5 for Friday {thankful edition}

Every year I have so much to be thankful for, but this year I feel like I have A LOT to be thankful for. Obviously, I am thankful for every member of my family and my friends and my job and that I have a warm house to come home to every day. but these 5 things I am especially thankful for this year! =D

{one}
THIS LITTLE THING! McKenna has brought unimaginable joy to my life.  And while it has not always been easy and I picked up MRSA bringing her into this world and I have cried many frustrated tears, it has been worth it. I just love waking up to her baby babble on the weekends and her happy baby smiles make me realize I have to be doing something right.  She has given me so many fun times, good laughs, and fun memories in the short 4 months. She has given me a whole new perspective on life and for once a solid work life balance.  I look forward to going to work, but I love coming home to her and my little family.  And even though I feel like she is growing up too fast already, I really cannot wait to watch her grow up.  it is crazy to me that this time last year, she was our little secret and now we get to share her with our family and friends. 

{two}
Kyle J. I really could not have a better husband and McKenna is one lucky lady to have him as her Dad. And even though I am insanely jealous that he is the only one that can make her laugh so far, the Daddy & McKenna moments are something that bring me a joy that I cannot even begin to put into words. Kyle has been my #1 supporter and fan through all the struggles and tears of trying to figure out this parenting thing. And when it would have been understandable for him to think I was losing my mind and going crazy as I cried for days over little things, he never once made me feel like my feelings or emotions were irrational. I love that he constantly remembers that even though we are both busy and tired we still need to put our relationship first and spend quality time together.  McKenna and I are both so very lucky to have Kyle in our lives.

{three}
My parents & McKenna’s Grandparents. They have been so helpful this year which the HUGE life change Kyle and I went through.  From helping take care of the dogs while I was in the hospital for 6 days, to making dinner every night and washing bottles and clothes when they were staying with us while we were trying to get this parenting thing under control.  And then they dropped everything to come back to help take care of little M when we found out that my c-section was infected with MRSA. And now with them so close, we can call in a favor when needed to help take care of the little one when we have to work.  And, you can obviously tell that they love our little girl so much.  McKenna is going to be SO lucky to grow up knowing her Grandma & Granddad and seeing them often.

{four}
my best friend is engaged. Yes, I am thankful for  this! Because I have never met a girl who is such a good friend and who is amazingly beautiful both on the outside and inside. Her strong roots in faith, family, and friends makes her just an amazing person.  And while we can go weeks without talking, when we do it is like we just had lunch a week ago. in fact, when she called me at 8:00 on a Friday night, I just knew the news she was about to tell me and when she said, “Barbie.” my next words were, “Stop.” – I am so lucky to have her in my life and so grateful that a little place called Mugshots brought us together years ago!! I cannot believe it has taken this long for her to be off the market, but Greg is an great guy and he is so lucky to have Heather in his life forever.  Now, I cannot wait to help her plan her wedding and help her celebrate her big day,

 {five}
my health. this year has been quite the whirlwind for health “problems”.  I had a healthy and easy pregnancy and for that, I am forever grateful. And with the exception that McKenna just didn’t want to “come” I had a fairly easy labor. But then I found out that my C-Section was infected with MRSA and it took about 7 weeks post partum to determine that so I am grateful that it never spread and that it didn’t hospitalize me.  And then I got the melanoma diagnosis and while we went in hoping for the best, we also had to brace ourselves for the worst. Again, luckily it was caught early and it hadn’t spread and now I just get to be extra diligent about my skin care and sun exposure. And while I beat myself up for not being able to work out and lose the baby weight and still being in maternity clothes and unable to wear my rings 4 months post baby I have to remember all that I have been through and that I have been medically not allowed to really work out.  But, I get to be thankful for my health and that I was given a today. 

2014 has been a pretty spectacular year. Not gonna lie. Full of life changes and huge adjustments. But, I wouldn’t trade a minute of it.

Three Things Thursday.

Can you believe that next Thursday is Thanksgiving?!  I am wondering where 2011 is going and I am SLACKING on the Christmas shopping this year.  So, I need to get in gear!

And I am REALLY excited about today because on of my girls is pregnant and she is having her gender reveal party tonight and I cannot wait to hear if it is a boy or a girl so I can start buying baby stuff.  I hope it is a girl, I want to buy lots and lots of tutus! =D  Yay for friends and babies!!

1.  For real.  Kyle loves me.  I asked him the other day if he would go see The Grinch with me at the Fox Theater and his answer "sure" ... and I said, "really?" and his answer was "anything to make you happy" -- now  I know he really does not want to go to The Grinch, but since he know that I love Christmas and all things Christmas he agreed to go with me.  So we have a super fun date night on the books for December 3rd.   Sadly, we were trying to double date it with one of my most favorite people Chrissy and her husband, Matt - but they will be in the Blue Ridge Mountains .... so it is just Kyle and me and The Grinch.  :o)  now I need Kyle to agree to go see Annie with me in January ... that my friends will be true love.

2.  I am thankful to have a job and to have a job that I really really like and enjoy going to every single day.  But I would be lying if I did not say I was overwhelmed at work.  Like legit overwhelmed - not enough time in the day - overly exhausted.  We are 1 week out (correction, 2 business days) from rolling out the pilot of our new database for our branches  and just getting everything ready for it is A LOT.  Electronic documents. Training guides.  ...and then on top of my everyday tasks and other projects I am currently working on to help improve processes.  It is just a lot.  I am so thankful for Thanksgiving to be around the corner. 
3.  So I just joined Delta SkyMiles since I am about to be going to St. Louis & Daytona and Melbourne FL for work and I want points!! ...And now I am getting "Delta Deals" emails and it is making me want to travel travel travel.  Like, I can get a flight to Memphis and back for $59.00 -- and one of my bestest and more favorite people ever lives in Memphis!  So, I could go see Heather and I know she would love that since she has had a HARD past few months.  And... there is a flight to Ft. Myers for $89 and I could do that and go to the beach in October with my family.  This could be bad. Very bad. Vacaction anyone?

Ok.  Well with that - I am out of here.  If I don't post between now and Thanksgiving -- have a very good holiday with family & friends -- be safe, eat lots, tell people you love them and really, have a great holiday!

Oh and in case you're wondering -- 128 days!! I mean jeeze where is the time going!  But luckily the wedding is planned for the most part -- invites, flowers, food, cake, rehearsal dinner - done and done.  Just gotta do dress fitting and finish buying little details.  I will be a Shanahan before you know it!

Um.

Have you looked at a calendar?  Did you notice that next week is Thanksgiving?  I mean really?  Where has the time gone and where is 2011 going.

Time to stop procrastinating and I must pick up some Christmas gifts for family in VA.  Goodness.

thanksgiving style. three things thursday.

happy thanksgiving! i hope everyone is having a good holiday with their families and friends. and i hope everyone who ran a turkey trot this morning had a great race!!  and don't worry runners: you can eat all you want today... you'll run it off later.  ...and now onto the traditional 3 thing thursday.

1. since kyle and i are not married we do not do holidays together so we have to separate and take turns with the dog. i have him the first 2 days, kyle gets him the 2nd 2 days. in an attempt to wear the dog out before all 13 people gathered at my house to chow down i took mully on a "run". ok. i have not run more than 3 miles since marine corps marathon and man does it show... after 2 miles i was dead and i couldn't even run 1 mile without stopping to catch my breath. ...looks like i need to start cracking down and start running and working out again.
2. tomorrow is the Iron Bowl.  this is the match up between Alabama and Auburn. This year it is being hosted in the most beautiful stadium in the country on the most beautiful campus - Bryant Denny.  I would be a liar if I said I was not nervous... I sure hope Saban has some tricks under his sleeves to stop mr. cam newton... our young little team makes me nervous.  BUT I am firm believer that you never know what will happen in Bryant Denny. There is something magical and wonderful about that stadium.  Kyle is convinced that Alabama is going to win for 1 reason and that reason is: It has been 19 games since Alabama has lost in Bryant Denny; therefore, Alabama has to win.  Please Alabama, please. I need a win. I would rather have an earned W than a given to us W when the NCAA makes Auburn vacate all their wins when they rule $cam Newton (sorry had to do it) ineligible.  ...and with that Roll Tide Roll :o)
3.  Have you ever looked at the STATS section of your blog.  I just spent like 10 minutes looking at it and it is crazy to see how people are led to my blog... the #1 google search that leads people to me is "girl with the 13 minute mile" ... and even cooler, I found blogs that I had never discovered before but have me linked on their blogroll (thanks!!) and like I really need any more blogs to read, I followed like 10 more today and feel like I need to catch up.  One that I found is inthegym.net and it has everything from playlists to treadmill work outs to race reviews to product reviews... long story short, I am a fan [and will be adding it to my blogroll].  The stats also tracks your peak months (I had A LOT of readers in October) and where people are reading from (the Netherlands... say whaa?).  Crazy cool feature. If you have blogger lose yourself in it... I know you will.

Like I said before, have a rocking thanksgiving!! We all have SO much to be thankful for!!

three things thursday.

when thursday comes around i sometimes wonder where the week has gone. but then i realize that it is thursday and i am ony 1 day from the weekend and i am okay with it being thursday.  ....this week has kind of been an obnoxious one and i have been seriously drained... needless to say, i cannot wait for the weekend.

{one} earlier this week (or late last week) i discovered a super cute designer Judith March.  she designs the cutest dresses. i am someone who tends to save money rather than spend money. but every now and then i go through this "must buy clothes" phases and right now i am in that phase. i do not discriminate - i stock up on work clothes and every day (but can wear on "jeans friday" day) clothes.  Not only am I a big fan of Judith March right now... my obesession with anthropologie is still going strong and i l-o-v-e karlie and free people. honestly, i would love it if i had a personal shopper who created outfits for me and asks "do you like this" and i would tell her yes or no and then i would take the things i love. would make shopping & my life so easy. long story short. thank goodness Christmas is around the corner... barbie needs some clothes.
{two} DID YOU SEE THE AUBURN GEORGIA GAME THIS WEEKEND?!  Did you see that the Auburn players forgot they were on the football field and thought they were in a boxing ring?! What was Auburn fighting for? They were winning!  So, Georgia you may have not been able to pull out a win but you did manage to royally piss the Auburn players off somehow. You got them so heated that they started throwing punches and now 2 of their playes have to sit out the 1st half of the Iron Bowl.  I guess that works too.  Well played Georgia well played. And people wonder why I dislike Auburn [some of their fans are just as classy as those boys on the field repping the orange and blue] ... I am pretty sure they moved up in the ranks of most hated SEC school ... move over Florida, Auburn is chasing after that title.  ...i can't wait to cheer those Gamecocks on on December 5th. :o)
{three} i am heading back home to DC for thanksgiving on Tuesday. the 9 hour car ride is always eventful with the dog, kyle, and me. kyle likes me to read to him the whole time and it is not as fun as it seems... this go around i am reading "me talk pretty one day" to him.  It will be a short trip home with lots of moving around Northern VA to see Kyle's family, get my hair done, watching the iron bowl and hoping that alabama pulls off a big win (!!!!) and I want to get in some runs/work outs since I have been slacking this month.  ...3 miles total run so far.   I am for sure ready for the vacation from work and life as I live it in Atlanta... but what I really want is a REAL vacation!! 

have a great thursday. friday. and weekend.

Running in Northern VA.

First. A little background on me. I am not an Atlanta native. I was born and raised in Burke, VA - right outside of Washington DC in the beautiful Fairfax County. I go home 3 times a year and well... I am home now. I figured I would take my week off work to really focus on getting in the miles and the work in the final preparation for the Disney Marathon (which is in 46 freaking days). I don't know what it is about Northern VA but the runs are so much easier and the miles don't seem as long. Maybe it's running in the 'burbs ... the air is a different quality and you don't have to dodge cars or wait for the light to let you go. But I have had 2 great runs since being home and hope for at least 4 more.

I have never been so giddy about running (maybe giddy is the wrong word but you know what I mean). I get excited about all the different routes I can take since all the neighborhoods seem to snake together. The hills here are butt kickers and seem to be EVERYWHERE but evidently hills are your friend... blah blah blah. The weather is colder than I am used to so I have been dealing with burning lungs. But most importantly, I just have really enjoyed being able to vary my runs. I feel like in Atlanta I have to stick to Peachtree and the side roads off Peachtree and if I want to vary it I literally have to hop in the car. Not the story up here, just head down the driveway and go. Which is nice. And convenient. It's been great to just clear my head and think. Granted a lot of thinking has surrounded my marathon '10 race schedule and how I want to do it. Like which race I want to do with Team in Training and which ones I want to do solo. But it has been nice to have 1 hour of just me time.

It has also really got me thinking about how I am gonna fit running back into my life when I get back to Atlanta. I think I truly have found the like of running (not the love yet, but one step at a time my friend) but running is such a struggle and I know I am supposed to schedule it like an appointment and I do have it scheduled ... it is just soo hard to stick to the dang schedule. From 3pm-4pm everyday, M-F, but I just get into the work groove and it is so hard to just disconnect from it all. With that said: I need to just disconnect. I am thinking about doing 1 hr runs daily to just de-stress and clear my mind (while training for Disney) and then hit the elliptical for 30 minutes and the bike for 15 when I get home at night. I know I am not going to conquer Disney, but I do want to finish it in less than 6 hours! =) **when I finish Disney I will start on a real methodical marathon training plan, until then I will just put one foot in front of the other and GO!**

I have about 5 more days up here but my life is about to get crazy busy with seeing my boyfriend's family and with the holiday. However, I will get in some miles because there are at least 2 more "routes" I am dying to run - lots of hills of course. And I will more than likely hit the Gold's Gym in Burke 1 or 2 more times for cross training - FYI that gym is really nice.

In case I do not blog before hand - have a great and safe Thanksgiving. To everyone running Turkey Trots or the Atlanta half and full marathon - have fun and run like the wind! =)