boston trip {round 2}

In April we were lucky enough to go back to Boston for another Boston Marathon! {You can read about last years trip here}  Our friend Tim had qualified last year to run again, so off we went with Tim & Melody for round two!

We flew in on Thursday evening and got to our hotel pretty late.  On Friday morning we drove to Hopkinton, Massachusetts {where the starting line is located} and drove the course into the city.  I love the drive because you go through some really awesome suburbs.  The houses are fun to look at! ;)

group pic @ the starting line in Hopkinton, MA

After the beautiful drive into the city, we went to a convention center to pick up Tim's packet & bib number.  After that we walked around downtown Boston a bit, and paid a visit to the finish line.  There are always lots of encouraging signs around the city at this time, but I think there were even more this year than what I remembered last year. Lots of them referencing the events that occurred at the finish line just over a year ago. I love all the clever signs that the shops along the last stretch of the race put in their windows...

clockwise from top left: the finish line // a New Balance store {I think?!} that was apparently 858.5 feet from the finish // a memorial of shoes and flowers @ a bombing location last year // large sign filled with signatures in a convention center // Starbucks' encouragement to runners passing by

Tim also got a hand made scarf for being a runner this year.  People all across the country made blue and yellow scarves for runners and they were passing them out downtown.  The man who put it on him said "Run with courage!" as he placed it around Tim's neck.  Melody also wrote her personal cheer for Tim on the large sign in the convention center...

That night we also took advantage of being in the city to go to a Red Sox game! It was fun... but also very cold.  Like 30's cold... brrrrr.

The cold weather really got to some of us....

#crazyeyes

The next day we made the trip to the Cape Cod area.  Oh my goodness... so beautiful! The houses... Mel & I were drooling.  I've always loved the east coast house styles more than the midwest style... and this trip just confirmed that even more.  Someday, if I ever get to build my own house, it will look like it got transplanted from Cape Cod.  Anyway, we had some really good food and took a quick little stroll on a beach!  Don't be fooled by the beach scene though, it was chilly!

snapped this one with my phone

Probably my favorite picture from the trip

Yeah I know, I had them face the sun in that top pic... bad photographer... :(

Monday was race day! We dropped Tim off at the starting line and Caleb, Melody, and I made our way to Framingham, MA at mile marker 6 and waited for a couple hours...
While waiting we see the wheelchair racers and racers with other disabilities go by, then we see the elite runners {aka wicked fast} go by as well.

Waiting patiently & taking up time with a photo opp // wheelchair racer // Shalane Flannigan - American runner who set a record that day! // entertaining signs along the course // Caleb & Mel updating social media and friends

We also saw the Hoyt's running in their last Boston Marathon...

Despite some kids trying to block my shot, I did get a couple of good pictures at mile 6...

Tim did the heart symbol in memory of his friend, Chad, who passed away last year while out on a run - also his bib number has "4 Chad" written out on it

Next we went to mile 17 in Newton, MA to wait for Tim to pass by.  Caleb got a really good video of Tim -- they {Caleb & Mel - I can't yell & take pictures at the same time!} were screaming to get his attention because we had to stand up on railings because there was no room anywhere else!

Then we made our way downtown via the subway station that was right next to us at mile 17, and got out to see Tim pass by at about mile 25.  He did not see us, as I'm sure his mind was elsewhere.  He was also hiding behind some people so I never really got a clear shot.  He might have been running beside his future self??? What do you think...?

Finished in 3 hours and 1 minute! An amazing 6:55 mile pace!

It was an amazing trip! And yes, Melody & I are really good at the Bahsten accents... :)

a week at table rock

This year we were able to take a week long lake trip with my side of the family to Table Rock lake.  It was so much fun!  The place that we stayed at was unbelievable!  We had a large cabin with enough rooms for each small family to have their own room.  The cabin also had it's own hot tub, two large decks {one of which was screened-in}, cable TV {hey, that's an amenity for us!}, an amazing shared pool, and plenty of taxidermy on display {to give it that really lodge-y feel}!  Not everyone was able to stay the entire length of the trip, but luckily we were able to.  So here are a lot of my pictures from the trip...

Pic of the cabins - Antler chandelier in the living room - The name of our cabin was "Lazy Bear Lodge"

Lots of ways to relax!

One of my favorite desserts ever... s'mores!

Mmmmmmm s'mores!

We got in LOTS of pool time at the amazing pool!

That last picture... well you judge for yourself... :)

The amazing pool slide! As you can see there are all types of ways to go down the slide...

Caleb & I were able to enjoy a beautiful sunset out on the water...

 

Dogwood Canyon Nature Park is a must-go in our opinion if you are down around Table Rock.  They have great activities to do there; and while you do have to pay for the different activities, we loved it so much we went there twice! It is so serene and well taken cared for, you feel like you might be in Hawaii with all the waterfalls and crystal clear water around.

 

Feeding the fish!

We did some biking while we where there, which was really fun.  Lainey enjoyed her carriage ride as well, while Leanne burned 10x more calories than the rest of us!

How about these two guys in a hot tub?!? :) No words for these two...

 On our way home from the lake, we made a stop at Persimmon Berry Farm which was just down the road from our cabins. Any former Kanakuk workers out there??? They know of the infamous "thunder muffins" that are as good as gold when you are a counselor at Kanakuk.  It was fun to stop there on the way out of town and eat some memories! :)

What a great way to spend a week!  Can't get enough of Table Rock!

summa time

It's been a while since I have been able to blog due to all the summer happenings going on the Champ household!  While I'm not able to start my new job until August {boo!}, I'm still working at the hospital and keeping busy!
We were able to go visit Caleb's brother and his family last weekend in Oklahoma.  It was so great to get to see them and it was extra special because we finally met our newest neice Kalli.  She's is four months old and all sorts of precious... :)

Little toes...

I was also thrilled to be able to spend some time with my sister-in-law Kristi, {I lovingly referred to her as my female soulmate} just to be able to share life with her! We talk joys and struggles and it's just an overall good experience for my soul! :)

We are starting another adventure this next week with a lake vacation with my side of the family! I'm super excited and hoping it involves s'mores, swimming, tanning, singing, laughing, late-night dock hang-outs, and of course, some time in Branson.  I'm sure it will be just as amazing and entertaining as last years lake trip {minus my husband's nasty facial hair - I prohibited that this year}!

boston trip

As you may have previously read in this post, we took a trip to Boston last week for the Boston Marathon and a mini-vacay.  We went with our friends, Tim & Melody, and Tim was running in the marathon.  The rest of us were comfortably watching from the sidelines! :)

As everyone knows, there were tragic events that took place a week ago at the finish line of the marathon.  Luckily, we had all left the downtown area an hour before the bombs went off and we were not staying at a hotel downtown.  I'm not really go into any story about the events because I was not directly involved and found out like many of you all, witnessing the tragedy on television in our hotel room. Of course my heart aches for those directly affected and the city of Boston... it truly is an amazing town.

But, onto the fun memories...

We arrived in Boston late Friday night {April 12th}. The first couple days of the trip included some touristy things. We got to do some fun sight seeing in the downtown area.  We went to the famous spots like Old North Church & Paul Revere's house.  It's so neat that Boston has so many historical sights right in their downtown area.  It was Paul Revere's house, then right next door was a Starbucks! :) You don't have to drive outside of the city to see all the history the town holds.

We took a trolley tour to see the city and we were able to jump on and off at any of the stops we wanted to actually spend time at.  I highly recommend the trolley tour for a way to see the city in a shorter amount of time without tons of walking.

Taken with my phone during the Old Time Trolley Tour

Getting ready for the race... Tim needed to go pick up his number and packet for the race, as well as get some of his official Boston Marathon gear! Since we stayed at a hotel near the starting line, on our way into the city so he could get all of his necessary items, we drove the marathon course. That was also a great experience because we were able to see several outlying towns of Boston.  Some of which were so incredibly beautiful! I love east coast architectural style, so I was gawking at many of the gorgeous homes, churches, & adorable store fronts of these towns.

Then... race day!!!

And yes, there are Dunkin' Donuts literally EVERYWHERE!  It didn't bother me by any means, I probably ate there 3 or 4 times on the trip!

The marathon was such a cool experience to me.  I used to be a runner {not to be confused with a marathon-er} so a little bit of me feels the racer's pain and excitement {although, likely not to the same extent as they experience}. For whatever reason, seeing people do well or working so hard can get me emotional, more in running than in any other sport.  If you get me near a high school state track meet I'll be a weeping mess! Melody & I both agreed, next time we should bring our tissues!

What was so awesome for Caleb, Melody, & myself is that we got to see Tim three times throughout the race.  That may not sound like a big deal, but for a marathon that basically runs in a straight line, plus one that is such a huge event where there are literally a million spectators, we were pretty proud of ourselves for our rock-star strategy.  We saw Tim at mile 6, 16, & 25!

Tim finished with a time of 2:58:43 - about a 6:49 mile pace.  My body aches just thinking about it!
We all agree we had a great time on the trip! Can't wait to watch the Boston Marathon again someday!

*All pictures taken by me unless otherwise noted

{exciting, fun, adventorous} week

This week has been a great week! Why? Because so many good things are happening!  First off, I got offered a job! Yay! {and I plan on taking it}  :)  It has been hard to be patient since graduating and passing boards, but I've tried to rest in the fact that I know God has a place and a plan for this phase of my life & career.  I'll be working as a nurse practitioner in a hospital and skilled nursing facility {which is an in-between place for people between hospital & home} in Blue Springs, Missouri.  I'm really excited and a little nervous about starting.  I don't have an exact start date yet but right now I'm celebrating in the fact I'm no longer looking for an NP position!

Yesterday, I told this news to my family while celebrating my mom's birthday.  I started off with "I have a little bit of news to share..." and I saw that initial look in my family's eyes when for a split second they thought maybe I would say I'm pregnant... but then it all dawned on them that it was probably just a job. They all still acted excited though for the job anyway! Ha! {One huge life change at a time, people!} :)
Dinner was great though!  Here's a picture of my mom and I after dinner.  I get told all the time I look like my mom.  I'm used to hearing people so much that I know it's true but sometimes it's hard to see it in yourself when people say you look like someone else.  Well... I see it in this picture...

It's like we have the exact same face! It's a compliment for me so, I'm blessed with that!

Another reason why this week is about to get even more awesome is because we are leaving shortly for Boston!  We are going with our friends, Tim & Melody.  Tim is a stud of a runner and he is running in the Boston Marathon.  I've never been to Boston so I'm excited to see some of the historical sites there, as well as experience {from the sidelines} the legendary Boston Marathon.  The weather is supposed to be nice and mild too!  Plus, who wouldn't want to travel with these guys...

They let me take pictures of them recently to try out a lens I rented to take on our Boston trip. :)

What a wonderful week, I'm truly blessed!  Can't wait to share Boston pictures and memories with you all soon!  East coast... here we come!

a trip to the rockies

Warning, if you don't want to see pictures of mountains, Caleb & I on mountains, or mountain wildlife, don't read this...

So we took a vacation.  A real, week-long vacation during my school vacation {which I'm still soaking up the last days of}.  We went to good 'ole colorful Colorado!  We stayed in a very cute and very cozy 1-bedroom cabin located in Rollinsville, about an hour south of Estes Park.

Just a pond with a view off the side of the road

We spent a lot of our time in Estes because it's such a quaint and cute town with great access to Rocky Mountain National Park.  On our first day we stopped a few times on the drive to Estes to enjoy the view and take some pictures.  The highway we drove to get to our cabin to Estes is known as the Peak to Peak scenic byway.  It lived up to its name...

Caleb & I in front of Long's Peak

When we got to Estes we did some shopping in the downtown area and also paid a visit to the Stanley Hotel.  If you're not familiar, the Stanley Hotel is famous for being haunted and also an inspiration to Stephen King's The Shining.

The hotel, built by Mr. Stanley Steamer himself

Old piano in the lobby of The Stanley

We also rode the aerial tramway in Estes which gives an amazing panoramic view of the town and Rocky Mountain National Park.

From the top of the aerial tramway

From the top of the aerial tramway

Here are a couple of pictures from out first visit into the park...

Elk roaming about and posing for pictures quite nicely

Clouds over Long's Peak

We had planned to do a couple of hikes while on this trip.  One hike was going to be pretty intense, a 14'ner (climb to or above 14,000 feet)... more on that one in a minute.  Here are a couple of pictures from a shorter hike we did.  It was about 5ish miles and we started out with an amazing view of a waterfall on a neighboring mountain.  We were unaware that we would eventually end up there!

The sun starting to come up over the mountains

A portion of the waterfall

End of the main trail - Diamond Lake

Standing on the edge of a cliff looking back at the mountain where our trail started

So our next hike, the 14'ner... was Mount Bierstadt.  I was a little nervous about doing such an intense hike after driving by other mountains that were in the 14,000 feet and imagining myself at the top! Caleb was very excited about it though so I did my best to mentally prepare.  The good thing about this hike was that it is only a little over 3 miles to the summit, but we also gain approximately 3,000 feet during the climb.  And when you get to the summit, it's only halfway. :)  But, Mt Bierstadt is one of the shorter 14'ners to do so that made it a good choice in my book.

So we started at about 6:20 am...

And the trail started out... the wooden planks at the being of the trail are just a big tease... TRUST me.

My favorite part of the hike... we saw a moose!!!

the moose :)

And then the torture set in...

My theory on why this hike got so steep so quickly is because we were going to gain about 1,000 feet per mile, on average.  Although I don't think it was quite that even.  I'm not an avid hiker, so maybe to those who are, that type of gain isn't a big deal, but to me it was!  Also I should note that I was not very well in-shape {given I hadn't really worked out in months} which made for a difficult climb.  Caleb on the other hand had consistently been doing Insanity workouts, so he was ready to go... but often waiting on me. :)

Looking way, way up to the top.  The jaged area on the left is known as the "sawtooth" trail, we didn't do that part.

Starting to get steep here.  Our cars are beyond the farthest lake in the left-middle of the picture.

 Caleb was a good coach to me throughout the climb.  I may have whined, like once... maybe twice... ;)  Here's a video I took when we had made it about 2/3 of the way up...

Getting close to the summit!

 And finally we made it!!! And the view was spectacular!

Someone had made a sign and let us borrow it for a picture!

Very relieved!

And you can sign in... who knew!?!

And the way down was good too... although long.  I just could not wait to SIT DOWN!

Beautiful views the entire hike!

Downhill!

And an iPhone pic from when we were done, because I was just to weak to even pick up my camera another time.

Well I can check that off the bucket list, and now Caleb can't wait to do another! I'm going to get in shape before the next one though!

We loved just driving around the park and looking for wildlife, here's a couple of pictures...

Big horn sheep, mostly small guys & gals though

Elk

We also drove Trail Ridge Road in the park.  It's a drive with TONS of views, one of my favorite things to do in the park.

Enjoying the views

Clouds moving in

Long's Peak

Herd of Elk

Great sunsets in the park too.

Sunset in Rocky Mountain National Park

One evening we did a 2 hour horseback ride.  I loved it, Caleb was sad they didn't let us gallop... :)  I didn't take my camera but I had my phone of course {which at one point during the ride I dropped, which luckily my horse didn't step on!}  Here's a couple of pics from the ride...

My horse, Eclipse

Caleb and his BFF Classy!

We also enjoyed a mini-hike in the park on our last day to some waterfalls.

A colorful mushroom on the trail

Aspen's everywhere, I really want to go in the fall when they turn beautiful colors!

Alberta Falls

Us in front of the falls

The trip was wonderful! Can't wait to go back!