The Half

To all of my sponsors, supporters, and fans:

I feel it necessary to share a little piece of information that I found out today. As you all know, I have been training for the White Rock Half Marathon on Dec. 14th; and by training, I mean following a schedule religiously since Sept. 22nd. I have been counting down the days until the race and it finally hit 3 weeks yesterday - it then became a reality that the race was just around the corner. Well, in preparation for the race, I am continuing the tradition of running the Turkey Trot with Leah this year...so, I made my way to Luke's Locker today to pick up my packet. I know a girl from A&M who works there and we were catching up since I hadn't seen her since this same time last year. She said so-and-so is pregnant; I said wow; she said what has been going on with you; I said well just running The Trot again and running in the White Rock Half; she said oh I heard that was sold out; I said I hope I've signed up for it.

Then I really started thinking about it, and in my stomach I knew something wasn't right. I immediately called Josh to ask him if he remembered seeing a receipt for the half on our CC statement - he didn't recall. I always keep confirmation emails, receipts, etc. in my hotmail account until they are past-due, so I went back to work and found no confirmation email and no receipt. I went to the White Rock Half/Marathon web site and clearly on the center of the home page it said "Half Marathon Registration is Sold Out."

To get straight to the point: I didn't sign up for the half, and after a day of frustration mixed with some laughter, I have come to the conclusion that God doesn't want me to run on that day. Now I can relax the night before at Jaclyn's wedding and eat the desserts that I otherwise would have foregone. My next decision I have to make is: Do I find another half marathon in the near future or do I skip over a half and keep training for a full?

Your dedicated runner,
Jamie

Noah's Room

Here are pictures of Noah's (our soon-to-be nephew) room. Pray that Casey has a healthy delivery and a healthy baby!

Updates

1. Casey is about to pop and we can't be more excited to meet Noah this month! We are going to see her and Jason this weekend so I'll try to post some pictures of Noah's room since it is all finished.

2. Josh and I have shared Mavs season tickets with his parents for 3 seasons now. This season we were lucky enough to get a half season on the 1st deck as opposed to the nose bleeds. (I think that's a bad sign b/c that means people are not hopeful that the Mavs will make it to the playoffs this year, and I don't blame them). Well when Josh and I went to the game this past Monday to see LeBron James play, we were so excited to sit on the 1st deck, until..........we realized our seats are directly in front of the drum line. So although we can be on the jumbotron every time we are in those seats, we are going to have to purchase ear plugs b/c the drums and symbols are extremely loud. It was a good thing I didn't have a headache that night.

3. We are finally going to Vegas in January! A good friend of ours, Jeff, is turning 30 so we are going with him and his wife to celebrate. We've never been and have been wanting to go for several years now. Luckily, Jeff knows Vegas like the back of his hand, so we won't have to map out our trip like we usually do.

4. I've been training for the White Rock Half on December 14th - it has been a lot of fun and has gone really well so far. I decided to train by myself, and I have been following a schedule that was recommended to me by my marathoner friend, Leah. It's been fun to keep up with running and take new and different classes at the Y, like Zumba for instance. It is a fun dancing/movement class with about 40 women and 2 men, and I encourage you to try it. My next class to try: hip hop.

5. Josh has started back up with building the fence for the other side of our house. It will be nice to have it all finished and know that my little workhorse did it all himself (with a little digging help from his dad).

Happy Birthdays

Since I won't remember to do this tomorrow, I figured I'd go ahead and give my birthday shout outs to 2 of my favorite people who share a birthday tomorrow:

1. my sweet and loving husband of 4 years, 4 months, and 26 days, who turns the big 29 and










2. one of my bffs in the whole wide world, Gretchen Leigh Leifeste, of 8 years, 2 months, and 10 days who is finally going to be 26











And I owe a belated happy birthday blog post to my mom who turned an age that she doesn't look on Wednesday, 10/22.











Happy Birthday to you all!

Blonde Joke

I've been struggling with what to write about recently, so I've decided to share a blonde joke (sorry mom) because we've been telling blonde jokes at work this afternoon...

There was a blonde who found herself sitting next to a lawyer on an airplane. The lawyer just kept bugging the blonde wanting her to play a game of intelligence. Finally, the lawyer offered her 10 to 1 odds and said every time the blonde could not answer one of his questions, she owed him $5, but every time he could not answer hers, he'd give her $50. The lawyer figured he could not lose, and the blonde reluctantly accepted.

The lawyer first asked, "What is the distance between the Earth and the nearest star?"

Without saying a word the blonde handed him $5. then the blonde asked, "What goes up a hill with 3 legs and comes back down the hill with 4 legs?"

Well, the lawyer looked puzzled. He took several hours, looking up everything he could on his laptop and even placing numerous air-to-ground phone calls trying to find the answer. Finally, angry and frustrated, he gave up and paid the blonde $50.
The blonde put the $50 into her purse without comment, but the lawyer insisted, "What is the answer to your question?"

Without saying a word, the blonde handed him $5.

I can touch my toes!

I owe a "thank you" to yoga, pilates, and stretching. Last night at the Y, I discovered I can sit down with my legs straight out in front of me and touch my toes for more than 5 seconds. This is a big achievement! Case was the only one blessed with flexibility in our family, but currently, I am the only one who can touch my toes (only b/c Noah is getting in the way and Case can't bend over). Now, I am not sure that means I can touch my toes while standing up?

Pilates and Muffins

I have now only been to Pilates twice in my life, but last night was a better workout than the first time I went. The instructor was a 65 year old woman - a very cute and spunky little thing, and like my friend Leah always says, I wanted to put her in a bottle and poke holes in the top and put her on my shelf. I went with a good friend, Ashley, and anytime I take a workout class with a friend, I always get giggly. So I am constantly looking over at Ashley to see if she is laughing at the ridiculous positions and things we had to do. There are several positions we did to work out our stomachs (most not flattering), and at one point the lady next to me let out a little toot and about 10 minutes later, the man in front of us let out a much louder toot, maybe even a double toot. I couldn't resist the laugh and neither could Ashley, so we rudely laughed out loud. To top it off, at the very end of the class, we were supposed to stand up, shake out our arms and legs, and stick out our tongues; needless to say, I did not participate in the tongue-sticking-out-exercise.

Liz wanted me to write about her today, but instead I am dedicating this recipe below to her which I found on the Runners World web site - and this is what the recipe was called. If you know Liz, this should be funny. Liz, I want you to make these for me, please.

Liz's Muffin Mix

The surest way to know you're eating a healthy muffin is to bake it yourself. Start with this basic low-fat recipe and add your favorite ingredients for a nutritional boost.

2 cups whole-grain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs or 1/2 cup Egg Beaters
1 cup skim milk, soy milk, or kefir
1/2 cup applesauce, regular or flavored, such as blueberry or pomegranate
1/2 cup chopped nuts, or dried, fresh, or frozen fruit

Preheat oven to 425° F. Fill a muffin tin with 12 paper muffin cups. Mix the first five dry ingredients in a large bowl. Slightly beat the eggs. Mix in the milk and applesauce. Add wet ingredients to the dry mix. Stir until just combined, sprinkling in the nuts or fruit. Spoon into muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until muffin tops are golden brown.

Calories per muffin: 230
Carbs: 46 g
Protein: 4 g
Fat: 3 g