Winter Wonderland

So I think I have finally caught up on my blog. I'm pretty sure that's not how it works but I wanted to get some of that out there to share the memories!

This weekend we had a major snow storm. I am not really a snow/winter weather kind of person...give me a beach any day! However, I really enjoyed the snow this time around. We got about 20 inches of snow which never really happens in the DC area. The good news was that we got out of work today so that made me happy.


I went to Katie's on Friday and got stuck in the storm so my car sat at Katie's fro a few days! We ventured out in the snow using Katie's 4 wheel drive a couple of times which meant we did a lot of shoveling! It does get annoying but I had fun with it. The kids in the neighborhood had lots of fun making snow men and just playing in the fluffy snow! Since we were stuck inside for most of the time we did some holiday baking. It was fun making lots of cookies and other goodies but I'm pretty sure I licked too many spoons! :) Sometimes I think God sends us these big storms to tell us to slow down and just enjoy life a little. I haven't had a lazy day to just chill and watch movies in a while so that felt really good!


I finally got my car out of the snow and made my way home Sunday afternoon. It was a little scary driving in the snow and sliding around but I made it. I got a few things done around the house, went for a little run on the treadmill, then hung out at my neighbors house for the evening.

Unfortunately, the storm forced us to cancel our marathon training on Saturday. I have tried to do a little running but it is very hard with all the snow and ice. I am not a huge fan of running on the treadmill but I guess it will have to work for now. I will be ready to get back to the real training soon.

Well, as you all know this Friday is Christmas! I am sooo excited for the Christmas day festivities and time with my family!

Remember to enjoy every moment!

T N T

It is official I have completely gone way beyond what I ever expected! On November 18th I signed up to run a Marathon. I went into the meeting planning on signing up for the half marathon and was convinced to train for the full. For those of you who may not know…that is a total of 26.2 miles of running. After that night I was stoked but completely scared of what I had just done. Okay sorry I’m getting ahead of myself. I know that I cannot train for a marathon on my own so I decided to work with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. They have what is called TEAM in Training which provides coaches, mentors, and training materials to individuals in exchange for raising money for the Society. I am all about raising money for a good cause as you may have seen in other posts so the combination of training and fundraising was pretty appealing. I am required to raise a minimum of $1,900 by the race in March which is a little scary but I trust that with hard work and faith I will succeed. I will be running in the 2010 Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach on March 21st. I am so excited about this experience and hope everyone can come out to support our team!

Check out my web page at: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/shamrock10/ashaff

The official kick-off was Saturday December 5th. I was still at the excited but nervous stage so I was hoping it would be a good experience. To my surprise it was a great experience. Everyone there was so nice and really helpful. We all sat with our mentor and team mates so I got to know a lot of cool people. Sarah our mentor was as nice in person as she was on the phone and in her emails. I am going to attempt to share a little about some of my teammates without butchering their names or info. I also met Melissa who is running a Marathon for the first time. She and I both agreed we will need buddy runs to get us through the training. Maggee is running her first endurance event as well training for the Shamrock half marathon. Brett and Hayley are also running their first marathon. Paula I believe is doing the half marathon due to an injury. There were a few other people there that I didn’t get a chance to talk to very much and a few that couldn’t make it but I’m sure I will get to know them all pretty well over the season. I walked away from that first event excited and ready to go for the gold (so to speak)!

This first week I got in two pretty good runs and will be cross training tonight. I hope I am ready for the big team run on Saturday.

“Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” ~Unknown

Turkey Day!

This Thanksgiving I left the Tuesday before to go home and visit the family! This made for a nice long 5 day vacation. I was able to spend a lot of time with my family and get a little shopping done which I thoroughly enjoyed! Wednesday got up and went for a morning run in the rain. Surprisingly I did a little over 3 miles. That afternoon I did some Christmas shopping with my dad. He helped me find some tools and stuff. For some reason he loved spending my money. J Later that evening my family met up with my dad’s younger brother, his family, and his wife’s sister’s family at Plaza Azteca. It was crazy how many people we got at one giant table. We had so much fun talking and enjoying our favorite Mexican Restaurant! My sister (Lindsey), bro-in-law (Wes) and I gave my mom a wii fit for her Birthday so we all had a little bit of fun playing with that. Then Thursday was another big family celebration but this time it was at my parents house. Mom made a turkey and a ham. I contributed rolls and a salad then everyone else brought a side dish or dessert. We had enough food to feed an army but that was good with all the family we had over. The crowd included my parents, Lindsey and Wes, Wes’ family, my aunt and uncle, cousin Josh and Jesse, cousin Ashley, Wayne, and Ethan. It was so much fun having everyone there an especially the babies…Ethan and Bella are the cutest! After everyone left there weren’t many leftovers which was probably a good thing since we were all stuffed! Later that evening my parents, Lindsey, Wes, and I played Mexican Train. I am sooooo PROUD to say that I won that game. We even went down the numbers and back up again. That is pretty impressive considering I was up against my Dad and Wes who usually win at games! After that we rented a movie from redbox. If you haven’t tried it you should…find a location at www.redbox.com. Movies are only a dollar per night and there are so many coupons out there you can usually get some free (we totally took advantage of that one). It is such a great deal! Luckily I got to sleep at a decent hour because we left the house around 4:50 for some crazy black Friday shopping…yes my crazy mom convinced us all to go! It was actually a really good experience. We got some great deals and didn’t spend much time in line. After a quick nap and some lunch I headed up to Busch Gardens to help Ashley sell my aunts jewelry at the Market. It was a lot of fun hanging out with her and seeing the lights but it was freezing cold. When I left I couldn’t feel my feet or hands…probably not a good thing. Saturday I spent the day mostly hanging out with my mom. Then we all went up to Busch Gardens to really experience the Christmas Town. We had a lot of fun seeing the lights and shows. My favorite was when my dad convensed me to ride the Griffin with him. It was dark, a little chilly, and from the top you could see all the lights in the park. It was so much fun. The only let downs were the train because it was too crowded to even get on and the Penguin Show. This 30 minute wait in line brought us to a showcase with 2 penguins in it yes that is all just two. Definitely a let down but it was still worth a fun night with the family. Sunday rolled around and we went to church and then my mom and I had lunch at TGI Fridays. After that I went through some storage items and then packed up to go home. I was not looking forward to this and for good reason. It took me over 5 hours to get home. Although it was a miserable drive back it was well worth the amazing time I had with my family the past few days!

To all…be thankful for all you have and continue to love those closest to you!

Give Thanks!

This year I decided that I wanted to get more involved with organizations that are making a difference. I felt like this would be a great way for me to give of my time, money, and resources and know that it was making a difference. The first way I chose to get involved was participating in the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Give Thanks Walk. This was a 5k that was set up to raise money for the organization. When I signed up to do the walk and raise money I thought I would go for a small goal. Then I realized that by doing that I wasn’t showing any faith that God could provide more than I could do or expect. My final goal for the event was $500. This seemed high but I had all hopes that I would make it. To my surprise people were very generous and I not only met my goal but I exceeded it.
http://www.givethankswalk.org/
http://www.stjude.org



The walk was held at Potomac Mills Mall bright and early on a Saturday morning. It was a little difficult getting out of bed but I couldn’t say no after all the effort I put into it. I really enjoyed the walk and was so impressed at how many people came out to support. Katie and I walked the 5k with hundreds of other supporters including, men, women, and children. There were encouraging faces everywhere. After our walk we quickly made our way to IHop. We were a couple of very hungry girls. From there we went to Ikea for a little shopping. However, we got there a little early so we had to wait in the children’s section which brought out the crazy little girls inside us! We were silly but had a lot of fun!

When I sent out my thank you letter to my supporters I included the following quote because it is exactly how I feel right now.

"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do." ~Edward Everett Hale

I have many other events and activities planned for the near future (stay tuned) so come out with me and make a difference. Each of us can do something!

A Spooky Time of the Year

This year I had talked about dressing up and going all out for Halloween. However, I chose a quiet evening in with some friends. I have never really cared about Halloween so it wasn’t a disappointment. I do however really enjoy the fall season and its festivities! That night a co-worker was having a costume party and Lisa and some other friends were joining in on the fun. Earlier in the afternoon Lisa and I carved a pumpkin and sipped on some Starbucks. It was an awesome way to enjoy the fall season. Then later on she and Chrissy got dressed and Cameron and his friends came over before the big party. After they left Katie, Jordan, and I carved pumpkins, made caramel apples, and sipped on festive drinks! We also ended up having a hair dying party (Katie and I) in the kitchen. It was fun but not really fall like except I was going darker. We had a good time that night but unfortunately I don’t think I have any pictures to share. Until next Halloween when the fall festivities continue!

Oh Canada, Oh Canada!

So my work gave me the great opportunity to go to Ottawa, Canada for a few days. At first I was a little hesitant due to the fact that I don’t really like the cold weather and my only other experience in Canada was not the best. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it.

The flight there wasn’t too bad and I had a lay over in Chicago. On my flight from Chicago to Ottawa I sat next to a very nice man who is a WL in Jacksonville, FL. He was having issues with his pay and was hoping I was his DC contact. He was a very nice man who tried not to be too creepy with a young lady. It was cute.

Once in Canada I made my short drive to the hotel where they informed me that I had been given an upgrade. Apparently they didn’t have the room available that I had originally booked. They put me on the 24th floor in a king suite! I had more room than I knew what to do with. The suite included a full kitchen, two bathrooms, a guest room, a master king size room, living room, laundry room, and sun room. Talk about an amazing view from 24 stories up! It was a perfect view of the Ottawa River, the bridge, and downtown. I tried to capture the beauty on my camera but it didn’t do it justice! That first night I got my things ready for my meetings the next day, went out to explore the town a little, and got some dinner at the local subway. Parts of the trip didn’t feel like I left the US at all.

I loved the fancy robe they gave me too!


The next day I had my meetings bright and early and did some work in the office. Two of the ladies I worked with took me to a very nice Mediterranean lunch. After a little bit more work I left the office to go back to the hotel and send some emails. I quickly did what I needed to get done and headed out to explore the town.


I found my way to all the old government buildings. First I came across the Supreme Court and a lovely stone church. Then I walked down further and found the Parliament buildings. It was so cool because anyone could just walk right up to it like it was nothing. Clearly at that point I was no longer in the US. In front of parliament was a fire display representing the different Canadian provinces. I only know this because another tourist was talking to his children about it! Thanks Mr. Canadian! After walking around the parliament area I walked down town a little further. I saw some more nice architecture and other statues that I didn’t know anything about.




Finally, I came across what is now my favorite spot in Canada, the locks. There was a path that went down to the locks and a museum that was being remodeled right on the Ottawa River. Along the river was a trail for biking and running. I walked up the trail a little bit to see the beautiful trees changing. On way back to the locks I saw a kayaker in the water. It was so cool to see him out there…it made me a little jealous! After that nice stroll through downtown Ottawa I headed back toward the hotel and picked up some dinner on the way.




I was excited about my experience but then I had the whole evening alone…I don’t like being alone very much but I survived. I got a good night sleep and headed out the next morning for my flight back to the states. Once I got back to DC I was excited to see Katie who picked me up from the airport. It was so nice to see a familiar friendly face after a few days away!

Well, I think that is my last trip for a while so I am still relishing in the experience!

Temporary Home

Temporary home by Carrie Underwood…I love the words to this song. It makes me think about the lyrics when they say, “this is my temporary home not where I belong.” It’s so true that we are only temporarily here and that what we are created for is to live with God forever in eternity. However, we were also placed on this earth for a temporary amount of time. The question becomes what are we doing with that time we have been given? I feel like there are so many things I want to do in life and at one point I felt restricted by the responsibilities of life. I felt like I never had enough money or resources or time to invest in something truly meaningful. I think I have started to give up on that concept. I have started to take a step no matter how small and see how big it becomes. I took a step of faith with raising money for St. Jude and The Leukemia & Lymphoma society and then I hope to take another step of faith and go to Africa next year. It seems like a lot all at once but if I can continue to do this just think of what all of those small differences could do. My hearts desire is to make a difference in this world and touch someone’s life…even if that means in my own town. I don’t want the things that I do and get involved in to put the spotlight on me at all. This is me just doing what God has called me to do and it’s the people that are being touched that mean the most…not how I contribute. I love this passion he has given me to make a difference and I was worried that I didn’t know how to use that. However, he has continued to open up doors for me to do my part. What an amazing feeling! God is the one making these things happen and I am just making sure I am in the right place at the right time. I continue to give him the glory through it all!

Fall Festivities

Well it has been a while since I have been on here. Our Internet isn't the most reliable so I haven't started the habit of writing on here regularly. Anyways I hope that changes soon since I have quite a few exciting things coming up but I will save that for later.

First, a little recap on the fun events this fall. There are a few things that just bring out the fall spirit including pumpkin carving, decorations, corn mazes, and nice warm beverages. I am happy to say that I have had all of the above rounding out a very nice 2009 Fall.

The corn maze was so much fun. My friends Katie and Jordan and I took two beautiful little girls to run around one evening. We had so much fun dashing through the corn stalks. They have questions for you to follow in order to get all the way through the maze. Somehow we went from 2 to almost the end. I'm not really sure how that happened but it may be due to the fact that we cheated a little.







I am pretty sure we made it through most of the maze and were able to climb up the lookout to see the whole view.





Once we made it out we spent a little time on the giant yellow bouncy thing. Totally felt like a little kid again jumping all over the place.


Well the sun went down and we were all tired from running around and jumping all over the place so we decided to go to dinner. We ended up at Emilios for dinner and enjoyed some yummy Italian food!



There are a few more stories from this fall so I will come back and share the rest later! Hope everyone enjoyed the fall season!