In 5 Days!

I will be running in this

 With the help of these

 I'll be sure to do a little of this

 And 13.1 of this

 I've been told the starting line is like this

 And this

 Can't wait to feel like this

 And ultimately this!!

Ha!

No, for real I'm so excited about running this marathon on Sunday!  For the last several years we have had several friends run in marathons and we always went to cheer them on.  Last year while we were watching we decided that we would run the marathon instead of cheering from the sidelines.  It has been a hard 6 months of early morning runs and not sleeping in on Saturdays to run ridiculous miles in horrible weather.  We have run in disgusting high heat and humidity and run in freezing temperatures with ice crystals on our clothing.  But after every single run I feel FANTASTIC!  It is such a high when you are done running and the sense of accomplishment is so great.  Through it all God has taught me to trust him that I can actually run distances I never thought I could.  A verse in Isaiah comes to mind that encourages me while I'm running.

Isaiah 40:31

31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

We'd love to have you come cheer us on!

Confessions

A few of my blogging friends have this post up so I decided to join in on the fun!

1.  I hate cleaning my house.  I can live in a messy home for several days before getting tired of it.  I clean out of necessity.

2.  I sometimes forget I have a dog.  I used to forget him at my In-Laws when we visited.  I forget to feed him sometimes too.  I'm so bad!

3.  I have 4 clothing sizes in my closet! Yup, up and down on the scale my whole life.  Hate it! Working on it.  Sanctification I believe is what it's called.

4.  I cook dinner pretty much every night and lunch almost every day.  I enjoy it!

5.  Because I cook all the time I don't wash dishes after every meal.  I let them sleep in the sink over night.

I think that is about as much confession as I can handle right now!  What about you?

A New Year

What will 2011 be for you?  Are you starting anything new in your family?  Plans on getting healthy?  Doing something you've never done before?

There are a few things I have in mind for 2011.  On Friday we are driving to Atlanta GA!  We are volunteering at the Passion Conference with our great friends Callie and Chris Smith.  We are leaving our kiddos at home with family and we will enjoy every minute!  We get to serve 20,000 college students reignite their passion for serving God.  So we will ring in the New Year in great company!

Our first goal for the year is to run a marathon!  We have been training since August to run this race and we have had a few hiccups in our training process.  I hurt my back a few days after running 6 mles.  Lesh hurt his foot shortly after running a half marathon.  My goal is to run a half marathon and Lesh's goal is the full.  I am back in running mode and ran 6 miles on Saturday and plan to run 8 this week! Yikes!  I pray my body holds up so I can complete the 13.1 miles I need to run!

Eating healthier is always a goal for Lesh and I.  It is the story of our lives! Ha!  We don't keep anything unhealthy in our home so really the goal would be to have portion control and also to eat less bread. 

I would love to wake up and read my Bible every morning too.  It is so important that I do this first thing because then I get busy and I neglect my time in the Word. 

Hopefully we will start trying for baby Richardson number two in the summer.  So as you can see there are many things I would like to accomplish in 2011!  The most important of all of these is intimacy with God.  My relationship with God is the most important thing.  Acts 17:24-28

²⁴ “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. ²⁵ And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. ²⁶ From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. ²⁷ God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

Happy New Year to you!

Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas!

What a blessed Christmas we have had!  Christmas Eve we always go to the Candlelight service with my family and then we head over to my cousins. This year we had some kinks in our evening, but it was still great spending time with my extended family.  We played games and Lesh and I both won a prize.  It was a good time.

Christmas day we woke up and Nathaniel LOVED his gift from Santa.  We took a video of him with his new trike!  I just loved Christmas this year seeing the awe  in his eyes and the excitement.  It was priceless!  I'll have to get Lesh to post it later.  Our Christmas gifts to eachother this year are our wood floors we installed ourselves. I will write about that later this week. 

We did some last minute wrapping and then headed over to celebrate Christmas with my In-Loves.  We had a great time.  Nathaniel got a motorized Thomas train set that glows in the dark from his Nana and Papa.  He really raked it in this Christmas with lots of Thomas themed gifts.  I pray yours was special too! 

Lesh and his dad making pigs in blankets for Breakfast- it's a tradition!

Nathaniel enjoyed riding his new trike!  His feet barely reach the pedals but he'll grow into it.

This is an amazing house that has all their lights set to an FM radio station.  We drove last night and saw it.  Truly AMAZING!!



Oh What Fun it is to Ride!

Last week we took Nathaniel on a hay ride to see Christmas lights and we had a great time!  Nathaniel enjoyed picking the hay and throwing it overboard.  He especially loved the trains all lit up on peoples front lawns.  We had a great time with the Caraway family too!  I love Christmas! There are so many fun things to do! We have many more events to do and can't wait to tell you about them!

Christmas In My Home!

I LOVE to decorate for Christmas!!  It is so much fun to pull all out the bling covered ornaments, trees, and garlands.  I haven't put up my tree yet though because we are installing our own wood floors! Yahoo! WE have been wanting new floors and we finally did it!  Anyways, that is for another day and another post.

Here is what Christmas is looking like so far in my house!

I have all my mugs out so that we can drink hot chocolate anytime!

I found this at the Nutcracker Market several years ago.  I love it!

I don't have a fireplace so this is where I hang our stockings!

This is what I use to hold my Christmas cards.  This was my first one last week!  It is much more full now!

What does Christmas look like in your home?



22 Months

Nathaniel turned 22 months last week, the day after Thanksgiving.  He is such a hoot and is always making us laugh.  There are so many new things he does and I can't believe that in just 2 months he will be two!
Here are some things Nathaniel does at 22 Months.

-Says well over 50 words and many new phrases- "I love you," "I love mama/dada," "Come on!" "No more," "I like..."  "Oh man"  and so many more!

-His eating has changed a little.  He usually grazes and then one meal a day he pigs out.  It's pretty amazing what he can eat!  He eats every kind of food we offer him and I'm so thankful that he isn't a picky eater!

-He has hiked his leg over the railing in his crib, but hasn't tried to get out yet!

-He can almost brush his teeth on his own, but needs a little help.

-He has 12 teeth and more coming in!  His teeth are slow in coming in.

-He likes to brush his own hair, but it usually looks messy, but very cute!

- He can partly take off his shirt and can totally pull his diaper off himself.  He always has to wear botoms of some kind at all times or he will pull off the diaper.  One day I came in at nap because he wasn't falling asleep.  He had taken his diaper off and peed all in his crib.  Glad he didn't do number 2!

-He loves to give hugs- not just side hugs, full on bear hugs sometimes tackling the poor little girl or boy.  He is touchy feely and loves to touch people all the time.  He enjoys holding hands and giving kisses.  It is too precious!

-He can use the Iphone and Ipad like a pro!  He is his father's son!

-I'm not sure how much he weighs or his height, but I think he is either right under or at 30lbs. 

I am enjoying seeing his personality blossom!  He is a blessing in our lives!