franndss - a tribute to the best

"Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget."

Friends. Everyone needs them. :) Me... well I have about 12 really close friends that I love & adore.. and couldn't ask for anyone better! And that's what this blog is all about. It's a tribute to my favorite people.

I wrote this blog about a week ago,.. then me being the smart & computer savvy person that I am -- deleted the whole thing. So I am going to give this another try!!! 

Here they are. The sweetest friends a girl could ask for! 12 fantastic people, all with hearts of gold. Some of these ladies I have known for most of my life.. and then a few just in the past 2 or 3 years. They are all amazing ladies, each in their own way.

Kandi. Karly. Kelli. Adriane. Ginny. Tasha. Chelsa. Lindsay. Bobbie Gail. Erica. Jordan. Julia.

"This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, LOVE to complete your life."

Thank you all for being the people that you are! You are all very special to me and I am thankful to have each of you in my life! :)

Canton,.. I LOVE YOU!

So! Yesterday morning I woke up at 4:15 to get ready to meet Adriane, her mother & her mother-in-law at the Helton residence to leave for Canton at 5.

We stopped to eat and one potty break, so we made it to the flea market around 7:30. There were already tons of people there! and i mean tons! several had already made large purchases and were carrying them back to the car! i couldn't wait! as we walked closer and closer to the "square" i began checking out all of the items people were carrying past us! 

Ten minutes after being in the square.. I made my first purchase. A bottle tree chandelier! I LOVE IT! As soon as I saw it I was like "ohhhh yes".. I think i may have ran a little towards it! hahaa. They are so beautiful! I've been wanting a regular bottle tree... but this was so different. I've never seen one before.. and I just knew I'd rather have it than the regular tree! So. I picked one out.. and 3 cute and colorful bottles to start my chandelier collection! - Purchase one,.. DONE!

I only made on other large purchase,.. but I am equally excited about it as the chandelier. Its a wooden yard sign that has "The Shaw's Est. 2006" on it. I HEART it so much. I've been wanting something like this.. and now I have it! The sign is painted a beautiful blue color (my favoritest) with black writing with a gold overlay! PRESHHHH! - Purchase two... FABULOUS!

I bought a few more things, but nothing else large. Initial sterling silver earrings, chunky gray bead necklace, a dainty flower bracelet, Hank two old bottles (he loves bottles too), a bright flowery "welcome" flag for my flag stand, and.. I think that may be it. So I didn't break the bank, I know Hank sure was pleased, but still got a hand full of things that I am proud to have.

I really wish they would hold the Canton Flea Market on a Saturday. It would be much easier for everyone to get to,.. without most people having to take off of work. They hold this flea market every second Thursday in May & October. I can not WAIT to go back! Most of the items are handmade and its so neat to see everyone's handy work! people are so talented! -- now some things i can make myself,.. but several booths had beautiful art and crafts that I don't think I'd ever be able to tackle! 

We ended up being there from 7:30 to 1:30 and walked for 90% percent of our time there! It was so worth it though! The weather was very nice until about 12.. but even when it warmed up, it wasn't unbearable. I believe that we did get to see almost EVERY booth there.. which is saying a lot! We all had a great time.. and I can't wait until I can go back!

Shadows

Shadows

Late at night when I can't sleep,

There are shadows on the wall, 

I look around and watch them watch me, 

Large in size, to them I must seem so small.

They move with ease & fluidly grace,

Always switching from wall to wall, 

Never revealing to me their face,

Only growing and stretching extremely tall.

Their here to watch me drift off to sleep,

Never saying a word or bothering me,

I hope they stay around a while, 

I sure do enjoy the company.

>KS<

Its been a really long time since I've written any poetry. During high school I would always write poems and short stories.. and I loved it. I really miss those days sometimes, but only temporarily. I really enjoyed writing this particular poem though... it brought back memories of earlier days. :)

born to run

ad·dict·ed/əˈdiktid/ - Enthusiastically devoted to a particular thing or activity. 

I love running. I do. I think it would be safe to say that I'm somewhat addicted. Not only in races, but just in general. Every time I finish a run,.. I just feel so refreshed and feel good about myself. When I go a few days without running,.. I miss it. It just seems like something natural that I should do daily.

It's also quite fascinating to see how running will change your body. Running pretty much works your whole body... your arms, legs, back, abs.. everything. I guess swinging your arms back and forth works your upper back.. cause one day I woke up.. and was like "whoa... I don't have back fat rolls anymore,... sweet!!!"

Yesterday I ran my seventh 5k.. which has to be the hardest one I have done so far. Many hills, brick roads, uneven pavement, rocks & dirt,.. you name it. I'm not sure how many people were in the race, but I'd have to say over 200.... I finished in 27:25 (not exactly sure on seconds but i think it was around 25 seconds), the 55th person to finish overall, and I ranked 1st in my age division. Not a bad day.. for such a hard course. I didn't PR this time, but that's okay. My personal record is 26:04 and I am hoping to beat that this coming Saturday at the Long Leaf Trace. So we will see!

I really enjoyed this 5k.. and hope to do it again next year! -- This was it's 39th year in a row.. so I'm sure they will still continue to do it.  Yes this one was quite a challenge, but I think that its good to do some harder ones.. just to mix it up a bit.. and hills help to strengthen the legs.. that's for sure. I've done two other 5k's in Laurel that ran through downtown and historic Laurel,.. but neither of them were this hard.. or included this many hills. 

There were several people that I knew that did this race.. and everyone did so good!.. Just to finish at all is such a huge accomplishment! So CONGRATS to everyone who participated yesterday! :)

me, ginny, chad & terri.

adriane & me. This was her third 5k.. and she rocked it!

my running partner, ginny. :)

Also a big thank you to my husband, Hank, for waking up early to come and support me. I realize that getting up at 7 o'clock on a Saturday morning isn't the most ideal time to wake up, and I thank you for doing so anyways! You really don't understand how much it means to me! Also thanks to my mom & dad for coming out to see me run and in return, making my day! :)

Mi Madre

Well I just sat down and wrote a nice long blog about friends and friendships. Almost to the end... and I somehow delete the WHOLE thing. UGH. I can't sit here and type that same blog again, I just can't. I will have to try it again some other day. (and i thought it was quite interesting too!) BOOOO!

Anyways. Moving on.

Life is funny. I'm not going to try to speak for everyone here. So I'm going to talk about this in the first person,.. (i hope thats ok with you.) :) I know growing up.... my mother would always say "you will understand when you are older." This being one of the most popular phrases from her mouth, other than "No, Kayla." And when she would tell me this favorite phrase of hers... I would either roll my eyes or think yeah whatever. 

Now that I am older.. I see exactly what she was talking about. Its funny how throughout the years your opinions of things and people DO change,.. even though you thought they never would. My mom's father, or pawpaw as I called him, lived with us the last few years before he died. At this time I was a teenager.. in 10th grade.. and thought that my time and thoughts were more important than they actually were. My mother always said... I should spend more time with him and that if I didn't I would wish I had when I was older and he was no longer around... which of course I didn't listen... and its something that I regret dearly.

Now I didn't mean for this to be a sad post. That's just one example where she was very much right.. and I didn't listen to her. It wasn't always about such major things either.. that I wouldn't listen to her about.. whether it was a shirt too tight, me eating food that was bad for me, people I shouldn't hang out with or places I shouldn't go.. now I see exactly what she was saying and why she thought and felt that way.

My only hope is that if I ever do have a child.. that when I tell them these things.. that they will listen to me and believe that what I am saying is true. She definitely knew what she was saying... when she said that "I would one day see where she was coming from."

Thank goodness for mothers. There for us when we need them... or even when we don't THINK we need them. They are a true blessing.. (I know mine sure is) and a gift from God. We should all tell our mothers just how much we love and appreciate them for all that they do... not just on Mother's Day... but every day.

great strides

I'm ready for registration to open for the MS Gulf Coast Half Marathon on November 26th. Beyond ready, actually.

When I first started running,.. doing a half marathon was my beginning goal. So of course I needed to start out doing smaller races (hence the 5k's) and building up to the gruesome 13.1 miles. I call it gruesome because I am yet to accomplish this. Don't get me wrong though -- I am sure I will still call it gruesome afterwards as well but with different respect.

As I am sure I have previously stated.. the farther I have ran non-stop is 6.2 miles. Far, but not quite far enough. I am not even sure if I will be able to run non-stop for 13.1 miles come November.. but I wont be shameful for walking in my first half marathon.. as long as I finish. It can... and will be done.

So for any of you who have thought about running or who want to and are unsure of how to begin.. there are training programs you can use that tell you just how far and how long to run each day. Step by step, day by day.. on what to do to build up to this mileage.

Most programs are about 12 weeks long. NOW -- that being said.. I did read an article the other day that say most people needed about 6 months to prepare for their first half. Which for those of you who are interested in doing the one in November with me.. you still have over 6 months until the big day!

The sooner registration opens... the sooner I can get my spot locked down.. and my accountability in place. I know if I go ahead and pay for this.. I WILL DO IT! I will not back out at the last minute! I can't wait until the day.. that I cross the finish line and can say that I finished my first half marathon. No matter what my finish time is.. I will be proud! Not only proud to say I finished.. but to be able to say that I set a goal... and accomplished it. :)

the beginning of something new

As most of you know, Hank and I are getting ready to build a house. Getting ready being an understatement. We bought land in Oct of 2009. So I guess we've been technically "getting ready" for 14 months.

When we first purchased our land, it was ready to build on for the most part. It had already been cleared and the previous owners had pushed off an area for a "pad." So over the last year we have worked on our land.. cutting trees down.. and picking up limbs.. etc. In February this year, we went ahead and did our dirt work for our house... our first real steps towards getting the house built. Since then we have been at a stand-still. Just waiting on a few minor details with paperwork to be settled (waiting on others).. and then we will be ready to go.

This past Friday.. Hank and I went to CHC in Laurel to pick out a few things that we will need once we get started.. shingles.. windows.. etc. WOW,.. how exciting. Following the salesman around the showroom -- I felt like skipping, like a little girl in a candy shop. I guess things just started to feel real.. like we were actually going to get started! :) 

Of course we still aren't ready to start this week. But hopefully... (fingers crossed) we will be ready to start next week with footings & a foundation. Believe me... I will keep you all updated. I can't wait to actually see some progress. It's funny to walk across our dirt pad... and be like... "oh this is the living room" or... "there's where our bedroom will be."

Ecstatic will not be the word!