The September Kelly Clarkson show in Nashville (and the Fray)

On September 15th (the weekend BEFORE the half marathon I'm sure you're tired of hearing about) me and my hubby and our friend Bridgett and her boyfriend headed down to Nashville the big city for the Kelly Clarkson concert. (ahem) the concert we bought tickets for back in April. This was the final show of her Stronger tour. 

Before we even got inside Bridgestone Arena, we noticed a bit of a hubbub outside. It was Colton Dixon of American Idol fame. No he didn't win, but he was dang good and he's a local - from middle Tennessee just like us.

He was cool - posing with every fan that wanted a pic with him. That night I started following him on Twitter.  

The first opening act for Kelly was Carolina Liar. If I'm being honest, their band sounded good but the lead singer...eh, not so much. 

Then The Fray came out ~  ~  ~ 

See us whilest we sit in the floor section in some mighty fine seats - - 

The lead singer for The Fray, Isaac Slade came out into the audience and they had a keyboard set up like right by us... it was spittin' distance as they say in the country. Cool stuff. Woulda been cooler if we were sittin in the row he literally ran through. Talk about crazy! 

But let's face it. We bought these tickets cuz we wanted to hear Kelly's pipes. 

And blow the roof off she did! 

She sang ~ 
My Life Would Suck Without You
Behind These Hazel Eyes
I Forgive You
Dark Side
Let Me Down
We Are Young
Already Gone
Don't You Wanna Stay
I Know You Won't (a Carrie Underwood cover - fan request)
Go Rest High on that Mountain (a Vince Gill cover - Kelly's own choice)
You Love Me
Breakaway
Since U Been Gone

This was a little catwalk type stage right behind us. Super cool. 

She sang Already Gone from this here spot. Probably because she was having trouble hearing & seeing me from the main stage.

For the encore, she did ~ 

Because of You

Mr. Know It All

Miss Independent

Stronger 

A few things you should know before attending a Kelly Clarkson show: 

#1 You will hear her amazing voice and wish you could sing just like her

#2 She will NOT mess up ever

#3 She's really funny when she talks to the audience between songs

#4 You shouldn't expect a buncha lights and smoke and junk. Her voice is the focus of the show. Although she does change clothes several times. So if you're into that.

#5 You'll love her

It was so awesome to go to a concert and hear someone sing flawlessly and be so so very entertaining. Her band sounded great, too. But since I'm a singer, I always focus on the vocals :-P

During the show she told us that her new home is Nashville. Cool! She said her and her boyfriend had recently moved here. And her dog. Hope we run into em sometime. I think she'd be cool to hang out with.

September Photo A Day Project - the last 20 days

The conclusion of the September Photo A Day project I participated in via Instagram (my new favorite obsession) and Twitter ~ 
yes I'm a smidge late posting. . . such is life 

Day 11 - Hero 

I couldn't choose just ONE hero. Nope. Both my parents are pretty heroic!

Day 12 - Together  

As far as I'm concerned ketchup & fries are a match made in Heaven. 

Day 13 - Table 

A quick trip downstairs at work gave me this photo op ... 

Day 14 - Favorite 

On September 15th my sweet hubby took me to hear Kelly Clarkson (one of my faves) in Nashville. It was an awesome concert that I haven't had a chance to blog about. 

Day 15 - First thing you see 

Some mornings this furball is right in my face

Day 16 - Strange 

My mother-in-law's kitty is pretty strange sometimes ;-) 

Day 17 - In my fridge 

Day 18 - Price 

no worries - didn't pay full price for these puppies... they were ON SALE!

Day 19 - Underneath 

My gym bag is by my side a whole lot.  

Day 20 - Man-made 

I love these things. I hope that doesn't make me weird. They just amuse me by how they flop and jerk. Kinda like me when I try to dance. 

Day 21 - Sometimes 

Carb loading the night before the big race. Yum Olive Garden. Yum!

Day 22 - Up 

Up on stage - Zac Brown Band YEAH!!

Another thing I haven't blogged about yet. This little event happened the night of the race. Yes, as in Lyndy got up at 4:30 am and ran 13.1 miles and later that day trekked back downtown for 6 hours of live music. Tired feet.

Day 23 - Before bedtime 

Day 24 - 3 things 

I spy three little acorns. Babies they are. Saw em  under a tree during a nice afternoon break at work.

Day 25 - Frame 

Found a frame layin around at work. Decided to hang it on my wall. And put my purse in the middle. Simple enough? 

Day 26 - Near 

Near me. Almost always.

 

Day 27 - Love/Hate 

I really do love some chocolate milk, but I despise OJ. Ick! When I was little my mom bought the kind with pulp in it and I'd say I don't like that, it has feathers in it. :-P 

Day 28 - A good thing 

Pizza is always good, but it was especially good this night because I had been craving it for about a week. Yum!

Day 29 - Errand  

This wasn't really an errand per say, but it was something we had to do. Lol We went to see a friend's little boy play football. 

Day 30 - You, then 

My kindergarten pic

go ahead & say it - what happened? You used to be so cute!

Anyway.

There ya have it folks. A month's worth of pics by me. Kinda fun. Every day I kept my eyes peeled for the shot I wanted to post for that day's subject. But I'm not doing October so no worries. :-)  

the LONG version of my second half marathon

Ok, so this wasn't my first rodeo. I mean half marathon. Remember, I did the St. Jude Country Music Half Marathon back in April. 

But THIS TIME I was training with a friend. A friend I've known and loved since we were 10 years old... Angela 

Having a running buddy is N-I-C-E. If you're thinking of training for a half marathon (or a full) I'd highly recommend finding a partner.

Angela's hubby carted us to Nashville for the race and even stuck around to take some pics and watch us cross the finish line. Props to Jason. 

Unfortunately we had to stand in line with all the other gals with full bladders for the port-o-potties before the race started. 

My potty stunk pretty bad but I knew Angela's musta stunk worse than mine cuz I heard her gaggin and carryin on. Still makes me chuckle when I think about it. 

Here we are, throwin up deuces cuz we are PUMPED for some runnin! Yo~

We started in the second corral. Kinda cool since I was running in my second half marathon.

And there we go... 

us and a buncha other girls and 3 or 4 fellas 

Somebody is feelin spry... unfortunately it wore off 

We had already logged 3 1/2 miles by this point in the course. Still feelin pretty good. It was a beautiful day and we were blessed with nice, mild temps. 

Deuces again... 

this was my SECOND half marathon... 

Anthony once again teased me for my crazy faces in my marathon pics. Said I didn't look "normal" in any of em. I don't know what gets into me. And no, I haven't posted all of em here. I do have to maintain some dignity. Even if it's a tiny amount.

And now for the sad part of the story... go on and get your tissues.

Angela was running a little fast early on. I guess she had some Red Bull with her oatmeal that mornin or somethin, I can't call it.

She kept inching ahead of me. I watched her and kept thinkin oh, I'll catch up in a minute. And I tried. I did. But I just didn't have the speed in me. I could still see her but I kinda lost her about mile #5. 

I was running solo for a pretty brief period and along came a girl named Kim.

She was a nice, friendly gal. She told me how she had worked til 3am the night before and how her car broke down and she had NO SLEEP. I was in awe. And impressed with her determination. 

She asked me if I'd mind if she ran with me. I said sure, I'd love the company. I explained how my speedy friend was up ahead that I had trained with and all. When I got tired, Kim pushed me to keep going. And I tried to do the same for her. We traded family stories and had a nice time chatting and running. And we managed to stay together til the finish line. 

But during the last 5 or 6 miles, I'm not gonna lie, I got real tired. 
   And thirsty. 
      And hungry.

Meet tired thirsty hungry Lyndy - - 

Meanwhile, up ahead was 
  happy excited speedy Angela

All in all it was a good race, but when I compare it to the Country Music Half I did back in the spring, it falls a little short for me if I'm being honest. 

Here's why I enjoyed the Country Music Half more than the Women's Half - 

#1 waaaay less spectators along the WH course cheering you on and helping you stay motivated

#2 not as many water & Gatorade stations for WH

#3 waaaay fewer bands along the WH course 

#4 not nearly as many snacks & drinks at the end of WH 

#5 the CMH training doesn't happen in the hottest months of summer 

#6 the CMH shirt and medal were a lot snazzier/cooler than the WH ones

BUT, I will say this - because the Women's Half had fewer participants, it made for less bumping and sweat swapping (and less congestion at the water & Gatorade stations). So that's definitely a plus.

Oh, and they actually hung your medal on your neck for the Women's Half. At the Country Music Half, they just handed it to ya. Like here, get on outta the way cuz 200 people are right behind ya.

But of course I LOVED THIS RACE because I got to be there with Angela for her first and celebrate with her. 

She finished in 2 hours, 25 minutes and 9 seconds. So proud of her.

I finished in 2 hours, 27 minutes and 55 seconds. 

Although this wasn't the exact same course as the Country Music Half I did in the spring, I was still proud that I finished this one about 12 minutes faster! And just like last time, I was able to RUN THE WHOLE TIME :-)

Here we are post race with our medals - 

and here's a closer look at the medal
   she's a big un... and plenty shiny

Now that I've run in TWO HALF MARATHONS I felt like it was time to let the whole world know about it. . . 

It's kinda crazy to think that before this year, I had never run farther than 5 miles. 

  

I am proud of myself. Not everybody can say they've challenged their bodies in this way. Not that I'm gettin too big for my britches or anything. There are tons of folks out there running full marathons and doing triathlons and lotsa other stuff. 

But for me, this is an accomplishment I'll always be proud of. 

Women's Half Marathon (Nashville) results - the brief version

Here's Angela and me - fresh faced and sweatless before the big race yesterday

Pretty sure you can tell by my expression that I was not fully awake at this point. Me and getting up at 4:30 just don't  belong together in the same sentence, k? Ima need you to know that.

We started and finished at the Country Music Hall of Fame. . . a cool Nashville landmark

My official finish time was 2 hours 27 minutes and 55 seconds.   

CLICK HERE for my official race result posted on the internet. As in forever. 

Be impressed. Be very impressed.

I really was proud of my finish time because I shaved off ~12 minutes from my finish in the Country Music Marathon back in April. 

More details later, but this chic right here is part of the reason I was faster this time around. This was HER FIRST half marathon. She finished ~3 1/2 minutes ahead of me. I'm so proud of her!

Here we are POST RACE - and lookin pretty good dontcha think... considering we had been running for two and a half hours in the sunshine... 

Thanks for the memories Lady Speed Stick Women's Half Marathon
September 22, 2012

Angela and I made some memories doing your race!

And burned a lotta calories he he he 

It's RACE DAY in Nashville!!!

Well, it's HEEEEERE!

Race day!

Angela and I - friends since 5th grade - gonna get our RUN on today!

Starting at the Country Music Hall of Fame. 

To run 13.1 miles *it's crucial that you do NOT forget that .1 people

This is Angela's first half. It's my second. I'm just as nervous this time as I was the last time.

Looks like God has blessed us with a nice NICE day for it. Much better than the 3-4 months of H-E-A-T and humidity we trained in. But I'm not complaining. Cuz it's race day and race day is FUN! 

You may not think running that far is fun. But it is. I promise! 

After you run that far and all those people cheer you on you get to EAT EAT EAT Lol And you can brag to your non-running friends. And you can get one of those cute 13.1 stickers. 

Well I gotta run (ha LITERALLY) - scarfing down this oatmeal before hopping up to get all my gear on. Aren't you glad I posted this quick little entry?! 
Have you ever tried to blog whilest a 14 pound cat is in your lap? smh

the current state of affairs - us & churchin'

I haven't really blogged about our current church situation, although I've mentioned it in passing. 

 

Sometimes you kinda wanna hold back on what you share with the unknown masses. I know you're thinking what masses? You don't have many followers. Well, I know a lot of folks who read my lovely blog and aren't identified as followers. They're technologically challenged shy. And that's ok. ;-)

 

You may remember last September my dad stopped pastoring and stepped out in faith to be a revival preaching evangelist. the blog post about dad 

He didn't have a ton of appointments at first (it was winter time grant it) but he's gotten much busier since spring. He's quite the travelling man these days. It's so neat - he gets to do what he loves to do and what God called him to do without the burden of pastoring. I always say pastoring is like running a company with volunteers. If you're a pastor's kid you know what I'm talking about. 

 

Anyway, the hub & I stayed at the church Dad had pastored for a while. But then we left. And we visited here and there...and there... and there... 

 

If you've ever searched for a church, you feel my pain. :-/

 

Some may criticize our church search and say we should have waited until we knew where God wanted us to attend. Well it doesn't always work that way. 

 

The first Sunday of 'the search' we visited Long Hollow Baptist in Hendersonville. We sat in the balcony. I didn't like it much for a few reasons. But I did love the pastor and his sermon he preached that day.

 

As I said, we visited a lot of different places and kinda settled in for a while at a local church. But it always felt temporary. We love the pastor. And the people there are sooooo nice! But it just didn't feel 100% r-i-g-h-t for us ... you know what I mean?

 

A couple months ago (on a Sunday the local church wasn't having service) Anthony wanted to go back to Long Hollow. I was Negative Nancy on the inside but the supportive wife who lets her husband be the head of the house kicked in and I was like, ok, sure. I s'pose we can give it another try. 

 

This time it was so different for me. 

 

For one, we didn't sit in the balcony. And this time everything just seemed to fit. 

 

I felt God's presence throughout the entire service. Honestly, I'm getting emotional just typing this now. I had tears in my eyes that day.

 

And the sermon that day - the pastor might as well have come and stood right in front of me and said Lyndy, Lyndy, Lyndy... cuz that Sunday we were definitely supposed to be in that church hearing that message.

 

(Pause)

Thank you God for my husband. 

And I'm so thankful I honored him by going that day.

 

(ahem) 

Anyway, we absolutely adore the worship time. Since Anthony plays acoustic guitar & I sing, that's kinda a big deal for us. And we love the pastor and how he delivers his God-inspired messages that are absolutely full of scripture and every day application. 

 

It's so awesome to look forward to going to church. To be excited about God's work. And learning more about scriptures you've read over & over. To feel like you can make a difference in God's kingdom.

 

This morning for the first time I sang in the choir with the worship team in two services. We lost ourselves in worship - hands raised, eyes closed, focused on our Heavenly Father. It was so fun! Yes, God's work can be fun! Worshipping Him can and should be enjoyable.

 

Am I perfect? Nope! 

 

Why don't we all just try to do our best and look to the Bible for direction and lean on the Lord for our understanding? And stop comparing ourselves to others. That's such a dangerous game.

 

I think that's a good plan, don't you?! 

 

And for now, I'm gonna be working on that down at The Hollow with a few other folks.

Brandon aka BH7

BH7

I've been knowin this dude since he was a baby child. But he's all grown up now and chasin' a dream. He loves singing and playing music. So we went to hear him recently. 

good times

good times indeed

Bridgett is Brandon's little sis. You may recognize her from other posts on this here blog. She's my sidekick sometimes. I'm actually kin to Brandon and Bridgett, albeit distant... here, Bridge is posed up with a good friend not boyfriend of hers, Spencer. A nice dude. 

Jason and Melisa have popped up in other blog posts. 

Jason and Anthony have been pals since they were kiddos. We hang with em sometimes, but not enough. They live about an hour away. :-/ 

Brandon's grandparents on his dad's side came out to show some support. But I think granddad had a little too much fun. Or maybe he was just bored. I can't call it. 

Anyway, if you wanna check out Brandon's music, he's on youtube, Facebook, Twitter and what not. Also has his own website. Fancy schmancy.

Go to www.brandonholder.com 

I'll leave you with a shot of me and the hub.

Cell phone pic so not the bestest quality.

Photobombed by Jason.
He's proud of his work.