karaspeak

I officially accomplished at least ONE of my things to do in 2009! Hooray! Though on the outset it seemed as though a half marathon would prove nearly impossible to complete, after some rigorous training thanks to my awesome coach (my dear old Dad), some tough runs, and some minor injuries, I completed my first half marathon.

Friday night my little family of three traveled to Harriman, TN for the race the next morning. It's about 2 and a half hours from Nashville, and Aiden really hated the drive! For real! Nate got me some carbo grub and we hit the hay for an early morning.

The race was in downtown Harriman, and it was such a cute little town. It began and ended in this little park along a river, so it was quite beautiful. The morning was dry and chilly, but perfect for a long run. After some preparation, stretching, and a good cup of coffee, I was off to run my race amongst the other 100 or so runners. Amazingly enough, I was the second place woman OVERALL, first in my age group, AND I beat my goal time by 20 minutes and my "dream time" by 5 minutes...and still felt AMAZING after it was all said and done.

Needless to say, I think I caught the "bug" and found myself wanting to run another one very soon. The downside to that is it's now summer and all the races are short distances. So maybe I'll start training for a full marathon and see what happens. Not sure what to do. I know I'll keep running and I'll definitely do more halves. It's a fun distance to run and I learned a lot along the way. Through my training I learned that speed days, hill days, tempo runs, and long runs only serve as preparation for the final goal and while not fun, the work truly does pay off. And I guess I can apply that to life as well...though there are some times in my life I have to do things I really hate doing or that are completely uncomfortable (even painful), it will pay off as I continue down the road of life...and the next time that challenge rolls around, it will be cake compared to what it was the first time. It's all in your perspective.

But what a fun experience, one I will remember. Especially having that cute little guy (well TWO cute little guys) there at the finish line waiting for me! You can see all the pics here.

He got to go and spend the night with Mimi and Pops after the race, which gave them some great one on one time with him and gave Nate and I a brief "staycation" at our house. It was the first time we'd been at our house without the little man there. It was kind of odd, but also quite a treat. We missed him, but he had fun on his trip! Here's some pics from his little adventure with the tricycle and exploring the outdoors! :)

And from the race:

Getting out my pre-race jitters with my little boy.

Getting ready to go!

Dad came and joined me as I passed this girl around mile 8. Felt so good!

My sweet family...

My medal for finishing...trophy too!

This week Aiden's Great-Grandma and Papaw came to visit. These are my grandparents on my Mom's side. Neither of them had met them yet, so they flew in from Texas for the day. It was short, but fun, and he had a ball getting to know them and they enjoyed spending some quality time with their first great-grandbaby!


We had a little lunch at the house and then played some before nap time. The adults caught up during Aiden's nap and then it was off to an early dinner at...you guessed it...Pueblo Real!Seriously, we eat there once a week. Not even kidding. After my grandparents left to head to their hotel, we finished up dinner and were playing around at the table. Aiden, the lover of anything food, was sucking on a chip and discovering that taste and feel. None of us quite know how, but he managed to get a bite off and it choked him...so much so we had to pump his stomach three times just to get it out. It was one of the scariest moments of my short-lived life as a mother, and one I don't wish to relive anytime soon.
(yes, that is the chip!!)
How much it makes you think about how precious their little lives are and how easily things can change. Literally seconds can separate life and death.

I am grateful Grandma and Papaw were able to come visit us in Franklin. It was a fun day! We hope to get to Texas sometime soon so the rest of the Poage clan can meet this boy!

It's been a while since I've blogged anything, which isn't to say I haven't had anything to say, Lord knows that never happens. I just needed a break in more ways than one and didn't really feel like writing much of it down. The past few weeks (well, months, really) have been quite crazy and in fact, downright overwhelming, so I just didn't really take time to blog about it. More than likely, I'll let it all be water under the bridge and just catch up to speed on what's going on now, but we'll see.

Since we have been back from Colorado, the weather has ushered us from cold to warm, the back to cold and back to warm. Oh the joys of spring in Middle Tennessee. We've braved our share of tornado sirens already and Aiden and I had a big scare one late afternoon when hail was about the size of golf balls. Of course, it was right at dinner, so I ended up taking all of it into our safe room (our closet!!) and finishing it there. Hopefully he didn't pick up on how scared I really was to be all alone in such a storm. I was brave!

Nathan has been traveling quite a bit - was in Phoenix for 12 days straight in fact. I always say, "Poo" on those types of trips. His work keeps him super busy for sure.

When he got back I headed to Charlotte to do some things at the office. Some good, others not so good. Regardless, it was good to be back albeit a bit depressing. The unemployment rate there has skyrocketed and the whole city seems to be in a constant state of head down. It's kind of sad, but it makes me really understand another reason God has us here. I don't have to see that every day or be one of them.

It's been a month of ups and downs as I said before and the drama never ceases to amaze me. As much as I try to avoid it in my life, it manages to find me one way or the other. Thank goodness God gave me a sweet baby boy who will hopefully have only a fraction of the drama a girl would have brought with her. He really knows what we need at the time we need it.

Westhaven (our neighborhood) had a huge Easter Egg Hunt April 4, so baby Aiden got to experience the thrill of finding eggs and discovering what that bunny was all about. It was fun to see him out with all the children and holding each egg gently with care, inspecting it all around and making sure it was fit to be in his basket. Despite it being slightly chilly that morning, it was a gorgeous day for the hunt.

We were lucky enough to have Nate's parents in town visiting that same weekend, so they were able to celebrate in the festivities with him and it was a fun day all around. After the hunt, we walked around the neighborhood and visited some of the open house homes and let Aiden walk around in them...since that's his new thing...and he has to do it all the time! It tuckered him out, so it was back for naps, then off to dinner at our favorite mexican joint, Pueblo Real, where everybody really does know our name.

The Tablers left the following morning and Aiden spent the rest of the weekend playing with his new found love of plastic Easter eggs. It's so hard to imagine that at this same time last year he wasn't even here, and this same time next year he'll be almost two years old! How quickly these times fly by when we are in the midst of them. It excites me for him to discover the real meaning behind Easter and watch the joy he has now magnify itself thousands of times over. He is such a joy and full of life and makes me appreciate every second.