Family Force Five {FF5} review + giveaway

I was not paid for this post, however Family Christian did send me a copy of Time Stands Still to listen to and review. Plus they are giving away an appreciation certificate to one reader. The links below are not affiliate links. As always, the opinions expressed below are my own.

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When we took the kids to WinterJam a month or so ago they were totally mesmerized when Family Force Five came out wearing wacked out suits and audience members stood up and started dancing all crazy to "Crank it Like a Chainsaw."  The "party" they threw at this show was what my kids talked about in the few days following.

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When I saw that I had a chance to review their latest album "Time Stands Still," I jumped at the chance. This band is considered "crunk rock" which makes me laugh in itself, but I just love the positivity of their music and my kids love the upbeat party songs.

Josh said, "Mom they're the ones that wore glow-in-the-dark clothes, right?"

No we go down the road singing B-Z-R-K, B-Z-R-K, Go berserk and bouncing along.

Family Force Five

Use the widget below for your chance to win a $10 certificate to Family Christian and you can get your own copy.  Giveaway ends Sunday 5/3.

Family Force Five Review and Giveaway

what i love wednesday

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

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I've just finished this book and it was unique. I love when you stumble upon a movie or book that doesn't fit one of the standard formulas. If you like to read, I think you'll enjoy this one.

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Kind Bars STRONG & KIND


Flavors like Hickory Smoked, Roasted Jalapeno, Honey Smoked BBQ, Thai Sweet Chili, and Honey Mustard.  Enjoy free shipping with code APRILSHOWERS on all orders over $25 from 4/20 to 4/24. The BBQ and Jalapeno are my favorites.

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This Boston Marathon story

I remember watching the Boston Marathon two years ago. I did the Boston Strong run one week after the bombing. I watched it this year and read all the news stories after. This was by far my favorite.


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This swimsuit

It's juniors sizing but adorable and there are tons of other cute ones by Arizona from JC Penney not just for juniors.


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This man

I'm not that great at this birthday shout-out thing but there is a certain husband of mine that turned THIRTY-EIGHT yesterday. He's spent 18 of those years with me and for that reason alone he deserves to have the most awesomest of birthdays. Happy birthday, Booger!

And that's what I love this Wednesday.
What are you loving lately?

by the numbers

1. 38 days of school left
2. 6 teacher work days left
3. 55 days of summer vacation
4. 42.3 miles run in April
5. 312.2 miles run in 2015 (a bit behind schedule for 100/month)
6. 6 days in a row without running last week
7. 2 days until we get to hear Ben Folds
8. 13 books read in 2015 (a bit behind schedule for 1/week)
9. 2 weeks until my next race
10. 9:54 am the time that my chicken salad sandwich was eaten from my lunchbox this morning
11. 1 week until my next giveaway
12. 25 minutes it took me to read JK Rowling's most recent book
13. 25 pounds I'd like to lose (probably related to number 10)
14. 7 episodes watched of Parenthood so far
15. 2 movies we're going to see in the next week (one at RiverRun Film Festival and one pre-screening of War Room)
16. 2:22:02 my best half marathon time which also happens to be Shalane Flanagan's best Boston Marathon time (HA!)
17. $360 the amount of money it costs to register early for the Goofy Challenge at the Walt Disney World Marathon
18. 38 gifts I've bought for my husband's 38th birthday
19. 4 weekends available in our condo at the beach during the next month
20. 1,210,033 people in Costco yesterday

stories

Josh runs in the living room with the Magic 8 ball he hasn't played with in over a year. "Mom!" he says, "What does this thing do?" I explain that you have to ask it a yes or no question and then turn it over to reveal its answer. He steps away from me a few feet and whispers, "Am I ever going to be able to get a gun?" He turns the 8 ball over and brings it to me and asks me to read the answer.

"My sources say no," I read.

Stomping his foot he whines, "Mooooommmm, why's it giving me your answers?!"


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Hey dad have you ever seen somebody poot so hard that you saw it turn green?

I've never seen anybody poot, buddy.

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I just want to take my pants off!

Well if you take your pants off we're going to bed.

Ok fine. I'll just take my shirt off then!

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"Mom, when Santa makes toys out of wood, what does he do with the leaves from the tree branches?"
"Maybe he grinds the leaves up and makes paint with them, Josh."

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Josh and Julianna built a fort with the couch cushions. Julianna knocks on the door and says, "Hi! It's Julianna Tucker. Can I come in?" She goes in and he tells her it's time to order the pizza. So he calls and orders the pizza. Besides telling the pizza person our phone number for our address he also tells them he wants one cheese pizza and one pizza with one pepperoni slice on it. Clearly he's not related to me.


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I was lying on a towel on our deck in the sun and Josh came up to me with a itty bitty handheld fan he'd gotten from somewhere. I had one arm folded in half under my head and one arm down by my side. He takes his time and aims the fan at each of my legs for a few minutes. Then he moves to the arms starting with the one by my side and then moving to the one folded under my head. He takes on look at it and says, "Hey Mom! This arm's a little bit fatter than the other. Did you know that?" "Sure, Josh." "You must use the other one more. Do you?" "I guess so, Josh. It's my right arm and I'm right handed so I do use it more."

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inspirational running quotes

Sayings to help you get through the miles:

Motivational Quotes

• A run begins the moment you forget you are running. Adidas
• A hero holds on one minute longer.
• The feeling you get from a good run is far better than the feeling you get from sitting around wishing you’d run.
• There is no one giant step that does it. It is a lot of little steps.
• I may not be the strongest. I may not be the fastest. But I’ll be damned if I’m not trying my hardest.
• When you feel like quitting think about why you started.
• If you wait for the perfect conditions you’ll never get anything done.
• The voice inside your head that says you can’t do this IS A LIAR.
• It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.
• Obsessed is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated.
• Sometimes you just have to pull up your big girl panties and do it whether you want to or not.
• Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.
• The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.
• Unless you puke, faint, or die KEEP GOING.
• When someone tells you “you can’t” turn around and say “watch me.”
• Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.
• Don’t give up. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
• Tough runs don’t last. Tough runners do.
• Success isn't give. It’s earned.
• Strive for progress, not perfection.
• One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you've always wanted. Do it now.
• Suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret.
• Let us fix our eyes on Jesus and run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1
• No one can take away your finish line, even if they crossed it first.
• “Don’t bite off more than you can chew.” Id’ rather choke on greatness than nibble on mediocrity.
• Don’t give up what you want most, for what you want now.
• Believe that you can and you’re hallway there. Theodore Roosevelt
• The dream is free but the hustle is sold separately.
• Excuses will always be there for you. Opportunity won’t.
• If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward. MLK Jr.
• Remember that guy that gave up? Neither does anybody else.
• Old ways won’t open new doors.
• The man on top of the mountain didn't fall there.
• It’ll feel better when it stops hurting.
• What if this were your only chance? Sure, it’ll be painful, but what’s pain? Franz Stampfl
• Strength doesn't come from what you CAN do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you COULDN'T.
• I don’t stop when I’m tired. I stop when I’m done.
• The only thing you CAN'T do is STOP.

Words From Coach

I also copy the last email and pacing strategy from my Fleet Feet coach.

And finally, I make a list of 

People to Remember

This really helps me for some reason. It's kind of like praying for that person each mile, but also more like praying "God, help me not let this person down" or "God, thank you for this person and the influence they've had on me" etc. Very helpful!


I'd love to know:
What are your favorite motivational sayings?

half marathon recap

Some friends and I went to Myrtle Beach this weekend to run the Divas Half Marathon. We left on Friday and spent a couple of days on the beach and getting ready for the race Sunday. We picked up our packets and were shuttled to the expo by men in golf charts.... felt like a total diva...

We dressed in tutus and took goofy pictures...

We fixed a delicious spaghetti dinner for our pre-race meal Saturday night...

We left the condo before sunrise on Sunday morning...

We got to the starting line and took a quick picture...

We headed to our corral and had our picture taken by a drone flying overhead. Then the gun went off and we took off. We had to weave in and out of crowds for at least the first 3 miles. Even the 4th mile was too crowded.

I ran with Kristine and Jessica for the first 3 miles. Jessica pulled away from Kristine and I first and then I caught back up with Jessica later when Kristine stopped to walk through the 4 mile water stop.

I stayed with Jessica in my line of vision until about mile 10 or 11. She pulled way ahead of me then and finished 5 minutes ahead of me.

I walked a lot for the last 5k but mostly during miles 12 and 13. I figured Kristine, Laura, Sherri, or Rachel would come running up on me during one of my walk breaks but I never saw them.

I kept asking myself, "Who walks during the last mile of a half marathon?" and would make myself only walk three or four steps before running again. Still. The last two miles cost me my goal time of 2:20. I finished in 2:22:02

I had three goals: 2:20, 2:28, and 2:30. Despite not making the first one, I am pleased. It's a new PR for me and I realized that I haven't run a flat course besides the Richmond Full Marathon in over two years. It was a beautiful race, but too crowded for my liking and too many newbies that didn't know basic race etiquette like when you walk get over to the right or don't run three people across.

It was a great weekend that we finished off by sitting on the beach and hanging out at Ocean Annie's.

Next race in less than 3 weeks and looking at the elevation map I can tell you right now that my time won't be nearly as good. Even so, I can guarantee that it will be full of fun!

what I wore + a question I need help with

Here are a few of my outfits over the last couple of weeks. I go through spurts where I actually care what I wear and other times when I really don't give a flip. I'm inspired by all of the cute "What I Wore Wednesday" posts I see all over the internet and I decided to document sporadically what I've been wearing. It's actually been making me a little more intentional about choosing better outfits... but admittedly not much. :) And this post makes me pretty uncomfortable so if you leave a comment please be kind.

You can tell khaki pants are my standard go-to for work and I love the color blue. I'm going to work on wearing more dresses and skirts now that the weather is warming up.

Finally, here's what I'm wearing today. My question for you is, would you wear white pants before Memorial Day or is that even a thing anymore? Please help a girl out.

what i love wednesday {plus a giveaway}

If you haven't tried Chick-fil-A's new Frozen Lemonade, you need to get yourself there in a hurry! Mmmmm! It's so good! Many thanks to #ChickfilaMoms for sending me the coupons. I will most certainly be back for this again!

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I picked up The Runner's Devotional from Family Christian the other day. So far it's delightful.

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I won the WBFJ Birthday Bundle a month ago and I received several CDs. My most favorite has quickly become Lauren's Daigle's album How Can It Be. I am in love with the song, "Trust in You" and I play it on repeat in the car most days.

Check out her YouTube stuff here.

I'm also loving the Unspoken album. One of the kids had already gotten this for Christmas and then I got another copy when I won the birthday prize. I'd love to send the copy to one of you that is interested. Just fill out the widget below to enter. I'll choose a winner this weekend.

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I got this dress at the Old Navy Outlet last week in Myrtle Beach. It was only $12 after the coupons I had and the sale that was going on. It's adorable, comfortable, and stylish. I'm average height, not model tall so it comes to the very top of my knee. I love it.

Win a copy of Unspoken's new CD

recipe roundup

These recipes I made recently are both winners! I'm trying to branch out a little bit from our same-old-same-old and these did the trick.

Dragon Noodles from Budget Bytes

Triple the sauce except for the sriracha, add a smidge of peanut butter, scallions, lime juice, and chopped peanuts. If you want, you can add chicken for some protein. My kids don't like spicy, but they will eat this.

my version

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This one I got from a friend's Facebook status and altered a bit to fit our likes/dislikes. I've never had Korean food, but I've smelled the Korean BBQ food truck and these pork tacos are what I would imagine that Korean BBQ tacos taste like. Delicious and so easy!

pork tenderloin
2 Tbsp hoisin
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 cloves chopped fresh garlic
1 inch chopped or grated fresh ginger
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 - 2 Tbsp garlic chili paste (adjust as needed for heat level)

Dump ingredients in crock pot and cook all day. Serve with soft flour tortillas and slaw.

I'll definitely make both of these again and I encourage you to try them. What good food have you eaten (or better yet, made) lately?

Leave me some comment love!

what's going on at our house

Last week was Spring Break and it was glorious.

I started the week off by running the City of the Arts half marathon with a group of friends. The actual race ended up being canceled because they couldn't get approval from the city for some of the road closures but one of the girls wrote the race director and told him that we were planning to run the course anyway so they came and brought us some of last year's shirts and medals for our efforts. I thought that was pretty nice. We had a group of ten and we all were different ages so we all placed first in our age groups. Very cool. Probably the only time that will ever happen to me.

We followed that up with a lunch with friends at one of my favorite places. Yum!

Julianna and I kicked around together all week not doing a whole lot but still filling the time with plenty of fun.

We redeemed some of the coupons for birthday treats that she had gotten a week earlier.

We ran together and rode bikes together.

We went shopping and bought some of Jonathan's 38 birthday gifts.  And we had lunch at the mall with all the girls.

We drove by my old house and took some stalker pictures.

Then on Friday Jonathan and Josh were off so we got up and drove to the beach for the weekend. It was a quick trip but so nice to get down there even for a couple of days.

Mom, Whit, and I took the kids to an Easter Egg Hunt.

Dad and I ran and took silly pictures at Wings on the giant conch shell.

Then we packed it up and came home in time for Easter lunch at Memama's.

Fun, relaxing, and refreshed... and counting down the days until summer.

What's going on with you guys?