Copy Cat and Homemade Glamour Shots

If you read my friend Bethany’s blog go ahead and skip this entire post. If not, know that I literally copy and pasted her entire blog onto my blog. (I would have just linked to her blog, but when I get super motivated one day and make a blog book, I WANT these pics!)

The only thing I will add to her story is that we were the ONLY people matching from head to toe. It was awesome. 

Love you Bethany. Thank you for letting me steal your post.

aka Friends Forever… the Saved by the Bell version… you know the one

aka Cori & Bethany take Austin

Once upon a time there was this girl named Bethany. When she was 12 her parents moved her from her comfy little life chasing tumbleweeds in West Texas to the big city… Tulsa, OK. Right after she moved there a few of the youth group girls took her out to pizza to welcome her to their new church. It was cold that night and Bethany forgot her coat…you didn’t really need those things in West Texas that time of year. Anyways this nice girl named Cori let her borrow her super cool leather jacket. It was BFF love at first sight. Anyways Cori & Bethany were instant friends. They did really cool things like wear combat boots all the time, skip sunday school to play on the swings; go to the mall every sunday afternoon; talk in pretend languages in front of strangers and play glamour shots. And they laughed. Constantly. They were really, really cool. And they never, ever annoyed their parents or anyone else. And they definitely did not turn their moms’ hair grey.

That’s right. We’re playing glamour shots. Not sure if we were making fun of it or if our parents were too cheap for it….

Anyways they went to high school together and continued their path of annoying dorkiness. {I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize to anyone everyone we annoyed over the years. We honestly thought we were funny} The spy missions, class skipping, toilet papering antics continued well into their college years.

Life went on they both got married and had babies and recently decided they should run a race together. {and by “together” I mean the “same race”. Cori “speedy gonzalez” Lyon placed 4th in her age group}  They lived it up in Austin. And by live it up I mean ran a half marathon on a CRAZY hilly course in the Texas hill country, hung out at the hotel hot tub with wine snuck in disposable coffee cups, spent an entire afternoon in the world’s most amazing Whole Foods, rolled around in a Kia Soul (you should be jealous) got lost thanks to Bethany’s lack of navigational skills stupid iphone app, ate almost every meal at the hotel restaurant and walked almost 4 miles post race just to go to Lululemon. It might not sound like fun to many people but they had a BLAST. It was exactly what these two mama’s needed.

Okay, I can’t keep this whole 3rd person thing up…too confusing.

Anyways – we had a fantastic weekend. Best part…the end of the race, Cori turned to me with tears in her eyes and said, “I dedicated this race to Parker and Campbell. I thought of them the whole entire way”. Funny thing – so did I. We never discussed it or planned it, but we both raced for my babies. Because that’s what friends do. So we sat there and cried and hugged for awhile…and I’m sure people thought we were crazy, but that’s okay. It was so fun & so special. Just what I needed to heal my heart.

We had a great time and are already planning the trip for our next race.
A HUGE thanks to my parents and to Mat for taking care of Campbell on my first trip away. Couldn’t have done it without you guys!


Cori -thanks for a super fun time. You are a wonderful bff and i’m so thankful for you. my prayer for campbell is that she has a friend just like you. Even if it turns my hair grey=)

our ride. the kia soul.

Whole Foods wine. Organic AND Eco Friendly.

EXPO!!

Yes we are 30 & matching. I told you we were dorks.

DONE!

Also Done. Since she was so stinkin’ fast i don’t have a picture of her finishing!

wine & live music by the river at the end

Every body needs a friend to play glamour shots and run half marathons with…

Early Morning

I ran the Route 66 Half Marathon on Sunday. It was wonderful. Perfect weather, I was happy with my time, but the best part was hearing my babies (Mike included) cheering for me.

I had told Mike that if the kids woke up in time and he wanted to get everyone to the race that was great, but not to feel obligated. I wasn’t doing the girl thing of saying the opposite of what I wanted, I really meant it. The race started at 7:30 and I totally know how hard it is to get everyone out the house before 8:30, let alone find a parking spot, unload both kids, walk downtown, and fight the crowds at the finish line. So I didn’t get my hopes up that they would be at the finish line.

Hearing your husband scream your name, while simultaneously holding your four year old up so he can see you, snapping pictures and holding the double stroller containing your sixteen month steady with his knee is a beautiful beautiful sight.

A couple steps down the line, my parents (my mom kicked booty in her 5k by the way) were cheering me on.

I was smiling so big crossing the finish line it hurt.

To say I feel lucky sounds so cliche. I have a husband who cheers me on, supports me, encourages me and most of is proud of me. I have a four year old that after my race told me, “You were so fast, you did so good. You were so great, you even got a medal!” I have a sixteen month old that does the happy grunt when we sees me and wants to hug me, sweaty pig tails and all. I have parents who got to the race 3o minutes earlier than they needed to be there for my mom’s race (when you are talking about waking up at 5:30 am, 30 minutes is a lifetime!) just to be there for my start.

I have legs that run. I have a heart that beats. I have a healthy family. I have happy kids. I have a loving husband.

Sometimes you have those overwhelming moments that knock your breath out in a good way. Today was one of those days. I observed my life from a distance and really liked what I saw.

Little Runner Boy

When Mike is out of town I am forced able to run with both my kids in the double jogger. Scott lately has been wanting to get out and run with me, so he got his first pair of running shoes. (he is totally pumped and has now decided he wants to race, I have no idea if 4 year olds are allowed to race, but I am looking into it).  Last week, I sunscreened everyone up, packed snacks, 3 waters, Nate’s paci,  put on Scott’s running shoes and headed out. He would get out and run with me about every 15 minutes for a couple of minutes and then hop back in the stroller. I am trying to teach him running “rules” so he doesn’t become like a Fleet Feeter. My heart melted when we were passing a walker and Scott yelled out in his adorable voice, “On your left!”.

Sometimes I have those moments when I look at my kids and think, “Oh, I get it. This is what life is all about.” Seeing my baby run in front of the massive stroller, flailing his arms about (remember that Friends episode when Rachel and Phoebe run together? Scott is totally Phoebe.), screaming “I am winning! I am going to beat you!”, and then suddenly stopping and pointing to a piece of trash all the way down by the water and yelling, “Mom, Somebody litter bugged on Riverside! Why would Somebody litter bug on Riverside?! Oh, look they litter bugged those one chips I like!”. Those are the moments that I hope I never forget. Those moments that I want to mentally video tape and play back to myself when we are having a rage out day. To a four year old, anything can be an adventure. Sometimes I forget. I forget that he is only four. I forget how fast it is passing me by. I forget that in a month he is going to preschool. I forget that one day, to soon,  I won’t be running with him, I will be watching from the sidelines. One day, I won’t be the princess and he won’t be the pirate. One of these days I am not going to have a double jogger stuffed in the garage and I will miss it.

The Pink Watch

My birthday was perfect. The best one I have had in a long long time. Maybe even the best one I have had since I turned sixteen and the Baby Blue Bronco Two entered my life.

Birthdays are not a big deal to Mike, so it has taken years of intense training (and by training, I mean annoying nagging and many disappointed faces.) BUT this year, he got it. The entire weekend was all about me.

My family, on the other hand,  has always made a huge deal about birthdays (I have had a total of 4 surprise parties, one of them was given by Bethany). I was surprised every time. This year, my parents kept BOTH boys over night (Nate’s first sleep over!) which was a big enough present, then they “helped” Scott plan a party for me, which included my favorite cake, party hats and princess plates. They made lunch and picked out perfect and thoughtful presents. I ended my birthday weekend feeling very appreciated and special.

My birthday kick off on Saturday was to pick out a new running watch from Scott and Nate. I lost my watch around January and have been timing my runs on my ipod because I just knew the watch would turn up…. (this is why I don’t buy fancy things, I lose them.) Mike walked around with Scott while I pondered over watches. When he came back, I had a pink Nike watch out that I was pretty sure was the one. When Mike saw it he said, “You don’t want to pick pink, that’s too girly.”

Me: I am a girl.

Mike: But you don’t want to look girly when you are running. You want to look hardcore.

Me: Actually, I want to look girly.

Mike: No, you will get sick of having a pink watch. Pick the black one or the black one with pink detail.

Me: (to the sales guy) Okay, may I please see the black one and the black one with pink detail also?

Sales Guy Inner Monologue: Seriously lady. Just pick a watch. You have already seen like every one we carry. And you keep asking me questions. Like I have all the watch facts memorized. Man, when is it my smoke break.

Me: The black and pink one reminds me of the eighties. Uuummmmm. (inner monologue: I really want the all pink one. But what if Mike is right… am I going to get sick of it? No! Cori, go with your gut. But now I am questioning my choice, maybe I should just get the all black one)

This inner monologue continued for about 8 minutes (if I already had a watch at this point, I could have timed it, but then there would be no story.)

Sales Guy Inner Monologue: I am seriously way to stoned to dealing with this lady.

Me: I am getting the pink one. It is the one I want.

Mike: Are you sure?

Me: I am sure.

I am not shy and I don’t have any problem speaking my mind, but I think sometimes I let peoples opinions and expectations of me determine my final choice. It is so hard to fight that those mom expectations. What sport is your kid in? Why isn’t Scott in preschool yet? Why is your child having a rage out??? Nate isn’t sleeping through the night yet? What church do you go too? Come here at this time, go here and buy this, pick this watch over that watch. Sometimes it just feels easier to do what everyone else expects me to do, instead of explaining or arguing or worst of all, letting someone down.

I should point out, I don’t feel judged by others. It is more that their comments and questions cause me to question my choices.

I never used to feel like this. I pretty much made all my own choices with very little input from others (or care at what others thought). I am working on getting back there.

So, cheers to my girly pink watch. Every time I look at it I smile.

*Side Note: There was much more to my birthday from Mike. And yes, he is bossy. We both are.

Man Boobs

Older men and egos.

Today I was running and was at the turn around point and stopped to stretch my calf before heading towards home and this man run past and says:

Man: I thought you were going to TRY to out run me. (arrogant smirk)

Me: (sarcastic smile) Oh, hahaha. (inner monologue…. “You better watch yourself old man, I am about to smack that jiggle right out of those man boobs.”)

Then I let him far enough ahead that he probably felt good about himself and then I ran. I ran past him and in a fake cheerleader voice I said:

Have a great day!

Man: Grunt. Snort.

Me: Ya, know, if you picked up your feet more when you ran it would help your stride and probably improve your speed.

(okay I totally made up the last line, but it was on the tip of my tongue) And then I ran. I ran hard all the way home.  So hard that when I got to my street to walk for my cool down I could hardly breathe. It felt wonderful. It was like he was my breaking point, anything inside that had been eating at me was gone.

I have found that older men do not like to be passed by girls. Guys my ageish when passed usually give the 3 fingered wave or smile and nod but (most) older men, not so much. When you pass them and say “Good Morning.” They stare straight ahead like they don’t see you and grunt. The best though, is when they do their faux sprint (I swear to you, I am not making this up, this has happened to me several times) the faux sprint goes like this:

Me-pass the man.

Man- grunt. waits a couple beats and starts sprinting. Man passes me and then sprints for about 100 more yards and then usually the man starts walking because he is on the verge of heart failure or at the very least resumes pre-sprint pace.

This results in me re-passing them in a minute or so, but it is like they have to make sure you know, if they run to the point of over excurtion, they can pass you and hold on to it for 2.3 seconds. Next time this happens, I am thinking about racing.

*Side Note: I am not trying to imply that I am a super runner or anything of that sort. Because I am not. Plenty of people pass me.

**Double Side Note: Passing a man while visibly pregnant, is even more irritating to him.

Learning Curve

Things I learned this week:

1. Blue Cross Blue Shield has awesome on hold music. AT&T has horrible on hold music.

2. You should always always always keep the lid on the blender while blending a green smoothie. I learned this the hard way. (green all over my face, shirt, ceiling, cabinets….I am not exaggerating, I couldn’t open my eyes until I felt my way to the sink and washed my face off)

3. Nate has developed the cutest case of bedhead in Tulsa County (maybe world wide).

4. People who run in packs are annoying (you know who you are Fleet Feeters). I was being forced off the path onto the grass so the pack could run five across and a gazillion deep. BUT I learned that if you are passing them and keep screaming “On your left” over and over through the pack, they will move (for some reason running in a pack gives the illusion of speed and they never seem to think that anyone could ever run faster than them). I also learned that if you are facing them head on and play chicken, they will give. (I decided that I would move over to my side and look straight ahead but I would not move, even if it resulted in a collision…I won.)

5. My kids do not wake up if I sneak in their room at night to put the laundry away. This makes me very happy. For some reason I can never seem to get the laundry put away while they are up, thus resulting in an overflowing basket of clean clothes.

6. 30 Rock and The Office were both tied for my favorite show, but 30 Rock is now in the lead.

7. ALWAYS look behind you before, ahem, passing gas while running or it might result in an embarrassing moment. (unless of course The Pack Runners are behind you, then by all means….)

What did you learn this week?

Things that make me go….huh?

This actually should have been posted on Saturday, but I spent last night thinking it was Friday night, how I lost an entire day of the week, I do not know….

Things I learned this week:

1. Cold peanut butter chunks on cold apple slices is very delicious.

2. When running and pushing a double stroller with the wind at your back, you will think you are making great time.  BUT when you turn around to run home, it will be brutal.

3. Life is fragile and finite. (I didn’t actually just learn this, but it was definitely reiterated.) I spent a lot of time this week in reflection of where I want my life to be centered. How I want to feel when I look back on my life. I know not every day will be a party, I know I will still get frustrated over the small things sometimes, I know I will always have to work on being not being a grudge holder BUT I can choose to not be annoyed when Nate wakes up at 5:45 am and look at it as a special hour and a half that I get to love on him with no distraction (ahem, Scott). I want to end the day and feel like I was engaged and connected and made the effort to be present.

4. The bathroom window is NOT painted shut as I previously thought. I love windows in bathrooms.

5. 3 1/2 year olds do not understand that when a superman outfit goes in the washing machine it will take more than 5 minutes for it to be clean and dry again.

What did you learn this week?