Jerry Loses His Dad Bod: Week 3

I feel like I should feel bad that I get a sense of relief that it's Jerry's weigh-in day and not mine, haha. Of course, mine is tomorrow, so there isn't much difference. But when writing today's post, I have a bit of a relief tingle in my belly.

I do feel bad that I wasn't very helpful this week as far as Jerry's diet goes. I was sick for a few miserable days this week, so I didn't cook. I haven't been cooking the best foods and I've yet to make and stick with a meal plan. Why is meal planning so hard?! It seems like I spend so much time writing things out, going grocery shopping, and prepping food, only to learn that nobody is going to be here for dinner or that they just ate something else after work/school.

Jerry keeps telling me just to make whatever I want to make, and if nobody else wants it or they eat otherwise, that's not my fault. My mom guilt is always high ;)

Anyway, back to Jerry's week of working on losing his dad bod. He said yesterday that he knew he wasn't going to do good on the scale today. And while it wasn't terrible, he didn't lose any weight:

He was at 192.0, which is a gain of 0.2 pounds from last week. I'd say that's no big deal! (Although, I also know how a little gain like that can turn into more and more until they add up to 25 pounds.)

His waist measurement stayed the same at 34.5 inches but his body fat percentage went up by 0.5% (from 23.3% last week).

I can't help but feel at least partially responsible! It was my idea to have him do this publicly, so I could have been more helpful.

Since I'm starting a challenge for February (eating ONLY at the dining room table with ZERO distractions), I think it's going to be easier to help him. I'm definitely not going to want to snack if I have to sit at the table to do it, so I'll likely be in the mood to prepare an extra good, filling dinner. When Jerry eating a bigger dinner at home, he tends to eat less at work.

Okay, I asked Jerry to write his thoughts about this week, so I'll hand it over to him:

Todays weigh in was a little disappointing but I'm not going to shy away from my shortcomings. At this point I figured I would've been down a lot more than this. In the past it seemed like I would lose a lot faster but not this time. It's been a struggle. I know where I go wrong and I'm trying to experiment with different eating habits. 

WRONGS: 

- Snacking. When Katie and I are just hanging out I tend to snack. It can be worse when everyone is asleep and I am watching a show alone in the living room. There have been times where I've been aware of what I was doing and stopped and other times I just can't resist the urge. It's a difficult habit to break. 

- Fruits and vegetables... not enough. I've had more than I normally have but I feel like I need more. 

- Exercise. I need to put more of a solid effort in figuring out what I should be doing here as opposed to just saying "I'll figure it out tomorrow". 

RIGHTS: 

- I've been downing the water. No problem getting that in. 

- Katie and I have been talking about just eating better overall. Better, overall nutritious meals that are smaller in portion. We've both admitted we are aware of the portion sizes increasing in our meals and that they've come to lack some of the nutrition we need. 

Overall, I'm feeling better... even though the scale isn't saying that. I know that I can do better and I'm making an effort to do that. Being more conscious of what I'm eating or what I'm doing helps me in knowing what I'm doing right or wrong and that is helping me to make improvements.

It sounds like he knows what's going on and what he'd like to change, so hopefully I can be a better help this week! Wish me luck for tomorrow ;)  Hopefully I can make it through Day 1, hahaha.

A Unique Challenge for February

Challenges, goals, challenges, goals... many of you are probably thinking, "Katie, will you EVER learn?! Finish the goals you already started before setting new ones!"

Well, I can just blame bipolar, right? ;)  Seriously, though, this isn't anything major--and it's just for a month. February. I deliberately picked the shortest month of the year for this!

In pinpointing my snacking habits and why I'm having such a hard time breaking the bad habits, I came up with a solution that I am 100% certain will work. The problem is that I have to be 100% compliant, haha.

When the kids were little, we used to sit down for dinner (almost) every evening at the dining room table and eat together as a family. As the kids got older, we started watching TV while eating, and then eating at separate times that are convenient for each of us, and then the worst--eating in our bedrooms.

Once in a while I notice my kids carry a huge pile of dishes out of their bedrooms to the kitchen and it infuriates me--if they're going to eat in there, at the VERY LEAST they need to put their dishes away immediately! But honestly, we shouldn't be eating in our bedrooms at all.

I've also gotten to the point where I feel like I need to multitask 100% of the time, which includes eating. Eating just for the sake of eating seems so--boring? unproductive?--to me. I can't imagine myself snacking at night if I literally just sat down at the table for a snack. No phone, no book, no TV, nothing. I wouldn't want to eat!

Soooo... you can see where this is leading. For the month of February, I'm going to challenge myself to eat ONLY at the table and with ZERO distractions. I can eat whenever and whatever I want, sticking with my usual vegan diet, but it must be eaten at the table and with no distractions.

This isn't anything profound, I know. It's discussed in all of the "intuitive eating" and "non-diet" type books. I'm not doing this for any reason other than to hopefully get a jumpstart on breaking the bad snacking habit. Will I continue to do this forever? Ha! I will be pleasantly surprised if I make it through three days.

My only exceptions will be for ice (because I'm obsessed with chewing ice and I literally cannot fathom giving it up) and for tea at night. (Oh, and water.) I'm hoping to replace my snacking with a good cup of hot tea. (Definitely not the same I know, but I can dream.)

The only other exception I can think of would be is if I'm eating with other people--if we get together with Dave and Renee, for example, we might snack while playing Euchre. But I can only foresee that situation occurring maybe once or twice.

I asked Eli if he'd like to try it, too, because he's notorious for eating in his bedroom. I picture this to be even harder for him than it is for me! I'd like to think of an award for him if he does it--he does best with an incentive. Remember I offered him $365 if he could go a year without pop? (He was super addicted to it.) He did it! So, maybe he'll surprise me. 

Mostly, though, I want an incentive for MYSELF. Yes, it's childish; I'm an adult and I should do what's right whether I get anything out of it or not. But this is going to be one of the hardest challenges I've ever tried. So, I'll have to think about it tomorrow and then decide what my incentive will be before I begin on February 1st. Maybe we should start a pool of how long I'll actually last on this one ;)

(Almost) Wordless: Random pic generator

I've got a busy day today, so I'd like to get my post ready before my friend Shannon is supposed to come over. We haven't seen each other since probably 2018(?!) so there is a lot to catch up on! I'm looking forward to seeing her, though.

I couldn't think of a photo for my (almost) wordless post today; then I figured out a system that made me want to sit and do this all day long, haha. When I moved my photos to my new computer from my old one, I renamed them all to a number (in chronological order, starting with 1 and ending around 43,000) to make things easier and more uniform.

To choose some truly random photos for this post, I went to Random.org (a random number generator), requested a number between 1 and 43,000, and then whatever number it gave me corresponded with the photo of that same number.

Soooo... these are completely random photos! It was hard to stop generating more and more because it was fun to see what came up.

Here, we were at my sister's house. She told the kids to pretend like they were sleeping for the photo.

This was obviously at a Tiger's game... see all the empty seats? Haha!

Big Mama was the first to really make use of the squirrel picnic table I made for the little buddies.

I had just gotten back from a (hot) run and Jerry was mowing the lawn. He saw me taking a selfie so he naturally had to act goofy.

Eli dressed up as Woody from Toy Story :)

Finally, I saved this for last because it's a huge coincidence... the number that came up was 4596. So, judging by the number, this picture was from a relatively long time ago. I don't know many kids with red hair, but I immediately recognized him as Bradley--my friend Shannon's son, who is just a month older than Eli. Shannon is the friend I am seeing today! I probably have less than five pictures of her kids in all 43,000+ photos. I just thought it was funny that her son's picture happened to be one of the randomly drawn ones on the day I'm going to see her for the first time in like 4-5 years.

We were just talking about how fast the kids grew up. We were pregnant at the same time with Eli and Bradley, and I cannot believe it's been over 17 years!

This was actually a really fun to post to work on. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Late Replies

I'm having a "down" day today--my anxiety has been really bad recently--so I just thought I'd share some wisdom from an old friend, Adam. I saw this on Instagram the other day and it reminded me SO MUCH of me. I am absolutely terrible about getting back to people in a timely manner (if at all), no matter whether it's texts, emails, phone calls, or comments on social media.

I carry around guilt all the time because I know I have months of emails in my inbox, texts that I've been meaning to reply to (I'm the world's slowest texter, so I usually wait until I'm on my computer and I can text easily from there), and comments that I can remember reading weeks or months ago with the intention of replying. By then, it's awkwardly late!

Adam and I were very close friends in our teens. He's always been super smart and driven, and I guess I can't say that I'm surprised he became pretty famous among the psychology/business world.

Funnily enough, I've not read any of his books because they just aren't the kinds of books that interest me! But I like to read his thoughts on social media--aside from being incredibly smart, he has a lot of wise thoughts as well. Like I said, this one in particular spoke to me:

In a twist of irony, I have an email from Adam in my inbox that's probably a year and a half old now, and I honest-to-God have planned to reply when I set aside time to focus on a response. (This is what I often tell myself and then I get overwhelmed and procrastinate.) I will just remind him in my reply that it's quality, not speed, that matters. Hahaha.

I know I've said this before, but if you've emailed me and I haven't replied, it's NOT personal; I literally just get overwhelmed and I have every intention of writing a thoughtful, personal response. It just might take a (long) while. This is something I would love to work on, but it's overwhelming just to think about where to start!

I'm glad I'm not the only one, though--I searched for memes to lighten this up and found that there are a ton of people who do the same thing I do. Most of the time, I reply to something mentally right when I open it, but then I forget to go back and actually type the reply!

Anyway, I'm going to work on cleaning my house really well today because my friend Shannon is coming over tomorrow--and she hasn't been here since I remodeled the whole thing. It needs a good cleaning!

Friday Night Photos #102

I don't have a lot of photos, but a mishmash of some random stuff. Today, I spent nearly all day finishing up the little books I made for Luke and Riley for Christmas. I know, Christmas was a month ago! But I still had some pages to fill out and I hadn't seen them for Christmas (Noah was pretty sick). I *must* get these to the kids this weekend. I'm thrilled with how they turned out!

Someone asked me to share more about them, so I'm going to write a separate detailed post about the whole thing--a tutorial. But for now, here are a few fun things from their books:

 

It's easier to imagine how it works when you look at the sides (the tutorial will show more)

I needed to come up with some ideas for the pages and I decided to get creative with the program that I use to edit photos. Usually I just resize pictures and maybe brighten them if they are too dark, but I played around some more today to get fun pictures for their books...

Luke likes a Super Mario Bros. game and I played it with him. The cats were my favorite!

Luke wants to be a pilot when he grows up, like his dad. Photo credit: @pilotpatrick on Instagram. He posts a ton of (photoshopped) photos like this. I just grabbed one of his and edited it for Luke. (If you, @pilotpatrick, happen to see this, I'd be happy to remove it at your request!) But check out his Instagram if you'd like some fun male eye-candy ;)

Riley wants to be a nurse like her mom. Becky worked as an RN before she became a stay-at-home mom.

This one is my favorite. Riley is OBSESSED with unicorns! Credit: The photo came from Etsy seller My Kids Dream. She basically does the same thing that I did--put your kid's face on the body. (And again, if the seller happens to see this and would like me to remove it, I'd be happy to.)

Anyway, the books turned out super cute and I'm excited to share the whole thing in a tutorial!

Speaking of Riley, my mom took her to a "princess party" at a local recreation center. There were lots of girls dressed as princesses, and being treated as such for an evening :)  (I don't know the names of the Disney princesses, but I'm guessing this is one of them.)

Jerry and I started talking about what the cutest baby animal in the world is. We had no idea! We love kittens, but we haven't exactly looked this up before. After a google search and debate, we settled on THIS baby orangutan 😍

I don't like to celebrate birthdays, as you know, because I hate getting older. So it was only fitting, then, that I got pretty sick for a few days--the worst of it was on my birthday, actually. Jerry made me a "boogie bag" for all of my used tissues (I blew my nose a LOT). I took a few COVID tests and all were negative. Today, I am 100% on the mend. The only residual symptoms are that I'm super exhausted and that I'm still blowing my nose. But no sinus infection, fever, chills, or anything like that. Yay! (Although, this cold set me back on my 10K training for a week.)

Despite the fact that I was sick, I still wanted to choose a birthday dinner. For each of our birthdays, we get to pick our dinner--go out to a restaurant, get take-out, cook something here, whatever we want. And out of alllllll the food in allllll the world, you know what I wanted most?

Vegan Truffle Mac & Cheese with shredded BBQ soy curls on top. BAHAHAHA! Who the heck did I turn into? On Monday, I will have been vegan for one year. Can you believe it? I never, ever would have imagined being vegan one day. And ohmygosh, I love this food. 

Renee wished me happy birthday on Facebook and she included this picture. I'd never seen it before! I don't remember that shirt at all; but from the photo, I'm thinking it was our first day of our first practice of our first season coaching cross country. That was when we had practices at the elementary school and we included second graders!

I saw this cat bed on Amazon or something and I immediately thought about how easy it would be to make. I could probably whip this up in under two hours. And I have the perfect fabric for it, too...

I had a suede/faux fur coat that was too big on me. (Side note: Even though I have some suede and leather things--obviously not vegan--I don't feel like it's right to just get rid of them for the sole purpose of them not being vegan. I feel like that would be even more wasteful/disrespectful. I feel like keeping and caring for the animal products I already have is more respectful to the animals than just getting rid of them. So, if you see me wearing leather or suede, it's NOT new--it's something I've already owned.)

Anyway, I didn't want to just get rid of this suede coat (that I bought at Goodwill) because it's super soft and I knew the cats would like it. I disassembled the coat and then over the past few days, I cut the pieces into shapes that I could tetris together. Now, I can use that fabric for a couple of hammocks, like above, or another sort of cat bed. And then get rid of the gross beds!

These are all of the disassembled pieces of the coat. I'm too lazy to go find the blanket I stitched them into.

I'll start working on the hammock when my energy comes back (this virus or whatever sort of head cold it was has wiped me out).

I got a very generous and special gift in the mail from an old reader (who I like to consider a friend, although we've never met in person) named Cathy. She is SUPER crafty and she made me a "Crazy Cat Lady" tumbler with black cats on it! And there is a pen to match. I opened the package this morning and immediately used both items while making a grocery list.

Here they are up close:

Cathy was worried I'd be offended by the word "crazy"--while some people with mental illness may find it offensive, I do not AT ALL. So please, call me crazy all you want! :)  I actually like the term, because it describes me pretty well, hahaha.

Cathy did NOT ask me to share these gifts or link to her Etsy store, but I want to do that--she has been incredibly kind and generous for probably 10 years now(!). You could not find a better seller than Cathy. (She has given me a couple of things before and the quality is top-notch!) You can find her Etsy store here: Eleventh Avenue Crafts. 

Jerry and I laughed at the cats on the tumbler because the one at the very top looks JUST like Duck and the one sitting in the plant looking upward looks exactly like Chick. 

Finally, this is the project I've chosen to work on in February. I think I'm going to stash my latch hook aside for another time because I'm just not enjoying it! I bought the pattern for this Shameless Mitts a long time ago but I never got around to making them. With arthritis in my hands, the cold really irritates it; wearing fingerless mitts always helps! I have some fabric ones that I made a couple of years ago, but I really like these ones. And I miss Shameless! ;)

Jerry is apparently sick with whatever virus I had, so we plan on having a low-key weekend again. I can't say that I'm complaining--it's been fun to not have to be anywhere.

Have a great weekened! xo

Three Things Thursday: Embarrassingly Late Lessons

I was up late one night recently, unable to sleep of course, and I somehow came across a thread on Reddit that then sucked me in for literally about two hours! It was such a fun read and it made me think of a few things of my own.

The thread was a question: What is something that you learned embarrassingly late in life?

I thought of one immediately (which I'll list) but then I started thinking of others. And one of them I actually learned while I was reading the thread! Hahaha. So here it goes...

Three Things Thursday: Three Things I Learned Embarrassingly Late In Life

1) "This little piggy went to market" did NOT, in fact, mean that he was going grocery shopping.

He was going to the market to be sold for meat! I only learned this within the last five years or so, which means I spent 35+ years thinking that the little children's rhyme was cute and happy. (Now, as an ethical vegan, it's a bit traumatizing--ignorance is bliss sometimes, for sure!

Look how misleading! I mean, a fox and a rabbit shopping together? C'mon! ;)

2) The movie Spaceballs is a parody of Star Wars.

It's no secret that Jerry is obsessed with Star Wars. And I don't use the word "obsessed" lightly. I have never had any interest in the series and I only watched the movie for the first time about two years ago for Jerry's birthday (I strongly disliked it and still have no interest in it). I even dressed like Princess Leia for the occasion--luckily, Jerry knows what a cool wife he has, haha)

However, when I was a kid, I *loved* the movie Spaceballs! My older brother and sister would watch it, too, and I can remember when their friends came over Jeanie and Brian used me like a party trick--they would ask me to quote things from Spaceballs and I knew every goddamn line of that movie, hahaha. 

They especially liked when I quoted the "We're looking at now, sir. Everything that's happening now is happening now." (See the short scene below.) Their friends thought it was hilarious--I must have been pretty young for them to find it funny that I knew the lines!

It never registered to me that Spaceballs was a parody of Star Wars because I'd never seen the movie Star Wars--or even questioned anything about it! I was just never interested in it. When it finally clicked a couple of years ago, I couldn't believe it. I think it was the Dark Helmet/Darth Vader thing that made the connection for me. Then I started asking Jerry a million questions about how each thing from Spaceballs was connected to Star Wars.

3) Chicken eggs are fertilized from chickens mating.

I always--until last week, when I read this on the Reddit thread!--thought that chicken and bird eggs were fertilized AFTER the egg was laid. I guess I assumed the rooster came along and deposited sperm or something on it? I never really gave it any real thought!

The longest I'd ever really been around chickens was for an hour or two, and even then, there probably wasn't even a rooster around; I'd never witnessed anything that I thought was mating. I have no idea why I thought that the eggs were fertilized afterward, but thinking about it now, it definitely makes more sense!

This picture below isn't at all related to mating chickens, but I thought it was funny. We were dying Easter eggs when Eli was 15 months old, and the reason Eli is crying so hard in this photo has nothing to do with the eggs--but the fact that I wouldn't let him drink the glass of egg dye, hahaha.

Now that I've read the Reddit thread, I know that I'm not the only one to learn things like this embarrassingly late in life... but please share any of your own! I'd love to read them ;) 

(Here is a link to the Reddit thread if you want to read some really great ones. I'll share below a couple of ones that made me laugh way too hard.)

A Look Back at My 31st Birthday Virtual 5K!

This is a repost from 10 years ago! When I was turning 31 years old, I thought it would be fun to host a virtual 5K for my birthday (31 years old... 3.1 miles). It was free to sign up and I didn't do any of the fancy swag or anything... I just bought and made some prizes for a drawing at the end.

If I'd have thought of it, I would have done a 10 year anniversary race this year! But it's fun to look back at this. These are the results of the 5K (sorted by age group). I also listed some fun facts at the end. 

For the life of me, I cannot find a way to access all of the posts that everybody shared to my Facebook page after they did their 5K! It was so fun to read through them (and that's how I met some people who are now good friends of mine). But it was 10 years ago, and since Facebook has clearly changed, they may be lost forever. Here are a few pictures I have, though...

My mom was cruisin'!

Jerry was probably racing me

Jeanie (my sister) running in Illinois

The printable race bib--it's so cringy now! Haha.

Okay, here goes (the post from 10 years ago)... 

First, I'd like to congratulate EVERYONE who finished the 5K--whether you were fast or slow, walked or ran, did it for fun, or tried to meet a goal--you should be VERY proud!! Here is a list of the finishers that filled out the finisher's form (I know there are people not on here, considering my sister is one of them!)

Name	Age group	Time	Where 5K was run
Erin Beacham	19 and under	0:26:40	Philadelphia, PA
Lindsey Hill	19 and under	0:39:41	Fairview Park, OH
Becky Arnold	19 and under	0:40:00	Mifflintown PA
Ryan Hill	19 and under	0:40:00	Fairview Park, OH
William Reynolds	19 and under	0:43:30	Florida, USA
pupdog24	19 and under	0:45:23	Williamsport, PA
Ana	19 and under	0:48:16	Indianapolis/Indiana
Allison	20-24	0:24:38	Bowling Green, Ohio
Sarah Hussaini	20-24	0:25:32	NY, NY
Mackenzie Dickson	20-24	0:26:40	Manassas, Virginia
Dana Marie	20-24	0:27:08	Murfreesboro, TN
Kat H	20-24	0:27:21	Maryland
Tessa M.	20-24	0:27:31	Portland, OR
Elizabeth R	20-24	0:27:45	East Windsor, CT
Krystal	20-24	0:28:05	Waterford, MI
Elizabeth DH	20-24	0:28:37	West Lafayette, IN
Ally Mo	20-24	0:29:04	Minneapolis, MN
Morgan Julane	20-24	0:29:22	Normal, IL
Aaryn Exparza	20-24	0:29:23	Roseburg, Oregon
Andrea	20-24	0:30:23	Albany, NY
JFultsRN	20-24	0:30:55	Edwardsville, IL
Karie	20-24	0:31:02	Cresco, Iowa
Haley	20-24	0:31:45	Clemson University, SC
Katie H	20-24	0:32:10	Machias, ME
Beverly B	20-24	0:32:21	Rome, ny
Alicia Bailey	20-24	0:33:51	Lynchburg, Virginia
Amelia	20-24	0:34:22	Surrey, BC, Canada
Kendall	20-24	0:34:22	Surrey, BC, Canada
Simi	20-24	0:34:22	Surrey, BC, Canada
Lindsey Maxwell	20-24	0:35:02	Lexington, SC
Jess	20-24	0:35:11	Columbus, Ohio
Emily H	20-24	0:35:22	Chicago, IL
Melissa Neary	20-24	0:36:36	Salt Lake
AmandaLarsen22	20-24	0:43:08	Wolsey, SD
Aimee	20-24	0:43:13	Des Moines, IA
Jessica R	20-24	0:45:35	California
Caryn	20-24	0:45:46	Omaha, NE
Jenna Beyer	20-24	0:55:56	Canyon, Texas
Mikayla L	20-24	0:58:10	Walla Walla, WA
Kellie G	20-24	0:58:36	Canton, Georgia
Ricci	20-24	1:11:55	Alabaster, AL
Krystal B.	20-24	untimed	Wellsboro, PA
Becky (my sis-in-law!)	25-29	0:21:33	St. Paul, MN
Katie Nussbaum	25-29	0:23:42	Hudson, Il
Lindsay	25-29	0:23:48	Boston, MA
Michele	25-29	0:24:06	California
AshleyW	25-29	0:24:36	Ypumgstown, OH
Thomas Graf	25-29	0:24:51	Beaverton, Oregon
Steph P.	25-29	0:25:37	Duluth, MN
Erin	25-29	0:26:43	Knoxville,TN
Kelly the Culinarian	25-29	0:27:00	Oak Brook, IL
Carie A.	25-29	0:27:32	Creston, Iowa
Sus	25-29	0:27:38	New Zealand
Serenity	25-29	0:29:05	Houston, Texas
Kate B	25-29	0:29:36	Pittsburgh, PA
Luci	25-29	0:29:43	Chicago
Leslie SB	25-29	0:29:51	Asheville, NC
Angela	25-29	0:29:53	Los Angeles, CA
Erica W	25-29	0:29:58	Cedar Rapids, IA
Amy	25-29	0:30:39	Overland Park, KS
Emma	25-29	0:30:48	Adelaide, Australia
Izabela Pabian	25-29	0:31:04	Shelton, CT
cpost90	25-29	0:31:11	Alberta, Canada
Allison	25-29	0:31:12	Denver, CO
Jennifer	25-29	0:31:38	St Louis, MO
Laura	25-29	0:31:39	Ulysses,KS
Meg	25-29	0:31:45	Portland, Maine
Janet H	25-29	0:31:47	Bartlesville, Oklahoma
L. J.	25-29	0:32:00	Washington, DC
Molli Freeman-Lynde	25-29	0:32:17	Durham, NC
Bethieb163	25-29	0:32:21	Columbia, SC
Diane	25-29	0:33:10	Easthampton, MA
Mor L	25-29	0:33:30	Israel
Sarah T	25-29	0:33:52	Glennville, GA
Emily Anderson	25-29	0:34:12	Portland, OR
Beth	25-29	0:34:52	Fredericksburg, VA
Ashleigh	25-29	0:35:24	Washington, DC
Laurel	25-29	0:35:38	Tigard, Oregon
Cathie	25-29	0:36:04	Altamonte Springs, FL
Crystal	25-29	0:36:14	Denver, CO
Allison M	25-29	0:36:41	Dana Point, CA
Vanessa	25-29	0:36:48	Ontario, California
Shelley	25-29	0:37:01	Stow, O
Becky S.	25-29	0:37:10	Logan, UT
Rachel B.	25-29	0:37:13	St. Louis MO
Razorback Britt	25-29	0:37:50	Fort Smith, AR
Kelsey	25-29	0:38:34	Plainview,TX
Katy Clements	25-29	0:38:40	Buffalo, NY
Krystle	25-29	0:38:54	Corpus Christi, TX
Soraya	25-29	0:38:57	Chattanooga, TN
Christine K.	25-29	0:39:02	Victoria, BC, Canada!
Danita	25-29	0:39:24	Lafayette, GA
Teresa	25-29	0:39:33	Switzerland!
Ali B	25-29	0:39:40	Vermont
Jessica Lynn	25-29	0:39:58	Milwaukee, WI
Carrie	25-29	0:40:22	Wichita, KS
Kim Phillips	25-29	0:40:22	Wichita, KS
AudreyF	25-29	0:41:02	Sellersburg, IN
Joanna	25-29	0:41:07	Cincinnati, OH
Katy	25-29	0:41:15	Whitesboro, Texas
shecsgoer	25-29	0:41:35	Mitchell, SD
Cheri	25-29	0:42:06	Sacramento, CA
Jenniek	25-29	0:42:08	Southaven, MS
Ashley M.	25-29	0:42:09	Nashville, TN
Ana S	25-29	0:42:17	London Uk
Courtney H	25-29	0:42:24	Ruston, LA
Bean :-)	25-29	0:42:48	Muncie, Indiana
Aimee	25-29	0:44:12	Philadelphia, PA
Caity	25-29	0:44:14	Hollidaysburg PA
WhitneyT	25-29	0:44:16	Memphis, TN
Amandawk	25-29	0:44:30	Seattle, WA
katyabeth	25-29	0:44:53	san francisco ca
Colleen Martin	25-29	0:45:10	Baltimore, MD
Morgan	25-29	0:46:54	Canada
lindsay	25-29	0:47:11	Hurst, texas
jen	25-29	0:47:43	raleigh, nc
Jeannine Matisz	25-29	0:50:00	Canada
Katie100385	25-29	0:50:47	Adair, IA
Smadsen03	25-29	0:51:14	Springfield, IL
Natoria S.	25-29	0:53:21	Tallassee, AL
Desiree Rutherford	25-29	0:53:22	Portland, Texas
Allison L.	25-29	0:54:56	Peoria, AZ
EmDub	25-29	0:56:04	Indianapolis, IN
Chrisandra	25-29	0:56:17	Windsor, Ontario
Brittany	25-29	0:57:42	Westport, WA
Katie Keough	25-29	0:57:50	Kaysville, UT
Roberta	25-29	0:58:22	Grande Prairie, AB, Canada
Michael G.	25-29	1:04:06	Davis, California
Natalie S.	25-29	1:04:06	Davis, California
Ashley	25-29	1:04:48	Roanoke,Va
Rebecca Gifford	25-29	1:05:28	Euless, Texas
Robyn	25-29	1:07:07	Hershey, PA
Savoy Truffle	25-29	1:10:00	Knoxville, TN
Iris G.	25-29	untimed	DFW, Texas
Kati	25-29	untimed	Tacoma, WA
Nik	25-29	untimed	NY, NY
MrsRoss	25-29	untimed	Nebraska
Sara G	25-29	untimed	Rome, GA
Stephanie	30-34	0:22:41	Southgate, MI
Katie (Runs for Cookies)	30-34	0:23:56	Newport, MI
Brie Roth	30-34	0:24:35	Coralville, IA
Stephanie	30-34	0:24:36	Spring Hill, tn
Kylie	30-34	0:24:38	Windom, MN
Lyndsey	30-34	0:25:03	Akron, OH
Rebekah	30-34	0:25:07	Washington DC
Jerry (Mr. Runs for Cookies)	30-34	0:25:08	Newport, MI
Lisa	30-34	0:25:48	Norwood, MA
ween19	30-34	0:25:59	Denver, CO
Lisa	30-34	0:27:19	Ferndale, WA
Yasmin Bartal	30-34	0:27:30	Canada
Ciarra1028	30-34	0:27:33	Bloomington, IL
Serena Michelle	30-34	0:27:57	San Diego, CA
Crystal L.	30-34	0:28:07	Summerville, SC
Kelly Grant	30-34	0:28:24	Austin, TX
Jamie Jackson	30-34	0:29:14	East Lansing, MI
Sean	30-34	0:29:14	Chesapeake, VA
Elizabeth	30-34	0:29:19	Richmond, Virginia
Amanda R.	30-34	0:29:47	Richmond, VA
Nicole Leonard	30-34	0:29:54	Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Lindsey Yancey	30-34	0:30:30	Columbia, MO
Lindsay	30-34	0:30:32	Indianapolis, IN
Katie P.	30-34	0:30:46	Woodbury, MN
Karey Eastburn	30-34	0:31:00	Eugene, OREGON
Lisa Whitney	30-34	0:31:00	Reno, NV
AnnMay	30-34	0:31:02	Ohio
Manatarms	30-34	0:31:05	Lenoir, nc
Nicole Joy	30-34	0:31:15	Miles City, Montana
Jaclyn	30-34	0:32:29	Albuquerque, NM
Adrienne	30-34	0:32:38	Humble, TX
Tifanni	30-34	0:32:53	Polson,MT
Erin	30-34	0:33:06	Northwest Ohio
Michelle Tucker	30-34	0:33:11	Fort Smith, AR
Stephie	30-34	0:33:34	Columbus, OH
Jen Buhler	30-34	0:33:51	Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Amanda Walters	30-34	0:33:55	Wilmington NC
k8e26	30-34	0:33:56	Manassas, VA
Jodi T.	30-34	0:33:58	Fairview Heights, IL
Lee Ann Mitchell	30-34	0:34:13	Ypsilanti, MI
gingintrips	30-34	0:34:17	Atlanta, Georgia
Amy H	30-34	0:34:25	Dallas, TX
Chele	30-34	0:34:29	Boston, MA
Dara	30-34	0:34:31	Overland Park, KS
Tiffany	30-34	0:34:35	Great Falls, Mont.
pattie	30-34	0:34:36	Nebraska City, NE
Nicole	30-34	0:35:00	Buffalo,NY
Jodi Y	30-34	0:35:21	Hudson, Wisconsin
LessofLynsey	30-34	0:35:36	Beresford, SD
Jordan B	30-34	0:35:45	Racine, WI
Katie M	30-34	0:36:04	Washington state
Vicky	30-34	0:36:14	Sugarloaf, PA
Christy D	30-34	0:36:28	Burleson, TX
Michelle	30-34	0:36:29	Keene, NH
Kristina Turtura	30-34	0:36:56	Syracuse, New York
Tara Guerra	30-34	0:36:57	Georgetown, TX
Rachael	30-34	0:37:12	Boise, Idaho
acribb01	30-34	0:37:20	Louisville, KY
Alice M.	30-34	0:37:22	Salt Lake City
Runs To Get Waisted	30-34	0:37:41	Hillsboro, OR
Jody Charneicki	30-34	0:37:42	Houston, PA
Kelly Stokes	30-34	0:37:42	Denver, CO
GrowininFaithShrinkinInSize	30-34	0:37:46	St. Paul, MN
Vera	30-34	0:37:48	Munich, Germany
Sam B	30-34	0:37:49	Mayfield Heights, OH
Amy DuGas	30-34	0:37:50	London, Ontario, Canada
MargaretS	30-34	0:38:06	centreville, VA
Marsha	30-34	0:38:12	Ypsilanti, MI
Cat T	30-34	0:38:36	Denver, CO
Katie W	30-34	0:39:03	St. Louis, MO
Becky	30-34	0:39:19	Cleveland OH
Joanie	30-34	0:39:21	New Brunswick, NJ
Brew	30-34	0:39:33	Linden,Mi
Lisa	30-34	0:39:35	AZ
jenlarson	30-34	0:40:00	Shakopee, MN
Travis	30-34	0:40:00	Shakopee, MN
Amy	30-34	0:40:15	Garden City Mi
Brenna Koko	30-34	0:40:36	Peyton Co
Renzryd	30-34	0:40:48	Portland, Oregon
Jill	30-34	0:40:51	Grand Rapids
Jessica S	30-34	0:41:11	Omaha NE
Allyson Ross	30-34	0:41:13	High Point, NC
Emily	30-34	0:41:33	Austin, TX
Jenny_Bu	30-34	0:41:35	Cleveland, OH
Nearl	30-34	0:41:57	Boston, MA
KwajBecky	30-34	0:42:07	Kwajalein, Marshall Islands
Stacey	30-34	0:42:30	Staunton, VA
Shannon	30-34	0:42:34	Memphis, TN
Lenore	30-34	0:43:05	Escondido, Ca
fancynancy28	30-34	0:43:08	Pittsburgh Pa
Jamie	30-34	0:43:50	Houston, TX
BreannaS	30-34	0:44:12	Chillicothe, MO
Stephie G.	30-34	0:44:26	Raleigh, NC
Julie Keys	30-34	0:44:34	Dunkirk, MD
Jamie	30-34	0:44:37	Oglesby, IL
Jeni V.	30-34	0:44:50	Chesterton, IN
Elizabeth	30-34	0:44:57	La Crosse, WI
Kristi	30-34	0:45:10	Los Angeles
Jennifer Moody	30-34	0:46:08	Austin, TX
Kim P	30-34	0:46:09	Milwaukee, WI
Jane	30-34	0:46:32	Salt Lake City, UT
Munkybug	30-34	0:46:39	St. Louis, MO
Cindy	30-34	0:47:06	Midland, MI
Jenifer Jennings	30-34	0:47:13	Spokane WA
Erin	30-34	0:47:22	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Chrissy792	30-34	0:48:16	Indianapolis/Indiana
Nichole	30-34	0:49:06	Elyria, Ohio
Andrea Kem	30-34	0:49:07	Greenfield, Indiana
Maria Ballon	30-34	0:50:38	Onley, VA
Malia	30-34	0:51:39	Nashua, NH
Rachel Tehvand	30-34	0:51:41	USAG Ansbach, Germany
Shelley	30-34	0:52:47	Middleton, Michigan
Amanda S	30-34	0:52:56	Melbourne, FL
Cass Marie	30-34	0:53:33	Cullman, AL
Annette Rife	30-34	0:54:30	Bremerton, WA
Samantha Curto	30-34	0:54:37	Omaha, NE
Tracy Hein	30-34	0:54:39	New Brunswick, Canada
Mandi Lynn	30-34	0:55:08	Bowling Green
Maegen F.	30-34	0:55:34	Coeur d'Alene, ID
Renee	30-34	0:57:23	Katy, TX
Chonda	30-34	0:58:19	Meadville, MS
Rachel McCullough	30-34	0:58:35	Pensacola,Florida
Dena	30-34	0:58:48	Richland, WA
SugarBean	30-34	1:00:01	Hickory, NC
Amie S	30-34	1:00:27	Pittsburgh, PA
Amanda C	30-34	1:01:21	Abilene, TX
Z	30-34	1:02:00	New Delhi, India
Colleen	30-34	1:03:00	Sioux City, Iowa
Megan M	30-34	1:04:21	Chicago
Amanda	30-34	1:06:45	Chesapeake, VA
Desireejude	30-34	untimed	Jefferson City, Mo
Lindsay	30-34	untimed	Knoxville, TN
Tiffani	30-34	untimed	Amarillo, TX
Brian (my brother!)	35-39	0:22:57	St. Paul, MN
Laura B.	35-39	0:23:47	Hastings, MI
Mark's Girl	35-39	0:24:46	Concord, NH
Alice Thornton	35-39	0:24:58	Worthing, West Sussex, UK
Shelly	35-39	0:25:00	Canton, MI
Leeana	35-39	0:25:02	Toronto, Ontario in Canada
EliseNJ	35-39	0:25:45	Central New Jersey
Cathy	35-39	0:25:51	Mount Vernon, WA
Collette	35-39	0:26:33	Draper, UT
Andrea Black	35-39	0:27:23	Lenexa, Kansas
Teresa M.	35-39	0:27:46	Antioch, IL
Jessica	35-39	0:28:17	Monroe, MI
Becky C	35-39	0:28:39	London,Ont, Canada
Michelle	35-39	0:28:51	Kansas City, MO
Cindy	35-39	0:29:02	Springville, UT
Ashlee	35-39	0:29:30	Kansas City
Runnin' Brownie	35-39	0:29:33	Morristown, TN
kcaliff	35-39	0:29:36	Ankeny, IA
Amy	35-39	0:29:45	Norwich, ct
Karen K	35-39	0:29:58	Flower Mound, TX
Joshua Nelson	35-39	0:30:37	Oakland County, MI
Heidi W	35-39	0:31:48	Overland Park, KS
Joyelle	35-39	0:31:57	New Lenox, IL
Jen B.	35-39	0:32:12	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
carly	35-39	0:32:33	Bronwsville, Texas
MeechRobi	35-39	0:33:15	Groton, CT
Becky Klutts	35-39	0:33:23	Iowa City, iA
Jamie Miller	35-39	0:33:45	Omaha, NE
Stephanie Rife	35-39	0:33:50	South Lyon, MI
Katie B	35-39	0:34:10	Perry, MI
Fairchild	35-39	0:34:52	Fort Worth, Texas
Twinmomma	35-39	0:36:24	West Sacramento, CA
Simply Healthy Mama	35-39	0:36:58	Greenville, NC
Tami Grandi	35-39	0:37:02	Knoxville, TN
Monica	35-39	0:38:08	Portland, OR
Robyn O.	35-39	0:38:15	Missoula, MT
Shawn	35-39	0:38:26	Pella, Iowa
Louise	35-39	0:39:12	Birmingham uk
Jessica H	35-39	0:40:03	Davenport IA
Jen	35-39	0:40:05	Harrisburg, PA
Jerica388	35-39	0:40:22	Columbus, IN
Pati Haaz	35-39	0:40:29	México City
Suzi	35-39	0:41:42	Buffalo, NY
Stephanie B.	35-39	0:42:05	Galesburg, IL
LP	35-39	0:42:38	Mililani, HI
Laura	35-39	0:42:47	Winston Salem, NC
Jennifer Peterson	35-39	0:43:02	Muscatine, IA
Allison Reynolds	35-39	0:43:30	Edgewater, Florida
Klienke	35-39	0:43:30	Minneapolis, MN
Emily Odhiambo	35-39	0:43:57	Rochester, NY
Shayne	35-39	0:44:28	Spokane Valley, WA
Renee	35-39	0:44:54	Omaha, NE
Jen Swanson	35-39	0:45:05	Queens NY
#1BAMAFAN1	35-39	0:45:40	Town Creek, Alabama
Penny & Craig Warren	35-39	0:46:14	Houston
Kara	35-39	0:46:58	Mount Pleasant, Utah
Heather Forcey	35-39	0:47:00	Clovis, CA
Jennifer	35-39	0:47:12	Philadelphia, pa
Andi	35-39	0:47:17	Chico, CA
Amy Linton	35-39	0:47:39	Roseville, ca
Jacquie	35-39	0:47:39	Western Australia
Angela B	35-39	0:47:48	Stephenville,Tx
Kimberly in Atlanta	35-39	0:48:18	Peachtree City, GA
Rima	35-39	0:49:52	Baltimore, MD
Jodi EH	35-39	0:50:07	St. Paul
Jeanette	35-39	0:50:20	Winter Garden, FL
Aunt Narna	35-39	0:50:27	Webster City, Iowa
Amy Brewington	35-39	0:50:28	Camden, SC
Kimberly	35-39	0:50:53	Dallas, TX
Kitty Fantastic	35-39	0:53:10	Woodbridge, NJ
Amy	35-39	0:53:13	Rosemount, Minnesota
Kristeen	35-39	0:53:20	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Kathy M.	35-39	0:56:10	Cranberry Twp., PA
JessicaB	35-39	0:59:02	Hattiesburg MS
Christine	35-39	1:04:21	Waterloo, IA
Brandi G	35-39	Untimed	Florence, SC
Lissa	35-39	untimed	Dillsburg, PA
Detroit Runner	40-44	0:23:48	Shelby Township, MI
Todd	40-44	0:24:30	St. Clair Shores MI
Melissa M. R.	40-44	0:24:45	Washington, DC
Kathryn Shaffer	40-44	0:26:02	Durango, CO
Linda Kuil	40-44	0:28:26	Shirley, NY
Katrina R.	40-44	0:28:36	Fresno, CA
leeannwc	40-44	0:28:41	Louisville, KY
Denise Laird	40-44	0:29:18	Portland, OR
Michaele	40-44	0:29:28	Danbury CT
AmyE68	40-44	0:31:11	Madrid, Spain
KARLA	40-44	0:31:25	SUSANVILLE, CA
MIgurlinNC	40-44	0:31:47	Edenton, NC
LJ	40-44	0:31:53	Helsinki, Finland (Europe)
Mary	40-44	0:32:54	Denver
Dre	40-44	0:33:15	Virginia Beach, VA
Hmsbluebird	40-44	0:33:20	Edmonds, WA
TRACY	40-44	0:34:03	PEARLAND, TX
Wanda	40-44	0:34:13	Memphis, TN
mlcwildlifepr	40-44	0:34:51	Social Circle, GA
Anna's Guy	40-44	0:36:48	Concord, NH
Kim	40-44	0:37:22	Pittsburgh PA
Dbob	40-44	0:38:50	Washington, DC
cari_pta	40-44	0:38:53	Coulterville, IL
Lenora	40-44	0:39:53	Washington, Utah
Jodie P	40-44	0:40:00	Missouri
tammy	40-44	0:40:10	lebanon pa
TLR	40-44	0:41:15	Albany, NY
Sara Weber	40-44	0:42:17	Durand WI
kellyp	40-44	0:43:08	sc
Rosie Triebner	40-44	0:43:20	London, ON, Canada
karen k	40-44	0:44:16	ft. smith, AR
Karen	40-44	0:44:30	Mitchell, Manitoba Canada
clemandbetty	40-44	0:44:32	Waterloo, Iowa
Kimberly	40-44	0:44:48	Springfield, VA
Melissa G	40-44	0:46:08	Salem, OR
Jenny Cook	40-44	0:46:39	Wapakoneta, OH
Colleen Del	40-44	0:47:13	Easthampton, MA
Ang Campbell	40-44	0:49:29	New Orleans, Louisiana
Leesa Wyzard	40-44	0:51:03	Owasso, OK
Alice H.	40-44	0:51:36	Schererville, Indiana
Shawna S.	40-44	0:54:39	Olalla, WA
sherryberryboo	40-44	0:54:59	fort smith, arkansas
Essie A.	40-44	0:57:08	Tallassee, AL
Amanda	40-44	0:57:28	Canada
Lisa	40-44	1:00:00	Iowa
Carol H	40-44	1:02:33	Norwood, MA
iamsue89	40-44	1:02:48	Bend, Oregon
Amy	40-44	1:03:20	Saginaw,  MI
michelleb	40-44	1:04:00	Wichita KS
Betsy	40-44	1:05:30	Omaha, NE
scrappincat	40-44	1:05:54	San Marcos, CA
Jen	40-44	1:24:00	Mesa, Arizona
ironman375	45-49	0:22:35	Southgate
AlisonMK	45-49	0:26:57	Lombard, IL
christina12	45-49	0:29:08	Taylorville, IL
Tracey S.	45-49	0:33:02	Rye Brook, NY
Kathy Mc	45-49	0:33:11	Oahu, HI
Jenna B	45-49	0:34:07	New York City
LindaHP	45-49	0:34:15	Oak Hill, WV
Tammy	45-49	0:35:09	Woodbury, MN
chefgia	45-49	0:35:25	Ann Arbor
Angela Lee	45-49	0:36:07	Los Angeles
Debrasdream	45-49	0:37:06	Blue Springs, MO
Donna b	45-49	0:38:21	Savannah Georgia
Teresa O	45-49	0:39:30	nashville, tn
Laura H	45-49	0:41:30	Eliot, Maine
Emmielisa	45-49	0:41:46	Yerington, NV
Julie Dozier	45-49	0:43:39	South Bend, Indiana
T	45-49	0:45:00	Bristol, Indiana
Tricia	45-49	0:46:16	Austin, Texas
Tammy B	45-49	0:46:35	Jacksonville, FL
Shelley Draur	45-49	0:48:27	Des Moines, Ia
DebbieF	45-49	0:49:38	Elmhurst, IL
Kelly Louise	45-49	0:52:06	Providence, Utah
Linda Heinen	45-49	0:53:20	Victoria, MN
debbieh	45-49	0:54:24	CA
Lynne	45-49	0:58:04	Fall River, Wisconsin
Sheri Montgomery	45-49	0:58:28	Killeen, Texas
Lorenda	50-54	0:29:30	Jackson, MI
RunningMomAndGrandma	50-54	0:31:20	Doran, MN
Karis	50-54	0:34:22	Surrey, BC, Canada
Carol Bondarew	50-54	0:35:11	Lawrenceville GA
Andy_54	50-54	0:35:38	Dayton, Ohio
Rose	50-54	0:35:44	South Park, PA
Paris Jan	50-54	0:38:38	Ames, Iowa
Shannon	50-54	0:43:57	Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
Allegro	50-54	0:46:00	Atlanta, ga
sunnyruth	50-54	0:46:10	Washington, DC
Beth	50-54	0:47:00	Talladega, Alabama
Caroline	50-54	0:55:13	California
LisainAK	50-54	0:59:01	Valdez, AK
Colleen	50-54	1:02:00	Michigan City, In.
Joanne Frick	50-54	1:06:23	Kent, OH
Kathi Alberson	50-54	untimed	Las Cruces, NM
Debbie	55-59	0:30:28	Mohegan Lake, NY
bmerri	55-59	0:36:08	Ames, Iowa
Rhonda Wills	55-59	0:36:28	Green Valley, AZ
Liz Sanders	55-59	0:53:42	Magna, Utah
Sue (my mom!)	60-64	0:41:57	Newport, MI
Carla	60-64	0:49:43	Cleveland, Ohio
Pam Holmes	60-64	1:00:00	Lincoln, NE
Kathleen	65-69	0:28:16	Pearland, TX

Some fun statistics:

*There were 926 people signed up for the race.
*There were 453 reported finishers (people who filled out the form)--49% of those that were signed up. I think that's pretty good for a free virtual race!
*110 of the finishers reported that this was their FIRST 5K race--CONGRATS to you!!
*There were people from all age groups, except for the "over 70" group:

*As you can see, most people were in their 20's and 30's.

And finally, here is a list of the winners of the prizes! I haven't e-mailed the winners yet, but I hope to do that Monday or Tuesday. Putting this post together took me all day long, and I'm exhausted! ;)  But CONGRATS to the following people:

If you participated in this race and you happen to still be a reader of my blog, I'd love to hear from you! How have things changed/stayed the same since the race? :)  As you all know, I'm a WHOLE lot slower and I don't like to race anymore, but I still like to run... once in a while ;)