Remembering 2013 & Cheers to 2014

It has been quite the year. There is no doubt it was life changing. It was full of so much fun, new experiences, a few breakdowns, stress, memories, and lots and lots of love.

We started the year off with a big snow storm and I enjoyed a few days off work, and I knew these may be my last snow days for awhile

 Brandon traveled to Guatemala for a medical mission trip

Had my first of three bridal showers, it is such a blessing to have so many wonderful people in my life who support Brandon and I.

Headed to Nashville for my bachelorette party. It was a weekend I will never forget!

We found out we were moving to Orlando, Florida! The nerves and stress began to settle in as we had to plan for a move to a new city and I began the stress of figuring out where my next career path would go.

We got to meet two of the newest members of the "Squad" as two of our best friends had two beautiful little boys in May.

Brandon graduated medical school and became Dr. Alexander. I couldn't be more proud of him and more happy to be the women to walk by his side during his journey to make it to graduation and beyond.

A week later, we tied the knot and the whole weekend was just another reminder how lucky we are to have so many wonderful people in our lives. It was a "pinch-me, is this real life" day.

Spent our honeymoon in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. It was perfect and I can't wait to plan another trip!

We made the long move to Orlando, FL. We have adjusted very well and take advantage of all Florida has to offer. We miss all of our family and friends in MO, but if we have to move, Florida is the place to be.

 I spent the rest of the summer in MO spending lots of time with friends and family and celebrating the wedding of another great friend.

 I ended the summer with getting LASIK eye surgery and graduating from UMKC with my Masters of Arts in Education. I proudly earned academic honors and graduated with a 3.89 (that one dumb B from the spring semester!). Many tears and late nights were spent achieving that degree in two years while working full time and one part time job, proud of it and glad it's over.

My first trip back to MO was to celebrate one of my best friends weddings. I was so honored to be her Maid of Honor!

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family in Orlando and traveled to St. Louis for Christmas.

2013 has been a blessed year for us. I know there are many more blessings ahead of us, but to be honest. I'm ready for a low key year. Hoping for relaxation in 2014.

**Who can help get the Pinterest button off my pages? I can't find the URL in my template to remove it***

Alexander Family Christmas

I was so excited to throw our first party and combine all the things I love! 

Decorating my home for guests, finally using a lot of our wedding presents that have stayed in boxes, downing sangria, and playing drinking games.

Brandon first introduced me to Christmas Vacation when we started dating, I have no idea how I had never seen this movie till then, but I've been making up for lost time. And what goes great with awesome Christmas movies? Awesome drinking games to play along with awesome Christmas movies. Thanks to one of my favorite blogs Little Baby Garvin I used her amazing rules.

All of my Christmas decorations come from pre & post Christmas sales. Almost all of it came from Target last year. I also hit the clearance jackpot at Target two days ago. They were getting ahead of the game, but I'm not complaining. I scored lots of clearance Christmas kitchen goodies--most expensive piece was a snowflake bowl for $8. Who can argue with that?

I made Winter Sangria the night before and created homemade potpourri, both were equally amazing.

Winter Sangria:

1 bottle of Pinot

1 bottle sparkling apple cider

Couple bits of mint

1 cup cranberries

1 apple sliced

1 orange sliced

Stove Potpourri:

4 cups water (boil)

1 cup cranberries

Couple bay leaves

Whole Cloves

Cinnamon sticks

1 orange sliced

Brandon's shirt is from Khols & mine is from the boy's section in Target

 Couldn't resist---I SAID FREEZE!

I have made it a mission to have the Alexander Family Christmas party every year from now on!

Training Kick Off- 2 Miles

5:45 am, Saturday morning, sun isn't even up yet. But I am awake and suiting up for a morning run...

Excuse me? 

That's why Team In Training is such a vital necessity for my training. I would never do something like that on my own, I barely got out of bed as it is.

But I did it and I completed my first training day of 2 miles!
I warmed up with a fast walk for 5 minutes, ran about a mile and ended with a five minute cool down.

After we had all completed our miles, we celebrated with breakfast, sharing our stories and reasons we joined Team In Training, and got to hear from our Honored Hero.

Every Team In Training event has an Honored Hero that we run for. Our hero for Nike is named Jarred and he was diagnosed with Leukemia at the end of his senior year of high school. He is now in remission and studying journalism at UCF. It was so good to hear his story and see in person, the reason we are doing what we are doing.

Thank the good Lord, I live in Florida. I couldn't imagine (& wouldn't) train during the winter if I lived ANYWHERE else!

 I have hit my goal of 1/4 for November, but I feel like I'm hitting a bump on my second 1/4 goal of getting halfway to my commitment. The holidays and crazy life schedules are putting a damper in my fundraising, but as I continue to rack up the miles, I will continue to promote and hope that I can keep getting donations.
I want to see more little ones with shirts like this...don't you? 

Please donate to my fundraising page at http://pages.teamintraining.org/ncfl/nikewhlf14/kalexanjdj to make your stand against blood cancer today. Every dollar helps and every dollar goes to the direct mission of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. 

If you are wondering where exactly your money is going, please visit my previous post at Where is my Donation Going?

Fundraising & Running Update
Miles: 2
Money Raised: $855.00
Percentage to Complete: 27%
Amount left to go:  $2,345
Days till Race: 131

Where is my donation going?

Yes we can.

Thanks to my generous donations, I have reached my first goal of $800!! I am 25% to my total! I can't believe how much support I have gotten from my family and friends. But I'm still not there yet and it's on to my next goal of another $800 by December 31st.

This past weekend I worked at the Space Coast Marathon & Half Marathon in Cocoa, FL. It was my first time being a part of an event with Team In Training. If I ever had any doubt about if I could run a half marathon, it was squashed watching over 5,000 runners of all ages, shapes, & sizes run not only half marathons, but full ones too! I was so inspired by all the hard work I saw go into this event.

Team In Training had 62 participants run and they raised over $82,000!! So my $3,200 seems like pocket change.

Since today is #GivingTuesday I wanted to let me friends and family know where their money is going when they make a donation to my fundraising goal.

LLS is the world's largest voluntary (nonprofit) health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services.

78% of every dollar raised goes directly to mission activities.

Since 1949, LLS, with your help, has invested almost $1 billion in research to advance therapies and save lives. 

But what is YOUR money going to for ME and why is my fundraising goal so high? 

Each race has it's own individual standard of cost, both to the participant and the organization who is running the event. Because my race requires a 3 night hotel stay, my fundraising commitment has been raised to cover that cost so that 78% of my total is still going directly into the mission. The donator also is not paying for my transporation to DC, that cost is on me.

Please donate today, and make a difference in the lives of many touched by blood cancer. As you can see, every dollar DOES make a difference!

Kate's Team In Training Page