... spicy 2009 continues...

well i finally got my tattoo. i love it! it is my boys' initials Z & L!
noelle came along to document it for me.
enjoy...
spicy 2009 continues...

wonder what will be next...


driving to "the" destination


in the waiting room... nervous yet excited


bobby putting on the "fake" tattoo to see if i like the placement


deciding on if i like the tat or not


mr. bobby working his magic!


me - excited and nervous as it's all happening. thanks to noelle for keeping me company


finishing up


bobby explaining how to care for my tattoo


pic of my tattoo. a Z & L intertwined to represent my sweet boys


my new sexier self with my tat! :)

wow.

so this sunday, august 2nd, my friend Noelle and i were to participate in a triathlon. 7 months+ of training and the day had finally arrived!
woke up at 4:00am.
tried to force down some granola
checked and double checked all of my gear for the race
got to N's house at 5:30am
away we went to Philly for the SHErox event

words cannot express the events of the day. i don't think i've experienced anything like it nor do i think i will again. (i will continue to do tri's and other races but hopefully NOT like this one! :)!)

we pulled into Philly around 6am as the skies opened up and rain came pouring down.
we took all of our stuff over to the transition areas
waiting around what seemed endlessly to hear the officials turn the tri into a dualathlon.
was i bummed? no, not really - not sure how i felt about swimming in a river that (just that morning) a man jumped into the river and could not be found! yikes. they called it due to thunderstorms approaching... really.

so needless to say, we began the race about 9:30am starting off with a run (1.5 miles).
did great on that part. no problems. no rain.

next came the bike portion. 15.8 miles. okay, but crazy accidents happening between women as the rain starts falling again ... and a little harder this time.

my brave husband, children, parents, jarvis friends and saunders friends, as well as noelle's entire family were real troopers coming out and staying out to support us through all of this!!! you guys ROCK! thank you so much!!!

lastly came the run portion... 3.5 miles. so far so good. then...oh wait a minute...what was that?!? half way through the run came the WORST TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR of rain i have ever seen with MAJOR lightning and thunder over the exact area we were running and our family/friends were watching and waiting for us.

i started praying (as i was running and wiping my eyes TRYING to see in front of me and shielding my face as best i could) "God please keep us safe and please keep my boys and family and friends safe."

runners were heading under overpasses to get out of the rain but N and i kept on keeping on. we did NOT stop. we kept going.
God was faithful to us. God gave us strength to finish the race and we did! We finished it! We were soaked and happy and tearful and worn out and exhausted and worried and thankful!

(the officials actually cancelled the rest of the race so many many other women did not get to complete the race due to the rain and major safety issues... fortunately OR maybe not... :)... we had gotten so far into the race that we got to complete it in it's entirely! i'm So thankful for that!)

noelle beat my time by 3.5 minutes (you go girl!) and was waiting for me. it was nice to finish the race with her. we have done a lot of training together so it was only appropriate to end it with her there. we both finish under 2 hours even amidst all the crazy weather! :)

best of all, my man was awesome and waiting patiently for me with an umbrella. (my p's and sons and friends all took cover - i'm so glad they did!) he was there. he was waiting for me at the finish line and that was the best and cutest face i've ever seen. best reward! he said he was proud of me and gave me a big hug. i hugged him back and just sobbed!

i finished the race.
i overcame horrific weather
i enjoyed the journey
i am looking forward to many more...


i am a triathlete!



This is the saturday before big race. Registration day. Look! it's sunny! go figure! pic is of Noelle, Me & our friend Heather!


Me, Noelle, & Heather all smiles before the race!


Several of us South Jersey girls at SHErox!


Me laughing as they tell us it is now a dualathlon and not a triathlon!


Another of us girls as we wait...


Another pic BUT we are in our Wave (#10) getting ready to start the race! finally!!!


The race has started! Here noelle and i are running back into transition area after first leg of run 1.5 miles


Here is our transition area! over 2000 women were in this thing! we are preparing for the bike portion of the race...



love this pic of noelle and her mean face!!! here she is biking around a tight corner on the slippery bike course. nice!!! :)


We did it! We finished the race! We are soaked...but we have medals!!! :)

a Psalm for you this morning...

Psalm 103: 8-14

"The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him'

for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

being bold

so this morning i spent countless hours on the phone with my new friend saul. he is an employee at walt disney world, from puerto rico and has three daughters, a few granddaughters and a grandson on the way. how do i know this? i asked him. while he was hard at work trying to help me make reservations for our trip to disney world coming up at the end of september, i heard the Holy Spirit prompt me to talk to saul. so i did.

i am not the bold type, per say, but since starting a bible study on the fruit of the spirit and especially the Holy Spirit... i think God is giving me a new freshness to "try" boldness.

so, anyway, saul told me his name. never really hear that name so i say:

"that is an unusual name, do you know of anyone else with that name or do you hear it often?"

saul: "just the one from the bible"

me: "really? you know saul?"

saul: "not really"

a short while later....


me: "so...you know saul's name was changed to paul, in the bible, right?"

saul: "yeah, that is a good thing"


another few minutes go by and more prompting from God....


me: "saul, are you a christian?"

saul: "um...i can't really talk about it...it's complicated"

me: "oh, because you are at work?"

saul: "no, i think it's good to talk about...but it's just complicated for me"

me: "well, i'm a christian...in case you were wondering"

saul: "i can tell by your demeanor...."


probably 20 minutes later and as we close the conversation...

me: "thanks so much saul for helping me. you're the best"

saul: "you're welcome. hey... pause... could you pray to your Dad for me. you know who and what i'm talking about..."

me: "um...YES saul... of course i will. in fact as soon as i get off the phone i will pray for you. no problem."

saul: "oh thank you. i really need it. God bless you."

me: "God bless you Saul!"

i promptly got off the phone and prayed for this precious man. he in fact is still on my mind and i will continue to pray for him as long as the Holy Spirit prompts me to.

i'm not anything special. it was an ordinary day with a really ordinary phone call. for some reason God prompted me to talk to this man and i actually listened. has this happened to you and you listened to Him? or did you ignore Him? what would have happened if i ignored God and didn't talk to saul. i am so glad i did. now i can pray for him and love him through Christ. i may never see why this occurred but i know God knows and i'm cool with that.

saul, buddy, i'm praying for you!

i'm a TRIATHLETE!

so my first triathlon is scheduled for sunday, august 2nd...
in order to prepare myself for it, my girlfriend, noelle and i decided it would be a good thing if we signed up for the local triathlon that happened on july 4th!
we wanted to see how well we'd do when it comes time for the "real" one... we wanted to test ourselves and see how well trained we are up to this point, get some nerves out and ....

well, my friends...there is nothing unreal about this tri we did on saturday... it was a 1/2 mile swim, 15 mile bike and 5K...same as the one we signed up for this coming august.

...AND WE FINISHED IT!

it was no easy task and in fact i stumbled and panicked in the beginning while in the water. i am used to training in a light and warm pool...so going into a dark lake is a little different. my nerves got the best of me but my friend noelle calmed me and waited for me (aaahhh!) and we did the bike and run portion just fine. we are champs and we completed it!

God is Good!!! :)

here are some pics from the race...



my beautiful transition area all set up! yikes!


first real glimpse of me getting out of the lake... disappointed with my performance but moving on.


out of the water (finally) and with my biggest fan who was encouraging me to continue - my dad!


finished the swim, noelle patiently waiting for me, and getting ready for the bike portion


Noelle and me mounting our bike to get ready to roll...


about 1.5 miles left of the bike portion..


jer's parents and my boys - part of the cheering section


my sweet joy and erik cheering me on. love them!


on bike, coming up to transitional area...getting ready to start running!


dad and logan - part of the cheering section


running our little hearts out as we near the finish line


crossing the finish line with my partner in crime! we made it! what a victory!


mission completion! all smiles here and tired!


noelle and her hubby brian and one of her 3 children - the eldest, lauren


sweet reward at end of the race

nothin' like family

so...this week was just crazy. it was fun and i am tired! with monique and jason having little sophie...all sorts of family came into town. aunt courtney stopped in with her bestie, jamel, for a visit and to meet her newest niece AND my sister and her family all came in, coincidentally, to have a vaca here with our family and of course got the chance to meet sophie. topped off with a little triathalon for myself at the end of the week...but i'll post about that later...
here are some pics from the fabulous week we had!



With the ever spunky courtney. we went out for mexican with the whole fam...


getting to hold little sophie after a week of not seeing her...i missed her!


zach seeing sophie for the first time. he LOVED her...smiled really big and gave her several kisses!


My sister and her family came for the week and we just had a really great time. We just got the chance to hang out alot together and the children all had fun playing and being together... a luxury we don't get often. precious time, precious family!



logan and papa just chillin' and watching what is going on around him...


me and lee - shannon's husband.


logan on daddy's shoulder...


shannon and georgia after she came down the slide...isn't she adorable. a mini version of my sister!


my hubby with shannon's eldest daughter, madison. she is growing up so quickly!


lee and my dear nephew braden just chillin' in our backyard while the young ones play


stealing a moment by the pool with my sweet ones


the young ones loved playing ring around the rosy...priceless to watch z interact with everybody


shannon stealing zach for a hug. love this picture


jerry, me and all the cousins. love them!!!


reagan, shannon's 4 year old and my boy z... sneaking off for a private moment together


me and my girls...reagan and madison


all kids together...


logan and georgia taking a drink break...aren't they adorable?


me and my most beautiful sister shannon. i love you!


shannon's kids on tree playin'...

it was fun and fast and fabulous!