Race Day

Well the race was a success! At least in my eyes. Like I mentioned before, I was not excited at all about my upcoming half marathon. On the way to Little Rock, I was a nervous wreck. I didn't feel good and I knew I hadn't trained hard so I thought I was going to fail. I was scared I would hurt and get sick. Jonathan kept telling me to enjoy the weather and just have fun; be excited that you can even run in it. I really wanted to beat my best time, but I knew I couldn't because I didn't train for it hard enough. After waiting in line for almost 30 minutes to go to the bathroom (the bathroom line was crazy long!), I found the C group and stood with everyone, waiting on the race to begin. I kept praying that God would help me to be confident in myself and just have fun. I prayed that I would not worry about my time. I prayed that he would take away my pain in my knees and back. I thought I was going to throw up when the siren went off. I wanted to cry, and almost did. If you have ever ran in a big race, you never start as soon as the siren goes off. I didn't start until about 8 or 9 mins into the race. After I started I got real excited! I made a new playlist on my Ipod the night before so I had some good music to get me pumped up! At every mile marker I thanked God for getting me through that mile and prayed that he would give me strength to finish the rest. In the end, I had no pain and I beat my time! Not by much, but I did! I am still not sure of my final time. My watch said 2 hours 13 mins, the race clock said 2 hours 15 mins, but remember I started 8 mins into the race. So I am not real sure of my final time, but I am satisfied with it either way! God is amazing! And so is Jonathan for always encouraging me! I forgot my camera or else I would post pictures. :(

Wonderful and Successful Day

Today has been a great day! Much more positive than yesterday. I made it to my parents house last night and ate dinner with them and then basically did nothing but relax the rest of the night. Hershey and I watched Friends last night before going to bed. She then decided to wake me up at 6:45 this morning. Really? On my day off? It was too cold for me to run outside this morning, even though it was beautiful. So I decided to run on the threadmill. My run was great! I ran with no pain and I really enjoyed my run! Thank you God! I hope all of my runs will be like that. I ate lunch with my mom and dad at Atlanta Bread Company then headed to Barnes and Noble! I had success at finding a journal! As soon as I started looking, I got a phone call from a florist in Bentonville saying I had a delivery. I knew right away it was Jonathan! I was anxious to get home and see the beautiful flowers.....so I had to make a quick decision on the journal (which was very very hard). I really wanted one with owls or peacocks on it. They had a lot to choose from, but I decided to go with one that didn't have either. I really liked this one the best. I can't wait to use it! I am almost tempted to not finish the one I am using now so I can start writing in it!


I finally made it home and Jonathan sent me my favorite flowers of all time! Stargazer lilies. I love them! They are beautiful and they smell wonderful! I miss Jonathan so much....he is the best husband ever!


After I got home, I headed back out to a used book store in downtown Rogers. I bought several new children's books. I am starting a collection since I will be teaching this Fall. I have a new love for children's books! I found a lot of great books for a really great price at this book store!

oh.....I bought a new coffee mug. Want to see? Well this is actually my second time to buy this mug. I bought it around Christmas, used it once, and then Hershey knocked it off the counter and broke it. I was really sad. So I bought it again!


Not doing much now. Hershey is chewing on her bone, I have been doing homework and applying for jobs. Now I am going to curl up with Hershey and watch You've Got Mail. Good night....

What's my problem??

Well I totally suck at this whole blogging thing. But every time I think about writing, I don't have anything interesting to write about. Normally I would be writing about my half marathon that is coming up this weekend.....but I am actually not looking forward to it. I don't know what my problem is, but I hate running right now. I get discouraged very easy when it comes to running. I haven't trained very hard for this race and it shows. Jonathan hurt his knee real bad and can't run the race. He was the one who kept me going when I didn't feel like I could run anymore. Now he won't be there. He will be cheering me on but not actually running with me. I don't know if I can do it without him. The most I have ran this whole training is 10 miles. I could barely do it. My knees and back hurt so bad I had to stop at 9 and walk the last. I cried. Who cries because they can't run 10 freaking miles?? No one. Just me. I get so mad when I start hurting. I know if I would train better and stretch more I wouldn't hurt. I have done it before and I know I can do it again. I once ran 13 miles in 1 hour and 45 minutes which is awesome. I really hope God helps me get excited about the race and run with a positive attitude. I have also been sick this week which doesn't help. I think I am just going to take a break from racing for a while and get back my running excitement before running another. You can't run 13 miles unless you enjoy it. I need to pray more about running and that God would heal me and give me the endurance to keep on going. I can't give up so easily. I just want the excitement back. I know God will help me through this.

So to a more positive side, the weather today is amazing! I am really excited because I am going to stay with my parents for the rest of the week! Jonathan is in Chicago this week and so I thought this would be a great time to go to my parents house and hang out with them. I am excited about getting away for a while and relaxing. This morning when I was spending time with God, I noticed I am getting close to finishing my journal....which means it's almost time to get a new one! I am definitely going to Barnes and Noble this week to get one! I get so excited when I get a new journal! I wonder how long it will take me to pick out a new one. I really want a new coffee mug too. Little things like that make me so happy. I told Jonathan he had to bring me back a coffee mug from Chicago!

Here are some of my favorite mugs....seriously not even half of them. I counted one time and had over 30.

Isaiah 52

How beautiful on the mountains

are the feet of those who bring good news,

who proclaim peace,

who bring good tidings,

who proclaim salvation,

who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

Pictures

I have the best computer ever!!! I can't get over how excited I am about this computer! I have definitely spent way too much time on it the past couple of days, but I have been snowed in. I have been wanting a new camera, but I decided to keep the one I have and try my best to take good pictures. I was playing around on iphoto today and I discovered different ways to edit photos! Here are some of my favorite pics so far (including some from the snow days this week). Sorry it's a lot:

Snow!

So I didn't know it was supposed to snow today! What a surprise! 4 inches or more so far! I took pictures but I can't figure out how to download my Kodak software on my new computer yet. Ok that's all!

China!!

I really wish I was better at posting! I have been without a computer for about a month now, BUT I got a new one!! I finally got a MAC!! You have no idea how excited I am! I had a Dell and was constantly having troubles. My husband got a MAC about 3 years and has never had troubles with it. Finally after mine crashed two times, I was like this is it. I don't want to deal with it anymore. So we bought an iMAC. It is the best computer I have ever used! So hopefully I will be posting more now that I have an awesome computer I love to use!

So to update, Jonathan and I are going to China this summer! We have always had a heart for the country of China and it has always been a dream of mine to go. Jonathan went one summer for 8 weeks and now we have the opportunity to go together. We are going to take a group of college students from our church this May for 3 weeks. I can't believe it is actually happening. God has been so good to us. I am definitely nervous about raising the money, but I know that God wants us to go therefore, he will provide a way for us to get there. I am blessed to have a job that is willing to let me take off for a couple of weeks to go. My boss's exact words were, "I would rather you spend as much time as you need there than be here at work." How awesome is that?! We will be staying at a one of the college's in China and will have the opportunity to take some classes and be language partners. We will help them learn English and they will teach us Chinese. I am very excited about this! We will definitely keep you updated!