New Do

This is me, holding the ponytail of hair that I got chopped off this afternoon. I am going to donate it to Locks of Love, and organization that makes hairpieces for children with medically-associated hair loss. The last time I had my hair this short was 2 years ago! The new "do" has come at a perfect time; my hair was just long enough to donate, warmer weather has arrived, and I had a $4.99 coupon from Great Clips that was about to expire. Although it is a little funny to think of someone else wearing my hair on their head, I do hope that who ever gets my hair will enjoy it.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans

Okay, chronologically this post is a bit out of order, but had I been more organized, I would have gotten this up sooner! Last month, Ben and I went to New Orleans for my cousin Michael's wedding. Coincidentally, it was also Mardi Gras weekend. Being that both my parents are from New Orleans, I've heard a lot about Mardi Gras, but I'd never been down there when it was happening. But this year, we were in luck. Now, when most people think of Mardi Gras, probably the first things that come to mind are mobs of people, utter chaos, lots of drinking, and flashing of certain private body parts in exchange for beads. While some of that does go on, those activities do not represent the majority of the festivities. There are lots of parades down many of the major streets, and each one has a name and a theme. We saw 3 parades: Babylon, Chaos, and Bacchus, all of which were family-friendly. Each parade has a king and a queen who ride at the front of the parade, and they are escorted by Dukes on horseback. Following them are a string of floats, and the people on the floats throw beads, coins, stadium cups, stuffed animals, and other such trinkets to the crowds below. High school marching bands and dance teams also march along behind the floats. I was excited that I finally got to experience some of Mardi Gras in its home city. The pic I have posted above is a fraction of loot that we brought home.

The Evans Clan

Below is a picture of all of us, taken last summer. Well, almost all of us; Marty (my father-in-law) is the one taking the picture. We're a pretty big family, so here's the breakdown. Ben's parents are Marty and Brenda. Ben has two older brothers (Paul and Andy), and one younger sister (Megan). Paul is married to Alicia, and they have a 3-yr old little boy, Isaac. Andy is married to Anne, and of course, Ben is married to me.

Back row, l-r: Paul, Ben, Megan, Anne, Andy
Front row, l-r: Isaac, Alicia, me, Brenda

Spring Break in Gatlinburg

Ahh, spring break is finally here! We kicked it off by spending the past 4 days in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg with family. It was so great to get away for a few days and just hang out. I posted a few fun pics below.

Ben and Isaac, our 3-yr old nephew, sharing a really cute moment

Isaac playing with his "Dark Gator" (aka Darth Vader) action figure.

Early Monday morning, we headed to Cades Cove to check out the wildlife. We mostly saw deer, woodpeckers, and turkeys. Here is one of the deer that we saw. Ben took this picture using the binoculars.

Me and my mother-in-law Brenda chillin' on the couch. Apparently the couch was not made for short people!

My second 10K

Yesterday morning, I ran the Cary Wakemed Distance Festival 10K. It was excellent running weather; sunny with the temperature in the 50s. This was my second 10K race; my first one was back in October. I finished in 52:37, beating my first time by almost 3 and a half minutes. I came in 79 out of 198 total competitors, and I was 11th out of 46 women in my age group. I was very happy with my results, and I look forward to the next race!

Full results may be viewed here:
http://www.active.com/results/viewresults_multiple.cfm?filename=1399642_20070304015130.txt

Pittsboro Bach Society in the news

Here is the link to an article about our concert from this past weekend.

http://www.heraldsun.com/features/54-823630.cfm

In the group picture, I am wearing a pink shirt and black pants, and I'm standing back-to-back with the pianist.