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!

getting my (blogger) groove back

I've been in a bit of a blogging funk lately.  There's a lot going on in our world, and I've felt a bit overwhelmed.  Plus, I think I got caught up in feeling like I needed to post something profound or funny each time I post.  But as I have thought back to why I started this blog, it's for myself- to remember what is going on in our world.  Since I haven't really updated the ol' blog since JM's birthday, I'll give a quick recap of where we've been the past two months.

John Mark
*started pre-k in August at the church... this was a drama filled couple of weeks trying to decide at the last minute if I really wanted him in public school 5 days a week or not.  We ended up sticking with the church school for his final year.  He gets to be with his friends and we get our family Fridays together for one last year.  I feel very much at peace with our decision to stay there.

*is unbelievably into superheros and wears something superhero everyday.  Either a t-shirt or a cape.... sometimes even a full costume.  I've had enough mom's tell me to embrace these days because they'll pass soon enough.  As quickly as all the other stages have passed, I've decided to sit back and let this one play it's course. Besides, he gets lots of fun smiles from little old couples at the grocery store!

*has had several playdates with his friend Gwen.  In fact, if I would let him, he'd have a friend at our house everyday!  I love that he has lots of friends and likes spending time with them. 

*still says so many funny things.  The other night we were all laying in bed and we were talking about how much God loves us.  JM said (so seriously) "God loves me more than you, mommy... and daddy, he loves you more than your mom and mommy he loves you more than your mom.  It's like a... a... great big ball of hearts and love!"  And then got so tickled that he couldn't stop laughing for a solid 5 minutes.

Micah
*is still trucking along with the Middle Schoolers at church.  They keep us busy and we went to Falls Creek with them for a fall retreat a couple of weeks ago.  We've been to a cross country meet and several football games so far.  These kids stay so busy!  It's hard to stay up with them.

*got to baptize a student in "big church" for the first time a few weeks ago.  He baptizes several students every summer at camp, but this was the first time actually at the church.  She is a precious girl who we love SO much and seeing her baptized was amazing.

*started a small group with another couple (and me!) that meets on Sunday evenings.  We love getting to serve in this way and love every person who comes each week.  Micah is gifted at leading small groups and it's so fun to watch him use those gifts.

Stephanie
*went to the Brooks & Dunn concert in August with my good friend Lindsey.  That really deserves it's own post, but let's just say it was AMAZING!  I mean, come on- it's Brooks & Dunn!  The concert was incredible and we had the best time.

*has a new group of 7th grade girls that I'm teaching.  They are so much fun!  I love teaching and spending time with these girls one on one.  It's so fun to watch them grow over the year and see who they become.  I actually had every girl bring her bible to church last week, which was a total first!

*has been running a lot lately.  I'm running the half marathon in Tulsa in a few weeks and have been aiming for a sub-2 hour half... we'll see how that goes!  In fact, I ran 11 miles this morning and my body is telling me it's about time to head to bed.

There's a quick recap to get the blog up-to-date (kind of).  I have pictures to go with a lot of that, but they're on the other computer and I'm too lazy to move to the other computer.  I suppose a picture post is in order soon...

Hopefully I will get in a much better routine of posting now that I've remembered why I'm posting to begin with!

End of Summer

Today is Labor Day.
The day that officially marks the end of summer.

I'm not going to lie-
I've been counting down to this day for about a month now.

This summer has been a hard one,
mentally, physically, emotionally...

But even though this summer was full of ups and downs,
I'm choosing to focus on the ups!

Hopefully now that life has slowed down,
I'll be able to update this little ol' blog more.
I have several recaps to write to close out the summer...

So check back soon to see how summer ended for us!

today

"And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love... neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow— nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 8:38-39

I'm holding tight to these verses today... to the promise that no matter what tomorrow brings, my God is with me.

"And if our God is for us
Then who could ever stop us?
And if our God is with us
Then what could stand against?"
--Our God, Chris Tomlin

Dear John Mark,

I can't believe that you're a great BIG four-year-old and I'm trying desperately not to burst into tears every time I think about you growing up.  Here's a rundown of your current stats and activities.

Physical Stats:
-Height: 45 1/8", 100%
-Weight: 46 pounds, 96%
-Shoe size: 13.5 or 1
-Shirt size: 5/6
-Pant size: 6 slim

You love:
-your grandparents
-going to bebe & poppy's
-candyland
-yogurt
-scooby-doo
-slushies
-corndogs
-singing silly songs you make up
-EVERYTHING superhero... especially IronMan and Wolverine
-dressing up in your superhero costumes
-the phrases "oh brother" and "haha, very funny"
-girls with curly hair (seriously)
-swimming
-chick-fil-a

You DON'T love:
-peas!
-sitting still
-being called a baby, or even little boy
-taking naps
-staying inside (unless you're watching scooby-doo!)
-spiders, unless they've been captured

Words to describe you:
happy, kind, smart, funny, quick, curious, handsome, TALL, loving, strong, great with adults, easy

Narty-noo, I love you so very much.  These four years have flown by and it feels like yesterday you were brand new.  I thank God for you everyday, and ask Him to keep you safe and strong.  But more than that, I ask that He would start instilling in you now a love for Him and the things of Him.  You are everything I could have ever asked for in a little boy.  I'm so glad God gave me you.

Love,
Mommy

a very pop-py birthday

Because of our intense schedule this summer, I decided to keep John Mark's birthday party low-key and family only (and a couple of close friends).  After looking at my options, I decided to have his party at Pops on Route 66.  It was a great place for a party- minus the 110 degree HEAT we had going on Saturday evening...

The week before the party was super busy- Micah was out of town and I was swamped at work getting the children's ministry ready to send 215 kids to camp on Monday.  Friday morning, I was wandering around hobby lobby totally uninspired for the birthday party... thankfully, I have amazing friends who are super creative!  The party ended up being perfect! 

Here's a quick recap in pictures of the big day!

Fun straws/toppers

Fun party hats

Fun party favors

Fun friends

Fun presents

Unfortunately, my photographing friend's camera died before we could get pictures of cake- but they were cupcakes and they were cute, trust me.

Thanks Lindsey for making me look good with all your awesome party favor designs!  Thanks Jamie for the fabulous pictures!  Thanks Sissy Bird for the awesome invitations!  Thanks Lisa for the super cute "4" shirt!  And thanks to everyone who came and sweated to make John Mark's day super special.  We love all of you!

4 years old

Seriously- how in the world is my baby FOUR?
It's not even right!



I'm too tired to write anything coherent tonight, so I'll leave you with a year of John Mark in pictures, starting with his birthday last year.

July 2009- third birthday

August 2009- first day of preschool

September 2009- playing soccer

October 2009- Halloween costume

 November 2009- Indian at CLC thanksgiving feast

December 2009- Christmas Eve

January 2010- being silly!

February 2010- Mr. Potato Head for Daddy's valentine

March 2010-  Medieval Fair Corndog

April 2010- Easter Egg Hunt at school

May 2010- Mallory's Wedding

June 2010- King of the Beach

July 2010- tilt-a-whirl with mommy

take my life

Here am I, all of me.
Take my life, it's all for Thee.

These words were sung six years ago on my wedding day as I prayed for the first time with my new husband.  At that moment, I didn't know much about the road ahead.  I didn't know what our life together would bring.  But I knew that I loved the man in front of me and that he loved me.  I also knew that more than he loved me, he loved the Lord.  As I knelt beside him, I prayed fervently that our life would be ever surrendered to Him.

Over the past six years, life hasn't always been what I expected.  I have struggled, crying out to the Lord in the darkness.  I have been overwhelmed by His goodness, crying tears of joy.  My love has come through fire, with renewed strength and commitment.  My faith has grown and matured as I have learned to truly surrender. 

I don't know what tomorrow holds; I have no clue where our journey will lead us.  But those things I was certain of six years ago- that I have a man who loves me and loves the Lord more- I am more certain of today.

Take my love, my Lord I pour
at Your feet its treasure store
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.

home

I've been feeling nostalgic lately.  Maybe it's the fact that parents of friends from back home are selling their homes and moving to town... or maybe it's all the country music I've been listening to... maybe it's the fact that one of my favorite great-aunts passed away this week... or maybe it's just the heat.  Whatever it is, I feel like my heart and mind have been flooded with a longing to hold onto precious memories from my past.


I've sat down to write this post several times since Friday and I don't seem to have the words.  It's like the emotion is too thick for words.  So I'll try again another day.  But for tonight, I'll leave you with words to a song that has echoed in my mind all weekend long.

"The house that I was raised in still looks the same
The room I used to dream in of how I’d somehow change the world
Some things I’ve done better, some things its hard to say
But when I look in this old mirror and remember all my yesterdays
When I say my prayers, when all of my somedays
Lead me to somewhere...

The only thing that has me standing here is grace."
--Addison Road