It's hot as Hell-o operator

I'm stating the obvious, but it is hot.
Miserably hot.
Hot that you find in hell, hot.

How in the world anyone really loves summer I will never know, unless of course you can live at the beach or something... with ocean breezes, low humidity and have a constant water source. Living in Middle Tennessee, during a drought, when it's 107 outside isn't awesome. AT. ALL.

Blah. It's making me grouchy.

Josh has worked basically 5 days straight and when I say straight I mean like 20 to 24 hr days. He hasn't been home all week. Actually, he got home this afternoon, but he's been gone since Monday and today had to ride from Pulaski with diesel fuel on him so he has a serious case of exhaustion/diesel fuel headache. He's sleeping now, which he never does when he comes home from work, no matter how long the shift, so I know he isn't feeling awesome...........Maybe I should check his pulse........

I think that's part of my blah...Him being gone. I miss him.
And I need a break from Major. We are bored with each other.

So today as it is 107 blazing hellish degrees outside we've done everything my brain can think of inside this house.
We've tried new experiments and old, made hopscotch inside, washed (toy) cars, danced, crafted, colored, practiced writing, played dinosaurs, bakegans, transformers and hide and seek. I am trying not to let him sit in front of the tv but he did watch A Land Before Time earlier. It's 3:09. Dear Lord. Tomorrow we are solo again because Daddy-O is on shift. Despite the heat we may have to go somewhere and do something fun. I dunno, but I don't wanna be stuck inside all day.

I have to say, it is nice to have the time to clean my house, do laundry and spend time with my little dude, even though it is ridiculous outside. I'm grateful I don't have to be at work right now and that I can be home with him even if we are driving each other crazy.

Next week is just gonna be in the 90's! Holla! And bonus there is a 30% chance of rain each day. Thank you, LORD! Let it rain!!!!!! And storm! I hope it cools off a few degrees and that we get some much needed rain.

All of that to say I am a FALL girl. From The first of October to the end of November....4 to 6 weeks of magnificent, wonderful, crisp fall air...pumpkins, bonfires, cider, halloween and Thanksgiving. Oh it's so wonderful. I am dreaming of that already. Too bad fall doesn't last as long as summer. That would be awesome if we could do a switch-eroo. I mean, who wouldn't love 4 months of amazing fall weather? I dunno!

So here's to keeping it cool. Staying in the shade. Drinking lots of sweet tea and lemonade and soaking up every moment "stuck" inside with my Major-man.

Sounds Baseball

Last weekend we took Major to his first Sounds game. It was awesome! We had a ton of fun. We went with our playgroup so he had little friends all around. When the game first started he didn't know what to watch for or what was going on but he caught on quickly. We were trash talking, kindly trash talking, the other team. We were yelling Hey batter batter batter......Haha! It was fun to hear him and watch his excitement. He was most thrilled about the fireworks and running the bases after the game. I have to say innings 3-7 I could have done without...otherwise it was a super fun night with my 2 guys!

Pre-game

 With one of his besties

 Trying to figure it all out

 Fireworks

 Running the bases

 Such a fun family night

I have several things on the "fun things to do this summer" list that I hope to get done. This was one of them. I had a ball and know Major did too. Good memories for sure.

Running Check-In Week 3

I'm just trucking right along. Running is becoming part of my routine. I am beginning to enjoy it, love it even. I look forward to it, which is something I never thought I'd say. Don't get me wrong, it still isn't easy for me, I am slow as can be and usually I am happy to reach whatever that milage for the day is, but it us something that I am definitely enjoying more and more. I am starting to see a change in my body too, which is the best motivation possible!
Here are this weeks stats:

Day 1: Monday. Just over 4 miles. It was a decent run. Hot for sure and I messed up my running course, but I was happy to run that 4.

Day 2: Tuesday. Ok, Josh got home from work at around 2pm, my parents were coming for dinner at 5. I knew if I was gonna run that day it needed to be in the thick of the day. I know better to run in the heat and at that time, blah blah blah, but I needed to run that day. I was planning on 3 miles and set out at about 3pm. I took dumb dog Tillie with me. So there were 2 strikes on me before I even left the yard. It was a million degrees out and Tillie is an idiot running partner. I drug her most of the way. We couldn't get in a rhythm together. My bicep was burning so much from basically dragging her. She wanted to stop to smell everything, chew everything, take a poop and I swear she peed 40 times. Anyway, after a mile, I turned around and ran back home, so that was a hard, disappointing and HOT 2 miles.

Day 3: Wednesday. I wasn't supposed to run on Wednesday but bc Josh ended up being off and because of my fail of a run the day before I ran 3. It seemed like a pretty quick run. I kept a 10 mile pace, but it was still really hot. I did have some soreness behind my left knee but it felt better by the next day.

Day 4: Thursday. Major was in school so this was the first day Josh and I got to run "together". When I say together, I really mean we started at the same point and he waited 20 minutes for me to catch up and finish. :)
My goal that day was 4.5 because I knew I had a 5 mile run on Saturday. We ended up running 4.86. I was pleased with that and had a decent time. Even though we ran in the am it was still so stinkin hot.

Day 5: Saturday (today). I wanted to get up early and run before it got hot. I originally said 5 am, but we were out to midnight at the Sounds game, so it was almost 1 am before we got in bed. Because of that I gave myself an hour. I set the alarm for 6 and was running by 10 after. I had a 5 mile goal and 5 miles it was. It was a cool and almost perfect morning run. I ran straight down the highway in Watertown then back. The only bad thing about this run was at mile 3 I started dry heaving and all I could taste was the nasty ball part hotdog I had the night before. GAG! I pushed through and got back home around 7. Josh and Major were still sleeping so I cooled off, drank some water, checked email and realized how tired I was. I changed clothes and laid down, just to rest my eyes, til they got up. In the meantime, Josh got up and ran with Tillie and Major woke me up at almost 11 am!!!!! Not only did Major sleep that long, but I couldn't believe I did too. I don't think Ive ever slept that long! Haha! It was nice.

So for the week I had about 19 miles. Not too bad. Next week is 3, 3, 4, 5. I think I'm gonna mix that up a bit though. I am thinking more like 3, 4.5, 3, 5.5.  I still haven't registered us for the 10k on July 4th bc I am a cheapskate but I think I will follow through with that tomorrow. :) Anyway, another week under my belt; 19 more miles and a ton more confidence for sure going into week 4.

Thanks for checking in with me. :)

Running check in week 2

So week 2 went well.

I looked forward to running.

What?

Did I just say that?

Haha. Yep. I am looking forward to each run ore and more.
My training program said run 3,4,3,4.5

Here's the recap:
Day 1 wasn't a great run at all. I went to providence just to mix things up and it was humid as crap. I ran 2.36 and called it a morning.

Day 2 was the best run I've had to date. I was in the zone the whole way. I felt good and strong, my breathing was regulated and I didn't cramp or get uncomfortable at all. I stopped at 4.04 miles but felt like I could keep going.

Day 3 I ran my 3 miles and it was good. I felt good during and after.

Day 4 I ran 4.5. It was hot as hades. I didn't choose the best time to run at all. It was so hot and as a result, so hard. I did fine for the first 2 miles or so, mile 3 sucked bad mile 4 til 4.5 were good, but I was ready to be DONE! No more running at 3 pm in the summer.

Week 3 started today and is went awesome. Just over 4 miles. I ran it all and felt really good the whole way. My legs are sore, but that's part of it :) I'm getting there.

Over the weekend Josh ran in the RC Cola and Moonpie 10 mile race and did an amazing job! So proud! It definitely gave me motivation to follow through with the half. I think we are gonna run a 10k in July just to give me a set goal in a race form. It should be fun, hot but fun!

Until next week :)

Father's Day

Father's Day is a really special day for me. Mainly because no drama surrounds it but more importantly because I get to celebrate 3 pretty special guys in my life.

First off being Josh. If you know me or have read any of my posts, you know that I think this guy pretty much hung the moon. He is the best part of me and is the cornerstone to our family. I adore him and thank God every single day that I share my life with him AND get to share the awesome responsibility of parenting with him. Major is such a lucky kid to have Josh as his Daddy. He works hard, provides for us, but is also everything to Major. I love to see them play together, build things together, just spend time together. I LOVE that Josh LOVES to be with his son. It warms my heart and, again, has me counting my blessings that I have them in my life.

Secondly is my father in law, David.  From the time I started dating Josh, David welcomed me with open arms and made me feel like his. I owe so much of who I am to him. He helped me grow, shaped me and pointed me in the right direction. He showed me the love of a father and what a husband and daddy should be. He is an incredible family man and gave me that example to follow. Most importantly, though, he showed Josh how to be that man. He is stubborn, opinionated, outspoken and sometimes just hard to understand, but he is someone I love, I adore, and I'm grateful for. I love him deeply and have so much admiration and respect for him.

I know this is old school, but I love this picture

 Poor Major squished between the bellies. :)

Lastly is my own Dad. My parents divorced when I was little and I lived mostly with my mom so because of her opinion of my dad, my opinion, sadly, wasn't great of him growing up. As a kid, you believe what you know, you make mistakes as a teen and early adult, but eventually find your way and make your own opinions. That's basically what my relationship history with my dad is. I wasn't super close to him as a kid, I have memories with him but basically believed what I was told. There are things and feelings that I have that I've basically just forgiven or chosen to get past so that I can have a positive relationship with my dad as an adult. Even when I didn't know it, or believe it, I know now that my dad was praying for me, he was guiding me and helping me in ways that I couldn't see or understand then. We have a great relationship now. I feel like I can go to him for anything and I know that he loves me and my family unconditionally. I am more than grateful to have him in my life and am thankful for the opportunity to understand him, to see now what I missed, to make better choices in my relationship with him and to have him see me with my family. It means the world to me. 

Again, with the old school. I don't have many pictures of the 3 of these guys together, but I love this one and the memories attached to it.

I have a more recent picture of me and my dad at a UT game that I love, but I can't find it :( 

That is a great memory for me...he did used to always take me to UT games in K-ville!

So to these 3 incredible men in my life, Happy Father's Day. You each have a very special place in my heart, you each helped to mold me or grow me into the person I am, you each make me better for just having you in my life. I pray that Major grows up to have a special piece of each of you as well. I love you all very much :)

Running Check-In Week 1

So last week began my "training" for the half in October. I'm stretching the 10 week program out to 19 weeks since I'm starting my "comfortable" run at 3 miles; and also because I would never consider myself a runner.

Let me start by saying that I just looked at run keeper and my first tracked run was August 2011. It was a half mile and I remember it being hot and hard. I'm making progress for sure.

So week one: I'm running 4 days a week. Week one was 3 miles each of those days.
Day 1: I ran 3 miles in the morning then 2 miles in the evening with some friends.
Day 2: I ran with my ninja running friend. We ran approximately 3.75 miles. 42 minutes I think. I was sooooo slow that day though, tummy troubles too.
Day 3: I ran 4.1 miles
Day 4: I ran 3.71 miles

I ran over goal each day which was good.

Now onto week 2. I'm two days in and will blog about this week later. Yesterday tough was rough. I wasn't feeling awesome. Today was a good run. I ran 4.04 miles in 42.26 minutes and felt like I could keep going. My legs were achy but I imagine that's part of the adjustment. Today was definitely the best run to date. I feel good that Im making progress and if I keep at this pace I will reach my first goal which will definitely provide some motivation for training for the last 6 or 7 miles.

It still seems overwhelming and crazy, but mile by mile I'll get there.

Middle Half

I signed up for the Murfreesboro Middle Half last week. To say that I am overwhelmed, nervous and feeling over my head would be an understatement. I am also very very excited though. I wrote out my training plan today. It is basically a 19 week plan combined from Marathon Rookie and Hal Higdon's Novice 1 plan. I am really excited to start marking off runs! Actually, run 1 is under my belt. :) I have a long way to go and when I look at miles 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 I freak a little and think about how far that actually is. I'm sure that finish line is gonna feel amazing though and I can't wait for that. Im gonna try to post weekly updates about my progress on here, just to hold me accountable. The goal for the half is nothing other than to just finish. I have no time in mind, although they do. The cutoff is 3 and a half hours. Surely to heaven I will finish before that......I will, even if I have to crawl. :) Here's to (probably) the craziest thing Ive done to date. :)

Favorite Things Exchange

Saturday night I hosted a Favorite Things Exchange. I got the idea from a blog that I follow. As soon as I read her post about her Favorite Things Party, I knew I wanted to plan one!

This was so much fun to plan because in this house, we do dirt, we do sweat and superheros. We do trucks and all things boy so it was awesome to get girly fabric, plan a girly party and kick my boys out for a few hours.

The idea was invite girls, have them bring something they love and use all the time. The only rules...bring three of that item and make sure each thing was $6 or less. We also wore pajamas and everyone brought their favorite snacks too. 

I did good taking pictures beforehand, you know, while I was putting together and planning. I did horrible of taking any pictures when anyone was here. Boo! Maybe it was all the laughing and eating and fun we were having! 

 Of course, I forgot to take pictures of all the food. Probably because I got too excited and just started eating.

 Girly Decorations!

Stationary is one of my Favoritest favorites. 

I didn't take a picture of this table once it was LOADED with goodies and I'm kicking myself for that! Some of the favorites included: Earrings from World Market, a purse kit with hand sanitizer, lotion, gum and chapstick in a ziplock bag.  Crystal light drinks, Tervis Tumbler cups, Sea Cotton room and linen spray, hair clips, kitchen sheers, Baskin Robbins gift cards, and Reusable Rubbermaid hooks. Everyone wanted different stuff so it was fun to see whose name was drawn from the jar for each item. Every person's favorites were so different which made it even more fun!

After each person shared their favorite they drew 3 names from the jar so each person took home 3 new and awesome things.

 

 This is my favoriest favorites basket. Everyone drew a number from that little Mason jar and went home with some of my other favorite stuff. 

Favorite thing 'thank you for coming' giveaways included : 

 #1 Warm Vanilla Sugar foam soap from Bath and Body works.

 #2 Reusable cup

 #3 Method Almond Hardwood Floor Cleaner

 #4 Yellow Rosette earrings from LoopyLoop Creations on Etsy.

I have and love the grey ones. :)

 #5 Tyler candle in Pineapple Crush scent. So yummy for summer. I get mine at Monograms Plus in Lebanon

 #6 Reusable Mason jars. Useful for so many things.

 #7 These were a slight compromise on my real favorite favorite because apparently the real fleece Mary Jane footsie ones that I love are seasonal. These super thin and adorable ankle socks work great for chilly tootsies in the summer though.

#8 Christmas in a box. YUMMMMMM! These are sweet potato pancakes and they are scrumptious. They smell like Christmas morning and taste even better. Go get ya some! 

 #9 arrived last minute to my house. They were paper straws in rainbow colors from another really really favorite store on Etsy called Hey YoYo. I always order birthday party goodies for Major's parties from her.

 #10 is just an improved version of one of my favorites. Carmex is a staple in my life. I have them stashed everywhere. Carmex plus vanilla equals happy Heather lips. Yum. Love this stuff. 

Everyone also had a little bag to put all their new finds in and also a notebook to write down everything everyone brought.

 3 of the sweet girls who came are expecting babies, so my friend Cassie and I got together and made some of our "favorite" baby gifts for them!

 Made more girly decorations

 Mason jars and paper straws are definitely my favorites

Girly water bottles 

Yummy Sweet Tea and not so yummy Raspberry Lemonade

I loved planning this party and having all the girls over to my house. I just wish I remembered to use my camera during the party. I want to have another one of these. It was so much fun! 

Get your friends together. 

Host a girls night. 

It will be your favorite. 

I promise!