Much needed family quality time

My oh my.  I have spent some really good, quality time with my precious little girls this weekend and I have enjoyed them so.  Falling more & more in love with them every passing day.

Friday I got off at 12:00, Jacob had been home with them all day.  When I got home Bella and I made blueberry muffins with sprinkles.  Then we went to a local high-school homecoming parade and then to Blue Bell for a scoop of ice cream.

When we got home we found Tangled on Disney Jr.  Bella quietly disappeared...then about 5 minutes later, Rapunzel herself appeared in our living room!

The last weekend in September has always been a Family Reunion weekend for us.  Part of Jacob's family get together the last Saturday in September and part of my family the last Sunday in September.

Saturday:

Beautiful Bella- 3 years old

Lovely Lucy- 22 months old

Sunday:

The fun thing about this reunion is that it is in a tiny little town of Opp, Alabama.  About 3 hours from our house.  So it's more of a road trip for me and my sisters.  We were at the reunion for about 2 hours...but in the car for a good 6 hours.  It was fun, lots of giggles, talking, birthday party planning {just a couple months away...I'm so excited}.  

Cousin love!

I love these girls SO MUCH!

I'm not sure what Rylee (aka Little Diva) was so upset about.  Thankfully whatever it was didn't last too long!

These 2 of Lucy's face are too good not to share...

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Pretty sky

Fall is my favorite.  Here it is the end of September and I am kinda~in a way~maybe~barely feeling a little fall weather.  I LOVE opening all the windows and doors, breathing in that fresh air.  Earlier this week after a rainy day, God gave us this beautiful show as the orange sky quickly moving above us.  We opened the door and the girls danced and sang on the back deck.

 Photos taken by 3 year old Bella:

She wanted a silly face!

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The 3 year old photographer

Sunday, after the half-marathon, we enjoyed a little play time outside.  It felt good out.  I had a lot of clothes on Sunday to wash and dry since it rained all day Saturday.  Now that I'm hang drying all my laundry I spent a while hanging, which was fine by me.  I got to do one of my chores in beautiful weather while my girls played outside.  We had taken the trash can down to the end of the drive.  Bella wanted to play photographer for a while.  Kinda ironic that our friend/neighbor/photographer was out on a run while our 3 year old was taking photos!

Candace & Clark.  Check out Candace's blogs at riversrunningmom.blogspot.com  and  cbphotoanddesign.com

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Talladega Half-Marathon 2013

I DID IT!  I SURPASSED MY GOAL OF BEATING MY TIME BY AN HOUR!  

MY OFFICIAL TIME WAS 2 hours 10 minutes and 16 seconds!!!  

Not that I expected to win, but it was a pleasant surprise to learn that I finished 14th out of 52 in my age group (25-29).

I am mighty proud, my friends.  I have come a long way and am here to prove to everyone that with hard work and dedication, you can make things you once thought impossible....reality. 

September 22, 2013.  2 hours 10 minutes

This was 2 1/2 years ago, doing the same course.  

April 2011.  3 hours 13 minutes

My goal was to beat my previous time by an hour but I knew going into it that would mean that I would have to maintain a faster pace I had been running during our long runs.  To be honest, I thought I would be finishing around 2h 30m.  

We arrived at the Superspeedway at 6:30.  It was cool.  We were ready...well after I peed twice!

The horn blew, and we were off.  Felt good.  Jen and I stuck together until about mile 11.  Our 1st mile was fast for us (8:41min/mile).  We maintained a great pace.  Around mile 5, my left knee started bothering me.  Thankfully the pain went away after about a mile.  Mile 7 was my slowest (10:24 min/mile).  But we kicked it up and finished strong.  Surprisingly, I felt pretty good overall.  I wanted to walk several times, but I really didn't want to give up the great pace and for me to beat 2h 13m, I knew I had to keep up the good work. We would walk for about 15 seconds at a few of the water stations. Around the 11.5 mark, Jen picked up her pace.  I tried, but my legs were going as fast as they could carry me.  I told myself 'just don't stop, you're almost there'.  I planned on sprinting once I saw the finish line...well it's kinda funny thinking about it now.  I was telling myself... 'SPRINT, RUN HARD.  FINISH STRONG.  GO!  Dang Megan, you can't go no faster?!?'  My legs were wore-slap-OUT! 

Unfortunately, Jacob had an OSHA training class that he could not miss.  So he wasn't there today, but he called me twice during the race and gave me some sweet encouragement.  He too was surprised and happy about the pace I was maintaining. He called as soon as the race was over too.  I know he wanted to be there to cheer me on.  I know he is proud of me.

Jamie and Jennifer did a great job!
Jamie finished 1h 43m.  He maintained a 7:54 min/mile.
Jennifer finished in 2h 8m.  Maintaining a 9:48 min/mile.
I finished 2h 10m.  Maintaining 9:57 min/mile.

This was the man that we ran in honor of.  Mr Randy!  He is a prostate cancer survivor.  We love him.

My thoughtful mother-in-law came to cheer me on at the finish line.   {too bad she got a speeding ticket on the way there}

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