For the first time in my life I got to go to an award ceremony. It was probably one of the things on the top of my list of cool things that I have done so far this year. I went with my good friend Mark Baggit. He was nominated for many different things that he did. He did not win anything but I am so proud of him for even being nominated for working for such a large newspaper like the Birmingham News to just be nominated is incredible to me. Not very many people were nominated out of all the people that work there. It was incredible to see how these people take such pride in their work. I mean, Mark takes more pride then anyone else I know and as he stated in a recent email to me, he just would like to be acknowledge just once in his life for his work, but I told him he did not need the acknowledgement, he needs to just be proud of the fact that everyone knows that his work shows how much he loves what he does. I am very proud to say that he is my friend and if you ever read the Birmingham News and ever look in it and see the City Scenes section, he is the graphic designer that puts together the front page of that section. It is really amazing at what he does and can do with that part of the paper. I may not read the newspaper, I may not even watch the news, but I do know what kind of work he can put together. He is incredible, and all I have to say is CONGRATS MARK for being who you are and sharing it with the rest of the world.

You know I have been in several weddings and have been the maid of honor (or as the boys said the Best Woman) many times. However, this was probably the most interesting wedding I have ever been apart of. It all started with the rehersal. We got to the Botanical Gardens about 4pm on Friday, we discussed how we were going to enter, some of the things that will be read, and how the whole ceremony would take place. The best man, Blake, specifically asked the minister if him and I needed to have the rings for the wedding. The minister told us, “No, I would like to keep them in my possession so that they don’t get lost.” So we were like okay, but did not feel comfortable but thought why not. We never actually went thru the whole ceremony and never walked in and out to practice. We then went to the rehersal dinner. Well, this was definitely a site to remember. Her whole family was on one side of the room and his family was on the other. No one really talked to eachother. They served dinner, they drank A LOT, they did not do much. We then had to go shopping because God forbid I forgot to buy the bride a gift and I am the maid of honor (Best Woman). As soon as the dinner was over we went to the mall, got some stuff from Victoria Secret and then went to Wal Mart to get the usual stuff, you know we had to decorate the limo. This was all just Friday night. Now onto the wedding itself…..

It was Saturday morning, we all had to be at the Botanical Gardens at 11:30am. On my way there I called the bride to see how she was doing and to let her know I might be about 5 minutes late. She said don’t worry, my dad has not even picked me up yet. She was so upset, this took me about 10 minutes to calm her down. Then I get there and have to hurry up and change clothes and put on makeup. Now, any of you that know me, I am the total tom-boy that does not wear makeup, does not wear dresses. I mean, every once in awhile I like to dress up but feel so much more comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt. I finally get dressed and everyone is laughing because I am asking how to put on certain things on my face. Don’t ask me what it was or what it is called because I could not tell you. The the bride shows up. She is doing everything in her power to change as fast as possible. You see we had to get there early so we could take pictures before the groomsmen showed up. We finally had many and I me many many pictures taken. Then finally we had to go back in the bathroom (our dressing room) to finish getting ready and to wait for the groomsmen to show up and go somewhere he could not see her. Well, things got a little worse, they could not get the music started, they could not find everyone. But finally at about 2pm, maybe a little after, we started the ceremony. It started out good, we were all standing there watching the minister do all his speeches and readings, and then it came time to do the rings. Well guess what, the Best Man and Woman did not have them because the minister said he wanted to take care of them. Well, he forgot them in his car so he could not do the rings normally. So we all started to find rings to give to them so they could actually do some type of ring ceremony. But when the minister said that we are all human and I forgot the rings, the best man under his breath says “Are you F**King kidding me.” The ones of us that heard it started laughing so loud. At least it broke the mood. Then the wedding was over. Now time to go and take more pictures. This lasted for another hour or so. It was cold and very tiring. All I could think about was how hungry I was. We finally got to leave and go to the reception. When we got there we had to take more pictures. Yes, this girl is going to have so many pictures of her wedding that she could fill a book case of wedding albums. However, when we got to the reception and were finally allowed to go in and eat all they had was chips and dip, cake, and some pigs in a blanket (you know those little hot dogs with a piece of bread around them.) Now, keep in mind, the wedding party had been going since 11:30 am until about 5:30/6pm. And none of us had eaten yet. We all wanted to leave and just go to McDonalds or something. We did not care. But it turns out we had a lot more to do. But finally I got to go home, about 11pm and get in bed. I woke up the next day and all I wanted to do was eat.

Now, I have learned over the years that if, and this is a big IF, I ever get married, I will make it so simple. All I want to do is buy a cute dress, fly to Cancun, invite anyone who wants to go, they would have to pay their own way, and get married and just have my honeymoon there. I don’t think I could have gone thru all this and done everything that my best friends had to go thru but at least now they are married, they are a great couple. I love them to death, and just to let you know, I am very happy for them. Other then all the crazy things that happened, like at any wedding, it was still beautiful and she was a very beautiful bride.

Oh forgot to tell you, I caught the bouquet so I guess I am next………we will see….any takers out there…..men only…………

So last night I took a class with my friends Lydia, Tim, Mark and Brent on how to do the East Coast Swing. It was so much fun. However, when we got there it was the last class of the month on how to do this dance and we did not know any of the previous steps already taught. When they started the class, they said okay you have already learned these steps now we are going to add this step and this step to the dance. WE just all looked at eachother like WHAT, are you kidding me? A bunch of us runners trying to dance but we tried. It took us a little while but we finally got the basic steps down. We were laughing more then dancing because we just could not get it at first. But starting next Thursday they are going to teach the Mambo. At least we will be there for the beginning of that dance. I never knew that dancing could be so much fun. I mean, I have taken ballet, tap and jazz for 15 years of my life but nothing like this. It was great. Now while we run we might be trying to dance to just remember what we were taught. So if you are ever in Birmingham and see runners trying to do the rock step while running you will now know why.

If you live in Birmingham and ever want to go to this class you should. Go to their website: www.curtnwendy.com and check out their schedule.

Have a great day.

any of you on myspace, check out my page, you might have to be set up as a friend first, but for those of you asking about pics of other runs, check there because I have no clue how to put them on here.

laters

http://www.myspace.com/140432859

Last night before me and my friends starting running a gentlemen showed up to run. He had no one to run with and did not know the course at all. He said that he did not think he could keep up with us and said that he would try but he usually runs alone. I told him not to worry, I completely understood because when I first started out running I would run by myself because I was so embarrassed about my weight and how slow I ran. But I talked him into running with us. We only went 3 miles and he stayed with us. However, the entire time I made sure I talked and joked around as usual to make him feel more comfortable and forget that he was running. Now keep in mind, he said that he usually runs an 11 min mile pace and well we usually take it easy on Wednesdays and run about a 9 min mile pace. Believe it or not, he stayed with us, until the last mile, I decided to push everyone a little bit. So we ran our last mile in about 8:30, he was only about 30 seconds behind us. I told him that he just ran his last mile in about 9 mins. He was so happy. He just looked at us and said, so how fast did we just run that and well I told him in about 27 minutes. He said are you sure that was 3 miles and I said yup. He was so excited. I remember those days of when I ran something so much faster then I thought I could. I use to be in his shoes, I use to run about an 11 min mile pace. The greatest thing about what happened is that not only did I get a run that day, I got to help someone else out. Running with others is such a great and wonderful experience. Especially when you help someone push further then they thought they could, or when someone pushes me further then I thought I could. People should never run alone all the time, they should always run with someone either better then them or slower then them. The reason being is because when you run with someone else you get to experience something so much more then just a run.

So I was reading this blog titled “What His Last Relationship Says About Your Current One” (to ready just copy and past the following link:

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/menlovesex/13411/what-his-last-relationship-says-about-your-current-one

I agree with much of what he has to say about men and why they do the things they do and what it means in your relationship, however, I also think that sometimes a guy just makes up things about a girl so that he feels better about breaking up with her. Or does things, like in my past relationship about a month ago, and tries to make you feel like you are worthless and crazy. My past relationship was with a guy who decided that he not only wanted to date me but many other girls. Sorry, but I don’t do that. He made me feel so unwanted and so ashamed of who I was. He made me feel as if I was going crazy, and then one of his girls that he was/is dating kept calling me towards the end of our shin-dig and told me to stay away from him, he is hers. Well, she can have him. However, what catagory would that fall into in his next relationship. I mean, he says he wants to get married, have kids, fall in love, but how do you do that if you never open up to anyone and treat all girls like crap. Okay, I just totally got off subject there. And to be honest, it is not a relationship I would really go into detail with anyone I started dating today.

Back to the blog I was reading, I believe that someone needs to write one about what it means when a girl talks about her past relationships. To be honest with you, I think whatever happened in your past relationships makes you who you are today. It makes you stronger, mentally and emotionally, it makes you realize what you want and don’t want in a relationship. And you know, who cares what happened in your past. As I have said before, the past is the past, whats done is done, you can’t change it, but you can move on and learn from it. And don’t hold a gruge against anyone, forgiveness is the best policy, it helps you move on in your next relationship.

I know from all my past relationships I would just like to meet one guy who liked me for me, who would treat me good, make me feel as if I am wanted, and make me feel as if I belonged with him. If he is out there and I ever meet him, the whole world will know, but for now, I am not looking, I am not wanting, I am just waiting for my fairy tale. Just like any other girl.

So basically I hope that you don’t have someone who only talks about their past, only talks about their past relationships, only talks about themself. You need to live for today and don’t worry about all that crap from the past, and girls, his past is his, don’t make him talk about it, because you really don’t want to tell him about yours, now do you?

Rule 1 : Life is not fair – get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will
expect you to
accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school.
You won’t be a
vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a
boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your
Grandparents had a
different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6 : If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine
about your
mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they
are
now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes
and listening to
you talk about how cool you thought you were.

So before you savethe rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s
generation, try
delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but
life
HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and
they’ll give you as
MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the
slightest
resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers
off and
very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do
that on
your own time.

Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually
have
to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for
one.

If you agree, pass it on.
If you can read this – Thank a teacher!
If you are reading it in English -Thank a soldier!

Okay, so I am crazy. As you know, the weekend of Jan 6th and 7th I ran the Goofy Challenge where you run a 1/2 marathon and a full marathon all in one weekend. I did this and finished. Became sick due to dehydration. However, finally on Friday I was starting to feel better. I was planning a trip to Mobile that weekend to go and watch my friends run the 1/2 and full marathon in Mobile, Alabama. The race was on January 14th. As you can see by the dates that is exactly one week from finishing the Goofy Challenge. I was not planning on running at all but just being a spectator. Well, we went to the expo that Saturday and I just got that feeling that I wanted to run. Why not, if I could not finish it would be no big deal since I really was not planning on running it anyways and it was for a good cause so I just signed up for the 1/2 marathon. That morning on Sunday I felt really good. I ended up starting to run the 1/2 marathon. About the 10th mile I was feeling good but becoming tired. So I slowed down my pace some. Not even realizing what my pace was I ended up finishing the 1/2 in about 2 hours and 14 minutes. I placed 15th in my age group and felt great. I still don’t hurt today. So I guess all the training that I have done in the past few months have paid off. So now I am contemplating on if I want to go and run the New Orlean’s Marathon at the end of February. I am going to be running the 1/2 marathon here in town in February, the Mercedes 1/2 marathon on Feb 11 but not sure if I should run the full in New Orleans. The reason I have thought about running this race is because some people in Mobile where talking about it and some of my friends are interested in running it too. So who knows, I might just end up running it. If not there is always next year. But right now, I am feeling great, I am ready to keep running long distance, and I plan on staying on top of my game while it last. Not sure what has come over me in the running but I hope it stays for a long time.

Come with me to a third grade classroom….. There isa nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It’s never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they’ll never speak to him again as long as he lives.The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, “Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I’m dead meat.” He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered. As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy’s lap. The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, “Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!” Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else – Susie. She tries to help, but they tell her to get out.You’ve done enough, you klutz!” Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Susie whispers back, “I wet my pants once too.” May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good. Remember…..Just going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car. Each and everyone one of us are going through tough times right
now, but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that only He can. Keep the faith

This is my story:

About 3 years ago on my 29th birthday I weighed about 210 pounds. Yes, I was overweight and not active at all. I woke up on my 29th birthday and decided that day after looking at myself in the mirror that I wanted to start the next decade of my life off right and feeling good about myself. So I decided at that moment to run. I told my mom I wanted to run a race with her the very next weekend. Without any training or anything whatsoever I just got up that Saturday morning and ran a 5k race. It was the Pollen 5k. It took me around 33 or 34 minutes to run the race. I finished though and after I finished I realized how good I felt. I did not care about my time, I did not care about anything except that I finished. (I have kept this attitude my entire time of running.) I then started running by myself on the trail on Lakeshore or showing up at the Trak Shak and running by myself. I did not know of any groups at the time and was too embarrassed to really run with anyone because I felt that I was not good enough. Finally about August I met up with Will McCally and Christy Parsons at the Kudzu 5k. They were training for the Marine Corp Marathon. They let me run with them during the race and it was the best experience of my life. I finally broke a 30 minute 5k and just was happy with the fact that I got to run with someone. At that moment I decided that I wanted to run a marathon after talking to them and decided that it was going to be the Huntsville Marathon that December of 2004. They both said I could train with them. They really helped me out and Will even went to Huntsville with me to run the race. I ran my first marathon in 5 hours and 1 minute. I was hooked as soon as I finished. I did not realize how addicted a person could become to running. I decided right then that I wanted to run a marathon in every state. Then not just 2 months later I got injured with a severe fracture in my foot and was in a boot for 8 weeks. Talk about a down fall. It was so hard not to run and not do anything active after that. I finally got out of the boot and tried everything I could to get motivated again to run. I realized that I was going to loose my dream of running a marathon in every state if I did not start getting back into the program. So my awesome parents said that if I pick any state to run a marathon in they would go with me and help me out. So we picked St. Louis in April of 2006. I trained for it just like I did the Huntsville and ended up running it in 4 hours and 41 minutes. That is 20 minutes off my first marathon. That was so awesome to me. The marathon there was a great experience because my mom was able to come out and see me at the 20th mile and help me out by giving me a coke and some gummy bears. Yes I have to have a sugar rush to help me get my sugar level back up after running that far. I felt so good about my run that I wanted to do another one right away. Well, I was not able to do one that quickly due to some other factors, but decided with a friend of mine that I wanted to run the Goofy Challenge in Orlando, Florida.

The Goofy Challenge is described as one of the craziest races in the world. It is where you run a ½ marathon on Saturday and turn around the very next day and run the full Marathon on Sunday. Well, I trained for this for months. I made sure that I ran 5 weekends in a row a 10 mile run on Saturday and a 20 mile run on Sunday. I was feeling good and everything was perfect. I was really ready. However, I was not prepared for the race when I got there. You see, the entire time that I was training for this race I trained in cooler/colder weather. I knew exactly how much water to drink, when to take goo/jelly beans, etc. However, when I got to Florida it was a totally different story. The weather was going to be in the mid 80’s and it was going to be very humid. Well, I did not train for this at all. My race did not end up like I thought it would. I ended up getting so dehydrated that for two days I have not been able to keep anything down and have done everything I can to re-hydrate myself. I learned a very valuable lesson during this race. Never try to run a ½ and a whole marathon in hot temperatures with humidity.

I am very glad that I did the race and that I finished both races with pretty good times, however, I will never do this race again. I did the half marathon in 2 hours and 19 minutes and did the marathon in 5 hours and 50 minutes.

Below are some race notes that I have regarding this race for those of you that want to know about the experience and what I probably would have done differently. For those of you that want to do the race just remember no one can predict the weather and no one can tell you how to run it but you really need to learn to listen to you body.

Race Notes

Good Points:

1. You get 3 really cool metals, Donald Duck for the ½ marathon, Mickey Mouse for the Full Marathon and Goofy for doing both.

2. You can stop and have your picture taken with every character during the race.

3. You can go to all the parks and ride the rides (you do have to pay for these passes though and get a park hopper if you want to go to the parks).

4. Expo is great, many different things to buy and see and the people are really nice.

5. People that are running on the course are great and are very helpful especially when they see you are running the Goofy.

6. You get to run thru all 4 of the parks but see notes below.

Bad Points:

1. The last bus to take you to the start leaves at 4am if you miss this then good luck getting to the start. The race does not start until 6am.

2. You have to sit on the road for 2 hours before the race starts and there either are not enough portal potties or none at all depending on which corral you are located in.

3. If you don’t bring money with you or bring your own stuff then you have nothing to eat or drink while waiting.

4. You run on mostly concrete.

5. Spectators are not allowed on the course at all except in the parking lots of the parks or in the park if they want to use their park pass to get in and if you don’t have a park hopper then if you leave the park you cannot get back in that day.

6. The only people that you see out on the roads are the water stop people or every once in awhile you will see some workers cheering you on.

7. The only people that you really see in the parks are the workers cheering you on.

8. My mother was not allowed to get near me at all on the course except when she found a spot at Epcot to sneak into and give me my soda.

9. After party on Sunday night is not really an after party. All you get is a free pass to get into a bar called Paradise Island and you pay for everything else and no one really goes because it is not something for runners.

Personal Notes:

1. I will never do this race again.

2. I will make sure that I train in the heat more to learn how to consume enough water.

3. I will make sure I have someone to run with because it is so boring to run by yourself, especially during this race since you are only in each park for about 2 miles each and the rest out in no man’s land.

4. If you don’t feel good toward the end of your marathon, just walk the last 6 miles, I did and I think that actually saved me.

5. Try to eat even though you don’t feel like it, food is fuel and you have to try anyways.

6. Drink tons and tons of water days before the races even start.

I am very glad that I did the race. I am very happy and proud of myself for actually finishing both races and conquering this hard task. I just want those of you to know that if you are thinking about doing this race make sure you have someone to run the race with, make sure that you are really prepared and make sure you train properly. I believe that I trained right, I listened to everyone, and even ultra runners gave me some great advice. I just was not prepared for the heat or the concrete. But now I am officially a Goofy Runner Girl and can say that I did it.

And now, I am preparing myself for the next race, not sure which one it will be but I now have 47 more states to run a full marathon in plus DC and have decided to do a ½ marathon in every state also since I have 46 states left for that.

I am about to be 32 years old on February 11, 2007 and will be running the Mercedes ½ Marathon. I am proud to say that I think of myself as a runner, I may not be fast, I may not have a perfect runners body (I have lost about 70 pounds since I started running), but I can tell you one thing about me, I am very happy with who I am now. Running has changed my life and has made me a much better person. Sounds crazy I know but those of you that have been in my shoes or are in my shoes now understand exactly what I am saying.

To all of you out there just starting out or have been running for awhile, good luck in whatever your goals are and just remember, what’s done is done, you cannot change the past, and you cannot predict the future, but you can do the best you can today for yourself.