The Thankful Box

Ever since I can remember when Thanksgiving time came around, my mom put out the Thankful Box. The Thankful Box has evolved through the years beginning as a simple brown paper grocery bag, to a covered shoe box, and now is probably a beautiful leather or metal box. Next to the Thankful Box my mom placed a stack of paper and her favorite pens. The instructions were to write down something you were thankful for every day until Thanksgiving, where we would sit down at the breakfast table together before the day's activities, and read aloud what we had written down during the month.

As you can probably imagine, there were some pretty entertaining moments.

Steve (age 7): I'm thankful anamls and a helthy botty. And for Jusus.

Julia (age 10): I'm thankful for candy. (Not much has changed!)

Ben (age 7): I'm thankful for Sega Genesis.

Sarah (age 6): hambagrs

There were also sweet moments of gratefulness for each other and our family, for the love we had for each other, for the roof over our heads, and the food on our table.

Today I received a package in the mail from my sweet mother who had recorded down in a book, every thankful note we had written for each other since the Thankful Box began in 1991. Tears ran down my face as I glanced through its pages, missing my family dearly, and feeling of the love we had for each other during those sweet, sweet years.

So today, I am thankful. I am thankful for a mother who knows. A mother who loves me and our family with all of her heart. I am thankful for a father who is a rock and an example. I am grateful for brothers who make me smile and who love unconditionally, and for a sister who has one of the sweetest spirits I have ever known. I am grateful for a season that reminds us of what is important and gives us a greater perspective.

I love you Mom. Thank you.

Happy, Happy Thanksgiving.

No. 5 :: No. 11

Here it comes ... City of Oaks Marathon report. Seriously, we had an amazing race.

Expo on Saturday:

They gave us socks. :)

GU stop ...

... and new hot pink shorts for the race. A necessity, you know?

Made my list: 26 people for 26 miles. Glad I took a picture of it - it disintegrated in my pocket during the race. I love doing this for marathons ... keeps me focused and gives me motivation to think about everyone as I run.

Pre-race dinner was delish. Spaghetti is a staple - and a new addition: pomegranate seeds for dessert. I downloaded a few songs, realized we were getting an EXTRA hour of sleep (score!) and off to bed we went.

The rain woke us both up at 4am. It was pouring outside. We both groaned and tried to sleep for another hour and a half before we had to get up. Unfortunately, the rain really didn't stop, but we headed out the door anyways at 615a. Off to the race!

I love this man.

The race was small - only 3,500 running and maybe only 700 running the full. It felt empty compared with the 25,000 I ran with a few weeks before, but I like small races. They give you room to breathe, to have the course by yourself for a bit. I prefer it.

The race was surprisingly hilly. Really hilly, but you wanna know what? We rocked those hills. One after the other, we pounded up them. Man it felt so good. We were soaked 10 minutes into the race, but we didn't care. The rain was a great distraction. My legs were completely numb so I couldn't feel the pain (it was pretty cold), the drips from my hat brim were cool, and you know, running in the rain makes you feel like a rock star. I honestly didn't have a low moment the entire race. I felt strong and confident, the whole way through.

Mile 16 was for Molly. I took a picture of it because it was so pretty and thought she would totally love running there. Umstead Park was in incredibly fine form that day - less the mud. Bleh. So much mud.

After I got through Umstead Park the miles got hard. 20-23 for me always are. You're close, but not THAT close. But I think after 11 of these suckers, I really had the tools to balance the emotional, physical, and mental stress. I took it one step at a time, telling myself to be in the moment, to enjoy THIS step. I looked up - on Hillsborough Street - and saw mile 24. Heck yes, peeps. Rock it all the way home. Everyone kept telling me it was "downhill from here!" and they were liars. :) But I didn't care. I enjoyed the hills. Bring on the challenge. Could I get up this one? Yes. And I did. Every single one.

And we finished. Just like that. Jona - 3:56 and Julia 4:56. I swear I could not have asked for a better race. We both felt amazing before, during and after. Enough to make me want to do another, fo sho. I apologize for the video. Not "shot" very well - but I thought I'd share anyways.

We are very happy camper Wades. Awesome day. :)

NC State Fair '09: Whole Lotta Happy

We were among one of the 877,939 people who attended the NC State Fair this year and we had an awesome time! We met our friends Jenn and Jared (after a terrible raspberry juice accident) and perused around. After a foot long hot dog, a fried turkey leg, a bag of cotton candy and bag of bulk candy, checking out 500 pound pumpkins, 200 pound watermelons, watching hog races, and checking out the photography competition we definitely had had our fill. :) So much fun.