13.1 miles of road less traveled

I woke up this morning to the thought of "Man....last week at this time I was getting ready to do the 1/2 marathon. I'm crazy!!!" lol

As I look back on last Sunday it really was a challenge. As we waited to start, I said a few prayers to myself asking that God give me the strength and the will to cross the finish line. I really had no clue how this day would go. I knew in my mind that the will was there to finish, I so badly wanted to show people I could do it. A few more prayers were said along the way as I felt my strength fading and my pain increasing. While it was not easy, I am happy to report that I did do all 13.1 miles. We started in downtown Phoenix and ended up in Tempe. Crossing the finish line was a very happy moment in my life. I think this is by far one of the greatest challenges I've faced and conquered. So far that is...

Call me crazy, but I have another one in mind to do this September. I am hoping that now I have one under my belt, the second will be much easier, especially if I properly prepare for it.

As for my life....Life is...well...as usual...Busy! I'm working, working, working and saving, saving, saving, hoping to buy a house in the near future. Hopefully God's plans are in line with mine on that one too. Until then, I am content where I am.

Heres to another week!

Lions and Tigers and Babies, Oh My!

One of the things that brings me a lot of happiness in life is seeing my friends happy. Or just seeing my friends - period. The way our lives have gone, this has proven to be a very difficult feat at times so this past week was a lot of fun.

A friend from Georgia flew into town for a few days. It had been a year since I saw her, but about 4 years since the group of us had all been in the same place at the same time. Needless to say - it was about time that we all ended up in the same area!!

We had a baby shower for our best girl Ginger and it was nice. It is so good to see her happy and getting "motherly." It gave me the warm fuzzies. :o) That and the fact that we were together again to help celebrate the next happy occasion in our lives made me feel truly blessed. I can see that we have all matured so much in our own lives because of the stuff we've dealt with individually and I think we are all better friends for each other because of it. We've learned that no one is perfect and life is rough but thats what friends are for and thats when we should rely on them the most. Thats what I've learned anyway.

I am excited for this baby to arrive - I feel like I will get to be an aunt again!

Of course our time together came to an end, and unfortunately I was sick (and still am) for most of it, but it was still fun!

It should be illegal...

to get the flu over vacation!!! Seriously!! I'm going to whine here for a minute. I had the worst fever I've had in YEARS last night. I had the heat cranked to 74, I was in sweats, and under 3 blankets, yet still had the chills. My skin was burning up but I had the chills. Compound that with a sore throat and I was miserable. I finally got up to take some Tylenol to try and break the fever, put a cold rag on my forehead and at least I was able to fall asleep. This morning I didnt feel much better and I havent really improved over the day. I am still house sitting and this is what I have learned about myself when being sick and living on your own:

I love my mommy and desperately wanted someone to get me soup and bring me stuff. I know - its child like, but really...theres nothing better than your mom bringing you soup and taking care of you when youre sick. Getting you water, OJ, tylenol, etc. I wished I had someone around even more when I realized I dont have soup or OJ or medicine out here to take. Needless to say I was a tad on the grumpy side today while not feeling well. I took my grumpy, grungy self to the store though and got some soup. Things are looking up.

Even though I am sick, I have realized (yet again) how blessed I am to have the family I have. We may not have always had the latest toys, most expensive bikes, or coolest cars when we turned 16, but my family has the love. My mom was always there to take care of us, whether she was working at the time or not. My dad was always there for the "rational" support as I like to call it. And everyone was there at night for dinner. My parents did so much for us and I am thankful for the loving family (and extended) family I feel privileged to be a part of.