First 5K!

A few months ago a friend had said that he wanted to do the 5K Ole (on Capital Hill) for his birthday; we (as usual) procrastinated signing up...but later found out that our friend couldn't make it. Although I had a bad flare up all week and wasn't really prepared for running, I decided to do it anyways! So on May 3rd we made our way out to Capital Jill so I could run  my first 5K!

I have been working out regularly for the last few months now and have been improving on every level of my fitness, but I was still worried that I would really struggle to finish because of the pain I was in. I ended up running the 5K in 32 min! A 5K equates to 3.1 miles that's about an average of 10 minutes per mile. I was extremely thrilled with my results and felt so accomplished! At the end you get a free margarita and there are tons and tons of yummy taco trucks! We got fish tacos and ate them in the park. (We may have taken a 4 hour nap after the race... but it was all worth it!)

The photo on top is after we finished the race and the photo on the bottom was right before we started

Robert had ran this same race before however this year he ran it much faster (although he hasn't trained or worked out at all this year). I was ahead of him the entire time and would slow down sometimes so he could catch up. I think running together pushed him to go faster and helped me pace myself a little better. This race is a majority of up hill running, which ended up not being as bad as I expected. All in all the race was extremely fun and I can't wait for our upcoming 5k Color Run!

Bremerton Weekend

This past weekend my back flared up pretty bad, however that didn't stop me from going to Bremerton to celebrate Rob's (sorta) last day of school with his classmates (he has one class to make-up that is only offered once a year). He will be walking next year Fall 2015! I am so excited and proud of him! He has worked so hard and his possibilities to grow and further his career are just around the corner!

For those of you who don't know Robert is a Marine electrician, and currently in an apprenticeship program. With his job he (and now myself included) have the opportunity to travel to many different places, and if you know me (or have read the title to my blog) you know I'm a junkie for travel and adventures. My most recent post talked a little bit about our (hopeful/likely) upcoming adventure to San Diego! Living so far from Robert's work is wearing thin on us, he currently commutes daily a total of about 5 hours, although it is a simple commute bus to ferry, ferry to bus, we have discussed possibilities of "settling" in Bremerton (buying a house on our return from San diego) or possible temporary relocation to Japan or Guam after he walks next year. I am so grateful for the opportunities that are coming for us both!

Rob has never been a planner, however I think he has finally caught my planning bug. He now (reluctantly--I'm not sure why its reluctant but it is...) prides himself in preparing some of our stuff for each of our trips! He also has been great at reminding me of things I may have forgotten, like my memory card for my camera or a gluten free snack :P Having a partner who really works as a team makes everything you do, so much more amazing AND that much more successful. We leave for Kauai in 1 week, and I am so incredibly excited! I have never been to Hawaii and it will be our first plane ride together! To be honest I have not flown with another person since I was probably 12; most of my traveling has been solo (or I drove there) so I am pretty stoked about this trip!

I really can't express how lucky I feel to have found such an incredible partner. I am so in love and so so happy. I find myself staring at him and just giggling to myself about how full of joy I am (I'm sure he must get annoyed of it). Things I found so incredibly difficult before seem so simple now, he pulls me back down to earth, I feel such a sense of peace.

Bremerton adventure

----As a side note the funniest thing happened while we were in Bremerton...We decided to stop in at a Fred Meyers to grab a snack for me, I got slightly excited that we got 2 dollars back (we never carry cash) so I asked Rob if we could grab a scratch ticket. He agreed. If you know how I get when I am excited (I get all smiley and weird and start jumping up and down) I started jumping around and bounced my way over to the machine where you buy the scratch tickets. Rob walked up behind me and had his hand around my waist when an old man in a power chair scooter rolled up behind us and said "Excuse me sir, but could you please tell me how you got such a beautiful woman?" He looked at him all stunned and smiled, the old guy smiled back; I just stood behind Robert giggling like a school girl. :P ---

Found this little guy with a barnacle on his head (he lives on my shelf now)

throwing rocks into the ocean

Took a few minutes by the water in East Bremerton to relax together

Easter Weekend Excitement

Rob and I are not religious, so we don't really celebrate Easter, however like most holidays that involve religion I enjoy having family around. I guess my meaning of any holiday is bringing family closer together (maybe that also makes my religion about my family).

Robert and I colored Easter eggs together, went to Sakura Con, Bunny Con, had lunch with Roberts mom, and made ourselves a really nice dinner on Sunday! We have also been very busy planning our wedding and our pre-honeymoon honeymoon!

As some of you have heard, we are supposed to be doing a temporary move to San Diego right after our wedding (for 6-9 months). I say supposed to because with the Navy you are never 100% about anything until they buy your plane ticket :P So currently we are planning our future around moving right after our wedding! We likely wont get a chance for a honeymoon (except for our adventures in San Diego) so we have planned our pre-honeymoon to Hawaii and we will be there on my birthday!

Here are some photos from our adventures this weekend!

Coloring eggs

At Sakura Con

With friends at Bunny Con

Robert and I always have so much fun together, I am so glad he is going to be my husband! 

We are Getting Married!

Today I thought I would tell a little bit about the proposal and a bit about the ring he got me! :D

I will start by saying I am very observant and normally pick up on these kinda things, however he got me soo good. We have been talking about marriage and our future plans together a lot recently so I knew it was coming at some point, but not that night. :P

The Proposal 

It was our opening game for our flag football team, we were playing under the Space Needle at Seattle Center. Rob is the team captain, and he tends to get really pumped up for games. All day he was acting super stressed, like he was off in a different world. I kept asking him if he was OK, or if he needed anything and he just kept saying, "nah I'm good, just thinking about the game." I didn't question it because he gets like that for football. Our game was a late one, it was supposed to start at 9pm. We got there kinda early, and Rob had gotten this little portable speaker "to pump the team up with some beats". He told me he forgot the tape for his ankle in the truck, so he had to run back. He took a while, but later that night I found out he was really calling my dad to talk to him. <3 The rest of the us were all practicing and getting ready for the game; after the field cleared, he called everyone over to give us his pumped up speech. He put on a song that him and I love but isn't really pumped up music, it was the song "All of Me" by John Legend. Everyone was making fun of it and saying things like "This isn't turnt up music" or "Kate what the heck is this music"; so I was like ah crap, let me change it...Rob came back and was like what the heck why are you changing the song. I tried to explain that no one wanted to hear it, but he was like I wanted this song for a reason...so I just kinda stood there like O...sorry... He goes into his speech about how this game will be amazing win or lose, and then he said and there's something else he'd like to say... He got down on one knee and everyone started tearing up, I was freaking out, my football gloves were on and I was all frazzled... and he was telling me all of these sweet things and, and... it was perfect.

<3

This was right before he proposed :D

The ring

There is so much to this ring that is meaningful to both of us, which makes it even that much more perfect!

Robert is obsessed with royal blue, his truck is blue, his motorcycle is blue, his old room was blue, I can go on forever about his blue obsession. The thing about this ring is there are two princess cut blue sapphires on the bridge under the ring; he said you may not be able to see them when initially looking at the ring, but you and I know they are there, that way you can carry a little of me with you (he's seriously amazing). There are diamonds twisting in the infinity sign on either side of the 3 main diamonds, I was told the diamonds signify past, present, and future. I'm so in love with the fact that the diamonds are circular but the "halos" around them are in squares. This ring is amazing, and the wedding band he got for it makes the ring even more spectacular; but you can all see that part after our wedding :D

In all honesty he could have given me a plastic ring and I would have said yes. He is the most amazing partner; I can't remember my life before him and I can't imagine it without him.

So in love.

How we met.

So lately many people have asked how Robert and I met. So here is our story...

I was having a crap day and my friend Phu told me he was going out to a few parties that night, and asked me if I wanted to go. We ended up downtown Seattle with 3 different parties to attend, as we were driving we just so happened to stop at his friend Moses' business launch party at a club called Amber (this ended up being the only party we attended that night). Phu and I walked in and everyone there asked if I was his girl friend, I quickly, awkwardly... and loudly announced that I was not, and would not ever be Phu's girl friend. This was followed by me awkwardly sitting on a couch...about 20 min later a group of guys came in, I was introduced to them and Robert asked if I wanted a drink. For the record I have never been offered a drink from someone I didn't know...let alone accepted it. We ended up spending the whole night dancing and talking (who talks at a club...not most people...). A few weeks passed, randomly when I was out on a camping trip he sent me a text and asked if I wanted to go see a Sounders game. At first I was really confused because my phone had broken a few days before, so I had no idea who the number was. I had also received the message a day late because I was out of cell service. I responded explaining the situation (but from what he said later on, he really thought I just was blowing him off). This ended up happening a few more times, one of the times I was in San Francisco, another night I was already out. Finally I texted him to hang out; of all things it was to go tubing down a river, only to later find out Rob is terrified of water... although he didn't mention it and actually agreed to go. LOL... Plans changed, we never went tubing but we did hang out, and well after that we never stopped hanging out :P

I look incredibly derpy in this picture, but this was the night we met! 

This was on my way to Phu's 

Health. A Better Me.

As many of you know, I have a slew of health problems...the one that effects me the most would be my back. I thought today was a fine day to explain (to those who either haven't asked, were too afraid to ask, or just didn't have any idea) a little about my back.

First off let me start out by saying, I do everything in my power to live an absolutely normal life, and to avoid the pity party that tends to come along with my condition. That being said I wake up everyday with the intent of accomplishing everything anyone else could do (that doesn't mean I can accomplish everything or that everyday is a success but I do my best).

So here is a little about my back:
At the age of 12 I was diagnosed with Spondylolisthesis, in short it's a condition that causes your vertebrae to slide forward, in time causing a pars defect (the sides of the vertebrae break off). When I was 18 and in severe pain to the point I could barely walk, my doctor decided to fuse my spine.  5 years post spinal fusion, my spine still has not fused like intended... I still have constant pain. After multiple small surgeries to burn the nerves in my lower back to help with pain I feel daily (in  my legs, butt and lower back), I finally have given up on trying to "fix" the pain.

side note---There is an amazing article which I recommend everyone read, it's called "The Spoon Theory". A friend sent it to me a little less than a year ago. I have to say I sobbed like a baby when I read it;  it perfectly describes how I live my life. In her case, the woman has Lupus (a completely different condition), however I relate to her on so many levels.---

Here is a picture of my spine from a few years ago (when I was Kate Bowers...).


After years and years of physical therapy, surgeries, being on and off medications, I am currently "drug free" and have been that way for over a year (with the exception of the occasional flare up). I avoid pain meds of all kinds unless absolutely necessary. It has been a constant struggle managing my pain without medication or any other intervention. When I was younger, I was always active in all kinds of sports; I played on a co-ed soccer team up until 2 months before my fusion (while in severe pain)...with my current condition, doctors recommend avoiding all sports with the exception of swimming or recumbent biking. If you know me very well, you know I don't give up easily, and I tend to push the limits... Last year I joined a flag football team and this year I have signed up for 3, yes 3 5k's! I have started working out regularly at the gym again and have already improved my mile by nearly 4 minutes within just 2 weeks! That all being said, my pain is not any better; I still have sleepless nights of pain, I still have the occasional day where I can barely move, but I'm fighting. If you have done the math already I have been in 12 years of pain and I'm still fighting.

I have the best support and really have never been happier. My future is important and with all of the negative talk from doctors, its difficult not to get down (especially when it comes to work and having a family).  Mental health is extremely important when dealing with pain (or any medical condition for that matter), I know when I feel happy, I feel good. So I am now doing everything in my power to make me happy and to be successful in all that I do.

First Kiss

I watched this lovely video today on youtube that was called "Watching Complete Strangers Kiss for the First Time".

This brought me back to the first kiss I shared with Robert (hopefully your not thinking eww gross why is she talking about this...) I am definitely not the most romantic person nor have I ever dated anyone very romantic. Things for me have always gone too fast and ended so abruptly. For the first time I was in a relationship with a person who wanted to take it slow, and as some of you know...we took it very slow. We met in April and dated for months before we even said we were actually together. We didn't share our first kiss until the night of July 25th.. and yes I remember the day and the night and every event after. For days we kept getting so close to kissing, we would brush up against each others faces; I would get out of the truck and go to say good bye and have to force myself to not kiss him. He said he wanted to wait. So we waited, but that night I don't think we could wait any longer.
---funny side note, I secretly thought he was probably going to be a horrible kisser because he had showed me a picture of him kissing a girl friend he had before (well not just that picture it was a ton of pictures and that just happened to be one of them), and they were kissing so awkwardly...---

So that night we were at a friends birthday party and Robert and I were sitting on a bench outside talking, it was a warm night under the stars. It was magical and perfect; honestly I don't think I had EVER had a magical kiss. This one was different.

Here is a picture from that night :P