16 mile run!!!!

I can't believe it! We are less than 9 weeks away from the Marine Corps Marathon! I am so excited about this run, I can hardly stand it.

This marathon training is actually coming along a little easier than the first one, I really think it is because I know what to expect.....and I know just how grueling the training can be! So, each time...I really psyche myself up for the long run.

Today was NO exception.

16 miles. I did it! Yay!

It was hard. It was mentally exhausting. It was raining. That was helpful. It was breezy. Thank you, Jesus!

But, needless to say, I was SOAKED.......and I would LOVE to blame it on the rain, but mostly, it was just gross, salty sweat, kind of soaked!

So, I came in, threw my clothes in the washer with this ProWash detergent! It was the perfect day to try it out!

They came out like a DREAM! I think I have found a new best friend!

Now, I wonder if they make something that can take me 10 miles further :)

CSN Stores has an AWESOME giveaway for YOU!!!---CLOSED

Well, I am happy to report that I won the mattress contest!!!! Yay!!!!

I am so thankful to all of my online friends that voted for me.....we would NEVER have won without our friends and we DO completely recognize that!!!

More to come on the mattress, and it's arrival....later :)

But for now, I have something fun for YOU! My friend!

The new mattress, has brought about a GREAT need. We have been shopping around...looking at BEDROOM FURNITURE SETS!!!!! Yes, that's right.

So, I looked at this one:

And this one:




Remember....the contest was for a new mattress...and the reason I even entered is because we have had our bedroom furniture...well....Scott got it when he was a SOPHOMORE in high school! Yes, that's right. And Yes, we have been out of school.....well, let's just say.....quite a few years now :)

So, when we began thinking about the mattress, we started looking for new bedroom furniture, and of course, the first place I looked was CSN....and their fabulous stores! There is SO much to choose from!!!

Here's the fun part!

The great people at CSN have offered YOU, my reader, a Gift Certificate!!! Yes, YOU, get to buy something fabulously fun from one of their many sites! Yes, one of their 200+ stores! Fantastic!!!
So, here's how YOU can win! (Mandatory Entry must be completed FIRST)
1. Go to their site, and tell me ONE thing you would buy with your $60!!!

(Bonus entries...you know, so you can rack up more chances for the loot!)
*Leave a comment for each*
*Total of Five Bonus entries possible*
1. Follow me on Twitter.
2. Follow me via google connect ----->
3. Subscribe to my blog via email ----->
4. Post about this giveaway on your blog, and post the link in the comments.
5. Share the link to the giveaway on facebook ,and post the link in the comments.

Good Luck, and I hope you win :)

**Contest ends: September 12th.

**I was NOT compensated for this post, and as always, my opinions are my own!

Master Lock takes us Back to School!

With our school year already in swing, I was thrilled to pieces when I got these little babies in the mail!



You have got to check out these new locks from Master Lock! So very cool.

Speed Dial™ & Precision Dial, the newest offerings from Master Lock, the time-honored brand for padlocks and security products.

The revolutionary Speed Dial Set-Your-Own Combination Locks (left picture) feature a first-of-its-kind design that opens on directional movements – up, down, left and right – instead of a standard rotary dial. Those who are more comfortable with a traditional rotary dial padlock may go with the Precision Dial Set-Your-Own Combination Locks (right), which offer a new resettable combination feature in a familiar format. Both new locks are available in various bright colors with stylish designs.

The best part is, they are SOO SOOO SOOOOO easy to use! With one try, I had them going, and then, I handed them off to the teenager in the family, and he had it going quicker than me!

Check out all of the cool things Master Lock has to offer!

The Giveaway:

Master Lock has agreed to send one of my lucky readers a set of these for your very own! YAY, for you!!!

How to enter:

(Mandatory Entry must be completed FIRST)
1. Check out the Speed Dial or Precision Dial, and tell me which color is your fave!

(Bonus entries...you know, so you can rack up more chances for the loot!)
*Leave a comment for each*
*Total of Six Bonus entries possible*
1. Follow me on Twitter.
2. Follow me via google connect ----->
3. Subscribe to my blog via email ----->
4. Post about this giveaway on your blog, and post the link in the comments.
5. Share the link to the giveaway on facebook ,and post the link in the comments.
6. Become a fan of Master Lock on Facebook...AND tell them "just call me B" sent you :)

Good Luck, and I hope you win :)

**Contest ends: September 7th.

**I was given this product for review. I was NOT compensated for this review, and as always, these opinions are my own!

Flip Slide HD Review!

Ok, remember THIS post! I got this little beauty in the mail.....and here's my review of it!

Awesome!
Bad!
Cool!
Da bomb!
Excellent!

---ok, you get the picture!



I am in LOVE with this handy dandy little Flip Slide HD! This little baby is fabulous!

So quick. So easy to use. So handy!

And the quality! Outstanding!!

And, it uploads in excellent quality! Check out these videos.

**I did NOT edit them. I did NOT alter them. A simple...stick the flip into my USB drive and hit upload! Ahhh-mazing!







And, to keep up-to-date, go become a fan and "like" them on Facebook!

Sidenote: I recieved this product to review. The opinions are my own, honest opinion, and I was NOT compensated for the review!

Facebook, thick skin, and all that jazz!

So, I've been just doing a lot of "soul searching" lately.

A lot over the past few months, and then even more so, for the last 2 weeks. I think God is trying to teach me something...and I think...maybe...just maybe I am getting it. Or atleast a little piece of it.

I am an emotionally driven person. Sometimes that's GREAT, sometimes, well, not-so-great! I wear my heart on my sleeve (no, not the Bachelor Kasey, kind of wea-my-heart-on-my-sleeve!). I too many times put my emotions right out there for the world.

When I am up. I am up.

When I am hurt. Everyone knows it.

And, I have been told a few times that I need "thicker skin".

And, to be quite honest, I have beat myself up about it. I have WISHED I had thicker skin. Wished I had a harder heart.

But, God has really convicted me of this lately.

He made me just like I am for a reason. Take it or leave it. That sounds harsh. I know.

But, I am tired of beating myself up about it, when, honestly, it is NOT a bad thing.

****

Yes, I get hurt easily. But, I love easily too.
Yes, I show my emotions. But, atleast you know what's up. No reading between the lines.
Yes, my heart is out there. But, that means I can get closer to you a lot easier. You don't always have to work through that THICK SKINNED layer.
Yes, my skin is thin. But that means it is almost transparent, and that's what God wants. For us to be open. Open to love others. Open to hurt for others. Open to weep with others. Open to rejoice with others.

That's what He calls us to do.

So, maybe I, just maybe my thin skin is a result of God chipping away at those layers.

Hard heart layers.
Hurtful friendship layers.
Hurful relationship layers.
Rebellious teenager layers (yes, mom, believe me, I know how terrible I was!)
All of those layers that sometimes still hurt....well, God has restored those areas, mended those parts of my heart, and used those scars to be blessings to others, and a testimony of what His grace has done for me.

***

So, what's facebook got to do with all of this?!

Yes I know facebook is a time sucker.
Yes, I know it can be bad, if you let it be.

But, this week, through a very tough week in my personal life, I have been touched, loved, ministered to, prayed for, cried with, loved on, hoped for.......all through facebook!

Crazy! I know.

But, I have had HUNDREDS, yes HUNDREDS of emails, messages, wall posts, song lyrics, stories, and more. From "friends". Not just a number on the left side of my profile, but true FRIENDS. People that love me. People that God has placed in my life. Family. Family that loves me, and loves on me, when I am down and need it most.

So, I am ever so thankful.

Thankful today for Thin Skin and Facebook.

And for all of the people in my life that have shown that they love me the most!

Still time to Shutterfly

There is still time to enter.........

Go to THIS POST to enter to win some free Shuttefly Love!

I am sorry, Mrs. Smith...but you have Cancer.

Shocking right?!

Yes. Agreed.

No....that's NOT what she said. But...it IS what I heard.

What she said that day....Wednesday, July 28...two weeks ago today....was this:

"Mrs. Smith. We need you to come back in. The doctor found some disturbing images on your mammogram and he wants to get a second reading before making a diagnosis".

What I heard was this:

"Mrs. Smith you have Cancer and although you are driving down the road right now, and your 10-year-old is in the car...you need to keep it together. You can't fall apart. You can react. Don't react. Act unconcerned. He doesn't need to know this. But...you have Cancer...and you may never see your boys grow up......." (and that voice went on in my head for a million hours)...well, more like 2 minutes.

(this is not my actual ultrasound, but a stock photo...and mine looked EXACTLY like this)

I hung up the phone.

I could not react. I called the husband. I talked in code. Kind of like this:
"hey..can you talk. i need you to hear me...and me not tell you...i have little ears...remember that test i took on monday..you know... the twins...well...i have to go take it again...it did not look good. i need you to tell me it's gonna be ok"

he listened. he told me. he meant it.

Then, I drove home. I am sure I was pretending to be happy mom in the car, and I am sure I was not a good pretender. But my mind went in every direction.

I talked to God and asked Him what He was thinking?! He told me I was over-reacting. He was right. Duh.

I thought of the dreams I have for MY life. Our life. Our little family. I thought of Mas playing his first High School football game this year. I thought of marriages. Babies. Life. Vacations. Smiles. Tears.

Honestly. I took myself and my thoughts to places I had never been.

Then. I stopped thinking of that. And tears streamed down my cheek. This is NOT what *I* have in my future. And, maybe that's just MY problem.

I plan too much.

I never take into consideration that God has a plan for all of our lives, if I would just stop for a sec and let HIM do it.

And, yes, we finally made it home that night. I went in my room and just cried...basically cried myself to sleep...with a little bit of interruption here and there.

I registered both boys for school the next day (sucker punch to the heart...) and then off to the mammogram.

Then a second mammogram. "just to be sure".

Then..."let's just do an ultrasound"...just to be sure.

----FOR THE LOVE----- just tell me what's wrong?! What is it?! Help me!!!

So, the long and short of it is this.

They found a mass. It appears to be a lymphnode that they are NOT concerned about. However....as I write...I am getting ready to go for a biopsy..."just to be sure"...that term is a little over-used.

*And we have NOT told the boys, because we do NOT want them to worry unnecessarily*

----

Although this is a long blog post.......and I am ok with that....it is MY blog after all :) I have been reminded that God is in control. Thankfully, so...but He is. He keeps telling me again and again, this is the path I have chosen for you...Cancer or not...I am in control.

I have learned that the people that love you and care about you will rise up....and lift you up...when you are having trouble holding your own.

I remembered that I did this 60 mile walk....in an effort to find a cure...and although I am certain that a cure has NOT been found.....I do know that the efforts are not in vain...and their detective skills are intense :)
I have been so gently reminded in His word that He tells us that in our weakness, He is strong. Yes, I am reminded of that sweet song.....Jesus DOES love the little children! I am proud to be one.

I have learned that when I am "under the weather"...and don't tell my boys...both of them notice. And...even better...they have both said "mom...are you ok"....I love that about them.
And, most importantly, I have learned that no matter the outcome of any test, report, newsflash, etc.....God is still God. And, He will protect His children. And He will guide us down HIS path. The best part is.....He is not surprised by any of it! He knows how we will handle it, accept it, deal with it....and still love Him...(or not!)

So, as I prepare for this biopsy, and get my heart in the right frame of mind, although I am confident that it is all clear...thank you Lord for the gentle reminder that YOU are in control...and you have a plan for me, if I am willing.

Here I am Lord. Send me.

**Now......who wants to be on my team for the Race for the Cure 5k in Birmingham?!

Winner Winner...and CSN Review

First of all...let's start out with the FUN stuff!!

Winner of the BondiBand giveaway---BUT WAIT---I was feeling great, and BondiBand was sooo generous...we have 2 winners!!! YAY!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random integers, generated with replacement:

 4---Mrs. B
10---Mommy Katie

Timestamp: 2010-08-11 00:03:52 UTC

**Congrats girls! Email me, and I will send them right out!!!


And, now, on to MORE fun stuff!!!

Remember this post...about CSN...well, I got my order in!

I look at lots of lights, and then lots of other lights...like these

...and these...


But, ultimately I settled on this!

And, the best part was that I ordered on a Tuesday and it was here by Friday!!! YAY!!!

I love this site! So, check it out if you haven't....and stay tuned.....a little birdie told me I have a prize from CSN coming up for one of YOU!!!!

Stay tuned.........

Nothin' to do with nothin'

This post has absolutely nothing to do with anything...but I was reading an article online...and it made me want to post this picture...

and it's my blog...so I am!

*totally LOVE me some Trace Adkins*

EWWWW, Dirty Laundry!

Ok, runners of the world.....please tell me you feel me on this!!!

Bottom Line...my running clothes STINK! Yes, I am sorry. But, I said it. And, if you are a TRUE runner...I bet yours do too!!!

But, watch out, Dirty Laundry...this little beauty just came in the mail TODAY!!! Yipppeeee!!!

And, EVEN BETTER...I have some to give away!!! Yes! ProWash...to the rescue!

Let me test it out...and I will keep you in the loop! Details to follow....