My first 10K.

I did it! I achieved my goal. I ran and finished a 10K with my big sis!

Sachi has turned into a crazy running lady this year. She started training at around the beginning of the summer in order to run a 10K and finished with a half marathon. I was so inspired by her so I decided I wanted to try something too. I asked for her advice and she didn't even hesitate to jump in with me! So she found us a 10K that was about 4 weeks away. I was scared out of my mind with only 4 weeks of training. It may sound like a long time for some of you, but it definitely didn't seem like it. This summer was insanely busy with both working at Su Casa 6 days a week and shooting or editing for my photography business, so I put a lot of things on the back burner, exercise being one of them. Going from no exercise for 2 1/2 months to running everyday was really a challenge, but I knew I had to keep it up to make sure I could run the 6 miles at the race. I'm the kind of person who needs reassurance to be able to do anything, so I wanted to be able to train running the 6 miles sometime before the actual race.

Nope. Never happened.

We got to the day of the race and I was so nervous! The farthest I had run was 5 miles with DJ and even then he had to pull me along and keep his hand on my back to keep me going on the last mile. So thinking about doing another mile on top of that...oy vey. The entire drive there I kept having doubts and being so negative, "...can I really do this? Can I run 6 miles? Holy crap, I should be able to do 6 freaking miles, that's not even hard for lots of people...people run marathons! Why can't I do 6 miles?! Ugh this is so embarrassing!" ...stuff like that. Anyway. I was psychin' myself out. 

Finally we get to Thanksgiving Point and oh. my. heck. ITS FREEZING!!! And we had gotten there a bit early too, so we were outside letting our bodies freeze for about 25 minutes before the race started. Smart Mari. Smart. (Not livin' up to my nickname, huh dad?)

When the announcer says we're only a few minutes away from starting, we go to get in the line. I was thinking we'd be in the crowd, but then Sachi turns to me and says we should be at the front! Of course I just follow because at this point I think I couldn't process things clearly because, one, it was too early, two, it was too cold, and three, the only thing I kept thinking was 'I am so stinkin' nervous'. 

"30 seconds ladies!"

AH! I don't know why but I turned to Sachi and said, "I need to bite something!" Weird, I know.

"10 seconds!"

Again, I turned to Sachi and said, "Okay, I really need to bite something!!"

**BANG**!!

And so it began. 

I won't bore you with all my thought processes during my run, but I can just tell you, I couldn't have done it without my big sis by my side. Yeah she probably could have run a lot faster than I was running, but she stuck with me keeping me motivated. She was my moral AND physical support -- On the last mile, she pushed me from behind to help me keep going. And when I'd start falling behind, she'd grab my hand and pull me forward. I made it the whole race without walking, which I hadn't done in any of the longer runs when I was training! So that was huge for me. I'm so glad I have a big sister who cares for me and pushes me to do better! 

Final Results: 

I finished 22nd out of 80 in my age group, and overall, 58th out of 294!

Long lost film.

I found these sitting around in my ridiculously huge "To-do" pile of stuff. I never actually looked through them after I got them back from when I developed them over the summer (I think half because I was too busy with my weddings and half because I was scared of the outcome--I hadn't ever shot on a Holga before and it had been over 2 years since I'd played around with a hasselblad)...it takes me back to my days in the darkroom. Oh how I miss those days!! If only I could have a darkroom of my very own ... what am I saying? I feel like I LIVE in a darkroom/cave (for those of you who have lived in the married student housing at the U, you understand, right?).

 ^ This is my new favorite picture of my handsome man!

Missing the Beach.

I've been so busy with my photography business that I have been neglecting so many things in my personal life, one being this blog! I use to be pretty good at keeping up. Where did the days go that I could multitask at a million things? 

These are from mine and DJ's trip to Georgia and Florida back in June. It was such a great trip, I want to do it again! 

 

Meeting mister Roman for the first time.

 Sorry about the nakey pictures...she's just too cute, I couldn't resist.

 Sweet little Ruby wanted red nails like her Auntie Mari :) We were twins for a day!

 We got to experience a Florida storm. Pretty crazy how rainy it gets in so little time!

 Of course we couldn't go to the beach without our kite. 

More to come! (Probably not too soon due to my other stack of things I need to post...crazy busy life!) 

Thank You...

So, this blog needs serious attention. My last post was in January?...?! All I can say is my life has been so busy I can hardly keep up.  But this has been the best kind of  "busy" I could ask for. My photography business literally just took off this year. I was not expecting it to be as busy as it is, but I couldn't be happier. It has been so much fun!! I absolutely 100% love love LOVE my job.

I feel so thankful right now...Here are a few Thank-You's to name a few: 

First off, I owe a big thank you to all my wonderful clients--I have been blessed to have some of the funnest people to work with. Yes, I said funnest.

A rockin' *internet-high-five* goes to the lovely Heather Nan and Sarah Knight for being the greatest mentors and friends I could ask for.

I owe my pops the tightest bear hug for supporting me and sharing his awesome lenses with me. Such a cool dude.

And the biggest *smoo~~ch* goes to my wonderful husband who, without him, I definitely would not be where I am with my business today. 

He is 

My second shooter,

My reflector man for superb lighting,

My accountant to keep track of all my numbers,

My Marketing and Advertising department, 

My psychiatrist when I become stressed and overwhelmed,

My personal chef when I have too much work and have no time to cook,

My dishwasher and vacuumer when I fall behind,

...

I could go on and on.

Basically, he is my "Go-To" guy. 

Recently we were able to take a vacation from this crazy life, and I am so grateful he booked those flights to Georgia/Florida when I was a little hesitant to take a week off during this busy time. It was exactly what we needed.

Life is good.

(Here is our cute little niece Ruby. She was such a hoot anytime the camera turned on. Can't wait to share the rest!)

My 24th birthday celebration!

I'm 24. 

I am 24. 

I. am. twenty. FOUR! 

It was a great day. One of my best birthdays by far, unexpectedly so. It was a Wednesday--smack dab in the middle of the week, so I wasn't planning on too much. I was scheduled to manage the restaurant that night, but I decided to give myself a gift and have someone else cover for me so I could just relax. So instead, I used my birthday as a completely relaxed/no schedule/no to-do list/ take it easy kind of a day.

January 25th, 2012

7:55 am: Deej woke me up, and instead of a breakfast-in-bed...I woke up to something a million times better--a Kelly Moore bag in bed!! Holy hannah, I was NOT expecting that. Deej knew that I've wanted a nice bag for my gear for a while now. I'm sure he saw me a couple months ago when I was on her website religiously, browsing through all the cute bags and whimpering at the same time because I knew it was a little out of the budget...So this was a fantastic gift! I may or may not have shed a few tears...

8:20 am: Drove Deej to school.

8:30 am: Sat in my car while reading The Help and waited  for Deej to finish his class. I got through like 3 chapters! If you know me, you know this is a HUGE accomplishment. I know, its sad. I've never been great at reading, and I've never really liked it. So I'm trying to get better!

11:50 am: Mom took me out to lunch to Gourmandise Cafe--Sooooo delicious. Afterwards, she let me pick out a couple cakes to take home for me and Dj. Chocolate decadence cake and Strawberry Napoleon cake. As you can see I couldn't get a decent picture of the two because they were too good to wait.

I came home after lunch and realized...dang, I should have planned something to do because now, I really have nothing to do...I didn't realize that I was taking the day off to be all alone! Deej had classes, and then I forgot that he was going straight to work until 7:00! He called me and told me this, and I was kinda bummed. ...Then he mentioned he had a cello lesson to teach until 8:00!! Now I was really bummed. I was going to be all alone until 9:00 on my birthday...dang it. 

And then the door to my apartment started opening...it was DEEEJAAAYYY!! That trickster got work off and rescheduled his lesson for later in the week. So we ended up doing exactly what I had planned for--we spent the day watching TV, playing on the iPad, enjoying each other's company, having a completely relaxed/no schedule/no to-do list/ take it easy kind of a day.

Deej spoiled me and took me to Royal India for dinner. This is one of our favorite restaurants. Its not a place we can go to regularly because of the prices, and its about a half hour away, but the times we do go, we cherish them!

All in all, this was the best birthday I could have asked for.

Osterloh Family: 2012 Edition

Go meet my new and improved family of 2012 here!

It's going to be a fun year!