Our Family Project

What’s for dinner??? <-------Right now, this is just about the only thing on my mind.

I’m seriously wearing Pinterest out looking for ideas.  I’ve found TONS of ideas, just nothing that sounds good yet.  Hmmmm…..

On another note, I have had a couple of fabulous outdoor runs here lately!  I did 11 outside on Friday, and 7 outside this morning, both with 8:50 average pace…cool!  Maybe it’s the frigid cool morning air??  Who knows, but I’ll take it.

 

 

 

 

This past weekend we started an outdoor “project.”  Wanna see??

I’ll give you a hint…  This space will look very different, hopefully very soon… 

 

The work began yesterday!  Is anybody else having these beautiful springtime days and temperatures lately?  Gosh, it gets so beautiful in the afternoons.  Love it.  Anyway…

 

Curious??  You can guess, but I’ll wait a little while to reveal. 

We enjoyed some good ol’ family time while we were all outside for the afternoon.  We worked, played basketball, cheered (me & Katie), rode bikes, sat around on the tailgate, ate Doritos, and talked and laughed.  You know, the stuff good memories are made of.

Well shoot…the camera must’ve missed MY picture of me stuffing my face full of Doritos.  Dangit

I hope the sun is shining where you are. 

A reminder to do your monthly self-breast exams, ladies!  You never know when it might save your life!

Love y’all.

xoxo

Remembering Sarah

Hey y’all

This is a post I have dreaded writing for a few days…hence the delay.  Sweet Sarah passed away on Monday.

It was amazing to see all the Facebook statuses about her, and the prayers that were posted for her family.  Yes, social media is good for some things.  

 

There was even a billboard put up in her memory.

 

What I have noticed more than anything was the number of lives she has touched.  Not just through her courageous battle with cancer, but just by LIVING. 

You know, I’ve heard before that sometimes when somebody dies we tend to hero-ify that person…to put them on a pedestal of sorts, building them up higher and higher.  Even if they didn’t deserve it. 

But Sarah did.

She deserves every praise, every kind word, and every heartfelt word that is spoken of her.  She was truly an angel on earth.

I can’t go too deep into my thoughts and feelings about her death because, well, it just hits too close to home.  It is something nobody else can understand unless you’ve been there, and it’s something that nobody but God can help me through. 

So it is to my faith in my unshakable God I go, again and again, asking for peace on this earth and praying for a lifetime here. 

Rest in complete peace, my friend.

Love you guys.

xoxo

UPWARD Bound!

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

 

Saturday marked the kick off for our 2nd season of

Upward Basketball!

And much to our surprise, and pretty much everybody who knows us, Katie decided to play basketball this year instead of cheer.

“WHAT?!?!”  - I think that was my response…I really don’t know.  I was too shocked to remember clearly.

“Mom…I just want to TRY it.  I like to play basketball, too!” says our little princess.

Of course!  I LOVE basketball!  I LOVE WATCHING basketball!  I LOVE WATCHING GIRLS’ basketball!!  I think the girls’ game is so pure and fundamental (not that she’s there at this point, but you know what I mean), and awesome to watch!  I loved watching my sisters play basketball in HS and never, ever missed a game in their 4 years of HS plus 2 years of Jr. High basketball.  And you know my love affair with women’s college basketball runs deep…like bleed ORANGE, deep.

LOVE LOVE LOVE my Lady Vols!

But to hear it from Katie has just totally shocked everyone!  I mean, this is a girl who can’t walk past a mirror without stopping to do a cheer, or a toe touch.  And the girl who can’t simply walk into a room, she has to do cartwheels and flip into it!

But if she wants to try basketball, that’s great!

But second thoughts have come in spurts…  I first knew she was having second thoughts when I received all the boxes of the cheer uniforms to distribute to my coaches (I am still the cheer coordinator).  She looked at all the boxes and said, “I hope I’m not here when you open them.  ‘Cause I bet they’re cute…”

Uh-Oh.

And then at her first practice when she looked longingly at the gym floor while sitting on the sideline listening to her coach and turned around to look at me and say, “I REALLLLYYYYY want to go out there and do a cartwheel really bad!”

Umm-hmm.

BUT, she has stuck it out and does love playing basketball.  After all, she has grown up playing ball with her brothers constantly, so she KNOWS what she’s doing out there!

And she got to show off her skills on Saturday!

 

 

Pre-game prayer with all players, coaches, and referees:

 

Our little superstar :

 

Katie taking the ball out of bounds for her team:

 

Ahh!  Don’t reach, Katie!  I believe that used to get your Aunt Layne in LOTS of foul trouble:

 

Emma, Katie, and Courtney:

 

And then as soon as the game was over, Katie cuddled up to the first high school cheerleader she saw:
 

 

I’m betting that we have a dual-sports star on our hands, don’t you?

Hug your kids

xoxo

Catching Up

Hey y’all!

How the heck have ya been?  I hope all is well around your neck of the woods (I actually typed “weeds” but I’m hoping that’s not the case!).  Everything is going well here…just more of the same busy life of US!

The past week has seen the start of a new season of Upward Basketball and Cheer,
 

 

A special little guy’s 2nd BIRTHDAY,

 

A Twirler in the house,

Sicklies for Katie, Zach, and I interspersed throughout the long weekend (obviously no pic…you’re welcome),

And a new workout program started for me,

I am loving Jamie Eason’s Live Fit Trainer thus far!  Of course I’m only on Day 4, but really, so far so good!  I think this program will help me gain muscle and really give my workouts a direction as to which way to go.  I am a running fool, and I also enjoy the benefits of weights and strength training, but only if someone’s guiding me.  Weights just don’t give me the same endorphins that running does.  And running can’t be IT for me anymore.  My body just can’t handle it.

Why?? 

Basically I’m having to “relearn” my body, as I am in shock-to-the-system-full-blown menopause, and things, they are ‘a changin’.  I can tell everything about my body is different since I’ve battled breast cancer.  From my metabolism, my body shape, my wear & tear factor, everything is new to me.  Most times I feel like I don’t know my body anymore.  And SO, I must adjust…find my new normal.  We’ve found our new normal with everything else…why not my fitness routine, too??  Yes, of course it has to change! 

So when Clare started the Live Fit Trainer a week or so ago, I was intrigued.  After following her first week, I decided to jump in with both feet and give it try.  The Live Fit program is composed of three phases, each focusing on key components of building lean muscle and burning fat.  I’m excited about this new program, and I was even more pumped to learn that the developer of the the Live Fit Trainer, Jamie Eason, is a 2x breast cancer survivor!  Well what better fitness role model than that?!

So while I’m still running a little most days, I’ve drastically cut back on my miles.  You’re actually not supposed to do cardio in the first Phase…see there, I’m already cheating…you’re just supposed to focus on building muscle and improving your diet.  But seriously, let’s be honest, we all know that’s not going to happen here.   I’m doing the best I can.  Baby steps, er, short runs…

Also,

If you get a moment, please say a prayer for this sweet lady…

This is Sarah, and while we’ve never actually MET, we became friends via our cancer battles and our blogs.  She is from PB and is a 31 year old wife and mother of two little ones, Nolan and Ella.  She was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer only 5 weeks after delivering her daughter.  “C-Fight”, as she is known, is still fighting this dreadful disease, but it is continuing to worsen and everyone is praying for a miracle.  So please, if you could add your prayers for Sarah and her family to the thousands of others that are going up, it would be appreciated.  I stand ready to see a miracle.

Love you guys.  Have a great weekend.

xoxo

Quick HEY!

You know, I wish I had the time to put up a thought-provoking, witty, and inspirational post every day.  I really do. 

During the span of a day, I have so many times when I think,

“Oh, I want to blog about that,” or

“That would make a really good post.” 

And then something else leads to something else, and before I know it, that post idea was just a memory.  But not my memory.  I have no memory.  Chemo + menopause sucks. 

So somewhere in the recesses of my mind (or not) are dozens of posts that have been thought up during a drive, a run, or while browsing online.  I can only remember bits and pieces of each one, so I don’t dare start them because, well, half a post wouldn’t make any sense and I would probably forget my point altogether.  Kind of like I have now.

Anyway, I am here, now off again to pick up and deliver kids, basketball players, and others, then it’s off to GAME NIGHT!  Bulldogs vs. Tigers.  Let’s get it, boys.

Love you guys.

Check your breasts, ladies!  No one knows them better than you do. (er, or shouldn’t)  Ha!

xoxo

Live Your Life

Soooooo….

IT’S FRIDAY, Y’ALL!!!!

Around here that means payroll day in our office, ballgame day, and the joy of knowing I don’t have to coax three cranky precious children out of bed at 7 tomorrow morning.  Ahhhhh, TGIF.

Seriously.

Also on my “happy list” this morning is the bangin’ 8-mile run that I just had! Check this out:
 

 

Yes, yes, happy Momma right here!!  I can’t remember when the last time I had an average page of 8:49/mile was…been awhile for sure!

Of course I had a little motivation this morning…

 

Ummmm, yeah.  That’s not very far from us.

Now THAT’S motivation to run…and run FAST!!!  Boy, oh, boy. 

You can bet that I was checking the edge of the woods as I ran this morning!  I was trying not to think about it a whole lot but it was hard not to.  Finally, I decided that if being attacked by a mountain lion while I was out for my morning run was how I was going to die, then at least I would die doing something I love!  Morbid, I know.  But it got me through a fantastic run!  Haha!

I also thought while I was running that I might use my phone and record a short vlog (video-blog) about what I was thinking and whatnot…  But then I decided that sounded a little too much “Blair Witch Project- like” for my taste.  Yikes. 

THEN I had the idea to just take pictures of some of the area where I run and the edge of some parts of the woods and whatever, you know, just the areas I was looking at and watching while I ran.  BUT then, THIS came to mind…

 

And yes, I know it was discovered to be a hoax, but WHO FLIPPIN’ CARES?!?!  All I need is to be looking at one of my peaceful, edge of woods pictures and to see something like that!!  To see that while I was out running, that I was being stalked by a big cat.  Yes, I know, it’s going to be there regardless of whether or not I see it, but at least if I don’t see it then I can pretend it’s not there.   Stupid, I know.  But it’s my thought process at the moment. 

I actually have to do that a lot when I run outside around here.  We live in a VERY rural area with national forests and parks, and wooded areas galore.  It truly is God’s Country here.  And I KNOW that we have mountain lions, bears, and whatever else…  But I can’t live in constant fear of what MAY be out there, or let it stop me from doing something I truly love.

Whoa. 

Is there a cancer message in there?!  Umm hmm, I think so.  And that’s honesty not where I was going with this at all.  This last thing I meant to happen was to start this post talking about running and mountain lions and to segway into talking about cancer.  Interesting though.  And how true.

So again, this time with cancer on the brain, not running:

I CAN’T LIVE IN CONSTANT FEAR OF WHAT MAY BE OUT THERE, OR LET IT STOP ME FROM DOING SOMETHING I TRULY LOVE.

I’m off to shower…I stink.  Yes, I sweat like a pig even when it’s cold.

Live your life, friends.

xoxo