A good friend...

A good friend... Is honored when you call them at 3am because you "just needed someone to talk to."

(Passionately) protects and defends your name if they hear someone else talking negatively about you.

Comes to your house two days after you had a baby just to help clean up, make food, and hold the baby while you sleep.

Does your dishes just to help relieve some of your stress.

Writes encouraging words in your birthday cards (more than just the simple "happy birthday!").

Comes over in their PJs to curl up and watch TV with you (like when you were kids) even if they have a husband at home.

Brings dinner and a movie over when your family has had a rough weekend.

Let's you move into their house for a week when the power goes out and actually enjoys your company the whole time.

Calls you just to encourage you after they read your down and out facebook status message.

Drives across three state lines just to make it to your baby (or bridal) shower.

Wants you to stay at their house instead of a hotel when you are on a trip to their town.

Signs up to run a half marathon with you just so you don't have to do it alone.

Stays up late to talk to you online until you really are feeling better.

Walks with you through the hard times and celebrates the good times.

This:

"Oh, the comfort -- The inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, Having neither to weigh thoughts, Nor measure words -- but pouring them All right out -- just as they are -- Chaff and grain together -- Certain that a faithful hand will Take and sift them -- Keep what is worth keeping -- and with the breath of kindness Blow the rest away."

And this:

I have had the honor of having real friends in my life. Without these ladies I would have shed many more tears and felt heartache for much longer periods of time. I love them and have incredible gratitude for all the love they have shown me. I hope to both spend many years returning their love and continuing to make the effort to pay it forward for the rest of my life.

I wanted to also say thanks to all of you for your incredibly encouraging words this past week. (With Sunday's sleep habits, preparing and then experiencing the half marathon.) I am beginning to understand the power of blogging and the awesome blessings it brings to both writers and readers. It's hard sometimes to share so much, but at the end of the day, I am always glad I clicked the Publish button. Thanks for being here, for listening, for encouraging me and for not judging my terrible grammar skills and overuse of the comma. I hope to be able to do the same for you in the coming years. :)

Much love today, friends!

Reflecting on my first half marathon

Standing at the corner of my corral, my body was already covered in a thin layer of sweat. Starting by sealing my pores with a thick layer of sunblock (yucky), I had dashed from the porta-potty line to a hotel restaurant bathroom across the street, and back to my corral all within 5 minutes of the start of the race. Tommy and Sunday were directly to my left on the other side of the corral gate. I think I kissed him "bye" maybe 5 times? They counted down to the start time for each corral in front of me… and then they shoved us out into the pack like a herd of cattle. "Off ya go!"

Humbling.

That is my word for this experience.

• Sweet messages of encouragement from friends and family.
• Completely losing it at mile 9.
• Realizing how incredibly inexperienced I am.
• Not being able to "get in the zone."
• Starting too fast. No matter how hard I tried not to.
• My body aching from head to toe by mile 8.
• Realizing I was in the very last corral. (And not even getting our own starting line countdown.)
• Hearing the cheerleaders cheering "Let's-go-walkers!!"

All of it.

Completely, undeniably humbling.

Here's the boldface truth: I was absolutely not prepared for this half marathon. I knew I started training too late in the game. But I figured… if I can pull off 10 miles in a training run, then I can finish a half marathon.

I did finish.

In fact, I totally reached all of my written goals. They were:

1. Learn to love running.
2. Get to a place where 3-5 miles is a comfortable regular run.
3. Finish the race.
4. Stay hydrated.
5. Have fun.
6. Don't get sunburnt.
7. Continue on my journey of getting healthy.

All of those things happened. But, still, I left my pride on the boardwalk in Virginia Beach.

The half marathon was. so. hard.

Something new is brewing in me. In years past I would have left my pride and not thought about it again. I am a quitter. In fact - I did that in 2008 when I participated in my first sprint triathlon. I finished 4th from last and laughed about it. I mean… what was I really going to do about it? Get better? Stronger? Work harder? Pfft. Nope.

Well, that was Liz pre-baby. :)

The Liz now? I'm more pumped than ever. I will get better… I will grow stronger. I will do it again and improve my time. I will learn how to "get in the zone" no matter where I am or who is around me. I will learn what I need to eat during a run and how often to eat it. I will learn how to run with or without music, with or without company, with or without a baby jogging stroller.

Yes, I feel defeated. I feel humbled. I feel worn out. But I am going to pick myself back up and work harder and longer this time.

I've already set my next goal: another half marathon on November 17th. Coming right up.

This isn't my race report... that'll come. This is mostly my race emotional check. Stay tuned for a less emotional report of how it really went down.

(A mini report for those who really want to know: With the humidity the air temp "felt like" 104 degrees, the sun was behind clouds for most of the race (I might have had a heat stroke had it not been) and I finished with a time of 3:28. Also, I walked a lot more than I ever planned or expected I would.)

Getting ready for my first half marathon

T-minus 2 days until race day.

I am sort of freaking out and sort of not. Part of me thinks "Oh, I have another long run this weekend." Then the other part of me thinks "I have to run in the beaming sun for 3 hours and try to stay hydrated and not get sunburnt all at the same time." And then I freak out.

But, look! There's hope!

Race day is Sunday. Would y'all pray with me that the thunderstorms make their appearance early in the day and we get to run in the rain?! Oh that would be THE BEST!

Then the sun can come out at the end of the race and we can have a lovely weekend on the beach. Look, it's totally possible. If you are a Virginian you know how "Scattered T-Storms" really means that it probably won't storm at all, but if it does it'll last 20 minutes and never come back again.

So, my goal is to get through the race hydrated, not sunburnt, and somewhat enjoy myself while I'm at it. I've enjoyed myself on my training runs so this should (hopefully) be even more fun! There are bands and cheerleaders along the whole course and so many of my friends will be there, too!

I totally plan on taking my phone with me on the run and snapping a few Instagram shots. (I gave up looking like a pro runner when I typed in my estimated finish time at registration.) I will also be writing about my experience when I get home. (Of course!)

Thanks for all of your words of encouragement… I am excited, nervous, scared, having bits of apathy, and most of all looking forward to the feeling of accomplishment when it is all over. :)

See you on the other side!

letters to sunday | months six, seven and eight

Sweet Sunday,

Mama got a little carried away on the procrastinating, didn't she? I pray you will have your father's sense of timeliness. And if you don't, that I (and your future husband) will have the same forgiving heart towards you that he has towards me. :) I can't believe I'm here... writing this. You aren't really nine months old already, are you?

I look back at the last letter I wrote and I was talking to you about how you "get it." That you get life. That truly seems like forever ago, because now not only do you get it... but you are living it. No more of this infant "discovering how to live" thing. Oh no. You're here now, personality and desires and everything. You are expressing yourself, sharing opinions, you have likes and dislikes... you are all over it. And when I say "all over" I mean exactly that. You are moving and shakin, honey! You're not officially crawling yet, but you are getting around just as easily! You can pull yourself to standing (which you quite often prefer over learning to crawl). In fact, my favorite midnight moments are when I come in to find you standing up, leaning out of the bed yelling at me. How did you know that if you lean closer to the door I might hear you better? You are a genius.

There's not a speck of newborn left in you anymore... dare I say that I see a few toddlerisms developing already. Slow down! I want you to stay my baby forever!

You have reached the stage of attachment. You know who your mama is and you prefer me over everyone else. But in the evening you light up both of our hearts as you reach out for daddy when he walks in from work. Even though he travels and works a lot, you still know who he is and you love him so very much. Such a big girl!

So far, this is my favorite age. You are just the perfect little size... so easy to hold, to cuddle, to prop up on my hip. You smile and giggle but you are still pretty content with where I set you down and the toys I offer you. Breastfeeding is a breeze since you fit so snuggly in my lap now and we no longer need any help from pillows to prop you up.

You grew out of the sleep-anywhere-and-through-anything phase. If you fall asleep in the car and I try to move you, you will wake up. So, we stay home around your nap times more often now than we used to. However, you really do get bored at home. A mama's girl, for sure! So we make little trips through the week just to keep us both busy and entertained.

You love all types of animals and whenever a dog is approaching you shake your hands and feet and squeal with joy! You let Hawkeye lick you all the time (even though he is not supposed to!) and you really like sharing your food with the puppies. You LOVE being outside. In fact, there is nothing more soothing for you than being in mama's arms outside. An outdoorsy chica?? Yesss! The adventures that lie ahead of us are endless.

Oh, and girl... music? Music heals the soul, we all know that. But music soothes your anxious heart anytime of day or night. You love to sit on daddy's lap and play the piano and drums. It is his secret weapon to soothe you while I am away. I was a little nervous with daddy taking you downstairs to play the drums - they even hurt my ears - but you love it! You smile and squeal and kick your little feet!

And honey - you love food. You are a Cook baby, through and through. You will eat just about anything we put in front of you. And of course you love carbs (when you get older you can thank your daddy for all the secret carb snacks he gives you while I am not looking). Yesterday we experienced a first: you found a food you didn't like. You showed your (very wise and) very strong distaste of yogurt. Haha. Sorry honey, that is just a curse that comes from me. So much for a creamy, healthy snack (I've always wished I liked yogurt because it seems like a simple way to eat well!). That's okay, I was hesitant to give you much dairy anyway. No worries!

You play SO WELL all by yourself. Your favorite toys are the non-toys: pots, pans, kitchen utensils. You have a slight obsession with Grandmommy's chapstick and we always grab a tube of Aquaphor in the grocery store for you to play with as we shop. You are entertained by the simplest things. Here mama thought she was smart buying all these 5-toys-in-one contraptions and you just needed a wooden spoon and a floor to bang on. So funny.

It's really fun to see you growing up and enjoying life along the way. I can't explain to you the light you have brought into our lives. You have made our world a better place and we would never go back to the days before you were born (no matter how many sleepless nights mama has to go through in a row!).

xoxox sweetheart,

Mama

"Where you at?"

Do any of you remember those hilarious cell phone commercials with the eldery people speaking in grammar of modern day teenagers? I loved those commercials and there are still days when I remember them and smile.

I especially loved the line "Where you at?" which came to me this morning as I was brainstorming a title for this post. :) (Wait for it at the end!)

So... this is where I'm at:

I'm having a rough week. And it's only Tuesday.

My daughter who used to sleep through the night has slowly regressed to the point of waking up for the first time before I am even asleep myself. (No more 6+hr first chunk of sleep!) It's been going on for weeks (months?) getting worse over time. I am trying everything I can think of, but I still wake up numerous times a night beyond frustrated. And evenings make for a sore environment in our home with a grumpy and exhausted mama and a dad who just needs to relax after a long day at work.

So this is my current view. While it's embarrassing to be that honest with you all, I know plenty of you have days like this one. I'm just keeping it real around here.

Today I am leaning into anything and everything encouraging. Prayer, encouraging words from friends, inspiring blog posts, worship music. It's one of those desperate days. I have the David Crowder Band Pandora station playing right now and I'm about to get up and tackle this mess in my house. If there's anything that is bound of refresh my spirit, it's a home under control.

I hope you all are having a better Tuesday than I!