Mama said....

Today is one of those days... I got up early to run 3 miles; I ran 1. I mowed half the lawn when Little Man woke up and I needed to be a mom more than a landscaper. The mower is still in the middle of the yard.

I finally attempted to unclog the downstairs toilet after Ezzy flushed almost an entire roll of toilet paper a couple of days ago... I was unsuccessful; the plunger is currently chillin' in the toilet water.

I started to wash the mountain of the dishes on my counter but spent more time putting Little Miss in time-out than I did washing. Pretty sure there's a fly now floating in my sink of room temp dirty-dish-water.

Kyson took a 35 minute nap; 2-3 hours is the usual. He currently has a cold and is cutting a tooth (bad combo) and only wants to be held. Thirty-plus minutes of screaming, lots of cuddles and lullabies, a dose of IBprofin, and he's finally playing happily in his Pack'N'Play.

Ezzy is thankfully now playing at the neighbor's and I'm finally enjoying a few minutes of peace; although, I should be cleaning up the stick of deodorant that she crumbled all over her bathroom floor. . . or eating breakfast. Sheesh.

Dinosaurs!

We spent an afternoon learning to be paleontologists. These two cousins loved the water area.

~Digging for bones~

Esme was convinced that the brushes were PAINT brushes and spent much of her time painting the rocks.

 After the museum, we snagged some ice cream. I was dying at my niece's get-up. Man, I love this girl.

This one time, Brandon and I had the great idea to go to the drive-in. It was good-times with popcorn, DDP, and Junior Mints...

...until morning rolled around, and we remembered that we have kids. Who does that??

Can't stop, won't stop. My body is a machine and I am in control.

In December, I finally signed up for a marathon. It's something I've wanted to do for years. For the last 6 months, I trained my body (and mind) to run 26.2 miles. When I started running in January, I could only make it a mile. ugh. The thought of running that, plus 25 more was pretty overwhelming; unimaginable really. But I kept plugging along, and slowly the miles built up until I was able to run 20 miles, the distance of my last long run. Even after my 20 miler, I was questioning my ability to run another 6 miles on top of that but trusted in my training and ability to push on.  

The morning of the race finally arrived.  My sisters, Annie and Millie, and I loaded into the car at the ridiculous hour of 3:15 AM. Painfully early! Millie ran the half, so she dropped Annie and me off at our shuttle station where we loaded onto a bus that headed up Provo Canyon to Walsburg. We huddled around some fires in a field splattered with cow-pies. mmm. 

6:00 am soon rolled around and we were off. The first 7 miles flew by. Brandon met us between mile 7 and 8. Ezzy was so excited to see us and ran with us for a short distance, giggling the whole time.

Brandon met us again around mile 12. That's when the miles began to feel longer but we were still feeling great.

Next Brandon cheered us on at Canyon Glen Park ... I don't remember the mile. 18 maybe? And just because he is disgustingly cute, here is Ky-Ky enjoying his breakfast at the park.

After we got out of the canyon, at mile 20, we were both starting to hurt. We had some numbing gel which we slathered on our thighs and glutes. It was heaven sent. Running down University Avenue was tough. It was hot, and we were tired and in pain. Our family met us at mile 22, which gave us a boost of adrenaline and encouragement, but by mile 23 it had worn off. The last 3 miles were tough but we pushed through and finished together. Unlike my half marathon, this time around there are pictures of me crossing the finish line. (i even remembered to smile)

It was such a great feeling to cross that finish line and know that I had accomplished a major goal. I loved the training (well, maybe not always).  But I love what it taught me. I learned that hard things can make us stronger; that my mind is stronger than my body; and that setting and accomplishing goals is what pushes us to become better.