26.2 (barely)

Whew… Well I’m back in Raleigh after a crazy fun weekend in Ohio.  We saw lots of friends that I miss DEARLY and I absolutely loved getting to introduce the husband to “my Cedarville-world.” My years at Cedarville were so formative and I had such a wonderful “Cedarville experience,” so it was really important for him to meet the folks who had such an impact on my life! Loved every second of it. Definitely TOO short of a trip.

Race day was crazy. The weather at first was a little yucky, but it turned out to be decent running weather after about mile 8. Cool – not too hot or cold – and a little drizzle. Praise God for no thunderstorms!!!

Trashbags to keep us from getting soaked before the race…

Alicia and her husband Pat. Pat did the half and Alicia conquered her first full! WAY TO GO ALICIA!!!!!

This race was significantly more difficult for me in comparison to my first marathon in Raleigh. And if you think I’m just being modest, you can tell from my time alone. In raleigh, I finished in approx. 4 hrs. and 40 min. This time, I added an entire hour. Last time when I finished I was sore. This time, I’m in pain. Last time, I didn’t walk except through water stations. This time, I walked at least 2 full miles after mile 21 and then when I did start running again, I was being passed by fast walkers. 🙂 I even passed by a race medic and they asked if I wanted my leg wrapped (evidently I looked ridiculous while running/limping/gimping).

That’s right. I was in the back of the pack, finishing with the elderly, injured, and the walkers.

But I finished.

This fella was such a good man… texting me… making sure I was ok… having friends shoot me texts. It was really encouraging to have family and friends communicating encouragement/prayers/support during those difficult miles. Especially when I was so disappointed with my time and race performance.

I’m thrilled that I finished, but what I’m MOST excited about is the $2500 that will go directly to water projects in Uganda through Samaritan’s Purse. I loved being a part of Team Samaritan’s Purse and am so excited about the work that they do! So THANK YOU to many of you who helped bring water to the Kihuura community. Your generosity far outweighs the joys of finishing a marathon. You made it worth every mile.

Tonight… the sweet Mister got me a deep tissue massage for some post-race body therapy and I can’t wait!!!!!!!!! Seriously… I think I NEED it. And I’m fairly certain that if you saw me walking today you would agree. 🙂

Happy Monday!

Staycation Over.

I’m sorry. I know… I’ve been a bad blogger this past weekend. 🙂 Sorry for the absence. BUT as a result… here is a jammed pack crazy review of the past few days and the staycation.

First thing you should know… I wrote LOTS of papers… Which means (drum roll) I am DONE with all of my seminary papers. BOOYAH. May 18th can’t come soon enough.

Second, I learned how to make Strawberry jam from my Mil (mother-in-law) during our hiatus to Rose Hill. If you know me… you know that strawberries might be on my top 5 fav. things in this world, so this was a really good thing. I thought it was going to be really complicated, but it wasn’t nearly as crazy of an event as I thought it would be.

(sorry for the pic quality… taken from my phone… not as great as my camera… I know)

the jam cooking

and then we returned to Raleigh, I used some extra fabric and made a few of these:

Cute eh?

Then we had a wedding this weekend that was pretty much a high school reunion for the Mister. I think my fav. thing about weddings from his home town is that it’s guaranteed family time with the Salmon crew… and what a crazy crew they are! I know not everyone adores their in-laws like I do… so I am TRULY blessed.

And then last night (I told you we had a lot of catching up to do…) we went and grabbed some Froyo with some of my fav’s. With all of the “adults” plus all the kiddos, I think we took over yogurt mountain’s patio area. Folks didn’t know what hit them. Here are some of my fav photos from the evening.

First things first: the Watermelon Sorbet is fantastic. I tried it skeptically and am now addicted. Add fresh fruit and sour gummy worms and it is to die for. Seriously, go get you some.

Disclaimer: Some of my friends’ kids are so stinkin’ cute. I couldn’t help but keep snapping shots of them. So sorry about the surplus of kiddy photos, but seriously how can you not love these faces. 🙂

This cutie kept asking me to take photos of her, YES. Yes I will, gladly.

The Mister with sweet Em. I love this photo!

I love the little leaf on her dress!

Caption, “Taylor, what are you doing to my baby?” I kinda love these ladies.

Sweet Eve!

I also love this one of Callie and her girls.

Ok… now that I’ve just overwhelmed you with lots of photos… (SORRY! I just couldn’t help myself!) I must go…

Oh one more thing… I also sewed a lot but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see all the fun little goodies that were made for Adding Anna Carson.

Much love!

Rose Hill Bound!

Guys, it’s going to be a great rest of the week. The beginning of the week I spent the majority of my time reading and writing on these:

No, my project is still unfinished (only 5 pages shy), but we Salmon’s were feeling the need for some rest, relaxation, and family time! So yesterday after I went to NC State, met with some folks in my department, picked up this handy thing (see below),  AND then we hopped in the car and headed to Rose Hill, North Carolina. Home of the world’s LARGEST frying pan and the Salmon family.

GO PACK!

Love this. See I wasn’t lying! It’s huge!

Anyways, so me and blogging may not happen these next few days… we shall see. I might be too busy making strawberry jam and sleeping.

Much love! B