Talk about incentive...

This past weekend Jeramy asks me to come outside for a minute. When I got outside, this is what I found! A running stroller :)

Since the day I became pregnant we have talked about getting one of these. For me, I planned to immediately pick up running again AS SOON AS I had Ella! (hasn't really happened, YET!) But for Jeramy, he just thinks they are cool because of the over sized tires or off road capabilities as he would like to refer to it! Jeramy was mowing one of his properties and they were having a yard sale, he felt bad because he had to mow(it was a gas station) or Big Orval would get all up in his business! ;) So he saw the stroller and asked how much? $15 he said "I'll take it! Bethy wants one anyways!" It is not in the best shape,but it's nothing a little bath can't take care of. The tires seem to be in good shape, they just need air. I was pretty excited :) Now I just need to use it! Maybe I can clean it up Saturday morning and Ella and I can take it for a test ride that afternoon...

Hand Me Downs...Yeah!

Let me just say that I am so thankful for "hand me down" clothes! They are the best things in the world and I am so appreciative of them. So I guess this post is a shout out to all of my family and friends who have given me these wonderful gifts!

Heather, Melissa, Mary Helen, Pam, LISA! (my sister's neighbor who had twins in September, Shawn and Kate) Thank you so much!!!

And thank you to my MOM's, mom and Helen for picking up little things here and there.

Oh and let me touch on some yard sales! I never understood the beauty of yard sales until last weekend. I was at my mother's house and they were having a yard sale across the street. Well I did not figure it would be anything special, knowing the family who was having it, but I just enjoy looking and visiting. Well it happened to be their DIL's stuff and it was all 3-6 month girl's clothes. The seasons were a tad off but I racked up! Cute stuff too :) I get it now, I finally get it!

Bath Time, Play Time

Hey there, I just wanted to share a couple of videos of Ella! She is so much fun and keeps me smiling and laughing all day long...

Memorial Day

Hello everyone! Hope you had a nice holiday...

We enjoyed a nice weekend at home until Sunday when we loaded up the camper, borrowed, and headed to Fayetteville for the 2nd Annual Simms Memorial Day Party. With over 1oo people, a huge buffet of meat and salads, a band, a DJ and our camper, it was quite a shin dig!


Unfortunately for me, Ella was not in the best mood :( She was quite the "momma's girl" this weekend. Every time someone would talk to her, she would start screaming. This only got worse as the night went on; it was hot, she was exhausted due to all of the circumstances and she was just not having it! So we found a nice spot in the shade and enjoyed the afternoon.
I finally got her to fall asleep around 8pm, I think. From that point on I enjoyed the company of Holly and Jamie who drove down from Manchester, basically to sit at the camper with me, sorry ladies :( All and all the party was a huge success and we did have a perfect camping evening!




I wanted to share with you this cool tree stump that The Simms neighbor carved out:

On one side it says "LIVE. LAUGH. LOVE." and on the other side is a Peace sign. It is very cool! This man can carve anything out of wood... Last year he hollowed out a log, carved a big flaming head in it and then it was set to fire at dark...very cool!!!

Also, I wanted to ask you all to pray for our friends Pete and Cheryl that I spoke of in my last post. Cheryl's stepfather, Carl, passed away Sunday afternoon. They have had a very long and hard couple of weeks.

"The gives and the Lord takes away; Blessed be the name of the Lord" Job 1:21

I heard this verse on my way to work this morning and it struck deep within and made me appreciate the "bad" morning I was having! I was listening to the radio as they talked about the tragic accident that happened to the Chapman family yesterday. My heart cries out to them, especially the teenage brother!

A tragedy like this makes you realize that even the best people have difficult times. I am so thankful for so many things and I owe it all to the Lord! He has continually blessed my life , even when I have not blessed his. I complain about my stressful mornings and not fitting into my clothes and having a stinky refrigerator, but none of this matters in the big scheme of things!

Our closest friends have heartaches that mine do not even compare.

Cheryl's step dad is in the hospital battling pancreatic cancer, while her family awaits test results, her husband Pete gets a call from his mother. His grandmother, at the wonderful age of 93, has passed away.

Kylee, my bestest, is going through one of the hardest times in her life. She is currently taking on the role of a single mother to two beautiful girls! She has to start her life over from ground zero. Kylee is one of the strongest women I know and I hope she continues to live her life praising the Lord! (Kylee also lost her Aunt Betsy to pancreatic cancer. My heart cries out to Cheryl and her Mother because I know what Kylee and her Mother went through losing a beautiful sister and aunt to this horrible cancer.)

There are so many of my closest friends and family who have struggles everyday, like determining the purpose of their relationships or a sick family member and I simply complain about being late for work! I have so many blessings in my life and they include the people I mentioned above, the beautiful family that I have and the wonderful roof over my head! Thank you Lord for giving me these great things.

No matter what He is in control. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Working Out and Falling in Love!

Yesterday I planned to do Day 2 of my 8 week training. (I almost didn't get it in) This past weekend our good friends Brian and Angel got married! Jeramy was Brian's 'Best Man' and was proud to stand by him during this joyous occasion. After the big celebration, Brian asked Jeramy to take care of a couple of things while they were on their Honeymoon. Now here is why I almost did not get my workout in; There were these fabulous Margarita machines at the reception. When they were returned to Stuart's they were missing the drip trays, they were also short two table clothes. I had to return them yesterday during my lunch. My lunch hour is really the time I have to get my workout in and since I had to return the items, I missed this opportunity! When I left work to get Ella, I thought I should run in Melissa's neighborhood! So that is what I did... I loaded Ella up in the stroller and off we went. I did my training as followed: 1 minute run, 2 minutes walk 10x (average 30 minutes). I think I went to 28 minutes, but that is close enough. Melissa asked me to join them for dinner and I was able to eat a healthy balanced meal, Thanks Mel! When I got home, I fed Ella, did my business(pumping) and got her settled and popped in Hip Hop Abs. I'm so proud of my self for doing this, it was even close to 8pm and that is really close to my bedtime! This video is so much harder then I thought it would be, there is lots of breathing and lots of sweat, but man I feel good afterwards! I even had so much energy that I cleaned the kitchen...

Today is a rest day and that is exactly what I am going to do! It does call for a 30 minute walk, but it is a rainy day and I think I will replace my walk with the Hard Body portion of the abs dvd!

I also wanted to share how much I enjoy being a Mother! I am in love with the thought of having more children... Not now of course, but I definitely want more! Ella is such a beautiful blessing in our lives. Jeramy and I have always thought that getting married was the best thing we ever did. From that day we said I do to now, we have had such a wonderful time together! We were really frightened by the thought of having children and our lives changing. Yes, it has changed and but it is so absolutely wonderful. Watching Jeramy look into our daughter's eyes is amazing...I have fallen in love with him once again! He never ceases to amaze me. He is such a proud daddy and he has every right to be! I am not the best at managing my time, and I tend to run crazy every morning trying to get myself and Ella out the door by 6:30am or if we are suppose to be somewhere, I usually make us late... But Jeramy if you are reading this I want you to know that I am so sorry I am scattered like this and please continue being so patient with me and I love you so much, words can't even explain it! You are my rock and the love of my life! Thank you :) So for everyone else reading this, THAT IS WHY I AM FALLING IN LOVE, again!

Go Time!

This week is the beginning of a new chapter in my life! Well it is not so new, but I have to re-kindle the fires that once burnt deep within me. Before my sweet Ella Jean, I was more fit then I had been since High School. Then I got pregnant and my once shrinking waistline was growing out of control. So now Ella is here and almost 3 months old. I have lost twenty pounds since her birth, but now I am at a stand still and I'm still 10 lbs heavier then my pre-pregnancy weight! So my goal is to go beyond my pre-pregnancy weight and really trim up!

This is all easier said then done! Between home, Ella and work I really don't have a lot of time, plus the fact that I am exhausted. But I had to make a decision: A.) get off my butt and do something about your weight or B.) just go on with my life and hope "one day" I will lose the baby fat! Well I choose A! I don't like feeling embarrassed about my image and I don't like the fact that my regular clothes don't really fit me anymore.


My girlfriend Holly challenged me to do a 1/2 marathon in October. I basically just laughed, but she is so inspiring and she really made me feel like I could do it! So I started researching training programs. I chose: The Runner's World 8-Week Beginning Runner's Training Program. The plan is to be able to run 2 miles in 8 weeks. From there I will continue on to the Half Marathon training(16 weeks). I'm not going to stress or beat myself up if I miss a run. If I don't make it to the half marathon, but I can run 5 miles I will be happy! After all, it is more for being fit then anything else.

I also have become very interested in a workout video that I saw on an infomercial, Hip Hop Abs. It seems I'm not the only one who was intrigued by this workout. Melissa mentioned it one day and we laughed historically because we both wanted it, BAD! So I did some research and found it on Amazon for $12.93, what a great deal, I added 2 to the shopping cart! So I broke out the dvd on Monday, let me tell you this is some workout! I'm still sore... But I love it! Melissa as also taken to it like a champ! We will be looking good, if we can stick to it...she already has me beat ;)



Workouts this week:

Monday- First day of training
Run 1 minute, Walk 2 minutes 10x(about 30 minutes total)
Hip Hop Abs(30 minutes)

Tuesday-
Walked 15 minutes

Wednesday-
Plan is to Run 1 minute , Walk 2 minutes 10x (after work)
Hip hop abs(30 minutes)

Play Time

A quick post on Ella! She is really getting a sweet little personality. Mornings are her favorite, she really enjoys talking and laughing, especially at Daddy! We are also having play time. Everyday when we get home we lay on the mat and play, play, play... She really enjoys it for about 15 minutes :) but it sure is cute...