The end of a fun weekend!

Saturday night was the last of my birthday weekend festivities! lol We took the car out to OCharleys (yes, again) to eat with my parents and my brother/sister in law.







I had something to eat that I haven't had probably since the last time we were in Disney (last fall). Steak.



It was SO juicy and very good! I was also supposed to have sweet potato fries but they brought me the wrong ones by accident. Our waitress told me that she would bring me the right thing, but it was frying in the grease at the moment. Gee...thanks for adding that in! lol







Kayla and I laughed at how crazy the wind made our hair on the interstate! Now you know why my hair is in a pony tail in the rest of these pictures! lol

We had a blast! Then we came home and opened gifts/ate cake.





This cake is soooooo good! I seriously have been looking forward to this cake since last year! I couldn't wait to eat it! lol It didn't disappoint....it was very good!!! Chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. Yummmmmy!!!



My gift from Jason was in this bag!! lol



He got me 3 Demi Lovato/Jonas Brothers concert tickets! Hahahahhaaa! I love Demi Lovato and she's travelling right now with the Jonas Brothers...so Kayla, Kim, and I will go! Yes, we are like a bunch of grown 16 year olds but we don't care!! lol



He also got me this Medal hanger from Allied Steel. It's to hang my Marathon medals on! Can't wait to put it up and finally have a place to display my medals!



I got an Academy gift card from my parents and this awesome fleur de lis wind chime from Kayla/Brian.



This is Kayla and Brian's dog, TJ! He's so big and floppy but he's so cute!

Also, I got $$ and my friend Heather got me an awesome necklace...

She has one as well but neither of us can wear it until January - WDW Marathon...a first for both of us! Yay!

All in all, it was a great birthday! Now we are going back to my parents house to eat more cake! lol (And I'm really going to have to buckle down on the running this week from all the mess I ate this weekend! Haha!)

Birthday Madness!

Yesterday, I turned 28 years old! I had a FABULOUS day that started out with two surprises at work...



This from my dad (we work at the same facility). He brought me a Twix bar (that I haven't eaten yet...lol) and a Caramel macchiato with 2% milk and whip cream on top. I think he's trying to offset my resolve to drop a few pounds! lol

Also, my boss made these for our department:



They were super yummy! No, I didn't eat 2! One was for Jason! lol



It's quitting time! Let the celebration begin!!!



Jason took me to McAlisters for lunch on my birthday! McAlisters is another favorite of mine!! lol

The birthday festivities officially began on Thursday night when Jason took me out to eat at OCharleys! Yummy my favorite!!!




We were so hungry by the time we got there, we both devoured the twisted chips. Seriously. I felt so gross afterward, I had to unbutton my pants! lol Jason says, "You know it's a good night when you have to unbutton your pants!" LOL



So for an entree, I had a salad. I LOVE their California Chicken Salad (minus the bleu cheese). It seriously is one of my favorite salads ever!



After dinner, we went to Cold Stone and split a like it size Coffee Ice Cream with Heath Bar! Yummmmy!



He also gave me roses! Aww!!



Last night for my birthday dinner, my amazing inlaws had us over! It was great and we had a BLAST! I love it that my whole family gets along!! It's so much fun!

My mother in law made roast, rice and gravy, corn, and homemade bread which is my FAVE! (Can you tell I like food?! lol)



We also had cake of course!



After cake, I got the honor of signing the table cloth! My mother in law has this Happy Birthday table cloth and she puts it out on the table for every birthday! I've signed it 5 years in a row! lol I heart the birthday table cloth!





My husband also surprised me by getting his dad's convertible mustang to drive around for the weekend! woohoo! Perfect weather for it, too! Yay!



My brother and his wife, Kayla!



To offset all of this incredible food I ate so far this weekend, I met up with my running group this morning for an 8 mile run! My sister in law, Kayla, who is also training for a half came along for the run, too!





We ran a route that takes us by this house that has 2 mannequins standing at the window. It's the funniest thing...the first time we saw it, we were all waving and smiling cause we thought people were watching us run!! Hahaha!!! Then we realized what it was! So funny! I know it's hard to see, but they are there in the window! lol



So far, I haven't opened any gifts yet (that's tonight with my family) or eaten my incredible favorite birthday cake!! It's a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing! Oh my gosh it's to DIE for!!!!! Can't wait! That's part of what got me through my 8 mile run this morning! lol




Thursday was my mom and dad's Siberian Husky's birthday! She turned THIRTEEN years old! She is in such great shape! Both of her parents died around age 9-10. Happy Birthday, Maggie!!! :)



The only bad thing that happened yesterday....My 3 month old deck umbrella just broke. Kayla and I spent an hour looking through receipts, couldn't find it. Thankfully my brother has the hookup with Bed Bath and Beyond (cause he used to work there)!! He called and got it all straight and they are shipping a new one from Florida to me! Jason said, "See...its a birthday miracle!" LOL

Sooo, overall, I had a fabulous day! Can't wait for more celebrations tonight and that peanut butter chocolate cake! I think the anticipation is just as exciting as eating the cake itself!! lol

Disclaimer: NEVER do I EVER eat this much food at one time unless I'm at Disney World or having a holiday weekend...just sayin.


Check out this giveaway at Racing with Babes...

Morning Run

This morning, I woke up fully expecting to get on the treadmill and run 4 miles.

BORING!!!

The TV in the treadmill room is hooked to Dish but not to the DVR or a DVD player. Ugh. There's nothing to watch on TV at 5 a.m....nothing good anyway. I was totally dragging my feet and finding excuses not to get on that treadmill. Well, I let the dogs out to potty and when I opened the door, I felt COOL air! Gasp!!!! lol I had to walk outside to see what was going on and sure enough, it was COOL air!! I didn't care at that point if it was pitch black outside...I was gonna run outside!! So I got all my stuff together, I put on my red reflector with flashing light, and I headed out the door. I'm a HUGE chicken and I hate being in the dark by myself. There were a few street lamps to light the way but not nearly enough! lol I held my iphone in my had and kept the light on the entire time so people could see me. My road is 0.2 miles one way and 0.2 miles back so a total of 0.4 miles. I usually cross the very busy street and run in the next neighborhood but I decided not to do that this morning cause it was too dark! (Big scaredy cat, remember?) I have Run Keeper on my phone and that helped me keep track of my distance. In total I ran 10 times up and down my road! Hah! I know I looked crazy but I didn't care! It felt GOOD and I wasn't passing up that chance! Can we say HELLO FALL?! I wish it would come sooner. It is, of course, hot outside once again. Ugh.

Exciting Weekend!! :0)

Whew did I ever have a whirlwind weekend!! Friday night started off with my BFF's Bachelorette/Lingerie/Girls Party!





The Bride



We had a TON of fun! Can't wait for her wedding in October!!! :0)

Saturday morning, I woke up at 5 a.m. for a 6 mile run. One lesson I learned: never run more miles than hours of sleep you've had. 5 hours of sleep + 6 miles = bad news! I was worn out. And it made for a rough afternoon. That's ok though cause after I got home from my run, I showered and finished packing and we headed to New Orleans to visit another good friend of mine, Heather.

It's about a 3 hour drive so I was able to sleeeeep!! lol



Heather and I at Menchie's, a frozen yogurt place! Sooo good!



No shoes, no shirt, no Fro-Yo! I thought this was so cute!



I had some kind of berry concoction with strawberries and white chocolate chips as toppings! Yummy!!!!



The next morning, we ate breakfast at the Broken Egg Cafe. It was soooo good but oh so bad for me! I had this stuffed french toast with pastry cream and blueberries/strawberries on top. Oh so sweet but very very good!!!



Heather also made these awesome sugar cookies that were Mickey Mouse and Fleur de Lis shaped!!!



We came home and I cleaned the house and that was the end of our weekend. So sad that it always goes by so very fast!!! Can't wait till the next time we get to see our friends! :0)

Spirit of the Marathon

"Sometimes the moments that challenge us the most, define us..."

5 minutes into this movie, I teared up twice! We recently got a Netflix subscription and I LOVE IT! After searching for movies, I saw that Netflix has this movie available for immediate streaming to our TV! Yay! I had heard of "Spirit of the Marathon" but had never watched it. Now, since I'm running my first marathon, I decided I needed see this movie.

"When you cross that finish line, no matter how slow or how fast, it will change your life FOREVER."

Jon Dunham and Mark Jonathan Harris strive to create the definitive feature-length marathon film by focusing on the unique stories of five runners competing in the famed Chicago Marathon. Filmed on four continents, the documentary focuses on the remarkable perseverance and personal triumphs experienced by Boston runner Ryan Bradley, first-time marathoner Leah Caille, 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Deena Kastor, four-time marathoner Jerry Meyers, and world-class marathoner Daniel Njenga as they attempt to endure the grueling 26-mile event that demands nothing less than complete focus and dedication. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

If you are running a Marathon or even if you are a runner who wants to run a Marathon one day, I recommend this movie.

Guess what else? I finally registered for the 2011 WDW Full Marathon! I'm really nervous but I'm going to take it slow and I know it will be fine!



Can't wait!!! Only thing I'm not looking forward to are the 18 and 21 mile training runs our coach has planned! lol

I also started a food journal last week so I could keep up with how many calories I'm eating. It also helps me to make BETTER calorie choices, that way I'm not overdoing it on sweets...cause I loooove sugar!! :0) (This weekend though, I was a really bad girl with what I ate...I'll share pictures later!) lol

In Memory

What Cancer Cannot Do
Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the Spirit.



I lost a very dear friend of mine today. He was such a sweet man and I am going to miss him terribly!

We say our meeting was totally by chance...but then again, I know nothing happens by chance...it was all God. He mentioned he worked for the railroad, I mentioned that my late grandfather did too...come to find out, they knew each other and were very good friends. Mr. Duhon from that moment on found a special place in my heart. He stepped in to kind of take the role that my grandfather left behind in my life (he passed away 10 years ago). Mr. Duhon loved trains and clocks. In fact, he gave me a beautiful clock from his collection last Christmas. I will cherish that clock forever. He says that the way we met up was nothing short of a God thing and I know he was right. He received the Purple Heart medal two months ago and became our Hometown Patriot! He should have rightfully received it 65 years ago, but his records were burned in a fire in St. Louis. Boy how proud he was of that medal...I can still see that gleam in his eye and the proud grin on his face. He carred it with him almost every where he went. It was kind of like his "last hoorah" before his death. This is a snipet from our local news:

When 87 year old Thomas Duhon was wounded in World War Two 65 years ago, he qualified for a Purple Heart medal. Duhon was hit by shrapnel from a dud grenade thrown by a German soldier. A friend offered to shoot it and blow it up.

"He says, I'll shoot it," recalls Duhon. "So he shot the grenade and a piece hit me. The German that threw it, he never threw no more."

Because Duhon's Army records were burned in a St. Louis fire in the fifties, there was no proof of his injury. That's when Congressman Charles Boustany's office stepped in, resulting in Duhon finally getting his Purple heart last week. It was a poignant moment for Duhon, who was part of the D-Day invasion in Normandy.

"That was my first real battle. The beach was full of bodies. They hadn't cleared it. It was something that you never want to see again."

It was one of several scary moments for Duhon during World War Two.

"One time I was in a foxhole with a friend of mine. It was in July. I started shaking. He said, 'What's wrong, Duhon?' I said, 'Well, I'm cold.' He said, 'You're like me, you're afraid.' He was right. They were shelling us with big guns."

Thomas L. Duhon. This week's Hometown Patriot.

He was a great story teller and he LOVED to talk. Every time I saw him, he would have a new story to tell me about my grandfather. Apparently, they loved to play tricks on each other! Him and his wife brought us cupcakes...the best cupcakes in town on several occasions. I'm going to miss his phone calls and his stories. Kind of feels like I've lost my grandfather all over again. Oddly enough, both of them died from cancer.

The last time I saw him a few weeks ago, he asked me not to forget him. How could I evern forget him? I know that will never happen...he will remain in my heart and my memory forever. Thank you, Lord for allowing our paths to cross. I am truly grateful.

Dresses! :0)

"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

Off topic from running for a minute and onto our CRUISE! Well, I've been searching and searching and searching for a dress for our cruise coming up at the end of September. I wanted one that had pockets, was a satin-ish material, and was deep purple. Seriously, I looked everywhere I could think of for this dress. Nothing even came CLOSE to it! So Friday after work, I decided to scour the mall one more time. I needed another item for a friends shower this weekend also. I started at JCPenny...nothing. Then Kohls, nothing....Sears, nothing. Finally, I decided to go into Dillards (the last department store in our mall). I found the thing for my friends shower first (should have started in Dillards I guess! lol) and I decided to just take a look at the dresses to see what they had. As I came off the escilator, my heart started beating faster...they had a TON of purple dresses with pockets!!!! I tried on dress after dress until finally finding one that fit perfect...but it was really plain and I kinda didn't like it! lol It wasn't that satin-ish material, either. So I held onto it and I decided to look through another part of the store. Well....there, hanging on the wall, was one satin-ish, electric blue dress with POCKETS and black trim! I got even more excited as I looked at the size...it should fit! I put it on and it was like the dress was made for me. No, it's not purple, but I LOVE IT!!! I was so excited!

Which comes to the reason I have that verse at the top of this blog. God cares about the little things....He wants us to have only the best. He cares about the things WE care about. He knew exactly what I wanted and He brought me to it. It did take quite a few tries but that's ok...it's perfect and I can't wait to wear it on the cruise!!! :0)

The exact dress I had in my mind was a Marc Jacobs and was close to $300....that's just a little out of my price range! lol

What I found was incredibly similar, just what I wanted!

I
LOVE
IT
!!!!

Chasing Katie

Meet: Katie. Katie is a sweet little dog who belongs to our neighbors across the street. Our neighbors recently acquired Katie because a pit bull attacked their daschund and killed it. So sad.

Yesterday, I got realllly excited when Jason told me the weather forecast...only SIXTY SEVEN % humidity! WHAT?!?! That hasn't happened in MONTHS! lol The temps were in the high 80's (feels like 96 degrees) but it wasn't so bad cause the humidity was low! (It rained here yesterday afternoon) Sooo, Jason and I decided to take Maddie for a walk (she was going to make one loop and we were going to make 2). We ran a little walked a little jogged a little, you get the picture. Jason has terrible knees and always has so he's not able to run but he was a trooper keeping up with us. We would get ahead and then walk and he would catch up, etc. Anyway, we were about a mile and a half into our journey when we saw our neighbors on the road trying to coax their dog Katie to come to them. I thought maybe I could lure her to me with Maddie but she didn't have any of that.

Katie is a smart dog. She knows if you are chasing her...she knows just how close to let you get before she takes off again. She knows if she's being cornered into a sticky situation. That dog is smart.

So Jason and I helped chased her a little while to no avail. We would get close and she'd take off again. Our neighbor thought she would come up to the car....nope.

By this point, Maddie was hot and tired so we continued our walk to our house and returned to make the loop one more time. I guess Katie saw where we were so she followed us...well kind of. We got Maddie inside and then continued our pursuit of Katie. Only problem with our neighborhood and the one we were chasing Katie in is that you have a to cross a fairly busy road to get to it. That is what scared me the most. Our entire neighborhood is surrounded by woods but on the other side of those woods is a really busy road. At one point, Katie crossed that busy road again when a car was coming. I sprinted out to the road and flagged the car down to stop. They did...and I waved to them...they waved back. Thankfully they didn't hit me on the way! lol Jason and I also tried to corner Katie in this yard that had a wood fence. She was smart and knew what was happening. She took of like a lightning bolt as close to the house as she could...I couldn't get her.

We helped chase Katie for the better part of an hour using Hot dogs, Dog biscuits, anything we could think of. Nothing worked. Finally Jason and I decided to try and get her back in that yard where the fence was so we could really tighten in on her and corner her.

By that point, her owner had changed cars to confuse her lol. They pulled up and with all four of us, we made a circle around her and closed in tighter and tighter. Finally, she decided she was trapped and worn out. She sat down in the grass and we were able to catch her.

We were thrilled! Yay!!

So our run/walk yesterday was very interesting. I set out to do 4 miles and I got 4 miles done! lol Sometimes I jogged, sometimes I walked, sometimes I sprinted. I bet this would make an interesting route if I were to plug my garmin into the computer! I was all over neighbor's yards and everything! lol We are SO grateful we don't have dogs that run!!!

Oh yeah, on top of all of that excitement, we had a baby snake on our back porch two days in a row. The first day, Jason couldn't see it very well, he just knew it was a snake....so he made sure the dogs left it alone. This time, when we got a good look at the snake, it looked like a copperhead. Not just your average garden snake! Yikes! It's head had kind of a diamond shape and it's body had a brown/black design on it. Jason got the shovel and took care of it! I don't need anything like that biting my babies!!! Just the thought of a snake gives me the creeps!!



Here's the picture I took...after the snake was dead, of course! lol

8 Mile Saturday

As I'm sure you can tell, I ran an 8 mile run on Saturday. We got out there EARLY (I woke up at 4:45 a.m.....we started running at 5:30 a.m.) It was hot and very humid outside! I ran this one with my friends and we had a pack of about 10 or so people running. It was really fun!! It's nice too cause we are all around the same pace!

Our coach was running 16 miles yesterday morning so we didn't have a seminar after our run. However, last week, our seminar was based on training logs. She really encouraged us to get a training log to track how we are doing, how many miles, what the weather is like, what kind of run, etc. She made a comment about how they have them as apps! I never thought about that which would be SO much easier for me than keeping up with an actual book! I looked through all the apps on my phone, and I came across "Running Log" (it's free) and it's been great! Very handy and easy to use! I love it!

Back to the 8 mile run. My foot never hurt at all which was great! (Last Saturday, it started bothering me around mile 4.) Our route took us out for 6, back to home base, then out again for the last 2 miles. Running back out was one of the hardest things ever. Those 2 miles seemed to last for forever! I really felt like I hit a major bump in the road at 6.5 miles or so. I thought that if that's what "hitting a wall" is like, HOW am I going to make it to 26?? lol I'm sure it will be better by then but still...that was MISERABLE! I made it through though and that's all that matters! In the end, we were all SOAKED. Water was dripping off of us. It looked as if we had run through sprinklers in someones yard! lol I couldn't ride home with the AC on cause it made me cold. I hate that feeling of being cold/hot at the same time. Ugh.

Found out after our run that we were in 94% humidity (I believe it) and when I got in my car, this is what the temperature said!!!





Anyway, I came home, showered, then went back to town for a Women's Conference, then I got a 2 hour nap in before the big ACS (American Cancer Society) Gala that night! We had a blast! It was a lot of fun!!! :0)

My question for you.....Do you use a Running Log? If so, what kind do you use?