It's been a year so why not try this again!

One day I'll get the hang of this blog thing. It's been a long time since I blogged. I seem to look at blogging as writing for someone else...but I need to look at it as writing for myself and my family. I'm writing a bit of my history and the history of my little family. My blog is now in three parts...the first part details my diagnosis and heart surgery and recovery...scroll back to June 2009 if you want to read about my aortic aneurysm journey. The second part from 2012 is my "first" marathon blog. I wrote a few times about my training for the NY Marathon 2012. As most know, that marathon was cancelled because of the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. My husband and I were actually in NY and picked up my running bib before they finally cancelled it. We had a fun time in NY anyway, but I was totally heartbroken to not get the chance to run the marathon. I trained hard and worked to raise a bunch of money for the John Ritter Foundation. I have very generous friends and family who donated more than $4000 to the cause. I will make them proud by finishing the marathon this year.

Now it's July 2013. I'm once again training for the NY Marathon. I am on Team Ritter again. I want to raise money for the John Ritter Foundation. I also want to continue to raise awareness of aortic disease by telling people my story.

Late last year, my husband was offered the job Chief Learning Officer with International Capital and Management Company. The company is located in St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. We discussed this opportunity and the required move to St Thomas a lot. We knew there would be challenges with living on a tiny island in the Caribbean, but ultimately decided that Marlo would accept the position and we would all move to St Thomas to start a new adventure. Career wise, it was the right move for my husband. I gave up my career path back in 2005 after my son was born. I'm totally fine with this and fine with moving for my husband's job. Family wise, we thought it would be a great learning adventure for all of us, especially Gabe and Lily. Gabe is now 7 and Lily is 5. They seem to be the perfect age to do this and they have settled in nicely so far.

When I was younger, the idea of living on a tiny, tropical island always sounded so romantic and adventurous. The reality of it is that it is a beautiful place, but now it's our real life. I need to go grocery shopping, banking and to the post office. Kids will have school and schedules and I still need to cook dinner and clean the house. I have been here since June 6 and I still get lost every time I go to the grocery store or to Kmart or Home Depot. I am trying to get my head around paying $6 for a four-pack of greek yogurt and $4 for two peaches. Most people on the mainland of the USA probably takes for granted being able to go into any grocery store any day of the week and pick up fresh produce and dairy. Here, the boat with the fresh produce arrives Sunday afternoon and the stores get it out on shelves for Monday and Tuesday. That's when you shop..when EVEYRONE shops, so the lines are painfully long and your frozen food is not so frozen by the time you drive home. Which in my case is always 45 minutes later because I get lost EVERYTIME! You've probably heard of "island time"...well it's real. Nobody (except for me) is in a rush for anything. The cashiers will pause and have a two minute conversation with a friend, while ten people with full carts are waiting in line. You just have to accept and lower expectations. I'm learning how to slow down and breathe, rather than running from here to there expecting to get in and out quickly. I'm learning how to plan meals well in advance and, ugh-gasp, make lists. Usually I lose my list or leave it in the car, but I'm trying.

We just started our St Thomas adventure. This adventure also includes me training for the NY Marathon. This is the thing I'm most nervous about. I just started my official training and it's brutal. Yes, I haven't run big distances since last year, and I probably have more than a few extra pounds on me right now. But it is HARD! Training for your first marathon is hard anyway. I'm just really nervous about training in this heat, humidity, the heavy, salty air and especially the lack of safe running routes. I will continue to plug away at my training and eventually maybe my body will adjust appropriately to living here. We shall see. Regardless of where I'm training, I will run the NY Marathon. I may not finish in 4:30 like I hope to, but I will finish.