Memorial Weekend and 5K For Asthma Awarness

This weekend was a fun filled and somewhat sad Memorial Weekend. Friday we brought our baby boy TJ (our boxer) to a friend of mine for them to have. He was not adjusting to the apartment style life and if you have ever had a big dog, you know that they need more room than an apartment. My friend has another boxer that is the same age as TJ, so we gave him to them. We know that they will take good care of him and it was so hard for us to give him away, but we know he is happier there. Plus, we can see him whenever we want too. Before we left though, we had a little photo shoot with him. :0)

 We are going to miss him, but it is for the best!

My sister-in-law and her husband came down Friday evening and we hung out at a place that had all kinds of neat things. Bumper cars, batting cages, paintball/areosoft wars and much more. It was a ton of fun and was not that expensive.

 Brian batting first with balls coming very very fast.

I started off in slow pitch, but the next round I moved up to medium pitch. I have not played softball since I was around 10 or 11 years old. 

Then we went to the bumper cars. I spent a  lot of the time trying to catch up to Brian, but I couldn't get to him until the very end. Every time I would turn a corner though, Karen was trying to come up right behind me, but she never could pass me. hehe

 Sorry it is sideways. Forgot to change it before I loaded it.

Then we played something called Phaserzone. It was like paintball, but the little balls were not filled with paint. They still hurt whenever they hit your feet though. 

Don't we look so tough?

Saturday we relaxed and didn't really do a whole lot. Sunday, we got to go to a new church and it was really good. The pastor has such a dry sense of humor, but we really enjoyed listening to him. They recognized all the military personnel and my brother was one of those people. He served in the Air Force for  4 1/2 or 5 years I think. The service brought me to tears thinking of all the people who are fighting so that we can be free here in America.

I spent Monday with my nieces and got to watch them and play with them as well as eat some good food. Then Brian and I hung out with some friends and played a different version of Chicken Foot. It was fun and competitive, but still fun. 

******************************************

I signed up last week for a virtual 5K supporting Asthma Awareness. I have not ran 3 miles in a long time and I thought this was as good a time as any. I went out and it was very hot outside. I decided to run at a park close by so that I could run in the shade most of the time and not overheat. It was a little hard to breathe from the heat, but I tried to fight through it. I did feel like I was going to throw up one time, so I slowed down and took a break. There was not that many people out there, so that was very nice despite the heat. 

This is before I headed out to go run. I loved the bibs that Ros made. They were very creative. Thank you! 

I had to run a few different ways because the park is pretty small, but I still got it done in 35 minutes. I haven't ran in a while, so I a coming back slowly but surely! 

You can tell how hot it is by my face. I was sweating and my shirt was a darker shade of orange from all the sweat. 

 This is the park that I ran at. So pretty. Brian and I also play Disc Golf here.

Whenever I got back home I was planning on going swimming, but the pool is closed. So I went to the local Kroger and got some more Greek Yogurt and granola and had a nice cool bowl of that. 

Yummy!!!!!!!

Add that with a bottle of water and then another bottle of water mixed with GU Brew!! Yum Yum Yum!!! 

Now, I am just relaxing, washing clothes and picking up. My parents are coming today and I am going to hang out with them for a little bit.

Question: How was everybody's memorial day?

Mine was amazing and I had a great time hanging out with different people. 

Question: Have you ever tried Greek Yogurt? 

I love buying the YoGreek Yogurt. It comes with granola already, but I also like the Dannon. Those are the only two brands that I have tried.

"Stronger"

I heard this song today while I was filling out applications and it really hit very close to home for me right now. I love the artist Mandisa and this song is truly inspirational for when you are striving for something. Whether it be, a new job, running a certain distance or working for a certain goal! I highlighted some of the parts that I love the most! I almost have the song memorized because of how many times I have listened to it!

Here are the lyrics....

Hey, heard you were up all night
Thinking about how your world ain't right
And you wonder if things will ever get better
And you're asking why is it always raining on you
When all you want is just a little good news
Instead of standing there stuck out in the weather

Oh, don't hang your head
It's gonna end
God's right there
Even if it's hard to see Him
I promise you that He still cares

When the waves are taking you under
Hold on just a little bit longer
He knows that this is gonna make you stronger, stronger
The pain ain't gonna last forever
And things can only get better
Believe me
This is gonna make you stronger
Gonna make you stronger, stronger, stronger
Believe me, this is gonna make you ...

Try and do the best you can
Hold on and let Him hold your hand
And go on and fall into the arms of Jesus
Oh, lift your head it's gonna end
God's right there
Even when you just can't feel Him
I promise you that He still cares

'Cause if He started this work in your life
He will be faithful to complete it
If only you believe it
He knows how much it hurts
And I'm sure that He's gonna help you get through this

When the waves are taking you under
Hold on just a little bit longer
He knows that this is gonna make you stronger, stronger
The pain ain't gonna last forever
In time it's gonna get better
Believe me
This is gonna make you stronger

This is so so powerful to me right now.  I love it and a bunch of her other songs are so good too! I hope you are all having a terrific Thursday!

A WINNER and a little Frisbee Golf

Last week I posted a giveaway for an Allied Medal Hanger and I chose the winner today by using random.org. I am so excited about getting to give one of these away. I'm sorry I have not gotten to it until now, but I have been super busy this past weekend.

Okay Okay, enough of me rambling, the winner is..........

Vanessa@Gourmetrunner. 

Vanessa, send me an email at kaylajea87@yahoo.com and I will get you the information about what you need to do to get your medal hanger. Congratulations Vanessa!!!

***********************************************

Yesterday, Brian and I went and ran at a local park. Yes, that is right, it is a park that is right down the road from us. Coming from the country and not being close to a park at all, I am so excited that this one is less than a mile away. Although I can not run there, because the highway is extremely busy. Anyways, we went and ran 2 easy miles. This was my first time back training wise since I hurt my knee at my last half in Dallas. I wanted to take a good bit of time off. I took the 2 mile run very slow and added in plenty of walk breaks so I would not over extend myself just yet. 

As we were running, we saw these people playing Frisbee golf. I have only played once and that was a LONG time ago. Brian and I got intrigued by it, so we went and bought a couple of Frisbee golf frisbees at Academy and headed back out to the park. 

 Needless to say we are not pros as you can see by Brian's frisbee going into that tree, but hey it was exercise and at least we are trying. 

Brian's frisbee's.

I know you are probably thinking, how in the world is frisbee golf exercise? Well, first off you are using your arms to throw the frisbee. That is not a natural movement for your arms usually.

My firsbee's. We have a putter one and a distance frisbee.

Secondly, you are either having to hop or skip down the path to throw the frisbee the distance you want too.

Thirdly, you have to walking/running for 18 holes, which is about 1.5-2 miles. And then you also have to climb down in trenches and ditches when you throw your frisbee down there, like my husband had to do.

You also are working your stomach/abs, because you are having to twist your body to throw the frisbee. But you can of course have a little fun, like we did while playing.

Brian is Mickey Mouse. Can you guess what I am.....

I am Minnie Mouse. Do you like my red makeshift bow? hehe

We finished our game, without keeping score and even got some great tips from people as we were playing. Some of these people out there were AMAZING! I did not realize that Frisbee Golf was a professional sport.

I hope everybody else had an active day. If you have not tried Frisbee golf, find a park and try it out. It is fun and you can get some exercise out of it!

Congratulations again Vanessa. Contact me and we will get your medal hanger to you!!!

Last Day to Enter my giveaway!!!!

Alrighty girls and guys, today is the very LAST day to enter my giveaway for an Allied Medal Hanger. If you have not checked out my giveaway yet, head over to my blog and check it out. You will not regret it. If you want to try and win one of these beauties.....

Yours will be from a select group, not personalized like mine.

 

So hurry, GO CHECK IT OUT!!!!! You will not regret it!

Our 2nd Anniversary

This past Monday, Brian and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary. We were married on May 16, 2009. It is crazy to believe that we have already made it two years and there are so many more years to come. One of our friends said this quote, mainly about Brian...."Wow, 2 years. I can not believe you have put up with Brian for 2 years already!" haha I loved it. If you only knew my husband you would understand. I love him to death even for all his querks and mine.

We got a gift card to Logan's Roadhouse for our anniversary from his parents so instead of going to olive garden which was our original plan, we decided to go to Logan's since it would be on the house. hehe
Before we left though, we went to my sister-in-law's house to have a little miniature photo shoot. Here are just a few of my favorite shots that she took...

No matter what or how I feel, Brian always makes me laugh.

At this time, I sat on his knee and he said, "What am I , Santa Claus?" So I proceeded to say, "Yes, I want a pony and a new house and a little puppy!! haha

Then whenever he tried to get up, my sister-in-law said, don't drop her....and he said, "I won't drop her, see I can pick her up and so he hoisted me up in his arms!!! My night in shining armor!! :0)















We headed off to Logan's, had a great time and then came back home. A week before our anniversary Brian gave me my early gift and guess what it was.......

You like that face I am making. I was waiting for him to say I could open it!

If you can see it, it is a Amazon Kindle! I love it!!!
He made me close my eyes and put my hands behind my back and then he set it in my lap. I love reading, and I am always buying books, but now I won't have to buy any more books, which Brian will be so happy about!

I LOVE IT!!

He also got me a case to go with it that has a night light on it, that way the lamp will not keep him awake at night. I think this was as much his gift as it was mine. haha

****************************************

Last but not least, I finally got my medal hanger hung up!! 

You want to see what it looks like???

If you have not seen my review and giveaway yet, there is only one more day to enter it. Come check it out HERE. 

Only one day left to win one of these medal hangers!! Come check it out and tell your friends!

GIVEAWAY & Review: Allied Steel Medal Displays

That is right folks. I am finally doing my review and giveaway for and Allied Steel Medal Displays. I can not begin to tell you how amazing the people who create these amazing designs are. If you have never heard of Allied Steel Medal Displays you can go to their website HERE.

Alrighty, let's start the review...

I had first heard of Allied Medal hangers from my sister-in-law Karen whenever she got one. I didn't have any medals at that time, so didn't think anything of it. After I ran my first, second, third, and then fourth half marathon I started trying to find a place to hang these medals. They hung for a long time on one of my mirrors. At many of the Expos I shopped around at all the different medal hangs, but the one that kept sticking out to me was Allied Medal Displays. I loved many things about them such as...

1. They were very personal with you and your ideas. 
2. They would work with you if you were not sure what you wanted. 
3. They would respond personally to your e-mails. 

And so much more. 

I e-mailed Joel at Allied Medal Displays 2 weeks ago in the morning about a personalized design that I had in my mind and wanted to see what they could come up with and how much it would cost.  That evening I had a response from somebody with a picture attached of what my design would look like. (I will show you this in a little bit)

Not only did I like it, but I LOVED it!

 The next thing I know, I received an e-mail that I would receive my medal hanger within the next couple of days.

Here are a just a few pictures of Medal Hangers that they have done for other people.

Are they not AMAZING!

Here is what I designed and received from Allied Medal Displays.....

My box came in from these amazing people! 

I was so excited I could barley take any of the pictures, but I still go them. I opened up the box and it was packaged so great!

It had a bunch of wrapping on top and then the medal hanger was underneath all the brown packaging paper.

I took out my medal hanger and it was wrapped up some more.

It had a Caution sticker on the top that read....

It was right. The edges were quite sharp.
Then I opened up the paper and there it was....My MEDAL HANGER!!

Sorry it is glared, but it says, "Run to Reach Your Prize". It has a running girl on the right hand side and a cross on the other side, because it is part of a verse out of the bible.

It has instructions in it also on how to hang up the medal hanger.

I just LOVE my Allied Medal Display!

I do not currently have it hanging up with medals on it, because we are in the process of moving, but as soon as I have it hung up, I will have medals on it.

Now, I know you are wondering....How can I enter to win one these amazing medal displays????????? Here is what you have to do:

Each one is a separate entry.

To Enter:
 Mandatory:
1. Become a follower of  my blog "Running Through Life" and leave me a comment or tell me in a comment you already are.

Bonus Entries:
1. +1 each: Like Allied Medal Hangers on facebook.

2. +1 each: Go to the Allied Steels Medal Display Website.
Let me know which Medal Display you like the best.

3. +1 each: Share this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, and tell me in a comment what you did.

Deadline for entry is THIS Friday, May 20th.

Winner will be chosen via random.org and announced soon after

Good Luck!

Oh Where oh Where is my husbands iPod

Oh where oh where is my husbands iPod, oh where oh where could it be? I have searched hi and searched low, but still it is nowhere to be seen! 

About a month ago, Brian could not find his iPod touch. Other then our boxer TJ, this iPod is like his baby. Well I searched for about 3 days and still could not find it. I was a nervous wreck because he was so upset and I thought that I had lost it. I even told him that for our anniversary I was going to get him a new one to replace his old one. I felt SO BAD!

WELL, guess what I found today while packing.........YEP, you are right, I found his iPod, but you will never guess where.

In the utility room (laundry room). I pulled a wicker basket out that I had not touched since we moved here a year ago and was going to take it with us, but needed to clean it out. I pulled a few things out of it and then there it was, underneath a stud finder. I was ecstatic!!!!! My first thought was that I could put it in the original case and pretend like I got him a new one for our anniversary, and then whenever he looked at it, he would know it was his. But I knew that would probably freak him out. So instead, I called him and told him and he said, "So, you hid it from me and now you are just now finding it!" hahahahahaha

I am charging it now, but he was so excited that I found it! I was happy to, because that saved us another $200+ dollars for another iPod touch.

I just had to share my good news. Back to packing and loading up!

I hope everybody has had a Wonderful Wednesday!

Cleaning, Moving, Giveaway Coming

I have been packing and cleaning since this past Wednesday. It has been crazy. Brian and I are moving to an apartment complex that is cheaper than what we are paying right now this next weekend. We have been researching apartment complexes, duplexes and town homes in our area for a while now and everything has been out of our price range or not in a good area. Here is what happened though, because without God, I do not think this would have been possible.

*We had been looking up apartment complexes for a long time, however I had not called any of them because I was nervous about pet deposits (we have two dogs, a morkie and a boxer).

*I had about five apartment complexes online that I was looking between and I decided that I would call one of them out of the blue that looked fairly nice and their rent was not too high.

*The first thing that I asked them was about the pet deposit. How much was it? They told me $300.00. I was a little shocked and then I asked if State employees got any discounts. They said they were looking for a security officer and I quickly responded with, "Let me call my husband and I will be right back with you."

*I called Brian and asked if he would want to do that or not? He told me to schedule an appointment and we would go there after he got off work.

*I called the apartment complex back and scheduled the appointment. We went there, LOVED IT and then put a down payment down.

*Now, HERE is the kicker......

*The down payment was $200 less than what it should have been because they are running a special. We also only have to pay one pet deposit instead of TWO and we are getting our rent HALF off!!!!

I almost can not believe it myself. We are going to be paying LESS than what we are paying now and it will be our OWN place. Brian and I both were beyond excited and I just kept asking myself, "What is the catch?"

It is gated, has a workout facility and a pool, and it is very close to shopping and places I can get a part time job until I can find a teaching job! It is a HUGE blessing in our lifes right now and I am still in shock.
Now comes the fun part. We are moving this next weekend and I am also going on a Prayerscape Retreat. So that means, Brian gets to move by himself (and his dad), but still without me there. That makes me a little beyond nervous!
Here is a picture of the apartment that we chose. We are upstairs, so we will have to get used to that.

It is small, but it is ours and this gives us a chance to see exactly where we want to live and in what area. We are still not sure exactly where we want to live right now or where we want to buy a house at. We have quite a few options.

So along with moving, comes CLEANING. I love to clean, but not pack at the same time. I just started using this new cleaning items called Method and LOVE IT!! It is a naturally-derived, biodegradable product that is safe for humans and animals.

My favorites right now are the Pink Grapefruit multi purpose cleaner, the tube and tile cleaner and the Baby bowl toilet cleaner. It smells amazing and is safe for you. You can find it at Target as well as online Here.

**********************************************

Last, but not least, I will have a review and giveaway for Allied Medal Displays in the next week. I am waiting until after I move, so that I will have things organized. I am so excited to do this review and giveaway, so stay tuned for it!

WWIII.5 Mud Run Recap

This past Saturday was a very busy day for me. I ran the WWIII.5 Mud run. It was 3.5 miles long and had some amazing obstacles. There was over 10+ obstacles in the race and I had a great time. Here is quite a few pictures, but a recap of the race.

Here is my outfit for the race. I was not exactly what to wear, but I wanted ot be prepared. I had bikini bottoms, black shorts with compression shorts underneath, my dri fit top with another tighter top underneath just in case my shirt came up for some reason. I also had old shoes and socks.

My mom made out shirts. Here is the back.

We started out in a group of friends and we would eventually split up into a group of 2 and 3 people.

We dedicated this race to our Coach who has been going through quite a bit lately with the school in our area. I can not discuss that now, but maybe soon I can.

Our group of girls ready to complete the race.

The backs of our shirts.

I got my game face on and I am ready to GO!!!

Here are some of the obstacles. This was one of the first ones. They had a pansy side and a kamakasy side that you could choose from. The side with the orange barrels was the harder side and that is of course what I completed. 

The obstacle above was not very easy. You had to jump over the logs and then jump up on the spindle. I jumped on it and then had to shimmy my way over it. It was not that easy!

We finally saw Brian and I was so excited to see him.

I had gotten a little bit muddy, and tried to flick mud on him, but he said he did not feel it! haha

Here was the mud trench. This was not easy at all. I had to walk along the side and almost got my shoes stuck quite a few times. Next year I will hopefully be wearing some of the barefoot shoes. Those would be awesome for this race.

You see those little pink dots....yeah that is me. I was jumping up so that Brian could see me.

Then we saw him again before we had to crawl on the dirt in the next obstacle.
After we crawled in the dirt, we had to slide down a barrel into a mud pit! 

And then climb up a extremely muddy hill. I had to grab onto tree roots so that I could make it up the hill or else I would have fallen straight back down.

Then we came to this huge water pit. We had to walk down in it and then it dropped off to a little deeper than 4 ft. You had to swim to the barrel and then swim back to shore. I LOVED IT!!

 See the pink dots. That is us again!

The people walking behind us I have known for a long time. They did awesome in the race.

Running the last little bit of the race. We had three more obstacles to go and I am waiting to get those pictures hopefully from the photographers.

This was the last obstacle that we went through. you had to climb over a ship and then crawl through this awesomely thick mud! 

 Woohooo We finished the race!! It was so fun and as you can tell...very very muddy!!

I was threatening Brian that we were going to come and hug him! haha

That's right. I just completed the WWIII.5 Mud Run and so enjoyed getting all muddy!

Tammy and I with our medals after the race.
I tried to come after Brian in these next few pictures. He was not a fan of it at all!

 He still loves me though!

The back of my shirt was still pink, but the front was a different story.
Check out the awesome medal that we got for completing it. It is so different then any other medal I have. It is in the shape of a Dog tag for World War 3.5.....Get It....Soldiers.......Dog Tags! haha

All of the girls after the run!

 The fire department was there to rinse everybody off after they finished the race.

 We were all clean! Brian decided to jump into a picture now since we were mostly clean.

Brian and I walked around for a little bit. We got some free food, took pictures in front of the front end of a plane, saw Woody and Buzz and then headed on home.

Overall, it was an amazing race and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I WISH I could do another one this weekend. I was not worried about a time for this race, because I was just doing it for the obstacles and the fun of it! I had a great time. If you have never done a mud run, you should find one in your area and look into it. It was definitely worth it!