School, work, school, work...and run!

As I was sitting in my chair thinking of things to do INSTEAD of homework, I decided that it would be a perfect time to blog! These past few weeks have been quite crazy, and Miles and I are trying to figure out where time has gone! It is hard to believe that it is already October. For us, as runners and all, that means that cross country is in the thick of its season! This weekend was one of my favorite meets, Louisville Invitational, and I spent my weekend working! I was bummed that I couldn't be there, but we are swamped at work so I had to pick up an extra shift. : ( SEMO raced this morning so Miles left yesturday morning and tonight he is announcing a tractor pull in Paducah, Kentucky. So, I am at home and should be doing homework as I always have a long list of stuff that needs to be completed, but I decided that I needed so ME time. The past month has been so crazy. I often wonder what I thinking when I decided that it wouldn't be hard to go to school full-time, work full-time, and race collegiately! Obviously, I wasn't! It has been crazy and I often feel as if I am failing at being a good wife to Miles (often times our time together is what is sacrificed), but with the advice from my mother, I just try to take it one day at a time, one paper at a time, and one run at a time. Oh, I forgot to mention that my skin has decided to rebel against me! Since moving to Missouri, I have battled eczema horribly, and the lastest is that I had shingles! Thankfully, I think that I've kicked that virus and almost all traces of the shingles have disappeared. I truely appreciate everyone's prayers and concerns regarding my skin because at times I have been miserable. Last weekend, I raced in Evansville, so after the race, I got to spend some short, but much needed time with my family. I miss them so much....but I am trying to be thankful for the time that I do get to see them! I don't know what I would do without blogs....they allow us to keep in touch with our nieces and nephews and the happening back aroun home. I look forward new posts...so much to the fact that Miles will call me when they are updated (he checks them more religiously than me). I couldn't go without my weekly pictures of Camden!....Miles get jealous says that Camden is the #1 man in my life! Anways, this blog has been quite random, but I wanted to give you all a glimpse into the happening of the Kriegers!

I am alive!

I believe this is the first time since I've blogged since the wedding. It's hard to believe that 2 months have come and gone since our big day. It was definately a fairy tale day and this past week we finally got our pictures. SO this past week it has been fun reliving our special day. It's acutally kind of sad that its all over : ) Anyways, we are so happy with them and so forutnate that our photographer truely captured our day! As Miles said in an earlier post, I am loving my job! I am learning so much, and it's a good feeling knowing that the past four years of tortorous school have paid off! My job has taught me that I CAN be a night person and just how wonderful it is to never have to wake up to an alarm! This summer we have been very busy with tractor pulls. Last weekend we had an awesome weekend at the Indiana State Fair. Miles says that it was his dream weekend. He got to go pulling and spend time with family all at the same time! For me, it was great to see family and spend time with them. On Monday, we traveled to the IL State Fair and unfortunately a 3 show trip ended up only being a 1 show trip due to the rain. We had a good time...a nice get away on the ITPA! Miles kicks off his season tomorrow as his athletes move in, and I'm back to work. I am making it my promise to be a better blogger!

It's Been a While!

Sorry for the delay in blogging it has been an exciting last few weeks at our home in Missouri. Allie has been working nights, she goes in at 7 and gets home about 8 am. It is hard for me as she leaves usually around 5 to go to the gym and get a run and workout in before heading to work. I had grown accustomed to our spending time together in the evenings and now seem to really miss her while she is working. To my surprise Allie is loving the night shift and has truly thrown herself into her work for force. I have been traveling alot with tractor pulls over the last two weeks I have been to six shows to announce. I even got to learn how to build a Sassy Racing Engine after my buddy Jeremy hurt his at a pull in Charleston. Married life is going well and we are truly getting our feet under us here in Missouri. We have two more big shows on the pulling schedule, this weekend in Indianapolis for the Indiana State Fair and in the middle of the month for the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. Our nephews and nieces are constantly growing and changing as Camden is now a walking machine and Bradley is learning to sing oh so beautifully. Nolan my big man has been going to school, which was a huge change from spending full days with his daddy at home. I will make sure Allie gets on here soon to update you all on her work and just how everything is going for her. Thanks for your continued support!
Miles and Allie

She Did It!

This morning Allie received great results from her Board Certification Test that she took on Saturday. She passed her exam and is now qualified to be a full fledged nurse. I can't express just how proud I am of my wife for her success not only on the test but in her preparation for the test. I am certain it was hard to get home from her honeymoon and spend 5-6 hours a day in a corner of the Panera Bread in Cape, but it worked and her preparation paid off in the long run. I certainly want to send my praises to God for all his help in bringing the successful results to Allie and to all of our friends/family for their prayers over the last week.

We have settled in to our home and married life thus far. I can tell you I am learning at a rapid rate how to do things and can add mopping, vacuuming, dusting, and cooking to my list of can dos!

Hope all is well with you!

Miles

We Did It!

We Did It! The Krieger's Say I do! After a long engagement and tons of anticipation we got married in front of our friends and family on June 13th. The day was magical and could not really have gone better. Allie absolutely looked stunning in her gown and made me cry when I read my vows to her. I can't believe just how amazing I felt that day, it was absolutely the most special day of my life. From the minute my brother began to sing, I could feel the quiver in my body and I am not sure it has left me yet. I can speak for Allie and myself when I say thank you to everyone who was with us on our special day! We have tried our best to replay the day over and over and wish we could just go back one more time to experience it all. I had always heard that the day would fly by and that I would not remember parts of it. I remember all of it but the day did fly by and I wish more than anything that I could have slowed it down. I started the day off with the It's not to late to run, run out at Dogtown. Several of my former teammates and friends joined me for my last run as a single man. I ran a 5k and truly enjoyed the time I got to spend with Danny and all of my friends who ran. I can't thank Coach Hillyard enough for taking time out to put the race on for me and the shirts truly were amazing. After the race I went to the hotel took a quick swim and showered before heading to the church to get ready. The weather was hot but beautiful throughout the day, which was a blessing as the forecast called for rain. Spending time with my guys getting ready and just in the room provided me a great jump start to the day as I couldn't think of anyone I would want to spend my last hours of bacherlorhood with. Taking all the pictures was enjoyable but set the stage for just how hot I was going to be throughout the day.

The wedding to me is the thing that seems the most blurry. I know Allie and I forgot to blow out our individual candles after lighting the unity candle but I think we got everything else right. I can't really describe the feeling that came over me when I saw Allie for the first time. I didn't know whether to cry, scream and shout, jump up and down, or run and grab her. Instead I stood on the stage and grinned from ear to ear. I had always known I was a lucky man to be marrying her but felt that day I was the luckiest man in the world. Our pastor Chris did a phenomenal job of summing up our run together with one another and God! I believe firmly that we were so blessed to have Chris to share our experience with us.

The Reception was a blast, the food was fantastic, my cake rocked, and the company we kept was unforgettable. I wish that I could have had more time to personally visit with each person who came and thank them for their time. I want to thank you all now and hope that one day I can be a part of something you will value as much as I have my wedding day.

Thanks to our families especially Tonya and Terry/ Butch and Donna for making our Wedding experience unbelievable! We love you all and can't wait to share our photos and stories with you all.

To my men and Allie's bridesmaid's we love you and were honored you chose to be with us.

I will post some photos of the wedding experience with my new cameras that Midnight Motorsports got me. I will also encourage Allie to write her own interpretation of our day, but not until she is done with her boards on Saturday.

Currently we are praying for:

-A successful test for Allie on Saturday

-Strength for the Naville family after their loss of Doris a staple in the community and so many lives

-Strength and healing for (Brenda Mumma's Father)

Praises

-For an amazing honeymoon and safe travels to and from Mexico

-Great weather on our wedding day

-So many other things I cannot currently list

The Krieger Men!

The Killer Race T-shirt!

Rehearsal Dinner Cake, it was a running shoe.

5 Days and Counting

Today is Monday June 8th and we are nearing the wedding at a rapid rate. I find myself constantly in amazement with how quickly the time goes, but also how much enthusiasm continues to build in my mind and heart. This past weekend I spent some time with my pulling friends at Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League event in Tennessee. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable weekend with my friends and family. I deeply missed Allie as she went home for a fun filled weekend with her friends and family. On Friday she was treated to a night out on the town in Evansville by several of her dearest friends. The festivities on Friday night were highlighted I am told by Angie's amazing ability to do the splits. On Saturday Allie attended a wedding which gave her a little bit more excited for our upcoming nuptials. Sunday Allie spent the day at Holiday World with her favorite little man Camden and her sister Beth and brother in law Austin. I was certainly jealous they got to spend their day at the water park as it was brutally warm in Missouri.

As we near the wedding we would ask for your continued prayers over the next few days. Please grant us all an extra bit of patience as in times of stress we are tested. I will try to update the blog again before the wedding arrives and we are off to Mexico.

Cheers

Another wedding shower!

We are now less than 2 weeks away, and I can hardly believe it! Today, Miles' family hosted a Couples' wedding shower for us, and we were definately showered! We got many great gifts off of our registry that will come in great use in our new home! As Miles mentioned, all of my stuff is now in Cape and it nows feels more like home. Last week we spent the majority of the week in Cape, and it just felt kinda weird, good but weird...I found myself randomly reminding myself that this was really my new home! As the wedding nears, I am getting excited, but also a little nervous. Everything is pretty much ready. We are heading back to Cape tomorrow to pack for the honeymoon and then back to Indiana to finish up the little things for the wedding! I'm tired after a big day, so I'm going to call it a night. Good bye!

Wow! The last few weeks have been a blur!

It is amazing how quickly time flies past you, before you can even get ahold of it. Since our last post alot of things have been going on in our lives in preparation of our marriage. Over the Memorial Day Weekend, Allies folks and sister/brother-inlaw and Camden made the trip to Cape Girardeau from Evansville with all of Al's stuff. It is amazing how different our house looks now and we certainly could not have done it without all of our families great help. I found myself getting used to the company and missed them Sunday night after they left the house.

In the prior weeks my brother and I took a brother get away to Gatlinburg. The trip reminded me just how much I value time with him and showed me that I need to make a continual effort to stay close to him. I also was lucky enough to spend some quality time with my sister and her kids over a meal together at the Cracker Barrel. A few of my student athletes competed at the University of Louisville which was neat to go home for a bit and brought a solid performance from my student athlete, but the highlight of the meet was Bradley running a lap around the track with me.

Allie, officially concluded her undergraduate nursing work at the University of Southern Indiana and had a nice ceremony where she received her pin. She was finished with her undergraduate work for about a day and decided it was time to go after her Master's Degree from USI. It wil be several years of study for her but the ending outcome will be well worth it. I am quite proud of her ambition towards furthering her education. Allie also had a wedding shower hosted by her mother and sister in Plainville. It was a great opportunity for Al to fellowship with the members of her church and community. I was most happy about my grill being purchased from the registry, it is funny how a grill can make someone so happy.

We are nearing our wedding date and the excitement is truly beginning to build up among our family and friends. This weekend is the NCAA Division 1 Regional meet in Louisville, Juli one of my athletes will contest the Steeplechase on Saturday. On Sunday we have a Wedding Couples Shower at my parents house. Next week Allie and I have our final marriage class in Plainville and Allie has a girls night out with the ladies from home. We are less then 20 days away! We would ask you to raise us up in your prayers over these next several days and keep us grounded in our faith and love as we near our special day.

Included are a few pictures from a photo shoot conducted by Allie's good friend Emily a few weeks back..

Thanks and sorry for the delay!

At this time we are praying for:
Allies Uncle Mike's recovery after his open heart surgery
My Sister-Inlaws Father Wally on recovery and improved health after his hip replacement surgery
Strength for Allie in her transition to Cape and time away from home

Praises:
A member of the church Allie and I attend in Evansville had a lung replacement and after numerous struggles, and surgeries he has made it home to Evansville.

A much needed update!

Wow...it has been a crazy last few weeks since we last posted! We have lots to update you so I'll get started...the most exciting news is that we have found a place to live and this past weekend we moved in! Well sort of...Miles is moved in, but not my me or my stuff yet : ( Thankfully my parents came down this past Thursday and slaved away moving for the next 2 days! It was quite the chore, but we managed to knock it out with 2 days of non-stop work. Dad had to go back home on Friday, but Mom stayed the duration and came back with me today. We worked hard and are exhausted but we had such a good time! Miles and I love you Mom and Dad and can't thank you enough for everything you have done for us this past week! I love our new home (I call it a "home" now instead of a "place" because we have flowers planted!) Haha. I was so excited about planting flowers at our home so Miles bought me some pretty pots and flowers and Mom and I planted flowers! Below are pictures of our house before we moved all our stuff in! More exciting news is that I only have 3 more shifts left of my practicum! YAY! Last time we blogged I was just getting ready to begin my practicum. Time sure does fly! It has really went well and each day I gain more confidence in my ability to be a good nurse! My internship is on the Post Partum floor at St. Marys, and I have really enjoyed taking care of all the new mommies and babies. However, I will be ready to begin working in the NICU at my new job in Cape.

The wedding is quickly approaching! We are both very excited and can't wait. It was so hard to leave Miles today, but I know only few short weeks and I won't have to do that anymore! Plans are coming along well. My flowers are finished and they are absolutely beautiful! The only thing left to do is come to an agreement on the format of the ceremony! My wedding shower at home is this Sunday and I am excited about that! I can't wait to go home and see my baby boy, Camden, as well as my friends and family. With working 32 hours each week for my internship and visiting Miles, I have not been home in quite some time!

Miles' outdoor track season is coming to a close this weekend, with the exception of 1 athlete who has qualified for regionals. Though his best athletes have been plaged by injuries, he has had a good season, just ready for a break from so much travel!

Well that is a quick update of what has happened and what is to come in the life of the Kriegers! Until next time....

A Break in Plainville!

On Wednesday evening I traveled to Allie's hometown of Plainville to finish my spring break with her and her family. There is just something about Plainville that feels like a retreat from the reality of the world I live in. On Thursday's Tonya(Allie's Mom) keeps Camden our nephew, it was great to spend Thursday with him in the morning before Allie and I went to our first marriage class. I had put a tremendous of thought into this class and felt very nervous about what we would talk about. Chris our minister for the wedding did a fantastic job of making me feel comfortable and let me ask several questions, which you would only expect from me. Thursday night we enjoyed one of my favorite meals only found in Plainville, Chesse Potatoes and Turkey. Friday morning brought a tremendous amount of worry to me as Allie had her wisdom teeth removed. I was overly concerned for her and often wished I could have switched places with her. She did a great job of coping with all of it and actually disappointed me by not say anything funny while she was coming off her anathesia. Saturday morning at 5:30 a.m. I woke Al up for her medicine and she gave me one of the worst scares of my life. She was standing in the kitchen talking to me and drinking juice, when out of know where she said "oh no". I looked at her and immediately sprinted to catch her before she fell to the ground. We are not certain what may have caused her to faint but needless to say she scared me to death. I did not sleep at all on Friday Night and Saturday Morning so I was ready for some breakfast. Terry (Allie's Father) and I left to head to the breakfast spot. Needless to say it was closed and I was disappointed. Terry and I then took all of the trash and recycling to the dump before making a few other stops. It was hard being away from Allie for that long but it was nice to spend some time with Allie's father. We are now twelve weeks from the wedding and our enthusiasm for our life together continues to build. Sunday, we made the travel back to Evansville and watched my Cardinals advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Overall this weekend was a great weekend in Plainville, though I did not sleep well and simply need to catch up on rest. Congrats, to the ND Cougars on their run in the tournament and Go Cards! Thanks Austin and Beth for the ice cream on Saturday, it hit the spot and next time I will have cash and treat you.

Miles

94 Days

Today we are 94 days from beginning our lives together and standing in front of friends/family at our wedding. As I reflect on our time being engaged, it truly has just whizzed by. The past few days have been filled with excitement as Allie and her mother have been in Cape to visit. Tonya (Allie's Mom) had never been to Cape, so we did our best to show her around the town. It is exciting to see the plans for the wedding coming together and being finalized. Presently, Allie and Tonya are in Evansville finalizing details with the cake, church, flowers, and several other odds and ends. I am leaving this afternoon after practice to head toward Allie's folks house for the night before heading to Cloverdale. Cloverdale is the second venue of Whats Smokin Promotions 2009 Winter Indoor Series and I will be announcing the show along with two other counterparts. My parents will be traveling up, as well as Allie, her father, and brother in law to view the pull. This show is the last one I will announce until after the wedding. I hope all is well and will be back on soon.

Longtime no blog!

Wow..it has been forever since we've blogged! Alot has developed in our lives happened since then, so I'll do my best to update you. A couple of weeks ago I went to Cape for an interview at one of two hospitals in the city. It went really well and I received an offer last Monday. It wasn't exactly in the area that I want to work (NICU), so when I called the other hospital that had a position in the NICU (I met with the NICU director in January to talk about opportunities) and let them know that I had another offer on the table, they called me back the next day and offered me a position in the NICU! It's hard for new graduates, or anybody for that matter, to get a job the NICU so I feel so blessed. Miles has also started doing some freelance writing for a couple of tractor pulling organizations, which he is great at and really enjoys doing. We both feel so blessed because God has truely answered prayers with my job and with Miles' new endeavor.
To make my weekend even better, this past weekend I went home to spend time with my family on Friday and Sunday. Miles wasn't able to go with me as he had his conference meet in Charleston, IL. I raced my conference meet at Wabash on Saturday. I hadn't been home or seen my Cam-Cam in a month so I was so so glad to see him. We spent all day Friday and Sunday playing! It was so much fun. This weekend is his 1st birthday party, so I'm excited for that! Just an update on the wedding countdown, we are almost under 100 days till the wedding and it can't come fast enough!

Finally a weekend at home!

I had almost forgotten what it felt like to be home for the whole weekend! As a kid, I wasn't too excited about staying home, but as I get older and my life gets busier I cherish the weekends where I don't have to travel! Fortunately, Miles had the weekend off too so he's here in Evansville with me. He's been such a good fiance today...he went shopping with me for wedding things such as dresses for the little girls and flowers! We also went shopping for wedding flowers last night too...needless to say he's a little weddinged out right now! He was a good sport about it though and even offered input! I think I could turn my apartment into a rose garden with all the flowers we've bought in the last 2 days! It certainly is a relief to have the flowers bought and ready to be made into beautiful bouquets though. One of my instructors used to work in the floral business so she has offered to do the flowers. We also found the cutest dresses for his nieces at JC Penney's! They are going to get them this weekend and that will be one more item crossed off the list! I think thats all for now..have a good rest of the weekend!

Prayer Channel

Over the past year or so I have truly been working to strengthen my relationship with GOD. I have found that reading the Bible is a very effective method of study, which also provides me with a personal relationship, however it is prayer I truly want to improve upon the most. I thought that I would extend the opportunity for any of our fellow bloggers, or readers to share some prayer requests. Those prayer requests will give Allie and I an opportunity to lift your prayers up while we pray. For many years I lead retreats and I always drew strength knowing that someone outside of the retreat was praying for me and my family. I think I could truly find a more personally relationship with God in praying for others and their current situations.

This week I am praying for-
A good report on my sisters health.
Safety for my best friend, his wife, and the addition to their family.
Safe travels over the next few weekends for Allie and I.
Good Luck and Success for Allie in pursuit of her goals and dreams!
Healing for Bradley and his mouth after last weeks fall.

Please feel free to comment or write me with things I may pray for, for you.

Hump Day and Clinicals

For many people Wednesday may be looked forward to because it is the middle of the work week, however Wednesday's for Allie and I are not very fun. I guess they aren't so bad for me, but more for Allie, she starts her day at 5:40 and heads off to clinicals. Clinicals for her often mean tiresome hours of work with very minimal rest. Today she has four patients and that means alot of responsibility. For me Wednesdays are hard because we simply do not get to talk during the day. When Allie finishes her 12 hour shift, she will go to the pool for her hour of training in pursuit of her goal of nationals. Clinicals are a full time job, but I don't think many understand the amount of strain it puts on ones body, Allie found out the hard way this fall. Not only was she working 24 hours worth of clinical but she continued to run 60 miles plus a week. I guess this blog is more about how proud I am of her devotion to the sport, her career, and myself. Our days apart are coming to an end as we only have 129 days until the big day. We are so excited about the wedding and continue to get final details put in place.

Snow, Snow, Go Away!

It's official....I'm over the winter season and ready for all the snow and ice to melt away and STAY away! Last week was quite interesting with the icy weather. Because of the heavy ice, I was out of power in Evansville for 4 days. I couldn't take anymore than 1 day in a cold, powerless apartment..so on Wednesday evening I ventured out and left to go to my parent's house. After about 30 minutes of driving, I began to wonder what I thinking when I decided to attempt the trip home! Lets just say the roads were a far cry from being clear, as the Indiana State Police Post told me when I called to check. Needless to say, I made it home in 3 hours (it usually takes half that)! Once I was home it was great because I got to spend the day on Thursday with my Cam-Cam! On Friday, I raced again at IU, only this time Miles' team was there. It worked out perfectly because after my race, mom, dad, Beth, Austin, Camden, Miles, and I all went to eat at Red Lobster..Yummy! On Saturday, Mom came back to Evansville with me and we went to Super Bride Sunday the next day. I modeled for Illusions Bridal during the expo and had a great time. Miles was going to come, but resisted the temptation to see me in a wedding dress even though it wasn't MY dress! We made more progress with the planning this weekend too. Mom and I printed the invitations so they are ready to be assembled! I'm excited about how they turned out. Everyone always comments on how crazy I am trying to finish nursing school and plan a wedding but personally I think it's pretty clever...I would much rather assemble invitations or Google wedding bouquets instead of studying! A wedding is just as important as school, right? : ) That pretty sums up last week for us! Until next time..have a good one!

I'm officially a blogger!

Well, as Miles mentioned in the last post, we are avid blog readers, especially our Cam-Cam's (Camden's Corner)!, but I never really thought I would be someone to HAVE a blog! Since we lead pretty hectic lives and in a little over 4 months we'll be married and living in Missouri, we thouhgt this would be a good way to let our friends and families have a little bit of insight into what goes on in our lives. As Miles said I raced at IU last night. As many of you know, this past year of running has really been a struggle for me. It seems it has been one thing after another when it comes to my training, and quite frankly I completed this past cross country season ready to "throw in my racing shoes for good." But thankfully, with encouragement from my family and Miles I have learned how to enjoy the sport again. With a new mindset and focus, I have seen positive results already this indoor season. Last night's race was another big step in the right direction! Anyways, enough about running! Miles and I got our first item for our new place. We got new furniture! I know it seems silly to be excited about used (new to us) furniture, but it's the first thing we've really bought for our place in Cape and it's really nice and comfortable. It seems hard to believe that we'll be married in such a short time. Plans for the wedding are coming along really well. Thanks to my awesome mom and Miles I haven't stressed about anything yet. My dress is in and it's beautiful, we have the bridesmaid dresses and all the decorations for the reception, the invites, and last weekend we booked our honeymoon! We basically just have to decide on a florists and we're all set, right? If only thats all we had left! Have a good rest of the weekend!

Starting Off

Tonight is Friday January 23, 2009. We are 141 days from our wedding day and the majority of the planning has been taken care of and finalized. Over the last year we have utilized blogging to keep us up to speed with our nephew Camden. Allie's sister Beth keeps a regular blog known as Camden's Corner. It is amazing how utilizing a blog can help to fill the void of missing alot of the events which occur over the course of a year. Thank's to the blog we have been able to share weekly with Austin, Beth, and Camden on their journey through life. Over the last year we have not only become great fans of reading Camden's Corner, but we have developed a following of many blogs on web today. We hope to update our blog a few times a week with updates on where we are and what we are doing. The blog Life is a highway is a play on the fact that we are both very busy. Track season is among us and is truly kicking in to high gear. At the moment Allie is competing at Indiana University, while Miles is on the road at Illinois State University. We hope you enjoy reading and will look for you on Life's highway.