I love to go to Foxhollow Coffee Shop by our old apartment building because I love the atmosphere there!

Of course I had to get a Latte on my Wedding day! Thanks to my Sister!!

6 // Sweating yes this one seems odd but there is nothing better than getting a great sweat going from an intense workout. Whether it be a zumba class or a job outside, I enjoy sweating and don't feel like I have really gotten a decent workout until a sweat through my sports bra. 

7 // Ice Cream me being the chocoholic that I am (my mom ate WAY too many sweets while I was in the womb!) I love a good blizzard from DQ or a big bowl of Blue Bunny Cookies & Cream Ice Cream. Did you know that I grew up 19 miles from the ice cream capital of the world?!? Living that close to the Wells Blue Bunny plant probably has something to do with my love of ice cream!

8 // Country Music Again this one reminds me of home! I love my pandora station of Country Hits and even though I would call myself a true hick (Alex would disagree) I still love a good country concert or listening to country radio whenever I'm traveling back to the farm. 

My Favs - Carrie Underwood, SheDaisy, Lady A.

9 // The King of Queens Probably one of my favorite shows (behind Friends and Boy Meets World) Kevin James is so hilarious and everything about this show makes me laugh out loud! It gets me through my nights of insomnia and is full of funny topics! Alex has a friend that reminds us of "Doug" and we always bring up episodes  to talk about whenever he is around! 

10 // Crafting Yeah I liked it so much I even opened an Etsy Shop because of it! I have enjoyed scrapbooking and creating gifts since as long as I can remember! It comes in handy when I want something with a special meaning to give to a friend or family member and after I finish a Pinterest project I get very very excited and can't wait to show everyone ;) 

Follow me Here

10 + 1 // My Friends I have been blessed with some pretty amazing women in my life that have been through with ups and downs with me! They are always up for a good time, make me laugh, and are there for me when I just need a hug! My favorite ladies (you know who you are) will continue to be my lifelong friends even as we get wrinkles and can no longer find an excuse to wear our 80's costumes!