Derby Festival Mini-Marathon!

I finished 13.1 miles!

The mini marathon is over, and I'm still alive. I went to bed late the night before ( screaming child), and woke up just about every hour the entire night. I was so anxious to get out there and just get it over with. I woke up around 6ish, ate an orange, got dressed, and headed out with Amanda and my Dad. He dropped us off close to the start line, and I had a terrible stomach ache, and headed straight to the porto- potties ( sorry if it's TMI). The lines were SOOOO long, we stood there for at least 15 minutes, and left because it was 7:15, and we wanted to head to the starting line.I was SO nervous to start the race all by myself, but was mentally ready for it! I didn't let any of the " what am I doing?!?!" or " I CAN'T DO THIS!" thoughts into my head at all, and knew I had to finish! The only bad thought I had was "OMG, when will I be able to stop and use the bathroom?!?!"

The first mile was spent dodging walkers. How they got into corral B & C, I have no clue! My pace was right at 10 minutes the first 2-3 miles. I hadn't trained on ANY hills, so mile 2-4 being in the park with hills slowed me down a little bit. I love the FCA posters with bible verses on all of them up until their power aid station! They made me smile. I also loved that most of the water stops had mini water bottles, so I carried them almost until the next stop, and drank all along the way. Once we got out of the park, the drizzle had turned into a little harder rain. I saw some potties right outside the park, debated stopping, THEN saw like 15 people in line. I didn't wanna add THAT much time on, so I kept going. I saw some people along Southern Parkway that we knew, and said a little "hi" as I ran past. Then around mile 6, the sun came out, and the drizzle stopped! I was already 8 minutes behind my pace at that point, but wanted to try to get my pace back up, and only finish 8 minutes later than I wanted.I kept looking for another potty, and the only other one had a massive line too. I had NO clue how I was going to finish like this haha. FINALLY once in the infield at Churchill Downs, the bathrooms were open!!!! It added a few minutes onto my time, but I had to stop =(. Once I got out of Churchill Downs, I kept waiting to see my baby boy and parents.....but I never found them where they said they'd be. Turns out they had a flat tire ( my dad ran over something when he dropped us off). Once I got to 8 miles, I knew that's that farthest I had run, and that was my 'goal'. I did NOT want to walk as much as I did, but I did the best I could. The last 2 miles were MISERABLE! I thought FOR SURE I had missed the 12 mile marker, and there was NO way that mile was THAT Long. haha AND THE HILL at the end was killer! Some guy was like " WWWHHHYYYY DDDIIIIDD THEY PUT A HILL RRIIIGGGHHHTT HHERRREEE???", and it gave us all a good laugh at the end. There were so many turns, and when I thought we were almost done, we went up another block and turned again.The worst part was--seeing a ton of people already walking back to their cars with their medals! FINALLY, I saw a mile 26 marker for the full, and knew .2 left, and I need to kick it up to finish. Well, I turned the corner, saw the finish, and took off. THEN I got like 20 steps away from the finish and thought I would die. haha Seriously, I finished 20 minutes later than I wanted to , and am embarrassed of my time, compared to others that I know who ran it. THEN I think, I've always hated running, and I have ALWAYS been slow! With taking a few minutes off for my bathroom break, and calf stretching a few during the last 4 miles, I finished right around 2 1/2 hours. At least that's a starting point! And the next time I run one, I will have a time to beat. I'll try to get at least 1 or 2 more weeks of training in, so my body doesn't die at mile 10. I will also run with someone hopefully. I think it would make a world of difference running with someone, and also having people cheer along the way for me. MAYBE I can get Luke to do one with me! ! !Let me know if there's any good half-marathons coming up! In the meantime, I'm hoping to be running some 5ks with some friends. The best part of the day was after I was over the stomach sickness, and Amanda was done throwing up ( I think we ate bad food!) I ordered some Papa John's thin crust!!!! YUUMMY! After burning like 1500 calroies, who cares what you eat!

Amanda after finishing.

Mini-Vaca

We had a wonderful long weekend trip to the beach! It was very relaxing, even with Landon. Luke let me get a lot of laying out time to get a break from my 'job' since we took it with us. And since he takes a 3 hour nap ( and it was longer from being SO worn out while we were there), Luke got to sneek in a nap each day too. On Sunday afternoon we both layed out, read, slept, and relaxed outside by the pool while Landon napped. We were on the 4th floor ( pool level), so we could lay right by our patio.I'll add a few pictures and 2 videos, but have a lot on facebook.

Daddy and his sweet little boy!

Landon and his Mommy on the beach.Sharing some superman icecream. He loved the water, and playing with his Daddy all day.

The best $24.99

The best $24.99 I have spent on Landon was on his sound machine.


We just got it last week. It's a Homedics Sound Spa.The best part about it is that we can hear it on the monitor and go to sleep to the ocean waves too! Now we don't have to leave the bathroom fan on across from his room at night, and we can take it with us wherever we go!

Easter

We had a wonderful day celebrating the resurrection on Easter. Church was amazing. The service started with the choir singing God is Here:

There is a sweet annointing inthe sactuary

There is a stillness in the atmosphere

Come and lay down

The burdens you have carried

For in this sanctuary God is here

He is here, He is here

to break the yoke and lift the heavy burdened

He is here, He is here
To heal the hopeless heart and bless the broken
Come and lay down
The burdens you have carried
For in this sanctuary God is here

And the youth did another amazing skit.

My family was in town, we got some fun Easter baskets, and we had planned an Easter lunch ! Landon's Easter basket was a basketball goal. We ended up having to take it back, and get the one we originally wanted. He LOVES it! Luke got The Blind Side book and some candy, and I got 2 vases of flowers--1 from Landon & 1 from Luke.

The lillies are all opened up now, and they are beautiful!

Landon went STRAIGHT to bed when we got home from church, and we didn't even THINK to try to take another picture of the family. The picture from before church is NOT my favorite, but as soon as we got home, his whiney butt went to bed! I feel like I'm much smaller than I look at this angle.
We didn't even think to take one of the whole family either. BUT Elyssa did manage to pose at some trees by the car after church.

And I got a cute picture of Elyssa, Landon, and Luke walking to the car after church.
And yes, Elyssa and I match. Her and Amanda got matching shirts/dress. and I just happened to buy the same print dress from Target. But if you ask Elyssa, she just matched Aunt Emma and not her mommy.

We were going to color eggs Saturday night, but it was too late when we got around to it, so we colored them Sunday afternoon while the ham was finishing. We had some regular Dudley's egg dye, and we also got a "Bright and Shiny" box. They looked like gold leafed eggs on the box--we were skeptical!
But they turned out GREAT!

We had some wonderful ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, deviled eggs, and Hawaiin rolls.And we had some strawberry shortcake ( for Amanda's birthday--Aril 3rd). I ate MORE than on Thanksgiving I think. Totally stuffed! We didn't get a Honey Baked ham, but we got a honey glazed ham from Kroger that was FabUlOuS! We still are eating it!!!

It was a great day--my favroite of the whole year. Elyssa got to play with Landon and Poppy outside A LOT, and Landon was sad when they all left. Elyssa took all the eggs home with her to hunt all week on her Spring Break.

Luke 24:1-7
1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'

Easter Egg hunt

Landon had his firt Easter Egg Hunt today! They had an AWESOME set up at church today, thank you all SO much! Everyting you can imagine was there--and yummy hot dogs too! We didn't get there in time to do much in the gym besides get his face painted and eat. Then it was time for the hunts. The kids were seperated in different areas outside of the church/TNU by age. He did so good picking them up, and he finally got the hang of putting them into his basket. He was just walking around with a plastic egg in each hand. Maybe he'll be good now with his cousin Elyssa tomorrow. We're going to dye some tonight--I'm so excited! We bought the regular dudley's dye, and then some gold/silver leafing type box too.I've got 3 dozen boiled,and 1 dozen left to boil. We need some for deviled eggs too! MMMMm Ham, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, green beans, hawaiin rolls, pasta salad= YUMMY! I'm so ready for tomorrow, it's better than ChRiStMaS! I hope Landon can grow up thinking that way too. I'll post a few pictures from this morning, then it's on the clean before the family arrives.

Half marathon news~I am up to 6 miles now. I had to get it in before the day began, so I ran on the treadmill at the Y. I hope to do 8 next weekend, 10 the next ( at the beach), then the race is the next weekend!My goal is STILL to run 8 miles....but deep inside I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to run all 13.1, with a few SHORT walks when I need to. BUT, my goal is to run 8, and more importantly TO FINISH!!!!

Jesus conquered the grave

The flowers are starting to bloom on our weeping cherry and saucer magnolia!


They'll probably be full tomorrow, and so very pretty on Easter. Although I LOVE snow in the winter, and I LOVE laying out in the summer, Easter is probably my favorite day of the year. Aside from the pretty eggs we color, the fabulous candy, our beautiful new outfits, & the Easter lilies, what a WoNdErFuL day to celebrate Jesus Christ's victory over death. His resurrection symbolizes the eternal life that is granted to all who believe in Him. Most, but not all, Christian churches observe Lent. The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus Christ - his suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection. What a special time.I've found that such great,new habits are formed during lent! Not just giving up a food ,or Internet, or TV show,or whatever, but your personal relationship with Christ getting stronger, learning new truths in the Word, and just spending time with our God. Everything about this celebration and season fits so perfectly with spring time. Spring AND Easter are so beautiful!

Of course, when you think of Easter, you think of maybe the Easter cantata? The music is always beautiful.I always think of the song " Up from the grave he arose"--> You always have that old lady in church that will sing the offertory every month ( in a smaller church). I remember growing up we had an 'opera style' type older lady who would sing....and that line of the song ALWAYS got me! It's so hard to hide laughs in when you're 8. Sing that part in your head with an 'opera' type HIGH pitch, shaky voice!

Last year the youth group did the Lifehouse 'Everything' skit on Easter. WOW! Click here to see it. No matter how many times I see it, or who I see preform it, it is amazing. I'm anticipating another great Easter service, and am so looking forward to church on Sunday. And looking forward to a great meal at the house after!

My chains are gone, I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace

I love Tuesdays!

Since I've become a Stay At Home Mom, I really don't have a 'weekend' to look forward to. I don't wake up every Mon. morning, and dread the work week, looking forward to Friday. WHICH, by the way, Really annoys me. I hate to read on people's facebook that they can't wait until Friday afternoon. I understand how jobs are annoying and not always where we want to be, but I really believe in enjoying each day, being thankful for another day to be alive, not wishing my life away, and making the best of it. A few months ago, Tuesday became my favorite day. I started doing a cycling class at the Y--which I LOVE. I also really enjoy watching The biggest Loser, and I also REALLY love $.45 wings at BW3's!

Today was Landon's last Tuesday swim lesson. We finish his lessons on Thursday =( Last week was NOT a fun week at lessons. I believe that most of it had to do with the 2 new teeth he has, and the 3 that have broken through. YES, 5 new teeth in the last week and a half. Just about 2 weeks ago, he only had 4 1/2 teeth-the regular 1st 4 that come in, and a 1/2 of another. He has added a full molar up top, another tooth on the bottom, and his other 3 molars are poking out! He was doing everything wonderfully in the pool, except for kicking his feet and moving his arms.(The main purpose for this class is to get the acquainted with the pool)FINALLY today he laid over the noodle, kicked his arms and legs, and smiled the entire time. He had a great attitude today, and it made me very happy =) I love that during his lessons, there is a class in the other end of the pool. It is mostly seniors. Half the time during class, they are focused on their instructor, and then the other half of the time, they are looking at Landon and smiling. I love that he has like 50 'grandparents' who enjoy watching his swimming lessons. When they are done, some of them get into the hot tub, and Landon will climb out on that side of the pool to tell them all "Hi!". And then after lessons, so many of them talk to him,say how adorable he is, how well he did in class, and how they could tell how much he enjoys swimming. It's so fun, and I'm glad he can bring joy to other people's morning!

Luke had his review and rating this week for work. We have been praying about this for a long time now. We are so grateful for everything we have been blessed with, Home Depot being such a great company for Luke to work for, and for me to be able to stay home with Landon. Like most couples (I hope), this was an issue we discussed before marriage. There was never any other thought besides that I would stay home when we had children, and most likely go back when they entered school-- to pay for their Private schooling. We were a little hesitant for me to stay home once we finally got to the point, and I did go back for about 4 months. It was the best decision for me to get tenured, get summer pay, and have another chunk of one of my loans paid off. After that, we took the plunge into living off of one income, knowing that God would provide all of our needs, and never doubting our decision. It has been an adjustment, but we love it and believe it is for the best for us! And all this to say that Luke got the highest rating he could get at his review. This means he is eligible to take the test that will allow him to interview for his own store =) I'm so happy and proud of all his work. When he started with the company as an hourly associate, he made a goal to be a manager in 5 years.....well it's been about that long, and he is as close as he can be now!


This sign is from Pineapple willy's last summer. And in 24 days, we'll be back on the beach! Luke has 2 weeks of vacation left he has to use by August, but he can't use them in the spring. So we'll just go for a long weekend like we did last year--Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night, and come back Monday afternoon. He is going to use 1 of his weeks to work on the flooring & deck on the house, and use the other the first week in August to go back to the beach. We found a place last Spring, stayed there in July, and LOVE it. Luke talks ( and stalks the Internet) weekly about moving to a store down there, and buying a 3 bedroom condo there. If you know me at all, you know it Sounds Great to me!!!! We stay at the Origin at Sehaven The beach works out great with us, even having Landon. Luke enjoys a few hours in the sun, beach, and pool. but at some point, his idea of vacation--relaxing in a bed or watching TV-- works perfectly with Landon taking a nap, and mommy getting to lay out in peace and quiet. I love that he always tries to squeeze in little trips like this! He knows I LOVE the beach and sun, and it keeps us sane to get away for a few days. The weekend we are there, is my long run of 10 miles. This makes me a little bit nervous, but I am glad there are treadmills if I get bored running it all outside. I'm doing good with my 'late' training. Once I get past the first 2 miles, I'm good to go! This is all mental for me, and I WILL meet my goal! I am excited though that I will get to run to and around Pier Park. I have been using www.mapmyrun.com to find different routes for me to run during the week or for my long run when I don't use the treadmill at the Y. So we won't have to drive around and around the beach until we find a 10 mile route I like.
This was a long and random blog, but now it's time to go to the park with my Landon! Luke will be home shortly after, and then I'm off to lift, cycle, and tan!