The Proposal, Part 2

It was so strange to open the show with Lynne sitting there across from me, but that's exactly what we did. We spent the first little bit talking about the weirdness of the day (being in the same studio and all) and then moved on to important things like how to find our blogs, how to read our Twitter feed, our Fiction Fix contest for the month...all that jazz. (You can hear the show here if you'd like to hear the jazz and the good stuff that followed. A worthy hour, I assure you.)

As we opened the show, Craig, our station engineer, was busily working in the rooms next door, trying to fix the phone issue. I waved at him and he (in typical Craig fashion) tipped his hat to me.

After that, Lynne and I dished about National Frappe Day, and then we moved into Lynne's chosen segment of a memorable moment you'd like to relive. I talked about the childbirths I've gotten to attend, and specifically this one sweet moment with baby James, where I got to spend some time alone with him just minutes after his birth:

After I finished that story, I said, "What about you, Lynne?" And she said something to the tune of "I think after today you're going to have a more memorable moment than that."

HUH?

That's what I was thinking, but I realized I should probably not bust out a HUH??? on the air, so I politely responded with "Okay...what's that?"

And right then the door opened and Ryan breezed in with a huge smile on his face, looking all handsome with those amazing dimples. He was wearing a blue shirt...oh man, he looks good in blue.

The very moment I saw him I thought, This is it! He's going to propose to me right now. Don't miss a thing, girl. You've waited a lifetime for this.

He didn't stop, but walked around the counter to stand right beside me. He said later (I don't remember this) that I mouthed to him "Is this for real?" And he mouthed back "This is for real."

Behind him came a stream of every single employee at the station. They came bearing video cameras and regular cameras and fists full of tissue, fully expecting a beautiful moment.

Lynne took over explaining to everyone in radio-land what was happening in the studio, and I took over staring at Sheryl and Craig in the next studio as if to say "WHAT!?!?!?!!"

Before I could even take another breath, he was on one knee in front of me reaching for my hand. (Please note that I managed to keep my wits about me enough to adjust the mic for him so everyone could hear what he was about to say.)

And then I settled in and hung onto every single word. Every. Single. Word.

I remember thinking I cannot believe this man has seen me for who I am. I cannot believe these words pouring out of his mouth...words I've longed to hear, and not just because I wanted to hear them, but because I have ached for someone to believe them about me. And he believes them about me.

He looked me straight in the eye the entire time, never once looking to the side. I could feel the pressure of his hand and I knew this. was. real.

And at the very end, he asked me if I would marry him...and he pulled out the ring. The answer to the question was no question at all...of COURSE! A thousand times yes! God settled that one in my heart weeks ago.

But I was curious what ring he'd picked out. We had gone ring shopping a couple of times, and he knew what I liked, but even I hadn't seen a ring that moved me fully to my core. He pulled the box out and...well...what do you think this face says about how I felt?

(More about the ring in another post...)

I said yes and he pulled me out of my chair to hug me and kiss me. (I would spare you the kissing picture, but um....nah. I'll post it.)

I'll leave you with this for today - but come back tomorrow for behind the scenes scoop!

The Proposal, Part 1

Okay, people. I have waited 34 years to have a proposal story, and I LOVE THIS STORY. I have met you halfway by skipping ahead TO this story before I even tell you more about our dating season, so you have to meet ME halfway and let me take a few days to tell it, okay? Trust me. It's worth the wait for the detail. Deal?

Okay. So for those of you who don't know or remember, last month, Lynne and I started a new show that we call BLT. Stands for Bekah...Lynne...Thursdays. It was born out of an idea Lynne had to offer one day a week when the two of us just banter on air together and chat with listeners. We'd gotten so much good feedback about those segments of our shows that we decided to just go for it once a week - for a whole hour. And so far, people seem to be loving it and it's truly one of our favorite things to do.

So this past Thursday we had this plan for the show. (All plans for BLT are created but flexible. If we decide we want to change something halfway through, we can. It's our BLT.) Our plan was to start with general chatter, followed by each of us sharing a moment we would relive if we could (that was Lynne's idea) followed by a segment about a funny thing one of our morning guys did (that was my idea) followed by a sharing of most embarrassing moments - and we'd open the phone lines for that, so listeners could share theirs too.

The day before the show, I got a text from one of my friends who said, "Hey did you know tomorrow is National Frappe Day?" Um, NO! I did NOT!!! So I told Lynne we had to work that into the show, and in fact, to make it authentic, we needed frappes FOR the show. She said okay.

Thursday morning I got up and had my usual morning dilemma: straighten the hair (25 minutes) or go with crunchy hair (5 minutes)? I only had time for crunchy but I was scheduled to give devotions at a church meeting that night and I knew I'd love myself more later if I spent time on my hair. So I straightened it. While straightening, I said to myself: GIRL. Your roots are out of control. Buy hair color.

I put on a kinda cute outfit because I knew I'd see Ryan at the church meeting and I always like to look cute for him if possible. So I put on a brown shirt that I like (one of the few that actually makes me feel extra good about the way I look) and a little denim skirt and my knee-high brown boots.

No time to apply my face after all the hair straightening, so I shoved the makeup in the work bag and headed out the door.

Ryan and I talk on the phone for most of my commute every morning (I know - BARF!!!) so I just sang some duets with the Gaithers until my phone rang. My ringtone for Ryan is JJ Heller's song "Who Will Love Me for Me" and when it rang that morning, I let it play just a little extra so I could hear those words...Who will love me for me...not for what I have done or what I will become...and then I answered.

We chatted for a while and I looked at the clock and realized it was after 7:30 and I was still on the regular phone with him. Usually by then he's in his car and has me on the hands-free set and he sounds like he's in a tin can. So I said, "Hey honey are you on the road yet?"

He said yes.

I said "Oh. Well I can hear you so much better today. Thank you for leaving it on the regular phone." (sigh.)

I got to work and told him how much I loved him (barf) and how much I'd miss him (double barf) and how much I couldn't wait to see him that night. Then I said, "I tried to look extra cute today." He (probably a little too quickly) asked why, and I said, "Because I'm going to see you tonight and I like to be cute for you!" I think he thought I was on to something....

So I went inside and started to get busy on the pre-show stuff. Lynne came in and said, "Where are the frappes? Didn't you get them?" I looked at her as though she'd lost her mind and said, "Um it's way too early. They'll be a melty mess by show time. I'll go out at 9:30 and get them."

She said okay and then disappeared. A minute later she came back and said very brightly, "Sheryl is going to get the frappes." I just stared at her. Why would Sheryl do my job? I mean not that I care, but it was just weird. She rushed on. "She has to run an office errand this morning and I told her we were getting frappes, so she said she'd get some for all of us."

I shrugged and said, "Okay. Works for me. Gives me more time to get stuff done. I have a LOT to do today since I won't be in the office tomorrow or Monday."

Before Sheryl left for the errand run, she stopped by to say hi. When I wheeled around in my chair, she got a look of utter HORROR on her face. I quickly said, "Oh don't worry. My face is in my work bag. I will put it on here in just a minute. Sorry it's so scary!!!" She looked relieved and left.

While she was gone, I put on my face and did one other quick little chore - slapped some light purple polish on my nails. I don't normally do my nails at work but I'd noticed that morning that the Colts blue polish I'd been sporting for a week was chipping. I HATE chipped nails. And worse than that - I hate naked nails. My general rules are: if your polish chips, redo it, and if you have holes in your ears, wear earrings. So I'd hastily removed my polish that morning and threw the light polish in my bag to repair at work so it would look good for Ryan that night.

A few minutes later, Sheryl came back and I did a photo shoot with all the frappes and their owners, so I could have blog material. Been dreadfully short of that here lately, you know. So here I am with my frappe:

 And Lynne with hers. HER FIRST EVER frappe. (She hated it.) (I was brokenhearted.)

 Ron Schneeman with his frappe. We got him one because we planned to play a song during the show - something we don't normally do - and I needed help bringing it up on the system. So he agreed to hang out in the studio with me and help me. I figured he needed a reward for babysitting the freaked out producer.

 And the lovely Sheryl Glancy with hers!

One more detail and you'll have to wait til tomorrow for more! :)

So about 15 minutes before we went on the air, Lynne breezed in to our office and said, "We're having Telos issues." (Telos is our phone system that puts our callers on the air.) I just stared at her. My first thought was Really? Because aren't the morning guys using it right this very minute?? Yes, yes indeed. I hear a caller on the air right now!!

But then I remembered they take calls in the studio I sit in for the show. Lynne sits in another room and sometimes her computer gives her fits. So maybe it was just her Telos system that wasn't working - and that wouldn't affect the morning guys.

She said, "So I'm going to sit in your studio with you while Craig fixes it." I thought Why would she do that?? Then I thought, Oh - well if Craig is messing around with the actual computer, he can't do that with a live mic running. Makes sense.

And so it was that at 10:00 a.m., I sat in my engineering seat, with a frappe beside me, my face on, my hair straight, my outfit cute, and Lynne Ford and Ron Schneeman sitting across from me.

It's the (BEST) Weekly Recap!

Man. I don't even think a recap does this week JUSTICE!!! But I'll try. :)

* Last Sunday was the day our church found out Ryan and I were dating. We put a lot of prayer into that day - more on that saga later. (I feel like I say that all the time now.) But anyway. It went better than we could have hoped, and people seemed genuinely excited for us. We appreciated that so much! After church, we had lunch with his family and people, I have to tell you. I have waited 34 years to have an in-law family, and never EVER could I have scripted such a warm welcome as that crew gave me. Unreal.

* Monday we celebrated a birthday at work and you've GOT to see these darling Pinterest inspired cookies that my friend Sheryl Glancy made. They are SO SO cute:

* Tuesday evening I went to Portland, Indiana, to hear Philip Gulley share some of his writing. He's a Quaker pastor who also writes fiction, and his writing is so entertaining. Jon and Julie (you all know my friends Jon and Julie) invited me to go with them to hear him. We had such a great time! This will crack you up. I met them at Pizza Hut for dinner first and Julie told me later that she'd told the workers there was one more person in their party coming. They asked what I looked like and she said, "Well, I think her hair is brown and...it might be straight...or curly..." LOL!!! My ADD for hair gets me in trouble!

* Wednesday evening Ryan came over and we went for a run. I had my best mile ever followed by my two worst miles ever. Take the good with the bad, right? :) Thankfully race day wasn't like that!

* Thursday, as you might have heard...um...I GOT ENGAGED!!!!!!!!! OH my word. I still cannot believe I am writing those words! Here's a sneak peek of the event for those of you who are not already tired of it from Facebook:

* Friday, Ryan and I took the day off work and went to Brown County. We planned that even before I knew I was getting engaged but I was so glad we did. No way could I have focused to work that day! WE had a great time and someday - you know in 3 weeks or so when I have you caught up on everything else...I'll tell you about this date!

* Saturday was so busy. (Wait. What day ISN'T busy??) Anyway. In the morning, I went to a 31 Party and then in the afternoon we went to a Tim Hawkins Comedy event and then to a pumpkin patch and corn maze. We're worried we might run out of pictures for the scrapbook so we keep scheduling things. HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pinterest Inspiration: As you might have gathered, I did not have time, but I am so proud of my man that I just have to share this. He assembled this for me as part of my engagement gift - and he said he loved it so much, he thinks it is Pinterest worthy. I totally agree. So I'm putting it here and you Pinterest addicts be a dear and pin this thing to your boards so he can have his dream come true of creating something Pinterest worthy? (I am so in love with a man who utters the phrase "I think this is Pinterest worthy.") And for the record, it's a real rose dipped in gold - and then he put it in the jar full of coffee beans because coffee is our THING.

My Mysterious Photographer

It has been observed that the day I went to Mounds State Park, I had a lot of pictures...but who took them?

Ryan.

:)

And now I can tell you that! We had such a fun day together that day. We started out at Gaither Family Resources for lunch and the best frappes on EARTH. (He'd never been there.) (Any man who will go to GFR is a good man.) (The frappes were UHmazing.)

So after our bellies were full of philly cheese steak hamburgers (not the real name but you get the idea) and those massive frappes, we hit the trails.

As I mentioned before, Ryan's adventuresome. Case in point: he was having a lot of fun on this limb out over the water. I was a bit nervous because he was wearing the backpack and it had my journal in it. I'm sure Ryan can swim. I'm sure my journal cannot.

 And yes. I took my journal with me. Don't judge me.

A bit of self-photography.

 The whole idea of the trails being well-marked was...um...a bit untrue. Yeah. We got lost. But no biggie. We read the map and found our way back to our trusty trail. And by we, I mean he.

 I failed to bring the tripod, so we had to use benches and railings for a tripod. Didn't slow us down much on the picture taking!!!

 After that, we went shopping (yep! He likes to shop!) and THEN - I introduced him to the wonder that is Skyline Chili.

 I'm SO unladylike on a date. Bring me the cheese-loaded spaghetti!!!

 Driving home. So happy for a fun day together!

 Until we hit construction. SERIOUSLY!?!?!??

So there you have it. The rest of the story - complete with my mysterious photographer.

Sigh of happiness.

First Date

Well...I've been SO looking forward to telling you about our first date, and then as many of you know, yesterday I had a new little (okay, stinking HUGE) surprise. RYAN PROPOSED TO ME!!

Shut the front door.

It's true, and now I'm so excited about THAT...that it's all I want to talk about. HOWEVER. I promised you yesterday a first date and to be true to the story, you need to read this stuff in order. So I PROMISE to give you two more days of back-story and then on Monday I'll skip ahead and dish the proposal. Promise. Trust me. You'll like this part. :)

So...I'm excited to tell you about our first date! It was a few weeks ago, and we had so much fun! Let me interrupt myself right off the bat to say bless Ryan's heart..he puts up with the Bekahrazzi. And he does more than put up with the photos. He actually enjoys it. I love it. I knew he was good when he didn't care that the tripod made an appearance to take the pre-date photo. (Just kidding...I knew he was good before that, but it definitely helped.)

One little detail you should know for fun is this: In my life, I've not been purposefully asked out too many times. Most of the time any date of mine has been the result of a discussion that ended in some mutual decision to hang out. And doggone it, I wanted the joy of being ASKED OUT!

Giggle.

So he did. He called me up on the phone and asked me if I'd go on a date with him. And I had complete giddy butterflies in my stomach when I said yes. People, this is how dating should begin. I loved it. Wouldn't have it any other way.

We work in opposite towns, so our first date was on a Saturday.

So....the pre-date photo. At this point, I had no idea where we were going or what we were doing. I love surprises!

 And no. We didn't mean to match. That was an accident. A happy little accident though!!

During our drive, we did a little car karaoke. A duet of the song 500 Miles. :)

 Destination: Indianapolis!!!!

 He had packed a lunch for us (and I didn't even know it) and we had a picnic! Picnic was on my livin' list for the summer, so that was an exciting surprise!!

 And then - we went on a paddleboat ride in the Canal downtown. I'd never done that before, so it was very exciting. It was also very WINDY.

 And that would be because it was about to storm. Oh my goodness. Nothing like the girl petrified of storms getting caught IN a storm IN a canal ON a boat ON a first date. LOL!!!!!! Good thing we were already such good friends.

 I was pretty visibly nervous, so he asked if I wanted him to pray for us. I started to say no because I was thinking get a grip, Bekah! It's just a storm! But then I realized it was probably in poor taste to say "no thanks" to a prayer offer, so I agreed and he prayed the nicest prayer over us right there in the canal.

For the record, when the storm hit, we were able to take shelter under a bridge, and we got out of the boat when the lightning started striking so we were as safe as we could be. In the end, it made a great story!

Throwing coins in a pond and making wishes....

 I threw a dime, baby. I'm not wasting pennies!! DIME SIZED WISHES!!!!!

 After a great day together, we headed home, stopping at Red Robin on the way so we could have dinner. Oh how I love that place.

 And I chowed down my burger, too!!! So ladylike.

So there you have it! A Bekah's Bits first - never before have I shared a first date with you guys! I'm so excited you got to see our day! :)

The Words I Never Thought I Could Say

I'm so anxious to share with you about our first date and to catch you up on that fun side of things, but I cannot move on to that without first saying this.

For those of you who knew me and most of all for those of you who walked beside me during the desert days, I need you to hear these words.

I would not trade that heartbreak for anything, and I can absolutely see why I needed to be so devastated...and I am so grateful for that season of my life and the purpose it now serves.

Wow. Never thought I would be able to say that and mean it.

When I wrestled through those dark months of rejection and hurt and anger and sadness (and you could insert about 10,000 more feelings right here), I knew there was no possible way this would ever be a good thing in my life. I knew it would always be the season that just went horribly wrong. The time when Satan got a foothold and God had to scramble to find something to do with me because Isaac had chosen to mess up the plan God intended.

And. I. Was. So. Wrong.

That season probably had many more purposes than I'll ever know on this earth. In my life at the time, it changed me into a new person. I learned that if I could survive that, I could survive anything. Nothing had ever physically, emotionally, and spiritually rocked me like that time. And at the end of it, I was 4 dress sizes smaller, a whole lot braver, and deeply in love with my Abba. That alone made the devastation worthwhile.

But now, on the other side of things, I see how necessary that darkness was. It has helped me understand Ryan's own hurt in a way I never could have if I'd not walked through it. It helped me know what things to say and what things not to say.

Genesis 50:20 says "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

I heard a pastor once say that the word intended in the original language means to weave.

You wove to harm me but God rewove it for good to accomplish what is now being done...

And that is how I view that season of my life now. While I still don't think Isaac is malicious and set out to break my heart, he did break my heart. And that weaving did devastate me. Deeply. But God rewove it and turned it into a beautiful platform for me to stand on...to accomplish what is now being done in my life.

And. I. Am. Grateful.

Thanks for reading along this week for the abbreviated version of how I came to be asked out on a date...which I'll tell you more about tomorrow!

Set Apart in Prayer

If you missed yesterday's post, you should scroll down or this isn't going to make any sense.

When Ryan came to me and said he had feelings for me, I had no idea what to say. There is a (large) handful of people on the planet I never expected to look my direction, and he was certainly among them. Since I'm sure you would stop me to say WHY????? if we were chatting together over coffee, I'll pause to answer that...

...Honestly? I considered him out of my league. (He HATES it when I say that, but it's seriously how I felt at the beginning.) He's extremely funny, he's an extrovert, he's adventuresome (like he went skydiving this summer...THAT kind of adventuresome), he loves sports and working out, and I just did not feel that this kind of nerdy writer who is scared of thunderstorms and the dark would ever stand a chance of his attention.

So it was quite a self-esteem booster to hear the words "I've started having feelings for you" out of his mouth - but at the same time, I wondered if I'd lost my ability to comprehend English entirely. Seriously? He liked me? This sort of stuff just does not happen in my universe.

We talked for a long time that evening and decided we needed to take some time apart and spend it in prayer to make sure that pursuing anything was smack in the center of God's desire for our lives. We had both been hurt too badly and were too good of friends to sail headlong into a relationship blindly.

You girls will understand this (and probably most of you guys too, though I won't ask you to admit it)...the next morning when I woke up, I wondered if I had hallucinated the whole conversation - and worse - I wondered if he'd changed his mind overnight.

I started keeping a journal just for that season of my life - where I wrote all my prayers, all my fears, all my secret wishes - ALL of it. And as the season drew to a close several weeks later, I went back and read through the journal. It's far too private to share the words on this screen, but let me just tell you what a wildly wonderful thing it is to have a front-row seat to watching your own heart walls collapse in a heap on the ground.

I read through the first guarded pages, laced with apprehension and disbelief and then as the pages progressed, I noticed more bits of vulnerability creeping in...more heart cries for wisdom and a genuine desire for God's blessing. I read the days when I wrestled so hard with ghosts of relationships past and struggled to believe that God would rewrite those hurts into something beautiful.

By the end of the journal, and by the end of the set-apart season, I was convinced beyond any doubt that this was exactly where God wanted me to be. It still surprised me that this was the path He'd chosen for me. It still surprised me that this out-of-my-league guy would even glance my way. It still surprised me that my heart was so open to trying again after all the devastation I'd been through before.

But I was so excited for a new start.

When You Stop Bossing God Around...

If you've been on the blog for a couple of years, you will remember my desert journey. If you're new...you'll have no idea what I'm talking about. So let me recap ever so briefly.

2 1/2 years ago, I was set up with a guy I'd never met before. We started talking, first online, then on the phone, and then in person. (Note...I did not MEET him online...we were set up through mutual friends. We just started talking that way.) We fell for each other pretty quickly and he told me early on that he wanted to marry me. Though we were never engaged, my mind was already convinced that this was my forever-relationship, and that's why I was utterly devastated when he told me God was calling him away into a wilderness to deal with some issues from his past - and he had to go alone.

For months, I waited, because I believed he would come back to me and we would move forward with our relationship. Furthermore, I felt God was calling me to wait...to be faithful even when everyone else was telling me to dump him and move on.

In the end, Isaac called me and told me he was not coming back and I should move on with my life. About a month later, I found out he was dating someone else, and they got married last year.

After he left, I told God in no uncertain terms that I was not interested in love ever again. I was positive Isaac was His best for me and if I couldn't have His best for me, I didn't want any settled-for second best.

People. It is not smart to boss around the Creator of the Universe. Let me just tell you that. Okay?

As my heart began to heal and especially as life began tumbling into the "Season of Suddenly" I talked about last week...with my new job...I began to ever-so-cautiously entertain the idea of new love. I went out on a few dates here and there, and every time I just knew it wasn't right. Either I had zero chemistry with the guy or I just knew it wasn't the right thing...or I got my heart broken again. The last heartbreak was so rough that it landed me in bed for an entire weekend, completely unable to get up to even eat. After that, I said it would have to be a clear sign from God if I was going to pursue a relationship again. Because otherwise it was just flat out TOO PAINFUL.

So...several weeks ago, I got a text from a friend of mine named Ryan. He and I actually went to high school together, and while we knew of each other back in those days, we weren't friends. (Not that we were enemies...we just didn't know each other well enough to be friends.) I got to know him better when I started attending the church I go to now...because he goes there as well. In the months that have passed since I went through my desert journey, Ryan went through a really tough relationship loss of his own, and it was after that...I received a text.

He said he needed to talk to me, and in my heart, I knew. I knew that although he had told me he had the same mentality toward finding a new relationship that I did (way too hard, so no thank you!!), he was a great guy and somewhere along the way, some girl was going to capture his heart and he'd rethink that decision. I knew it.

So I knew what the text was about. He'd found someone and he needed to curb his friendship with me so it wouldn't get in the way of whatever relationship he was about to begin. I told him he could come over and talk to me, and when he arrived, I was curled up in a ball on the floor of my living room, under a fleece blanket, shivering and trying not to cry.

He sat down on the floor beside me and began a detailed story (he's quite a good story-teller and includes ALL the details). I interrupted after about a sentence and with my eyes half-closed in pain, I said, "I know what you're here to say, so just say it."

He looked at me with surprise and said, "You do?" I nodded miserably and said, "Just SAY it. Just get it over with."

He took a deep breath and said, "Okay...I've started to have feelings for you."

(Insert stunned silence here, followed by a squeaked "huh?")

I'm telling you...when you stop bossing God around....

Fort4Fitness 10K

There is a distinct possibility this will be a long post. But please, please, please stick with me? I promise to make it worth your while.

Saturday was my 10K...the event you've been hearing about for weeks...MONTHS...now. And you've been so patient. I was careful to document the entire day so I could show you everything!! Let's start with breakfast, shall we? This is yours truly at 5 something in the morning ON A SATURDAY carbing up for the big race. Omelets...toast...coffee...and a huge side order of nerves!!!

 I could NOT have ordered a more beautiful day for this race!!! It was a perfectly sunny, blue sky sort of day...a little chilly, but honestly I'd rather have a little chilly over blasted hot. This is Parkview Field, the minor league baseball field in Fort Wayne...and the site of the finish line!

 Remember way back in the day when I told you I was coerced into this adventure by my co-worker? Meet my co-worker. This is Jeri. Her office is next to mine at work and she is a sweetheart! She was so encouraging to me as we trained. Jeri is a better runner than I, and her goal was to run the 10K in under 60 minutes. And in this pre-race photo, she was SO nervous!

 And you know how I've been telling you that I have a running partner? Yep, I'd like you to meet him. This is my running partner, Ryan. :)

 The starting lineup was just outside Parkview Field, and this is the view from Corral G. Up ahead...the blue and white thing...was the starting line. Interesting factoid about my training - other than running with Ryan, I'd never run with another soul around. Boy was THIS a change of pace!!!

 This smile is my "please don't let me die, Jesus" smile.

 And we're off! There were something to the tune of 10,000 runners all the races on Saturday. (There was a mini-marathon and a 4 mile walk as well.) Not sure how many were in our race, but um, it felt like all 10,000 were right there!!

 Running partner...jacket carrier (once it got too hot for me to wear mine)...AND photographer extraordinaire. That was Ryan's job during this race. And he did it splendidly. Don't I look like a real runner girl?

 Why in the world I think it's a good idea to post a photo of this angle on the world wide web, I'm sure I'll never know.

 Small walking break. This was toward the end...I had to walk the hills. Oh yes. There were hills. Sweet mercy. I thought I'd die.

 Back to running! Woops - this one was really from the beginning. Know how I know? Still wearing the jacket. Well, I never claimed to be chronological.

 Once we got to the very end of the race, we ran into the field and around the outfield...running across home plate as the finish line. By this time I was nearly dying. Okay not really. But it definitely felt that way. I'd asked Ryan not to tell me my time as we went along because I knew I'd get frustrated and discouraged if it wasn't good. So I had no idea how I was doing.

 In the upper right hand corner, you can see two blue pillars...that was the finish line. Then we crossed into the big tent where they had all kinds of water and snacks. WILL RUN FOR COOKIES!!!! And I did.

 The jumbotron where you could watch people cross the finish line. That was pretty cool. It was on TV too but obviously I couldn't watch that AND run at the same time.

Jeri finished in 59 minutes. I WAS SO PROUD OF HER!!!!! I finished in 1:07:52 and I was so proud of that too!!!! And when we made it across the line - we both had flowers waiting on us from the ladies at work. I adored that.

 The WBCL ladies. Sheryl and Jill are in pink and came just to cheer for Jeri and me. That meant so much to me!! And in blue is Diane, who was working for the station at the race. Love all these girls. I have the best co-workers! (Diane even prayed for all of us before the race!)

 And here I am with Ryan, post-race. And hopefully you're still reading this too-long-for-any-good-reason blog, because I have some extra news for you that I think you'll find pretty exciting. I've been waiting to tell you this news...Ryan and I are dating! YES! You read that right! Your Bekah's Bits girl has a boyfriend and a whole great story to tell you in the days to come. I'm so excited!

 And if you haven't passed out by either 1) sheer exhaustion or 2) the aforementioned news, allow me to close with this picture, which is me with my 10K medal. This smile is one of a girl who did something she never EVER thought she could do in 10 billion years. And I was so excited that I not only survived (my main goal) (okay my ONLY goal) - but I did a really good job. And I got to share the whole experience with Ryan, which was a really great blessing I never even knew was coming my way when I signed up to do this thing.

Come back tomorrow? I have more fun stories. :)