Happy Thanksgiving

It's the day before Thanksgiving and that means tomorrow officially kicks off the holiday season! (Even though some have already decorated for Christmas - myself included...whoops.) With all the hustle and bustle this time of year can bring, I'm realizing a few very important things.

I want to just hit the pause button on today...
Truly immerse myself in this special time with my family...
Slow down and enjoy the moment...
Savor the memories this magical time of year brings...
Be thankful...truly thankful...for all of the blessings that surround me...

We say all of these things year after year, but do we truly live them out? I'm making it a mission to do just that this year, because these moments can slip by so quickly. This really is a magical time of year and it always seems to go by so very fast.

Thankfulness is another mission I am trying to live out this holiday season. I know this phrase is so overused but it's a very, very true one - we are so blessed and really have SO much to be thankful for.

Do you have a roof over your head? You're blessed. Do you have a mode of transportation? You're blessed. Do you have running water and food to eat? You're blessed.

A couple  of years ago, a church in North Carolina shared a video about thankfulness and it totally put things into perspective for me.

Take a watch and see what you think!

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and truly take time to savor the moments as they pass by! Happy Thanksgiving!!

4 on the 4th 2018

Another 4 miler on the 4th of July has come and gone and yes, this was another one to remember for sure! For starters, rain was in the forecast all week for the 4th of July and I wasn't sure if this race would actually take place.

After I picked up my race packet on Tuesday afternoon, they told me that if the race was called due to rain, it would be a last minute decision. 

When we woke up on Wednesday morning, the skies were overcast but it wasn't raining at that moment which was a good sign. (Although it had been raining off and on all night)

We arrived at the race start location and met up with my dad who came out to cheer me on.

After a quick port-a-pottie stop, I made it to the start line with literally moments to spare!

Literally as soon as the national anthem ended, the rain started. It felt cool although the humidity level was through the roof. I also figured that this race could go one of two ways - either a lot of people would come out since it wasn't a sweltering 100 degrees at 7 a.m. or no one would come out due to the rain. Well, the first one won out - there were so many people at the race this year!

We began running and I felt amazing. Y'all, there's seriously something to this Orangetheory thing! I was keeping a steady 8:20 pace and knew I could PR this race once again.

There were two downfalls to this race for me and neither issue was the race's fault itself. For one, certain parts of the course were incredibly slick, so I was constantly having to watch my footing so I didn't fall. Thankfully that wasn't the case for the entire course. Second, if y'all remember from WAY back with the little heart issue I have? Occasionally my heart will jump into PSVT, and it doesn't happen often (probably not in the last year), but I felt it coming on with just about .25 miles to the finish line. Although I tried to will it away, I couldn't. At the same time, something that's never happened to me occurred as well - I felt as if a giant rubber band was around my lungs and I couldn't fully inhale or catch my breath. When my heart does its crazy thing, I usually have to squat for a second and hold my breath to get it to stop. Well, I couldn't do either because I couldn't inhale. Then, just as quickly as they came on, both issues passed. The whole thing seriously lasted about 45 seconds. As I began walking again, I passed an officer who asked if I was ok. My response? "I'm fine...I have a heart thing...and I'm a nurse...we're good..." hah!

At that point, I felt ok to run again so I did...and I crossed the finish line while running without any problems. After stopping my watch, I realized that I STILL managed a PR! Even though it was just about a three second PR, I'll take it anyway!

I'm going to mention the lung thing to my doctor at my next appointment. I've already been checked for asthma but not exercise induced. I wonder if that could be the case? We shall see what he has to say.

While cheering runners on at the finish line, I realized that I recognized someone - she was pushing a chair for an "Ainsley's Angels" athlete - it was Jennie Finch! If you follow sports at all, she's a local star around here - she was a part of the USA Olympic softball team who won a Gold and Silver at the games. She was also more recently on the Dancing With the Stars Athlete edition! How neat it was to be running the same race as her! I kinda geeked out a little I'm not going to lie. :)

My cheerleaders!

A local business was out there with gourmet popsicles after the race...mine was watermelon mint and it was delicious!

I screen shot this after we finished. The weather was perfect the entire race, although the 93% humidity made it a little difficult.

Oh yes, and compared to last year where I placed 5th in my AG, (just to show you the crowd levels this year), I placed 14th in my AG this year.  I'm glad they had such a great turnout, though!

After a 2 and a half hour nap (for both of us), we had a late lunch at my parent's house. My mom cooked one of my favorites - roast with rice and gravy and it was delicious!

After playing at my parent's house a while, we went to my friend Kim's house to swim in their pool, then we ended the evening while watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks via live stream!

It was beautiful as always!

In all, the day was perfect and more than I could have asked or hoped for! I loved spending time with friends and family and just simply relaxing and enjoying the day!

Thanks to Lake Area Runners for another great race and thanks to my friends and dad for coming out and supporting me while I ran!

Global Running Day

Hi there friends and happy Tuesday!

Off topic for a second (well, sort of)...if you missed it on instagram, I did something brand new (to me) yesterday. This was totally out of my comfort zone as I'm not one to just go forward into something alone, not knowing what's going on. Well, our Orangetheory is doing a soft opening this week, and since I joined back in March I knew I had to go check it all out!
 

Y'all. I was slightly nervous but those nerves went away super fast. I walked in, there were lots of people milling around (most of them were alone and didn't know anyone, either), I was greeted with smiles and everyone was super helpful...and the workout was...AMAZING! That was seriously hands down one of the best workouts I've ever done. As they say, I drank the kool aid and I'm not looking back! :)

SO, tomorrow is Global Running Day, where people all over the world take part in a run of some sort - any distance, any time of the day. It encourages everyone to get out and get moving! This is a great day for novice runners or beginners alike - you don't have to create a lofty goal, just get out and run!

Also, I've seen a lot of race organizations host extra special Global Running Day discounts for their race events, so keep an eye out for those! Rock n Roll is one who has hosted great specials in the past for sure!

A local running group is hosting a run tomorrow, but it always seems to fall on days when I have to bring Brayden. Six pm heat down here in Southwest Louisiana plus a toddler in a dark stroller do not get along well at all...oh well, maybe next time!

I don't have a solid plan for my run, but it will take place sometime tomorrow! :)

How are you celebrating Global Running Day? Have you ever tried Orangetheory and if so, what did you think? 

It's the Tuesdays on the run link up with Erika, Marcia and Patty!

Memorial Day Weekend 2018

Another three day weekend has come and gone and I can definitely say I'm sad to see it go. I so look forward to "extra" days off work because it always means extra time spent with my little guy! I hope all of you had a great Memorial Day Weekend as well! I so appreciate the men and women who served and died to give us our freedoms.

On Friday, I ran a few errands after work then spent the remainder of my evening pulling weeds. I'm pretty sure my flower beds hate me. Can you tell a difference between weeds and plants in the picture below? Nope, me either....

Brayden also spent the majority of the day with his grandparents. Those hands in his pockets, though...I just can't handle this kid sometimes!

Sadly, Jason had to work the weekend (although he was off on Monday), so on Saturday morning, Brayden and I enjoyed a special breakfast of Mickey waffles!

We also visited Chuck E Cheese for the first time for a birthday party! (I hadn't been since I was seriously 12?)

This kid had the time of his life! He loves loves loves pushing buttons and being around all of the games!

I've never experienced a party here and after seeing it all, I think it might be a great idea for the future!

On Saturday evening, we had dinner with Jason, then went for a spin on Brayden's new tricycle! He kept his feet on the pedals for a while with us pushing so I'm hopeful he will figure this thing out pretty fast!

For church on Sunday, we dressed in our red, white, and blue best!

We also enjoyed a lazy rest of our Sunday and I'll admit I stayed up a bit later than I should have on Sunday night trying to finish Once Upon a Time. Oh well, it doesn't happen often and I did manage to finish the finale...and I might have cried for like the last five minutes of the show. Whoops. Anyone else?

Brayden's first day of swim lessons fell on Memorial Day, so we were up bright and early for those! His lessons will continue the remainder of the week and I can't wait to see what he learns from them! Brayden LOVES water, and my main concern is the fact that he has no fear of water. He also doesn't know what to do with himself once he goes under, so I'm hoping she can help teach him some of those things!

He was so worn out from fun times in the pool that he had no trouble falling asleep and he took a nice, long afternoon nap!

During nap time, I spent a good couple of hours in the pool, just hanging out and reading a book. Downtime with me hardly ever happens, so I made sure to make the most of it while I could! It was so incredibly relaxing and I made a mental note to do this more often!

Yesterday evening, we ventured off to Jason's Uncle and Aunt's house for a BBQ! Brayden quickly became BFF with their dog, Brody. Brody let Brayden and his cousin Judah just hug him and lay on him...he was SO sweet!

Finally, we all had the chance to spend a day together, and it was a great one, I might add! 

Now it's back to the grind tomorrow. Three day weekends are never long enough and always leave me wishing for one extra day. I guess that's how it goes with any time off of work but still...I do love holidays!

How was your Memorial Day Weekend? Did you spend time with friends/run a race/eat delicious food?

Run Now Gobble Later 4 Miler

Happy Monday and Happy Birthday to my husband!! How was everyone's Thanksgiving? We had a fantastic weekend over here and I'm sad to say it's over! I hope you all had a great weekend as well! 

On Thursday morning (Thanksgiving Day), I ran the virtual "Run Now Gobble Later 5K"...except we turned it into a 4 miler! This race was a part of Gone For A Run's Virtual Race Series. Although I am a Gone For A Run Ambassador, I did purchase entry into this race on my own.

Sadly, my area no longer hosts a community wide turkey trot, so my running buddy Heather and I had to come up with our own Thanksgiving morning game plan! After debating what to do, we finally decided to register for a virtual race. It just so happened that Gone For A Run was hosting one, so we decided to go for it! Registration for the race was easy and shipping was super fast! With our registration fee, we each received a race bib, knee high socks, and a medal.

Heather and I met up at my house at 7 a.m. to begin our run. Brayden also had to tag along since my husband was working days. I was a little worried about him lasting the 4 mile distance, but he did AWESOME!

It was a little chilly that morning, so I bundled Brayden up with several blankets and he didn't move at all during the run! At one point, I forgot he was even in the stroller!

We had a great run as always and I definitely enjoyed the company! One of our favorite parts of this specific virtual race was the adorable turkey socks!! I washed mine and kept them on the rest of the day!
 

My little trooper did such an amazing job - he stayed awake the entire run and didn't make a peep!

We did it! :) These medals were really colorful and well made!

After the run, I showered then got ready for brunch with my parents.

They came over and enjoyed these delicious pumpkin pie cinnamon rolls with us! :)

In all, it was a great run and I would definitely participate in another Gone For A Run Virtual Race in the future!

Did you participate in a Turkey Trot race?

Brayden's First Halloween

Over the weekend and on Monday, we celebrated Brayden's first Halloween! There's just something special about a first holiday and I just love all things that say "my first (enter designated holiday here)..." :) Watch out, Christmas! Oy.

For Halloween this year, we dressed Brayden up as Stitch (found the costume at the Disney Store) and his cousin dressed as Lilo!

Combine the two and....

Voila! Aren't they just the cutest?!

We took them back to the pumpkin patch for pictures and they had a blast! It was so much fun (for me, too)! 

Remember those "my first" items I was talking about earlier? Well, I might have gone a bit overboard on the clothing and accessories. He has two "first Halloween" sleepers, an outfit, and a bib. Whoops.

I mean, who could pass up this cuteness, though?!

Last night, we took "Lilo and Stitch" to a local church for a Fall Festival! It was so much fun! 

We met up with my brother and sister in law and our niece to spend the evening! This church really had an awesome layout and setup! It was super easy to move around and although it felt like half my town was there, it wasn't hard to maneuver through at all!

My Ohana! :)

The kids enjoyed playing games....Brayden even got into the spirit of things!

 We decided this was one he needed to get a head start on for sure...

There was a pumpkin contest, too. This one was by far my favorite! :)

In all, we spent about an hour at the festival and had a great time! We really enjoyed spending the evening with Jason's sister and her family!

Back at home, we let Brayden survey his winnings....although his reward was in the form of gerber puffs only, no candy yet! :)

That tail, though...
 

Maybe next year, little dude!

How did you spend your Halloween?