Since It's Mothers Day....

So, my mom is pretty special.  Unfortunately, I haven't really acknowleged or realized quite how special until the last few years.  And even though she'll probably hate the attention or the spotlight, I'm compiling a list of just a few of the reasons I think she's pretty cool.

10.) She is the best cook I know.
  9.) She is selfless.
  8.) She is giving and generous.
  7.) She loves people who others might label as different.
  6.) She makes time to visit with the old ladies in church who sometimes tend to be forgotten.
  5.) She makes the BEST cinnamon rolls and caramel rolls.  The smell of fresh rolls means I'm home.  Even her "flops" are amazing.
  4.) She went back to school and graduated with a bachelor's in nursing when she was like, 50!!  (And to think- I hesitate about going back for another associate's.)
  3.) She challenges me to be a better Scrabble player:)
  2.) She has been through the fire and come out stronger on the other side.
  1.) She has a great sense of humor.

There's just a few reasons.  I love my mom!

We Have A Winner!

A group of us ran another 5k today.  I am pretty excited to say that I got 1st in my age division!!!!  I was pretty stoked:)  I came away with $35 worth of gift certificates to sporting goods stores.  *Ahem*  At this point, I could do one of two things here.  I could lead you to believe that I have improved drastically since the last 5k we ran a few weeks ago (I did shave two minutes off my time).........

OR

I could tell you the rest of the story of how there was only two of us in that particular age group.

We had some stormy weather and it rained sheets and buckets up until a few minutes before the race started.  Believe you me, if it had been a beautiful morning and everyone had showed up I would have been much farther down the list:) 

I really haven't turned into little miss 5k who runs every race that comes along, but they had a booth set up for this one after the chick-fil-a one that we did and I really did it to support the cause.  It was for a mission in Africa called Bethany Village Ministries.  After the race they had pork BBQ and grilled chicken for us and they also had some singing groups.  One of the ones we listed to was a black a capella choir.  They were incredible- I loved it!!  Anyone who knows much about me would realize that it was right up my alley:)  I have now (kind of) fullfilled my desires to go to a service at a black church. 

It really turned out to be my lucky day.  Not only did I "do so good" in the race, get prizes and see the black choir, but tonight we ate at Applebee's and after they ran out of what I had ordered, I reordered and got it for free!  In between the race I also did laundry, watched a movie and took a nap.  A perfect combination for a gloomy, rainy day.

Change of Plans- But Who's Complaining?

Tonight I had my evening planned as such:
-Have Cassie follow me to Wal*Mart so I can drop off my car to have my flat tire patched tomorrow
-Cassie drives me home
-Exercise
-Eat a healthy, grilled turkey steak from my dad's turkeys (with his special marinade) and a salad with milk.

Actual events of the night:
-Have Cassie follow me to Wal*Mart so I can drop off my car to have my flat tire patched tomorrow
-Sent Cassie on her way because apparently they DO have time to fix it tonight
-Forgo the exercise and healthy supper
-Walk across the street to Zaxby's fried chicken strips, french fries and coke

WORKS FOR ME!!!!!

I believe their slogan is "Indescribably Good"

And they are correct:)

Already Gone:(

The weekend is already almost gone.  It just baffles me how two days on a weekend can go so fast compared to two days during the work week. 
I carried my camera with me all over this weekend because I just haven't taken very many pictures lately and wanted some for myself and for my blog.  But guess what.  The camera spent most of the time in my purse.  And when it did come out, it didn't take really great pictures.  So we have another pictureless blog.  Which really, I don't mind reading people's blogs without pictures.  Sometimes those are the best ones.  But I know that some people think blogs are really boring unless there's a picture.  Maybe next weekend......
Friday night we attempted to go putt putt golfing with Mark and Bekah.  We made it to hole 7 before the owner came out and said we had to leave because of incoming storms.  But we got a free game out of the deal.  Then I lost royally in an intense game of Ticket to Ride.
Saturday was Amber Edelman's birthday so some of us went to PF Changs.  It was my first time there and it's definitely as good as everyone says it is. 
Tonight I'm going to a cookout at the Moore's house.  I'm taking potatoes.  Which I need to get started on.  So until next time.....

Feeling Bittersweet

Thinking about moving back to Illinois has been really bittersweet all along.  This weekend was maybe a little more bitter than sweet.  Friday night I went to Devin's tee ball game.  I knew two other boys on the team- one that used to come to preschool and one whose younger sister comes there now.  Also I've gotten more familiar with other parents (besides Devins) because the same kids who play tee ball with him also played basketball with him over the winter.  So I've gotten to the point where I feel pretty comfortable just sitting on the bleachers with these people.  After the game I met up with everyone else from church at Wendy's, along with Ryan and Hope who had come down to visit for the weekend.  While we were there I saw two more families that I knew.  It's easy to feel like I have a place at the preschool and at the church.  That's just kind of a given.  But Friday night I also really felt like I have my place in the community too.  I have that feeling every time I see people not from church around town.  And it makes me realize how much Athens has really become home- and how much I'm going to miss it.  Tonight and last night too, though.  Both nights we got together with church people for supper and just to be together.  I love the closeness that we all feel.  Something that tends to lack in a bigger church like Roanoke.  I do love Roanoke, don't get me wrong.  I realize there's plenty of benefits being in a big church.  But oh how I will miss these times with my Athens church family. 
Sidenote:  We decided to night that we wanted to sing.  Usually if we sing we just sing songs we know from memory.  Tonight we whipped out the Zion's Harp!  I really like those books, and we don't use them here.  So I guess there's one thing that I'll be glad for once I'm back north:)

The Dreaded 5k

About a month and a half ago I signed up to run a 5k, along with Cassie, her sister, brother in law and some of the Edelmans.  As the day grew closer I found myself saying "WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!?!?!?!"  But, I knew if I backed out I'd be mad at myself and feel like a failure.  So I had no choice but to press on:)  I had great intentions of training consistently- to a point where I could run at least two miles without stopping.  You have to understand, I hate running.  I've always hated it.  I don't hate exercise, just running.  I could barely run a mile (slowly) to save my life  So those intentions conveniently fell by the wayside and all of a sudden, race day was here and I hadn't really trained.  Like I said though, I would have been mad at myself if I would have dropped out.  I had two goals.  The biggest goal was to not come in last place.  And I was really serious about that.  The second goal was, to actually try for a certain time, so I decided 40-45 minutes was reasonable for my... uh... athletic abilities.  I ended up doing better than I thought I would!  I ran it in 39:11 and came in somewhere in the middle of the pack.  263 out of 450 something.  Granted, I was way behind everyone else in our little group, but for me, that was good and I was satisfied.  And when it was over I had to admit that I kinda had fun and I might have even picked up registration papers for another one.  Don't know for sure if I'll do it yet or not. 
We were getting ready to take a group shot when the Chick-fil-a cow came and posed with us.  They were one of the sponsors of the race and every time it was time to turn a corner in the race, we heard a cowbell:)  Also we got a free chick fil a sandwich at the end.  That may have been the best part of the race!

We also had a cookout Saturday night with Cassie's family and Sunday night went putt putt golfing.  Turned out to be a really good weekend!

For my girl Hodel cousins- anyone recognize "the mini golf pose"?

Failure of a Photographer

I always have such good intentions of taking lots of pictures when I go somewhere for the weekend.  Especially when it's a busy weekend where I'll have lots of different things to take pictures of.  But once again, I have failed.  I took two pictures. 
Thursday night I didn't get on the road until 4:50.  I was taking a girl from Nashville (originally Tremont) with me which added a lot of time.  We didn't leave Nashville until almost 7:00.  Yuck.  Then I was dropping her off at her sisters house close to Bloomington and since we were coming in a different way than she was used to, she got turned around and took longer than expected....then I got pulled over...(written warning only!).......finally got to sleep at 3 in the morning.  Only to get up and go shopping and out to lunch with mom, Jamie and Haley.  But I really wasn't too tired and I had fun.  And Olive Garden was delicious.  By the time we got home though, I was pretty wiped out so I laid down to take a "little" nap.  Three hours later it was time to get ready for church! 
After church we had an egg coloring party at Robey and Angie's.  That's where my picture comes in.

That's about the extent of my picture taking for the weekend.  LOTS of eggs were colored that night.  Seven dozen, I believe.

Saturday I found myself at the Gridley community sale with some friends and then was able to hang out with them for awhile after the sale.  Saturday night was the smallest Hodel Easter I think we've ever had.  Only 13 or 14 of us were there.  It was kinda weird having it that small but a lot of people were either out of town or live in another state and couldn't make it.  They were missed, that's for sure.

Sunday was a reminder of one of the reasons I'm excited to move back.  Nate, Jamie and Haley came out for supper and we really didn't do much but eat and play Phase 10 (I won!) but I loved it.  It was kinda strange being in church knowing that the next time I'm in Roanoke I'll probably be living in Illinois. 

This morning I had a meeting at ICC.  I have really been considering going back to school but didn't hardly know where to start.  I had a lot of mixed feelings about school vs. finding a new job and didn't really have any clear direction of which way to go.  So I decided to schedule a meeting with an advisor and just see what she had to say.  I was praying all weekend that I could come out of that meeting feeling peaceful and with a sense of direction as to what my next step should be.  That's exactly what happened.  For now, I think the plan is to take a couple pre-reqs for the Occupational Therapy program and then maybe starting the OTA program in fall of 2011.  I'm not saying that's a for sure plan but it's the direction I'm heading for now.  I'm excited about it though.  I don't feel any apprehension and I feel like it's the best decision I can make for the time being.  Hopefully I'll be able to find a part time job and go to school part time this fall.  So if you know of anything, keep me posted!