the luckiest

Hello! Hope everyone had a fantastic Easter weekend. I got to spend it with all of the wonderful people in my life, and I couldn't be happier.

My family started arriving on Friday evening, after Mike and I went for a 5 mile run.

We spent all of Saturday taking the kids to the children's museum, going out for lunch and ice cream, and then coming back home to have a cook out. The weather couldn't have been prettier, so we got to spend a lot of time outside, enjoying the sun, painting Easter eggs, and playing with the kiddos.

One of the main reasons everyone came to my house this Easter, was because I was being baptized on Sunday. We all got up really early on Sunday to open Easter baskets from the Easter Bunny and then head to the church. I spent most of Sunday afternoon playing "church" with my niece Ainsley, which is a lot like the game "house," except she wanted me to pretend to dip her into baptismal water, just like Aunt Dee Dee.  It was quite amusing.

After the baptism, we all came back to my house for a big Easter brunch (which I totally forgot to take any pictures of). There were several casseroles, a ham, oatmeal bar with all the toppings, mimosas, bloody mary's, and lots of chocolate bunnies and candy.

Mike, the awesome hubby that he is, got me an Easter basket full of dark chocolate candies and a card (again, forgot to take any pictures).

Here are some things I didn't forget to take pictures of.

Freddie loves to wear Uncle Mike's shoes

Austin, coloring his Easter eggs

Leaving a snack for the Easter Bunny!

Demon dogs resting after playing.

My best friend

Me and the Hubs, post baptism

Cutesy Easter flowers from a great friend

Breakfast this morning, before coming to work.

This weekend, I realized just how lucky I am. I have a wonderful group of friends and an amazing family. They support me and my decisions, they are there for me when I need them, and they always come together for the most important (and the not so important) stuff.  I appreciate all of them so much and am so happy they chose to spend their Easter with me. That, along with my super amazing husband, I couldn't ask for anything more.

Have a great week!

Yesterday's Stats:
Calories (+) too many to count
Sodium (+) my mouth is dry and my body is swollen, that should give you an idea.
Protein - who cares.

Better Than Ever!

Last week was amazing. It was exhausting, but I wouldn't have changed a thing.

My sister arrived late on Tuesday night and I woke up to greet them at the door. It was close to 1 am, but I just had to get a snuggle in from my niece and nephew. I went right back to bed since I had to work on Wednesday.

Ainsley at the top and Freddie on the bottom.

We woke up bright and early on Thursday morning so that my sister, mom, sister-in-law, and I could run in the Gobbler's Run 5K. We arrived to the race just in time to get in line before starting.

 

 

Me and my SIL, Haylie

I ran better than I could have imagined. It was a relatively flat course, especially in the beginning, so I was surprised at how I wasn't tiring out too quickly. I continued running until the 2 mile mark, when we started to hit a few hills. I allowed myself two 20 second walking periods for the last 1.2 miles of the race. I was so shocked when I got to the top of the last hill and saw the finish line.

I ran the 5K in 30 minutes, 15 seconds with an average pace of 9 minutes, 45 seconds per mile. I am pretty shocked actually. I know that isn't very fast, but I am impressed with myself for not only improving on my best run, but improving my pace as well. I am so proud of my sister, mom and sister-in-law too, for running with me. We all felt great about ourselves after the run and had a much easier time chowing down on our Thanksgiving feast that evening.

Mom, Ainsley, Me, Jaime and Haylie

Mega Feast

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, catching up, eating more, and playing. My brother and his family actually came up on Saturday, so with 3 small children, a house full of people, and 3 dogs, we were all very exhausted come Sunday. Mike and I are still trying to catch up on our sleep. I set my alarm this morning to go for a run, but with my heavy eyes and the rain outside, I decided to stay in bed. :)

My refrigerator is currently stuffed to the brim with leftovers from the week. Last night I split the turkey up for Mike and I to make sandwiches for the rest of the week. Although it is nice to have all the leftovers, I will be glad when they are gone so we can get back to our healthy eating. It is difficult to throw away such great food, but I know it isn't helping me by eating it.

Ridiculous...

I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I will sure miss my family and these sweet little faces!

Freddie, Austin, Ainsley <3