love this guy

Have I ever told you how much I just love this guy?!?

More to come...

Running along...

Hi All!

Gosh it has been a while! I have been quite busy with family and life, I guess.

One of the things that I have been meaning to share is my recent half marathon! I ran the Strawberry Plains Half Marathon in Strawberry Plains, TN on February 16, 2008.

That date happens to be my dad's birthday and it ends up that his birthday this year was pretty special too. You see, my dad got into a pretty bad accident on January 11, 2008. We weren't sure if Dad was going to make it and we drove all night from Knoxville to Chicago (picking up my sis, Maris on the way) to join the family.

It was quite the emotional roller coaster, but in the end, only by the Grace of God did he not only survive, he is thriving! *Disclaimer: there are some aches and pains. :)

So speaking of aches and pains, when I was considering the race that day and what aches I may have during the race, I realized that this one's for Pop. It was his birthday, after all...

I dedicated my race that day to Dad and ran it in 2:09:18. It was a great race and it was definitely more challenging towards the end - lots of hills and no straight finish for quite a number of turns.

Dad was really excited for me and touched by my dedication. I couldn't think of a better person to run for that day.

Now the Knoxville Marathon is on Sunday and I am up for another Half. Can't wait to share the news of my results!

Oh, and thanks for listening to me babble about running. I have really grown to love the challenge and the achievement that comes from running a race - no matter what my time is at the end.

And I must say, you ought to try it out! You just might like it...

The Big Three Oh

I promised I would tell you about my birthday. As you can see, it was a significant one! I had mixed feelings about it, but now that it's over, I see it doesn't make a difference and that age is just a number...that tells you where you stand in your life span. Ha! Really...

I don't have photos from the Guilford's, but the weekend started off on Friday night when I celebrated my birthday with Matt's family - Brad, Joy, Mimi, G-ma, G-pa and the little ones. We had lasagna, strawberry cake (2 pieces for me) and birthday presents. It was sooo good! I even got some cool sewing tools and that was really fun for me (of course!).

Saturday night it was a party at Paige's with girlfriends. It has been so wonderful to make friends with other women and moms. It's really an important piece of life - I strongly believe that now that I have reached this ripe age. :) Girlfriends do understand you in a unique way and their love and support is priceless.

Sunday afternoon we had a 70* day here in Knoxville - perfect for a barbecue! Birthday celebrations continued into Sunday's dinner where we had macaroni and cheese, chips, potato salad, hot dogs, hamburgers and birthday cake. Mmmm! Matt invited several friends and families from church to enjoy the afternoon.

And, yes. The party included t-shirts with "Ariana Math" printed out. The lovely t-shirt is modeled there for you by little Oscar. :)

So now what? I feel great! I feel healthy and have enjoyed so many wonderful life experiences - including becoming a mom. It's pretty awesome, I must say. I am ready to rock on and savor the years to come. Each day is a gift from God and we are not promised the next. I'll keep that in my back pocket and try to find something to enjoy in each one.

hugs,
ariana

My Little Love

Hi All,
I wanted to share Samuel's 1 year slide show.

Christy is so awesome. It's so amazing that she can take photos that make a mom's heart swell with love for their babies. It's like you love them like this all the time, but capturing those faces and moments in this way is priceless!

Enjoy.

We are all winners, BUT...

My random number produced the number 4!

Yesenia, it looks like you are the one. Pretty cool, because I know you are a faithful reader and commenter. :)

Thank you all for your comments and letting me know you are there. It's pretty neat to have family and friends to join in the journey.

Love,
ariana

Do I talk that much?

Woah! This is my 100th post - and less than a year from starting this blog!

This has been a fun thing to jump into and I really enjoy putting together updates of Sam and our life here.

The thing that I wonder about now is who reads this?

In the spirit of blogdom, I will give you incentive. Post a comment and just say hi so I know who's out there!

What do you get out of this? I will draw a random number and send you a special something created with YOU in mind.

I will draw Tuesday morning sometime.

Oh. And then maybe I will tell you a bit more about celebrating my big birthday. :)

P.S. This is the best I have captured of Samuel these days. Look! He has teeth.

Did I mention the Manatees?

OK, there is more to catch up on, but I wanted to share the last tidbit of my trip to Islamorada. We stayed at a motel/marina and apparently manatees visit for some fresh water quite often!

While I was out one afternoon we had a visit and I was able to provide some refreshment through a water hose. It was sooo cool!!!

So here are the pictures - I also included an underwater picture of manatees that I found on the web.

Happy Day!