Coming to you from the Midwest!

Hello friends! Again, I owe an apology for the delay. It has been quite an eventful time since my last post. I lost my job, came home for a week (I have been here since last Friday, I leave tomorrow), got a new phone (because my other one DIED, so I correspondingly lost all my phone numbers), and ordered my wedding dress (let me know if you want me to e-mail you a photo)!

I also ran my longest run so far this season: 18 miles! Since I was home last weekend I had to do the run all by myself which I was a little nervous about. It's just hard to keep oneself motivated and going for 3 hours running. But God definitely gave me strength and I had planned a pretty good route and it went really well! The route basically went from our house to the Toledo Zoo all along a fairly scenic road. The night before, my dad and I went out and left water bottles every four miles along the path so that I could have water without having to carry it all on my person. It was great and all the water bottles were still there in the morning.

I also got a haircut and color this week from my mom (she's so kind and always does my hair when I'm home!). It's a little darker with some brown and blonde in it and then we cut it to about shoulder length. I like it!

So I'm heading back to New York tomorrow and hopefully I'll be able to get some temporary work to get me through until I move back home in December. I will definitely keep you posted on that.

And here, for your enjoyment, is a great picture that my fiance just sent me. It's him in a full Muslim outfit that was given to him by his students in Indonesia:

Mid September Post

Hey there! I'm so sorry for the lack of posts of late! I have no excuse really. However, I did want to give a quick update :) First of all, Taylor and I have FINALLY set the date:

October 24, 2009!!!

That's right, mark your calendars folks! :) I'm very excited for this and even though it's more than a year away I'm sure it's the right timing. Taylor will get back at the middle of June so we'll have time for our last minute plans and some "get-to-know-you-again" time before the wedding.

I've also been dress shopping and am having a great time. I've narrowed it down pretty far and I'll gladly e-mail you pictures, just send me an e-mail (carissa.lucyk@gmail.com).

I spent this past weekend in Atlanta and Chattanooga for a friend's wedding and had a good time with friends! It was nice to get out of the city for the first time since the weekend Taylor left. Friends at Becca's wedding: Me, Mel, Kim, Helen, Michelle :)

For the next three weekends, I'll be running REALLY long on Saturdays (18-20 miles) and then being a vegetable on Sundays....should be interesting. I'll let you know how that goes!

Well, I must get to work. Blessings!

A warm start to the fall...

Wow, just last week I was reveling in the cool crisp autumn air and this week we're right back at 90 degrees in the city! Phew! Summer is making a comeback, and I'm not sure I like it. I am totally ready for those nice cool autumn mornings and comfortable afternoons. Well for now I guess I'll enjoy things like having a friend randomly call me to get ice cream (well, Pinkberry actually, you should check it out, it rocks!), which is bound to stop very soon.

So remember that race I was telling you about, the Human Race? We had a lot of fun with that title let me tell you. And seeing 10,000 people in the same shirt was pretty sweet too. The race basically took place on an island, so getting 10,000 people on and off the island was no small feat. They managed to do it, but not without some delays. One of my friends was still in Manhattan waiting for a bus at the time the race was supposed to start. They started it about 30 minutes late, but it was fine because it gave a chance for the sun to go down a bit before we started running. The course was basically two loops so since it was so crowded and we were running pretty slow, the lead runner passed us when we were at about 1.5 miles (it was a 6.2 mile race). Then, at about mile 3 (mile 6 or so for the really fast people!), we came to a foot bridge where traffic came to a HALT. That's right, EVERYONE, even the super fast people who were going for great times, had to stop and maneuver in traffic across this bridge, it was crazy! Some people were PRETTY upset (not us, we were in no hurry!).

So other than that the race was good and we had a great time. After the race, there was a concert by the All American Rejects and then we took a ferry back to Manhattan, which was like a little nighttime cruise in and of itself. All in all a good night!

Yesterday was Labor day, so I started the day with my fantasy football draft and then headed out to the park on the river for some food and cards with friends. We went kayaking in the Hudson too, which was pretty fun! Then I grabbed a beer with those friends and hopped downtown to meet some other friends for drinks and to watch the Vitamin Water commercial...I mean the season premier of Gossip Girl, silly me!

See, I can keep busy without Taylor :) Talk to you all soon!