Half Marathon

I wanted to post about this because it's so fresh on my mind. Saturady I ran my first half marathon. My friend Katie and I drove up to Greenville, SC Friday. I'm so glad she came. We had so much fun and I wouldn't have enjoyed myself as much. The kids stayed at friends' houses. Anyway, we got to Greenville at around 7pm and hurried and went to go pick up my packet then we went to Olive Garden. Nothing like stuffing your face with delicious breadsticks, salad, and pasta. We got lost getting back to the motel, but finally made it. I wasn't really nervous. I wasn't racing anybody and my goal was to finish the race. I started at the front of the pack, which now I know, is something you don't do when your a beginner. I got passed so quickly it was a bit discouraging. But then, there were a ton of people who were still behind me, so it wasn't too bad. Anyway, it was pretty chilly that morning and as we were waiting for the race to start, some dude was dancing in a costume to some crazy music. It was weird and pointless. We just wanted the race to start.

It was the longest race of my life. And I really did enjoy it except that my leg was hurting me so bad. I was doing really good up until about mile 5 and that's when my leg started hurting. I had to keep walking and it was so disappointing. But I did it. I don't know that I'll run another one anytime soon, but I probably will run another one. I was in so much pain Saturday and Sunday but I'm not as sore today. I've really enjoyed my running experience, minus the pain and I want to continue doing it. I feel good and I've accomplished my goal! Thanks to all those who helped along the way.

When i got home to pick up my kids, my friend had made t-shirts for the my kids that said Team Mommy and then Team Shari shirts for her and a couple of other friends. It was so nice and so fun to see, since none of them could come up there with me. I had a great time and I'm glad that my friend Katie could come with me. It wouldn't have been as much fun going by myself.

Our lives (in a nutshell)

I'm feeling a bit negative today, so this will be short and to the point. Of course, whenever I start a post (with no pictures) I always say I'm going to keep it short, but it rarely is. But I'll try.

Still don't know when Ben's coming home (thus the reason for my grumpy mood). Sometime here in the next couple of week, so that's good. My half marathon is a week from tomorrow. I'm nervous but just ready to get it over with. It's been fun pushing my body beyond what I thought I could ever do. 4-5 miles is nothing now!

Ben's hangin' in there like me. Just taking things one day at a time, but he's definitely ready to be home as well. 10 months is a long time to be away from your family.

Lilli loves preschool and all her friends and teachers. She's so excited to go everyday. She's getting anxious for daddy to come home and says that they're going to go to a movie in the temple movie theatre (she thinks the movie theatre looks like a temple) and get popcorn. She's learning so much and loves to write letters and spell words and draws awesome pictures. She's a great big sister and loves her brothers. She's taking ballet right now and loves it.

Alex and Aidan are getting so active. They get into everything and constantly pester each other. But also play really well together. My favorite thing is to hear them try to make each other laugh. It's the best! They're growing like weeds. Ben's not even going to know what to do with them. Alex loves to wrestle and whenever I lay on the ground he always has to jump on me. Aidan still sucks his thumb. I'm not too worried about it now. They love to say their prayers and I love helping them. It's too cute.

Well, that's it in a nutshell. I'll post some recent pictures and posts of what we've been up to.