The Most Wonderful Mom in the World

Here is a cute letter I got from Madison. She did it at school and filled in the blanks about me.

The Most Wonderful Mom in the World

Here name is Nicole, but I call her Mom.

She is 32 years old and very tall. (who knew???)

She has blue eyes and short hair.

My mom calls me Madison.

Her favorite food is pizza.

She likes to go to her mom's house.

I think my mom is funny when she laughs.

I like it when my mom makes me an ice cream milkshake.

My mom is as pretty as a sunset.

My mom is really smart! She even knows how to drive.

Her favorite thing to do is stay home.

My mom is special because she is nice to everyone.

Love, Madison

A Perfect Day

Saturday, May 8th was Madison's 8th birthday and her Baptism. It was a perfect day. We woke up to beautiful sunshine and got ready for a day of celebration. She had a beautiful dress from Grandma and Grandpa Brown; a beautiful bracelet from Grandma and Grandpa Blevins; a beautiful necklace from Uncle Doug and Aunt Michelle;a CTR ring from Mom and Dad and to top it all off, she received a beautiful white headband from Uncle Jason and Aunt Chrissie. She was all ready for her day.

Here she is showing her new CTR ring.

Ainsley was very excited for her sister.


Three generations on the Blevins side of the family.

Three generations on the Brown side of the family.

We had amazing food. What is a celebration without food?

I cannot believe I have an 8 year old!

The Fam!

I LOVE MY GIRLS!!!

Thank you family and friends for making our day perfect. We are all very happy and blessed.

To My Madison- I cannot believe you are 8 years old. You are a beautiful, kind, generous, fun young lady. I am so thankful that I was able to have you 8 years ago. Our lives would be less bright without you. I am very proud of you for making all the good choices you have made in your life and I hope you continue to make the right choices. We all love you so much!

Love, Mom and Dad

Happy Mother's Day!

This was on my friend's facebook page and it made me laugh. I hope it can bring a smile to some of your faces as well. Happy Mother's Day everyone!!!

I DID IT!!!

This morning was the Parkway 1/2 Marathon. I slept horrible last night. I took plenty of Aspirin this morning. I could not believe I was doing this!!! To think back to a year and a half ago in January 2009... I felt like I needed to make a change. I felt like I could be healthier and happier and I decided to start to work out more and diet. I had no idea the change that would happen.

I started on the treadmill doing 1 mile before my group exercise classes. I remember the first time was a 14 minute mile. I was exhausted. Before long I was able to do 2 miles to push myself farther, then 3. A little over 3 months later, I was down 40 pounds and felt better than I ever had before.

As some friends started training for this half marathon I still thought they were crazy but I wanted to see what I could do. The next think I knew, I was running 10 miles with them and feeling okay! I signed up to do the run and was so excited. At least I was...until today. I started the run and seriously thought at one point, "How did I get here? I hate running!!! I thought people that did this were crazy!" Well, this morning I was one of them.

I felt great until mile 10 and then wanted it all over very quickly. My legs were not allowing me to go as fast as I wanted to but I honestly kept saying, "You can do it. You will be so mad at yourself if you stop. Just finish. Baby steps." After many more baby steps, I got to the end and saw Logan on Ben's shoulders and my girls were there to give me high fives. It was awesome to see them. It was fun to see everyone finish. I felt like I was watching Biggest Loser with all the supportive families there watching us.

What a great memory to have and an accomplishment. I am glad I did it and even more glad to be done with it! I will post more pictures as I get them from my friends. Thank you, all of you, that cheered me on from afar. I really appreciated the support.

BEFORE THE RACE:

Our shirts said, "Folsom Runners Spring 2010- Run Like a Girl"

AFTER THE RACE: (I did get a medal, Logan was wearing it!)

Thanks Marissa for the picture!