Hawaii Photos!! :)

All Photos were taken by: Lysandra Cook Photography

See ya later, Alligator...

I know you all want to see pics and hear about the amazing time we had in Hawaii, but I have more pressing thoughts on my mind today-- so I will get to the Hawaii post after this one.

"See ya later, Alligator..."

I found out yesterday that a sweet friend of mine died in a pretty tragic way. After texting some of my closest friends, they were dumbfounded, {and thought I was joking} when I told them that my friend had been eaten by an alligator. *Stunner, right?

I was at my friend's house grabbing a Scentsy order, when I got the phone call from one of my best friends.

"Holly? Where are you at-- what are you doing?"

"I am at a friend's house, what is going on?" I knew from her voice that something didn't sound right.

"You're going to need to sit down." Shit. When someone tells you to sit down, it usually means a death. My mind is racing a million miles an hour because I am trying to figure what could be wrong back home. I think of my dad...

"Little Randee went missing at Kemah last night after drinking with some friends, and they couldn't find her.. She jumped in a pond, and an alligator got her, and they found her body in pretty bad shape this morning." Stunned, and completely in shock... my friend is gone-- and the tears start.

I had to let her go. So, I get off of the phone, crying.

I tell my friend what happened, and I told her not to worry, I was a tough girl.

Luckily, I was on base visiting, and I was already planning on picking him up. Of course, when he calls to see if I am already there, I break down and cry. I can barely breathe out the words.

Randee, was like my extended family--another sister. I dated her older brother for a while when I was 18 and 19. Their family also took me in when I needed a place to stay. (I had left home when I was 18, and this was before I had joined the Marine Corps.) I had gotten along pretty well with the whole family, and then I moved away to live with my mom briefly before I left for the Marine Corps. Her brother and I didn't work out, and we parted ways; however, I was still friends with Randee.

I remember visiting after I got out of bootcamp, and calling her when I reached Hawaii for my first duty station. I lost touch with her over a few years, and about a year ago, we got back in touch. It was when I found out that her father died. That broke my heart, too. He was such a sweet guy. She had a pretty rough year grieving over her dad. It was just a month ago, I was talking to her for hours on the phone. We could always talk about anything under the blue moon. I told her that I would come and visit her whenever I went back home. She had even thought about coming up, and visiting as well.

Now, my heart is sad that we will never get together again. She was so freaking young, and I just wished she had made wiser choices. (I won't post all that on here.)

Yesterday, I was hot mess about this news. Questions keep racing through my mind, and sometimes I have a pretty sick sense of humor-- especially when it comes to death. Hence, my post title.

If you want to read the article.. Click HERE.

RIP, my sweet friend.

Huge Correction: The alligator didn't attack her, and I later found this news out; however, she did drown.

The Marine Corps Historic Half & Hawaii trip

Today, I am sitting cozy in my air-conditioned home, because outside, it is hot-hot-hot!! I know this post is a bit over due, and I finally recovered from jet-lag.


Marine Corps Historic Half

On May 15, I finished my first half-marathon! {For those that don't know, that is 13.1 miles} I ran it in style with the Marine Corps Historic Half, and was excited to hear that Drew Carey was running it, too. Considering I haven't ran like that since I was active duty, I was really surprised that I was going strong by mile 7. It was exhilarating to see the thousands of people running it with me, and I believe that was why it was a lot easier than I had thought. My husband was in charge of water point 5, and at that was around mile 10. I just kept thinking about what a victory it would be just to be able to run to him and give him a huge hug!

After mile 7 or 8, my stomach got extremely upset. Something that I was not anticipating during the race. I had to slow down from my pace, because honestly, I thought I was going to poo all over myself! haha-- I hope that makes y'all laugh! Seriously, though.. it was bad. They said it was completely normal because you are burning so many calories, and it gets your digestion going at a super fast rate. But, anyways, it was definitely taking a toll on me. My husband said that when I came to him at his water point, that it was less than 2 hours. Which means that I should've completed the last 3 miles between 2 hours and 15 to 2 hours and 25. However, I made a lo-o-ng stop at the port-a-john after seeing him. So, it took an hour to finish the last 5k. Ugh, I beat myself up over that, but you know what? I freaking finished!! They said 8,000 started that race, and nearly 5,700 actually finished.

Did I mention that I didn't run for like a 1.5 year before that? I know, my husband thought I was crazy for running half without training for it. However, I did a lot of cardio/circuit at the gym for months prior, and I believe that made a huge difference. Afterall, he didn't expect me hopping along to his water station before 2 hours. ;)

I wonder what my time would be if I actually trained? hmm... My time was 2:59:51. No, it is nothing to brag terribly about, but I finished something I started, and that was huge for me. Did I mention that I was wearing my Vibram Five Fingers the whole way? Oh, yeah!

So, my next race will be the Spartan Sprint in June. I am really stoked about it-- a 5k mud race with Spartan style obstacle courses. I will be training for that one, because I need the strength!

Our late Hawaiian Honeymoon

I will post this hopefully tomorrow, with some pictures. I just found out today, that sweet friend of mine died today, unexpectedly.