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.

September Photo a Day Project - first 10 days

My niece started this vicious cycle on Instagram and Twitter. So of course I had to join in on the fun.

There's a blogger wh0 has a monthly Photo a Day project and if you want to see the list for September, click here.

Here are my iPhone pics from the first 10 days of this little adventure. 

Day 1 - You, now

It takes me a million times to get a shot of myself that I can live with. And I still don't really like this one. Ugh! 

Day 2 - Father

See? Now you know why I'm so silly. It's genetic.

Day 3 - Far away

On this particular day, I had done my marathon training run in the rain. So when I posted this pic I said home feels far away when I run in the rain. Lol My house is in the background. 

See it? Am I clever or what?!

  
Day 4 - In my mailbox

um... boring subject

Note: this wasn't one day's mail

Day 5 - Bright

found this little cutie in the closet - a black light puppet... so he be glowin in the dark AWWW

Day 6 - Every day

Every day I drive a Honda... we currently own three LOL 

Day 7 - Natural

On our campus at work we have a lot of paper bark birch trees. I think they're cool ! 

Day 8 - At night

The morning of this asssignment I had run 9 miles with my pal Angela AND we had cleaned & cooked etc. because we had friends over so I was POOPED! Tinsley was the easiest/quickest thing to shoot. :-)  

Day 9 - Something you do most weekends

I took this whilest they were praying. Shh!

We have been churchin' at a new place for a couple months and lovin' it!

Day 10 - Black + white

Me and my pals Brandi & Angela were all wearing black peep toe pumps so of course Lyndy saw that as a photo op. 

Yes I remember 9/11

I'm sure everyone is sensitive to what day it is today. 

I have two friends who have birthdays on September 11th. 

That date didn't really mean much to most people until 2001. 

We all remember where we were when we first heard the terrible news. 

I was walking into my office and my coworker Darlene asked if I had heard. They immediately started showing it on the tvs throughout the building. 
And we watched. 
In shock. 
And with sadness. 
And fear.

I have a nephew who recently joined the Army. Makes the events of 9/11 have a different perspective for me. I can't imagine how terrifying it must have been for the spouses and family members that day as they watched their loved ones sacrifice to try to save innocent lives. Pride and selfishness all together I'd say. Somebody's gotta do it, they'll say. But why does it have to be my son? My husband? My sister? WHY? 

Some of the brave firemen, police officers and paramedics lost their lives saving others that day. 

We should be thankful there are folks out there who are willing to do this for us. And we should pray for the families they left behind. 

Because that spot at the dinner table will always be empty. 

Let us never forget. 
And God bless America. 

Commodores & Gamecocks - college football is H E R E

My husband is H A P P Y ! 

Why? 
Because football season is fiiiiinally here. 
I don't share in his enthusiasm. But I do endure enjoy some games with him here and there. Mostly in the comfort of our living room...

Last Thursday night we went to the Vandy/South Carolina game.
my Vandy tshirt - straight from Cracker Barrel for a mere $9.99 purchased the night before

We look pretty happy here, right? 

This was a good 30 minutes before the game. And before the rain. Or should I say the downpour. No, let's call it a toad strangler. 

Anyway, we had headed down kinda early thinking we'd run into traffic because that night there was also a Titans pre-season game and a Sounds baseball game in the Nashvegas. But traffic was no problemo. So early we arrived. And sat in the heat. The humid middle Tennessee heat. It was lovely. Really it was. Did I mention it did NOT rain on the Titans or their fans? Well it didn't. 
I s'pose I should give a shout out to the little old man who gave us ponchos after about 5 minutes of sitting in the fetal position being pelted by rain. 
Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating. 
But I was kinda hunched over trying to protect my camera. 30% chance of rain. Riiiiight. Harumph!

Jason and his wife have season tickets. They love them some Vandy sports. Remember, we went to some hoops with em last season. Click right here to read the blog entry.
They're good peeps.

~ nice peppy crowd ~ 

probably peppy because it stopped raining :-P 

A nice sunset to serve as a backdrop for the end zone

Vandy went down to the Gamecocks. It was a good game though. Not boring at all. And this is coming from a girl who struggles to figure out who has possession of the ball.

Um before I leave you, let me say this. I'm needing the apparently miniature people who design college stadiums to realize people aren't 8 inches wide with itty bitty legs. They sure don't make those places for comfort. Or for people with any amount of girth. Come on man!

My daddy, my hero - a birthday fam jam

See, I'm one of those daughters who thinks her daddy is the stuff.

Always have.

Always will.

He turned 65 about a week ago so we all gathered together. 

At Cheddar's. 

No cleaning house, cooking or washing dishes for us! 

Just food & fellowship with the fam. 

Well minus Caleb. :-( 

He's still in AIT in Missouri. Cuz he's an Army man now. 

This here's how our family is lookin these days. Aren't we a fiiiine lookin bunch?

Pretend Caleb is here. He'd probably be in the back row between his dad and my dad. Cuz he's tall. Hmm, maybe I'll photoshop him in.

These are the little ones. I.e., the ones who aren't driving age yet.

I think they're the best lookin kiddos around these parts.  

My mom went 23 years with just one granddaughter, Sasha. She's married now. All grown up. And plenty special.

But as you know, on Christmas Day 2011 our family grew by two and NOW Nanny has herself TWO granddaughters. 

I absolutely adore this shot of them!

(hint, hint... needs to be in the family calendar)

I just need you to notice how BIG these two boys have gotten. 

Ugh! Feels like a minute ago they were crawlin around in the floor drinkin out of sippy cups. (groan) 

Cullen is nearly as tall as his daddy and his PaPa whew wee

So Phil (my niece's hubby) came to dinner straight from work. And he had some safety glasses. Me and my brothers and my birthday celebratin daddy all donned them for this pic. 

I don't know why.

I s'pose you can tell I love love LOVE my family! 

And if you don't know my daddy, you're missin out. Cuz he's funny. And smart. And talented. And Godly. And a lot of other great stuff. 

Southern FAIR flair

You ain't Southern if ya don't like the county fair. 
Period.
We went a couple weekends ago with Anthony's step brother and his bunch. We kinda invited ourselves. Cuz you can do that with family. he he he

Taken with my iPhone and posted to Instagram and Twitter immediately thereafter. 

Follow me - I'm lyndy2t

We had to wait in line a while for Crazy Mouse, but Bryson wanted to ride it really bad. So we waited. And waited. And waited...

We waited so long Bryson got ants in his pants.

Not literally.

But I did have a mommy moment of sorts and told him to be patient (in my own Lyndy way) and he straightened up. He's just a little boy. And little boys get impatient. 

 One of these landed on Facebook as Anthony's profile pic :-P 

Who sits around and says gee, think I'll carve a guitar and some music notes on some wood and make it into a bench? Not me. But this guy is talented you have to agree. 

Sawyer sampled some of the ice cream the horses make. 

You don't understand this if ya ain't  been to the fair. 

What a shame. 

You don't even know what you're missin.

Like sweet tea, corn dogs, chocolate covered bacon, fried Twinkies and what not. Not that we had that. (wink, wink)

We ran into my friend Brandi (not pictured), her hubby and adorable daughter. Brandi, the gal who swore she was never taking her kid to the fair. Eatin those words. Yum yum ;-)

McKenzie is always my ride buddy. 

We ride EVERYTHING. 

Crazy daredevils! 

High atop the ferris wheel she decided to start talkin bout how they construct the thing and I told her to hush. I didn't wanna think about that. Makes me wonder how S A F E it is if I start thinkin bout it too much. 

 Because when you think of face painting, you immediately think blood pressure, I need to get my blood pressure checked. Um....

 Bryson had no fear - he rode everything he was tall enough to ride. He was the tiniest bit short for one or two rides and I said you should've worn tennis shoes instead of those flip flops. He said you forget, I don't get to pick!

 a view from the ferris wheel - looking toward the back half of the midway

Anthony and I went back another night just to eat. Well, we rode the swings, too. But chowing on the food was the main purpose. He had a sausage and I had a Philly. Then we shared a funnel cake like a couple of love birds. <3

 the ferris wheel is so pretty all lit up at night, yeah? 

 I took this shot because Anthony said he remembered picking up the duckies when he was little. Aww, that's just presh isn't it?! 

And MY MAN LOVES THE SWINGS. So that's what I'm leavin ya with.

a birthday dinner...for my father-in-law

Our families don't get together every whipstitch like some. So when we do, I like to document it with PICTURES of course. I'm the unofficial family photographer I'm pretty sure. I never see anyone else even getting out a camera. :-P 

Terry turned 66 (shh, don't tell him I toldja) and he told Janice he didn't need anything special, he was just turning 66. Every birthday is worthy of a celebration, don't you agree? C'mon Terry!

So to celebrate we all went to a steak house and ate. While we were waitin on our red meat I decided everyone should take a self portrait. So we passed around my camera. 

See the grown ups' approach - 

and the kids - 

The birthday boy man had himself quite a treat the morning of our dinner. He went down to the big city (Nashville) and met Turtle Man and Swamp People. Got their autographs on his purty cap. See ~ 

And I'm gonna need you to know he was darn prouda that hat. I'm thinking he'll wanna be buried in it. It's his most prized possession I'm fairly sure.

These boys are some fine MIMs right? 
    Men in the makin...

Ok, so maybe they're not quite as sweet and innocent as you might think...  

I ended up sitting across from Kyle (the tallest one, in orange) at the table. As soon as we sat down, he started staring at himself in the mirror by our table and making weird faces.  

Funny enough, right?

Well, a little later he took off his flips flops and proceeded to rub his foot on my leg. I wish I could have seen my face. Um, ok what was that about?! By the end of the night he informed me that I was now his favorite relative. I'm scared. Very scared.

I think this last picture of us and Bryson is just blog share worthy. 
So look at it. 
       And smile.