EEE

Our Family Project

2012-01-30T14:16:00.001-06:00

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

2012-01-27T12:59:00.001-06:00

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!

2012-01-24T06:47:00.001-06:00

“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

2012-01-20T10:52:00.001-06:00

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!

2012-01-13T14:09:00.001-06:00

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

2012-01-06T10:13:00.001-06:00

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

Goings On

2012-01-05T13:14:00.001-06:00

Oh. My. Word.

Has it really been almost a month since I updated?! Geez louise, guys, I can’t believe it’s been that long! But, per usual, things have been SO BUSY around here that I have had zero time to get on here and post. I mean, I’ve had a little time to get on the computer, but give up my Facebook and Pinterest time?! Pshhh…

Anyway, there is no possible way that I can even begin to give you all the ins and outs of everything that has gone on, so you’re going to get the Cliff Notes version (you’re welcome)…and Cliff Notes-do they even have those anymore??

Christmas Concerts for Katie- both Church and school

Christmas Parade- Lending A Hand and Katie twirling

Bulldog Basketball

Christmas parties galore-

Family Bowling Night!- SO.FUN.

Me and my love

Zachary

Katie and Conner

Me and my girl

Me, Veronica, and Michelle-friends since elementary school and still today! Love these girls!

“I got a strike!!!” The downside-nobody was watching!! Haha!

The boys

Yes, family bowling night should have been a post all by itself.

And of course, Christmas-

And MY NEW BABY!!!!! I was SO SURPRISED and had NO IDEA!!!!!!!

I LOVE. LOVE. LOVE IT. And my man.

And yes, I know that Christmas should have had it’s own post, too.

And now that I get here to the end of this post (only because I’m losing focus and tired of copying and pasting), I’m sorry that I lied and told you this was the Cliff Notes version.

It totally wasn’t.

I’ll try to find time to update more.

But I still love you guys.

xoxo

Workout Fillers

2011-12-13T11:48:00.001-06:00

What I should be doing right now: laundry, cleaning bathrooms, and getting more Christmas decorations out of storage.

What I AM doing right now: trying to peel off acrylic fingernails and reading blogs. Oh come on, don’t pretend you don’t do that too. I’ll get to the other stuff, eventually.

What I am NOT doing right now: RUNNING. It’s officially been 14 days, 2 hours, and 12 13 minutes since I’ve last ran a step. I’m hanging in there pretty good, but I’ll admit that I have wanted to throw all doctor’s orders out the window on more than one occasion (Sorry, Tim). But I have managed to hold off for two whole weeks. Every time I start to whine about it I just say to myself, “But it’s not cancer!!” And that makes me smile…and go back to my other workouts of choice.

Which, by the way, have been pretty good fillers! I read about Extreme Burn on Clare’s blog the other day, and since I was looking for another DVD-type workout to add to my rotation, I bought it and downloaded it.

The verdict?

I really like it! Well, I like it less as I’m getting my rear handed to me after a little while, but it’s a really great workout! I’m really glad I bought it.

So between the new Extreme Burn DVD, my Jeanette Jenkins’ Cardio Kickboxing DVD, JJ Cardio Sculpt, and another 30 minute cardio-blast download, I have a pretty good rotation going on right now. It’s not running but it’ll do. I’m sweating my butt off during every one of these workouts so they are doing the trick I’d say. That, and the fact that my family hasn’t disowned me (yet) are good signs of a good workout for me.

Success.

I’m going to go figure out what’s for dinner on this game day – GO BULLDOGS! – and maybe tackle some of that laundry. Maybe.

Later, guys.

xoxo

Kickin’ It Off Right

2011-12-03T16:48:00.001-06:00

What a fabulous time we had last night kicking off the regular season for

High School BULLDOG BASKETBALL!

Basketball season in Van Buren has always been a pretty big deal. And that’s putting it mildly. We are a little Ozark town, nestled in the hills, that LOVE our Bulldogs. Especially basketball. Being a summertime tourist town, we have always said that “there’s nothing else to do here in the winter except play basketball.” And there’s a lot of truth to that. And this has led to a legacy of Bulldog pride, fun rivalries, and passionate fans.

And boy did we have all three present last night!

This year’s regular season kicked off with the annual Yellow Sucker Game, a game rich in tradition here in Carter County between the two schools in the county, Van Buren and Ellsinore. The “county basketball championship” so to speak, features a traveling plaque adorned with the aforementioned fish and representing all the glory of the county title.

It is always one of the biggest and most fun games of the year, with packed gymnasiums full of passionate fans. [And yes, I’m a little scared to know that there is a camera on me at a basketball game. Yikes!]

Umm, yeah. I don’t know really what to say…so I’ll just incriminate myself further…

And yes, I about died when I saw these pictures this morning. I thought, “OMGosh. We are THOSE parents.” Luckily our kids laughed right along with us and didn’t slink away in total humiliation.

But when your KID is on the floor, and especially LAST night when he’s having such a bang-out game, it’s SO HARD to sit still!!! My right leg was actually sore last night from jumping up and down on it all evening!

Have I ever mentioned that #40 is my favorite number?

For good reason [circa 1994]

And have I mentioned that my kid has skills?!

He dribbles…

He shoots…

He scores… [ahem, 32 points last night]

And whether or not we win, he makes us very proud.

Yes, even with a Nike symbol and his number shaved into the sides of his head (and colored with black eyeliner so you could see it in his white-blond hair). BTW- can we be compensated for using his head as a billboard??

AND with the Varsity victory, the FiSH stays with Van Buren for the 8th straight year!

Way to go, Bulldogs!

Cheer loudly, smile big, and enjoy every moment, friends.

xoxo

What A Month! Welcome December!

2011-12-02T11:53:00.001-06:00

Wow. What a month November was! And it’s one I don’t care to repeat again, thankyouverymuch.

There were high points in the month like Thanksgiving, Katie’s 8th birthday, and the start of the high school Bulldog basketball season, but the “c” word lingered over everything. At least it did to me.

It was filled with stress and anxiety as I have been going for many scans, my sister had a scare which turned out to be fine, and my brother-in-law (her husband) also had an issue that had to be checked out, which was also fine.

But, Praise The Lord, OUR fears were finally put to rest this Wednesday when the MRI of my right femur showed only a stress injury from running, and NO CANCER. That’s right, NO CANCER. Those two words together are so, so sweet.

And a running injury?? Imagine that. I don’t even care. I hugged my dr as he was telling me that I would have to take 4-6 weeks off from running, telling him “I wouldn’t care if I never ran another step if I never had to worry about cancer ever again.”

Of course we all know that’s not how it works unfortunately. Cancer, and the anxiety it causes, will be with me the rest of my life. Hopefully a long, long, long life; and hopefully less and less anxiety as it goes on. Hopefully long enough to see all my children graduate high school, college, and get married. Long enough to see them give me grandchildren and to play with those grandchildren and spoil them to pieces. Long enough to celebrate dozens of years of marriage to my still-high-school-sweetheart and the love of my life.

Whatever God has planned for me, I know that it’s “to prosper me, not to harm me; plans to give me hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11). And I won’t fear the unknown because I know that He’s already there. All I can do is to try and live a life that is pleasing to Him and to live each day to it’s fullest…cherishing every second and not taking anything for granted. <-----And that’s not a bad lesson for ALL of us!

So, as we start a new month, let’s all try to focus on the things that really matter and to take the time to savor every moment. I know we will.

Smile LOTS today, cherish every second, and check your breasts, ladies!!

xoxo

Long Time No Post

2011-11-23T06:47:00.001-06:00

“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:57

Hey guys

I’m not even going to look to see how long it was since my last post, I know it’s ridiculous. And I know I say this again and again, but I seriously have had no.spare.time. in which to blog. I still don’t, but it’s 615am and nobody else is up around here, just me and God. We are just waiting for another 45 minutes to roll around when this house will undoubtedly spring to life with people, little and big, getting ready to start another day.

By the way, have I mentioned how thankful I am to have “another day”?

Well, I am.

For the past 4 weeks we have made countless trips to STL for all sorts of different scans, which first started out trying to determine WHY I have two broken ribs. BTW-we still don’t know. Humph.

X-ray of ribs to diagnose 2 broken ribs (9 & 10 if you’re wondering)
Bone density which would give us a clear reason as to the broken ribs-it was normal
CT scan to determine if cancer is lurking anywhere else-it’s not PTL!
Bone scan to round out the scanning regimen-wuh oh. <----hot spot on the ribs, left ankle, and femur
X-ray of the femur to determine the cause of the uptake shown in the bone scan, looking for a lesion, tumor, fracture, SOMETHING.

So this brings us to the present, where I heard from my dr last night that the bone expert doesn’t THINK the spot on my femur is cancer, but now we have to do an MRI to be certain.

So you can mentally just add that to the list above.

I am mentally and emotionally exhausted. I have had so many emotions running through me in the past month, it’s almost like the time of my original diagnosis all over again…sad, frustration, toughness, anger, it’s been pretty much the norm as far as the cycle of emotions goes.

Over and over I keep handing all my fears to God, and over and over I have failed and have picked them back up and tried to take control in my human hands. And I’ve figured out, yet again, that umm, this doesn’t work so well. Mentally and emotionally exhausted-yeah, are not characteristics of a child of God. We are supposed to hand our worries over to Him and let.Him.work.

Have faith.

Don’t pick them back up again.

Let go, and let God.

Well, I’m trying. And I’ll keep trying. I know that while I have so many unknowns, there are no unknowns with God. He is not startled by anything and He really does have all this under control! No matter how much I like to think I am…I’m totally not. Boy that’s tough for a Type-A control-freak to say!

I am so thankful that I serve a Risen Savior who loves me, no matter how many times I fail. That I can ask Him for forgiveness and He continues to pick me up, dust me off, and put me back up on His shelf where I belong. SO THANKFUL. <-----Kinda appropriate for the day before Thanksgiving, right?

So again this morning, I am giving it all over to Him. Again, I’m going to fix my mindset on

“Erica, He’s got THIS.”

And be SO THANKFUL that He does.

Find something to be thankful for today, smile with hope, and check your breasts.

Love y’all!

xoxo

Yeah Cancer, YOU Heard Me…

2011-11-08T14:05:00.001-06:00

…TAKE A HIKE!

Yesterday was the 1st Annual Tell Cancer To Take A Hike at Van Buren School. It was the idea of a very good friend of mine (and a fellow survivor), Sue, to raise money for cancer by having kids pay to sign up for a hike. And we live in one of the MOST amazing hike-able places, ever!

What a great idea!

For their $15, each child that wanted to sign up got a t-shirt, a 4-mile hike, and a post-hike BBQ…and all this started at the beginning of 6th hr, so they also got out of their 6th and 7th hour classes.

Close to 100 kids signed up and came to hike their booty’s off and raise money, which was then donated to our Lending A Hand Fund!!!! (I still don’t have the exact totals but I am guessing somewhere close to $1000!!!)

There was a LOT of walking up and down our Ozark hills:

And there were several breaks at the top of some of these small mountains! This is some of Zach’s 8th grade class:

And what sounds better to 100+ kids and adult chaperones at the end of a long 4-mile hike??

A BBQ of course! Sponsored by a local bank, there were hot dogs, chips, granola bars, and drinks all waiting for the hungry mob when we returned.

I gave little impromptu speech on how “Yes, this hike was hard…but fighting cancer is even harder.” I also thanked them for participating and showing that they care.

I could probably stop with the pictures now, but since It’s my blog and I’m a little biased, here are some of my favorite hikers I love and need their support more than they’ll ever know.

It was a perfect day to tell cancer to…

…TAKE A HIKE!

xoxo

State XC Video

2011-11-07T12:43:00.001-06:00

Annnddd, here it is. Ok, this is pretty cool. Almost as good as still pictures.

State XC

2011-11-07T12:00:00.001-06:00

After bragging on my kid for qualifying for the State Cross Country Meet last week, I fell flat on my face and did not take a single picture of my kid at the meet this past Saturday.

< insert pitiful mom award here >

I DID take video, but no pics. Grrrr, I’m so aggravated at myself right now.

Nice, Erica. You didn’t manage to take a single picture of your first-born, but you DID get a shot of the sign. Nice.

Geez.

Anyway, I can report to you that in a field of 190 boys in Class 1, Tyler did great! He was the second runner for VB and represented the Bulldogs well!

He finished 82nd and we are beyond proud of him! He, of course, saw where he could have done better, but that’s just part of it being his first experience at State. Now he knows what to expect for next year!

So now that Jr. High Basketball and HS Cross Country seasons are over, bring on some HS Bulldog Basketball!!!! Our season kicks off with a 2-day round robin the day after Thanksgiving. Less than 3 weeks and counting!! Let’s go boys! I still can’t quite believe that Tyler’s a sophomore. Wahhhhh!

You know what’s even harder to believe…next year I WILL HAVE TWO BOYS IN HIGH SCHOOL.

Whoa.

Please, time, stop now.

Alright, I’m going to try to upload the video from this weekend and we’ll see if I can get it to post. If not, then I’ll quit taking videos and go back to pictures

Love y’all!

xoxo

Halloween Fun

2011-11-02T12:29:00.001-05:00

Wow, I feel like I’m actually starting to get a little caught up here on the blog!

Whew! ‘Bout time, I know.

Did you do anything fun and/or amazing for Halloween??

Well, when you have kids it is all centered on two things:

the costume, and
the candy

Our boys have long since grown out of the dressing up stage (), but Katie is in her prime! So finding the right costume was a BIG deal. After much searching and choosing, she finally decided to be a “Groovy Girl” and she looked so cute.

I am the room mom in her 2nd grade classroom and we had all the fixins’ for a good Halloween Party! Cupcakes, cookies, candy, and games were all planned and made.

We played musical chairs using fun Halloween music, and then let them wrap each other up like mummies. So cute!

This is such a fun age for Halloween.

I hope lots of fun was involved with your Halloween, as well!

xoxo

Like His Momma

2011-11-02T11:56:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, my oldest boy made his Momma so proud.

I mean, he does this regularly, but Saturday morning was Districts for Cross Country! And boy, did Tyler SHOW UP.

Cross Country Districts is held on a golf course, and is a TOUGH run. The boys’ meet was first, followed by the girls’.

And they’re off!

Jack and my Dad walked around and saw Tyler at different points on the course and were calling me telling me how he was doing. I was waiting at the finish line.

The last tenth of the course finishes uphill…and my boy gutted it out at a dead sprint to finish in 18:58!!!

And he took 7th place and QUALIFIED FOR STATE!!!!! The state meet is this weekend in Jeff City and he’s going!!!!

I am so stinkin’ proud of this kid!!! And I’m telling him that as I’m kissing him and probably embarrassing him. I also have my iPhone in hand so I can text everybody I know to tell them how well he did!

Tyler showing off his 7th place medal!

The boys’ team qualified for state with a 2nd place finish; 2 of the runners (Tyler and Kenny) also qualified individually.

Katie always manages to get in the picture somehow! Notice Zach and Elijah aren’t anywhere to be found but Katie gets in there to proudly snap a photo with Luke.

Tyler and Luke with their team trophy. Good job, boys!!

Look out, Jefferson City, Missouri! The Bulldogs Cross Country team is on our way this weekend!!

xoxo

The World Series, Baby!!!

2011-10-31T21:03:00.001-05:00

Have you been watching???

Well you know, we certainly have!!! Our ST. LOUIS CARDINALS are WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!

Check out the Cardinals celebration after Game 7:

Go Crazy, Folks! Go Crazy!!!!

We were at Busch Stadium for the Historic Game 6 and it was nothing else like I’ve ever experienced. Flat out the most exciting and intense sports experience of my life.

Looking into Busch Stadium just before they opened the gates. So excited!!!

ESPN, and a ton of other broadcast booths were set up all around and inside the stadium:

The Budweiser Clydesdales were paraded down the street, through the pep rally:

The World Series matchup – Texas Rangers and OUR ST. LOUIS CARDINALS!

My love and I just before game time!

The view from our bleacher seats in Right Field:

My friend (and dr), Julie, and I:

Fruit cup at the ballgame! Score!!

Won with a HOME RUN by David Freese in the bottom of the 11th inning!

Yes, Busch Stadium was definitely ROCKIN’!!

Do you think my hubby is excited?! OH YEAH!!!

That’s a winner, folks!!!

The hubs and his brother Jim, and cousin Jason! SEE YOU TOMORROW NIGHT!

I love it when big men act like little boys

It was an amazing night and now our Cardinals are World Champions!!! Cardinal Nation is SO PROUD!!!

Dream in Cardinal red tonight, friends

xoxo

Not One, But Two

2011-10-31T11:23:00.001-05:00

So I should title this post:

The Rock ‘N Roll Marathon – The REST of the Story…

But I won’t.

Since I finished what was to be my 3rd full marathon, and ended up being my 3rd HALF-marathon, barely over a week ago, I have new answers…and new questions.

The ANSWERS came at a dr’s appointment on Wednesday. We traveled to the city for x-rays for my ribs. After still feeling quite a bit of pain, Dr. P wanted to take a look and get a scan. We stopped by his office at Siteman and he wrote us out the order that we then took to radiology. We got checked in and waited for the tech to come get me.

Now I have to tell you, there are 4 words I have heard over and over and over since my breast cancer diagnosis in September 08 [and I’m sure that other young survivors hear the same thing ALL the time, as I do],

…But you’re SO YOUNG!…

They all say it. The receptionist checking me in at radiology, “Oh but you’re so young!”

The tech who gave me the gown and took the x-rays, “Really??? You’re so YOUNG!”

The lady at the bone density registration (more on that in a moment), “Wow, you’re so YOUNG!”

It is almost always the first thing I hear when someone finds out that I have been diagnosed with breast cancer. But it’s true. Did you know that the median age for a woman diagnosed with breast cancer is 61? SIXTY-ONE. Breast cancer in young women is rare, but no unheard of. Just because you are young and have no family history [Ahem.] doesn’t mean that you aren’t at risk. Take care of yourselves, ladies, and remember to check your breasts. Breast cancer caught early is a HUGE PLUS!

---ok, stepping off of soapbox---

So I got my x-rays and went back to the dr’s office, where not long after we arrived, Dr. P came walking down the hall looking at me with a half smile, shaking his head.

“What?” I said.

“Your rib is really broken. Want to see?”

We followed him back to his office and checked out my scan on the computer screen. And there it was. A lower left rib, obviously split in two, with a gap in the break, jagged edges.

“Whoa! Are you serious?!” Is the first thing I said. Now I knew something was wrong but I didn’t really anticipate it being so badly broken.

After a while, my hubs exclaimed, “And can you imagine, she could only run 13.1 miles with it like that?!” Funny guy

So then it was on to the QUESTIONS and thinking as to how this may have happened. No trauma has taken place, no bumps or accidents I can remember, no rough-housing with the kids (or Jack ), nothing to suggest how my rib was broken. And upon further review by the radiologist, there are actually TWO ribs broken, thankfully the second one discovered isn’t as bad.

Of course, my first question was about it being a cancer-related break. And my dr said that of course that’s always a possibility and a concern, but he would think that my PET scan from the first of September would have showed SOMETHING, even though it was seven weeks prior. But it showed nothing. Even a review he had the radiologists do of my PET, focusing on that area of my ribs, revealed nothing.

We are now awaiting the results of the bone density scan that my dr ordered and we had done last week. I’m very interested see the results and see how my bones are handling their post-estrogen life. Are the broken ribs a sign that they are literally cracking under the pressure – Haha, sorry I couldn’t help myself!

So we shall see, folks. We are anticipating test results very soon.

Peace and Blessings.

xoxo

The Marathon That Wasn’t

2011-10-25T11:37:00.001-05:00

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I’ve been counting down the days until my 3rd marathon, the Inaugural Rock ‘N Roll Marathon in St. Louis!

I have been super pumped ever since registering for the race in very early Summer, not long after running my 2nd full marathon in April. I have always been intrigued by the Rock ‘N Roll events because of their fun, hip, and loud and proud atmosphere, which is almost essential for a marathon (if you ask me). Ok, maybe not “essential” but it sure does make it a lot of fun!

Our weekend in STL kicked off with an oncology checkup on Friday morning. We took our kids out of school to go with us since we didn’t see a whole lot of point in driving up to the doctor on Friday morning, home on Friday afternoon, and then driving back up to STL on Saturday morning. It stunk, though, because that meant Tyler could not go with us since he had to take the ACT test on Saturday morning. He wasn’t too upset, anyway, because he had big plans to work all weekend to make some gas moo-lah and then he also wanted to bow hunt some. So no biggie.

We got to Siteman late…ahem, honey…and got in for my appointment while the kids waited in the waiting room. I’ll admit that I was very apprehensive about taking them to the dr with us, and here’s why: When I’m at home and with my family, I feel like I have to be strong for everybody, especially my kids. When I go to the dr I feel like I don’t have to pretend. If I’m nervous, I can be nervous…if I’m scared or want to cry, that’s ok…most every cancer patient here feels the same way. And to bring my kids into the place where I’m going to have to put on that brave face, well, it makes me feel like my two worlds are colliding. But this was the best way for things to work out on Friday so I just sucked it up and we took them. And it was fine.

During my checkup I mentioned to Dr. P about some pain I’d been having in my left side for about the past week. After checking me all out, he said that he thought I either had a fractured or dislocated rib. Really?! I mean I knew that my body was exhausted during the training for this marathon but a broken rib, really?!

I can tell a big difference in the condition of my body this time around in marathon training…my 3rd in a year. I’m starting to have little nagging injuries that I’ve never had an issue with in my 7 1/2 years of running: shin splints, ankle problems, and now my ribs. Also, I am exhausted. My body is just tired. Can you see the signs and symptoms of over-training?? I can. Loud and clear. Training for three marathons in one year is just too much for me.

So now with all that information, what do you think I did?

Yep. You guessed it.

I went ahead with my marathon plans. Ridiculous, I know.

Marathon morning started out great. Like all my other big races, I prepped the same way:

2 alarms set at 5:30am
A roll and almond butter as I was getting dressed
Shorts, shirt w/ race bib, compression sleeve, compression socks, shoes, and hair in ponytail
A cup of coffee as I got ready
4 chocolate Gu, 3 pieces of gum, my iPhone, headphones, Spibelt, and inhaler

No wonder it takes me so long to get ready.

Anyway I met my sister, Layne, and her sister-in-law, Sarah, and we made the short walk to the start line in downtown St. Louis. My sister-in-law, Kristy, was there too but we came from different hotels on race morning and weren’t in the same corral so I didn’t get to see her until after the race.

Obviously we passed the time waiting until 7:30 by taking lots of pictures. I got the new iPhone 4S last week and I am LOVING the great quality of the pictures!

I have to break here from the usual race day report for a sec. Remember when I told you awhile back about the fellow patient that I had made friends with in my dr’s office? Well when I was at the dr Friday for my checkup, I asked about her. I’m so sad to report that she passed away a few weeks ago. I knew when I saw her at my last checkup that she didn’t look well, but I was praying for her miracle. But God knows best and has bigger and better plans than we can even begin to imagine, so I just trust in Him and know that He’s got this. In was in her honor that I ran on Sunday, and I wrote it on the inside of my left arm:

I thought about her almost the whole race. Which I don’t know was exactly a good thing because I would look at my arm and start to get choked up- which isn’t easy to do while you’re running, and even HARDER when your running with a cracked rib. I’m praying for peace and comfort for her family.

At 7:30am the Inaugural St. Louis Rock ‘N Roll Marathon began! Layne and I were in corral 6, and there were almost 30 corrals holding all us 20,000 people!!

The corrals were released every minute and a half and before we knew it, we were off and running!

I felt ok at first. I mean, my side was a little sore but nothing bad. I was trying to keep my pace slow because I didn’t want to start out too fast and then have nothing left at mile 20. The course for the full- and the half-marathoners was the same for the first 8 miles, and I remember the fleeting thought of only doing the half but I pushed that thought way far back in my mind because I didn’t want to take an “easy out.” I didn’t want to give myself that excuse just because it was hard. Of course it’s hard! It’s a stinkin’ marathon!! It’s supposed to be hard! And also, sometimes a lot of things hurt when you first start running, then you get in a groove and things work themselves out and you settle in for the run, so I didn’t want to mentally bail out too early just because I was struggling. <-----See how mental running is?!

Things changed, though, at Mile 7. My side really started to hurt, not just a nagging ache, but a deep hurt every time my left foot hit the pavement. I knew that there was no way I could finish the full marathon like I had my other two…if I was to finish there would have to be some serious adjustments. I considered a walk/run ratio but the less impact of the walking felt so good that when I would pick up to run again it felt like a knife going in my side. At Mile 8 I had made my decision, and I was good with it.

Here’s the texts I sent to Jack to let him know that I would be finishing the half, rather than the full:

I also got a text from my mom telling me that she loved me. I have an amazing family.

Here’s how all the splits went down:

I crossed the finish line with these official stats from RNR:

I had/have absolutely no regrets in finishing the half instead of the full marathon. None. I’m actually surprised that I’m not a little more upset about it! Ha! But I know that there is no way I could have finished 26.2 miles with the way my ribs were hurting, and the damage I would be doing by pushing it, well, that would just be irresponsible running. I made the right decision and I know it.

And hey-now I can say I ran a 2:16 half-marathon with a broken rib! Does that make me tough or what?! Lol~

Post race we stood around and visited for a little while and then walked back to our hotel, happy and satisfied with our day. Even if the day didn’t end like we have been planning for the past 4 months of training, it was good. Sore, but good!

My sisters and I have already been in talks about our next race. Yes, that’s SISTERS with an “s” Jessica was first to notice that the Rock ‘N Roll series also goes to Vegas! Now that would be a fun girls’ trip!!

Who knows where our next runs will take us?!

Love y’all!

xoxo

“Katie’s First Trip To The Zoo” AKA-What Happens When You Have More Than One Child

2011-10-24T12:38:00.001-05:00

So I guess I’m going to go from no post in three weeks, to multiple posts in one day (Lord willing)…confused yet?

Sheesh.

We had a great weekend in St. Louis this past weekend. It is like our second home and a city that holds a special place in our hearts. In case you don’t know this about the STL, there is an amazing Zoo! And it’s free! Yay!!

Well after trying to decide what kind of fun we were going to get into on Saturday, we mentioned going to the Zoo and Katie says, “That would be SO FUN! I’ve never been to the Zoo!”

[complete silence as Jack and I glanced at each other in disbelief]

Jack: “What sissy? You’ve never been to the Zoo??”

Katie: “Nope! And I want to go SOOOOOOO bad! I want to see all the animals!!”

Me: “Honey are you SURE we’ve never taken you to the Zoo here before?”

This conversation went on for a few minutes until we decided that our 7-year old was right, we have never taken her to the Zoo. Who knew?! We have taken the boys several times, and I guess we just assumed she’d been there, too? I dunno.

See, this is what happens when you have more than one child.

The first one gets everything- the scrapbook is complete, the school pictures were always hung up, meals were perfectly balanced, and he was enrolled in every activity known to man.

When the second one comes along things get a little more hectic but still manageable- the pictures make it TO the scrapbook just not necessarily IN it, you don’t always find out when he’s outgrown clothes until he goes to leave for school with high waters on, breakfast is definitely cereal, and we become a little choosy with extracurriculars.

After the third one is born all semblance of normalcy goes out the window- “what scrapbook? Oh wait, we have to have PICTURES for that!”, we forgo fun activities because just getting all of us to leave the house at once is a MAJOR expedition (See ya later, Disney On Ice!), and you can forget about the school pictures at this point…all three kids’ 8x10s are in the drawer in the kitchen. They are SO CUTE!! But you will just have to take my word for it.

So, yes, Katie has never been to the Zoo. Are you really surprised? After some thought, neither were we.

So here are some PICTURES from “Katie’s first trip to the Zoo” <----which is what she wrote on the folder of pictures that she took to school this morning. Oy vey.

Oh- and no we didn’t forget Tyler (although that’s probably hard to believe, especially after this post), but he had to take the ACT on Saturday morning so he didn’t get to go.

Elijah (our “adopted” son and Zach’s buddy), Katie, and Zach:

Katie liked the flamingos because they were pink. Of course!

And the penguins because they were cute. I liked them because the penguin house felt like a freezer. A menopausal woman’s dream. While everyone else was grabbing for their jackets, I was breathing in deep and could have fallen fast asleep.

So we can successfully cross that off our “lists”…Katie now HAS been to the Zoo. I probably should go through Tyler’s scrapbook and see what other fun things we did with him that they other two have missed out on.

xoxo

Blogging Hiatus OV-AH!

2011-10-24T12:00:00.001-05:00

Hey y’all

I know it’s been AGES since I’ve updated the blog! I have literally been lost in everything basketball, cross country, twirlers, and just the general daily stuff that comes with all these things. Including massive amounts of laundry, cooking, and driving. Honestly I’m worn out just thinking about it all! I’ve thought about the good ol’ blog many a time in the past 3 weeks or so, but just haven’t had the time to sit down and write.

So.

Here I am.

There is no possible way I can recap all that my “time off” has included but just to hit the high points:

Tyler has continued to do well in his cross country meets, medaling in every race and even captured All-Conference honors last week! No fender benders or mishaps have come out of his first month of driving, but lots of dirty laundry has. About every few days I get a huge armload of dirty clothes that he brings in from his truck. I wonder where he gets this??? Sound familiar, honey?

Zachary is still in his Jr. High basketball season. We have a tournament this week and one next week, then his season is done. They have had some amazing games here lately with a huge overtime upset and some other really good down-to-the-wire games. He and his teammates have kept us on the edge of seat all season! And I’m probably the worst mother ever because I can’t find any pics of him playing this year…must get on that, STAT!! To make up for it, though, here’s a pic of my little cutie.

Katie is doing Twirlers, when we remember…oops! We have put gymnastics on hiatus until Spring and she will continue with twirling until then. One thing at a time, please. She has become the un-official cheerleader and concession stand queen at ANY event as we drag her all over southeast Missouri to her brothers’ games and meets. Would somebody please get this girl a uniform?!

So that’s the brief update on us. Oh, and we’re good too…just tired and overwhelmed parents!

I’ve decided to put our STL weekend trip in to different posts, otherwise it would be longest post known to man.

And with that, this blogging hiatus is…….OV-AH!

Say your prayers, hug your kids, and for goodness sakes-check your breasts!

xoxo

Last Long Run & Rams Go PINK!

2011-10-03T14:14:00.001-05:00

Hey guys! Time to start another week! How’s your Monday been treating you so far??

I started this week off with my last long long run before the St. Louis Rock N Roll Marathon October 23. Last week I peaked at 20 miles for my long run, so today I was just shooting to get as close to 20 as possible, just to do what felt good.

Well, turned out nothing felt good today-other than the cool temps-but some runs are just like that. Today was just a pure mind-over-matter, gut-it-out run. It felt like a long 16 miles.

AND, it turns out that my stats are all jacked up because I accidently hit my start button once I was in my car and drove a mile towards home, so a few things aren’t exactly correct but at least I can see my pacing and important things like heart rate.

Here goes:

I just left the Lap 17 line off. I know my watch said 2:33: something as I finished the 16 miles…but I’m laughing at my max speed 55.5 mph! WOAH!! I was SMOKIN’!! LOL~

One thing I can appreciate about this run-other than the fact that it’s probably my last double digit run until the marathon-is my steady pacing. I am tickled with my ability to hold a pretty even pace the majority of the time.

So YESTERDAY we did something very fun and different!! Since it was Breast Cancer Awareness Day across the NFL my doctor called to offer us tickets to the St. Louis Rams game on behalf of Siteman! We have never been to a professional football game before!

It was a great atmosphere and a great experience, with TONS OF PINK!!! Love.

Jack and I both said we will have to bring the kids (especially the boys) back to a game. They would really love it.

Pre-game and sporting our UnderArmour Power In Pink gear:

Pre-game stuff:

Retired jerseys for the Rams. They only one I really know is Marshall Faulk:

WooHoo! Check out that pink ribbon on the field!

Yes, breast cancer is a crucial catch! Ladies, get your mammograms and remember to check yourselves!!

More pre-game. Wish I knew more about football, but sadly, I don’t.

More PINK!!

Rams Cheerleaders and breast cancer survivors line up on the field:

My survivor sister, Ashley, and I :

Game action:

Ashley, our amazing doctor Julie Margenthaler, and I posing for a quick picture at halftime:

We had a great time yesterday! However, we were happy to get home too, so we could root for our Cardinals in the playoffs!

WE GOT A WIN!!! GO CARDS!!!

The sports continues tonight as we are traveling to watch some more Jr. High boys basketball. Let’s go Bulldogs!

Love you guys

xoxo

Art On The Run 10k Recap

2011-10-01T14:30:00.001-05:00

I Believe In Miracles

2011-09-29T07:00:00.001-05:00

“You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.” Psalm 77:14

Sometimes it’s hard to know what to share and what not to share with others. You put stuff out there on the internet and you never really know who is reading it and if anything you write is anybody’s business. Really it’s probably not…I mean, who’s business is it that I love to run and I love to chase my kids around to all corners of southeast Missouri? Nobody’s really.

But those are things I enjoy and I like to share them with you; hopefully it gives you something entertaining to read, keeps you in touch with our family, and maybe gives you a little uplifting now and then.

On that last note, I’m not going to lie, it’s been a long couple of weeks around here. Jack’s dad has had test after test run, and even spent a few days in the hospital, to try to determine the cause of some gastrointestinal symptoms he had been having. After being in the hospital, the symptoms went away but scans revealed a mass on his kidney-completely unrelated to anything else he had going on.

What??

They had no idea there was an issue with his kidney. <----I believe this is the first miracle. Doctors did a CT scan to try to determine the cause of his symptoms, and found nothing to cause those symptoms, but found a small tumor on his kidney. Shocker to everybody!

This is the good news/bad news scenario:

The good news is that we found nothing that could be causing any of your symptoms and everything GI related looks great.

The bad news, there is a mass on your kidney.

Suddenly, the GI symptoms were gone but we were left wondering “What NOW?” in regards to the kidney issue.

Doctors in Cape first ordered a PET scan because they believed the mass to be kidney cancer, renal cell carcinoma. Upon getting those results from the urologist this past Monday, the doctor said that “Yes, it is kidney cancer and it has already metastasized (spread) because of the way the scan looked.

Oh boy.

This sent us into a frenzy of phone calls, prayers, and anxiety. The most important phone call Jack made was to my oncologist in STL. He had us fax Jack’s dad’s paperwork and scan reports to him at his HOME, so he could look over them Monday night and he would get back to us. Yes, he is that awesome.

Tuesday morning he called and had already set up appointments for his dad to see a urologist and an oncologist at Siteman for yesterday (Wednesday).

Yesterday morning Jack and his parents headed on the all too familiar trip to STL. Prayer warriors from all over were lifting them up in prayer, asking God for good appointments and safety on their trip.

How did it go??

Two words: PRAYERS ANSWERED!!!

The PET scan from Cape was a false positive they believe, and while the kidney does have what looks to be a malignant tumor on it, they treat it by removing the part of the kidney with the tumor-NOT the whole thing as they believed in Cape! <-------MIRACLE AND PRAYERS ANSWERED!!!

He will have surgery in a couple of weeks, and they will of course monitor him every few months, but all is perfect and well. God answered our prayers with a resounding “YES” this week and we could not be more thankful.

Thankful that we serve a God who is more mighty than we ever imagine,

more amazing than we could ever dream,

and more loving than we will ever know.

We are rejoicing! Won’t you rejoice with us too?

Love you guys.

xoxo

Terrific Twenty!

2011-09-27T13:21:00.001-05:00

Hey y’all!

How’s Tuesday treatin’ ya?

Tuesday for us means that we are into day two of our marathon sport week:

Monday- twirlers, basketball
Tuesday- basketball
Wednesday- cross country meet
Thursday- basketball
Friday- basketball

Are you seeing any wiggle room in there?? Nah, me either. But that’s ok, we’ll push ahead and cheer our kids on!

Yesterday was my longest marathon training run to date.

A 20-miler.

I am so ecstatic in how it went, and how I felt at the end- meaning, I could have gone more! Despite the rest of life being so cray-zeeeee right now, I am so glad I found a way to fit in my terrific twenty.

Here we go folks:

Runner’s high? Oh yes.

And does anyone else have temps like THIS in the mornings?? Ahhhhhh yes, Fall, you are my friend.

So this morning I stretched out my legs with an easy 4-miler. I managed to squeeze it in inbetween running all kinds of errands, which included ordering Tyler’s high school letter jacket, Wahhhhh. Another milestone gone by.

I guess he didn’t mind that I came to the school in my running clothes, knee-high compression socks, and my hair all barely-brushed-and-thrown-into-a-ponytail… If he didn’t he didn’t say so. Smart move. heehee

I’m going to get another load of laundry in the ~~books~~ drawers, and then go work on Booster Club stuff!

Later gators.

Oh- and feel free to go wish Maggie a Happy Cancer-versary!

Love you all!

xoxo

“…let us run with perseverance the race marked out before us…” Hebrews 12:1-2

10 Commandments of Breast Cancer

2011-09-24T12:44:00.001-05:00

Hey, y’all! Happy Saturday! Been waiting all stinkin’ week to say that.

And I am enjoying every second of it thus far. I am most excited about the fact that I SLEPT IN!!! Til 9am no less! Sweet, sweet sleep…I so needed it.

I’m not here to rub it in, or share with you, that I enjoyed sleep like a teenager this morning. I want to share with you something I came across last night, and I.FLIPPIN.LOVE.IT. I mean, seriously, if you have been diagnosed with breast cancer, this will speak VOLUMES TO YOU. It hits straight to my heart and I have lived every word.

So check this out, print it out (I already did), and share it with someone who needs it.

THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF BREAST CANCER

1. Thou shalt give thyself time to think. When you’re diagnosed, you may feel like you have to do something right now. You don’t. Take a deep breath. Give the spinning in your head time to slow down before you make any decisions.

2. Thou shalt not judge thy neighbor’s treatment or reconstruction choices or attitude toward their diagnosis. I honestly have not seen people in the breast cancer community judge each other’s treatment or reconstruction choices, either online or offline. The real armchair quarterbacks are the people who have never been through it. They need to be mindful of who’s actually on the playing field. Attitude gets a little trickier. No one has the right to tell you how you should feel. Some people would have you think you should be able to overcome your fluffy pink cancer by being all shiny and happy, or that you should be grateful for some life lesson. That’s a BIG fail. But you may be the naturally optimistic type. You may actually be grateful. And we all need to remember that’s okay too. We’re all wired differently. I always say that telling you how you should feel about your diagnosis is kind of like saying you should be six feet tall or have brown eyes.

3. Thou shalt honor thy own feelings, whether shiny and happy or tired or angry or scared. And don’t be surprised to feel all these things within the space of 15 minutes, several times a day.

4. Thou shalt love thyself as thy neighbor. Women are so darn hard on ourselves. Give yourself the same break you would to a loved one going through a big diagnosis.

5. Thou shalt not beat thyself up. You don’t have breast cancer because you ate the wrong things or didn’t breast-feed your kids or exercise enough or the right way. You have breast cancer, because.

6. Thou shalt allow others to help you. This is a tough one for many of us. But your family and friends want to be able to do something for you; let them.

7. Thou shalt not bear false witness against science. You may or may not decide on a certain course of treatment. (See Commandment 2.) You may or may not have a good experience. We can learn so much from each other’s honest recounting of our experiences, but that doesn’t make us medical experts. Celebrities and politicians have a special responsibility here.

8. Thou shalt ask thy doctors questions. Do not be afraid to ask, “What is the risk if I do A or B?” or “What does that word mean?” or “Could you repeat that?” Good doctors welcome your questions and concerns. Not-so-good ones need to be reminded there’s a person attached to the breast.

9. Thou shalt seize the day. There’s no doubt cancer is the elephant in the room. But sometimes you just have to pat its big ugly flank and say, “Excuse me, elephant, but I’m going to the beach, or the movies, or the back yard with my kids. I’ll catch you when I get back. Right now, I’m off to have some fun.”

10. Thou shalt remember you are more than your cancer. Cancer is all about cells run amok in your body. It will do its best to claim your identity as well. You may be a woman with cancer, but you are also a wife, mom, sister, daughter, employed person and friend. Let the extent to which cancer becomes part of your identity be your choice, not its choice.

~Jackie Fox
©Jackie Fox 2011

Have an awesome day.

xoxo

Countdown Motivation!

2011-09-23T14:02:00.001-05:00

Annnddddd….

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!

We are down to the ONE-MONTH mark until the inaugural St. Louis Rock N Roll Marathon!!!!

Am I really preparing to run my third marathon in a year??

Why yes…yes I am. And I’m getting excited!

With my second 40-mile week under my belt since my foot/ankle injury, I am feeling more confident. I am hoping to get in an 18-miler next week, maybe a 20 the following week then it’s time to taper! Of course, all this is contingent on my body holding up and not rebelling.

Please, please, hang in there legs and feet! I promise you will get a nice, long break afterwards! And no full marathons for a long while!

Seeing the medals this morning has me pretty pumped. Aren’t they rockin’?!

Too bad I already ran this morning, because I could probably go right now after being on the marathon Facebook page. Motivation!

Now I’m going to go browse Pinterest and look for something that looks yummy for dinner. We get to stay home tonight!!! WooHoo!!!!

xoxo

A Fall Run

2011-09-22T11:05:00.001-05:00

Hey guys!

The weather here this morning was perfect for running: cool, breezy, and cloudy…ahhhh I love it! It was awesome.

But now that I’m done running, the sun can come back out!

I was just planning on doing a couple miles or so (yeah right, who am I fooling?!) just to stretch my legs and get the blood flowing after yesterday’s 10-miler, but a couple miles in felt so good that I just kept going. 7 miles later I decided to stop.

See the pretty consistent pacing? Yes, that’s when I know it felt effortless. My heart rate chart told me the same:

I heart mornings like this.

Yesterday was all about the run, too. The second Cross Country meet of the season took place here yesterday (thank the LORD for local stuff!!). Tyler has already medaled in the first race last week, taking 21st place and was looking to medal again. You can check out last year’s post about it here.

His goal was met and he medaled again yesterday! 23rd place!!

Also, the night before last was Zachary’s first 8th grade basketball game!!! I remember being in 8th grade, cheering of course , and when our classmates were finally playing in the 8th grade it was a HUGE deal! We were the “highlight game” now, the main event so to speak! So I was so excited for him! We lost the game, but now that the first-game jitters are out of the way we are ready to play ball. Game TWO is TONIGHT!!

Fun, huh?!

I love my life. That.is.all.

We are also getting pretty excited up here in Cardinal Nation, as our ‘birds are making a run for the NL Wild Card!!! We are only 1 1/2 games behind the Braves and are playing so well right now! GO CARDS!

I can’t think of any more sports teams that I need to mention so I guess I’m going to go. If you don’t hear from me tomorrow, have somebody come look for me under the humongous mountain of clothes in my laundry room. It’s a good possibility I’ll still be folding it tomorrow. Gah.

Cheer loudly, lift up others, and check your ta~tas- remember you’re never too young!

xoxo

Quickly Passing By

2011-09-20T13:47:00.001-05:00

Hey y’all!

I am literally just taking just a few minutes to say “HI!” real quick before I’m on to my next task!

The schedule this week is insane and throw in the last-minute TO-DOs, like Zachary’s need for khaki pants at 8 this morning, and I am really hopping.

Of course, some of that hopping is really running, and that is my own fault.

Yesterday was a 15-miler, and it all went well except for the serious chafing on one leg from my shorts. Gah. I’m still not feeling 100% confident in marathon training this time around, but I’m just going to go with it. October 23 will be here before I know it.

Today I didn’t think I had even a moment to get a quick sweat session in, but after going after the aforementioned khaki pants (and shoes, socks, belt) I managed to squeeze in a quick 5K just to stretch the legs. Legs are now stretched, and I am re-chaffed. Awesome.

A quick shower, lunch, blog, and now I’m off again. We have high school baseball today (Tyler’s pitching!) and then as soon as it’s over, we have to travel for Zach’s first Jr. High basketball game of the season. Go Bulldogs!! It’ll be a late night around here.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll get caught up on my house…or not.

Love!

xoxo

PS- Lending A Hand had these Girlie Girl shirts made up for us as a fundraiser this fall! We love them! I can’t wait to get a hoodie!!

Three Years

2011-09-16T20:43:00.001-05:00

Three years ago today I got the biggest shock of my life.

I was completely blindsided on a beautiful September morning.

I wrote about it on social media this morning:

Instantly my world spun upside down and my heart dropped as the nurse on the phone said,

“You have breast cancer. And we didn’t get it all.”

I found it hard to utter the words as I called my hubby and my momma. Their strength and their calmness went straight to my soul during a time when my strength and sense of peace was nonexistent.

While my mind was still spinning and reeling from my diagnosis, my heart was fixed on my God. My God who is faithful and worthy to be praised. My God who has never let me down. My God who is my constant anchor and My Rock.

Here is look back at my previous cancer-versaries…

Just a day after my diagnosis in 2008, I wrote this post, titled “Rocked.”

Then, in 2009, while still undergoing treatment, I wrote “One Year” on my first cancer-versary.

Last year in 2010, on my second cancer-versary, my post was titled “SURVIVING.”

So what did I do to mark the occasion today??

I got a manicure and had my nails painted bright pink!

While they were painting them, I was remembering during chemo how my fingernails (and toenails) all turned black and eventually fell off, it was so hideous. I tried painting over them a time or two, but it wouldn’t ever really cover it. Today, the pink was perfect.

But isn’t it always?

My love to YOU for reading and sharing my journey with me. Long may it continue!

Count your blessings & Check your boobies.

xoxo

“Don’t be afraid, just believe.” Mark 5:36

Number 600

2011-09-14T12:43:00.001-05:00

Hola Friends! How is your Hump Day going so far??

I just noticed that this is my 600TH POST!!!!! Wow!!! My, what a long way we’ve come, huh?!

All is well here, except the day is kind of gray…

It started raining early this morning and even though it has stopped now, the clouds are still hanging around. Boo. It doesn’t make for a very nice day especially when you have lots to do.

Zachary has basketball practice today, Tyler has a cross country meet (not here), and after all those things, the kids have Youth at church…if we make it back in time from the meet. We shall see.

This morning I found some time in between a couple of rain showers to grab a quick run.

Five miles in 47:32 to get my day started off on the right foot.

Then I obeyed dr’s orders and stretched my legs and feet while I was ~~checking Facebook~~ enjoying nature.

Note to self: clean all the trash out of the side pocket of the door, mmmkay?

One more thing: As if I wasn’t feel old enough already with Tyler driving and such, this morning he registered to take his ACT. Wahhhhhh!!!! No way this is all possible, it’s happening way too fast.

Have a great day guys.

xoxo

I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles. -Audrey Hepburn

Good Start To The Day

2011-09-13T11:52:00.001-05:00

I’m thinking that today is going to be a good day! I found my early morning motivation in my Bible, a cup of hot coffee, a good Living Social deal , and a run.

First up: the verse that was laid before me this morning,

“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:30-31

Second: the coffeeeeee, (no not my cup, but wouldn’t it be awesome if it was?!)

Next: the awesome Living Social deal I scored this morning,

And last, but certainly not least: a bangin’ run,

How is YOUR Tuesday shaping up? It is Tuesday, right??

Ok, I’m good.

Make it great, folks!

xoxo

Run and Remember

2011-09-11T13:05:00.001-05:00

Happy Sunday friends! It is a BEAUTIFUL day out there! A day to be thankful and remember.

I began this Day of Remembrance by doing my weekly long run for marathon training. The inaugural STL Rock N Roll Marathon is October 23…eeek it’s NEXT MONTH!

Since I am way off my training schedule, I was kind of undecided as to how far I would run today. I did 18 miles the day my ankle tendonitis started, but that was 4 weeks ago and since then I’ve been focused on recovering and not doing too much so I’m wayyy off my training plan.

So when I saw my sis-in-law, Kristy, running her 10 in prep for the RNR Half (Go K!!) and she asked how far I was going, I had no idea…just whatever felt good.

I was so excited that my ankle did great, my blister is completely healed and didn’t give me any fits, and I felt amazing for a half-marathon! Yep, that’s right, 13.1 miles this morning in 2:01:58!!

Amazing runner’s high today!

And a voracious appetite! <----But no food in the house makes this not a good thing. Must.go.grocery.shopping. Ugh.

I came home after my run and iced my foot, and caught up on Twitter and Facebook while I was waiting for the 20 minute timer to go off. It seems to take HOURS for those 20 minutes to pass.

Oh, and that’s Kinesio Tape on my foot. I got some last week in hopes that I can use it to support my ankle instead of wear that darned brace. So far so good!

Right now, I am getting my mind set for another busy week ahead:

Twirlers
Gymnastics
Basketball practices (x5)
Cross Country Meet
Baseball games (x2)

And those are just the extracurriculars. Whew!

WE WILL NEVER FORGET.

xoxo

Run, Tyler!

2011-09-09T11:42:00.001-05:00

Well the first Cross Country meet of the season is now behind us, and I think all the kids are so glad!

The first meet is always rough, especially THIS one. It’s on a golf course with rolling hills and you have to run the course TWICE to get the 3.1 miles in, not to mention that it is a HUGE meet with MUCH bigger schools that us competing…that stinks. Nobody really looks forward to this race, so it’s nice to have it over with and now we can move on with the rest of the season! Conference races here we come!

Tyler did good, considering all the above. He finished in 60th place in a field of 112 Varsity boy runners.

I was yelling and cheering for him as he ran by us on the first loop. Is it uncool for your Mom to yell,

“Run like it’s your birthday!”

Yeah, that’s what I thought. It was funny though! He even got a kick out of it.

Zach and Katie did their thing at the meet. Zach was a great spectator,

and Katie played so hard that we had a minor scratch incident which led to me bumming some wet wipes off a mama with a stroller-I KNEW she’d have some! [Wet wipes are good for ANYTHING. I miss them.] So, crisis averted and it was back to playing.

Tonight is more Bulldog Baseball! We travel again tonight, so I have the Crock Pot humming along so we will have dinner when we get home tonight. I’ve never done country style ribs in a crock pot so we’ll see how they turn out! I’ll let you know the fam’s verdict.

This morning’s run was another cool and glorious one:

6.5 miles of lovely-ness. Starts my day out right fo’ sho’.

Have a marvelous Friday, my friends.

Carry wet wipes, check your boobies, and do something nice for someone today.

Love y’all.

xoxo

Birthday Boy = Driving Boy

2011-09-08T13:44:00.001-05:00

Hey friends!

I have spent the bigger part of today trying to figure out how we’ve gone from this:

To this:

I seriously almost can’t handle looking at that little-guy picture right now! It makes me heart ache for the sweet and calm baby that he was, the determined toddler he became, the perfectionist school-age boy after that. Now my first born is officially SIXTEEN, as of 8 minutes after midnight last night.

Wow.

I can’t believe we are here already, seriously.

He passed his driver’s test this morning with flying colors of course.

He was so excited and a little nervous, but he did great and before we knew it, we were in the license office getting my baby his driver’s license.

Afterwards, he dropped me off at home and he took his truck and went back to school. I almost choked when he left the driveway. Praying the whole time.

Even though I am sad to see him grow up, I am so excited for him. I remember getting my license and the excitement I felt at the time, and I KNOW he’s feeling the same thing. But NOW I know how MY parents felt, too, seeing their oldest child start to separate just a little from their grip.

I pray that God would guide him and protect him, as well as Zachary and Katie. Please, Lord, place a literal hedge of protection around them and guide them as they go throughout each day. May they always look to YOU for guidance and for answers, as the world has more and more influence upon them. I know that I can’t watch out for them all the time, but I rest assured that You see them constantly and they are always tightly in Your loving grip. Amen.

So on a totally less-exciting-but-still-worthy-of-sharing note:

I RAN THIS MORNING!!!!

With no blister pain! Yippee!!!

It.felt.amazing. Thank You, Lord, I REALLY needed it today.

Stats:

I felt like I was flying at times. I didn’t want to stop! I LOVE LOVE LOVE runs like that!! And temps were in the 50s this morning, wooo-weeee!

And yes, I also LOVE LOVE LOVE the pink Zensah compression socks!

See y’all later on, I’m headed to take the Birthday Boy to the first Cross Country meet of the season!

Love to you!

xoxo

Pink Socks & Jeanette vs. Jillian

2011-09-07T13:15:00.001-05:00

Hey y’all! How’s your Wednesday treating you?

It is another beautiful and COOL sunshiny day here in the Ozarks! I have been craving these kind of days since our crazy hot summer…it’s almost soothing to walk out to the car in the morning and breathe in the cool air.

Yesterday afternoon was Tyler’s baseball game, which we WON 7-6!! It was a great game! It’s so nice to be able to sit out and enjoy the game NOT sweating to death.

This morning, I’m not gonna lie, I taped the heck out of my blister and headed for a run. I had already decided that if I felt any discomfort that I would stop and come home and just do my kickboxing and Jillian DVDs. Discomfort came, and I stopped, totally at peace with it. I know a day will come when I will run pain-free and I’m not going to push it until it does.

I DID get some new running gear yesterday, though, that I pretty excited about! Compression socks!! Now I’ve heard of these quite a bit, but have never gotten a pair, or knew if I even NEEDED a pair. Then last week, MizFit did an article about it, you can check it out here. I loved the idea of supporting the muscles during my runs as well as aiding recovery afterwards, so I thought I’d give them a try! Well, they came today from Zensah and although I haven’t run in them yet, I am loving them!

Ok, maybe I love them because they are pink. Don’t hate.

But in all seriousness, they felt really good on my legs and I can totally see how they would give you that extra stability sometimes needed on long runs. We’ll see! Soon I hope!

I wore the compression socks during my kickboxing and Jillian workouts this morning [you can also just get the sleeves but I got the full socks to have the ankle support].

So, the kickboxing bootcamp is with celebrity trainer Jeanette Jenkins. I heart her. I wish she would move to Missouri and train me. For free. Ha!

The Jillian Michaels’ DVD I am doing is Ripped in 30. The whole “ripped” thing sounds a little scary, but I promise it’s not…well, not all the time anyway.

I wear my Garmin during these workouts so I can use the heart rate monitor and make sure that I am maintaining the right intensity during them. Today it’s

Jeanette vs. Jillian

Who got my HR up the best today?

Let’s check the stats:

We’ll start with Jeanette Jenkins’ Kickboxing Bootcamp from Exercise TV:

TIME: 45:02
AVG HR: 161
MAX HR: 180

Now for Jillian Michael’s Ripped in 30- I did Week 4 today:

TIME: 29:01
AVG HR: 146
MAX HR: 175

I think Jeanette wins for today. But you do have to take into consideration that I did Jillian’s DVD first, so my heart rate was going pretty good going INTO Jeanette’s kickboxing. Regardless, they are both great workouts!

Allll-righty then. I’m off!

Give someone a high-five, check your ta~tas, and wear pink socks.

xoxo

A Brighter Tuesday

2011-09-06T12:06:00.001-05:00

Hey y’all

Check this out…this has certainly brightened my non-running mood:

Oh Hallelujah for cooler weather!!!! Is Fall here to stay?? OMGosh, I hope so. Of course, it makes me a teensy bit disappointed in the morning when I really want to go for a run, but I just keep reminding myself how good it will feel to run in a few days PAIN-FREE AND COOL! I’m working on some new positivity this morning about the whole thing.

I’m a work in progress, people.

So yesterday I kind of had a little pity party for myself. Complete with moping, and snapping, and all the non-lovely things that come with it. I found myself so disgusted with menopause and how my 33-year old self should not have to deal with all this; how I don’t even feel like I know my own body anymore. <---Oh yes, I went there. I try to keep it upbeat most of the time but it doesn’t always work.

This morning, though, I sat down with my Bible for my quiet time and proceeded to go on a search for verses to lift me up out of my downer mood.

Of course, God provided…He always does, and here’s some of the verses from this morning:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.” Romans 12:1

“But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14

“…Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” Matthew 6:25

And yes, I feel better this morning and lifted up. Thanks, Big Guy, I just needed a little reminder.

I hope if you need a little lift in your day, that God’s perfect wisdom will do the same for you. Ask Him! Trust me, He desires nothing more than to have that relationship with us. Not sure how? Check this out.

The rest of this sunny and cool day is going to be spent catching up on some laundry, and then going to another baseball game. We have sweated through several here lately, and I’m excited to go watch Tyler play without being so sweaty that my clothes stick to me!

Have a marvelous day, my lovelies!

xoxo

PS- My Dad sent me a joke via email the other day, and it was so cute, I thought I’d share it with you.

FORREST GUMP GOES TO HEAVEN

The day finally arrived. Forrest Gump dies and goes to Heaven. He is at the Pearly Gates, met by St. Peter himself. However, the gates are closed, and Forrest approaches the gatekeeper.

St. Peter said, ‘Well, Forrest, it is certainly good to see you.

We have heard a lot about you. I must tell you, though, that the place is filling up fast, and we have been administering an entrance examination for everyone. The test is short, but you have to pass it before you can get into Heaven.’

Forrest responds, ‘It sure is good to be here, St. Peter, sir. But, nobody ever told me about any entrance exam. I sure hope that the test ain’t too hard. Life was a big enough test as it was.’

St. Peter continued, ‘Yes, I know, Forrest, but the test is only three questions.

First: What two days of the week begin with the letter T?

Second: How many seconds are there in a year?

Third: What is God’s first name?’

Forrest leaves to think the questions over.

He returns the next day and sees St. Peter, who waves him up, and says, ‘Now that you have had a chance to think the questions over, tell me your answers’

Forrest replied, ‘Well, the first one — which two days in the week begins with the letter ‘T’?

Shucks, that one is easy.

That would be Today and Tomorrow.’

The Saint’s eyes opened wide and he exclaimed, ‘Forrest, that is not what I was thinking, but you do have a point, and I guess I did not specify, so I will give you credit for that answer.’

‘How about the next one?’ asked St. Peter

‘How many seconds in a year?

Now that one is harder,’ replied Forrest, but I thunk and thunk about that, and I guess the only answer can be twelve.’

Astounded, St. Peter said, ‘Twelve? Twelve?

Forrest, how in Heaven’s name could you come up with twelve seconds in a year?’

Forrest replied, ‘Shucks, there’s got to be twelve: January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd … ‘

‘Hold it,’ interrupts St. Peter. ‘I see where you are going with this, and I see your point, though that was not quite what I had in mind … but I will have to give you credit for that one, too.

Let us go on with the third and final question.

Can you tell me God’s first name’?

‘Sure,’ Forrest replied, ‘it’s Andy.’

‘Andy?’ exclaimed an exasperated and frustrated St Peter.

‘Ok, I can understand how you came up with your answers to my first two questions, but just how in the world did you come up with the name Andy as the first name of God?’

‘Shucks, that was the easiest one of all,’

Forrest replied.

‘I learnt it from the song,

‘ANDY WALKS WITH ME,
ANDY TALKS WITH ME,
ANDY TELLS ME I AM HIS OWN..’ ‘

St. Peter opened the Pearly Gates, and said:

‘Run Forrest, run!’

Operation: Blister Protection

2011-09-05T11:42:00.001-05:00

After assembling what looked to be a mini-triage unit on my kitchen table this morning, I set out to fashion the best blister protection known to ~~man~~ woman.

I had everything you could ever think of: peroxide, antibiotic ointment, tough strip bandaids, moleskin, scissors (to cut the moleskin, not me), and sterile gauze. If I hadn’t thought of myself as the ~~walking~~ running wounded before, I surely had proof now that this was indeed the case.

After much perusing on Runner’s World online and Googling the “best way to protect blister,” I managed to fashion quite a sophisticated looking barrier. I was proud. “It’s already not as tender as yesterday,” I mused.

I proudly put on my sock, brace (<----hate it), and shoe, and headed downstairs to do an exercise DVD.

The result?

Fail.

I’m not sure that they even MAKE a barrier thick enough to keep me from feeling the razor like pain in my heel when I walk/run. I give up.

The hubby told me last night that I really needed to just give my body a break, to let it rest and heal. I know he’s right, but dang it stinks to admit it. Training for 3 marathons in one year is taking it’s toll on my body. And I’m starting to feel it.

Mainly in my left foot. Grrr. Clearly my positivity I was feeling last night is not winning at the moment.

After the STL Rock N Roll Marathon (or Half- depending on healing), I am taking a much needed hiatus from marathon running for a little while. A little break…not from running, but from training.

I’m off to rest and enjoy the holiday off today. This week will be day-to-day as to how my foot feels for running, and well, wearing shoes. If anybody has any good quick-healing open blister recommendations, I’m open to your suggestions!

I hope you’re enjoying your Labor Day!

xoxo

Run, Interrupted

2011-09-04T20:44:00.001-05:00

This morning I was so excited to get to do my long run with my family!

Tyler volunteered to drive me [imagine that!] to meet up with Layne and Brett – and Jessa who ended up not making it but made up for it with a bangin’ 6-miler on the treadmill. We all had made plans to meet up and do our long runs together.

Layne and Brett had 9 miles on their schedule in training for the STL Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon. I was going to run with them and see how my ankle felt at nine, then go from there – hopefully.

I was cruising along, with my ankle feeling fine and dandy when the run was interrupted at:

All of a sudden, it felt like a razor blade sliced open the back of my heel. I tried to go a couple more steps but it was not happening.

After I removed my shoe, brace, and sock,

This is what I found,

Yeowwww-chhhh! Oh.my.word. This is like the mother of all blisters that formed completely out of nowhere and ruined my run that was feeling oh so good.

I was so sad. Dangit.

Luckily since I was running with others, they went to get the car while I sat and ~~pouted~~ stayed strong.

Obviously, the blister was the negative today. But the positive is that my ankle felt really good, and cooler weather is coming in this week so a little healing for the blister, some extra healing for the ankle, and some cooler temps should make for an extra-good long run later this week.

See? Positive.

Have a good Labor Day holiday tomorrow, guys!

xoxo

Scan Report & Our Birthday Boy!

2011-09-04T20:22:00.001-05:00

Heyyyy friends!!

This is a catch up post of sorts, since I haven’t gotten to fill you in for a few days!

Starting with Friday (aka scan day): Simply put, It.went.great. The hubs and I had a great trip to STL and Siteman to visit our favorite doctors. As I described in my last post, today was my PET scan and mammogram. Everything went perfectly, and YES, the PET scan was the most relaxing scan I’ve had to date. After they started my iv and gave a big ol’ cup of something not too tasty to drink, I got to kick back in the bed, with a warm blanket, and watch E! News and Kardashians in perfect peace. Other than the anxiety of the test, it was very relaxing. Even better when my docs texted us later to say that the scans were CLEAN!! AND my mammogram was good too y’all!! Yay!! Praise God!!!

Other than the clean scans, the other highlight of the day was this:

Seriously?! Yup I guess we were driving along all kinds of moolah and didn’t even know it! Crazy!

Yesterday was kind of a big day around here. We celebrated Tyler’s 16th birthday with family and friends! Little did Tyler know, the details of his present had been in the works all week long, and the logistics were still being finalized only minutes before everyone arrived.

While he went with his cousin Brad to go “get ice", this was being brought up the driveway:

After hiding it in the shop [no windows, all the doors locked], Tyler and Brad brought the ice home and it was time to eat. Or so he thought…

What followed was a set of clues to a Treasure Hunt that he, and his fellow treasure hunters, had to search for. Fun? We thought so!!

As the shop garage door opened, Jack started up the truck with the keyless entry and what followed was quite an emotional site!

Before even looking at what exactly was in the shop, Tyler ran to his Daddy and practically tackled him! It was the best and biggest bear hug to witness ever!!

And then I got mine.

What an amazing moment. There were a few tears, but they were very happy tears. I am so thankful that God blessed us with this amazing child way before we ever thought we were ready.

Thank You, Lord. Please guide him and protect him, as he leaves our sight occasionally. And let us be confident in our knowledge that he is never from YOUR sight, Father. Help him to make the decisions that YOU would have him to make and help him to be a blessing to all those around him. Oh- and did I mention protect him? Ok, ok…I know. You got this.

Oh good, he’s back.

And then it was time for cake! Ethan was a GREAT help! Thank you, Ethan!!

Look at all those candles! Happy Birthday to you!!

Oh, little sisters… Better be nice if you want him to take you places, Katie!

Ok, I’m emotionally exhausted now! Have a good rest of your holiday weekend, guys.

Love y’all!

Check your boobies, cherish every moment, and smile A LOT.

xoxo

Let’s Get Scanned

2011-08-31T12:58:00.001-05:00

Soooooo, here it is Wednesday and I’m just now posting for the first time this week. Oops!

I actually started a post on Monday after I got home from my long run (10 miles), but got called away to do something else and there my post sat-unfinished and alone until I finally got home at 845 that night from Katie’s gymnastics class. I was totally exhausted and out of inspiration so I just did the necessities [Sorry!] and fell into bed around 10.

Yesterday was more of the same, except it didn’t involve a run but DID involve a trip to PB with the hubs and a lunch date. I love him. We are giddy-happy together. Especially yesterday. I promise I will fill you all in, in a few days.

Patience, people, patience. I know-it’s not my strong suit either.

So back to Wednesday. Today has involved:

a big cup of coffee,
an even BIGGER load of laundry,
a 5-mile run on a tender ankle ,
some Jillian for strength-and our BONE HEALTH, GIRLS!,
some office work,
and eating my weight in watermelon.

Now it’s already after noon and I AM taking time to blog. I’m actually also taking time to check into the details of my PET scan, which is Friday.

You may remember from this post, that at my last check-up with my oncologist, which went great, I mentioned about getting a new body scan. I haven’t had any scans (other than mammograms and breast MRIs) since before treatment began and I feel like I really need to SEE that I am still in remission and cancer-free. Even though my dr doesn’t not necessarily feel like there is any indications to order such a scan, he obliged and ordered a PET scan for me anyway. We heart him.

SO, Friday is scan day. I’ve been looking over the details because I’ve never had a PET scan before. CT scans, bone scans, MRIs, mammograms- YES…but no PET scan. I’m going to consult with Tiffany before Friday and get more details from her, but I noticed on my sheet that I am to eat a low-carb diet the day before the scan.

WHAT?? I’ll STARVE!!

I am marathon runner! Carbs are my life!! Everything I eat has carbs. Not to mention that on the couple of times I have tried a low-carb type diet in the past [I mean WAY PAST here, y’all] I was not a pleasant person to be around. It was brutal. Oooh-weee! So I’m trying to get my mind thinking about what I’m going to eat tomorrow that’s not high sugar/carbs. Of course I’m over-acting this…I’ll manage. But still!

But I did notice one big bright spot to the whole test process- other than it showing that I am still in remission of course. Check this out:

Do you see what I see??!!

“…rest quietly for 45-60 minutes…”

Oh yeah, I can totally do low carb for this. A PET scan may be a busy momma’s dream. I’ll let you know!

And the mammogram is well, routine. I’ve had plenty and since I still have my boobies, I’ll have many many more.

LADIES, DO NOT DISREGARD THE IMPORTANCE OF GETTING YOUR MAMMOGRAMS. They save lives. Period. What are you waiting for?? A quick and simple test to ensure that you have healthy TA~TAs is so worth it.

I personally am still laughing after watching this:

I mean, really, if Jack Black can do it so can you.

Have an awesome day, guys.

Love y’all!

xoxo

Can Anyone Freeze Time?

2011-08-26T13:23:00.001-05:00

T.G.I.F. Seriously. Whew!

I know the kids have only been in school for three days, but I’m really glad Friday is here so we can recover and regroup over the weekend! Thankfully, the next two weeks are four-day weeks so we really are easing into this school year. Ok, by me! Start slowly and in small steps…

All is going well with this school year so far. The boys seem to like their classes {well, MOST of them} and Katie loves her teacher and the fact that she and Mrs. Grubb are cousins. You know, at this age, kids think it’s cool to be related to EVERYBODY. I remember when I was little that my friend, Heidi, and I would pretend that we were sisters…and not just any sisters, TWIN sisters. I’m not sure how we conceived this idea given that everybody knew both sets of our parents and siblings, clearly we were not sisters. And as for the twin thing- well, I was born in February and her birthday was July. Guess we didn’t think that one out too well either.

At any rate, Tyler went to school before 7am for cross country practice, and Zach and Katie at the normal time. Ty wasn’t so keen on CC this morning…clearly he’s not a morning runner like his Momma! Jack was taking him in to the school, and I had to think, “In two short weeks, he can drive HIMSELF to school for early morning practice.”

I don’t think I like this. At all.

I am complete denial mode when it comes to him getting his driver’s license.

Sigh…

If anyone can figure out a way to freeze time, please let me know. And maybe work quickly…I have less than two weeks.

Have a awesome Friday.

xoxo

My New Running “Friend”

2011-08-25T10:16:00.001-05:00

Hey y’all!

I am a happy, happy girl this morning!! Why??

Because I did this:

Yay!!! It’s been a long ten days, my friends. And these 8 miles felt goooooddddd!! Oh running, how I have missed you!

As far as marathon training goes, I’m going to push everything back a week and pick up with my step-back week on Sunday, with my long run being 10 miles next week. I am so excited to be back. I hope my ankle continues to feel the same.

Speaking of my ankle, I now have a new friend to run with:

The dr told me to run with this brace and it will help keep my ankle stable and good to go. It felt weird running with it this morning at first, but I quickly got used to it. Get ready, brace, you and I are in for a lot of time together.

I’ve also got to get my stretches in today. At the PT on Tuesday, Katie was showing me how to do some of the exercises they prescribed for me. She’s such a great help!

I’m finishing my smoothie now and after I clean up I’m going to go upstairs and work on Katie’s room. I nearly had a small heart attack when I went to wake her and Zach up this morning. I didn’t say anything to her, though, because I didn’t want to upset her just before leaving for school. Oh the things us mothers do…

Have a great Thursday, loves!

Eat something colorful (it’s healthier!), tell someone you love them, and check your boobies!

xoxo

Back To School

2011-08-24T20:25:00.001-05:00

My house was too quiet and boring today.

So quiet and boring, in fact, that this morning I had to lay down and take a little nap on the couch to the soft rhythm of the rain falling outside. Are you ready to punch me yet?!

~Sorry to my little sisters who spend their days in complete kid wonderful-ness…one who is a stay-at-home momma of two rambunctious little boys ages 3 and 1, and the other, the mother of a one year old AND a Kindergarten teacher.

But seriously, here is my thinking: Taking today ~~off~~ easy is not a big deal. I think the first day back to school should be the Mommas day to collapse and enjoy the quietness of the household! Yes, it may involve emptying the dishwasher or doing a load or two of laundry, but a nap is definitely OK in my book!

Do I have any Mommas in agreement??

Well before said nap, I managed to take a quick picture of my kiddos before I took them to their first day of school. Zachary and Katie were waiting and ready to have their picture taken…Tyler, notsomuch.

See the forced smile?

Well, I guess it’s better than the sophomore snarl.

I basically had to drag him outside to take a picture. Geez! At the end of our “discussion” he decided that the first day of school picture would be better taken at home than at the school. Mmm hmm. That’s what I thought.

Zach and Katie were all smiles, though!

Zach is now the big dog in the middle school building, being in 8th grade and all.

And Katie, well, Katie will pose for a picture ANYTIME. You never have to convince her to take a picture!

Now that the day is done and everybody is back home from school and Wednesday night Youth Group at church, it is apparent that the first day took it’s toll on everybody. There are not as many flips going on in the living room, and the boys aren’t out playing baseball with the pitching machine. It is pretty peaceful this evening. Everyone had a great first day of school!

I’m going to unplug and enjoy the rest of my evening before bedtime.

Love y’all!

xoxo

Happy 3-Year Blog~iversary!

2011-08-24T14:31:00.001-05:00

Hey guys!!

Any chance you know what today is??

It’s ok, I didn’t really expect you to know, I just thought I’d ask.

I can give you a hint:

Today is my 3-year blogiversary!!! I really had no idea what the actual date was that I started this blog, but I knew it was August 2008. When I looked at my post log this morning, I saw that my first post was three years ago TODAY, August 24, 2008! Wow!!!

So HAPPY BLOG-IVERSARY TO ME!!

To date, I have written 585 posts- 228 of them about my fight with breast cancer. Of course, this blog didn’t start as a breast cancer blog at all; I wasn’t diagnosed until September 16, 2008. But my little nutrition and exercise blog definitely had a change of tune after my diagnosis.

So what began as an online journal to share my eats, recipes, runs, and other modes of exercise has become my way of sharing my journey with breast cancer with others - a way to motivate, share, lift up, and encourage all who visit here, and most certainly, other women diagnosed with breast cancer. Through my blog I have shared my thoughts and fears, prayers and hopes, my amazing family, and most of all my faith in the Lord. It is my prayer that God would continue to use this blog for HIS purpose and that He alone would be glorified through it. Like I’ve said before,

This is my story, for HIS glory.

Many Blessings to you.

xoxo

Twas the Day Before School Starts

2011-08-23T07:51:00.001-05:00

Hey y’all! Happy Tuesday morning to ya!!! I hope your week has started out grand!

I thought I would give you a couple of days to recover from the “Love You Through It” song and video on the last post. True, right?? I know.

Actually I really had intended on posting yesterday and even started a post, but then got up to do something and never got to sit back down at the computer. It’s ok, this is how it goes. I go in spurts, you know this.

Yesterday we kicked off Tyler’s second year (Wahhhhhhh!) of high school baseball. I can’t believe he is a sophomore…it brings me to my knees every time I think about it. Literally. The Bulldogs did great in their first season under their new head coach and came away with a 7-6 win over Doniphan! I only got to stay until the end of the 4th inning though, because I had to high-tail it to PB to get Katie to gymnastics by 630. Run, run, run!

Katie had a great class, and afterwards her coach came to talk to me about moving her up to the tumbling class on Thursday nights instead of her current class. I was thrilled, and so was Katie, because tumbling is what she really wants to do anyway. It’s the back handsprings, walkovers, flips, and such that she is going to get the most use out of, from a practical standpoint. So we are going to look into getting her switched into the older class this fall.

“Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

Tomorrow is the first day of school for my kiddos. I have never been the mom that has looked forward to school starting. I always am always counting down the days until they get out in May and dread having to send them back in August. I have said this before, but I like to have all my chicks in the nest with me. But this year has me feeling a little different…

I’m actually afraid that if my kids DON’T go back to school that they may kill each other, and me in the process! Haha They are really picking on each other, especially the conflict between the boys and the girl, and Zachary and Katie have such a love/fight relationship that they are slapping each other one minute and snuggling on the couch the next. And the mouthing is really getting to me. Geez, did I sound like this when I was younger??

Nevermind. Mom, don’t answer that.

I already know the answer.

And I’m sorry.

So-
Are they bored?

Just “at that age?”

I don’t know but something's gotta give, school may be the right answer. We shall see…

But I know that at 8am tomorrow all conflict will be forgotten and I will miss my high schooler, middle schooler, and 2nd grader like crazy. The house will be far too quiet (and clean), and I will be sad.

So today I’m going to enjoy the last day of summer with my “babies” and soak up every bit of them that I can. I’m praying that I soak up love and respect rather than frustration and crankiness!

Oh, and I’m going to the foot dr today for my ankle. Say a prayer that it is nothing big and I can run SOON!!!

So enjoy your day, soak up some love, and check your boobies!

xoxo

Love Me Through It

2011-08-19T18:28:00.001-05:00

Ok, so don’t fall over in shock because of two posts in one day.

You’re not hallucinating.

It’s me, I’m here.

I’m here to share a very special song with you. You may have heard it already on country radio, but just about thirty minutes ago was the first time I heard it.

And I’ve listened to it 5 times.

And went through a box of tissues.

You’ve been warned.

It is my thoughts and experiences, sung by the beautiful Martina McBride.

I have no words.

Enjoy.

Here…have a tissue.

Told ya.

Love you guys. So much. Thank you for loving me through it.

xoxo

Still No Run

2011-08-19T12:52:00.001-05:00

Hey Friday! Are you glad the weekend is finally here?

Yes, me too.

This is the last weekend before school starts next Wednesday. It really seems like summer just started, I can’t believe the new school year is here already!

HAHAHA, I love Baby Blues cartoons!

What I REALLY can’t believe is that, as of Wednesday, I will have:

A 2nd Grader,
An 8th Grader, and
A Sophomore in High School!

The fact that Katie, my BABY, is going into second grade makes me sad that we will never have another Kindergartener or 1st grader…seems so weird, we’ve always had a younger elementary child and to know that we will never again be going back to here is mind-boggling kind of.

And Zach going into eighth grade means it’s his last year in middle school, which means that Eighth Grade Graduation and HIGH SCHOOL is right around the corner…YIKES!! I am SO not ready for my baby boy to be a high schooler.

Tyler being a Sophomore this year is another mind blower for me. It really just seems like I was just in tenth grade, like, yesterday! My Sophomore year was my best year of HS: a huge state cheer squad, a driver’s license, and a new hottie boyfriend who stole my heart as quickly as he stole the opponent’s passes on the basketball court. Yeah...it was a great year. Oh wait, this was supposed to be about him, wasn’t it? No, I cannot believe he’s going to be a sophomore and in less than a month, DRIVING!!

Time moves so quickly; and it seems to be speeding up, not slowing down any. If I could freeze time, I would, right NOW.

Do you want to know what time is NOT passing quickly?? This.week.not.running.

Ugh.

Yes, this is the state of my ankle:

Let’s compare this to earlier in the week, shall we?:

So I don’t know if it’s any worse but at any rate, it still hurts. I thought it was getting better about Wednesday or so, but if it was healing it’s completely stalled out now. It hurts. I can’t walk straight on it. I’m limping. Running is SO out of the question.

Of course this has me a tad stressed, and also questioning my upcoming marathon in October. With an 18-miler already under my belt, I’m feeling confident distance-wise. But if this injury doesn’t heal quickly or if it puts me out of training for very long, it won’t matter WHAT I’ve done previously.

Hmph.

I have an appointment with my foot doctor on Tuesday so I’m hoping he can give me some good news. If not, the inaugural St. Louis Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon may not be in the cards for me. Maybe the half? Who knows… I’m praying for the best.

Remember my post on Pinterest the other day?? Well…thanks to the motivation I found during one of my many browsing sessions, I have completely redone and organized my kitchen cabinets!! I mean, emptied every cabinet out completely, wiping them down, and reorganizing e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. It feels so good! Of course, nobody knows where anything is yet, but they’re a smart bunch…they’ll figure it out. But in the meantime it’s kind of funny to watch them open every door in the kitchen looking for the snack cabinet.

Next on my list, is my laundry room.

I’m gonna go for now…see y’all soon!

Make your time count, count your blessings, and check your ta~tas

xoxo

My New Fascination

2011-08-17T12:41:00.001-05:00

Hey y’all! How’s your middle-of-the-week treatin’ ya??

I am getting a little anxiety about school starting ONE WEEK FROM TODAY! Yes, there are clothes to be bought, shoes to be tried on, and mountains of supplies to be picked through- well, the boys don’t care what kind of supplies, if any, they get. But Katie is quite the opposite. I think I’m ready.

I always loved school supplies shopping when I was a kid. The full notebooks with clean sheets of paper just waiting to be written on, newly sharpened pencils, and cutesy book bag all made me very happy. Call me a dork, I know. But there was just something new and fresh about it that I loved.

I did not pass that trait on to my boys.

Something I am going to pass on to you, though, is my new fascination…

PINTEREST!

Ok, so I may be the last person in the world to hear of Pinterest but seriously it is the coolest thing ever. What it is, basically, is

I have found absolutely everything under the sun there. I now want to redecorate my entire house, organize my junk drawers, cook a slew of new recipes, and buy a label maker.

Yes, a label maker.

For example, I want my hubby to build me this:

I want to cook this:

And I want to live this:

You may want to check it out and look around. But I’m warning you, once you start browsing it’s hard to stop!

Enjoy!

xoxo

Be Strong In The Lord

2011-08-16T08:28:00.001-05:00

“Be strong in the LORD, and
Never give up hope.
You’re gonna do great things,
I already know.

God’s got His hand on you so,
Don’t live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don’t forget why you’re here.

Take your time and pray,
These are the words I would say.”

Good Tuesday morning, friends! The above lyrics are from a song by Sidewalk Prophets called, “These Are The Words I Would Say.” I have loved this song since the first time I heard it. Every time I hear it I tell my children that “this is my message to you.” If I could leave them one message besides ‘I LOVE YOU!’, this would be it.

This song is fresh on my mind this morning because I heard it last night coming home from Katie’s gymnastics class in PB. The sun was setting so beautifully in front of me and I just felt so close to God. Do you ever have those moments when you are just so completely in His presence? That’s what it was like.

The drive is about 40 minutes (depends on whose lead-foot, or non lead-foot is driving), and it felt like mere MOMENTS last night. Song after song of praise and worship music came on and I was singing and, yes, embarrassingly, even dancing some in my seat! Luckily Katie isn’t at the age yet where she cares much, plus she was watching a Tinkerbell movie…but thankfully the drive to and from is not hugely populated so I didn’t meet too many cars to witness my driver’s seat dancing, er, squirming. Now that I think about it, I wonder if people passing me just think I have to pee?! Hahaha!

Ok, on to a foot update.

Please forgive the preschool-like drawings…but it doesn’t get much better than this with a mouse!! But you can see where it’s still puffy on the left side. But it IS doing much better today. I am still having some tenderness so I’m not running on it until it’s gone, but it is SO much better than Sunday afternoon/evening! Yay!! But thanks to a good friend who is a ACSM-certified Personal trainer (yes, the kind I want to be!), I’m pretty sure it is an inflamed peroneal tendon that is being cranky. Rest and heal, little tendon.

I’m off to some some very low-impact kickboxing via DVD, and then hopefully get caught up on my laundry. And I think I may need to take a tour of the kids’ rooms today…their dad was upstairs yesterday and declared it the “worst mess he’s ever seen.” Uh-oh. Any certain sisters want to come visit?! Bahaha!!

Love you guys!

xoxo

Enjoyable Eighteen

2011-08-14T15:24:00.001-05:00

Hey guys! Happy Sunday!! Are you doing anything fun or relaxing today?

I did both. Well, kind of. If you consider running 18 miles fun…and I DO!! Well, kind of. Hahaha!

I had an 18-miler on the training schedule today. I started looking forward to this run a few days ago when I started watching the weather forecast with the overnight temps going down, down, down. So stoked. It’s amazing how much the heat and humidity takes out of you. When cooler temps prevail it feels like you gain some amazing strength…Thank You, Jesus. I will consider the cool 66 degrees a “bonus” this morning since what I prayed for was safety and protection during my run…and I got all of the above. Again, Thank You, Jesus!!

I can say without question, that this is MY STORY, FOR HIS GLORY.

TOTAL DISTANCE: 18 MILES
TIME: 2:55:11
PACE: 9:43 !!!!!!!

I am always surprised how much stuff I have to get together for my long run each week! I started getting things together last night in hopes I wouldn’t forget anything this morning. Thankfully, I made it with everything I needed:

iPhone
Garmin Forerunner watch
Spibelt
Headphones
Bondi Band
Gum
Sport Beans
Honey Stingers Gummis
Aquafor
Towel
Water
Emergen-C
Powerade
Cooler

Geez! No wonder I’m fearful of forgetting something! I’ve never actually written the list down before! I’m a high-maintenance runner! Hahahaha

Since I had so much time to pass today – heck, I ran almost 3 hours – I downloaded a book to listen to while I ran. Music is great but, for me, I need something else for 3 hours. After seeing a recommendation on Twitter the other day I bought “Bossypants” by Tina Fey. I am over halfway through the 5+ hour book, and I am loving it! She is so funny and kept it light. Just the thing you need when you are gutting out 18 miles! It was great.

As for the injury report, unfortunately I have a BAD to go along with the GOOD.

As always, let’s start with the good news first: even after 18 miles, my right quad feels good! I noticed it a couple of times during my run but for the most part I didn’t notice it at all. Yay!

BUT…

Here’s the bad news: My left foot is really hurting when I walk. I noticed that it was getting sore towards the end of my run this morning, but I mean, I just ran 18 miles, of COURSE it’s going to hurt! Everything hurts at the end of 18 miles! But when I got home and proceeded to unload my 3 – count them, 3 – bags of ice out of the car for my ice bath, I could barely put any pressure on it when I walk. The sore spot is to the sides of my Achilles Tendon, but not the tendon itself. I can walk on my toes on my left side without any pain, but not the normal heel to toe strike. So…I don’t know. I’m a little concerned, but I’m praying that it is just an acute overuse thing and it will feel better very soon. In any case, I’m not going to take any chances in making it worse so I’m resting it just to be sure. Boo.

I guess that’s it for me right now. I’m going to grab a snack and then some couch time!

Don’t take anything for granted, check your boobies, and hug somebody today!

xoxo

Find Your Motivation

2011-08-11T09:58:00.001-05:00

And I realllllyyyyy enjoyed my run this morning!! 7 miles of cooler glorious-ness in beautiful God’s country!

See? Don’t I look happy??

I WAS! Mainly because of that beautiful 67 in the corner Love love love cool mornings perfect for running. And it really doesn’t get any better than morning workouts for me; it really sets the tone for my whole day. Even on those mornings when I want to roll over and go back to sleep, I tell myself,

“You have never regretted a run. But you HAVE regretted NOT going for one.”

AND

“Think how good you will feel afterwards.” [The proof for this one is evident in the picture above!]

Now I’m refueling with a protein packed green smoothie, and then going to play Polly Pockets with Katie. I have the best job ever, seriously.

Tyler is in a battle with some poison ivy/oak/sumac?? that he got into last week. He has been through a steroid pack and has had a shot, but it is still pretty angry looking and he is itching like crazy. Poor guy hasn’t slept well in several days.

Zachary is working with Jack this week. He said yesterday when they got home from work, “Man, when I feel like I want to just come back home, I get out my phone and add up what my paycheck is going to be on Friday.” Heehee Get your motivation wherever you can, son.

Here’s hoping you find your motivation today, too!

xoxo

Count Your Blessings

2011-08-10T08:47:00.001-05:00

Yes folks, let’s count our blessings shall we?

In these days and times when we watch the news and scary things are happening all around the world, let’s remember to look for the positive instead of focusing on the negative and count our many blessings.

Here are some pics of Zachary’s birthday weekend on the lake:

Tyler, Katie, and I tubing:

Sam, Zachary, and Elijah getting ready to take their turn:

Tyler watching all the wipeouts:

What a great way to spend a beautiful day, on the water on a pontoon:

Jumping off the bluff:

Tyler, Brad, and Elijah tubing:

Katie was having a drama-filled tube trip and clearly I had no idea what to do!:

Me watching everybody try to hang on! And I will go ahead and mention it now because it looks so disgusting, but I forgot to wipe off the bottom of my feet when I got my spray tan the other day so that’s why they look majorly dirty!

My beautiful Momma:

And the stats from this morning’s run:

Just a few of my blessings today. Now I’m going to count soap as another blessing because I really stink from my run and have been sitting here in my own dried sweat for an hour now. No big deal.

Have a good day, friends.

Count YOUR blessings.

xoxo

From My iPhone

2011-08-08T19:08:00.001-05:00

So you can probably tell from the title of this post that I am blogging from my fabulous iPhone. Why, you ask? Because while "BLOG" was near the top of my TO-DO list today, it just didn't happen...again. My iPhone blogging is happening as we speak, er, write, from Katie's gymnastics class.

Proof:

----> And can I just say that I LOVE my iPhone? Well, maybe not love, but really, really like. ;-)

So much so, in fact, that I agreed to get one for my Zachary's 14th birthday, which was yesterday!! (Except he got the newest - the iPhone 4 - while I have the 3GS - jealousy here). <------ The iPhone is not the important thing here, though. The most important thing is that

MY BABY BOY IS 14!!!!!!!

How we went from the little boy who was ever so spoiled and wouldn't leave my hip to the awesome teenager he is today is beyond me. To say it's gone by soooo fast is the understatement of the century.

I have such fond memories of my precious little boy who loved his "cha-cha milk" and couldn't get close enough when we were snuggling. Ok so not THAT much has changed, but still;-) Now he's just so big!

Instead of the Blue's Clues birthday parties (it was his VERY FAVORITE), we are taking whole trips with family AND friends. Such was the case this past weekend when we all went and had another fun-filled weekend on Tablerock Lake in Branson, tubing, boating, and jumping off the bluffs. We hit the go-karts pretty hard too. Such is the life with boys...the biggest boy being my hubby;-) We have so much fun with our kids...I hope we never grow up.

So while I could tell you all about the runs that I had in the last week (including the great 12-miler yesterday on the strip in Branson!) and all the other day-to-day goings on in our household (like the day I locked my keys in my car and Onstar couldn't "connect" to my car to unlock it), the highlight and most important thing is my "little" guy.

And his most perfect, central place in our family and definitely in my heart.

I love you, Zachary!!!

xoxo

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Fantastic Fifteen

2011-07-31T15:25:00.001-05:00

Ahhhhhh,

What a great day it has been so far! An early morning run, followed by a great church service, now baking cookies with Katie, and this evening we have friends coming over for dinner. Yes, this is good good Sunday!

I was out barely before the sun this morning for my long run of the week. My calendar had me doing a step-back of an 8-miler. ----> A step-back week is when you shorten your long run back a few miles in order to “reboot” and recover before continuing to up the mileage the following week. Most marathon training plans have a couple of these weeks in a 16-week training plan.

However…I diverted from my calendar, and by the time the sun had rose higher in the sky, my long run looked like this:

Haha, oops. My legs felt so good, and I was feeling very confident after last week’s 14-miler that I decided to keep going this morning. I love days like that, when it just feels so good to RUN. And after having a good check-up on Friday, I felt like I could breathe deeply again.

The breakdown:

I am left with many endorphins rushing through my body, and, um, a little chafing. Or maybe a lot of chafing. Yet another reason why I am ready for fall.

An ice bath eased my tired legs and then we were off to church. We have missed the last three weeks and it felt SO GOOD to go worship. I do my daily quiet time and devotions, and God and I, we talk, quite often, but there is nothing like being with your church FAMILY and singing praises and worship choruses. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.

When we left church we headed to the grocery store to get the ingredients for a new recipe, from the new cookbook that I’ve been poring over for the past two days. Yes, I’ve been obsessively waiting on Mama Pea’s book “Peas and Thank You” to arrive, and it finally came!!!

Katie and I chose to make Mama Pea’s famous dough balls so that is what’s in our oven right now. The kitchen smells soooooo good!

I’m off to go clean up our mess now, somehow Katie doesn’t seem to think that cleaning up is a part of cooking. Hmmm, she must have heard that nasty rumor from her father.

Enjoy the small things and tell someone you love them today.

Love to you, friends.

xoxo