More Snow Days…

We had more snow!!! It’s really rare to get two big snowfalls in one winter in middle Tennessee. These were the biggest snowflakes that I’ve ever seen falling. I ended up staying inside, wrapped up in a knit blanket in front of the fire, reading most of the time. The boys got out and played in it, though.

I love these pictures…one of Jonas and Pranav and one of Roman and Luka (sweet boys my boys have been friends with since kindergarten).

Darren’s Visit…

We loved getting to visit with my brother, Darren, over the holidays. He and I had a fun day together playing frisbee golf, catching up over lunch at Birdie’s (one of my favorite restaurants in Nolensville), and hanging out with Tom and the boys.

We spent Christmas day at Mom and Marty’s…visiting, eating, and opening presents with everybody. Darren made the most delicious stuffing with mushrooms, bacon, and creme fraiche. I know my mom was in heaven having all of her babies home with her. I love this picture of Mom, Darren, and my boys!

Celebrating Early…

We celebrated Christmas early with Dad and Sheri. It was so good to see everybody…to hug my Aunt Jean, to listen to Dylan’s stories about the Crucible recruit training for the marines, to share worship music with Daddy, to love on Sheri and enjoy her cooking, and to catch up on life with my sisters and brother-in-law and niece. Blessed by togetherness.

Rocket City Marathon…

I have been training for my second marathon since August 23, 2021.

That’s sixteen weeks of getting up early, running when I want to, running when I don’t want to, prioritizing running over everything, running when it’s hot out, running when it’s cold out, running before the sun comes up, running after the sun goes down, running by myself, listening to music, listening to audiobooks, hydrating, refueling, checking my pace, stretching, praying, counting mailboxes running up hills, flinging my arms wide running down hills, thinking, philosophizing, breathing, and enjoying being out in nature.

It was an interesting phenomenon this time around…I burned out mentally about halfway through my training. I don’t know what happened, but it was REALLY hard for me to stay motivated. Once I’m committed to something, though…I have to see it through. But man the struggle was real. The taper is always tough for me…those two weeks at the end where you cut your mileage way back to rest your legs and gear up for race day. It tends to send me into a bit of a mental tailspin. So, I ended up doing most of my mileage on our stationary bike at home those last few weeks and wondering if I would even be able to/care to run on race day.

I drove down to Huntsville, Alabama on December 10. I checked into the hotel, grabbed dinner at Taziki’s, headed back to the hotel to get all of my gear ready for the run, showered, and got into bed early. I woke up around 530 am the next morning, checked my email, and saw that the marathon was canceled due to the weather. It was the weekend of the tornados. It put a lot of things into perspective just knowing how many people had lost their homes and their lives due to the severe weather that morning. I packed everything up and drove home.

I decided to get up the next morning and run the 26.2 miles at Crockett Park, my favorite local park for long runs. The weather was perfect, and Tom and the boys came out to cheer me on for the last few miles. (Jonas even ran with me for the last mile…which I don’t think was too rough on him because he could walk and still keep up with me at that point because I was running so slow…haha.)

I’m so grateful to have crossed that finish line.

Natchez Trace State Park…

We went to Natchez Trace State Park over Fall Break! We stayed in a cabin, went hiking and kayaking, relaxed in the hammock on the back porch, read books, took naps (Tom and I), played video games (the boys), cooked hot dogs and s’mores over the fire, etc. It was really relaxing and refreshing…I want to do it again next year!

Exotic Animal Expo…

Tom and I took the boys and their best neighborhood friend, Jeremy, to an Exotic Animal Expo at the fairgrounds. We bumped into Tom’s friend, Brendan Reynolds, who is the “Reptile Guy”…he let the boys hold a banana ball python!!! They loved getting to see all kinds of exotic animals…spider monkeys, fennec foxes, sugar gliders, axolotls, etc. They especially liked the ones they got to hold…

Drum Lessons…

Roman is LOVING his drum lessons with Mr. Lael. He is so hands-on, encouraging, fun-loving…and teaches through songs Roman likes. Roman adds songs he’s interested in learning to Amazon Music, then Mr. Lael listens down with him and starts working on a song with him (if it’s one that fits the level of drums that they’re working on at the time). I have never seen Roman that engaged in and lit up by anything…it’s a beautiful thing. Today, he leveled up to Level 2!