Run From Hunger

Approaching the finish line.

This morning I was awakened by a terrible clap of thunder. I ran to the window, and my heart sank at the sight of pouring down rain. I knew that we had a bad weather system approaching, but I hoped that it would hold off until after the race. I got up anyway to prepare for my big run.

Our stake held its first annual Run From Hunger 5k. I have been training for about nine months. There have been many obstacles I have overcome, mainly the intensity of the hills on this trail, but I also did all of my training by accidentally taking a short cut that equaled a quarter of a mile that I was not running.

I set a goal to finish the race in 33 minutes.

I am very happy to report that I finished at 32 minutes 27 seconds.

There were many unplanned obstacles though. The trail was slippery with huge puddles of water. I almost slipped. I had children darting out at me. I stopped because I almost ran over a boy. My shoes were drenched. Running in soaking wet shoes is not an easy feat.

No pun intended.

Signing in with Kayleigh Bug.

The four runners representing the Simpson and Parrott families.

Nikki was busy photographing the event and was responsible for purchasing 400 bananas.

Brad stayed home with Cozette because of the rain. 

I must add that it was mighty disappointing not seeing him at the finish line.
Papa is in the background and came to support us all.

Starting the race in the rain was not so great.

Sadly, only about a third of the people registered participated today because of the weather.

Everett finished with a time of 27.05 wearing his awesome plaid shorts.

Way to go son!

I think Brad is already plotting to beat his time next year!

Kayleigh Bug posing with her friends and Ms. Betsy.

Kayleigh finished with a time of 31.55.

I told Kayleigh that she needs to pursue running in high school. 

Here is cute Mommom.

She finished with a time of 34 minutes.

We are very proud of her for winning first place in her age category.
Age 60 and over!

Posing with Ms. Betsy.

Trust me, I do not even attempt to keep up with her!

Our admission for today's race was 10 cans of food per person.

This is a portion of the cans of food collected.

The intent for our day of service was to help supply the local food banks in our area.

Pat's Run

It was thrilling to participate in the Pat Tillman run on Saturday. His jersey number was 42, so the race was 4.2 miles. Meredith loaded her little family up at 5:15 in the morning, so she and I could be a part of this great event. We were in the midst of a sea of people. Over 20,000 people attended. There was a wonderful spirit there. It was very gratifying to finish this race. I had one expectation of myself: Not to finish last! Perhaps, I should have set my standard a little higher; however, this was the first 5k event I have participated in, and I did not know what to expect.

The best part about the race was hearing people warn each other about the killer hill. I tried to pace myself for this hill. I kept looking for it. Meredith and I were separated, so I asked a lady where the hill was.

"You just did it," She responded!

I could not believe it. It was more like running an incline up the bridge. I was so concerned about being separated form Meredith and trying to catch up with her, that I did not even notice it.

At the beginning of the race, a woman gave me a high-five when she learned that I came from Georgia to do this race. Actually, I went to Arizona to be with Meredith. Running Pat's Race was an added bonus of my time with her.

Here are my Stats:


20,629 people finished the race. I was 11,093.

10,339 were women.  I was the 4,289th woman to finish.  I was happy about finishing in the top half.

In my age bracket of women between the ages of 40-42, there was 625 of us.

I came in at 280.

I ran at a pace of 10.59 per mile.

I completed the race in 46.07 minutes.

Not too shabby for a girl who just didn't want to finish last last!

A sea of people.

This photo really does not capture how many people were in the stadium.

Meredith and I were separated at the finish line. It took us over 10 minutes to locate each other. 

I was just about in a panic mode when I finally heard her call my name!

Lindsay and Caroline ran in the kid's fun run. Caroline was a trooper. 

She has an ingrown toe nail, but she ran the race anyway wearing her Ugg boots. 

Hooray for Uggs!

Arrow of Light

When Everett, aka Mr. Baseball, aka Bobby was almost eight years old, he informed his Daddy and me that he was going to be an Eagle Scout and also earn his Masters degree. We praised him for wanting to achieve worthy goals. Last night, we participated in the celebration of him earning his Arrow of Light award. This is the highest honor a Cub Scout can receive. 

I am very grateful for the scouting program. When Everett turned eight years old, he decided that he wanted to wear ties to church and not the "baby clip-on ties" as he called him. Everett went to the Cub Scout handbook, read the instructions, and taught himself how to tie a neck tie in a matter of hours.The following Sunday, he wore his new neck tie, that he tied himself to church. This is just a small example of the skills he has learned through scouting.

"Because of Cub Scouts, I have learned how to make catapults, a candy train, and a car made out of food. I learned the different swimming strokes. I learned about archery and how to shoot a BB gun. I like tying knots. The best part was the Pinewood Derby."

Congratulations Everett!

We Have a Great Life

Cozette likes to wear my shoes. She is constantly in my closet. She loves to wear mismatched shoes. The other day she was wearing a pair of my sandals, and I asked her what she was doing.

"Just walking," she answered.

Recently, when we were running errands, Cozette was eating her treat. Her favorite is Swedish Fish.  As we were walking into Joann's, she was munching on her fish and suddenly declared, "We have a gweat yife, don't we Mommy?" 

"We sure do, " I agreed with her.

I am thankful for the perspective a two year old.

I remind myself of her words every day.

Life is good.   
   

What Easter Means to Me

Yesterday, I looked out of my kitchen window and noticed the green on the trees, and as I was running a few errands with my daughters, we marveled at the beautiful Pink Dogwood trees. "It's snowing flowers,"  Cozette observed and squealed with delight.  Kayleigh and I laughed and commented that we have never noticed such a beautiful sight. Truly, it looked like it was snowing flowers outside.  I love the signs of spring.

Budding trees.

Flowers in bloom.

Warmer days.

The assurance of knowing that winter is behind.

I will never forget the first time I noticed the blooming Bradford Pear after a season of mourning. My heart was lifted, and I remembered the Lord's promises to me.

He over came death. He took upon himself the depth of my pain. He suffered for my sins. He was resurrected on the the third day, and because of this miracle, I will have eternal life. I am grateful to know that Jesus Christ lives. I am thankful for the knowledge that death is not the end.

Because of Him, we have a promise of hope and the renewal of life.

This is what Easter means to me.

I love the sight of Cozette's hair in the morning.

Happy Easter.