Well if that doesn't add a star to my crown in runner's heaven...I don't know what will.

I'm on week 3 of my training program. This run was crappy for a lot of reasons. To start, the husband and I have back to back plans tonight and we don't know when we'll be home. SOOO..I was being a brat and throwing a temper tantrum because I like running at night. It's a self-esteem issue so I'll just have to get over that.

I was running along and doing okay and then I hit this huge WALL. My legs felt like they weighed a gazillion lbs (which they are probably close to anyways). I couldn't breathe...and I had this unquenchable thirst. It just sucked. I almost hit stop on my phone...my thumb was on the stop button. I was going to push the stop button. Then, for whatever reason, I didn't. I'm so glad I didn't. I knew that I would so regret doing it.

I finished my run. It was gross and sloppy but I finished it.

I'm SO glad that I did.

oops, I just signed up for a half marathon...

Holy &*$%...

I just signed Adam and I up for the McDonald's (ironic) Half Marathon in Richmond, VA.

The reasons are as follows:

A) My friend Ashley is moving there and I'm super needy

B) The fee was like 40 bucks cheaper if I signed us up BEFORE Dec. 31st

C) If I'm going to run 13.1 miles of anything I want it to be in pretty fall type weather (I do not understand summer races...if I want to have a heat stroke I'll find a different avenue)

D) I'm a glutton for punishment (or perhaps just a glutton)

Oh dear...

Lord, hear our prayer

That was unpleasant...

To the truck that was stuck behind me for about 30 seconds whilst I was jogging:

I'm so sorry

I never intended anyone to watch my tree trunk legs and BEE-hind jiggle up and down in my new running tights.

Let me know if I need to help compensate you for therapy.

Again, my apologies...

It's still okay to eat like it's Christmas right?

Good grief at the food that was consumed during Christmas.

Adam and I ate like we had the metabolism of an ADHD 12 year old boy. We still have candy and cookies and CRAP all over this house. I'm going to throw it away while Adam is at work...that'll go over real well. I just can't have this stuff easily accessible. One pretzel m&m will turn into the whole bag (I truly love any form of m&m ). Ah well, it's back to running today. Let's all say a quiet prayer for the ground on which I will be running.

Happy Christmas!

Our Christmas has been nothing short of lovely.

We meandered our way over the mother's house this afternoon and had this huge gathering of love and gift exchanging. I can not even begin to convey how much love I feel for my niece (4 mos. old). She makes all my days brighter and I can't imagine how much love a parent feels for their own child. Whenever God blesses us with a child I think my heart will literally burst with love.

The Mr. and I really scaled back on presents this year. We knew we wanted to match what we spent with what we gave to our church. This Christmas was none less sweeter than any of the others I have shared with my wonderful husband. A true prayer of mine is that we rely less on "stuff" and strive to dig deeper in our marriage and with Christ.

I am feeling absolutely filled to the brim with thanksgiving and happiness.

I hope this Christmas has been as joyous for you.

Happy Christmas!

Love,

The Brashers

running day 2..you suck

It's cold outside y'all!

When I say it's cold I mean it's chilly. I'm such a wimp when it comes to any sort of temperature change. I went over my usual excuses of why I don't want to run.

-I'm tired

-I'm cold

-I'm tired and cold

You get the idea. With all that said I pushed myself and did my day 2 run. It wasn't that hard but my hands went numb (my hands tend to do that when I get really cold...I have crappy circulation). I was proud of myself and I'm really looking forward to one day doing that 60 minute run. I've promised myself that when I reach that milestone I'm going to buy myself some new running shoes. I have ASICS gel series running shoes and they're ok. I need something to really support my ankle because I tend to roll them really easily (which is SUPER lame). I'm on the search for the ones I want and the ones that will be the best for me. I should probably go the local athletic store and have them measure me and see which shoes are best for me. However, do you ever feel like the athletic store guys have their judgey pants on when any girl besides a size 2 comes in and asked to be sized for running shoes. No thanks...I don't need your eyes sizing me up quite yet. I also decided I don't need hard core running shoes yet because I'm running such short distance. When I hit my 10K mark I'll probably NEED new shoes.

All that said things are going well and I'm feeling encouraged. I hope I continue to feel this way.

6 month break...ptthh

There's nothing like picking up blogging after dropping it like it's hot.......6.months.ago.

This blog is not easily categorized...it is neither food nor health...nor baby or newlywed. This blog just is what it is. A blog where a completely unorganized girl word vomits all over the place and hope it makes sense to someone (sorry for the use of the word vomit).

Last summer I was so gung-ho about running and babies and babies and running. I find myself in the same situation I was back in June and here is my dilemma. I don't think I'm this big huge person that is just miserable with my life. I AM, however, a person that is not happy with the way she looks and would like to remedy that. I want to lose about 30 lbs. before I embark on mommy-hood. 30 lbs does sound like a lot but I think I would truly be at an ideal weight for me ( I'm 5'10" and there is no small bone in my body...thanks mom).

So..here I am 6 months later trying to gear myself up again to lose some weight. I'm a teacher and one of those teachers that stay 2 to 3 hours AFTER school gets let out. When the school day is done...I. AM. DONE. After kids all day, administration, parents, other teachers, and TEACHING 2nd graders plural possessive nouns I just don't have much left. I need to start setting boundaries in my life and setting aside time for me.

I've already completed the c25k app on the iPhone once. I liked it pretty ok but I ran it on the treadmill. This time it has been updated and I like it MUCH more than before. It even takes you through a 60 min. run (which if you are doing under a 10 min. mile would be a 10k).

So I'm laying it all out here blog. Keep me accountable so I won't have to look back in another 6 months and write the same post.

Self-control, Smelf-control

I really love to cook. I'm not good at it and am not brave at all when it comes to my culinary skills. I do NOT deviate from the cookbook. One of my favorite cook books right now is The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I love this cookbook because it gave me the recipe for this...

Do you see the markings? No, it wasn't a wild animal who attacked that delicious sheet cake. It was me ( I didn't eat all of it because I would not be writing this post due to a diabetic coma).

sigh...it was so good.

If you have this cookbook, MAKE.THIS.CAKE.

The one where I talk about if I'm ready to have a baby...

I've got baby fever y'all.

Well, I say that, I'm not really sure what that even means. I'm not really sure what I feel. How do you know when you're ready? Are you ever ready? I've been playing what I like to call the "number game" in my head. It goes like this..."I'm 25 now, if I get pregnant in September I'll be 26 and almost 27 by the time the baby gets here. Wait, I'm not sure if I'm ready, maybe I'll wait another year...WAIT then I'll be 28 (audible gasp)" This internal debate can last all day if I let it.

I pretty much felt my ovaries ache right after I walked down that aisle and said I do. I started talking to the Mr. about it when we were about six months into our marriage. He lovingly told me "Babe, I don't think we're ready." All I heard was HE wasn't ready. I'm ready...I want that cute little chubby baby on my hip (and Lord knows I have baby touting hips). To my dismay he kept telling me, I'm not ready, let's just enjoy us. It took a lot of patience and REALLY listening to what the other person is saying (hey that's what they say this marriage stuff is all about!). He was always really open and explicit about why he didn't think we were quite there just yet. I started thinking he was right and we put the whole baby thing on hold.

Then out of the clear blue sky my wonderful hubs tells me that he thinks he is ready to become a dad. Come again?? At first I was a little shocked and then....JOY. I can't wait to start turning us as a couple into a family. We're still seeking some wisdom and praying that this is the right time for us to become parents. Nothing is set in stone but we're both really excited....REALY EXCITED.

"I.can't.breathe."

So I am NO RUNNER...I would like to think that I am but I am in no capacity good at it. I prefer to run indoors, well, because of the obvious. I can control the climate (thank you wonderful, cooling, oscillating fan) and let's be honest that good ole treadmill helps a sister out with the give that it offers when you run on it. The Mr. and I are participating in a 4th of July of 5k here in our fair city (and when I say participate I mean I signed my husband up and told him later while he was eating pizza). I've been doing the whole couch to 5k thing on my iPhone. I'm around week 3 which I still find to be pretty easy (especially on our friend the treadmill). Our neighborhood is really safe and I feel completely comfortable jogging in it by myself. So, I lace my sneakers and sunglasses then head out the door. I live in Louisiana...we don't have spring. We have winter and summer. Those are our seasons. It was hot y'all. I mean hot. I just kept thinking, "It's hot, but it's going to be hotter on the day of the race." SO I start out and I think this isn't so bad, it's hot, but doable. I get into about minute 5 and I think goodness my throat is so dry, goodness my legs are really hurting...goodness I have ONLY BEEN DOING THIS FOR FIVE MINUTES. My legs felt stiff and nothing was fluid. I couldn't get a good breathing pattern going. I tried relaxing my shoulders. I told myself, "Self, you have breath in your lungs, just calm down and access it." Those thoughts of self doubt and negativity start creeping into your mind-"You can't do this, why would you think that you could?" "Just walk the whole way at least you tried." "You will never be a runner." Running for me really is a mind game. I've been really trying to, not ignore the negative talk, but identify it and realize why I'm thinking it and where it is coming from. I'm proud to say I finished the session even though I literally thought I might die on some person's front yard two streets over. It was worth it and I'm so glad (and proud) that I did it.

Be encouraged to always try and do things you are passionate about.

I can't get my blogging head on straight...

I had trouble figuring out what url I wanted to have ( wordpress, blogspot, etc.). There are a lot of choices out there and I was used to the google blog format so I went with that. This blog will kind of be a catch all for all things Brasher (if you hadn't figured out that's me and my Mr.). We have been married for a year in July and to me that is insanity. I can not believe we have been married for a year already. Ridiculous.

Well I guess I should explain a little about these broadmoor Brashers. Well first let me explain Broadmoor is the neighborhood we dwell in. It is the cutest little neighborhood in Louisiana. We love our house. We have two pups, Lola and Nellie, and we are thinking of expanding our little love nest to include a little bundle of baby goodness. I am a 2nd grade teacher at a fabulous school and the Mr. works his cute hiney off at a bank. We're pretty ordinary in many ways but we think we have an extraordinary kind of love. Okay, enough with ooky gooky love stuff.

Lastly, this blog will kind of be a vent session for my love/hate relationship with fitness and running. I know there are a lot of people/ladies who feel the same euphoric highs and gut wrenching lows when it comes to their exercise goals.

Happy Reading!!!