The Swing

How do you like to go up in a swing,

 Up in the air so blue?

Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing 

Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall, 

Till I can see so wide,

Rivers and trees and cattle and 

all over the countryside -

Till I look down on the garden green, 

Down on the roof so brown -

Up in the air I go flying again, 

Up in the air and down!

-Robert Louis Stevenson

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday is just my favorite. Everyone comes to church energized by the empty tomb and the promise that it gives us. The excitement in the atmosphere is tangible. The ability to face tomorrow, no matter the circumstances, all because He lives! Yes, this is the promise we cling to all year round, I just wish I was better at carrying that same excitement about the resurrection of Christ thats felt on Easter, throughout the rest of the year.

On Saturday our church's children's ministry held an Easter egg hunt. It was inside because of the chilly and windy weather, but it was a fun time. Reaghan was not a fan of the singing puppet show, but enjoyed the egg hunt!

I dare you to try and take this child away from her grammie. Reaghan can't get enough of her grammie and if she's in the room then Reaghan is in her arms. <3

ShamrockOn 2016

- 2:00:58 -

That was my time as I crossed the finish line of the Shamrock 1/2 Marathon this past Sunday.

Remember how I told you that I really, really, really wanted to finish this race in 2 hours?! A time, which by the way, has been like my life goal of 1/2 marathons finish times?! (Since my first 1/2 in 2009 that is.) And remember how I was super nervous about being so close to getting there but possibly coming up short?! You guys, I made it. I actually met the goal! And it was one of the toughest races that I have ever done.

(In the pre-dawn hours, about to throw on my poncho and get out of my car.)

Reaghan: life at 18 months

No chalkboard picture here.... although to be honest, thats not an all together horrible idea ; ) but I still want to write a few things down about what Reaghan has been doing these days since she turned 18 months on St. Patricks Day.

I went to update her baby book a week or so ago, and I realized there weren't really any empty lines for me to fill in about the things she's been doing since her first birthday. Many of her "firsts" have already happened and others are still far in the future. The only blank pages left are for her birthdays so I decided I needed some place to document all the things that I don't want to forget about her early toddler days.

I want to remember...

Long Distance Runs + Tapering

The Shamrock 1/2 Marathon is only 9 days away which means I've finished all of my long training runs and I'm officially in "taper" mode!

I'll be honest, in the last 6 years since I started running long distance races, I've rarely if ever actually tapered. I've never trusted my fitness level enough to give myself a week or 2 off from training before a race and I usually just kept building mileage until I was running 2-3 miles less than the race distance only a week before the race. Yes, it goes against every expert training advice but it seemed to be working okay for me. I was running at my usual pace and not suffering injuries so I just kept this same routine.

Moving On

Okay folks, here is the official announcement I spoke of during the house tour...

We're moving!

We're not exactly sure where yet, but we do know we're staying in our general area. 

Why are we moving?