Fifty Years!!! Whoa that sounds old!!!

Well Dave and Michelle and Cathy got together and suprised me once again....I thought we were just going over Cathy and Jim's for dinner in between conference sessions. When we got there, they suprised me with a 50th birthday party. What sweet friends and family I have. Since I have reached this landmark birthday I thought I would write some of the lessons I have learned in my life, and how my sweet family have taught me these things through their examples. I truly am thankful for each of them.... I have truly been blessed!

1. My Dad taught me about not judging and being forgiving to others.
2. My Mom taught me to look at the positive, and to always have hope.

3. My sister Teri taught me that babies are wonderful and so much fun.
4. My sister Wendy taught me that I was a Princess...Cinderella :).
5. My sister Rachel taught me how to reach outside of myself.
6. My brother David taught me that there is much humor in life.

7. My sweet Dave taught me about love and commitment in marriage.

8. My daughter Amber taught me first, about the unconditional love you feel as a mother.
9. She also challenged me to run my first marathon, which has become a great source of accomplishment in my life!
10. Cameron has taught me to not be overly sensitive, and to press forward even when things are tough.

11. My daughter Andrea taught me about the importance of keeping laughter in your life.
12. She also has taught me to reach out to others, and not be afraid to make friends.
13. Greg has taught me it is good to be easy going and helpful.

14. My daughter Michelle taught me again that being a mom to my girls, is the most wonderful blessing in my life.
15. She also taught me to laugh and enjoy the friendship that exists between mothers and daughters.
16. Tom has taught me that son-in-laws are fun, even when they tease.

17. Nathan has taught me that little boys are soooo active, but so tender hearted at the same time.
18. Ryan has taught me that a Grandmothers love just grows along with the grandchildren.

19. Eva taught me to watch out for men that want you to look at their ankle..... j/k. She has taught me too, about having fun in life.
20. Layla has taught me that this love I feel, as a mother, and now a Grandmother, is real and deep and will always be UNCONDITIONAL for my daughters and now my grandchildren.

21. The last thing I will mention, is probably one of the most important. That is my testimony.
I am so thankful for the gospel in my life. It has blessed and shaped my life in every aspect.
It has taught me to have faith, to have hope, and to have joy. I know it is through Jesus Christ that I have been able to endure the hardships in my life, and I also know it is through him that I have had the great blessings in my life. I will continue to try to do good in my life, and I know with the gospel, and all of you amazing people in my life, I will be able to be happy and continue to learn and grow. Here's to the next 50!!!!!

Can you say "Yellow"?

Here is my sweet little baby Ryan. He was a little shy of me at first, but after about a day, he liked me. He is so happy, and I love him and Nathan so much. It was so good to visit with Cameron and Amber and to see the love they share with these sweet boys. I'm so proud of all of them!

When I was out at Amber's, Nathan was talking to me all the time, but sometimes I couldn't quite understand him. I was trying to help him say "yellow" in this clip. I think it is so cute, and I'm sure 10 years from now, he will get a kick out of this too.

Nashville Marathon April 2009

Well I completed my Nashville marathon with Team in Training and I must say it was an awesome experience. This picture is of when we walked into the ballroom at the hotel for our "inspiration dinner" the night before the marathon. It was cool because they had us walk between the ropes, and the TNT staff were all cheering and thanking us for raising money for LLS. It was very emotional for me, and caught me off guard. It really made me feel good that I was able to help.

This is the Michigan team in training group. We raised a total of $75,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!! Thankyou to all my supporters who helped make this possible.

Me at 4:30 a.m. Ready to run.... I thought. It was a difficult run, the temp was 92 degrees and straight sun. I didn't make my time, but I must give the organizers of the marathon credit for doing their best at providing plenty of water stations, great bands, great support and great spray stations along the course. I got sprayed in my face, many times, and I didn't even care how I looked, that cold water felt soooo good! Another tihing that was helpful to me was how our coaches had us put our names on the front of our shirts. There was TNT staff all along the course and they would call me by name and say "Go Shelli" "Go Team". Just hearing my name and their words of encouragement really did help me get through it .

LeeAnne and I post marathon, very tired, sunburned and glad to have just finished on our feet!

Here we are again, after showers, in downtown Nashville. We went to a cool little restaurant called the BB King. There was a band and yummy southern food. I had a "porktato" It is a huge baked potato stufed with pulled pork, cheese and green onion. It was just what I needed :)It was so good to have LeeAnne there with me. My Dave and her Dave were there too, and they kept appearing at different spots on the course with words of encouragement. My Dave said they did "the quarter marathon" from all the running to get to the different points to try to see us. Thanks to my sweet Dave for his love and support in my pursuing and completing this goal.



The first video is about mile 20, my legs were getting really sore, you can hear me ask for excedrin. I know I look awful, but thats how it is when you've been running for about 4 hours.

The second video is at the finish, you can hear Dave cheering me on. He is such a sweetheart.

Well I guess it's about time I did a new post! I have been working hard on my fundraising for LLS and met and passed my goal of $3,400. I think I have $4,200, and I mostly have to thank my patient Mr Jim Sitko for his fundraising idea of waxing snowboards and skis at Mt. Holly last month. He is a Lymphoma survivor just within the last 18 months, so he had a personal interest in fundraising for the cause. At the fundraiser one of his friends told me he would only donate for a kiss. I thought he was joking, but he wasn't. So I kissed him.... kind of crazy, but he was a nice old guy. He donated $20 that day, and then later, I looked on my web page and he had donated an additional $100. I guess, he liked my kiss... ha, ha. I really have enjoyed being involved in this challenge. I ran 20 miles last Saturday, I only have one more long run, 23 miles, before the marathon. I think the marathon will be fun and inspirational with all the activities involved with Team in Training. I will post again after the marathon. I hope I can finish in 4:45. My best time has been 4:57. Top runners finish in like 2:15, amazing!!!

New Kitchen Countertops

I know I haven't posted anything in a month, not too much to post, cause the only people that read my blog are my daughters and Rachel, and Amber and Michelle already saw the counters in person, so this is for Andi so she can see my pretty counters. And of course Rachel, who is my sweet sister who makes such an effort to stay close. I really appreciate and value her friendship and love. Of course I feel the same about my daughters. My cabinets are kind of old, but the counters look nice and motivated me to clean my cabinets really well. They hadn't been cleaned like that in years. It felt good to organize and throw out crap too. It's funny how we hold on to things in our cupboards that we never use. The top picture is the little "dry sink" I bought off of Craigs list for $50. It is cute and gives me some more storage. Well, that is my exciting post for the day!!!

7 Quirks

Okay, I'll try to think of 7.
1. My bangs have to be perfect. I will spend the majority of time styling my hair on my bangs, and then recheck them before I leave the house, if my bangs are good, its a good day. :)

2. The toothpaste container has to be on a certain spot on the sink, Dave will move it or leave it haphazardly on the counter, I always put it on the little groove on the sink, it just seems like it fits there.

3. The afghans have to be folded a certain way on the back of the loveseat.

4. I must put lotion on my hands after I wash them.

5. I hate it if my socks don't match my shirt.

6. I love white shirts, It seems if I'm having a hard time deciding on what to wear, If I just put on a white shirt I feel much better.

7. I hate to be too warm, I would much rather be a little cool, then warm. I hate the feeling of warm hands and feet, I do like to cuddle up in a blanket, if Im cold, but only until I get warm, then the cover comes off. I usually leave one foot out of the covers at night, with only a sheet and light blanket. Dave has on pj's, sheet, blanket and comforter. Funny how opposites attract!!

Race from HELL!!

Well... I had signed up for this 1/2 marthon trail run, it was this morning. I drove out to Oakland Township with Treva and LeeAnne. We were ready for this run, even though we knew it would be different from our road races we have always d0ne before. Well, they are both faster runners than me so I lost them in the first mile, but I had them in my sights for awhile. Everything was going fine until mile 4, when the run went off into the Bald Mountain Recreation area. The last mile marker I saw was mile 5, I was feeling good, and doing about 10.5 minute miles. I kept running up hills, down narow trails, twisting my ankle twice on roots. Pretty soon there was no-one in front of me and no-one behind me. I began to question if I was on the right trail, I hadn't seen a mile marker in awhile, I just thought they hadn't marked the miles since we were on these crazy trails. Pretty soon, up ahead I see a man walking toward me. He had a race number on and he asks me, Is this the right trail? I had been wondering the same thing!!! We soon realized we had somehow missed the marker, and were totally LOST!! We began back tracking and after about 40 minutes, we found our way back to the right trail. That was so upsetting!!

I was feeling bad cause I knew LeeAnee and Treva would be waiting for me, and worrying if I was injured, or lost. After running for awhile again and then realizing this run that should of taken me 2.5 hours, I was now already at 3 hours, with 5 miles to go, I took the ride on the paramedics truck back to the finish line. I was so dissapointed, and tired. I got back to the finish and Treva and LeeAnne were happy to see me walk off the paramedic truck. I guess LeeAnne had gotten lost too, with about 12 other runners, they found their way back sooner though. She atleast ran across the finish line. I guess it could of been worse, I'm really thankful I met up with that man, Bill, and that he was sweet and stayed right with me. I think if I would of been alone, I would of cried, and probably, still be back in the woods right now. Awful race!!!