MY FIRST 1/2 MARATHON

I know it has been a couple of weeks but I wanted to post about a historic day for me. June 13th I ran my first ½ marathon. I trained for 9 weeks. Brian was my rock and trained with me as much as he could. He gave me lots of encouragement and support. My sister, Frances ran it with me and my sister Janice ran the full marathon. They were a huge support and inspiration as well.

The fun weekend started Friday, June 12th. Franny and Janice brought their kids up to Logan to stay at my house while we went and stayed at a condo next to the lake. Sammy and my niece Cammie helped watch the kids and my sister Ruth stayed over night to help. Thanks Ruth. But before we left we had to go out for some yummy pasta at the Olive Garden.

The race started late because they had problems busing everyone to the starting line. While we were waiting, it started to rain pretty hard. I was a little nervous to be running my first ½ in the rain, but it actually turned out to be perfect weather. It rained just a bit during the race but the temp was perfect.

The first part of the race was great. I felt great and everything was so beautiful. The second part of the race felt like it was constant up hill. With 6 miles left I felt my legs tighten, 5 miles left I hit the wall and I wondered how I was going to finish. I was running with my sister Frances and she was having a great race. She was so positive and up beat which was a huge help to me. I couldn’t keep up with her, but she waited for me at the aid stations and kept me going. With 4 miles left my IT band (side of my knee) was bothering me. I kept pushing it and worked hard to stay up with Frances. Any way, it was more challenging than I thought it was going to be. As we came to the finish, Franny grabbed my hand and said, “Let’s do this.” I wasn’t emotional at all until she said that and then when she said that I started crying. On the other side of the finish line a man was taking pictures so I tried hard to put a smile on my face. We crossed the finish line, they handed us our medals, and then I had to walk away and cry. I had done it. I had trained and did everything I possibly could to be ready. I finished the race and I did it with my amazing sister.

Part of the emotion was because of all the help that everyone had given me. Brian, Frances, and Janice were my cheerleaders and knew that I could do this. Not only them, but my whole family and friends. It felt wonderful to have so much encouragement.

I was hoping for 2:15 and because of Frances, we finished in 2:09. I was really excited about the time. Brian finished in 1:46. He didn’t beat the time he wanted, but he came in 20th overall and first in his age group. Janice did awesome to in the full marathon. She finished in 4:11.

Even though I was hurting, it was worth it. We headed back to Logan shortly after the race. Saturday night, more family came to visit. My brother Glen and his wife Sarah brought their two cut girls to play Saturday night and stay over. My brother, John, and his wife, Sherri, brought their boys for dinner and visit. My awesome parents drove through a terrible storm to come visit a couple of hours and then head back home. It was a great night. We had so much fun BBQing, playing volleyball (I just watched. I was a little too tired.), and staying up way to late talking. I loved it and I went through family withdrawls when they all left. I have an awesome family and love that we all get along and support each other.

WELCOME SUMMER!!!!

Schools out and I love to celebrate the beginning of summer. I told the kids that if they invited the friends I would have some water activities set up in the back yard for them on their last day of school. I thought they may invite four friends or so. Sammy invited 12 girls. I was a little surprised but I thought why not. Sammy has great friends. Steven had three friends come and we had a couple younger kids from the neighborhood come over as well.

I thought it turned out really fun. I had lunch for them and then they played and had a blast. You can’t have a party without music so I set up my stereo speakers and put them in the window. Hopefully it wasn’t too loud for our neighbors. The kids played water balloon volleyball, red rover-red rover, slip and slide, played in a kiddie pool I had set up, and invented their own games when we turned on the sprinkler. We topped it off with a movie. We are now officially ready for summer.

What has God done for me today?

A friend of mine had this video on her facebook. I have been thinking about the talk that this video was made from a lot this weekend. A coincidence or ment to be that I got on facebook this morning and she shared it I don't know, but I thought I would share it with all of you. The talk was given October 2007 conference. I know this because I was going through a really hard time when it was given and it was something that really helped me. This talk means a lot to me. Hopefully it will be helpful to some one who reads this blog. Have a great day.

Hopefully we will see God's hand in our life today in many ways.

GROWING UP

Over Memorial Day weekend, our family headed to Manti to celebrate Brian’s 20 year high school reunion. Friday night, we met for dinner with about 30 of his class mates and their spouses. I think he had 84 graduate in his class so this was just under half of his class. This was a big difference from mine which was around 500 kids in my class. But one of the things that was brought up over and over was what a blessing it was to graduate from a small class. I could see that most of the classmates really cared about each other because they all knew each other. It was fun for me too, because I went to Snow College with a lot of the people. Saturday night we went to the high school’s reunion dinner. The years of ‘39, ‘49, ‘59, ‘69, ‘79, ‘89, and ‘99 were celebrating reunions. Brian’s sister, Dana, and brother, Richard, were on the committee. It was a nice dinner and a lot of history of the school was shared. When we left, Brian said “You know your getting old when you start enjoying information like that.” Sometimes, I can’t believe it has been 18 years since I graduated. At times it feels like just a couple of years ago. I don’t feel any older. As a matter of fact, I feel younger. Isn’t life interesting.

My kids are graduating in a sense. Logan has successfully passed kindergarten and has loved it. His program was this past Friday. He was so excited and did a great job singing. One of his songs was about peacemakers and how they “talk about it, they don’t fight about it”. One of the parts in the song was that peacemakers walk about when they feel too mad to talk about it and take time to cool off. The other day, Logan and Kylee were fighting about something. Logan got really mad and walked down to his bedroom. I tried to get him to come back so we could “talk about it”. He ignored me and climbed into his bed. I let him have some time and then went and talked to him. I asked why he didn’t want to come work it out. He said, “You know that song Peacemakers talk about it, well I was too mad to talk so I walked away to cool off.” I thought that was such a cute story. He really takes the things he is learning to heart. He has done so well this year and has loved it. He has an amazing kindergarten teacher, Miss Chris. I have had the opportunity to volunteer in his class once a week and have loved getting to know the kids and watching Miss Chris teach. I am really glad I waited a year to send him to kindergarten.

Braden and all the 4th graders presented a program this past week too. It was really good. All the songs were about Utah. He dressed up like a pioneer. Braden hasn’t like school very much this year. He is still doing pretty good, but things were a bit more trying this year. I have notice with all my kids that 4th grade was a challenge, more socially than anything. Hopefully, he will have a great teacher and friends next year and he will love going again.

Steven and Sammy did well too. Sammy earned a 4.0 every quarter. She did amazing. I never had to remind her to do homework. Half the time I didn’t even know what she had to get done. She is very motivated and grades are important to her. Steven made a lot of progress this year. At the beginning of the year it took him all day to get his work done. By the end of the year, he was getting stuff done without being reminded and had time to play an hour or two. I have the greatest kids.

Summer is only 4 days away and I am looking forward to it. Maybe not as much as my kids, but we have some fun things planned this year. It will be nice not to stress about homework and deadlines, but I am a bit worried about the fighting that has increased this year. Hopefully we can stay busy enough that they don’t have time to fight. But, Brian and I are also bribing them with a trip to Disneyland if they earn it by getting along. Wish us luck. And Happy Summer!!

MOTHER'S DAY ROSES

The Friday before Mother’s Day, I got a knock on my door. There on the other side was one of the secretaries from Sammy’s orthodontist. She was holding a dozen roses. So I guess they had a competition the last time Sammy went to the orthodontist. They had the kids write an essay about their mother and the top prize was roses for their mother. Well, I got the roses which means Sammy had the best essay about her mommy (me). Sammy said she wasn’t even going to write anything because she didn’t think she would do a good job. But, then she thought why not. So glad she did. Here is what she wrote.

“My mom is the best because she loves me no matter what I do. She takes care of me and nurtures me, but she is also my friend. She tries to understand me and help me through my struggles. She is always willing to talk and advise me. I can tell her anything and we can trust each other. She supports me in all I do. I love my mom and I know she loves me.”

I love Sammy so much. She is truly growing into a beautiful young woman. She is smart, talented, friendly, beautiful, and has a testimony of Jesus Christ.

I love all my children and they are maturing and growing up so much. My boys are handsome and smart. They are fun and love to play with each other. They are obedient and developing their testimonies of the gospel as well. I am a lucky mother.

MY AMAZING MOTHER!!!!

Where would I be without my mother. I didn't realize until I was a mother all the amazing things she has done for me. My mom is Susan Barney Horsley. She is the oldest of 5 children. She has 10 children and raised 9. My mom is a huge part of the reason I am who I am today. She has loved me, provided and cared for me. Mom has supported me in all my decisions and shown confidence in me. My testimony and love for Jesus Christ began because of my mother's testimony of Him. In small ways she bore testimony to me in words and actions of her love for Jesus Christ and His gospel. I never doubted that my mom knew who our Savior is. I always felt loved by my mother. She has sacrificed so much to raise me and my siblings. She is intelligent and has a gift for teaching. She would give anything to help any of her children.

Mom thank you for who you are and what you have done for me. Your example is a strength to me. Thank you for your love and I hope you have a wonderful mother's day.

I LOVE YOU MOM!!!!

THE CHALLENGE OF RUNNING

(This is me at a marathon relay I ran with some ladies in my ward. It was a little over 5 miles for all of us.)

Brian has wanted me to run a 1/2 marathon since last Fall. I started training for one, but then my IT band gave me too much trouble so I quit training. He has talked me into running the Bear Lake 1/2 marathon June 13th. I have been babying my knee, by taking ibuprofin, icing it a couple of days, and stretching it every day. So far it has been working. My IT band hasn't given me any trouble. However, a couple of weeks ago just before I started training, I strained the back of my knee. It hasn't given me trouble when I run, but I have to ice it a couple of times a day because it feels swollen.

Yesterday, was my first long run. I ran 6 miles. The first couple of miles were the hardest, but the rest of the run wasn't too bad. The most amazing thing about my run is that Brian ran with me. Why is that so amazing? The day before he had run his long run which was 7 miles. He hadn't been planning to run, but he knew my run would be challenging for me. How awesome is that. He is so supportive and I really appreciated that he would run with me. I kept asking if he was doing o.k. and saying that he could cut it short and go home, but he said he was fine and kept with me. Of course I run so much slower than him, that it was probably like a fast walk to him. Your the best Brian, love ya.

Now, I know many of you who don't run are thinking how dumb is she to put herself through that. I know what your thinking because I used to think it myself before I started running. But once you get started it gets in your blood. It's almost addicting. Maybe it is more the satisfying feeling to set a goal and achieve it. Maybe it is challenging oneself and finding what we are really made of. So many times I back away from challenges because it hurts or it is hard, but like running if I push through it, work hard, and surround myself with support I am amazed at what I can really do. I am more than I realize. I change and I am not the same, but hopefully better.

(This is Sammy, Kylee, and I this January at another 5k)

It doesn't really matter what the challenge is that we give ourselves. Sometimes we don't even give ourself a challenge, the challenge is part of the trials of life. But, even if we choose to challenge ourselves in some area it is different for all of us. For example, my sister-in-law is writing a novel. She has been working at this for a couple of years. This is something I would really struggle with, because I don't feel like I have much ability in that area at all. But that challenge is giving her something to shoot for, to grow in. For some who are not as social, maybe the challenge is to be more friendly. Maybe our challenge is....well I could go on and on. My point is to set goals and improve ourselves in what ever we feel is important for us. We will grow and become more than we ever thought we could.

(This is my sister, RaeAnn and I running our first 5k)