I'm in training!

I'm running the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco on October 16th, 2011 ~ Just 28 days after my 40th birthday!! Please support me and make a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society via my fundraising website: http://pages.teamintraining.org/ia/nikesf11/bramseyruc

THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to the tip of my running shoes!

LET'S FIND A CURE!

Caps and gowns have a whole new meaning....

I remember when I graduated from high school 21 years ago this month. I had a large class (326 to be exact) and our ceremony was held in the UNI Dome at the University of Northern Iowa. It was kinda boring, actually. Music, clapping, music, walk across the stage, clapping, music, speech, clapping, blah, blah, blah. I got home that night, threw my cap on my bed, shrugged my shoulders and went on about the business of being a "real adult". Never crossed my mind again to be honest. I graduated high school....so what?

Today I have an entirely different perspective.

Today is my daughter's last day of high school with the grad ceremony on Sunday. I see things much differently this side of the party! No longer is it just business as usual. Graduation is a BIG DEAL!

I'm bursting with pride and fear all at the same time. I will miss tucking her in at night (I actually still do that and she's almost 19!) BUT....have no fear.....I have a plan! Each night she gets 3-4 "tuck in's" to build up and save so that when she moves in August she will have enough stored up until she's home on Christmas break. When I told her that is what I was doing, she laughed (I was expecting an eye roll!).

And when I went to walk away the first night, you know what she said? "Do it again, Momma.....I need more!"

Even if she is old enough to be a "real adult", she still needs and wants her momma to tuck her in. That right there will get me through the roller coaster of emotions surely to come in the next couple of months.

Thank you, God, for a heart that can and does swell over with love and affection for my children. :0)

1 Peter 1:3-9

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter 1:3-9

That tasted JUST.LIKE.CHOCOLATE.....

A bit overwhelmed....

Today is a day where I find myself simply OVERWHELMED. I can hardly get a grip on things. My intense need to control life is wearing me out. It's my own fault, though. I KNOW better. I KNOW it's not up to me and that change is GOOD! EVERYTHING around me is changing. Some for the better, some not. I just need to figure out how to deal with it.

Alli graduates from high school in just 9 days. Her grad party is this Saturday. With that alone, I'm filled with emotions - pride, overwhelming excitement, fear, worry and all that junk...and all at the same time. She is GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL! Woot! That is an accomplishment for both her and me. My first child making her way into adulthood! Yeah! We did it and without any major scars to our relationship! HAHA!! YES!

And then, before I even get that sentence fully typed, I'm filled with fear and worry. What if's and who will's and my heart wants to protect her and be there. BUT, I can't. She is ready....I'm the one who isn't. Yeah, I've been telling everyone I am but, between you and me, I'm not.

Mark's mom is not getting better....sleeping more, on morphine more each day and it's HARD. Hard to watch her (even though I know where she is going and I WILL see her again), even harder to watch him. She is his mom. She is special to him and vice versa. I never thought it would be this hard. God has it all in His hands and is working this all out before us, but it's still HARD.

I need some stinkin' chocolate.....

Sunday's comin'.....

I LOVE THIS VIDEO. It gives me goosebumps. I LOVE EASTER. It gives me hope. It gives me a heart full of gratefulness and peace. I LOVE JESUS and I am so very thankful for His gift! (Be sure to turn down the music at the bottom of this page before you play the video.)

Prom 2011

My gorgeous baby attended her senior prom last Saturday. I know. She was on the prom court and had a good time for the most part (drama is ALWAYS part of the equasion in high school!). Enjoy! The first picture below is my favorite. Trust me when I tell you that she is absolutely as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

It was cooolllld....



Alli and her date (he looked like he was 12!)...


Kaity & Alli


Taylor & Alli


Kaity, Taylor & Alli


Stephy & Ashley....my other "daughters". :0)

Taylor & Kawner.....sisters! (Yeah....can't see Taylor and Carli EVER hugging like this but I can hope!)

Alli, Kawner & Taylor

The whole group...

Alli & Taylor

A different Katie & Alli

OUTTAKES!!! (my favorite part!
Alli shakin' her bum....showing everyone how she intends to dance!

Me & Alli

She said after the above was taken "Only one, momma?" I didn't know what else to do so I proceeded to embarrass her. It's my gift.

Mark likes the geese at Jordan Creek so I took this waiting for them to arrive.

Being "classy"....

Look at Kaity and Taylor....not sure what that was all about!

This one just makes me laugh.....

NO COMMENT.

What a goon!

"Ok, momma ENOUGH." :0)

My girl graduates from high school in just 25 days.....sigh...

My girl - she's got MOXIE!

Carli played in a soccer tournament this weekend. These are some of my favorites I took. She's not only fun to watch, but it's kinda cool to sit back as a parent and watch your kiddo seriously grow right in front of your eyes. One of her games was a serious character ("MOXIE!") builder. Another tested her ability to leave it all on the field. All of them taught her a big lesson - who you are as a player is not only defined by how you play on the field, but even more importantly by how you walk off of it. She knew she could have done better, but she left it at the field - and came back and played better and stronger because of it.

That makes it worth the sunburn, long hours and not getting anything else done. I'm one proud momma.