Happy Birthday to Me! 9 Miles of fun!

I had a great birthday.....just before my birthday Matt slyly said "You'll never guess what I am getting you for your birthday!" Let me give you a little history so you know what a miracle the next part of my story is (it may seem boring to the rest of you, but I am very excited about this little tale) Ever since Matt and I have been married Matt is AMAZING at GUESSING what I got him for his birthday, Christmas, anniversary present, etc. Like when we were first married I thought I would be way original and get him a canoe. CANOE, I mean who guesses that???? Well when I said the famous "You'll never guess what I am getting you for your birthday" line he GUESSED IT!!!! I was so ticked off that I never really got him the canoe. It took the fun out of it that he guessed. Another time he guessed the tool box that I was about to buy. He guessed the sunglasses I bought, and the list goes on and on. He is amazing! So when Matt said the line I took a chance and guessed what I have been wanting most lately. I said a Garmin and Matt just about fell on the floor! He could not believe I GUESSED IT! He didn't think I even knew what a Garmin was! For those of you who don't, it is a watch for running that tells your speed, time, and distance. And it is GPS so it is very accurate. Needless to say, even though Matt was ticked I guessed, I was ELATED! So the morning of my birthday I wanted to test it out and I wanted to accomplish something I have not done, and so I set the goal of running 9 miles. I have thus far only run up to 8 miles and so 9 was my new goal. I am having to work up to longer distances because my friends and I are running in the Ragnar relay in November where I will have to run 3 legs over 2 days. My first leg of the race is 8.8 miles, the second is 3.6 and the third is 5.6. Anyway, I kind of slept in and woke to Emma saying she wanted to come lay in our bed for a little while. I looked at the clock and realized that I had slept in and in order to accomplish my goal I had to leave right then and there or I wouldn't get back in time to get the kids off to school in time. So I finally convinced Emma to go back to her bed and then I had to QUIETLY sneak (in the dark so Emma wouldn't see my light and want to come with me) and get dressed for my run. I tiptoed down stairs and had to sneak out of the house, quietly shutting the door behind me because Emma has radar ears. :) If she catches me then she has to ride her bike along side me while I run and I knew there was no way with 9 miles. So I was off! I felt like a teenager sneaking out of the house, not that I would know what that feels like, right mom??? :) It was a great run and I DID IT!!!! I did it in 1 hr. and 28 min. So my day started off great and continued on to be a wonderful birthday. My great friends Amy Lopez and Beckie Lowe took me to lunch AND Amy's husband John watched Gavin for me so we could go. Not only did he watch Gavin and Cooper, but also our friend Suzanne's little girl Maria! What an amazingly nice man to do all of that so I could have a great birthday, kid free! Thanks John!

I had Young Women's that night and the kids all sang to me and we had cupcakes. And then I had tons of calls from friends and family and tons of Facebook messages from old friends! Fun day!