last weekend



Its almost Friday and I am just now updating from last weekend. Oops.

Ty has been sick and on Fridays I can fall asleep at the drop of a hat so we were both sound asleep on the couch around 5pm. :) We woke up around 7 or so, ate dinner and watched some TV before I headed home. I swear we're not 80 years old.

Saturday I had a funeral to go to for my Dad's Aunt who passed away. It was a beautiful celebration of her life and after, we had lunch with a bunch of the family.

I snapped this picture of sweet girl before we had lunch with the family...

 

Could she be any cuter???

Saturday night, Ty and I headed to the Rodeo! It was pretty far away so about half way, we stopped and grabbed dinner at Tazikis - YUM!!!!!!! I am slightly obsessed with that place and am SO excited there will be one near my new apartment. :)

Ready for the Rodeo!

 

 

We had a really fun time at the Rodeo. It was such a fun, different date night! I loved it! I was amazed by the bull riders and grabbed Ty everytime they came out of the gate because I was scared for them!!! 

One of the horses chasing a bull...(im sure that's not what you call it when they are trying to get the bull back in the pin..ha)

 

 

 I had 2 more pictures but they won't upload. Is anyone else having issues uploading pictures? I finally have a computer to upload pictures and Blogger (or I assume its Blogger) is acting weird and won't let me upload pictures sometimes. Annoying.

 

Anyways, The rodeo was a hit and I loved spending time with Ty. Just us.

 

I already told yall what my Sunday consisted of...11 miles :)

 

Happy Friday Eve!!!



11 miles!

11 miles complete!!!!

I seriously cannot believe I can run for 11 miles without stopping. When I first started running, I could only run for about 10 minutes straight. Now I'm running for almost 2 hours straight!!

Yesterday was hard. I won't lie. Last week my ankles and knees were hurting and I was thinking it was just a one time thing but it wasn't. My knees started hurting yesterday around mile 5 or 6 and my ankles started hurting around mile 9 or so. I think I need new shoes but I don't want to buy any right before the 1/2 marathon so I guess I will run through the pain! I am really trying to work out my legs good too because the more muscle I have in my legs, the less stress I will have on my knees. My toes also started hurting toward the end (weird, I know) and I figured out why last night, BLISTERS on toe #3. Yikes.

Anyways, enough complaining. I made it. Without stopping. I started off around a 9:40 pace and as each mile passed, I got slower and slower. I'm seriously trying NOT to worry about my pace or time but its hard to hear a 10:25 pace in my headphones each mile when I'm used to hearing 9:30 when I run 5Ks and 10Ks. BUT...this race is way longer and I HAVE to pace myself. I cannot run hard at the beginning because I will get burned out. Last week my average pace was 10:14 and this week it was 10:27 as you can see in the picture above. Again, trying not to worry about that, just trying to cross the finish line on February 17th on my feet and not have to crawl on my hands and knees.

So, I've got one more long run (12 miler) on the schedule for next Sunday and then the next week is a 5 miler, then the next week is the 1/2!!! I'm getting nervous!!!

hello jello legs!

pictureless wednesday

So I know its supposed to be wordless Wednesday but I'm too lazy to email myself pictures from my iPhone. Someone please come help me set up iCloud. I can't figure it out to save my life.

Anyone still reading now that you know there are no pictures?

Ok good. :)

Since there are no fun pictures, I decided to do a list post.

1. I move in 30 days. THIRTY days people. So excited.

2. I think I have talked Ty into taking me to the rodeo this weekend. Teaching in this small town is gettin to me yall! :)

3. I have a workshop to go to tomorrow. Wanna know the thing I'm looking forward to the most? Going out to lunch with my teacher friend!!!! Now yall know I LOVE my sweet sweet babies....but if you are a teacher, you know eating out during the week is a treat in and of itself. But eating out AND not having to open milk, ketchup, chips, yogurt, fruit snacks, juice, etc for 20 children all the while trying to scarf down your food in 10 minutes is just plain rad. Yes, I said rad.

4. I've had towels in the dryer since Sunday.

5. I just took down 2 Christmas decorations that I just found last week.

6. When did this turn into a confession list?

7. I've been catching up on the Bachelor this week - watching it on my laptop. What are yall thinking? I love Des! Anyone else? Oh, and I had a dream the other night about Sean. There was kissing. Shhh...don't tell Ty!

Ok, I'm done. 7 is an odd number to end on (pun intended! ha) but I'm tired.

Sorry for the most worthless blog post ever! Maybe I'll have pictures tomorrow.

10 miles!

I did it! Another long run in the books for my half marathon training! It wasn't easy and quitting would have been much easier when my ankles and knees starting hurting but I pushed through. I kept counting down the miles and the minutes and I finished. I would have NEVER thought a few years ago that I would be running this far. Even when I started training I really didnt think I would do it. But I am. :) only a few more weeks until race day!

busy busy BUSY!

I have seriously neglected my blog this month! I don't know how the month of January could be any busier than November & December but somehow January has already given November & December and run for their money. Since January 1st, I have found a new apartment (more on that later), celebrated my nephews FIFTH birthday (good grief they need to stop growing up so fast), completed 3 long runs (7, 8, and 9 miles), went home for a weekend, had stomach virus, shopped for new furniture for my apartment, babysat my 7 month old niece overnight for the first time (talk about paranoid aunt), played in the snow, went to the Luke Bryan concert, and celebrated my mom's birthday!

Whew.

And there are still 11 days left in this month?

Planning on squeezing in a 10 & 11 mile run, and a trip to the Rodeo before the month is over!

Since I had the stomach bug last weekend, I was too weak to run 9 miles on Sunday, which pushed my run back to Monday. Well, Monday it downpoured all day which left me no choice but to run in the rain. That's only half of it. Because I don't get home until right before dark, I was forced to run in the rain and in the dark. Luckily, I have a sweet boyfriend who followed me in his car the WHOLE NINE MILES. I am one lucky gal. :)

Yesterday, Christen and the kids came over for a few hours and Aubrey was attached to me most of the day. We hung out in my room and she helped me get ready and put my make up on. She also let me curl her hair. It looked SO cute. :)

 

Last weekend, I went home to help mom with Baby Kate. Her & dad were keeping Kate while the rest of the family was at Disney World. I ended up with a little stomach bug so I wasn't much help...ha.

Nana didn't feed me enough, so I'm eating the spoon!

Out shopping with Nana and Aunt Kat

Saturday when I was home, baby Hagen came over and this is about how we all felt (his momma included) We laid on the couch most of the day because we were all sick!

 

 

Sunday night, Kate & I ended up back in Birmngham and it was just me and her all night...

Say what?? Just me and Aunt Kat?

Luckily, sweet girl slept through the night but Aunt Kat tossed and turned all night. I was so paranoid that she would start crying and I wouldn't hear her. And I made about 10 trips in her room to make sure she was breathing. PARANOID.


This week we got some snow on Thursday. I kept showing my kids the radar all day and it finally hit us around 1:30 so I took them outside to play in it. They LOVED IT. That afternoon, it took me an hour and a half to get home. NOT FUN.

The Malibu before I left school on Thursday

We got a 2 hour delay the next morning so I stayed at Ty's a little longer than normal on Thursday night. When I headed home, I learned that the roads in my neighborhood were icy and there are some hills I almost didn't make up trying to get home. Granddaddy's house sits on a hill so I knew it would be a challenge to get up. I had already called Ty flipping out when I could barely get up the small hills in the neighborhood. He coached me through trying to get up the driveway and after a few tries, I gave up. The Malibu just wasn't going to make it! So, I parked my car at the bottom of the hill and walked up. That wasn't any easy task either. I face planted in the snow about half way up. HA!

Friday morning, looking down the driveway

Who spots the Malibu at the bottom of the driveway?

From the bottom looking up. Who sees my skid marks in the ice? ha!

This was Granddaddy's street Friday morning...oh fun!!!

Friday morning, I left about 15 minutes early to make sure I had enough time to get to work. I heard the interstates were full of wrecks and it was a nightmare. So I had an hour to get to work and guess what? I was still late! It took me an hour and 15 minutes to get to school and I passed about 5 wrekcs on the way! When I pulled out of my neighborhood, I sat in STANDSTILL traffic for 30 straight minutes. Us Southerners flip out when snow and ice come our way. ha!


This sweet girl has been extra cuddly lately because its been cold. This momma aint complaining!

 

 



 

 Ty's parents and sister and I went to the Luke Bryan concert on Friday night. All I have to say is...WOW. He puts on one heck of a concert!!! It was so good! Florida Georgia Line and Thompson Square opened for him and they were great too. We had a blast!

 

Casey and I before the concert

Shake it for me!!!!!!

 

Well, that was a long enough post. Anyone still here reading?

 

Time to go gear up for my 10 miler this afternoon.....

Look Mom!

 

Ty sent me a few pictures of Emma duck hunting last week and I can just imagine her saying, "Look mom, look what I got!!" She looks so proud.

 

It may sound weird but I told Ty after looking at these pictures that I feel like a proud momma.

 

They have gone duck hunting once every 1-2 weeks but in the past week, they've gone about 4 times. Ty would never show it but he's a proud daddy too. :) I love hearing him tell me all the details about what she did and how many ducks they shot and she went in to get.

 

 

Is it just me or do guys look extra cute in camo? ;)

 



Weekend

This weekend was much needed, if that's possible. The 3 day work week WORE. ME. OUT. I couldn't get back into the routine of going to bed "earlier" and as a result, I went to bed super late, got up super early and got sick because of it. I was slap worn out on Friday afternoon and didn't even know how I was going to make the 55 minute drive home from school. I thought I would fall asleep as soon as I got home but ended up watching tv on the couch for awhile before making it to my bed to take a much needed nap. Ty ended up waking me up when he started texting me and called me out on falling asleep when I didn't respond one time for a long period of time. Oh he knows me SO well. Its actually a running joke in his family that if we have plans for Friday night, we better get going before about 6:00 or I will be asleep on the couch.

No shame. 1st graders will do that to ya.

On to the weekend....

 

This has nothing to do with the weekend but on Thursday I saved $34 at Winn Dixie using my rewards card. That is the most I have saved during one trip! I was so proud of myself! I also got 5 cents per gallon off my next gas purchase at Shell. :) Oh how I love you Winn Dixie!

 

 

Friday night Ty came over after my nap and brought me dinner. We just hung out and watched tv and talked. It was a perfect, lazy Friday night!

 

Saturday I slept in and did some laundry when I woke up. After I got ready, I headed to get my nephew Luke his birthday present. He turned 5 years old on Friday! I cannot believe that sweet boy is 5! I headed over to their house Saturday afternoon to give him his gift and eat cake with them. I hadn't seen the kids in a few weeks so it was great to have babies in my lap non-stop for a few hours!!!

 

 

 

The Birthday Boy with his home made cookie cake (which is a story in and of itself...lets just say there was smoke coming out of the oven at one point! ha)!

 

Sweet baby Kate. I could just eat her up.

 



 

Saturday night we went to some family friend's house for dinner and to play games. We had a YUMMY Italian dinner and then played a few games before Ty and I left around 10.

 

Today I slept in AGAIN (way too late), played hookie from Church (oops) did some crafting for Christen and then went for an 8 mile run (done in 1 hour, 22 minutes and I burned 1,054 calories)!!! The longest I've ever run was 6.4 so I was a bit nervous but I made Ty tell me over and over that I could do it and went for it! I am following a 1/2 marathon training program but missed last week's 7 mile run so that made me nervous too! It was a lot easier than I thought it would be but the last mile was pretty hard. I knew I was almost done though so I just kept telling myself to keep going. All I do when I run is talk to myself and countdown the miles til I'm done. HA!

 

I'm pretty proud of myself. I was a little slower than normal but I'm trying really hard not to focus on my time, but just focus on finishing each long run. I'm already nervous about next week's 9 mile run!!! I was supposed to be running a 15k (9 miles) next weekend but I waited too late to sign up and the race was sold out. boo!

 

 

 After my run. These legs = jello after 8 miles

 

 

 This is my new favorite running accessory! It is my new zebra Bic Band!! I am totally in love with it! It is the ONLY headband I have found that does NOT slip or move AT ALL when working out/running. Seriously. Not joking! Worth EVERY penny! Its amazing how much cooler you stay without hair in your face or on your neck all sweaty. If you are a runner, seriously, GO BUY ONE. I even got a personalized note with mine when I got it. :)

 

 

Time for bed. Way past my bedtime. Have a great week!

 

 

 



Mountains

Two days after Christmas, we headed up to Tennessee with Ty's whole family for a few days.

Our cabin! It was so nice & had a great view!

 

The first night we were there, we just hung out at the cabin and went out to a local pizza place that was so yummy!

 

The next day we went horseback riding....



 

Meet my horse: Adalida

Giddy up!

We had quite the long line....

 

The next day we hung around the house all morning and then went to play indoor blacklight put put. I can't remember if that's what they called it? ha. Basically the golf balls were neon colors and glowed in the dark. I came in last place out of my group but I did get a hole in one!!!

 

After put put, we headed into Gatlinburg & went to the Ole Smokey Moonshine Distillery...

 

Love this picture of us!!


The next day Ty and I went up a mountain in Gatlinburg to find snow!!!

It was so pretty!!! I couldn't believe how much snow was up this mountain. We walked down some paths and watched lots of people sled and play in the snow.

 

After the mountain, we went to Cade's Cove, which is basically an 11 mile loop of landscaping that houses wild animals! We saw more than a dozen bucks (which made Ty like a giddy little boy), several doe, and some wild turkeys!

 

 

 

 

The girls in the family also had matching pjs for the trip. We took a picture with all the girls but mine turned out kinda dark.

 

Ty's mom, sister, me and Emma

the gals

 

Emma had so much fun while we were there. She played in the snow, chased Ty's cousin Allie around the house, and enjoyed the theater seating in the basement...

 

I'm having a hard time relaxing, mom

We had a great time hanging out with Ty's family, relaxing, and playing games up in the mountains. I am hoping this will turn into an annual trip!!