get your motor RUNNING.....

One of the things on my "bucket list" is to run a half marathon. But I really never knew how to start or which one to do etc... I had two friends who ran one in November and so I started talking to them about my desire to want to run one and after a few conversations I got an email that said... here is the one we are doing, here is your training program, get busy running, you can do it, we are excited! So I have done all those things! We are running The Talladega Half Marathon on April 3rd. They picked this one because the course is fairly flat! :) I am good with that! We are using the Hal Higdon training program... which thankfully it is very easy to follow. He tells you what to run and I just go by his schedule and run what he says each day! I am about to start week 3 tomorrow. I missed week 1 but week 1 and week 2 are the same thing so I just started running on week 2. I started last Sunday and ran 3 miles... i was actually shocked I could run the majority of it. I will say I have not really ran since I ran the Race for the Cure 5K in Oct 2009... so I am basically starting over and a 5K and a half marathon are two totally different things! :) I had a sweet friend let me borrow her "running watch" so I can track my mileage, time, etc so I can just go out and run and I don't have to do all my running on a treadmill or a track. That has been really helpful! I "enjoy" running and really it is my preferred choice of exercise... if there is such a thing and I ran cross country in school and was actually running when Richard and I met so I am not brand new to it but it sure has been a LONG while since I ran on a daily basis for a considerable amount of time. It has not been a cake walk and I will say I am ready for my shins to stop feeling bruised, my calves to not feel like someone is sticking hot pokers in them, and breathing would be nice too. I look forward to easy run and rest days! :) Today I was suppose to run 4 miles but some reason about mile 3 my right leg went to sleep from the knee down and I could not get it to wake up... i really wanted to push through it but I keep feeling like I was going to fall because I could not feel my foot so I decided it wasn't worth it. Today was also the first day I ran with my "running watch"... so I ran 3.2 miles in 45 minutes i know that is not great considering a 10 minutes mile is the overall goal but i am making progress. I really can't wrap my mind around THIRTEEN. POINT. ONE MILES!!!!!! but I have decided I am just not going to think about that... one mile at a time... and if I am the last one to finish and if i am crawling on my hands and knees so be it... at least I finished! :) I will keep you updated on my progress and if you are a runner and have any advice or suggestions please share them with me... i am all ears! :) (Even if it is your favorite song to run too)

Blue Bell Ice Cream

Last Monday, MLK, we were trying to think of something to do that would be fun. We were going to do something outside but we kept thinking it was going to rain (even though it never did) so we came up with going to The Blue Bell Ice Cream factory. We got a tour of how they make ice cream which actually was pretty interesting and then we all got ice cream at the end. It was a fun little outing and the kids seemed to enjoy it to! They would not let you take pictures inside so this is the only one I got... well they would let you take pictures in the ice cream parlor but I did not have my camera with me and I could not talk RP into going out to the car and getting it for me! :)

Show Us Your Single Friends!!!!

I am linking up today with Kelly's Korner... Show Us Your Single Friends!

Jan She will be 30 this year! She lives in Birmingham, Alabama and is a kindergarten teacher! I have know Jan for 5 years and we taught together back in the day! She has a great family and she enjoys spending time with them! She loves going to dinner and the movies with friends, vacationing at the beach and watching Auburn football WAR EAGLE!!!!! Jan is a lot of fun to hang out with. She has strong Christian moral values and would be looking for someone with the same!

Ice Storm 2011...

as i left work on friday and scrolled down facebook on my phone (b.c i live with my head in the sand and bc they don't update you on current event on the disney channel) all the post talked about the SNOW we were going to get... 6 to 8 inches of SNOW! I was so excited... called hubby and gave him the grocery list so he could stop by on his way home so we could stock up for the SNOW... 6 to 8 inches of SNOW!!!! Washed all the ski clothes, found all the gloves and warm clothes we were getting ready all weekend for the SNOW... 6 to 8 inches of SNOW... as we went to sleep Sunday evening I was beginning to think these weather men had missed it AGAIN but still had a little bit of hope that when we woke up we would have 6 to 8 inches of SNOW! But when we woke up... there was NO SNOW just a whole lot of ICE!!!! To say we were disappointed is an understatement... but we made the best of it and played in the ICE!

daddy came up with the idea of riding down our ice covered driveway on boogie boards...

jackson and brylee loved it and the would go so FAST too...

then we started going down our ice covered hill

after we went in and warmed up for a while we came back out later in the afternoon but this time we brought out the sled... which was mine when i was little! :)this is the face when the princess of the family doesn't get her way...

but she is all smiles a few minutes later... can we say rotten! even though we were disappointed there was NO SNOW...

we made the best of our day in the ice!

We also kept warm with this little beverage!!!Caramel Apple Spice

i am slightly addicted to these this winter from starbucks and since we couldn't go "over the mt" to get one we made our own... and they are really good i might add!

if you would like to try one here is how you make it! :)

1 cup (8oz) of apple cider (the stuff in the bottle that looks like apple juice except it says apple cider)

2 tablespoons of caramel (i used the ice cream topping kind in the squirt bottle)

Heat it on the stove or in the microwave until hot and caramel sauce is dissolved... top with redi whip and a little more caramel and enjoy!

Is anyone else OVER this weather I am so over the 20 degree weather this southern girl is ready for the season we call SPRING!!!!!!

Basketball and Cheerleading...

so our saturdays will be spent on the hardwood watching brylee girl cheer and jackson man play basketball... i love watching them cheer and play ball...

so us some spirit B...

the "half time show"

it is so hard to take good basketball pictures...

they are always running... ugh

shooting his foul shots...

can i tell you how much i love that they are cheering and playing at the same place and same time... 17 months apart might not be so bad after all! :)

the best of 2010!!!!!

what a year full of memories...

*january kicked off a new year with jackson's first season of basketball, lots of home improvements, and activities to stay busy during those long winter days!

*february was the month for celebrating... we celebrated kk's birthday, daddy's birthday, valentines day and a weekend away just for mommy and daddy with friends and family to celebrate nonnie and poppie's 40th wedding anniversary while jackson and brylee enjoyed a weekend full of snow with granny and pap pap at the lake!

*march was the welcome of spring weather, a trip to the beach and atlanta for spring break, baseball was in full swing and brylee had her first cheerleading competition!

*april started with the celebration of easter and warmer weather, we celebrated mommy's birthday, a weekend to the beach for a cheerleading compition and mommy participated in a wonderful girls weekend were she met some great new friends including darby :)

*may started by celebrating jackson's 7th birthday and church activities, school, and baseball were all coming to an end and summer was right around the corner

*june began with a week long family vacation to the beach, all star baseball was in full swing along with lots of other summer activities

*july was the beginning of our summer, all star baseball was over and we spent lots of time at the lake soaking up the sun, skiing, tubing, swimming, boat riding, and rope swinging... we enjoyed lots of fun in the sun!

*august was for new beginnings, we sent our baby off to kindergarten and our big guy off to second grade, we enjoyed the last little bit of summer

* september was full of football, middle school football for jackson and daddy, high school football games for us all, and of course college football... we cheered on the tide and tigers every saturday

*october was about all things fall, fall festivials, pumpkin patches, and halloween, we also celebrated the baby girl's 6th birthday

*november was full of thanksgiving, gatherings with family, and the month where all activities ended and it was the calm before the holiday rush

*decemeber was the close of a wonderful year, we celebrated all month long the reason for the season with school parties and family holiday functions!

As I look back over 2010 I realized my babies are growing us before our very eyes...our lives are so busy with all of their activities and celebrations... although the days seem so long at times the year seems so short at other times! Wow what a FUN year!

Wishing you a year full of wonderful memories! :)

Finally Updated and Happy 2 Years!

*Well our little blog is finally updated from Christmas and New Years! Scroll on down... i had to change all the dates so they would all be in my 2010 blog book!

*Christmas Break was all but a break for me. Blessed Be the Name was so busy... we all worked hard all day and took stuff home too... but the good news is we got it all done and those precious little trunks left Monday afternoon. Now we get a break... well it feels like a break when really it is the calm before the storm... but that is ok!

*I still have a Best of 2010 post and hopefully I will get the christmas header and background down too sometime soon!

*The little ole blog also "celebrated" it's 2 year anniversary on January 1st 2011! I can't believe it has been two years and to think I was not even sure what i was going to "blog" about when I started! ha! :) Now I feel like I don't have time to blog! :)

Happy Hump Day!

New Years Day!

We spent New Years Day at the lake because it is also Pap Pap's birthday! We ate all the yummy new years day traditional foods... blackeyed peas for good luck and richard ate the turnip greens for money! We also had cookie cake and german chocolate cake too! The boys watched the Alabama Game and watched the Tide STOMP ALL OVER the BIG 10! I am hoping Auburn will do the same thing in a few days! Welcome 2011!

Happy Birthday Pap Pap!