Indiana

Indy says, "Merry Christmas"!!

Happy Monday!

It has been a long, long time since I've posted here.  I just hope that everyone is having a very Happy Christmas season so far.  I hope to check in more often this coming year.  For now, here is my cutie Indiana!!

Merry Christmas from the Family!

2012 has certainly been a year for us. With Mom's cancer diagnosis and loss, we haven't had time for much of anything else. We've always done family cards, but this year time just ran out on us! So, we are going digital this year. So, here it is!

Merry Christmas from the Richardson's!!

A digital ecard by Smilebox

Long Time No Write

Seems like it's been forever since I posted here. The past 5 months have been horrendous, to say the least. My mother was diagnosed with terminal brain and lung cancer. It was quick and VERY aggressive. My husband, Casey, and I pretty much put our lives on hold to see to her care. Sadly, Not nearly 3 months after diagnosis, she passed away. It's a very strange, new reality.

My swim teammates have really kept me going throughout the whole ordeal. I think if I hadn't had a swimming pool, I would have jumped off a cliff by now. Just a month after Mom's passing, the team took a big trip to the 4th Annual Rowdy Gaines Masters Classic in Orlando, Florida. It was a three day meet. All of us piled into 2 cars and took off. We had SO MUCH FUN!! In addition to the beautiful October Orlando weather, the meet was terrific too! It was the biggest Masters meet that I've ever attended, so it was a challenge to get my anxiety under control.

I got the opportunity to be a total fangirl and meet Rowdy Gaines! He is such a nice and genuine guy. He didn't mind at all the fan adoration and took time out with anyone who wanted to meet and chat with him. It turned out to be great fun, and I'm SO glad that I got to go! Here are some shots of us at the meet.

Me and Rowdy Gaines




Me and Katie just being really silly and pretending we had no pants on!!




Me, Katie and Pam getting ready for our 50 Breaststroke event!




On deck for the backstroke!



Definitely need to work on my arms!!

Busy, Busy!!

The last couple of weeks have just been a whirlwind! This is the end of the semester, so things are really wild at work and in class. Last week, was really CRAZY for me. I had my skills test in my Water Safety Instructor class, the Masters Swim Club had to attend the Sports Club Awards Banquet, then the next day was the Awards Ceremony!

The Masters Swim Club was presented with a Service Award for having the most community service of any of the Sports Clubs. We were also awarded with an Outstanding Sport Club Award for 2012. Our Coach, Katie, and Morgan, one of our new officers, attended the banquet with me. We had a great time!

Me, Morgan, and Katie at the banquet with our awards.

Our Outstanding Sport Club Award

Back in March, I got a letter telling me that I had received the Nancy Hill Robertson Scholarship Award! I am so excited. This scholarship is going to pay for me to go to school full-time for the next year and finish my degree in Recreation Administration! Last Wednesday, the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences held their Awards Ceremony, where I was awarded the scholarship.

Me and my advisor, Dr. Joey Gray, at the Awards Ceremony.

My Award.

This week is finals week, so I took my final in WSI class. I've also spent the week, tying up loose ends and getting my summer class schedule set. I have a whole week break, before my May-mester class starts. The good thing is that it only lasts 10 days. I also have a class in June. Once that's over, I get an almost 2 month break, before fall classes! Looks like another busy summer for me!

Blue Wave Raider Spring Swim Meet!

I can't believe that I haven't posted this yet!! My spring swim meet went REALLY well. I was so worried about being slow, since I had been so sick and hadn't practiced much. Imagine my surprise, when again, I beat all of my times!! I was SO excited! The race that I'm proudest of was my 100 Back! I dropped my time nearly 6 seconds! We've been invited by the Nashville Aquatics Club Masters for a long course meet at the end of May. There are several of us that are going to go! I can't wait to try it.

Here are a couple of videos of me swimming at our home meet. The first is of the 50 Back. I was the only woman to swim in this heat, so it looks like I really got stomped, which was not the case.

This one is of my 50 Breast. I'm not a fast breaststroker, but I really like to race it. I still have a lot of work to do on this stroke!

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter! This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad. Psalm 118:24