I ran during college and I really enjoyed it so, I committed myself to pick it back up this year.
Mary Claire helped me solidify my commitment and we signed up for a race together--much earlier than I actually wanted to sign up for one but, there's no motivation better than running out of time!
I slowly increased my distance and 2 days before, I was able to run 2.5 miles. I told Mary Claire that I felt like I would be able to spit out the last .6 miles the day of.
It was a beautiful, very, very cold February morning and I'm happy to say...we did it.
My goal when running a race is simply to run the whole thing.
Sure, I'd love to increase my time...one day.
But right now, it's just to finish the entirety of it without walking.
The race was held at Reservoir Overlook Park and it was beautiful.
This particular race was in support of Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) which is "a Bible-centered organization whose purpose is to tell boys and girls of the Gospel of Jesus and to establish them in the Word and in a local church. "
We celebrated my Mom's birthday dinner that evening and we had a big time telling everyone that we finished 3rd and 4th...out of all 6 women that ran ;)
It's so fun, now that we're all grown and married, to host/help host a dinner to celebrate Mom and her birthday. We all get together, each cook a dish and enjoy each other's company all night.
This appetizer was to die for.
Y'all...this game is hilarious.
I wish I could post all of the videos but we are entirely too loud and obnoxious in them ;)
Let me just say this, Papa Steve can KILL IT at this game...and you better "Watch Ya Mouth"!
It's been so long since I've done one of these posts.
There's a lot of new stuff that I'm loving right now and I am excited to share with you all!
This Tobacco Pipe scented candle--I know, tobacco pipe? Trust me though, it's not an overpowering smell and I absolutely love it. I found it at TJ Maxx (surprise, surprise) the link I provided takes you to Amazon--that's the only place I could find it online. I have seen it at TJ Maxx recently though. I've decided this is one of my favorite candle brands too. They have wood wicks so they make the crackling noise as they burn. Seriously, you can't go wrong with this candle. I've also purchased their vanilla scent and it was divine.
Ellie Holcomb's new CD "Red Sea Road"-If I thought I could even love her music more...I now know that I can. I love this album. I love her music because her lyrics are so rich and full of so much biblical truth. My favorites (so far) on this album are: "Find You Here", "Red Sea Road", and "Wonderfully Made"--they are all great.
Here's a clip of "Wonderfully Made"
I chose the pink vinyl because honestly, why not?
I also love the fact that on her blog she is posting the meaning behind some of the songs. That's one of the things I liked most about when she performed at our church because she told the story behind each song she sung and it was just, neat.
My dear friend, Emily Tate, and her family are still on their adoption journey. After a failed adoption placement earlier this year, they are now selling new t-shirts (in addition to their old ones) that share their feeling of "HOPE" for this next step for them. They truly are the most comfortable shirts and I LOVE all of the color options that are available. CLICK HERE to purchase one--this will be my 3rd shirt to get from them because really, I needed a short sleeve, long sleeve, and a now, I need a HOPE one--I can't decide between the black short sleeve or the mint--what do y'all think?
Here is a link to her blog so you can read about their process from the beginning.
You can also donate to their Adoption After Loss campaign--here you an also read more about their story of loss.
I got an Apple Watch at the end of October and I have really liked it. I wanted to give plenty of time before I posted anything about it but, it's worth it. I've really enjoyed the 'activity' aspect of it--it's given me the motivation I need to start of the new year on the right foot with my exercise.
Speaking of exercise, one of my New Years resolutions was to start running again. I've locked myself in and signed up for my first 5K of the year with Mary Claire. We are doing the Full Armor 5K that benefits Child Evangelism Fellowship of MS. It's not too late to sign up and join us! Sign up here. I have enjoyed hitting the pavement again and can't wait to get back into my groove.
Criminal Minds--I am hooked on this show. It scares me and intrigues me equally. I love how smart all the people at the BAU are! Dr. Reid is my favorite. I want to read a few articles on how many of these cases are based on real cases--but, I'm one of those that doesn't want any spoilers, etc so I am making myself wait until I'm finished.
As if I'm not creeping myself out enough by watching Criminal Minds, I'm also catching up on my reading and catching up on all of the Women's Murder Club books by James Patterson. He's my favorite mystery/thriller author. You can fly through his books and it's safe to say that I am (almost) always surprised by the ending. They are great.
I am loving this cooler weather--even though it is a few months late, I'll take it. I'm enjoying it and pulling out every sweater and beanie I have....even if I have to shed the layers by mid-afternoon because let's face it, we live in Mississippi.
Ozark Trail Tumbler (Yeti knock off)--Y'all. This cup really is amazing. Yes, cups can be amazing. I mean it. The big one is under $10 at Walmart and that bad boy keeps ice all day. I purchased the smaller one for my coffee and that sold me even further. Most days at work, I'll come in with my coffee around 6:45 and some days I don't get to have a sip of it until I take the kids to lunch (around 10). When we have those days, it's still hot because of my amazing Ozark Trail cup. Get one of these! Which by the way, while looking for the link to share with you guys I found out they even come in different colors. I need the green one now ;)
Speaking of coffee--Chick-fil-a has the best coffee. Hot or cold. It's the best!
I got this spiralizer for Christmas and I am a veggie spiralizer, crazed woman! My favorite thing to do right now is spiralized salt & vinegar potatoes. I would definitely recommend the spiralizer, it's easier than the last one I had and makes very short work.
If salt+vinegar potatoes sounds like something you would like all you need to do is:
pre heat oven to 375
spiralize (or cut) your potatoes
soak them in a zip lock bag with some white vinegar--just enough to coat them all
line a baking sheet with parchment paper
put the potatoes on the baking sheet (don't let the excess liquid onto the pan
sprinkle them all with salt
bake for 20 minutes--check on them, move them around, etc.
We do that over and over until they are "to our liking"
We're obsessed.
If you've ever wanted to try Rodan+Fields, now is the time!
When you purchase a whole regimen plus our lash boost, you get 20% off. These are HUGE SAVINGS!
Here are my personal results from using Lash Boost:
above, the top picture is from Oct 11 and the bottom picture is from Jan 18th--both withOUT any mascara.
Below is a picture with mascara from Dec 24th
Real results, all my very own lashes! I love it!
Check out my site to sign up as a Preferred Customer and receive some great savings and take advantage of the amazing deal we have going on right now--don't miss this!
Y'all--we are about to have posts overload here in the next few days--please forgive me in advance.
I have so much exciting news to catch you all up on!
Even though I am a little late, I want to share with you something fun that Jason, Melissa, Ian and myself did a few weekends ago.
The 1st Annual Fondren Challenge--what's that you ask? Well, it was explained to me as something similar to the "amazing race" which I've never seen so that did not prepare me all too well--but I knew that it would be scavenger hunt-ish and that we would be doing some running around.
Ready to start the challenge
We got there and amongst all of the other teams there, I'm not all too sure we were prepared for what we were getting ourselves in to.
We decided to leave our phones in the car so we didn't have anything weighing us down (bad decision as you will find out).
So, we are anticipating starting and 5:00 rolls around--here we go!
The announcer heads up, front and center and begins to explain the rules:
Each team (of 2) was given a sheet with 14 tasks on it--we were each to complete 9 of them.
The list was nothing but riddles--for example, "the creator of the big mac lives here" -- if you thought Ronald McDonald house, you were correct and you should sign up for the race next year :)
13 other riddles like that--that lead us all around the Fondren area--from the JSU stadium, to the hospital, to Rainbow cafe, to butterfly yoga, to Babalus, to many other places and then finally back to our starting point at Que Sera Sera (see what I mean by leaving our phones was a bad decision!!! We were allowed to use them!)
BUT WAIT, here's the kicker; at each station/location we had to do a task--and this is where our many sets of skills came in handy (insert sarcastic voice), but really--we all helped out in one way or another.
We had to do things from writing a 25-50 word press release for Fleet Feet while using provided words, we had to do Burpies (thanks Jason for carrying us on that one!), we had to name the colors of the rainbow--backwards (it's harder than it sounds--try it.), we had water gun fights, throwing ping pong balls into buckets, answering trivia about presidents, hula hooping, doing yoga, lots and lots of running, and it was SO MUCH FUN.
Writing our "press release" at the Jackson VIP stop
Yoga moves--Jason put me to shame--but I killed him on the colors of the rainbow backwards :)
Check out that form! You go baby!
Melissa and Ian, doing their moves--we got the easy ones
Presidential Trivia--we spent the most time here unfortunately! Thank goodness we knew who chopped down the cherry tree!
I am proud to say that we finished 14th and 15th out of over 50 couples--and that was WITHOUT PHONES (I had to say it!)--and we had so much fun.
Keep an eye open for this event next year, you won't want to miss out!
