Home Alone

I am home alone this weekend. Trent's sister recently decided to get married today in WV. I could not get any time off of work this weekend, so I have to stay here. Trent is officiating the wedding (not sure if "officiating" is the correct term for weddings, but I just finished watching football and "officiating" is the word that comes to mind) except for pronouncing them man and wife. He can't do that until he's an ordained pastor (after graduation). He's also preaching at his home church tomorrow and he's singing a duet with Brianna during the service. I'm pretty bummed that I'm missing all these things and my baby. I can't believe I'm going 3 nights without either of them.

My sister, Stephanie, was supposed to come visit this weekend. When she got to the airport yesterday, her ticket was for Jan. 26-29 instead of December. Bummer! The flight was full and it couldn't work for her to change her ticket. So, I am home by myself.

I actually expected to wallow in self-pity that Trent & Hudson were getting to do Christmas with his family, go to the wedding, visit with lots of people, while I slaved away at work and then sat in our quiet house. Instead, I have

-read Harry Potter
-eaten waffles for dinner
-slept through the night for the first time since before Hudson was born!
-watched a chick flick (I think the first of 2-3)
-organized closets
-watched the WV bowl game (we won)
-gone to Pottery Barn to buy things to redecorate my living room (we have store credit from our wedding...good thing it doesn't expire), but came home empty-handed...it was still fun to browse though
-looked around at Whole Foods...there are so many things that look tempting, but I couldn't bring myself to buy anything there
-got some things together for a yard sale we're going to have before we move
-gone running
-watched videos of Hudson

Some things I'm planning to do over the next few days are

-do a Bible study on looking up the word "joy" in the Bible and see where it takes me
-read ahead for a class I'm taking in January
-go through my dresser and weed out any clothes I don't wear
-go to a coffee shop to read
-make some meals & freeze them
-do my new pilates DVD (a Christmas gift I received)

That's all for now. I think I'm off to start the Bible study.

Merry Christmas!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

better than any store bought present....

Cincinnati

Last weekend we went to Cincinnati to visit with my family for Christmas. Despite bitterly cold weather, we had a fun time visiting with everyone! Unfortunately, we don't see my aunt, uncle & cousins from Michigan too often, but we always get along well with them. Hopefully in the future we'll make it a point to visit more often.

The whole gang at my Grandparent's house. In the picture are my Dad, Step-Mom, older sister, brother-in-law & their 3 boys, younger sister, Aunt, Uncle, 2 cousins & my grandparents

My sister & I in matching coats (courtesy of Grandma J)

checking out the lions at the Cincinnati Zoo


at the Cincinnati Children's Museum

with Aunt Stephanie

hanging out with Grandpa

Peeking Over the Edge

It's so fun to look over the top rather than through the bars



Despite the start of a frown, Hudson did have fun hanging out with some friends

Getting Some Pointers

Now that Hudson is pulling up on almost everything & loving to "walk" around holding our fingers (he constantly squeals in delight), it seems he decided he needs to do some reading ahead on running.

Memphis

Trent & Hudson in front of the pyramid in Memphis



around mile 12

Memphis's famous Beale Street

The race finished in the stadium behind me


Overall we had a great time in Memphis. We enjoyed checking out the expo (a fun event before all major marathons), seeing the lights of Beale St, eating out, and I of course enjoyed running. I got a new PR (personal record) of 1:47:13 by 35 seconds. I'd like to try and shave a few minutes off of that time, but I have no plans for another race anytime soon. I got to see Trent & Hudson at a few spots on the course, which was a great highlight.

Since this race was raising money for St. Jude Children's Hospital, there were lots of signs about kids that were presently in the hospital or previously treated there. Parents held up posters with a picture of their "baby" saying things like "Thanks for running for Jake. You are a hero to him" or "My sweet Emma cannot run so thanks for running for her." It was emotional while running.

Life Behind Bars & Memphis

This is what we see every time we open our door to get Hudson up from a nap. He's pulled up to his knees in his crib, but not to standing yet. It's such a treat to go get a well- rested boy up who's ready to play.


We're heading to Memphis today for the St. Jude Memphis marathon. Trent was supposed to try for his goal of breaking 3 hours in the marathon tomorrow, but he recently strained his quad. So, Trent is going to be watching Hudson while I run the half-marathon. I'm so disappointed for Trent not being able to run because he's trained so hard. Hopefully we'll just enjoy a fun time together.

Here's a link to an amazing video about a father and son doing marathons and triathlons together. The son has cerebral palsy and couldn't compete on his own, but his father doesn't want his son's disability to limit what he can do. In the video, they are doing an Iron man triathlon. We saw this video during our first semester of classes here, but I was reminded of it recently when my friend Laura posted it on her blog. The professor was talking about our union with Christ and using this father and son as a beautiful picture of this. He was reminding us of the simple concept that we can do nothing apart of Christ. This is a great thing to think about while running tomorrow.

You can also check out the Hoyt's website .