BUTLER'S BLABBER: March 2011

MY FIRST 5K

I ran in my first 5K on Saturday, March 26th. It was the Dosta Dash sponsored by the group that I'm in, The Valdosta Junior Service League. This is me at 7am (a miracle in itself) in front of the League house downtown. I was also honored to be asked to say the prayer before the run started.

I had "Magic Fingers" put on the back of the t-shirt I was going to wear while running. It's a nickname one of my clients/friends gave me that stuck. The theme for this year's race was be a "Hero" in your hometown. Some people came dressed in super hero costumes. This was as festive as I was getting for my first run.

My friend, Dan, is one of the ones that calls me Magic Fingers so I had to get him to take a pic with me.

Running into the finish line. Emily Tillman's mom, Beth, ran/walked with me. She was a trooper and definitely kept me on my toes!

Me and Elizabeth after the run. I kept asking her how bad I looked and she kept insisting that I didn't look bad at all. So we took a pic so I could tell if she was telling the truth. :) I was jealous she was enjoying her cup of coffee at 6:45am and I was about to run? a 5K. Who is this person? Last year, I was working the run and enjoying a coke and a donut. This year, I ran and had water and a banana. I still have my bad habits occassionally, but hopefully I'm on the way to a healthier me!

My caption on this pic for facebook was "I did it and I didn't die." I finished in 40 minutes and 38 sec and I was perfectly fine with that. In all my training, I had been doing 47 min and the week before this I got it down to 44 min so to drop even more time was awesome. Running on the treadmill is so much easier than the road. On this course there were random hills, temperature changes, trucks blowing fumes, and unlevel ground! I coughed for a solid hour after the run so much so that my friend, Amanda, asked me if I had an inhaler. funny! I will admit anyone can run/walk 3.2miles, but it's definitely a mental thing. Also, once I got done, people were asking me when I was going to do my next one. I now KINDA know how women feel after they give birth and someone says, "are y'all gonna have any more?" Anyways, it was a great experience and I'm thankful God allowed me to do it.

Come As You Are by Pocket Full Of Rocks

I love music. It speaks to my soul. It expresses how I feel sometimes so much better than I can. So I'll probably be posting some youtube videos here and there. My prayer is that as I'm real with admitting my faults, failures, weaknesses, triumphs, happiness and whatever else, that I would be able to minister to someone. As a Christian, I know where my hope lies. I know that God is bigger than anything I ever face. I know that God has already won all my battles. However, I think there's power when you admit that you are human, hurting and need God's intervention. Exodus 14:14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Josh Wilson- Before the Morning

3-25-11 Emotionally it hasn't been the best of weeks. That's all I'd like to say about that.
Signed, Waiting for the morning

Spend the night party at the Dixon's

3-16 I went to spend the night with The Dixons. Bubba was getting tubes in his ears early on Thursday am so I volunteered to hang out with Mary Bennett while they were gone. Ray cooked us an amazing dinner as usual. Salmon with an salad with fresh Parmesan cheese and sundried tomatoes. I can't even begin to tell you how delicious it was.

And then there was dessert. Oh my goodness! I can't even remember what it was called other than heaven in my mouth. A chocolate custard with fresh mint whipped cream. Did I mention he went out into their garden and picked the mint? It was so scrumptious, I could only eat half. I was gonna be bad and eat the rest for breakfast, but I forgot. I think Lacy was very happy I forgot!

Bananagrams is a game that Ray got for Christmas and takes at least 3 people to play so we broke it out after the children went to bed. This was my winning board. It's like speed scrabble.

Poor Lacy...she was not a winner! Ray had to give her a little "it's alright love" pat on the back. Seriously though, we had a great time playing and talking and listening to all kinds of music! I will say that I now know why Mama's go to bed so early. My 6:30 wake up call from MB was a little startling. Actually it was really sweet. She got in the bed with me and we snuggled until 7:30. We played a little Chutes and Ladders, ate breakfast, got dressed, brushed her teeth, and fixed her hair. I wish I had taken a pic of her to put on here. It was St Patty's Day so she was very excited about picking out her green outfit. She was GREEN from head to toe. :) Love my Family!

Just another Sunday Funday

3-13 Sunday lunch was amazing as usual. We ate and then Aunt Susie, Kristy, Annyson and I went on a 3 mile walk. Annyson tuckered out towards the end. This is right as she was waking up

She's a happy girl now that she had a nap

We decided to head out to Sam and Kristy's for a Sunday Funday. Ray, Lacy, Mary Bennett and Bubba came after a cat nap. Check out Annyson's hair. lol

Happy A!

We hung out on the back deck talking. We took the kids for some rides on the golf cart. We skyped with Whitney. We ate a yummy dinner. We watched the sunset. Great Day!

While Gigi's away, the girls will PLAY

3-12 Saturday after I got off work, I went to see the girls at my mom's. Look what happens when Gigi leaves us girls alone. hehe. Enjoy the next series of pics from my phone. It has a cool feature where I can turn the camera to face me so I can see the pic on the screen. However, I've learned that the resolution isn't great when I do that. Oh well. The pics are still good enough to see that I love these girls and we had fun! This is definitely the best pic

Emma trying to take the pic

Gotta love my floating head

Ernie Haase & Signature Sound-Tallahassee, FL

3-9 I got a little crazy and had my toe nails painted blue. Never hurts to try something new, right? Since I had a gift card, I let them paint my finger nails too.

3-10 I went to Tallahassee, FL to see my favorite guys sing and play. I actually took the day off from my office and went and worked on some of the guys at the venue. Traveling for fun and getting paid to work on friends at the same time...I could get used to that. I've already been thinking I need to find a celebrity to fly me back and forth from here and Nashville. insert pipe dream! Here's the guys getting things started...

Fans taking pics before the show. They were holding on to each other so tightly. I was a little worried they weren't gonna let Ernie go, lol.

Ian Owens

Ernie Haase

Devin McGlamery

Doug Anderson

I can't help but laugh at their expressions

Ernie playing the kazoo.

Zak doing what he does best. He played so hard this night, he actually broke two of his sticks. funny

Group photo after the show

Devin and his Mama were walking down the hall holding hands so I had to get a pic. Of course this is the posed version.

Ernie and Mrs. Sandra

Love this Lady to pieces!

Hanging out with the guys after the show while the others loaded up. I love hearing all their funny stories. D was actually complaining because it was a little chilly. I said, "Dude, you live in TN." They got plenty of warm sunny weather on their 12 day tour of Florida. So thankful for being able to spend time with Devin. It's gonna be a while before I see them again :(

If only all days were this good!

3-5 Jay's Birthday Party at his new rental house. Kristy and Sam got him this cool hammock and Aunt Susie and Annyson decided to make good use of it.

Passed out!!

Jay's roommate had just bought this new recliner for their house so he had to test it out.

Love you Cousin! Happy 25th!!

Mary Bennett was loving on Baby A!

MB yelling at her Mama..."look, she's sitting up like a big girl"

We asked dear, sweet Whitney to send us a pic of the baby bump since we were all together. OOH I could just eat this pic up!

After working in the am and Jay's birthday lunch, I headed to Warner Robins to see The Isaac's and Jason Crabb in concert. My new friend, Thomas, playing the banjo with Becky Isaacs Bowman. He looks so serious and in the zone when he plays which is so different from his otherwise goofy demeanor.

Spikit was having a little fun playing

Sonya's 19 weeks pregnant and found out she's having a little boy.

thought it was cool to see Jason sitting with us listening to The Isaac's first set. Also I had to take this pic to give him grief about drinking Dr Pepper before singing. :)

giving a shout out of praise while singing

I'd met him once before and he was just as nice this time!

They have such an incredible blend and are so talented!

The Isaac's with Jimmy Yeary and Jason Crabb in the second half of the show. You wanna talk about musicianship...wow!

Sonya and Jason were having a little friendly dueling match. It was funny!

Sonya with her husband, Jimmy Yeary. He's the lead singer for Shenandoah. He co-wrote the song "Why Wait" , a #1 hit for Rascall Flatts, about his relationship with Sonya. Too cool!