las vegas

I realized I never posted about my Vegas trip! We went to see Britney Spears, but used Katie and her upcoming wedding as an excuse for a bachelorette party. It was my first time there and I couldn't wait! We got in Friday afternoon and walked around, being touristy and going to all of the hotels and seeing that fountain that's in every movie about Vegas. It's weird seeing it all in person.

Heading to the airport!

 Where we were staying.

 Our view.

 Walking around the strip.

Obligatory hotel pictures. (Sorry)

 Waiting for us! From one of Katie's friends.

 It took awhile....

Of course we gambled after dinner, and I actually won! The slot machines and I became good friends, and I'm sure they miss me. 

 Watch out Vegas, I'm coming back for you!

The next day we spent the day at the pool. I always heard you had to get to the pool early to get chairs...I didn't really believe them. We got there at like 9 or 10 and there were NO chairs left. None. We batted our eyelashes and one of the workers found some somewhere and carried them to the pool for us. We spent they day laughing, meeting ridiculous people, and listening to awesome music from the dj. 

That night we got ready and headed to Planet Hollywood to see the one and only Britney! We were so excited!

We found a place to eat and sat and ordered. It was hot in there and I started not feeling well, and getting light headed. I jokingly (so I thought) said "I don't feel well. I think I'm going to faint." Well, I spoke too soon. Next thing I know I'm laying on the ground looking up at my friends in the lap of a random lady holding ice and wet towels to my neck and head. They called the EMS who immediately asked how much I had to drink that day. Fair question, we are in Vegas after all, but I only had 3 beers, hours earlier. They checked all my vitals, and everything but my blood pressure (it was some crazy low number) looked good. He said I could go to Britney, and I would faint once I stood back up. Or, go with them to the hospital to get fluids in me. I didn't know what to do, so I went with them. 

Fully embarrassed, annoyed I would miss Britney, and feeling guilty because Sheri came with me, we headed to the scariest hospital I've ever been to. I didn't want Sheri to come with me, because that meant she would miss Britney. However, once we got there, I was glad she was with me. It was like a psych ward in there! Lots of crazies screaming nonsense. All tests came back normal, other than me being super dehydrated. Right before I left the nurse came in to do an EKG and all I could think about was more money I would have to spend, and how tired I was. (For those of you that haven't fainted before, it takes a lot out of you.) I asked her why she had to do it, her response? "You know all those news stories you hear about football players just dropping dead? I'm doing this to make sure that doesn't happen to you." Fair enough. She did the test, and sent us on our merry way. 

We got back to the hotel, and tried to sleep for about 4 hours before leaving to go back to Austin. I didn't see Britney, but the rest of the trip was a lot of fun! Until we meet again, Vegas.

run to the sun 2014

This weekend marks another successful run! I trashed my knee last year, and was worried I would mess it up again. I ran my first leg and it wasn't feeling great, so I decided not to push it and didn't run my second leg. I was disappointed, but I'd rather be disappointed than not be able to run for 6 months like last year. I had fun cheering everyone else on after my leg. This is going to be mostly a picture dump, with this years video at the end! Enjoy!!

My amazing team! (For some reason my phone pictures aren't fitting, so click on them to see the entire image.)

This year Brandon brought his snare drum to cheer people on, and to make sure no one slept on the bus. It worked.

 And we're off!

 The first stop got everyone excited.

 4 is now my lucky number because...

I won! They gave ridiculous prizes (I got a Texas sized shot glass) and a bottle of great vodka. I was quite excited!

Emily, one of my running partners. She, Larry and I have been running together before school all year long and I was so excited to run with them!

During one of the stops someone asked to interview me for a promo they were shooting for the race and foundation. I'm famous!

It was pretty hilarious/awesome that about half of the stops had beer and/or liquor for us to enjoy.

The Benson's family had another great stop this year! Complete with BBQ, moon pies, and beer.

It was really strange not starting my leg until midnight. Even stranger because a few people had already finished their legs before I even started. Coming in from my leg with Larry and Emily!

Done and done!

Amy's birthday was on Saturday so we decided to have a surprise party for her after her second leg. The UT Texas Cowboys were at that leg and were so excited to be a part of it! They made sure the cake was ready, as well as the music so we could all sing happy birthday.

We were eagerly awaiting her arrival.

So were the boys!

Since the first run we have thrown some sort of food at our runners while they are running their legs. Amy's favorite thing to throw is powdered donuts, so we thought what better way to bring her in than throw 3 bags worth of powdered donuts at her?!

Let the pelting begin! You can see a few of the donuts at the top, those were the first to be thrown. She was so confused and then finally understood when EVERYONE was throwing donuts at her, and the boys started singing happy birthday.

Passing out cake to everyone.

Another stop (last years was Western) was Gilligan's Island themed. The people in charge of the station were all dressed up like the characters, they were showing reruns of the show, and had a whole luau theme ready for us. There was even a baby pool if anyone felt like laying out.

One of the best ones were awesome ladies giving head massages! AMAZING! I told them they should have someone rubbing our feet at the same time. One of them actually considered it! If only...

After a long and fun night, we finished! 

Walking to the official finish line together, united as a team.

That's a wrap!

True story.

Thank you to everyone that donated, and supported me emotionally as we got ready for the race! You helped our team raise over $36, 000!!!!!

Click here to watch our video!