Ashlee's First 1/2 Marathon

Ashlee walked her first 1/2 Marathon on April 6th. She filled in last minute for Nathan since he has a bone spur in his foot. None of us had been training the way we should, but we figured doing the race anyway would help us get started again.

Plus we really wanted the shiny medals.

I'm so proud of Ashlee for finishing this race. It was not easy. She was in a lot of pain from where she broke her ankle two years ago. Many times she was in tears and we would stop so she could put on or take off the ankle brace. She just couldn't find a way to get comfortable.

I hope she now knows that she can do really hard things as long as she keeps trying.

 Running past the dog park mile 10 or so.

 Cole and Chewy joined us a bit.

Ash pretending she isn't in a lot of pain. 

 The end is finally here!

 I was yelling, "You've got to beat your mom!" And she did.

A hard earned medal.

Next year we are going to train and knock a whole hour off our time. How? By running!

Happy New Year 2013!

The new year is starting well and on track. Nathan and I have signed up for a 1/2 marathon here in Arkansas in an effort to get moving after sitting still for so long. It's HARD! My body doesn't want to move.

We are also going to start some new family goals. Actually we're going to do a family Theme for the first time ever. Our theme for 2013 is...

No Regrets!

It's based on President Uchtdorf's Saturday Morning October 2012 conference talk, Of Regrets and Resolutions. Nathan and I feel its a perfect time to strengthen our family while encouraging our children to work toward their potential. It doesn't hurt that in doing so we will be growing closer to our own potential in the process.

Once a month we will have a special Family Home Evening based on the talk. There are 3 regrets covered and we will take a quarter of the year for each. The plan is to discuss the regret, talk about the distractions that keep us from obtaining it, and then plan specific ways to change that area of our lives so we will not have that particular regret. Some months will just be a "checking in" kind of FHE to see if we are still on track.

I'll try to remember to share the FHE lessons here as I get them organized. ;)

Finally, we mailed about 50 Christmas cards and letters this year but several came back undeliverable. I'm going to include our family letter here in case you missed it.

Counting our blessings, that’s our theme for this Christmas. 2012 turned out to be more eventful than we originally hoped. Here’s a quick list of highlights:

March—we bought a puppy! His name is Chewy, and he’s fluffy and oh so loveable.
April—family camping trip to Jellystone (lots of rain and memories). Charity signed a book contract, The Magic Wakes releases in February!
June—4 out of the 6 of us spent a week at Cub Scout camp
July—Nathan, Kiah and Charity went on a pioneer trek for youth conference
Aug—Girl’s camp, 2 birthdays, an anniversary, and a trip to TN
Sept—Anniversary cruise to Grand Caymans and Cozumel to celebrate our 16th anniversary Oct—Nathan accepted a job from Walmart and we started the moving process. Found buyer for home one week after listed house on the market. Said goodbye to our dear friends and family in Charlotte, NC—we love and miss you all!
Nov—We relocated to Northwest Arkansas (Bentonville) and started to settle in
Dec—Closed on our home in Charlotte and hope to enjoy our first Christmas in Bentonville

It has been a wonderful year full of so many blessings. We hope the New Year will bring as many wonderful blessings and memories as this year—we just hope a move won’t be involved. We love you all and wish you a merry Christmas!

The Bradfords

Rocktober Fest AKA my insanity

I did something a bit crazy today. My good friend Laura and I had started training to run a full marathon in November. We were doing really good too. And then I went on the cruise and came back lazy. Laura continued to train and I wallowed in self pity that I had to come back home. :) Not really, but maybe just a little.

Mornings are my favorite time to run, and it doesn't happen now that seminary has started. I already get up at 4:40am. Then kid drop offs for school stretch from 7am-9am. By then I'm ready for a nap and the last thing I want to do is run. Yeah, I know I'm making excuses.

Anyway, Laura signed us up for a half marathon. We ran it this morning. She did awesome! I'm so proud of her for sticking to the training and pushing herself to reach her goal. I ran/walked today. You should know that in the last month I've only been running once. And that was just 2 miles. I don't recommend running a 1/2 marathon with so little preparation.

You want to hear the saddest part? I was only 20 minutes slower than my PR from the year I trained really well. Here are some pictures.

Our cheering squad.

Go Laura!

The kids and Laura came to help me keep moving the last little bit.

I took my shoes off for the last mile because of a blister between my toes, so I was bending down to register my chip.

We did it!

The Myrtle Beach 1/2 Marathon

Sorry that I haven't posted since Christmas. We've been busy with the same old same old. I still post three times a week on my writing blog. That's become my social outlet of sorts. The writing has slowed considerably, but that's ok for now. I'm letting things "stew" so that when I'm ready to write things will hopefully move quickly.

In February Nathan and I ran a half marathon in Myrtle Beach. It was beautiful and we did surprisingly well considering how little we trained. In fact, our longest run before the half (which is 13 miles) was 6 miles. Luckily the course was flat, interesting, and the weather was perfect. Here are some pictures from the trip.

 The night before on the beach. It was cold!

 Sleepy-eyed early morning.

 As we approached the starting line, the moon was setting and the sun was rising. I missed being in a crowd of people pumped to run.

 The last few miles we had glimpses of the ocean between the hotels.

 The finish line! Finally!

The medals are probably my favorite so far. We're thinking of running a half there this fall to get the surfboard medals.