{giving thanks}

It's been a busy couple of days lately and so I feel like I have a lot to blog about and have had a continuous roll going through my head of what I want to blog about, but haven't been motivated enough (until now) to actually sit down and get it out. The same kind of goes with reading a book. I have been wanting to read a good book for a couple of weeks now, but I haven't yet found one that has intrigued me enough to actually start. I get this feeling every now and then when I haven't read anything good in a while. I love to read and miss it after a couple of months of being busy with everything else that life has to offer. So, I was hoping with a few days off from work that I might be able to get at least one book in. Not yet.

Anyways, the week started out good. I was excited because I only had to work on Monday and Tuesday. Ayden had off school on Wednesday, so I took off work as well so I would not have to find a babysitter. Monday was pretty busy at work, but it made the day go pretty fast. I got up Tuesday morning and got ready like normal and then got to work and about halfway through our first patient I started to feel really off. I started to feel really light headed and then too warm, but my fingers were ice cold. Just not feeling like myself. I know stupid TOM had something to do with it. My supervisor is great and sent me home. I got home and proceeded to take a three hour nap. I hardly ever nap anymore. It was a pretty lazy day.

My workout schedule this week included some ChaLEAN Extreme on Monday which I pounded out at almost 8pm... on deck for Tuesday was supposed to be a 5 mile run, but due to my not feeling well I paired it back to three miles. I know that TOM didn't have everything to do with my not feeling well and that another part of it is that I have been pushing myself pretty hard lately. I knew I probably should not have run at all on Tuesday, but when your mindset it to get out and do it and your body is telling you no, it is so hard not to. In any case, I did a slow three miles and felt okay. I didn't not want to run at all because I had a 5 mile Turkey Trot on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Ayden and I slept in and it felt great. We ended up making some cake pops which turned out super yummy! We took them to Thanksgiving yesterday and didn't come home with any so that is good, right?! We have a pretty good technique down when it comes to making the cake pops, so despite them being a little more work, we had fun! After lunch my bestie Victoria and her son Parker came over for a while. We all went for a walk and the boys played together while Victoria and I chatted it up. Living closer to my bestie and her son is never going to get old! I hope that our boys grow up being as great of friends as Victoria and I are. Speaking of her, we are doing a Sleigh Bell Run next weekend together. It is going to be Victoria's first run. She is doing the 2 mile run and I am doing the 5 mile one. She has been working just as hard as me, if not harder, on her training and I cannot wait to see her rock this run!

Wednesday night, my mom, sister, and I went to go see Twilight's Breaking Dawn Part 2. Good movie. Not great. I've managed to read the book at least three times now and I loved it each time, but the movie kind of had me wanting for me. I think I expected just a little bit more from it. I was glad that we all went to go see it, and like I said, it was good. It is probably just because the franchise has come to an end now. It has definitely come a long way from the first movie too.

While at the movie I ended up having some of my mom's Mountain Dew and the stupid caffeine kept me from getting a decent nights sleep. That and the fact that I was pretty nervous about the Turkey Trot. I have run five miles in a row on a few occasions now, but a five mile run... that freaked me out just a little bit. So, coupled with the soda and nerves, I got much less sleep than I wanted and had to get up early Thursday morning.

The Turkey Trot was awesome. We had amazing weather! I went to two of Jay's cousins and a friend of theirs. We all rocked it. The wind was a pain in the butt for some of it, but I hit a personal record. I finished 5 miles in 47 minutes 52 seconds with an average pace of 9:35/mile. That is UNDER a 10 minute mile people for 5 miles! I couldn't believe it. My goal was to finish in 50 minutes, but I did a full 2 minutes and 8 seconds faster than I wanted too... all without walking ANY of it! I can almost guarantee you that my race this coming weekend will take longer because of the colder weather, but that is okay. I am not worried about it. Under an hour would make me happy.

After the Turkey Trot it was back home to shower and off to my dad's side of the family for Thanksgiving. It was a great time with them... seeing everyone and catching up before we had to head to Jay's parent's house for a little gathering. Lots of yummy food at both places and I am proud to say that I didn't overeat too much at either place.

Instead of going home to bed after that, my mom, sister, and I once again got together and this time we hit up some Black Friday shopping deals... only it was still Thursday. We headed out at 8pm and I ended up crawling into bed at 3:00am... a full 22 and a half hours after I got up for the day. I was TIRED, but we had a lot of fun shopping! We hit up Target, Walmart, and Kohls and it was insane! We didn't end up seeing anything really crazy. Surprisingly enough most people were being pretty nice. The lines to check out were the worst part, but having someone to talk to during the wait definitely made it easier. We also scored some good deals which made it worth it. The traffic wasn't super bad either and my sister did a good job driving.

Because we did our shopping last night, the majority of today was spent lounging on the couch in front of the TV watching Lifetime movies. I am so sore and beat from yesterday that I couldn't get myself to get up and do anything else. I suppose that is what tomorrow is for.

I have a seven mile run that I want to complete tomorrow... hoping the wind dies down a little bit to make it easier for me. I know our nice warm weather is all but gone, but the wind makes it even worse. Ugh! And then I have some banana bars to make for my mom's side Thanksgiving gathering... and on the books for Sunday... more lounging, probably some laundry and cleaning. Typical weekend stuff before another work week starts. And maybe tonight I will find a good book to read...

CIAO! LOVE ME!