Priscilla...

I was so blessed this weekend!  I went to the Going Beyond event with Priscilla Shirer this weekend and it was AMAZING!!!  The message (going thru crisis/situations/events) that spilled from Priscilla had an anointing on it that was so powerful that I left a changed woman, wife & mother.

"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."  James 1:2-4, NASB

One of the video messages that played during an introduction was one that I had heard before from the Anointed, Transformed & Redeemed study I did last year.  I had to find it and share it with you. 

My friends, Today - be AMAZED at what the Holy Spirit has done in your life and tell someone!  Someone near you needs to know that HE is and always will be...

Livestrong Marathon, Austin Texas

I did it!!!
I ran marathon #2!!!
Woohoo!!!
26.2 miles!!!
(My garmin, however, tracked 26.4 but who's counting)

I ran with my mother-runner bff's.
Here we are picking up our race bibs for the marathon.

We look good & ready, don't we?
(Sonia, Connie, Me, Karen & Diane)

We heard over & over again about "the hills" in Austin.

"Yes" there were a lot of hills, however, KUDOS to our trainers at R+R Fitness.

Our Saturday long runs prepared us for the climbs.

The weather was not what we had been training in - it's been cold, wet & sometimes icy.
There was even one week that I didn't run outside at all cuz it was too cold.

THEN Spring decided to make it's debut!
It was humid & warmed up pretty quick.
There was wind too.
Easier to run with the wind pushing you from behind.
Harder to run with wind pushing against you in front.
Either way, the wind had a welcomed cooling effect.

 Race Report.
At 5k... 33:33
I was feeling good but needed a potty break a mile 8.
The lines were long so I fell behind my group by about 7-8 minutes.
I never caught up to them.
Don't be sad. :(
I had my iPod shuffle so I plugged in.

At 10M... 1:54:31
Last time I ran 10M, I ran it in 1:50:24.
I made up some time by running through some recovery walks.

At the Half, 13.1 M... 2:29:00
I ran the Rock & Roll SA Half-Marathon in 2009.
My finish time then was 3:00:33.
Pretty cool, huh?

At 20M... 3:51:12
The climbs from the start of the race up to mile 16/17 were pretty brutal.
I was so glad the route leveled out.
Small climbs but nothing like the first half of the race.
I was keeping a pretty good pace and, yes, I was getting tired.
But I could see myself finishing at the 5 hour mark!
I was on track!
This would be better & faster than my 1st marathon run in the
SA R&R Marathon 11/14/2010
just 3 months ago!!!
AND, I had taken 2 potty breaks!!!
TMI...?  Oh well :) ... it's something I gotta work on. LOL

The Finish
The last couple of miles went through the UT campus.
At the 800 meter mark, there was a final climb for almost 400 meters!
I believe we were on San Jacinto.
It was steep!  It hurt!  A lot!
Then a right turn towards Congress Ave leveled out.
I felt myself get really excited.
A left turn onto Congress Ave and I saw the finish line!!!
I sped up.  I wanted to cry.
The crowd cheered!
For ME!
For everyone, not just me, but at the time it was ALL for me :)
Finish time
5:04:46

Thank You Austin!

Here we all are after the race with these AWESOME medals!
All of us had a PR in Austin!

Diane's kiddos were way too cute.

I really like this picture.

We don't look too beat up, right?


Thank You Father
... for health
... for friends
... for the sun
... for the wind
... for water
... for gatorade
... for bananas
... for port-a-potty's
... for music
... for freedom
... for allowing me to run in a race, not aimlessly for a worldly prize,
but in a race for a crown that will last forever.
1 Cor 9:24-27

Dish Report: Restaurant Quality

"I'd order this at a restaurant."

"Mom this is the best I have ever had."

"It had a lot of onions, but it tasted really good."

These were the "dish report" lyrics of a yummy tune sung by my family last night over last night's out of the ordinary dinner.

Before I tell you what I made, I have to catch up on "Snow Day 2011."

I'm sorry it's taken me 7 days to the date to post our name-sake's event of the 2011 winter season.

I meant to post it that day, but no matter...

LQ got to see snow for the first time at the ripe age of 6 yrs, 9 months.

See how he had to get really close to the ground to make sure he was really seeing snow?

(Please, pay no attention to lack of snow on the grass or under the cars)

Then, we had to work quickly - with a kitchen spatula - to make one of these...

We called him Teeny Tiny Snowman, my friend Cathy called him Snow-gnome.  Haha!

He measured in right under 7 inches tall.

Then we went inside and made pancakes & hot chocolate.

In case you weren't aware of the Arctic Blast in San Antonio, schools closed for the day, restaurants & other businesses waited until the noon hour, because we, San Antonians, know only how to drive on hot sticky asphalt.  Snow & ice freak us out!  It all worked out and by 11 am, the snow was quickly melting and the sun was absolutely brilliant for the rest of the weekend.  On Saturday afternoon, I believe the temp was over 65 degrees - Oh, how I absolutely love South Texas weather.

The week had other distractions, both LQ & V were home Mon-Wed with the flu.  They went to school on Thu, and had a snow-day holiday on Friday.  Plus, Q came home Thu afternoon with a fever so I loaded him up on nyquil and other flu meds.  Praise God everyone was feeling better by Saturday and Q, LQ & I went to the Live Oak park and played frisbee golf.  V had to work but she was back to her beautiful self... See?

Hard to believe my baby girl will be graduating from high school in May.

*sigh*

*** DISH REPORT ***

While we were playing frisbee golf on Saturday, Q called his Dad to ask about their dinner plans.  We were already out and I knew that I was not in the mood to cook dinner and burgers sounded good.  They were already cooking up sausage and had some meatloaf, green beans & salad to go with it.  Naturally, Q worked his "son magic" and received an invitation for dinner.  Everything was delicious, of course, and let me state right now - I love meatloaf.

I searched the allrecipes.com website, meatloaf recipes, and found a Chipotle Cheddar Meatloaf.  Sounded really good and I already had most of the ingredients at home except for chili sauce and an onion.

It was really good!

Did I tell you what my family said...?

"I'd order this at a restaurant."

"Mom this is the best I have ever had."

"It has a lot of onions, but it's really good."

Have a great weekend!!!

Praising today

Today was our women's bible study at RCCC and we are studying Beth Moore's Here & Now, There & Then.  Studying with clearly a talented leader like Beth is awesome, enlightening, educating, spirit-lifting, funny, and delightful to say the least.  But what I love the most, is meeting with other women whom God has carefully chosen to knit together to share experiences and challenges, heartaches and woes, joys and revelations and most importantly to openly admit how much we all want to grow closer to Jesus.  And how it pains us to become overwhelmed with everyday little things that we forget how much we truly love Him.

Dear Father, whether I'm walking in a small rain shower or if I'm crawling through a torrential storm, give me the strength to lift my hands and look up into the sky to see, hear, & feel your presence so that I can praise you for each and every blessing.  Amen.

"Praise You In This Storm"

I was sure by now
God You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

[Chorus:]
And I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to you
And you raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

But as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

[Chorus]

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

[Chorus x2]

Good Hodgepodge

Joining the Hodgepodge Wednesday "From this Side of the Pond" blog.

1. Would you rather be seen as a person who did their duty or forged their own path?

In most cases, "the duty" is one that another before me has done and, for whatever reason, now has passed "the duty" to me.  For the sake of completing "the duty" one must forge their own path in doing dutifully "the duty."  Therefore, as I do "my duty", I forge my own path.

2. This week's Wednesday Hodgepodge happens to fall on Groundhog's Day. In keeping with that theme, if you could have a do-over of any one day out of the last seven, which day would it be and why. If you haven't seen the movie Groundhog Day this question will make absolutely no sense but that's okay....you can answer anyway.

My hubby thinks it's insane that I've never watched Groundhog Day.

If I had one day out of the last seven to do over it would be Sunday - it was my birthday and the day was beautiful, warm & sunny.  We spent most of the day outside at my parent's house sitting on the patio enjoying each other's company.  My dad made the yummiest bbq ribs - per my birthday request - the kind that are so tender & juicy they melt in your mouth and dripping in so much bbq sauce that you are tasting your fingers for at least an hour after you're done eating.  Mom made yummy potato salad and a crockpot of beans.  V & my niece made me the best turtle brownies for dessert.

You thought my question was going to be weather related didn't you?

3. Hot cocoa...yay or nay on the marshmallows?

YAY!  Must have miniature marshmallows.

We've just discovered & tasted coconut covered marshmallows.  Yup, and we ate them right out of the bag.  Sadly I've not had the opportunity to enjoy them in a cup of hot cocoa since my sweet, generous, & caring hubby took the bag to work with him and decided he needed them more than me and opted not to share.

4. Do you wear makeup every day? What are the top two must haves in your daily makeup routine?

I'm OK with going mostly bare.

My must haves are lip gloss & a little eyeliner.

5. Is it more important to you in a relationship to be loved or understood?

Being understood would mean that I'm being listened to and cared about, therefore loved.

How can a person love another person, when they don't understand them?

6. Parsley sage rosemary or thyme... your favorite?

Parsley.

I've been working on expanding my recipe box and I'm really liking Basil too.

7. What do you do when you feel angry?

Clean the kitchen and make mean faces.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I don't like when my kids are sick.  LQ & V have both been at home sick with the flu all week.

I ran 21 miles on Saturday in preparation for the Austin Livestrong marathon on 2/20.  That's marathon #2.  I wish that training for a marathon would mean that you would lose weight.  I've been struggling with 10-12 lbs since November.

My hubby made me chocolate cupcakes for my birthday that have a burst of fudge in the center.  There are 2 left and I'm gonna eat one for lunch and the last one for dinner TODAY and not share them with anyone.  Hmm... THIS is probably why he's decided not to share those coconut marshmallows and I'm struggling with 10-12 lbs.