Go Greece!

Obviously, our family is a tad excited about the World Cup. Well, imagine our joy when we remembered that Mia has a Greece soccer jersey! My dad and stepmom brought her back a whole kit from their last trip to Greece. It's still a little big for her, so she's only worn it a few times here and there. But today - today! - was the perfect occasion! Things didn't turn out so well for Greece. They lost 3-0 to Colombia. But Mia has at least two more times to sport the white and blue. Opa!

Senior Walk

This weekend, my Uncle Kelly took us for a trip around campus. I graduated from the University of Arkansas 10 years ago this May. (Um, what? How did that happen?) A lot has changed since I was there, obviously. So many lovely improvements have been made, but there were still many places that were the same. It felt nice to be on campus for the first time in a long time. Of course, we had to stop and see my name on Senior Walk. (For those of you who don't know, Senior Walk is one of the very best traditions at the U of A. The name of every graduate in the history of the school is etched into the sidewalks. No other school does it. It's really special, and something that graduates feel very proud of.) This is Mia and I sitting next to my name - Carrie Rebecca Coppernoll. My name fit in the letter limit by only two letters. Eep!

And here is Mia with my dad's name, which is on the lawn of Old Main. My dad earned his law degree five years before I earned my bachelor's. Two Coppernolls on Senior Walk! And hopefully there will be a couple Coppernoll descendants there some day with the name Jacobs.

Running around

I have some good news about this weekend: I didn't die. For me, this is a big deal. 

We went to Dallas this weekend for my fourth half-marathon. It was such a fun weekend! My dad and Nancy came up from Victoria to hang out with us, so that made it even better. 

We stayed at a hotel with a pool as basically an apology to Mia for taking a long car ride. She thought it was fantastic - maybe the best thing ever. She also enjoyed jumping on the beds in our room. 

So no matter how the race turned out, at least Mia got to do that. At least she's not old enough to remember that the whole building smelled like smoke and it's probably a hideout for prostitutes. 

Somehow I have no photos of us kicking around in Dallas with my parents. We ate some delicious food, including pre-race pasta. If there's anything I'm good at, it's carb-loading. 

I'm going to be honest: this race wasn't the best. The temperature was barely above freezing and it was windy. I took this picture of myself waiting at the start line. Clearly, I was no impressed with you, Dallas.

 

It took 30 minutes - 30 minutes! - for the crowd to cross the start line. Finally the pack made it through the gates, and my dad snapped this picture. Obviously, I was happy to start warming up. 

  

Lord knows I'm not the fastest runner, but this race was a real challenge. The first 8 miles was uphill. Eight. Miles. Uphill. Up. Hill.  How can this town be all uphill? Is it just one giant slant?

I wanted to quit. My shins hurt. It was cold. No hills ever went down. Then I thought about the logistics of quitting. I'd have to basically stop somewhere random, call my parents and then wait for them to pick me up. In the meantime, I'd get colder and colder. To warm up, I'd probably have to jog in place. In that case, I might as well just keep running. I decided just to finish the stupid race.

Then the clouds parted, the land flattened and the last five miles were lovely. I stashed my hoodie in a bush and enjoyed the rest of the run.

 My dad documented my finish. Weirdly enough, I felt so good at the end, I think I could have run further. (What?!) Not, like, another 13.1 miles further, but maybe another few miles. It was crazy.

 

I set a personal record by 4 minutes! I have no idea how that happened. Seriously. How did that happen?

It was really special to see my dad and Nancy at the finish line. It meant a lot that they came. Leigh and Mia weren't able to make it in time for the finish. (Trying to find parking at the Texas State Fair and then getting a 3-year-old to cross 30 miles of parking lot is no small feat.) But we found them just a few minutes after. I saw this smiling face running to me ...

... and then running past me. She wanted to hug Nancy. Whatever. Thanks for the congrats, Mia.

The zoo with Grandpa and NeNe

Time out

Sometimes even the animals need a time-out. I personally love how the nations of America and South Africa are represented in her collection here. Yes, that's an armadillo. Thanks, dad.

Is that another fish book, grandpa?

Here are some random photos from our weekend celebrating Sue and Dean's anniversary.

Mia shares a seat with my cousin's son, Nolan.

Mia listens as my dad reads her a story, which is probably related to fish.

Mia approves of the Razorback salt and pepper shakers.

Check out this old school Coppernoll photo! From left: Aunt Connie, Uncle Kelly, Uncle Jeff, Grandma Sue, Aunt Connie, Grandpa Dean and my dad. Adorable.

Happy party-versary!

We attended my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary party, and here are a bazillion photos to prove it was fun. Mia was a gem, and her dress even survived someone giving her two forks - two! - to eat chocolate cake with.