Praise the Lord for Praise Baby

So...my wonderful sitter and friend Chelsea gave Kennedy the gift of Praise Baby for Christmas. Kennedy has loved it and so have I so we have started to build our collection. Lucky for us, Praise Baby is having a giveaway on their blog so I have registered for a chance to win their Sleepytime Lullabies CD & you can too. Click here if you would like to register or if you have a Mommy friend who would appreciate the gift of Praise Baby for their little one.

Back to life....back to reality.....

Obviously I am channeling a little Soul II Soul this afternoon. Anyhow, it's back to the ole grindstone otherwise known as McCaw Veterinary Clinic.

I have gotten several emails/calls to see how the weekend away was and I appreciate all of the inquiries. The weekend was wonderful. Friday night I put Kennedy to bed and then Tim and I stopped by Kohl's to do a little shopping. I had gotten some birthday money and I actually really "needed" some things. We got a couple of baby gifts for friends who are expecting, a couple of tops for me and some deep discounted clothes for Kennedy for next year. After our Kohl's trip we headed to the hotel for the evening. My sweet friend Elizabeth had baked me a strawberry cake for my birthday so we dug into that once we got settled and it was so yummy! We slept amazingly (the bed was ridiculously comfortable). We woke up in time to have breakfast in the hotel restaurant before I went to my massage. Breakfast was delicious - Belgian waffles, homemade omelets, bacon, biscuits, fresh fruit - so good! My massage was incredible - they did a mix of hot stone and hand and let's just say I didn't want to get up off the table when it was over.

After my massage we headed out to Hamburg to shop some more and run some errands Tim needed to run for work. Saturday night we went to dinner with Elizabeth and Justin at Asuka and then went to The Penguin downtown.

We had an incredible time but I was so worn out yesterday that I cancelled my trail run plans with Courtney and Billie. I was bummed that I didn't get my run in but glad I rested up because I am flying solo all week. Tim left last night for Asheville for the week so it's just me and Kennedy until Friday night or maybe Saturday AM. Obviously training this week will be a big bust but Elizabeth has offered to keep K on Tue and Thur so I can at least get runs in those two days - Praise be! I did take some pictures this weekend, but don't have my camera with me so look for those to come.

It was wonderful having time away to be together and I appreciate so much that Chelsea not only gave us that gift but also watched Kennedy. I know the two of them have such a precious relationship and it's just nice to know I can rest assured she is being cared for so well while I am away - Thanks Chels!

Almost 30

I cannot believe that as of today I am one year away from 30 (gasp!). Time surely flies. My staff was super sweet and had lunch brought in today to celebrate and there was a cake from Tinker's to boot (compliments of Laura). The cake was chocolate with chocolate icing and raspberry filling and needless to say - I had two pieces. It's my birthday, I figure I was due a slip-up or two or three or four or more. I will pay the price later.

Tonight I am off to dinner with Chelsea and Kennedy at Red Robin and then Tim and I get to go to the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/lexky-griffin-gate-marriott-resort-and-spa/ for two free nights, two free breakfasts and a free massage for the weekend - what more could a girl ask for, right? Chelsea got this little travel package from a friend of hers in FL and was gracious enough to give it to us to use plus offered to keep little K all weekend for free too: I mean, is my babysitter freaking incredible or is she freaking incredible?! I am pumped and am looking forward to having a relaxing weekend. I will be sure to give more details as the weekend goes on.

Tomorrow I plan to get up and work out, go have my massage and then shop wtih some gift cards and coupons that I have gotten. Thanks for my Ann Taylor gift card Ally - so can't wait to use it! Thanks to all who have sent their wishes - I feel blessed to have so much love around me.

One of those days...rather two or three of them

Do you ever have days where you feel like you are just walking through the motions - checking things off your list and at the end of the day you feel like you have been working all day and have little to nothing to show for it? Hear me say that I am blessed to have two days off a week, however, my two days off are so filled with monotonous things (like laundry, grocery shopping, Dr.'s appointments, writing bills, balancing the checkbok, etc.) that they can get away from me and I realize I haven't used them as I intended. I want my days off to be digging into the word days, laughing and loving on my little girl days, and wishfully - resting/rejuvenating days. Unfortunatey, I often don't use my days off like I want and at the end of the day I am more tired than the day before and realizing it's back to the ole' grindstone tomorrow. Thank goodness we serve a faithful Father - one that has a song stuck in my head today and the song is as follows:

Matt Redman -

You Never Let GoFrom the album Passion 06: Everything Glorious
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

Your perfect love is casting out fear

And even when I’m caught in the middle of the storms of this lifeI won’t turn backI know You are near

And I will fear no evil

For my God is with me

And if my God is with me

Whom then shall I fear?Whom then shall I fear?

Chorus:Oh no, You never let go

Through the calm and through the storm

Oh no, You never let goIn every high and every low

Oh no, You never let goLord, You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on

A glorious light beyond all compare

And there will be an end to these troublesBut until that day comes

We’ll live to know You here on the earth

Chorus:

Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on

And there will be an end to these troubles

But until that day comes

Still I will praise You, still I will praise You

As most of you know, we have our house on the market. We showed it on Saturday and it showed twice on Wednesday. I am trusting God that whatever is supposed to happen with our house will happen, but boy it is a hard process. It's tough having your house "presentable" at all times when you have a toddler and 7 pets! Between showing the house and being knee deep in potty training mis-haps its just been a rough past couple of days. To top it all off my husband worked until 12 AM this morning and then left again at 5 AM so I haven't been able to run today and that is just not a healthy thing for me. I need my runs! He returns tomorrow and we have a relaxing week ahead of us thank goodness. Despite my frustrations and our packed schedules I just keep reminding myself that God knows our struggles and he can take it all on for us. I can relax and breathe easy becase he can handle whatever I can't. What a blessing and thank heavens for it. Can I get an amen?

Suspense

I am sure the suspense has been killing you all right? Ha! Well, it turns out that my hubby had a trip planned to Hawks Nest State Park in Ansted, WV. http://www.hawksnestsp.com/ I am sure to some of you a trip to a State Park doesn't sound so romantic but to me - it was! It was a rustic lodge with pretty nice little rooms (a fireplace, flat screen TV and king size bed with an AMAZING view from our balcony) in the middle of no where with some great hiking trails and beautiful mountain views all around us. When we arrived last night we hiked a trail and we were both officially whipped once we returned. Tim had found this really neat little pizza place a few minutes away http://www.piesandpints.net ahead of time and we went there for dinner after our hike. We made a quick trip to Walmart after that - there are Walmarts EVERYWHERE y'all - and then returned to the lodge to snuggle in front of the fire and watch TV(afterall, it's a treat to us to have more than 4 channels: ha!).

We slept wonderfully though I initially doubted my ability to do so without the noise of our monitor humming in the background. Instead all I heard was my hubby falling asleep in .1 seconds and snoring .1 seconds after that - it never ceases to amaze me how quickly the man can fall asleep.

We woke up around 8:00 or so this AM and had a good ole' country breakfast before hitting the trails again for a while. Once we were officially tired and officially frigid (it was snowing) we called it a day and headed home. I missed my little girl something awful and was excited to get back to her.

It was so nice to get away and now that Kennedy was in wonderful hands but now it's back to the real world for us and back to more adequate training and more healthy eating for me. I have had more Valentine's candy than I dare to admit! Hopefully Court and I will get in an early morning run tomorrow - it looks like it's going to be a cold one. =)

Y'all complete me

Joseph and Heather Kessler's Wedding

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

In lieu of Valentine's Day I thought I would use a little play on words to let my treasured running buddies know that I miss them. Pathetic, right? I mean, after all - I have only been gone since noon on Friday but still - I am convinced all runners need a running buddy...or two....or more. So..to Chelsea, Courtney and Billie y'all complete my running experience girls! I drug myself out of bed this morning at my in-laws (after sweet precious Kennedy had several wake-ups between 4 and 6:30 AM mind you) and went for a run that I found on www.mapmyrun.com. If you can find Scott Depot on mapmyrun - you can find ANYWHERE on mapmyrun! Ha! Anyhow - drug myself out of bed and did a 6 miler, not only solo but sans ipod: yikes! I am sad to report it was my slowest 6 mile in I cannot remember how long - like 1hr 2mins. I have chalked up the "slowness" of the run to the inability to lose track of time. So often when I run with dear friends we talk, we confide, we laugh, we just breathe but we breathe in company, you know? When I am not running with friends (two or four legged) I typically have my Ipod and I pretty much pretend I am a rock star throughout the duration of my run. This morning, since I had neither music nor camaraderie - I just thought and did a little praying and put one foot in front of the other and the result = slow but I got it done either way. This is the longest run I have had since my last half ... movin' on up!

We have had a good Valentine's weekend with Tim's family - I LOVE being with loved ones. I wish we didn't live so far from our parents, but I am glad we are close enough to have weekends like this one. We saw some of Tim's high school friends and one of them (Joseph) got married yesterday so we went to his wedding and it was really pretty.

Today we are off on a "surprise getaway". My only instructions from my husband were to pack an overnight bag with comfy clothes, an outfit to go out to dinner in, and an outfit to hike in (sounds like my dream night away)! I am sad to leave Kennedy but she will be in wonderful care while we are away and I am thankful for the opportunity to have some alone time with my hubby.

I promise to post and give you all the details of our night away once we return. Until then...

Thanks to Abby my blog has a new look, new title and new web address. What do you think?

Trail Run Pictures from the weekend

Me, Billie and Courtney

Veteran's Park Trail

This is where we have been running on the weekend. Isn't it pretty?

A picture

Finally - uploading photo success! Yay! Here is what we have been dealing with and it had finally all cleared today and now its snowing! Argh!