ummm, hello? a beach umbrella is really not that expensive folks!

Orea was not too thrilled about being the model for the flower girl head pieces I made. Notice her two missing teeth and blind eye. Poor cat.

(again, i have no idea why this post is underlined)

Last month I was able to attend the annual International Herpes Conference in Ithaca, NY. This is a conference you will hear me talk about every year around this time, but this time it was extra special since it was my first. It was a great learning experience and opportunity to meet so many successful virologists.

Here is the view from my dorm at Cornell University:

I stole these pictures from a friend. But here I am with a fellow lab mate Felicia. Felicia trained me when I first entered the lab. I am wearing a really dorky shirt they gave us at the conference, but hey it made for good PJs

Felicia is getting ready to drink a drink she made of wine, vodka, and cranberry juice. You can see my opinion of it:

Ithaca is known for its many gorges in the area. I was able to visit the Trabuca Falls canyon and 3 mile gorge hike. It was so beautiful!

Photo opp:

This is a weird picture but here I am sticking my head under a waterfall:

One of 19 waterfalls on the hike:

A flower garden in Ithaca that was so beautiful:

Back to NYC. Ektor and I decided to go for sangria at one of my favorite Cuban restaurants on the west side:

Ah technology in NYC cabs:

Me:

My future husband in 36 days:

One of my closest friends Maria joined us for sangria too:

Bachelorette Party with my favorite NYC ladies. Starting out the night at Matsuri for sushi:

Next stop, shots before heading to a comedy club to see Christopher Titus. Google him, he is hilarious!

The malaria net comes out!


Maggie was able to join me all the way in NYC for my party. Amber is my college roommate and the organizer of the night. She is an absolutely amazing friend! I can not thank her enough for planning one of the best nights of my life for me. I am so blessed to know these two beautiful girls and have them as my best friends in life.

I have always wondered, if you have a blog isnt that an open invitation to the world? For awhile I thought the answer was yes but recently Ive changed my mind. There are some creepy people in this world and I dont want all those creepy people being able to see whats going on in my life. In fact, I was watching the news last night and heard that blog stalking is a way for serial killers to zone in on their next victims! So instead of taking the blog down, I decided to password protect it and invite only my closest friends and family to join in on viewing. Sorry for the inconvenience folks!

On Saturday I ran my first 5K!
I have not been training for this event but I have been working out more, so I signed up so that way this could be another work out event for me. I surprised myself by running most of it, albeit walking some, and woke up today feeling sore EVERYWHERE. I love soreness!

Post run sporting our new tshirts that we so proudly earned!

The group at lunch. I would like to state that I did not eat any of those fries even after running 3.3 miles:

Getting ready for the race. Here we are at the start line. For some reason I stick my butt out like this in pictures. I think its because Im trying to look skinnier. Must work on that:

Taken with Becky's waterproof camera:

Again, what is up with my butt?!:

After rinsing off:

Before rinsing off. My leg is the super dirty one:


Im going to copy my Mom on this one. I hate this picture because it shows my belly but Im keeping it up here to remind myself that I have to lose 14 more pounds.

You cant spot me in this picture as its just a random shot of some crawling in the mud. That mud was really rocky and cut up my knees:

Mud runners:

Some even do it dressed up like a banana:

The girls, minus Felicia:

Stretching before the race:

My first official racing number. Despite the fact its now covered in mud, I kept it and proudly hung it on my wall:

Thanks to Irvin for taking pics and cheering us on!

In 5 days, Ektor and I planned an entire wedding. In wedding days, that is equivalent to 32 seconds. Now that the date is reserved, the restaurant paid, the cake order is in, and invitations have been set...we can relax.