My Hardest Run

I'm writing about this run, the hardest run of my life, because I don't ever want to forget what I went through to get my mind and body ready to run 26.2. It is true what they say, "Your mind will quit 100 times before your body ever does".  

On this day I set out to run 7 miles in training for the half marathon I had coming up. I had run seven miles once before but it had been a couple of years and I forgot that I could do it. I was very anxious about the half marathon I had coming up. I really, really wanted to do it but let's be honest- I am not a runner. What I mean is I don't have a long, lean "runners body". I am not a fast runner, and I really don't like racing. I just run so that I can eat dessert. Really.

 But I did want to run a half marathon and I didn't think I could do it. I just knew that I was gonna train for 10 weeks and never make it to the finish line. I knew that my body (because I don't have a "runners body") was going to give out on me. I knew that if I made it to the starting line all the "real runners" we're gonna be mocking me because I was "fat" and slow. But I really wanted to run a half marathon. 

So I cried. And ran. And cried some more. But I didn't stop running. Maybe I would never make to to the starting line because my joints couldn't take anymore pounding. Maybe someone was gonna snicker at me because I was chubby and trying to run a half marathon. And maybe I wouldn't get to finish. I decided this, though: If I didn't finish that half marathon it wasn't gonna be because I gave up. I was going to leave everything out on the road at every run! 

Maybe this was the hardest run of my life, but maybe this is the run that made me unstoppable.

Summer Cheer

Since everyone on my social networking newsfeed is talking about FALL (come on ya'll! WINTER comes right after Fall. Eeesh!) I thought I would make a list of a few of the things about summer that make me happy. Because I love summer the most. I dearly love summer.

-Green 

It is everywhere and I love it! Leaves and grass and John Deere lawnmowers.

-Sweating on my runs

It is frustrating to go run 3 miles and come back barely damp. I don't think it works this way, but it feels like the more you sweat the harder you must have worked...

-Sandals 

-Maxi dresses

I really should stop buying these. But I love them and I hope they never go out of style.

-One word- Sodapalooza!

This summer Racetrac had the freefill cup and since I only live a few miles from one I drank quite a bit of soda, for FREE! ;)

So there it is- I am not ready for fall yet, but it is coming and I will be a good sport. Now I am gonna go enjoy the rest of this glorious summer!

My Unskilled Photography

I took senior pictures for a friend last week. I am NOT a professional, and I don't even have a dslr camera, so I am pretty proud of how they turned out considering the tools and knowledge that I had :)

 

These were taken at Hurricane Shoals Park.

They have a lot of old buildings so it is a really good place to take pictures!

 

I need to learn how to keep shadows out of my pictures.

 

I love the color of the building in this picture!

I like this one a lot!

 

 This one is my favorite!

Happy Spring!

Spring has definitely "sprung" here in Northeast Georgia! Everything is turning green again and things are coming back to life! I'm calling this my favorite time of year!

We have been taking advantage of the warmer days these past couple of weeks by tackling a couple of yard work projects.  This bank has been an eyesore ever since we were married. We attacked it with a weed eater, two rakes and a shovel. Here are some before pictures...

 A lot of it was old juniper that was planted before Marshall bought the house. That was overgrown and little trees and honeysuckle had grown up all around it. It was such a mess!!!

 

 We hauled off three trailer loads this size. I never would have guessed that there was that much "stuff" growing up there!

This is partly after- I still have little stumps to remove and we have cleaned up along the fence (at the back of the picture) a little more since this was taken. We are going to plant grass on it soon, but for now we are gonna use up a small bit of it for a little garden with the help of my awesome neighbor!

 Something else I've done is dig up all of the daffodils that were growing hither and yon throughout our yard. I planted them along the fence line. I hope they come back next year!

 I also planted marigolds in my planters but sadly, they have already kicked the bucket. My neighbor said that marigolds were hard to plant so I am going to find something else this weekend to replace them with. Pixie liked them while they were still alive though!

I have been patting myself on the back quite a bit lately with all of the raking, shoveling and worm seeing I have done. I'm not much of an outdoorsy person, but I don't want to stay inside with the weather this nice! I have seen worms, grubbs, bees and even a snake and have not screamed once! *applause* *applause* *bows*

New Year Resolutions, Anyone????

I abolutely love making new resolutions every year! I actually set new goals just about every week. Mondays are great days for starting over! I don't have many resoutions for this year but here are the few:
*Reach my fitness goal  (A lower body fat percentage)
*Run 500 miles (again!)
*Learn Spanish
There it is... What are your resolutions for the great 2013???

Favorite Picture

This is my all time favoritest picture of Marshall and I. Pictures are one of my top "favorite things". Especially pictures that turn out as awesome as this one! :-)

Christmas Cheer

We had a very happy holiday this year! My Grandma from the midwest came and spent almost 3 weeks with us, and my brothers, also from the midwest came for a week. It was so much fun and so good to see them all! We took advantage of us all being together and had a friend take family pictures for us, we ate- A LOT, had three Christmas parties in 3 days, and watched some really stupid tv shows! We definitely made the most of our Christmas this year!