Life Without Limits Half Marathon

On October 30th I ran the Life Without Limits Half Marathon in Florence, Al. It was so fun! Chris and I left Tuscaloosa on Friday afternoon (after going on a field trip with Sydney) and headed to Florence. We got checking into the hotel and then met up with Yvette and Dan and Roz and Thad and went to dinner at an Italian Restaurant that Thad loves. We met some of Thad's friends there too. Then we made a quick trip to Wal-Mart and then back to hotel. Thad and Roz turned in early and the rest of us just hung out and went down to the hot tub and stuff. The hotel had a rotating restaurant. We didn't eat there but we did check it out. It was really cool. The race was so cool cause it started at the hotel so we literally just had to walk outside to the start line. Chris, Thad, and Roz ran the 5k and yvette and I ran the half. Poor Chris got up that morning and went to put his boots on to go get something out of his truck. He pulled something in his back and was immediently in a lot of pain! He decided to go ahead and run. I don't know how he did it (Thad gave him some words of inspiration) but he ran the 3 miles but was MISERABLE the rest of the day! Yvette and I were so worried about it being cold but the weather was really good. It was a beautiful day, great run, and a flat course. We just ran and chatted the whole time. There were several times when we ran through wooded trails so that was pretty cool and relaxing. It was also really neat to run over the bridges. We stopped to use the port a potty at mile 10 and saw Thad and Rox at about mile 11 then went on to complete the 13.1 miles. I started struggling pretty bad at the end. I was SO ready to be finished!!!!! SO glad I had Yvette to keep me going! We finally crossed the finish line at about 2:37. This was about 5 minutes faster than my first half. It was so neat to have our husbands and friends at the finish line. I was overwhelmed with emotion! So happy to be finished and just felt awesome for accomplishing my goal! But also so tired and sore!
Crossing the finish line

with our supportive hubbies after the race

Thad and Roz did great on the 5K! So glad they were there!

coming down towards the finish line

my tag

results

so happy to be finished!

Chris and Thad

Yvette and I at the restaurant

thad and Roz at restaurant

Our shirts we wore. The story behind them...... I ALWAYS have to run on the left side no matter what!

getting ready to run

boys getting ready....can you tell Chris is in pain?

almost time

from one of the bridges

I had so much fun! Can't wait until the next one!

Thanks for all the comments/concerns/suggestions concerning my hip. I really took it easy for a while-only doing short runs-icing-and stretching. It has gotten a good bit better. It is always a constant kindof nagging pain but nothing unbearable. So, last night I did an 11 mile run and it is just mildly sore today! So YAY! Looks like I'll make it. Now if I didn't have these 3 huge blisters on my feet it would be even better!





This is what has been going on.......




We went to see Chandler ( I can't believe he just turned 15) play a baseball game at Shelton. Hudson and Sydney posed for a picture.





Saturday was Alabama's homecoming game. We went to the parade and were able to hang out with Valoree and Mary and their kids.

I love that Evan has to have two passies and she calls them her "babies".

Sydney and I went to a bridal tea for her ballet teacher. The girls love Ms. Tessa!

Jackson is one of John Evan's best buds. They have been friends since the

womb ( 2 weeks apart) and now go to preschool together. Unfortunately they are not in the same class but like to go home with eachother.
Silly John Evan sitting in a laundry basket.

Sydney in one of her cute Halloween outfits

Sydney got brave and decided she wanted her ears pierced. We tried last year and she backed out right after they marked her ears. This time she did SO good! You could tell that she was SUPER nervous but she never cried. She just said "OW" real loud. There happened to be two girls working so I got them to do both of them at the same time. She is SO happy and I am so excited for her!

Ofcourse she picked out pink "diamonds"

you can tell she is so nervous!
The kids and I went to South Carolina for a family reunion (my dad's side) and to visit family and friends. I was really nervous about the trip because I have never driven there without one of my parents or Chris in the car. So , I got Heather, my oldest sister, to ride with us. She was a lot of help with the kids so I could concentrate on driving. Everything went well but going through Atlanta was definitely stressful! I am SO proud of myself - I feel all growny now! HAHA!

We stayed with my cousin , Brian, and his wife, Emily, and their two kids, Brianna and AJ. They had a lot of fun together.
The family reunion was really good. Daddy was in charge and he asked everyone to share a story or pictures of Grandma and Grandpa Jones. It was So neat to hear the stories and find out more about them. Sydney shared that she remembers when Grandma would lay down for a nap and her and Shelby would lay down with her and she would hug them real tight. It was so sweet! I wish I would have taken my video camera to record all the neat memories that were shared. I'll try to remember that next year.
Sydney and Aunt Kay (my dad's sister-in-law)

So glad I got to hang out with my cousin Christen.

We drove to Greenville (about an hour from Gaffney) and visited with my dear friend Heidi and her kids. It was SO good to see them. We went out to eat lunch and then to the park that had a train ride. I love her house and she just seems so happy in SC!

John Evan and Raegan on the train

Sydney and Scarlett

all my loves

Poor little JE got sick on Wednesday before we left on Friday. He was so pitiful ! We had a little scare because his WBC was 27,000 (normal is 4,000 to 10,000) but luckily we had it rechecked today and it was way down to 7,000. Sydney ended up getting sick too while we were in SC. So glad they are both feeling better. This was taken right before he threw up all over the place!

Another cute Halloween outfit

JE and I went to Ulta and he picked out some colored spray for him and sister....too funny! Chris and I had a last minute opportunity to go to the Alabama/Florida game. We were given free tickets from a sweet couple at our church. My parents happened to be available to keep the kids and they actually ended up spending the night with them. It was a fun night! Thank you!
I had a 3rd eye that night so no pics of me!

Camo, our boykin spaniel, has been in "school" for a couple of months. We went to visit him so the kids and I could learn some of his training commands and stuff. The kids did great. Sydney has been scared to death of him since we got him so it was so good to see her more comfortable around him. We are really looking forward to him coming home in December.

The kids had great dental checkups.

This was JE's first time to have a "full" cleaning and he did great!

Sydney's friend from school, Lydia, turned 7 and had her party at the Fun Factory.

John Evan LOVES school. They were studying the letter "B" and had a picnic with their bears. I am really happy with how much he has learned and how much fun stuff they are doing.

We had a great primary activity at church a couple of weeks ago. We mailed out packages and a "flat stanley" to the two people who are serving missions from our ward. We have already gotten some pictures from Sister Gee.

Sneak peak of one of Sydney's costumes for dance this year.

Sydney's new bedding....planning on eventually painting her

bed white

my sweet Alabama fans

On Labor Day Ashley and I and our kids took a trip to see Kim and Kristin. Great visit but I think Ashley may have gotten a little overwhelmed with all the kids! HAHA! Seven kids together can be a bit much! HAHA! They made us a fabulous lunch and we had fun catching up.

My kids have always wanted to have a lemonade stand so I got together with my friend/hairdresser, Laura, and friend, Kim, and we had a yard sale/lemonade stand. It was A LOT of work and A LOT of fun. I only made like $35 and spent $15 on a desk for Sydney. The kids actually made more money than we did and they had THE best time. They ended up standing at the end of the driveway and people couldn't pass thaem up!

my fabulous new curtains in my dining room

Bri turned ONE! She had her party at the park and the kids had a blast. It was so good to have everyone together. Bri is such a doll!

sweet family

she LOVED her cake

Sydney's class went on a field trip to the apple orchard in Cullman, AL. They rode school buses and I rode with 2 other moms and met them there. They had a blast! Sydney and her sweet class....

sweet girls listening to a man talk about bees

this was the funniest thing! A grown woman in a giant bee costume !

Princess and the frog birthday party for Chris' cousins little girl, Emma. It was a really cute party! Leah had it all decked out to look like Tiana's restaurant.

Princess Tiana (Emma) and SK

We had to do a sticker chart for John Evan to bribe him to go to school (which apparently worked). Once he filled his chart I took him to Chuck-E-Cheese. He was so excited because they have a bunch of new games. Chris' step-dad went with us.

Birthday party for Davis, the sweet little boy across the street.

Apparently I have no pic of the birthday boy.

Anyway, so excited about Halloween and all the fun fall activities!