i laughed until i puked...

literally.
AKA- our small group Christmas party.

Background information:
Every Sunday night, we meet with 10 other people for bible study, fellowship and prayer.  It's a great thing, really.  If you haven't found a small group in your church, you should.  Anyway, last night was our Christmas party.  We all gathered at the Fites house with snacks and $10 gift cards for dirty santa. 

Here's the story:
After eating our weight in little piggies, sausage balls and other yummy snacks, we moved on to the other room for games.  There's a couple of games that we play everywhere we go, and one of those is the bowl game.  Everyone puts in 3 things and then you have 3 rounds of having your team guess them. 

It was my team's turn and Dustin was giving us clues.  He said a chocolate dessert, I said pudding... some more people yelled things and then time was up.  The word was actually "malt" and so we were laughing.  I took a drink of coffee right as Mallory asked "so, what was the deal with pudding?" 

I started to laugh, with a mouthful of coffee and tried to stop and swallow and breathe at the same time... I ended up running into the kitchen, where I proceeded to start gagging, gasping and seriously could. not. breathe.  I started to get scared because I couldn't catch my breath...

All of a sudden, I threw up. 
With all my friends in the other room.
And Jacie offering to do the Heimlich on me... 
Definitely in my top 10 most embarrassing moments of all time.

After I threw up, I was fine.  My breathing went back to normal and my heart rate slowed back down... I drank some water and went back to the bowl game.

Moral of the story- don't drink and play the bowl game.  Bad things will happen. 

The Christmas Chain

Every year, our church does an amazing Christmas production. 
Every year, I think how cool it would be to be a part of it.
Every year, I chicken out and don't to do it...

But this was the year!  Several of the girls from the office decided that we should audition for choreography, and since John Mark is finally old enough to be a part of it, I thought I would give it a shot.

Now, I'm not much for dancing.  I've never taken a class, and I've never really had much coordination, so this was DEFINITELY a step out of my comfort zone... but it was so much fun!  I danced in one song- "Hot Chocolate" from the polar express, and was an angel in another song.  Fortunately, that song only required standing still.

John Mark also made his dancing debut as a peppermint.  He was lucky enough to get to dance with Lindsey and I'm pretty sure that's the only thing that got him to the performances every night. 

It was so much fun to be a part of something so BIG.  I met a lot of new people and even learned a dance step or two (Charleston, anyone?).  But most of all, it was amazing to see a story come together and watch as over 6,000 people got to hear the gospel. 

I think I'm ready for next year.

But maybe I'll stick to singing in the choir...

That's a little more my speed!

Cute Chalkboard

I'm telling you, I have become quite the crafty in my old age... maybe it's some of my perfectionism finally wearing off... or maybe it's the onslaught of crafty friends I have in my life these ways... I'm not sure what it is, but I am certain that I like it! 

Anyway, this is a SUPER cute, cheap and easy craft that you can whip out in a couple hours on a cold, windy afternoon.  I know, because I did.  So let's take a little trip down crafting lane, shall we?

Step 1- grab your crafty best friend and head to your local thrift store.  If you're as lucky as we are, your store has half-price Saturday.  That's when you can pick up 7 frames for $1.89.  Seriously- what a steal!  Once you get your stack of frames home, take them apart and give them a good cleaning.  You don't want any funky stuff left on the final product!

 

Step 2- Grab your freshly washed glass handy dandy Chalkboard spray and head outside.  At this point, ask your husband if it's okay to paint in the grass... he will say yes, only hours later to say he really meant more of the BACKYARD than the front.  "oops" Lay out the glass and spray the heck out of them. 

Step 3- take goofy photos of yourselves while the paint dries. (optional)

Please note the chalkboard paint on my chin... yeah, I still don't know how that got there.  I blame sissy bird. 

Step 4- Set to work making your burned ribbon flowers.  These are SO cute and so easy to throw together.  All you need is some wide ribbon (I found mine in the floral section), scissors and a lighter.  Cut out various sizes of circles from your ribbon.  Hold the ribbon right above the lighter let the edges start to singe a little.  The ribbon will curl and your house will begin to smell.

Step 5- go back outside and spray another coat of chalkboard paint on your glass.  Pick out the grass bits that have dried in your first coat.  Take a photo with your friends camera...

Step 6- Pull out your trusty hot glue gun and start assembling the flowers.  Just stack a few of the "petals" on top of each other until you have the flowery look you want.  Add fun beads or a button to the middle.  The flower by itself is ridiculously cute and makes a great pin for your sweater or scarf.

Step 7- go back outside and spray another coat of chalkboard paint on your glass.  You'll want at least 3 coats to make it easy to write on!

Step 8- Once your frame and chalkboards are dry, put them back together.  Add the flower to a corner with some hot glue and there you have it!  Packaged with a couple pieces of white chalk, you have an adorable chalkboard for cheap!

a crafty little Christmas

I've always admired people who were crafty... Unfortunately, that hasn't always been one of my strong suits.  This Christmas, armed with inspiration from some very creative blogs and my super artistic friends, I set out to make some of my Christmas presents and decorations.  It is with great pride that I reveal to you my newfound craftiness.  (I'm linking back to the original post where I saw a tutorial if you want to see how to make your own!)

Mod-Podge Clothespin Wreath

This was a super easy and fun wreath!  All it took was a couple packs of clothespins, scrapbook paper, hot glue and an embroidery hoop.  The night we made this wreath, I ended up with a 103 fever... so that should tell you how easy this wreath is to complete!

Mini-Muffin Tin Advent Calendar
(I don't remember exactly where I saw these, but if you google it, you'll come up with a ton of tutorials!)

I saw these one day and knew that I had to make these for the three ladies I work with.  Squares of cardstock and scrapbook paper, stickers and some magnets made this cute calendar come to life.  Inside each muffin tin, I put a scripture passage for them to read each day with their families.  I absolutely LOVED how these turned out!!

Fabric-flower Grapevine Wreath

This is my favorite, favorite, FAVORITE thing that I've made so far.  AND- it cost less than $5!!  All it took was a wreath form, scrap fabric, hot glue and a couple of berry wreath picks.  Lesley and I spent about an hour on Saturday twisting fabric into little flowers, then she positioned and glued everything down.  Seriously- this was so easy and it turned out perfect!

I've got a few more crafts up my sleeve, but those are yet to be revealed to their recipients, so you'll just have to wait... But for now, don't be afraid.  If I can do it, anyone can!

give thanks

"give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His love endures forever."
Psalm 107:1

I take so much of my life for granted- big things, small things, everything in between.  It's so easy to get caught up in the details of life and things that are going wrong that I forget just HOW MUCH I've truly been given.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows."
James 1:17

But today, on this day of giving thanks, I wanted to take a quick break to thank Him- for every good and perfect gift He's given to me... for the good things in my life and even for the bad things.  Because it's through every experience in life I have learned and grown.

"Bless the LORD, O my soul, 
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!

Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits."
Psalm 103:1-2

Route 66 Half Marathon Recap

13.1 Miles- DONE!

While this wasn't my first half marathon, this was the first one that I went into the race feeling mostly prepared.  I knew that I could have trained harder, but I also recognized that things like sickness and life circumstances sometimes prevent a perfect training schedule. 

But even still- I was able to set a new PR- 2:08:32, a 9:43 pace.  That's a number I'm dang proud of!  I've worked hard to get my times under 10:00.  I know if I keep working at it, my times will have to keep improving.

This was a fabulous race.  I've never ran this course before, and even though it was challenging (the entire first half of the race was UPHILL), I enjoyed it.  It was very pretty and the race was very well organized.

The first 7 miles went all throughout the historic neighborhoods surrounding downtown Tulsa.  There were some gorgeous homes and lots of encouraging families sitting on their front porches, cheering on runners.  *sidenote: I think it's a new goal of mine to have a house on a race route... I would love to sit on the porch with my cup of coffee, cheering people on- when I'm not running, of course* I was feeling great, and sticking right alongside my running buddy, Julie.  Mile 7 was a particularly steep hill, and I was beginning to feel the hills and humidity.  At one point I started seeing stars and had to step off to the side and slow my heartrate down. 

At mile 8, we crossed a tall bridge going over the river, leading us onto riverside drive.  I was excited to see the stretch of flat road at the end of the bridge.  I was NOT excited to be greeted by those 20 mile wind gusts into my face for the next 3 miles.  This was also the mile where Julie told me to go on, so I was alone at this point. 

By mile 10, I was starting to hurt.  I knew that I was giving this race everything I had, but the humidity was killing me.  I took a quick walk break, turned up my iPod and pushed on to mile 11.  I stopped to walk for a minute or so and stretch out my calves and then pushed through.  My pace was starting to drop, and I knew I was getting dehydrated.  I ate a couple of chomps and kept going to the next waterstop.  I was so happy to see the turnaround (we were running a strip of road parallel to everyone else headed to the finish line... seeing the stream of runners forever away in the distance running towards me was a little discouraging, I have to say.  But it was nice to see a few familiar faces along the way- they encouraged me to keep going.)

Mile 12 was better- we had turned so the wind wasn't blowing directly into my face.  When I saw the mile 13 sign, I dug as deep as I could and sprinted to the finish line.  I stopped my Garmin as I crossed the finish line and saw this:

A couple of my other friends from church crossed right behind me.  We went to gear check and grabbed our stuff.  I was a sweaty mess, but so happy.

With my training buddy, Julie.  She finished a few minutes behind me.  I know I couldn't have run the race I did without her!

The rest of our runners came in and we ate our way back to the hotel for showers.  I'm telling you- post race showers are some of the best ones!  I rank them right up there with the first shower at home after camp!

When the rest of our group got back, we rushed to the finish line to watch the full marathoners cross the finish line.  We missed the first two, but found out when we got there that our third friend, Kristen, had some serious tummy issues and wasn't doing as well as she had hoped.  We waited around and talked with Laurie and Mandy about their race.

This leads to the best part of the whole weekend.  We looked up and saw Kristen rounding the corner with her two daughters on either side holding her hand and her husband with them.  They all crossed the finish line together... Oh man, we were all crying.  It was THE BEST thing that we got to see all weekend   So proud of these ladies for running the full 26.2 miles..

I have had the best time training with this fabulous group of women.  I'm excited to see what adventures the spring holds.  I'm hearing rumors of a full marathon... I guess we'll just have to see!

race weekend

I leave today for Tulsa with some of my favorite ladies to run the Route 66.  I'll be running the half, and this is my first time to run this race.  I'm excited, if for nothing other than the fact I LOVE the ladies I'm going with and I know we'll have a fun time.

Originally, I set out to run a sub-2:00 half marathon.  I know that goal was totally possible, but life got in the way and I'm not sure it will happen.  I'm not too worried about it though, I know I'm stronger and faster than I ever have been before a race, so that's all that matters.

I'll be back tomorrow with a recap and fun photos of the weekend.  If you'd like to track me, follow this link and enter bib number 3745.  It will send you text messages when I cross different check points in the race.  (that's mainly for my mom, but you can follow me too :)

family photos

OH. MY. WORD.
Sara Wheeler has totally and completely outdone herself on our family photos this year...
I cried just looking at the sneak peek she put on her blog today.

So go, check us out now. 

thankful

I'm having one of those days where I take a look at my life and think "what in the world did I ever do to deserve this beautiful life?" 

I have a husband that I love more than anything... and for some strange reason, he loves me too.  Even when I'm cranky and emotional and competitive...

 

I have a little boy who brings joy to my life everyday.  I can't even remember my life before him.  And even when he does things that make me crazy (like put a ball of silly putty in the middle of my favorite blanket), I am so thankful that he is healthy and happy (and hilarious, but that's a bonus).

I have a family that is beyond supportive... a family that has taught me to love the Lord and how to have a relationship with Him.

I have friends that challenge me, love me and make my life fun!  I love people, and relationships with these people make me smile just thinking about them.

  

I get to work with the most amazing students in the world each week.  I never thought I would love middle school and high schoolers SO much.  But they are a part of who I am, and I can't imagine a life without pouring into them.

Overall, I'd say I'm one blessed girl.  I couldn't ask for a better life!


It's ordinary plain and simple
Typical, this everyday love
Same ol', same ol' keeping it new
Emotional, so familiar
Nothing about it too peculiar
Oh, but I can't get enough
Of this everyday love
--Rascal Flatts 

My Halloween Fun

I mentioned yesterday that while JM was at my parents, I got to have a little halloween fun of my own. 

Our friends Dustin & Jessica had a fun little get together of friends on Friday night.  Unfortunately, Micah was out of town, so I was flying solo.  Before I realized he wouldn't be around, I tried and tried to talk him into going to the party with me as Sonny and Cher.  He was less than thrilled, and I'm sure he was secretly happy about not having to be a part of my insanity!  So I went alone as Cher (or an Indian princess, depending on how you viewed my costume).

My friends are all so much fun and we had everything from Ke$ha to Robin Sparkles at our party.

Lindsey, who has awesome curly red hair, went to the party as a beehive.

Lesley, our fabulously hilarious friend found an old Den-mother's shirt at a thrift store and a Boy Scout was born.

I baked some cupcakes to take the the party.  Since we were celebrating halloween, I made (read: found on a blog and printed) mustaches and thought bubbles to "dress up" the cupcakes.  We had a fun time taking photos with them.

I haven't dressed up for Halloween in a long time, so it was a lot of fun to get together and just hang out with friends. 

Happy Halloween-ing

We've had a very fun Halloween weekend around these parts!  John Mark dressed up as a totally awesome robot thanks to my friend Lindsey.

Let me back up and tell you how this funny little costume came about...

John Mark goes to work with me every Tuesday and Thursday morning.  He spends about an hour at me desk, then I walk him across the parking lot to school.  Lindsey works with me (she's a graphic designer, hence the insane craftiness) and always has lots of paper boxes stacked up in her office. 

One day, JM saw the boxes and started taping rubber snakes to the box.  Don't ask where he got snakes at 8AM on a Tuesday morning... people at the office give him all kinds of stuff.  Anyway, he decided that he wanted to be a creepy box for halloween.  What is a creepy box, you ask?  Well, a box with snakes taped to it with him INSIDE the box... as in, me carrying around an almost 50 pound kid in a box.  NO THANKS.

So I asked if he would like to be a robot.  After much begging, pleading, and otherwise negotiating, a "creepy-box" robot was born.

Micah has been out of town for a week, so it was just the boy and me for Halloween this year.  My mom already had plans to watch him overnight for me while I went on a retreat, so he ended up just going to Central High with her.  I came down on Saturday morning and we went out trick-or-treating that evening.

Our first stop was Nanny & Grandad's.  We quickly realized that: a, it was going to be quite a chore getting him in and out of the truck with each stop and b, poor kid couldn't reach around the box to put candy in his own bucket!  He was quite a trooper and went along with getting undressed and dressed at every stop.

Sunday evening, we went out to a Trunk-or-Treat with Micah's sister.  JM and I had a bit of a battle, but in the end I realized that it was probably too warm to make him wear his wire sweat suit.  So we compromised and super-robot was born.

Basically, he put the box on over his superman shirt (and cape) and wore that while getting candy.  Then went as superman for the rest of the time there.  He had a blast jumping in the bounce house, climbing obstacle courses and petting the animals.

I love my little creepy box robot!  We had a fun Halloween and I'm glad we got to spend it with family.  It definitely wasn't the same without Micah around to have fun with!  I also went to a fun halloween party, but that's another post for another day!