A Weekend Away...with a 10K thrown in there.

We are settling in to a "new normal." Honestly, it seems weird posting about anything "normal" or even "happy." But while my heart is still broken and I still hurt so much for my family and myself, that's not who I am. It's not who my family is. We are strong. We are believers. We are survivors.

So, while the last three weeks have been both a blur and a time warp, and time even before that seems like another world away, I will continue blogging. I'll continue to talk about what we do on the weekends, what makes me happy, what keeps me fit, and what's cooking from Pinterest.

For scrapbooking/journaling purposes, I may have to sneak in a February/March update later on, but for now, I am looking forward (well, actually semi-backward since I am posting about this past weekend). :-)

Chad and I decided to keep our plans that we had made about 6 months ago to spend the weekend in Charleston and run in the Cooper River Bridge Run 10K. It was a nice weekend away with friends from Heart in Sol, kid-less and essentially responsibility-less (is that even a word?).

We stayed in the Home2 suites by Hilton. About 2 years old, this hotel was not only super cute but also very conveniently located to the Race Expo, Shuttle Bus Station, and Outlets.




We arrived Friday afternoon and ate dinner with friends at Edmund's Oast Brew Pub, where I ate pretty much everything on the menu and enjoyed a Peanut Butter and Jelly beer. (Though it was only 4 oz, those who know me should be impressed that I even had a beer. But come on, folks. Peanut Butter and Jelly? Why not?!)

Saturday morning, we were up bright and early at 5:15am (and wondering why on earth I would PAY someone to have to get up this early). Several of us met in the hotel lobby to catch the bus together to Mt. Pleasant where the race started.

All smiles....I think at this point we had been up about 2.5 hours and already walked about 2 miles, but excited nonethelesso get the race started.

It was a fairly easy run for us. We had trained somewhat before the race so the distance was not an issue. The addition of a 2 mile bridge was definitely different, plus the bobbing and weaving around 31,000 other people was a bit challenging, but I was pretty happy with our results.


We were home by around 10:30am, showered, and then headed back out to downtown Charleston where we walked down the Riverfront, ate lunch at Southend Brewery and Smokehouse, walked through the Market, and then wound up at Holy City Brewing, (see a theme here?) where the guys had more beer, and I just enjoyed sitting and relaxing in the breezy 70 degree weather.

Holy City was so neat. It was a converted garage turned tasting room/bar. In 106 degree July, it may  not be quite as pleasant, but on this April Saturday, it was perfect.

I snuck in a 20 minute power nap back at the hotel and we ended the evening at Charleston Crab House in James Island for dinner.

It truly was a great weekend. We laughed and relaxed. We ran and walked. We ate and drank. Oh, did we eat and drink...

The race itself was amazing. I can't say enough how well organized it all was and how the city of Charleston really prepares itself for the crowds.

We will definitely be going back and doing it again.

March 28, 2015 to be exact.

Here are a few pictures I snagged from the race's Facebook page. Simply amazing.

Thank you...

In my entire life I have been fortunate enough to not have to be the recipient of any true mega, massive prayers. We have been lucky. I had all 4 grandparents living until I was almost 30. Our immediate family has not had to deal directly with cancer or any long term illness or disability. We have jobs; we have our health; we have two beautiful children.

Life was perfect.

Last Tuesday, March 18, our perfect life- our perfect record- was shattered.

Chad's dad took an accidental fall on Friday the 14th and broke his back. He stayed in the hospital over the weekend and had back surgery Monday morning.

Tuesday morning, he woke up, sat up on the edge of the bed, and immediately suffered a bilateral embolism (blood clot) to the lungs and stopped breathing. We tried everything we could throughout the day, but there was nothing we, nor the doctors, could do.

We said goodbye to one of the most beloved men I have ever known in my entire life- A man who loved me unconditionally as his own from the moment I walked into his house as "Chad's girlfriend" nearly 20 years ago.

My mother-in-law lost "her person;" My husband and his brother lost their father; My children and niece lost their Pops; My parents lost one of their best friends; We all lost one of the greatest men who ever lived.

It wasn't until shortly after I posted the news of Larry's death on Facebook on behalf of the family that we started to realize just how many lives our Larry touched.

Facebook notifications started immediately posting, messages were sent and received, people came to the hospital, and the prayers started pouring over us.

The support has been tremendous. The food, the friends, the hugs, the cards...it's all been amazing, and we appreciate every single thing anyone has done for us the last 10 days.

But, above all else, the thoughts and prayers from you all are what keeps us going.

Your thoughts and prayers are what help my kids sleep at night. They are what keeps them focused on (and excited about) school each day. They helped us make hard decisions. They keep us sane when the world around is spinning out of control and we just want to get off. They allow us to carry on "normal" conversations. They allow us to genuinely celebrate life's joys that have come to our family and friends in the days after. They give me strength to answer the kids' questions. They allow us to smile and laugh and tell stories. They sustain us during this time of immense grief.

And we are truly grateful.

We've looked at every "like" on Facebook, every picture comment, every message, every post. We've read the guest book from the service and noted every name. We've read your cards. We've enjoyed your meals. And we've undoubtedly felt your prayers and thoughts.

Thank you.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Know that in this time, I am also praying for each of you as so many of you are mourning with us.

And I am thanking God for each one of you that He has placed in our lives during this time of need.

Keep praying. Keep sending good thoughts. And keep loving and laughing and serving one another.

Because that's what Larry was all about. We are all family.

And love will hold us together.

Brooklyn's Birthday Party

Catching up here...

On Friday February 21, Brooklyn had a birthday party with several friends at a local pottery place. They all had a great time and it was such a perfect party experience. I would totally use them again.


They were so great to give us a private room to paint and eat.





Goofing off with friends.


Baby Claire loved the party...and the celery.








About a week later I went back to pick up the finished pieces. As part of the party they make this plate for the birthday kid. It turned out so cute!





Thank you, Mad Platter, for a great 9 year old party!!

Don't Confuse "Active" With Fit....a guest post

I receive a weekly newsletter from my trainer at Heart in Sol every Monday. It always has great articles (where he keeps it real), helpful fitness hints (always learning something new), and even recipes (that, let's be honest, I probably won't make but they sound fabulous).

Last Monday, I read this article that I absolutely loved, so with Patrick's permission, I am re-posting it here for you. (Note: If you want to receive these weekly newsletters or get more information about programs at Heart in Sol, email info@heartinsol.com.)

Don't confuse "Active" with Fit

When it comes to excuses for not exercising, I’ve heard them all.

Sometimes the excuse is self-inflicted: I don’t have the time.

Other times the excuse is pure procrastination: I’m going to start as soon as tax season ends.

And then there are excuses that are downright funny: I don’t like to sweat.

As delicately as possible, I point out to these well meaning excuse-makers that, even though they don’t want to do it, exercise is an important part of cultivating a strong, healthy and attractive body.

I tell them that if they would just exercise 2 to 4 times each week they would feel a dramatic improvement in their daily life, starting with renewed energy and strength.

Then I bring up the health benefits and explain how many of their health problems would improve or even disappear. I talk about how great they will feel, and look, dropping those extra pounds and rediscovering a slender figure.

Even with all this experience in excuse squashing, there used to be an excuse that would leave me stumped.

The sneaky excuse of ‘I’m active’: Oh, I don’t need to exercise with a personal trainer—I’m very active. I play golf and tennis and Wii.

Well, that is a good excuse, right? Golf, tennis and Wii are all active sports that burn calories. Maybe you can be fit without doing any other exercise…

And then I started noticing a trend.

The ‘golf’ people couldn’t touch their toes in a simple flexibility test. The ‘tennis players’ couldn’t jump rope for 60 seconds. The ‘Wii players’ needed a week to recover from a one mile jog. The so-called ‘active’ people encountered injury after injury.

And then it hit me.

You can’t become fit simply by being active.

Only by being fit can you become more active.

To be lean and to maintain a level of fitness there is no substitute for a consistent, challenging exercise program. It’s the only way, folks.

To truly be fit is when your body is able to do whatever you ask of it. This comes from a combination of flexibility, strength and endurance.

So, do you exercise?

Or are you fooling yourself with the idea of ‘being active’?

How do you feel about your current level of fitness? Are you able to do each and everything you want? Or do you end up opting out of activities that you know would be too challenging?

If you’ve used the excuse of ‘being active’ in the past, take a minute to reconsider your position.

Don’t bank on your ‘active’ lifestyle with the hope of true results.

Call or email me today to get started on an exercise program that will make you truly fit.

And if you’re furthest from active but simply want to lose those extra inches and pounds, make the decision to contact me today.

As they say…there’s no trial run in the game of life

Brooklyn is 9!

Brooklyn is 9.
And has an iPod touch thanks to Santa.

I do review her iPod regularly to make sure all is well, I know all her contacts, and her text conversations are staying Girl Scout- and Christian-like. (3rd grade girls can be mean, y'all.)

In my latest review, I found these awesome selfies, so I thought I would share as Brooklyn and I write this post together.

For our commeration purposes, here is Brooklyn at 9 years old.

Favorite Food: pasta
Favorite Drink: orange crush

Favorite TV show: the suite life on deck
Favorite Movie: frozen

Favorite vacation: beach
Favorite sport: well i dont have really have a favorite sport

What annoys her: my brother
What excites her: going on vaca

Favorite restaurant: golden corral
Favorite activity: coloring

Best Friends: avery,sophie,leah,ashley,zoe,allie k,allie h,callie
Favorite school subject: math

Favorite color: blue
Favorite clothes: dress

Favorite song: love is an open door from frozen
Favorite holiday: christmas
So, there's your snapshot of B at 9.
More birthday posts coming soon....this no power thing kinda puts a crimp on the weekend.

Way Back When-esday!

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Today's Way Back picture is in honor of the fact that the teeniest one in the picture below just celebrated her Confirmation at church Sunday AND turns SIXTEEN on Monday. Whoa!


Love these two girls so much. They were mine and Chad's first "kids." Their parents entrusted them to us often, and we had quite a few fun dinners out with them when they were small.

So proud of them both and the young women they have become.

A Letter From A Woman In Her Workout Clothes To Other Women in the Grocery Store

[Note: A few days ago, I read this article titled A Letter From A Working Mother to A Stay At Home Mother (and Vice Versa). It was a great read that really nailed on the head a lot of things women don't wanna say to each other...or maybe do...or maybe it's just stays unspoken. But either way, conveyed much respect and love, and I enjoyed it. So much so, it inspired this post below...with a slight variation on a slightly different topic.]

Dear Other Women in the Grocery Store:

I see you glance over at me in the Harris Teeter. First of all, I know right now all you see are sweet potatoes, bananas, cabbage, romaine lettuce, carrots, and cucumbers. Because, well, they are what's visible on top of the cart. But I am not the "only health food all the time" mom that you may think I am. Come a little closer, and you will see the Vanilla Cupcake Goldfish, the Easy Mac, the Cheddar Chex Mix and the croutons at the bottom of my cart. You just don't see them because of the way I navigate through the store. Inner aisles first, outer aisles last. Not trying to hide them. Just have my system.

I know I am wearing stretch pants, my Zumba tank top, and my hair is in a crazy sweaty ponytail. I don't look like this because I want to brag to everyone that I just worked out. I look like this because I have 28.2 seconds today to squeeze in all my errands, and this was my next stop. No time to go home to shower and change. That will happen later, after I make one more stop at Target and before I have to run to my kid's Valentines Dance and then to my other kid's birthday party.  Working out was something I had to schedule in today. In fact, I have to schedule it in most days. Because life is busy, I get busy, but I know it's something that needs to happen. So, it gets added to the calendar and then subsequently gets checked off the To Do List.

And I do kinda enjoy it.

I didn't always enjoy it. In fact, for a looooong time, I didn't even do it.

I tried a few things. Found a few things I didn't like, or I guess I should say, things that didn't really EXCITE me. And then I found the things that I did like.

I used to look at women in the grocery store and think "Really?  Could your pants be any tighter? Could you not have gone home and changed?"

And the best excuse I had for myself: "I can't workout before going out today, because I won't have time to shower and what if I see someone from high school at the Teeter today? I cannot look all nasty and sweaty."

But, then I realized I didn't care. I didn't need to care. And I didn't want to care anymore.

My health was more important than whether or not my eyelashes were curled or I was wearing my cute new boots while running my errands in public.

So, Women in the Grocery Store, who is staring a bit too long and comparing our carts and our attire. Please know, I was you two-ish years ago. I had all the excuses in the book. Memorized, cued up, and ready to use.

But, guess what? I only have 24 hours in the day just like you do.

But I learned how to make the most of those 24 hours.

And I have more energy than I have ever had. I eat better than I ever did (Vanilla Cupcake Goldfish aside). And I don't freak out when I run into someone I know when I am "less than presentable." Because, honestly, I am sure they saw a picture of me wearing make up and those cute boots at some point on Facebook anyway.

I'm rooting for you, Other Woman in the Grocery Store. I know you are just at the start of your weight-loss/healthy living journey. Make that leap to the next level. No judgement from me. All love and support. We women have to stick together because we are raising the next generation of women. And it's our job to stop the judgement and encourage the understanding.

And let me know if you wanna come shimmy and shake with me.

There's no judgement there either.

Love from the produce aisle,
Woman In Her Workout Clothes

Some snow days and some not-so-snow days...

This post is waaaaay late but my phone crashed and I lost some pictures, but luckily they were saved on BlogPress in a blog draft.

But then BlogPress started acting kooky and it took me WEEKS to recover this post and figure out what pictures were actually on this post.

If my memory serves me correctly, these were from the first "snow." The "snow" that now, after seeing the second snow, was not really that big of a snow to begin with.

But anyways...some pictures.

We laughed when we dusted off the Wii Fit and realized it had been a "while" since Chad had been on it.

And we updated all of our Mii's and celebrated that everyone was in a "healthy" weight range.

Jake and Brooklyn face-timed with each other...from down the hall.

And I actually picked up a book and started reading again.

And Brooklyn wanted to join me...


Note: Since that first snow, I actually kept reading that book and went on to the 2nd and 3rd book in that series. They are fantastic! (Definitely very "Hunger Games-ish.")

Once the weather cleared, we met my favorite niece for some Mexican.

Jake perfected all of his faces.

Brooklyn continued her love for Hasbro games from Christmas....and spanked me at some Life.

Once Jake returned to school, he showed me the "class rocket."

Some time in there, I escaped the house, and my Zumba sister, Sarah, and I went out to dinner...

I think this was all the end of January/beginning of February....but dates are fuzzy....and I am reminded why I blog because if I can't remember these things after 3 weeks, I am doomed for any long term recollection.

Hope everyone is having a great week! We are loving the sunshine here, and I just wish it were here to stay!

Snowmageddon 2014: Day 3, A Quick Re-cap

In the last 48 hours...

# of pairs of flannel pants worn: 3
# of times I made a Pinterest recipe: 4...nope...wait...5.
# of recipes I pinned on Pinterest: 23
# of Curious George episodes watched: 21
# of crock pot meals made: 2
# of crock pots used at one time: 2
# of times the dishwasher was loaded and unloaded: 4
# of snowmen made at our house: 1
# of people who built said snowman: 1 (#luckyme)
# of snowmen named Olaf that I saw on Facebook: 7
# of times I checked the weather radar on my phone: 81
# of books bought on my Nook: 2
# of books read: 1.5
# of times the sled was used: 2
# of sleds cracked & thrown away : 1
# of loads of laundry done: 4
# of Frozen songs downloaded to my iPhone: 3
# of minutes spent shoveling the driveway: 64
# of calories burned shoveling driveway: 324
# of times I cursed gathering together all our tax information: 0 (#smallvictories)

Oh, and Happy Valentine's day! Hubs and I are celebrating by each taking time to leave the house today. Alone. :-)

Snowmageddon 2014: Day 2, what I've wanted to say all day on Facebook

Being home for over 30 hours, I could have been tempted to spend a lot of time on Facebook. But much to my waistline's dismay, I've been on Pinterest and in the kitchen instead. And actually read a book.

But had I been on Facebook, here is what my status's would have read all day long:

I recently found karaoke songs on iTunes. This cannot be good. You have been warned.

(Upon realizing tonight is Thursday) YES! Honey Boo Boo and Myrtle Manor are on tonight. Don't judge me.

Does anyone else hate wasting a "good bra" when just hanging out at home wearing pajama pants?

#snOMG. I'm over it.

Each member of the family now has their own Netflix profile and corresponding list. #whathappenswhenatypeApersongetssnowedin

Why is it that Brooklyn can write all her valentines and address each member of her class from memory, yet I can't remember what I decided to make for dinner tonight?

Snowed in with a pantry full of snacks and an active paypal account. I'm in trouble.

All my Pinterest snacks and crafts require the same ingredients. I'm going with the snacks. #snowedinproblems

And a picture. Cause I did remember to take another one today.




Here's hoping we bust out of this joint tomorrow!

Snowmageddon: Day 1, Hour 1

I got home from work at 1pm. It's now 2:28 as I sit and type this. In one hour we have run around in the falling snow, thrown snowballs, complained about cold necks and wet gloves, made hot chocolate, made chocolate chip cookies, said the hot chocolate was yucky and wanted goldfish and apple juice instead, swept up spilled m&ms, seen a meltdown from the kid who you would not expect a meltdown from, had a long talk about meltdowns, loaded the dishwasher, prepped for dinner, and marveled at how much mess can be made when the whole family's home for just an hour.

Hour two started with an episode of Curious George on Netflix and a hot shower for mom.

But at least I got some pictures this time around.

'Tis the Season for Thin Mints

Winter time at the Girl Scout office can only mean one thing....COOKIES!

And it means that I get to wear sweatpants to work. :-)

It's the happiest time of the year!


And the time where I get some great exercise at the office running up and down this trailer.


So, be on the lookout for some cute Girl Scouts in your neighborhoods and grocery stores. And buy a box. Or 5.