whatever

the half marathon....

well.... i did it!
it is hard to believe that i actually have done 13.1 miles.
but it's TRUE!!

whoop whoop! 

let me recap the weekend as it went down.

on friday, mr. duerksen left with four of my kids for a bball tournament out of town.
so to begin my girls weekend i got a full 24 hours ALONE.
um...yeah...that rocked!
then...craig accidentally took my car keys so i couldn't even leave my house and you know what?
it was such a blessing.
 i HAD to stay home and just be alone.
 ahhhhhh.

i did laundry, cleaned the chicken's box and watched crazy stupid, Love.
(i love that movie!)

:) 

saturday morning i put on my favorite shirt to bring good vibes my way.... ha!

my friends picked me up since i had no car.
and we took off for our road trip!

as usual... talk talk talk all the way there.

we picked up our packets with our bib inside it and shopped the expo a little.
i bought sporty sunglasses...you know i needed them after all that fashion wear all winter.
i hate the way the sport sunglasses look.
so much.
but i can wear them with my hat so it was needed. 

they had this wall with the names of all of the people who died in the OKC bombing.
the people the race was honoring.
the first 168 bib numbers were given to them.
it was emotional. 

one of the best parts of marathon training is getting "CARB LOAD" the week of the race.
and believe me... i did.

we went back to our hotel and right to bed.
our wake up time was 4:00 AM.
oy veh.
i slept terrible as expected and leaped out of bed at the alarm.
my roommate was pretty surprised by that.
:)

we geared up with all our running stuff...gummy energy chews, wipes, kleenex, money (? we didn't know??), body glide, hair ties, hats, sunglasses, our bib numbers, ipods, phones and layers.
we waited in the cool air for 35 minutes for the "every 15 minutes" shuttle
that was suppised to be there at 4:30.
blah. 

then headed to a sunrise service at The Survivor Tree.
again... emotional. 

it's hard to see but that is because it was completely dark outside...it was 5:30 AM.
we sang worship songs... Bless the Lord Oh My Soul and Amazing Grace were too hard to even sing. 
i was too choked up.
i just closed my eyes and listened. 

the pastor read from Jesus Calling and it was just so appropriate.

we made a stop at gear check.

(use gear check if you do a race... super easy and convenient)

we made one last pit stop... porta potties....gross.

then we found our pace group and waited.
with 10,000 other people.
they had 168 seconds of silence for those who died in OKC.
i cried.
and prayed.
i was getting VERY nervous with all the unknowns...
can i do this?  am i safe?  what if i get hurt? what if i fall? 
you know... all that stuff that Satan loves to put in your mind when big things are happening. 
i texted craig and kimberlee.
i needed one last boost of love before i took off. 
they gave it to me.
:) 

some of my friends are conscience of their time when they run.
these were free tattoos you could put on to know your pace.
i was not remotely interested.
i can only do what i can do at that moment.
not anyone else's time. 

the gun went off and we stood still for a looooong time because we were SO far back in the line
14 minutes after the gun went off we crossed the start line and began our first half marathon! 

and it was fun!

there was loud music.
people in their driveways all along the way.
some had water... some had beer.... donuts... signs... all SO SWEET!

then the hills began.
geez louise.
there were so many hills on this course.
we didn't train for that.
but we did it.
i mean come on....LOOK AT THAT HILL!!!

and that wasn't even the bad hill that everyone told us about.


the sun was coming up as we came through this tunnel.
it was beautiful light...
i wished i had my big camera.
(and that i was not running... ha)

firefighters were all through the race.
which made me tear up every time we came up on them.
they were sweating like crazy walking with all that gear on...
what amazing men! 

we ran right past the capital building.
that was really cool.
and the sun was just behind it... GORGEOUS.

we hit the halfway mark and decided on taking a picture.

try # 1

try #2 
we were honestly smiling.

i repeated to myself so many times
"God's spirit is with you"  
"present your body as worship"  
and "Glorify God with your body"

 

i made it 9.5 miles before walking!!
that is AMAZING.
i had never run more than 8 miles before that... so i had my personal best that day.

around mile 11 i was feeling a little delirious.
and i said to my friend "have you seen Taledega Nights?" 
and i quoted this line.

                                                                                                                                                        

i know i know.
ricky bobby and carl naughton jr. are complete blasphermors through that entire movie.
but... i quoted it because as i was dragging and weak..

i said "well....i am picturing my jesus in running shorts and nike frees...running beside me"

we giggled a bit and decided Jesus probably would have been way faster than me.

i walked a bit, ran a bit, walked a bit
and then at mile 12 an older man on the sides controlling traffic, looking like morgan freeman,  
leaned in towards me and did a quiet clapping and said quietly

"let's go. let's go. run. you can do it. let's go"

 and it was so quiet that i just listened to him.

i ran.

and suddenly there was the finish line way up ahead!!

i turned to my friend and said "i am so glad you made me do this! THANK YOU so much!"

i meant it.
it was such an awesome morning!



i took out my headphones and took it all in.
people were all cheering and screaming for the runners.
it was so cool.
big races are such a positive atmosphere!
every runner feels like a rockstar.


and there i was.
done.
THIRTEEN MILES.
2:46:48
it's not fast but i don't care one single bit.
i did it.
(nice glasses.....)

after we caught our breath, regrouped, ate oranges, bagels and bananas to refuel,
we headed to the memorial again.

MANY people ran for those they lost in the OKC bombing.
the memorial had all kinds of sites like this. 

we made it to the shuttles.

i was beginning to feel sick.

then i got sick.

and i was miserable.

my body was in full-on-freak-out mode.

it was not pretty.

my friends let me sleep for awhile and after an hour and a half i was better.

i rallied.

i ate a quick lunch and then it was time for massage.

it's what we do.
we run hard and then we go to the spa.
the best way to run a race.
period. 

 

then dinner and a DELICIOUS drink to celebrate!
i am so proud of all of us!!

we trained hard for months.
with 15 kids between the four of us...and all of our jobs...and busy lives...

we did it. 

i don't know if i will ever do it again....

but i can always say that I DID IT!!! 

and i think you should train and do it too.

:)

 

annie's favorite books

i love children's books.
when i find one with illustrations that pull me in i always feel like drawing.
they are just such a beautiful way to enjoy childhood.
i have great memories of reading with my kids. 

annie is working hard to finish up something at school for points.
she has had all year to get points but now that it's the end of the year i am guessing there is
an ice cream party or something that has given her incentive to buckle down.
she has been reading each afternoon.
she is not really a sit down and read for an hour kind of girl usually.
that is ok.
i am not that kind of girl either... my dad wanted me to be so badly.


i thought i would share some of HER favorites today.
this is her stack she was working through that she carefully selected.   

you can click on the link to find it on amazon.  

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type ..... that duck is so funny!

 

Cowboy and Octopus .... very dry humor book but funny and has cool illustrations.

Eaglet's World

this was a book that Scott got during his preschool LOVE OF EAGLES phase.
he was obsessed with eagles for a few years.
i remember going to his classroom as the surprise guest and reading it to his whole class.
we love this pretty book. 

Martha and Skits  .... my dad gave us a whole collection of these books.
BEFORE they gave Martha a show on pbs.
my kids really liked these... all five of them. 

 

Pirates Don't Change Diapers ..... my girls like these 2 pirate books but my boys loved them. 

How I Became a Pirate..... and really David Shannon is a favorite of mine.

Too Tall Houses.... pretty book about friendship and competing.  :)

 

Art & Max.... brillant book for anyone who likes art....super pretty! 

 

Is Your Mama a Llama? .... i had this book memorized at one point.
so many years of reading it over and over.
who doesn't like a book with baby and mama animals?! 

 

Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas.... all Fancy Nancy books are loved by my little girls.
she has quite the obsession with fanciness. 

 

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes .... annie's choice at the book fair.

 

Emma Kate .... BEAUTIFUL book.
Patricia Polacco is one of Talby's favorite authors.
she did a report on her once! 

 

Llama Llama Misses Mama

there is something adorable to me about llamas.
Anna Dewdney ties toddlers and llamsas together perfectly.  :)
Annie loved these two llama mama books.... always loves to say "i've done that...."
on the tantrum page.  ha ha ha 

Llama Llama Mad at Mama

 

The Three Snow Bears  Jan Brett is famous... everyone knows her books.
this one is the story of the three bears but drawn so lovely.
and my kids make silly voice for all of the bears and it's very funny. 

 

If You Take a Mouse to the Movies.... annie loves this one.

If You Take a Mouse to School... i loved this one...
the art and the thrill of going to school for little ones.

If You Give a Moose a Muffin  but this one was our favorite to read as a family!
i have a moose voice that makes my kids crack up and i always use it he says
"do you have any old socks?" when he wants to make sock puppets.
love this book. 

My Garden.... talby and annie love this one.  
always.... EVERY TIME .... say "i wish our garden was like that" 

 

Diary of a Spider ....cutest books!  
i love every detail that is in these three Diary books.
seriously! 

Diary of a Worm

Diary of a Fly

I'm The Biggest Thing in the Ocean.... LOVE these two books!
that googly eyed octopus is very endearing and silly. 

I'm the Best Artist in the Ocean!

Yes Day!.... another book fair choice this year chosen because of our love of the grumpy book.
and all kids love the dream of a YES Day.

 

What Are You So Grumpy About?.... this is such a good one.
because kids get grumpy a LOT.
and this puts some wrods to their feelings in a funny way.

that was kind of a long list but it was fun for me to remember reading them all with my kids.

what are your favorite children's books?
i am sure everyone likes to find new great choices.

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1.5 days till the half marathon!!!!!!!!

omg

 

 

getting bigger...

i am not wordy today.
but you can enjoy pictures of our chicks from last week.
they are already much bigger than this. 

Pan Fry is doing just fine.
i do not see us eating her anytime soon.  :)

my plans for a coop fell through.
does anyone have any suggestions on a coop for 11 chickens?

i have a sweet pinterset board going... i know what i like and what i don't.

i know that ashley is a complete stud and built hers with a NAIL GUN!
but i am not seeing that in my future.

maybe mr. duerksen would be willing to build one with me???
there would be power tools involved.
he likes those.
i know sean would be interested but it may be hard to keep him interested long enough to finish. 
i know the girls would paint it beautifully when it was done.

or maybe you know the perfect thing for me and i am overthinking this.
maybe you know a great place to buy one already done and big enough for us and not a fortune.
maybe you know a guy who likes to build this kind of stuff.
maybe?

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3.5 days until the half marathon.

oy!