Friday Favorites

Favorite Shoes



I am on a kick where I NEED a pair of plain White Converse in my life
... but I'm kinda digging these polka dot ones too
#GreyObsessed

Favorite Faith Reminder




Favorite Royal Picture



I'm sorry - I can't get enough of Prince George in his little robe & slippers meeting the President of the United States.... & that proud papa. Look at Will. I just love this picture.

Favorite Beauty & the Beast



OK - I never think I can find cuter shirts than my previous week,
but these? I SO LOVE!
Our shirts would start off with Together since 1992 ... WOW... we're old



Favorite Look



I am the person that wants to wear scarves & cowls in every season
... & I'm a sucker for navy & khaki/brown together


Favorite Coffee Mug



This just makes me laugh
... & because filling up with caffeine is a way to calm down anxiety :)

Favorite Yarn project


Every baby in the world needs mini-skates on their feet.
its a fact.

Favorite Funnies

... when someone asks me to name my favorite Steven Curtis Chapman song

... me on Sunday night when the weekend is coming to an end

.... how I feel about these races that are scheduled before the sun rises

... what I tell myself when I'm heading into the race expo & see all the running things to buy




...basically my life after 16 weeks of training for the half marathon




... me at 4:00pm



Have a great weekend Y'all!!!

Barking dogs, proof I am Belle, & babies EVERYWHERE... all for Thankful Thursday {Link up #69}

This week I am Thankful For:

(The numbers are for my One Thousand Gifts Journal... in other words, just ignore them)

350 / Quiet office days. I love those days when I come in & get in my corner (I really do work in a corner) & its just quiet. No phone calls. No one asking for anything. No one needing anything. Just a day to be in my space & go home.  My favorite kind of days.

353 / Bruno barking at night waking me up. OK. This one sounds like something I shouldnt be thankful for & in all honesty, when its 2 am & I hear the barking, 'gratitude' isn't the first thing that pops in my head.  But my poor little old man has a hard time getting in & out, so when he barks to wake us up, I'm going to be thankful he knows not to potty in the floor but to yell for yelp.

354 / My sweet friends Joe & Erica had a SON last Thursday.  I'm so excited for them adding to their family.  I hate their so far away. I need to kiss that little face of his.  Welcome to the world Harrison.

355 / Tax Refund bought our groceries. It felt like I was on that game show where you run through the grocery store buying anything you want. YES - give me the $6.00 jar of salsa!! haha ... (we really did get a $6.00 jar of salsa)

358 / Got my race outfit together.  It's funny the people you meet through this inter-wide-web thing.  But a few years ago, through a neuropathy board, I met someone else who was running with pin-jabbing-stinging feet & we hit it off & stayed connected through the years.  Bless her. She made the decals & sent me this sparkle skirt & let me know I should run the race as Belle ... because DUH! (The back of my shirt actually has a Belle silhouette on it too) ... I'm so thankful for the kindess of people & that my outfit looks on FLEEK! :) (Did I use that right? I'm old)

360 / KT Tape. It really is making a difference in my knee.

Who would think this would make such a difference - but it does

361 / Facebook yard sale pages. We sold something easily & in a day on there Saturday. Makes me want to list tons of stuff. Though Ricky told me no one wants my 150 VHS exercise tapes, so we took them down to Goodwill. No joke. I had about 150 VHS workout tapes that I have gathered through the years & used all the way back in the 90's. If there was a Buns of anything - I had it.

362 / Our 1st actual day in small groups in youth ministry at our new church. I loved hearing what young girls have on their mind. The stresses are NOT what they used to be.

363 / Doing life with my JOY group.  I just love this group of ladies. We are doing a Bible Study but most of the time, we end up talking about how to handle life as Christian women, more than studying the Greek of a word in the Bible. That's just how I like it. Hearing others opinions & knowing you have support in other women.  It's been such a blessing.

364 / 30% off Old Navy. I stopped to get a new pair of pants for the race Saturday & found out their workout stuff was 30% off. If I'd paid attention while shopping instead of knowing at the check out, I probably would have bought more.

365 / Credit Card company catching fraud.  Stupid thieves.  Stupid stupid thieves. Glad the credit card company is on top of their game.

366 / My Choosing Joy mug is being replaced. So I got my beautiful mug in the mail & found out the handle was cracked. I was kinda bummed because these ain't cheap. Like $17.50 for a mug with shipping & I'm cheap - so I was sad. But I contacted the place I purchased & they didn't even question anything - just sent me a confirmation they were sending out another one.  Isn't that great?

367 / ANOTHER baby born this week.  One of our JOY ladies just had her daughter on Monday. Which means another one of our JOY ladies had a grand daughter & another JOY lady has a new niece.  (Got all that?)  I can't wait to add another baby on our floor for our Life/God time together.  Welcome to the world Sophia!

368 / Harvey snuggles.  I love a snuggly dog. I especially love a BIG snuggly dog.

369 / Reading outside in the evening. Told you, I'll have this on a lot. I love this cool weather where its not BLAZING hot or humid yet. Just the perfect way to watch the sun go down & breath in some good crisp air.

370 / Got Ricky a dentist appt quickly.  Its hard to find a dentist that is open after work hours but we got Ricky in with his broken tooth at ImmediaDent at 6:30pm & it worked out perfectly for him. AND... get this... I'm still fuming ... they want to do 3 crowns & a bridge - ALL FOR LESS than what my 2 crowns cost me at my dentist in January. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?  ... if I ever thought I was not ever going back to that dentist before?  That totally confirmed it.  I was robbed.

So what are you Thankful For this week?

What's up Wednesday

I honestly can't believe its already the last Wednesday of the month

... but its the perfect time to catch up on life in What's Up Wednesday!!!

What we're eating this week

y'all... I totally can't stop making these banana cookies.
& I'm so excited I have a big batch of bananas that the heat in the house has made them ripen faster than usual.  We know what that means.
MORE COOKIES!!!!

What I'm reminiscing about

Remembering what it was like to be able to do life without glasses.

Mercy - how my eyes changed. 

They say that when you hit 40, they change - they ain't lying.

I had perfect vision until I hit 40 & BAM! Who needs to see anymore?

I now have to live life with reading glasses in every room, in my car, on my desk, & usually on my head or I panic.

What I'm loving

I want to stop every day for one... multiple times a day

What we've been up to

Cleaning... getting rid of ALL THE STUFF!

Ricky even went out & bought 2 new garbage cans & for the past 3 weeks, 

we've sat out 5 garbage cans ever week.
Do the math right there.  Or just sum it up by knowing LOADS have been taken out of our house.

So much to get rid of!

What I'm dreading

Being sore from this race on Saturday.

No matter how well trained I am, my muscles will get so tight after 13.1 miles
Especially my hips & inner thighs.

I've already got yoga videos all ready for the days following.

What I'm working on

Getting this dang Etsy store up & running.

I've got pictures taken.. its just uploading them.

I think what's putting me on hold is to get a plan on pricing. 

I dont want to be crazy high, but want to definitely earn back what I've put into a project with the cost of yarn & the time invested in working on something. 

I'm trying to look around at other knitted things & getting ideas.

My goal is to have it up & running by the end of May.

What I'm excited about

We're back in Middle School Ministry & loving it.

Loving meeting a new group of kids... 

Excited meeting other adults who have a heart for middle school kids

I'm just excited about being involved in church again.

What I'm watching/reading

After a wait, I finally got the library loan of After You.

I wasn't sure I wanted to read it because I didn't want to ruin Me After You & I heard a lot of not great reviews about the follow up.  But I've learned that I'm totally an easy-reader & some people think too hard about reviews so I'm jumping into Louisa's life again

... & about 30% in, so far, I'm not minding the story.  

What I'm listening to

I love me some podcasts & just finished listening to Heather interview RuPaul.

You never know what I'm going to listen to next on my podcast roll.

I have the strangest mix of podcasts that are on my list every day.

What I'm wearing

JEGGINGS!!!!

I bought a few pairs of jeggings at Sam's Club... 

because everyone buys their clothes at Sam's club, right?

... & I honestly put them in my drawer & never wore them. For years.

& pulled them out & tried them on since I've lost some weight.

& mercy... is there anything more comfortable?

I think I wear them every day & want like 15 more pairs. 

Or at least 7  more pair.

One for every day of the week.

What I'm doing this weekend

oh, just going for a little stroll

What I'm looking forward to next month

Starting a new workout program.  

I'm hoping by the end of 60 days, I'm going to be ready for summer clothing.

Get rid of everything that jiggles.

What else is new

So yeah - I'm the one that has been traveling through the road to hell that leads to dentists month after month... & then guess what happened Monday night?
Ricky is chewing his finger nails & then CRACK... his tooth breaks.

Seriously? What is happening to our teeth right now?
I'm going all conspiracy theory & feeling like something is in our water at home now.
2016 - the year we worked just to pay dental bills.


Don't forget tomorrow is THANKFUL THURSDAY 
... if you want to join in with me, I'd love you to link up with me 
& tell me what you're Thankful for this week.  See ya tomorrow!

16 weeks comes down to this....running unapologetically

It all started back in January.

It feels like yesterday... but it also feels so long.

16 weeks.

The amount of time for training for a half marathon.

We are coming into the final week.  Race week.  The week that is full of excitement, anticipation, & for me, lots of doubts & questions.

Week 15 training

I know everyone is probably sick of all the training posts, or updates, or more importantly, the complaining about my knee. I'm pretty sick of it myself.  It is what it is. Real life of a 44 yr old with bad knees training for a half marathon.

I will say, all in all, I've been really thrilled with how my training has went. My running has felt better with the shredded weight of 39 lbs  - & my injuries were really minimal, even if it doesn't seem like it. Yes, I had aches & pains but like I've said on here a thousand times before, I'll never know what its like to run with good knees. Its just my life. I'm OK with that. I won't let it stop me completely. It may slow me down - but it won't stop me.

It was just 3 weeks ago though where I really REALLY hurt my knee. The ironic part - it wasn't even due to running.

You may remember the post I did where I talked about how bad my knee hurt grocery shopping & Ricky had to help me.  That's where I did something to my knee.  Walking. In a grocery store.  The medial meniscus.   You can sprain or break them pretty easily in life with just moving.  Twisting. Turning. Just doing your own thing.

& nope, it wasn't running 10 miles up & down hills... it was grabbing a grocery cart.

Welcome to my life.

That makes me so angry.  To think my training has went so well & now, I'm in this much pain with my knee, right at the time of the race because of a weird turn.

I think its the anger that is going to get me to the start line.  Just call me The Hulk.

Or call me She Hulk

I know a lot of people don't get it.

The whole idea of pushing myself in this & possibly aggravating things more.  ... but I also know a lot of people will totally understand it. Most runners will get it ... & appreciate the feeling having felt it before themselves.

& in all honesty, I'm trying to be smart about it.

My plan on Saturday is to show up.  Cross that start line... & see where it goes from there.

Any time goal I once had is REALLY out of the window now.  I just want to finish... no matter how slow.  If I have to scoot, I will...

& in saying that. I'm not going to be dumb. I'm really not. If I feel like its too much or my knee is getting worse (God forbid) I'll call it quits.  Ricky is already aware to be ready to come get me at any point on the course.

I will feel so much better about the whole thing if I try... & maybe I will finish.  Maybe I wont. But its better then sitting at home wondering if I could have made it.

I worked so hard to get to this point... how do I not even try?

I do plan on getting my knee KT Taped up AND I will be using a brace on it.  I'm going to try & keep my knee from as much impact as possible.  I want this knee to get me through many other races - I just need it to get me through this one right now.

A running buddy of mine always says that the 13.1 miles - or the 26.2 miles that some will run Saturday isn't about a race. It's a victory lap.  All the days, weeks & months of training - all the time invested - the schedules changed - the food ate - the days you didn't feel like getting in miles - the days that were hard - the days that were fun.... it all gets summed up in one more run for this period in your life... & it all begins at the Start line.  You get to do one last run to make it full circle.

I so love that.

I'm going to be heading into a new workout program next week which is more about weight lifting & sculpting this body now that I've shed 39 lbs (& hope to continue...25 more lbs to go!) & running won't be front & center like it is right now.  So I want to do a victory lap to say I've made it through another training program.  16 weeks of testing myself.

& if that victory lap is the full 13.1 miles - WONDERFUL... if not, that's OK too.

It's MY Victory lap.

So here we are... the end of the adventure of training.  Its always a learning experience - every time.

Learning what your body can do...
what your limits are...
the strength & endurance you can gain...
how you handle injuries...
where your strengths lie...

... I may not cross the finish line, but I'll be at the start.... & I'm going to try... & that to me?
I'll be proud of myself.

Wish me luck....

If you're up on Saturday morning at 7:30am - lift up a prayer for me please!!! I have told many a person that prayers are what is going to get me through to the finish line.

I'm going to show this video... start it at 2:11... the words are powerful... & speak exactly how I feel at this moment.  It actually makes me tear up... but here I go

... running unapologetically  


 .

.. & one last thing!!!

 lift up a prayer for our girl, Julie - who will be doing her own Half Marathon that same morning in Nashville at the Rock N Roll Half Marathon!  She's gonna do amazing!!!