Nashville Country Music Marathon Recap

OH...what a fun weekend in Nashville.

I almost forgot what it was like to have an adult girls weekend away. 

It was just what I needed.

Friday I met up with Holly & Kelly, and we grabbed some Mexican for lunch and headed down south to Nashville for the Rock and Roll Country Music Marathon. 

This was my 12th 1/2. My times have not been the best lately. It could be because I hadn't trained or the fact that I'm 20 weeks pregnant.  

We got to the expo in time to run in and grab our packets and head to dinner.  The expo was a slight cluster but it all worked out in the end.  After the expo we headed over to Cabana's for drinks and dinner and meet some of my other fave bloggers, Aubrey Leigh , and Janessa.  It was a blast meeting eveyone. Aubrey's husband, Tommy was such a trooper, a table for of women chatting away.

After dinner, it was time to check into the hotel and get ready for bed.

Saturday, we gave ourselves enough time to get ready to get to the race on time...but traffic we were cutting it close. The race started and 0700 and about 6:57 we were still a few blocks away so Holly and I jumped out and made our way to the start line, to find 40 corrals and about 33,000 people.  It was 08:02 before we crossed the start line.  

Holly and Janessa were shooting for 2:30...I just wanted to finish. I stuck with them for a few miles then decided to let them have it.  It was too hot for my pregnant self and the fact that it felt like I had to pee every mile didn't help.

The course was so hilly, but the crowd support was amazing. It was seriously probably the best crowd supported race I've ever been to.

I came up on Janessa around mile 10 and it was great to see someone I knew along the course. I think it gave me the motivation I needed to finish.  

I ended up finishing in 3:09, a minute faster than the Lincoln Presidential 1/2 I had done a few weeks before. I was surprised on how not sore I was after this race...Hey I'll take it.

Mandy from House of Rose also completed the Country Music Marathon too. I swear the videos and pics she post IDK how she does it. She always looks super cute, even 11 miles into a race in 75 degree heat. I looked like a hot mess. She's a rock star.

After the race, Holly and I took hooker showers and loaded on the deodorant, body spray and lotion and headed over to the Pharmacy for lunch. The beer garden was awesome and the burgers were yummy too.

 Amber from Crafty Healthy Mommy, was amazing and got there early to get us a table.  She was a doll. I seriously could of hung out with her all afternoon and chatted. Aubry and Tommy came and met us for lunch and we also met Alyse and Faye.  

After lunch Holly, Kelly and I made the trek back to IL/MO.  Kelly was AMAZING. She was our coach/driver/cheerleader for the weekend.

I had a great weekend and can't wait to do it again.

Baby #2

Baby #2 is a….

Boy!!!

(I figured since john was 6,000 miles away, I'd let him share the news)

Where you right? I wasn’t lol

Nope….I had a feeling (REALLY hoping) for a girl this time.  With Graham, I was never sick, queasy nothing.  This time around…I was never really sick just queasy here and there and not 100%.  With Graham I wanted sweats, cherry coke and a cheeseburger all the time…this time not so much…Fruit, water, buffalo chicken.

 

As much as I thought I would be having a girl, a part of me knew before I went in for the sonogram that it was going to be a boy. IDK if it was just dumb luck or it was meant for me to find out in the very beginning but as soon as the tech started the sono….there it was balls and wiener plan as day, with in the first 3 seconds. I suddenly felt gender disappointment and wanted her to stop the sono say thanks and have a nice day. But since I was face timing with Daddy…figured I’d stick it out and let him see his baby from 6k miles away.

When I found out Graham was a boy I cried and canceled out gender reveal party. Childish….Maybe but I wasn’t handling it well. John already had a son from before and I wanted a girl so if we decide on baby #2 it could be whatever. John gave me until the end of the day to pout then said I had to get over it.

 I realized that at this point there isn’t a damn thing I could do but accept that I am going to be in a house full of boys. A BOY MOM!!!! Dirty, stinky, messy boys.  Lord help me.  I actually thought to myself, how in the world does Mandy, from House of Rose do it?  3 boys under 7!!!! Bless her heart.

So I decided to make some gender reveal cupcakes and take them to work. Figured it was the least I could do since I shortchanged it the last time because I was pouting.

Am I thrilled to be having another boy? Honestly, no not really, but what can I do about it…nothing

Am I grateful and relieved he’s healthy? Without a doubt. That’s almost a stupid question.  

I have no doubt that Graham is going to be an awesome big brother.  He loves his bubba so much I know that he will love his younger brother too. I’m hoping that having a brother closer in age, they will become best buds.  There is 11yr difference between Graham and his older brother, so I think it’s safe to say that they will never be close or at least until they are much older.

As for me, I’m working on accepting a future of trucks, wheelers, broken bones, guns, hunting, snakes, and sporting events (which won’t be too bad) instead of dolls, dresses, bows, dances and makeup. I have to tell myself, that I think God knows that I don’t have the patience for the drama that girls can bring to the table.

Now the hard part is trying to come up with a second boy name. We have a few names on our list but nothing we are falling in love with. So if you have any suggestions for boy names that are not super popular, and no nick names…like you can name him William and call him Bill…No I would name him Bill if I wanted to call him that.

Sorry pet peeve.  But seriously, if you have any boy names, I’d love to hear them

And if you have any tips on being a BOY MOM, I’m listening!

Bucket List

 

Hi ya'll...by ya'll I mean the 1-2 people who follow the sad little blog.

Anyway...I was driving into work this morning listening to my morning radio show & they were talking about New Year's Resolutions and how many people have already stopped or a given up on theirs.  The conversation then turned to bucket list, which made me think...I still have my bucket list on my computer & it needs updated.

 

But before I go into my ever growing bucket list, I'm going to share with you my 2014 bucket list.

My 2014 Bucket List...

1. Read a book every month

2. Work out more & eat less crap

3. Complete at least 1 Marathon (Little Rock)

4. Be better organized

5. Declutter the house

6. Do more meal planning

7. Pay off some Debit

8. Blog more

9. Meet new people

10.Stay in better contact with old friends

11. Enjoy the present

12. Send more snail mail. letters, cards, ect.

 

 

ok..ok...

Now on to my ever growing Bucket List {aka...wish list}

1.       Learn to act within your sphere of influence and stop worrying about things which are not within your control

2.       Go on a hot air balloon ride

3.       Get a 2^nd chance at marriage (with someone who puts a little thought and effort into a proposal)

4.       Start a family

5.       Complete at triathlon

6.       Take 1^st at the Bataan Death March, Women’s heavy

7.       Go white water rafting

8.       Walk the Grand Canyon

9.        Go to Vegas

10.   See the Northern Lights (the Aurora Borealis)

11.   Learn sign language

12.   Finish my Master’s

13.   Make a difference….Discover my life’s purpose.

14.   Learn to play the violin and Harp

15.    Take dancing lessons with someone

16.   Go scuba diving

17.   Go on a cruise

18.   Travel as much as possible…Australia…great barrier reef , Greece, Bora Bora

19.   Visit every continent

20.   Visit Normandy Beach

21.    Touch a Killer Whale

22.   Ride on a Pedal Tavern

23.   Visit The Kremlin in Russia

24.   Start going to church more often

25.   The Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

26.   Go to a private concert

27.   Do more with my photography

28.   Take up more crafts…and finish them

29.   Become more organized

30.   Grow a garden (it didn’t turn out so well)

31.   Buy/Build a house….and make it “the perfect” house over the years

32.   Read every book your favorite author has written

33.   Learn not to take what others do or say personally

34.   Learn to say “no” without feeling guilty

35.   Make a difference in at least one person’s life

36.   Sell your original artwork or have it displayed somewhere

37.   Run with the Bulls

38.   Find inner peace and Learn to forgive

39.   See the Olympics in person

40.   Go to New York at Christmas time

41.   Ride a gondola in Venice

42.   Restore my ’69 Camaro

43.   Climb a mountain

44.    Learn to Surf

 

45.   Sky dive

46.   Relax…and let someone take photos of me

47.   A run a month for a year (almost there)

48.   Go on a Safari

49.   Watch wild mustangs roam

50.   Go to a NFL game

51.   Find a job/career that I really enjoy