Fiesta 10K Recap!

Saturday was the last race of the season for me. It is getting too hot for racing now here on the Gulf Coast. So I was really looking forward to this race! I ran the 5K part of this race years ago but have never run the 10K. I was excited to run in my hometown again AND run a new course!

We had to wake up pretty early for this one since it's about an hour commute to get there. I met my friends at our meeting spot and off we went!

We arrived at the finish line area around 6:15. We had to take a shuttle bus to the start line. There was no wait for a bus which was really nice.

I was really excited to run another race with my friend Jenny! We've run two races together but this would be the first time we actually started together. The last two times we found each other on the course and then ran the rest together.

We knew the course was going to be hilly so we didn't really have any goals in mind. We wanted to come as close to our previous PR as possible. But we knew it was going to be hot and hilly and would be happy to finish with a smile on our faces!

I'm so lucky to have so many friends that love to run as much as I do!!!

The shuttle ride didn't take too long and then we were at Pensacola State College where the start line was. We had about 30 minutes until the race began. We found a few friends and then before long it was time to get going!

Jenny and I started running and we were feeling great! Since this race didn't have corrals we just jumped in where we thought we should be. But...we should have moved closer to the start line. We had to dodge several people within that first mile.

Around mile 1.5 we came to the first hill. It was pretty steep but we pushed through and made it! Then we turned onto a road that reminded me of Mobile, AL. The road was covered with oak tree branches...so gorgeous! (Sorry the picture is blurry...but it's hard to get a picture in focus when you are running! Thanks for taking the picture Jenny!)

The rest of the race just kind of flew by as Jenny and I did what we do best when we are together...talk! We had so much fun!!!

We had a few more inclines and then between mile 5 and 6 we had an overpass to climb. But we didn't back down and kept on running. Both Jenny and I said we were having a hard time breathing. It was hard to recover from those hills. But we are both so competitive and would slow down...only to speed right back up in less than a minute lol!

Finally...we made it to the finish line!!! We did it! Our official finish time was 53:43...about 2 minutes shy of a PR for me. But I was super happy with that time considering the hilly route!

We came through the finish line shute and there was Jenny's husband Eric. He had a great race and even PRed! (Yeah he's fast and came in about 10 minutes ahead of us)

Then it was time to find some food! This race had so much to offer! There was pizza (you think I ate that don't you? Nope...I usually only eat pizza the night before the race), bananas, donuts, salad, sandwich wraps, and probably more food that we didn't even see! It was a great after party!

Jenny and I headed straight for the chocolate donuts!!! So yummy!

Oh yeah...we totally run for donuts!!!

After watching Eric eat and eat (lol) we found the rest of our friends. Every one seemed to have had a good race!

Funny story....Jenny and her husband's bib numbers were numbers 1 and 2! Pretty awesome! I so felt like I was running with elites!

And every time I see this picture I crack up laughing! We have so much fun!!!!

Before long it was time to head out. We told Jenny and Eric goodbye and then me and the rest of the girls headed to Pensacola Beach! I was so excited to spend girl time on the beach!

But first things first...Starbucks Coffee of course! I totally earned the big one!

We made it to the beach in no time. The water was absolutely gorgeous! We had a blast relaxing in the sun!

It was an amazing day! I did several of my favorite things...running, racing, spending time with friends, and relaxing at the beach! :-)

QOTD: Do you race in the summer? Or is it too hot?

Visit to the Florida Caverns State Park!

One of our days this Spring Break we traveled with my husband's parents 2.5 hours away to Marianna, Florida. We went to visit the Florida Caverns! My husband and I visited there 14 years ago on our honeymoon but haven't been back since. I was super excited for my boys to tour the cave! I knew they would love it! Here are some pictures from our cave tour! After the tour we took a 20 minute hike through the Hardwood Forest. We had so much fun!

The boys in front of the statue of the workers that dug out the cave!

Heading down into the cave! It was amazing how the temperature dropped! Inside the cave it is 65 degrees year round!

There was a tiny bat at the entrance of the cave! He was so cute!

We weren't allowed to touch anything in the cave because it damages it. But they did have one stalactite (or stalagmite) that we could touch!

It was a really fun day trip! The boys thought the cave was super cool! And all the adults did too! ;-)

QOTD: Have you ever been inside a cave?

Destin Mission Trip!

Hey everyone! I feel like I've been gone for so long when in reality it was only 4 days! Normally on Fridays I do my Fitness Friday post but that's not the case for today. To be truthful...I don't have a lot of fitness to report for this week. Most of you know that I have been in Destin, FL this week on a mission trip with my church. It was a family mission trip so me and the boys went (hubby had to stay home and work). We took several adults and kids with us! We had an amazing time! I had planned on running while I was there but every morning and every evening (the times I had the chance to run) it was thunder storming!

Group picture before we left!

When most people think about missions they think about going overseas or to someplace far away and out of the US. But our goal was to do missions close to home. We trekked 2 hours to Destin, FL. We were representing a new church there called New Day Church. They are a church that is just getting started and wanted our group to come in and help them reach out to others in the community. Basically we went to two parks in the area and held a "backyard bible club" type event. We called it the Summer Bible Adventure (SBA). Our theme was this year's Vacation Bible School theme....Colossal Coaster World. I was in charge of crafts...which was so much fun!

We held SBA from 9am-11am. Our schedule started with music, then Bible study, crafts, snack, recreation, and ended with more music. We had no idea how many children would show up that first day. We had 10 children attend...and it was storming outside when we began!

We found out later that week that most of the children that came didn't go to church. We were able to give each one of them a Bible. :-)

Yep that's my Sawyer in the middle helping lead music! :-)

Bible Study! All the kids were so engaged!

Crafts! In this picture they were making "Facing Fear, Trusting God" Rollercoasters!

Recreation! We played so many fun games with them using hula hoops, pool noodles, balloons, and sponges!

Funny group picture on the last day!

One of the most amazing parts of the week was seeing how our kids interacted with the new kids that came. We told our kids that they were missionaries this week and our goal was to tell new friends about Jesus. Our kids did an amazing job with that and making the new friends welcome! I was so proud of them!

Since the missions part of our trip was only two hours long, we also had some free time to do some fun things with each other and our family. We went shopping at the outlet mall. We also went to the beach on one of the afternoons that it didn't rain!

We stayed at a church in Destin called Village Baptist Church. We were housed in their office building. We all slept on the floor on air mattresses. There was only TWO showers that all of us had to share! Very cramped but we made it work! Everyone there was so nice and accommodating to us and we were so thankful to them to let us stay there! They also had the COOLEST playground that the kids enjoyed!

My friend Paige and her boys were there too and it was awesome to spend the week with her! 

I also got to know some of the ladies in my church a little better! I loved that!

A few words from the trip that I will NOT forget (yeah you had to be there):
Bee-do, Bee-do, Bee-do!
Wha-wha-what?
Oh mylanta!
It's so FLUFFY!

It was an awesome experience! I LOVED loving on all the new kids that came to the park! They were so cute! I feel positive that we planted those seeds of Jesus inside the children's hearts! And it was awesome to experience this with my boys! It will be a trip we will remember forever!

"And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." Mark 16:15

QOTD: Have you ever been on a mission trip?