Run for a Mom 5K

This annual 5K was held a couple of weeks ago to help raise money for Agape. Everyone runs for a different reason but the main goal is for mothers. 

Dedicate your run/walk to a special woman.

Maybe it’s your mom, birth mom, or adoptive mom. Or maybe it’s that dear lady who always knew just what to say.

Whomever you choose, carry her name or picture with you as you run/walk. 

We decided run walk in memory of MawMaw. 

Here is all of our crew.

We walked and talked the whole time! I forgot how miles can disappear so quickly while you are talking. 

Laney is used to hearing me say, "I will be back in 30 minutes" when I go out for a run. She thought we would be done in 30 minutes. I giggled and told her we would be lucky to finish in less than a hour. We had a lady with feet problems, a person with a bad back, a newly pregnant lady and a several who did not train. We would be walking and casually walking usually takes longer. 

As we passed by my aunt's old house, I was reminded of these same roads my uncle and I would walk after a night keeping my cousins. 

While my aunt and I were talking, we somehow got ahead of the others in our group. I love to walk but I tend to walk a fast pace….. so I've been told. Most of the time I don't realize it. I blame it on my teaching days. You have to walk fast down the halls to fit in a bathroom break, copies, dropping something off in the office, a phone call, etc. Maybe it is due to being a mommy and only having so much time in the grocery store before the kids fall apart. Either way I've done it for a long time! 

My aunt and I came across the finish line first. I quickly found a spot to take pictures of the rest of the group  coming in.

As I took this picture, I wondered where my mom and Ella were. I thought I was going to have to go check on them when I saw this….

Apparently, Ella had a blister on her foott and my mom stopped to let Ella have her sock for double protection. 

My mom's sock was so black by the end that she just gave Ella the pair.

Here is the picture of our crew after the race.

After the race, they had Chickfila biscuits, games, italian ice and characters. Some of us couldn't pass up the opportunity for a picture.

We had such a great time that we agreed we needed to make this an annual occurrence!

Spring Showcase

Each year, the homeschooling co-op group we participate in puts on a Spring Showcase for friends and family. This year, the event was held on a Sunday afternoon. Each age group filmed themselves acting out a short movie.

Laney was princess Leia from Star Wars.

Ella was a mermaid from Peter Pan.

I was Kristoff from Frozen.

I didn't get a picture of the girls dressed up but I snagged one of me off of FB with our class. 

Each act was filmed separately prior to the event, arranged together and played during the Spring Showcase. The theme for the day was a Drive-In. The girls wore poodle skirts made during class and the boys dressed in white shirts with jeans. As people arrived they were given tickets for popcorn and a drink. 

The girls and teachers were given accessories to go along with the theme.

This years Spring Showcase turned out to be such a cute idea!

Strawberry Doughnuts

On our way back from Georgia last week, we stopped at a strawberry patch to pick up a couple of buckets of strawberries. They were probably the best tasting strawberries I've had in a while. We ate and froze several of them. Last weekend, I decided to make strawberry doughnuts for breakfast. They were very yummy! I think it had a lot to do with the strawberries being so good.

Strawberry Doughnut Recipe

Finish on the 50

Last month, I completed my third half marathon. When I started this adventure of running, I thought I would be one and done. With each milestone, I only find myself searching for  my next adventure. When I happened to stumble across Auburn's Finish on the 50 half marathon, I knew this was something I wanted to do.

As we were driving that morning to Auburn, the weather forecast for the day was 100% chance of thunderstorms all day. The dark clouds in the sky proved the weather to be true. Once we arrived, the rain started. We sat in the car as a rain delay was called for the race. 

This storm was made up of rain, thunder and lightening. I was very worried about running in this type of weather. I did run in heavy rain once before but it was during training, I was almost done and there was no lightening! As we waited, some of us may have mentioned going to get breakfast instead. I thought it was the perfect day for crawling back in bed! After about 15 minutes, the rain cleared and we were called to the start line. Side note: Remember the 100% thunderstorm prediction I mentioned earlier……..It never rained again! To think we almost skipped town and went for breakfast!

Besides the weather, I was a little worried about this race for a different reason. I could have never predicted how crazy our month of April was going to be when I signed up for this race. After the Montgomery Half, I only averaged about 3 miles per week. I had no doubt I could finish but I thought I would end with a horrible time. The hills were tough but we finished with a time of 2:42. Only 2 seconds shy of the Montgomery half. Considering my month, I was happy with that!

After all my other races, I always document my experiences along with each post. I do it mainly for me so I can look back and remember my experiences. If you keep up with my blog at all you know my very first half and full was at Disney. Although I loved every minute of it, sadly, I compare other races to them. No one has even come close to the Disney experience so far. 

I thought my favorite part of the Auburn half would be running onto the 50 yard line. The best part of the race besides the meteorologist being wrong was running through the campus.

Here are the parts I did not like:

* We barely started the race when the elite runners start passing by in the opposite direction. Talk about a demotivator! I prefer not to see how far behind I am in comparison to the elites.

* They did not offer an energy supplement along the course. I always take my own but this is the first race to not offer one. I am grateful there was plenty of water!!!

* Towards the end of the race there were very little mile markers. I use run keeper while I run so I can look at the distance when I need to.

* Right before you entered the stadium, you were forced to walk(run if you wanted to get wet) through a huge deep puddle of water. Our shoes were completely soaked. 

* The biggest disappointment for me was not running onto the 50 yard line. It was more like the 50 yard sideline. This was the part I was most looking forward to. I guess since the field was muddy they had to change their original plans. 

* My sister will tell you the biggest upset was probably the path to exit the stadium. After running 13 miles, the last thing you want to do is to climb stairs. I feel the workout should be complete once you cross the finish line. Those with bad knees DO NOT need…..several….flights….of…..stairs right after a race! 

Although this was not my favorite race I've done so far, I was glad I did it. I think the people in charge just had to make several last minute adjustments due to the weather. 

50th Anniversary

Yay for May! My school has ended…..finally!!!!!!! The girls will test this week and they will be finished. Besides a few rooms that need organizing, we are finally settled in our new home. We closed on our house in Ga last Friday so we no longer have to worry about 2 house payments, 1 rent payment, 3 water bills and 3 power bills. Although we are getting less bills in the mail now, our wallets are very thin. 

I still don't know what we were thinking when we planned the month of April. God saw us through and we made it! Don't worry I am planning to go back and share everything from where I last left you…..just not all today!!

One of our many trips in April had us traveling to South Carolina for Carmel's parents 50th Anniversary party. We drove in late Friday night, had the party on Saturday afternoon and left Sunday morning since we had an activity at church that night. The party was casual but elegant at the same time.

I think I will let the pictures do the work for me.