"Today God is Choosing to Test Your Patience More Than Your Body"

This is probably the truest statement about this weekend. It didn't go as planned at all. And I know nothing ever does, but I always have a really hard time with it. Stuart sent me that in a text message during the run today and I knew he was right when I read it immediately. I'll explain more further down.

Side note: I needed something to distract me from this AWFUL game going on. The ACC refs have been ridiculous this season, but blatantly ignoring several horse collars as well as some facemasks, making a ridiculous call on a punt block and calling offensive pass interference was uncalled for and completely changed the composure of the game. I am proud of our boys for playing clean and I am excited to head to Atlanta on NYE!

But here are a few pictures :)

Our beautiful Christmas tree (well one of two), complete with a few birthday presents for moi from my roomie underneath.

 The awesome stuff Nicole and her momma got me for my birthday: a top and jewelry from Francesca's and a key identifier from Nicole and the Tory clutch from her momma. They are too sweet!

We left for Tennessee on Thursday afternoon and here we were entering into TN around 5pm

 We woke up in a hotel in Nashville on my birthday morning and my sister managed to break the toilet seat somehow. That was the big event of the morning! Haha.

 We were less than a half a mile from a beautiful Target so of course I requested a stop there :)

 With my free birthday Starbucks in Tarjeyyy!

 After a three hour car trip we made it to Memphis and headed to the expo to pick up our packets. Here we are listed by race number!

We ended up grabbing Heidi from the airport after going to the expo and then spent a while driving around looking for a CFA that ended up being in the mall. On an up note I ended up getting some comfy yoga pants from LOFT for about six bucks. Love it! We then drove around trying to find somewhere to eat dinner before picking my dad up from the airport and everywhere had a wait so we ended up at a McAllister's. Not exactly my choice for birthday cuisine but it was quick and it worked. We then headed back to the hotel and got ready for race day!

Here are my supporters (minus my mom and dad) Stuart drove up from Cville on Thursday morning and rode with us and Heidi flew in Friday afternoon! Love these two and I was so glad they came!

 Heids and I

 Stuart and I (we call each other "Boots," hence why the sign says RUN BOOTS"

 Waiting to start!

 Around mile 2 we got to run by the Mississippi river and peer over into Arkansas. I really wanted to drive over but after the race we booked it out of downtown Memphis!

 Running towards the campus of St. Jude! They had a bunch of people cheering as we ran through!

 Now, Natalie (my sister, who I ran with) has exercise induced Asthma that flared up during mile three and continued for the rest of the race, which slowed us down considerably. I was feeling great, but I knew I couldn't leave her. We were a team. Then around mile six a hip injury started coming back and we did a lot more walking than I planned on or that I was comfortable with doing. I think I got so frustrated at one point I cried, just because I knew I could do it if it was just me and I wanted to run so badly. Once I let go of my time goal, I tried to just encourage Nat. I could tell she was in serious pain and I was worried about her. I even tried to get her to go stand with my parents but she was determined to finish and I was proud of her. We did run the last mile or so and we held hands as we finished. We ended up finishing almost an hour after my (pretty achievable) goal. Needless to say I will be running another one by myself just so I can prove to myself that I am able to run a 1/2 in a decent time! Stuart send me the text with the title of this post ("Today God is choosing to test your patience more than your body") during a little rant I sent him order to try and keep myself composed. It is little moments and encouragement like that that I know he with me for a reason :)

Needless to say, I was looking for encouragement anywhere I could find it, from the people handing out a beer around mile 8 (well a little beer), and this Hokie flag I found around mile 10! I also found a man cheering wearing a VT hat that I high fived. Love hokies from everywhere!

 Here we are passing my parents and Heidi and Stuart around mile three coming around Beale St. We were both feeling pretty good at this point :). I just wish things could have stayed this way!

After the race we headed back to the hotel, showered, went to lunch and then dropped Heidi off at the airport before hitting the road to our hotel tonight. We got back just in time to watch the game and order pizza. Although at this point I think we should have just kept driving... probably would have kept my blood pressure down.

Overall, it probably wasn't my best weekend ever, but I am still pleased with what we did. I am happy we raised over $1200 for St. Jude and I am so proud that we did it for Kaleb and Nick. My aunt sent a text this morning saying that Kaleb, Nick and our Poppi all had a front row seat and were cheering us on. If that isn't motivation, I don't know what is.