Doug: LA Marathon

My husband is crazy.

When I first met him he didn't run.
At all.
Like running down the block was not an option.

Then he met me. :)

I don't run.
At all.
But we'll just ignore that fact for right now ;)

Anyways...

So 2 years ago he had the bright idea to start running. Not only start running, but to run the LA Marathon before he was 30. He had less then a year to make that happen. He started running one black, and then the next day two. Before I knew it he could run from his house to mine, 20 miles! And he lost a ton of weight(right in time for the wedding!).

Then when March came rolling around he ran his first marathon. I was so stinking proud of him!

And no, this did not convince me to run.
I don't run.

So you would think that one marathon would be enough right? Umm, no. Now he wanted to be the guy who "runs marathons". Like marathons. With an S.

So he kept running.

This past Monday he ran his second marathon and I couldn't be more proud.

Of course, that meant waking up at 4:30am, driving over to my parents house, then driving downtown, dropping him off, and then finding a spot to cheer him on at the 2 mile mark.




From what I'm told... these are extremely important 2 minutes after the race starts and everyone realizes they have to go to the bathroom.



The wheelchair racers went first. This guy won. He did the whole thing in 1 hour and 31 minutes.



Then it was the elite woman's turn. To be an elite runner you have to get a qualifying time from another marathon. These chicks are fast!



The woman out in front with the red shirt and gray shorts won. Her time was around 2 hours.



The elite men were the last to start. They start at the same time as everyone else who runs the marathon, but they are a whole lot faster and can get ahead a whole lot quicker.

None of these guys won. The winner was in the middle of the pack during this shot.



This guy ran barefoot. OUCH!





There's my hubby!
Don't worry hun.. it's only 24 more miles to go!



Then we hopped over to mile 4.
The pack of people was so big that some people ran on the sidewalk to get away from everyone else!



There is a wonderful organization that teaches students to run the LA marathon called Students Run LA.

These students smiled for my camera without me asking :)



After Doug passe us at mile 4, we walked as quickly as possible back to our car (I still don't know why it took us twice as long to get back to the car as it did to get to mile 4!) and we drove over to mile 9.



My mom had saved our sign from last year. She would scream so loud every time she saw him coming down the street!



Then it was off to mile 12.

I felt so bad for this guy. He's not even halfway there and he's totally bleeding!
(If you know anything about men and running you'll know how much pain he must be in!)



People wear the weirdest outfits when they run the marathon.



This lady thought her dog might be entertained by watching the masses of people.
I don't think he was.



Some of the spectators are crazy too. This guy saw the runner they were cheering for and started running down the street screaming and waving his poster.



So how is the 12th mile treating you?



I guess not so bad since you're still smiling!



Then it was over to 15.



Then 17.
Here are my crazy parents waiting for Doug to come.



There was a band performing.
The poor neighbors.
They had to listen to this guy talk between songs.
He wasn't very nice to Mickey Mouse.



We got Doug to stop long enough to get a cute photo. Thanks Dad!



At 19 they had oranges.
And what do runners do with orange peels they don't want?



21 had a water station. Did they really think that the runners would get the cups into the trash?



23. Only 3.2 more miles!



At 24 there was a group of cheerleaders cheering the runners on.



And there was a cool motel.



After seeing Doug at mile 24, we headed to the finish line. The really stupid part about the LA Marathon is that they don't let you anywhere near the finish line. Family and friends can meet up at the "Family Reunion Area". It took Doug a good 5 minutes to get from the finish line to the "Family Reunion Area".

Did I mention there were TONS of people?



There he is! All smiles too!

I wouldn't be smiling after 26.2 miles...



Congrats Doug! We're so proud of you!

And of course, if you decide to do this crazy thing again next year we'll follow you around and cheer like crazy people. If I can't run, I can cheer... right?

Andrea: Graduation

Andrea became best friends with my little sister in middle school. They both went to different high schools, but our families became close friends. They join our family for our giant Thanksgiving every year. They are practically like family.

Then it came time for college. Andrea decided to come to Cal State Northridge, where I was going! She was on the fast track to graduate in 3 years. We discovered that we both needed to take an Astronomy Lab the same semester, so we took it together! I don't think either of us would have walked out of that class with an A if it wasn't for the other one. I knew how to work the computer and she could figure out the math. Perfect team! Through that class we discovered how much we had in common and have become wonderful friends.

Andrea, we are all so proud of you! It takes a lot of determination to graduate in 3 years. You are going to go so far!

So now onto the photo shoot!

Andrea and I headed over to the park near her house to get some nature shots. She was such a good sport and hopped on the swings in her robe and hid in the bushes for me.

After the park, we headed into Downtown Burbank for some city shots and a yummy mall food court lunch!

And last but not least, I had to show off the card I made for her. I was so happy with how it turned out! Everything on the front of the card was hand cut by me... now you know what I do when I'm not photographing thing ;)

Andrea, Thank you for being my first subject!