Tulsa Run

The Tulsa Run began in 1978 with a challenging and scenic course running through the best of downtown Tulsa and the scenic River Parks. 31 years later, this Tulsa tradition is still going strong and each passing year only adds to its interesting history. -tulsarun.com

The Tulsa Run is so much fun, if you have never partaken in the tradition of running this race that runs through downtown tulsa and along the river each year, and you live in or around the Tulsa area, you must do so!  There is something so fun about this torturous run filled with 10+ hills and turns.  There are thousands of runners lined up at the start and there area always several bands playing along the course.  Runners and spectators are decked out in their most festive halloween costume and volunteers are scattered throughout cheering and encouraging all us crazy runners along the entire course.  

This year was special though.  I have a feeling that it will always be a memorable one for me.  It was my husbands first time to ever run the Tulsa Run and it was his longest distance to run in an organized run to date!  I was so proud of him!  He is doing so good in his training for this thing they call a marathon and I'm so lucky to have someone to partake in the torture training with me! 

It was also the year that my mom beat me by one second, yes, only one.  I'd say I am bummed, but I'm not.  And I'd make excuses that I have worked almost 250 hours in the past three weeks and that the sick kiddos gave me croup and had me out of my training regimen for almost 2 weeks, but I won't!  I'm actually so proud of my mom.  She trains so hard all the time and it's paying off!  Let's just call her Speedy Gonzalez cause she blew those in her age group, and mine, haha, away!  Go mom Go!  Watch out Shannon, you're next! 

Put the Tulsa Run on your bucket list if you have not yet done so!  It's one that you won't forget!  

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our house to yours. 

casting his spell...

Macy telling me to have some kids already so I can torture them instead of her.

I WANT SOME SPOTS!!!

disclaimer: i have no kids....yet.

Alcatraz

Alcatraz was awesome!  I highly recommend it to all of you peeps going to San Francisco in the near future.  To be honest to you, I wasn't really looking forward to it, but once I got there I was in awe.  So much history!  It really is a neat place to go to, I also found it kinda sad.  I can't imaging the life those poor prisoners must have had.  However, the view from "The Rock" has got to be the best view around. You can see both the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge, along with the beautiful San Francisco skyline.

 

This will make your day.

I received this email that was a forward from my mom.  Usually I don't open forwards, but I was having a bad day week and the subject of the email was "this will make your day."  Needless to say, I am so glad I opened it.  It did make my day!  Kids are so much smarter than we give them credit for!  Enjoy :)
    

A nurse on the pediatric ward, before listening to the little ones' chests, would plug the stethoscope into their ears and let them listen to their own heart. Their eyes would always light up with awe, but she never got a response equal to four-year old David's comment. Gently she tucked the stethoscope into his ears and placed the disk over his heart. 'Listen', she said...'What do you suppose that is?' He drew his eyebrows together in a puzzled line and looked up as if lost in the mystery of the strange tap - tap - tapping deep in his chest. Then his face broke out in a wondrous grin and he asked, 'Is that Jesus knocking?'

*not sure where this email originated or who to give credit to.

Out of the mouths of kids...

picture courtesy of http://cannwin.blogspot.com/

I admitted a kid with a snake bite over this past weekend.  Here is how our conversation went...Keep in mind this little 12 year old boy is from a small country town and has the biggest little hick voice you will ever hear, so add some southern twang people!

Me: Why did you go and get bit by a snake for?

Hick boy: I's a chasin armadillas!  (aka armadillo)

Me: You were what?

Hick boy: I's a chasin' armadillas.  It's fun.  You should try it.

Me: Ya, no thanks.  So where does the snake come into play if you were chasing armadillos?

Hick boy: I chased the armadilla into his hoe in the ground, I had the armadilla by the tail wit my hand in the hole and a snake bit my thumb.

Me:  What kind of snake bit you?

Hick boy: A copperhead!  Biggest one I'er seen!

Me:  Did you bite it back?

Hick boy: Nooooo, my parents killed it.  They have it wit them and are bringing it up here.

Me: There what????

Hick boy: Their bringing it up here.

Me: Oh no they are not!!!  I bet you wont be chasing armadillos anymore?!?

Hick boy: Ya I will!

Me:  What are you going to do if they next time you get bit by a snake he bites your thumb off?

Hick boy: Well duh, I'll learn how to chase armadillas one handed. 

Me: Well ok then. 


Kids...Gotta love 'em!

Cancer Sucks

courtesy of www.cafepress.com

  If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them.  When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope?  We have two options, medically and emotionally:  give up, or fight like hell.  ~Lance Armstrong

People always ask me how I can do the job I do on a daily basis, and I always give the same reply...  Kids are awesome.  Yes, they get sick quick, but they get better quicker.  They respond quickly to treatment and never complain.  They are resilient.  Their sickness is never their fault.  For the most part, they are sick for a reason and willing to do anything to get better.  They listen.  They want to help themselves.  And for the most part, minus the crazy adolescents, kids are always truthful and happy.  And they are funny and brave and really awesome to be around!  Kids rock! 

However, I do know one thing that makes my job tough....Cancer and kids.  The two should never go together!  EVER!  It makes no sense to me and no matter how hard I try I cannot make sense of it.  And I know that there will never be a day that it will make sense.  EVER!  It breaks my heart to pieces.  I cannot even begin to fathom the emotional toll it takes on a parent, let alone the child being diagnosed.  It's heart wrenching.   

However, I do strongly believe God hand picks these children, as I do about CF kids, which you can read about here in my Touched by an Angel post.  Looking into these kids faces says it all.  They are angels.  Incredible human beings.  They make a difference and touch lives and will forever and never even know it.  It's amazing the things you can learn from kids going through cancer or other chronic illnesses if you actually take the time to sit back and observe.   They are heroes that face the ultimate fear and they face it head on with so much strength and dignity.  I cannot say enough about these children.  They have definitely put a mark on my heart and have forever changed the way I value life and the people around me.  Life is precious!

I have had my handful of kiddos that we have admitted into the hospital for a new diagnosis of cancer.  Not fun, not even a little bit!  Having to diagnose one kid, is one too many in my book.  It pulls at my heart strings every single time.  It breaks my heart, but deep down I know, these children are going to make a difference.  God picked them for a reason, one that I will never know until I ask the Great One Himself....     

I challenge you this year, as the holidays approach, please try to help some child and his/her family.  Whether it be by picking an angel off the angel tree, sending a card to a child in need of being uplifted, participating in a toy drive, volunteering, etc., please take time this holiday season to make a difference.  It only takes a second and means the world to those in need.  And as you do this encourage one other person to do the same, lets spread the joy this holiday season and help those who help us become better people.  Lets make a difference! 

Here is a story of a little girl fighting cancer right now.  Pray for her and her family please, she's an angel, to say the least....http://graciecare.blogspot.com/.

Bucket List

The Full House "Hill"

If you want your life to be a magnificent story, then begin by realizing that you are the author and everyday you have the opportunity to write a new page. Mark Houlahan

As a little girl I was obsessed with Full House.  I had every episode taped and stacked against my wall.  So it comes as no surprise to those that know me best that seeing the "painted ladies" in San Francisco was a very cool thing for me.  It is included on the beginning credits of all the Full House episodes.  I hear that this is probably the most photographed place in San Francisco.  Personally, I think it is probably second to the Golden Gate Bridge.  However, its a pretty awesome site and in so many television shows and movies that it draws crowds from all over the world.  Those poor people that live there most certainly can never walk around without their blinds and curtains closed and they surely can't walk around in their underwear, bummer!

I have always wanted to visit San Francisco, and I would be lying if I didn't tell you that it was partly because Full House was set (not filmed) in San Francisco.  Sound silly?  Probably, but I don't care.  It was a big part of my childhood and wonderful memories with my family and friends.  Don't believe me?  Ask my mom, she still watches the episodes, as do I, well I do when my husbands not home to tell me they are stupid....

My unborn children, they will watch the episodes too :)  

I think it is very important to have goals in life.  And I am not talking about life goals as in the type of person/profession, etc.  I am talking about living life, setting goals, and achieving them.  Life is meant to be fun.  It is a journey that we are in charge of.  It is a destiny that we control with every decision we make and person we meet and let into our life.  As I have gotten older, I have come to realize the importance of having a mental "bucket list."  I find it to be beneficial to my overall well-being, especially the mental aspect of it.  Having a list of things to do, sites to see, and goals to achieve helps me to really appreciate the little things in life.  Why?  I'm not really sure, but I think it has to do with the memories that are formed while doing these things.  Sure San Francisco was an amazing city filled with so many wonderful sites, but without my husband to experience it with me, it wouldn't have made the same impression on me that it did.  I believe that having this "list" of things to do with the people you love most is what is most important in the gist of things.  Living life and making memories, those things can never be taken from you.  It is something you will always have in your heart to look back on and appreciate the little things in life...having fun with the people you love most...nothing can compare to that!

By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Mark Victore Hansen

What's on your bucket list?