Big Love

The thought of people out there not having a best friend makes me feel dizzy. I guess because the way I see my life is that there have been pivotal moments where I was shaped by a best friend. My slightly annoying but awesome memory can remember even in preschool making a decision to sing Jesus Loves Me out loud because one of my little 4 year old besties said he would sing it with me. <insert red heart emoticon here> Ok so maybe that wasn't completely like life altering, but I remember it, so that's meaningful! Instead of walking down an incredibly beautiful but lonnnnng memory lane of those moments and best friends, let's just see a quick snapshot of some of my current best friends.

Rach and Mere. <insert heart eyed emoticon here and girls holding hands emoticon here> I met these beauties in college freshman year and through the course of some interesting decisions on my part, grew to love, cherish, adore, at times cling to, and absolutely rely on these two girls. We finally got to have a reunion last Friday after being separated for over 2 years!! I literally had not seen Rachel since I had very first been pregnant with Copeland. un.be.liev.a.ble. It hurts me to think it had been that long! Don't you remember college when you got to hang out with your friends every single day for HOURS?! sighhh... Truly praise God that He allows me to live close to Meredith at least since Rach is now like 5 hours away <insert pained face emoticon here>. I try and see Mere as often as possible {which ends up still never being enough} and she is forced to hear every dreary and often mundane detail of my life. Big. Love. for those girls.

completely useless aside: I LOVE Jimmy Fallon. l.o.v.e. and when he had Bill Cosby on for the first time of The Tonight Show, Jimmy told a story of him not having time to stop in the green room to talk to Bill but wanted to say hi, so as Jimmy runs by the green room on the way to the stage he quickly says, "I love you Bill Cosby" as he passes the door, and Bill Cosby yells back "Who cares?!" hahahahaha... so I constantly hear Bill Cosby's voice saying "Who cares?!" after I say many things now-- which includes me describing how Mere has to listen to me all the time 

<insert wide eyed blush faced emoticon here>.

I've still been running, or more accurate, I've still been moving constantly without stopping. When is the day that I will finally be a real runner? How will I know?? ugh. Anyways, this past weekend was my longest time of moving constantly without stopping. 4.miles.!!! I can't even believe it. Now... it did take me 48 minutes and 48 seconds to get through those 4 miles. double ugh. But I actually did it! I am not easily impressed with myself and I have to say, looking back on the first few days of barely surviving 90 seconds of running at a time, I am floored that I did 4 miles of anything! Big group hug! I signed up for a 10k for November 1. gulp. So I still have some mileage and stamina to build, but I'm committed.

Just a little story about that run... I fell. I fell while running. Now while falling isn't foreign to me in any way, falling while running totally is! I was running, listening to my playlist, focused, breathing, all of those things, and completely was unaware that I was about to bite the dust. hard. My left foot trips over something that I obviously did not see in the street. My phone and ear buds go flying into someone's yard. My right side hits the ground and I skid down the street a bit. When I get up (and after I look around to see who is obviously filming me and about to post a hilarious video to youtube) I go back to where I tripped to find a piece of wood that has literally melted into some tar on the road. I try and pry it out, kick it out, pull it out of the street with no luck at all. It's like a tiny mini but very much there abrupt speed bump to anyone walking or moving in constant motion without stopping. I need to go back and spray paint that thing! ugh. How embarrassing. 

This past week was also the remembrance of 9-11. I know we all have vivid memories of where we were that day. It's crazy because I remember growing up hearing people say, "I can tell you everything about the day Kennedy was assassinated" and really having nothing like that when I was little. But this. This was definitely different. September 11, 2001 was during my sophomore year of college. I was up early getting ready to meet my friend Mike to go to HSU's new president's inauguration for double chapel credit {exactly.} I walk into my roommate's room and Tracy is sitting with her knees tucked under her chin watching the news. She told me to look at the screen, that a plane had hit. It didn't register at first honestly. I could see a tall building with smoke coming out but I didn't know where it was being filmed. And that's when we saw the 2nd plane crash into the other tower. So it goes from terrible terrible accident to something is incredibly wrong here. I pray none of us ever forget where we were, what we felt, and what happened next. 

My kids are amazing. Kids are amazing aren't they? Eli can read almost anything now. Judah is his constant side kick {for better or worse} and with Eli reading stories now, they have a whole new bond! And it's actually pretty fantastic that I don't have to read everything! What's not so fantastic is where Wes and I used to be able to spell out words we didn't want the boys to hear, now Eli just thinks through whatever we spelled and says it out loud. sheesh. But then he makes up for his smarty mcsmart smart self by being incredibly precious and making me Lego flowers. Big big love for those boys.

May the words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Reedemer. Psalm 19:14.

Lots and lots of love. <insert red heart emoticon here>