This picture was taken shortly after we got to Mandalay Bay for the 2011 Las Vegas Rock and Roll Half Marathon. As you can see, not all the peeps were wearing proper running shoes or running clothes, the reason will soon become clear, grasshopper. I am taking a cue from one of the people in our group, Christy Boccone. She said she thought it would be interesting to hear blogging from other people who were in our group and I couldn't agree more, so hear goes the version from the Burgan household.
In no particular order:
Jenny:- She works at Hendricks Regional Health in the marketing department. I will never forget the moment I "bonded" with her. We were doing a training run at Eagle Creek park and she stopped to walk with me for a while and we got to talking and I realized how amazing she really is. It has been a true pleasure to watch our friendship grow. She is one of those people who may not have always had a perfect life, but is able to find humor and/or compassion in every situation she is in. More importantly, she knows if you can't say something nice, at least make it funny.
Carrie: She also works at HRH in the marketing department. She is the most incredibly organized person I have ever met and I think of her fondly as the "stuff" Nazi. She spent 4 hours in my home one Sunday and when she left, it literally looked like a tornado had blown through, but at the end of it, my studio was transformed. She makes me laugh....my favorite line from her this weekend was "I'm just gonna throw this out there, but do we know where we are going?"
Becky: My newest friend. I met her last year during the mini training through HRH. We went downtown to do the Polar Bear Run and when I crossed the finish line, she just hugged me and was so supportive, I don't know, there was just something about her that drew me to her and I have felt really lucky to know her since. She also works at HRH. She is compassionate and wonderful and I am hoping I can someday kick her butt on the course, but more about that later.
Pam The one thing I love about Pam is that she may have been envious of all of us this weekend, but she was not jealous. I can only imagine how hard it would have been to have been there and not be running, but she had the best spirit and was a great cheerleader for all of us. I got to know Pam through the mini training program too. Are you starting to see a pattern here. When I start hitting the wall, I also remember Pam...more to follow.
Shane and Jayda Shane heads up the PT department at HRH. I also first met him during the mini training program, but then really, really got to know him by working with him as co-chair of the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event in Hendricks County this year and have been totally blown away by him as a person. Jayda makes a perfect yin to his yang and I am so grateful to have had this opportunity to get to know them, Jayda has been a bonus. These two make my heart sing! I love to watch them together, because you know this is pretty close to happily ever after.
Keith Another HRH employee, who works in the PT department. I got to know him mostly through our mini training program over the past couple of years, but he just straight up makes me smile. I don't think I have ever seen him in a bad mood. He always seems to have this cute, "imabout" to get in trouble kinda smile, always. Ya gotta love a boy who stands in the hallway at "I don't even know what time it is in the morning" and shouts "EEEva" in the truest Wall-E style. I'm scared he's actually gonna talk me in to 50 one of these days.
Ryan He works at HRH in PT also. This is the thing about Ryan, I always have found him to be very intimidating, very quiet and doesn't say too much but he has this great smile and when you see it, then it's all good. He was so great before and after the race, that I am now a fan. I'm telling you, these boys and their smiles...
Stephanie I think I have met her before, but remember I am old and I forget things....(just ask my kids how many times it takes me to get their names right). In any case, this beautiful girl was another friend of Jenny's, quiet as a mouse, but so enjoyable to spend time with; her bonus was she gave me some great fashion advice and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be the MacDaddy on New Year's Eve. She was fun and supportive of everyone around her and I look forward to hopefully getting to know her better. She also takes very good care of her friends.
Jody Speaking of friends, Stephanie's friend, Jody, was another trooper, who came along as our resident photographer and cheerleader. Also very quiet, but funny and insightful and observant and I really enjoyed spending time with her before the race. Adorable, just like her friend, or should I say twin, Stephanie.
Christy Very good friend of Jenny. We ALL had tutu envy, partly because she was dressed for fun and partly because it did not make her butt look big, (although to be honest, nothing could). She is smart and funny. She was very quiet, but again, hilarious when she did speak up. I will say that I wish we had had an opportunity to talk more, because the little bit of time I did get to spend chatting gave me an idea of how incredible she is, besides she has great taste in friends, right Jenny?
Neil: Last, but certainly not least, my best friend for over 21 years. Tell me this, how many spouses would follow their mate to Las Vegas, go exploring while she shops with the girls, go with 2 women who he didn't really know that well, while I was still shopping, to discuss history, world events, and cool places to go on vacation; go to dinner later, being the only male at the table, having to take flack from the server, stand in the cold waiting for a race to begin and never, and I mean never, complain? Yeah, that's the guy I am married to....lucky, I know, right?
So that's it for the first installment of my Las Vegas adventure...more to follow, because quite honestly, this one goes in the history books, folks, tune in next time...
