On Your Mark, Get Set, Go....

I decided last fall that it was time to check something off of my bucket list! I have wanted to run 5K for as long as I remember, but never could bring myself to actually register for one! I found myself in a pretty regular work out schedule and had even started loosing a few pounds, so now was as good a time as any! I decdied to register with Elizabeth (my good friend from work) for the Savannah Bridge Run. It was such an exhilerating experience to run over the bridge at a 5.5% grade! We had a super great time....and I had found a new hobby!




Just before the race...feeling like such an athlete with my number pinned on!

 



Elizabeth and I just before the start!




Just after the finish....and a super finish at that... 38:30!




Steven brought the kiddos to see the race!



 A few weeks later I ran with Victoria (a friend from my ACS Relay for Life days) in the Reindeer Run 8K (yes, 8K) on Hutchinson Island. I was really nervous about trying this as I had never actually run 5 miles before! She assured me it would be fine, and it was! I finished in 63 minutes, but running the entire thing was what I was most proud of!




Just after the finish (hence my red face!). Victoria won the costume contest by dressing up and running the entire race as a cup of hot chocolate! Crazy girl!

 So I am planning three more races before my ultimate goal for 2012....to run the Rock-N-Roll half marathon in Savannah this November! Yes, 13.1 miles!! I am hoping that I can keep Elizabeth motivated to race with me. It is so nice to have someone to look forward to the race with and to celebrate at the finsih line!

I am running the 10K in this race! It should be a gorgeous run through downtown Savannah!

I am so excited about this 8K. It is a twilight run begining at 5 pm and followed by an oyster roast!

This is my third race ....a 5K on the beach followed by the relase of baby sea turtles to the ocean! It doesn't get much better than that!



Drum roll please.....1/2 marathon November 3, 2012!

So I am NOT one of those people who clog up my Facebook page with daily updates of my caloric intake and work out schedule, but I thought that the 40 pound weight loss mark might be something that I mention on my own blog. This next picture is probably totally inappropriate and too much information...but, after all,  this is my blog...and I can post what I want to! I just had a total Leslie Gore - "It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To" moment! :)

That is what running a couple hundred miles will do for you!

Pumpkin Decorating 2011

 We went with a little less messy option this year for pumpkin decorating! The kids, Pop, and I had a great time sticking and glueing all kinds of decorations to make silly pumpkin faces. Connor got his pumpkin fully decorated and said, "Pumpkin crying" and took everything back off! I just love this time of year!



Connor decorating his pumpkin (with a little help from Pop)!

 

OMG....all three looking at the camera and smiling! It is a miracle!

Eight Wheels and So Much Fun!

These last two weekends have had one thing in common....roller skating! Last Sunday, Aiden had a Cub Scout meeting where the boys learned about roller skating (from a local roller derby expert who happens to live in our neighborhood and teach at their school! ) and had the chance to practice skating in order to earn their skating belt loop.

The boys are getting their skating lesson from "Violet Seizure" from the Savannah Derby Devils!

He's almost got it!

Michael is using Connor to get his balance!

Aiden and Matthew having a super time!

 This weekend, we continued the roller skating fun by attending a Savannah Derby Devil roller derby scrimmage! It was loads of fun! I just love that under the fishnet pantyhose and loads of eye liner, these women are scientists, college students, teachers, waitresses, stay at home mommies! They push their day jobs to the side, and get their crazy skate on under the alias of their alter ego on the weekends! I joked on my Facebook status tonight that I would totally be a roller derby girl if I wasn't such a baby about getting hurt. I can just see myself crying on the sidelines after getting bumped out of the way by some chick named Molly Melicious!  Just like in baseball, I don't think there is any crying allowed in roller derby!

These girls are hard core!

This is my friend Jessie Larson as she was getting introduced!

Jessie getting ready to skate!

Among the Oaks at Bonaventure

Because I talked Steven into going to see the Savannah Derby Devils (post to follow) with me today,  we ended up with a little extra time to spare near Bonaventure Cemetary this afternoon. We did a little drive-by visit to the gravesides of my grandparents and several aunt and uncles that have been laid to rest there. I also took the opportunity to snap a few pictures since we had a little extra time. The cemetary sits on the bluff of the beautiful Wilimington River.  It is particulary gorgeous to visit in the spring when the azaleas are in bloom, however, the moss draped Oak trees that call the area home are simply stunning anytime of year.

I really could have stayed another two hours wandering around with my camera!

 

This is the only picture that I took with the headstones in it. I know it is  little creepy...

I took this from under the tree....love it!

Another shot from under the tree

Aiden's Big League Birthday

Aiden's 7th birthday will be one that I am sure he doesn't soon forget. He decided months ago that he wanted to celebrate his birthday with his favorite baseball team, the Savannah Sand Gnats!  He and his friends had the best time playing together and rooting on the team! We also had our traditional "big meatball" spaghetti dinner at home on the night of his birthday. Steven started the tradition several years ago of cooking a spaghetti dinner on the night of the kid's birthdays. The one celebrating the birthday get a huge, gigantic, "big meatball" to enjoy! 

It is so hard to believe that my sweet boy is a seven year old second grader!

Aiden is loving his new bike and helmet that his dad picked out!

The "big meatball"!

What a fun day for him!

Aiden and his buddy Andrew with Gnate the Gnat!

Aiden, Christian, and Andrew!

Getting ready to throw out the first pitch of the game!

The gang!

Aiden and Andrew enjoying the game!

Cake, ice cream, baseball, hot dogs, and all his friends....what else could a little boy ask for?

The Generation of Warriors

Not being a huge (or even slight) Joe Biden fan, it is a bit strange that a comment of his would be the one that has resonated the most with me this weekend.  He said in a speech at the memorial in Shankesville, PA that 9/11 galvanized a “generation of warriors”.  I have had the pleasure over the past ten years to know many of these warriors. I have taught their children and lived next door to them. I have been best friends with their wives and celebrated birthdays with their children.  I am blessed to have known each of them, and am forever thankful for their sacrifice.  They are the generation of warriors. They are the men and women who voluntarily stepped forward to defend our nation at a time when we needed them the most. 

As I have watched the coverage of the memorials over the last few days, and seen again those horrible images of the devastation and destruction in New York and Washington DC, I have really been reminded of what I think we were all reminded of as the sun set on September 11, 2001.  Life is fragile, and can be taken from us so quickly and without any notice.

As a crazy busy working wife and mother to three little children, September 11, 2011 has been a day for me to remember what I am working so hard for, what I am most proud of, and what is clearly the most important thing to me....being a mom to these three amazing little people!


They are my hope for a better, brigher, and happier tomorrow!