First Kiss!

She's Married!

Pre-wedding toast!

 My baby girl got married!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Johnson!

It was an amazing day! I had the most beautiful and happy bride on my hands.

My 4 crazy kids!

The happy (and adorable) couple!

Mother of the bride with her lovely niece and loving cousin!

And that makes 3! Three Half Marathons in 2014!

When I decided to run my first half marathon in January of this year, never, ever, ever, did I dream I would ever run a 2nd one, much less 2 more!

Last weekend I traveled to Las Vegas with 3 of my girlfriends to run the Rock N Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon with 40,000 of our closest friends!
There is a lot of stress in my life right now and I wasn't even sure the day before the race that I could pull this one off. I had trained for the race, but not as well as I had trained for the race in Seattle in June. My head is always my worst enemy, second guessing myself and getting stuck in all the crap I am emotionally dealing with these days. As most of you know, I am one determined lady! So, the morning of the race I was nervous, but I was going to give it my best shot! It was really cold and windy, but there is something about running down the Las Vegas strip at night with all the lights that is kind of invigorating. I felt pretty good through the first 8 miles, and even where the wheels typically come off at mile 10, I was holding in there. By mile 11, I was really tired, but I knew I was close to the finish. My time was also on track to finish ahead of my Seattle time. I pushed ahead and did indeed finish this 3rd half marathon in my fastest time yet.

I am extremely proud of myself that I could accomplish this! Just two and a half years ago, I couldn't run around the block!

It was an amazing weekend with some amazing women! I am truly blessed to call these women my friends! It's just an added bonus that we are all crazy enough to run these races!

2nd Half Marathon in 2014

 Saturday I did something that I never would have dreamed possible 2 short years ago...I finished my 2nd Half Marathon in 2014. That's 13.1 miles, not once, but twice!
In January, I ran the Rock & Roll Half Marathon in Phoenix, AZ with my friend Christa. I picked that race for my first one since it was supposed to be really flat and easy. It was the hardest thing I'd ever done and was so freaking proud of myself for crossing that finish line. I had a time in my head that I wanted to finish, but unfortunately, I missed that goal by 2 minutes. I was bummed.
Well this last weekend I tackled it again. This time it was the Seattle Rock & Roll Half Marathon. Those of you that know Seattle meant there were going to be some hills in this race, which there were. The race itself was much better than the one in AZ, but again, once you hit Mile #10, it gets really challenging. There is a battle in my head between the side of my brain that wants me to stop and the side of my brain that refuses to let me stop. Even with the hills, I finished the Seattle race 4 minutes faster than I did the AZ race, beating my goal time.
I can't believe how far I've come in the past 27 months. When I started this journey I weighed 50 pounds more than I do now and I couldn't run down the block. I've now run over 1200 miles in the last 2 years and I've run 15 5Ks, 2 10Ks, a 12k, a 15k, and 2 Half Marathons. Every time I'm training for one of these races, after I finish, and especially when I'm out there running it, I swear I'm never going to do it again. Then a funny thing happens a few days later, I go looking for the next challenge. I think I'm over Half Marathons, but I do like the look of those pretty medals. My friends keep asking me to do another one, so who knows what the future brings. I wouldn't have thought it would bring the last 2, so I better be open to anything coming down the road!