It was 1997.  I was 15 years old.  I was dying to turn 16 and be among the other irresponsible driving teenagers that I went to school with.  I desperately wanted a Mitsubishi Eclipse.  I’ll spare you the details of what a bratty teenager I was.  Looking back, I have no idea why I wanted that car.  One of my friends, Alison, had that car and the only thing that we could fit in the back seat were our backpacks and our friends without legs.  Not very practical.  I ended up with a Pontiac Sunfire.  Which, by the way, when was the last time you saw a Pontiac dealership?  RIP Pontiac.

That’s all a lead up to say that yesterday marked 13 years since my Granny (great grandmother on my mom’s dad’s side) passed away.  I was 16 years old.  She was 89.  I had just gotten the Sunfire.  I had taken her for a wild ride around her neighborhood. And she passed away two weeks later.  I realize now that it sounds a little like the car ride may have done her in.  No, I don’t think the two are related.  Oh God, please no.  I just bring up the car ride because I think that was the last time I saw her.  It was a sweet memory.  She was excited for me and proud of me.

Granny was something else.  She cooked with no regard for cholesterol.   Pioneer Woman would be shamed at the amount of butter and grease she used.  Doc told her once that she needed to try to eat some things that would lower her cholesterol, like potato skins.  This is what she came home with.

My mom and I went to see her every Sunday afternoon.  One Sunday, she pulled out a stack of coupons for pizza places and said she had been saving them since I asked her to.  Uh, no, never asked that.  We silently resolved that it had been a dream, and graciously accepted expired coupons to CiCi’s and Little Caesars.

When I was younger, she would watch me when I was sick and had to stay home from school.  We would watch hours of The Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune, the reality television of her day.   She had no shame of interjecting her commentary of who was worthy of winning, based on appearances.  She always had Cheese Puffs and Diet Coke.  She mowed her lawn just two weeks before she passed away.  She was really something.  Man, I miss those Sunday visits.

When I was born, I still had 3 great-grandparents living.  Rhett has 11 out of 12 great-grandparents still living and still married.  It’s just so rare and I do take it for granted.  But, this weekend, we had one set of great-grandparents visit for a quick afternoon.  Meet MawMaw and PawPaw.  Oh boy, buckle your seatbelts.  They are a hoot.  They had just come from a hotel close to Bryan/College Station where they had a free breakfast.  MawMaw, bless her, had taken two pieces of bread and a piece of sausage and put it in her purse, because she hates to see food waste.  We’ll blame it on the Great Depression.   Nonetheless, she is one of my favorite people in the whole world.  Her name is Joy.  And I’ve decided there is no one I know more aptly named than her.

Rhett buddy, I wish I could bottle these moments and let you enjoy them when you care a little less about chewing on your toes.

Two years ago today, I said yes.

Let’s pause and let me do the math for you.  We got engaged on August 5, 2008.  Married on December 20, 2008.  Pregnant in April 2009 (surprise!).  And became parents on December 18, 2009.

Doug and I had taken a trip to San Francisco with my family to see my older sister get hitched.  After her wedding, the two of us took a day trip down to Carmel.  Well, no, not directly to Carmel.  Like proper educated Americans, we had to stop in Salinas at the John Steinbeck museum.  Then we moseyed down to Monterey, where again we paid homage to Mr. Steinbeck and took pictures on Cannery Row and in front of Doc’s Lab.  If this doesn’t sound like Greek to you, you and Doug may be fast friends.

We ate sushi in Monterey which beats Texas sushi any day.   Then we got in our rented Mustang convertible, like we owned the place, and drove down Route 1 to Big Sur.

The whole day I had wondered if maybe he might pop the question.  But because I was certain there was no ring box anywhere on his person, I had decided this wasn’t the day.   Coming back from Big Sur, we stopped on Carmel Valley Road to visit a winery.  We landed at Bernardus.  I’m dying to go back there.  We just had just enough time to do a tasting before they closed.

After they closed, we had a bit of time before we were ready for dinner.  So, we headed to Carmel Beach we found some big rocks we could prop ourselves up on and enjoy the sunset.

It was cloudy, but somehow there was just a ribbon of sunlight right below the clouds, and above the water on the horizon.  As the sun started to set, we realized we were about to see the most beautiful sunset we’d ever seen.  The pictures don’t come close to doing it justice.

Just before the sun dropped below the horizon, Doug told me to put my camera down and said “you don’t want to miss this.”  And he looked at me, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.  YES!

Afterwards, he informed me that he had dinner reservations for us at an Italian restaurant in the town (which was funny, because I had told him earlier in the day that I wanted Italian for dinner).  When we showed up, the hostess showed us to the table where my family had come to meet us for dinner!  It was such a perfect surprise.  We celebrated together and then made the drive back to San Francisco to our hotel.

Doug, I made a decision this day two years ago to spend the rest of my life with you.  We’ve had a crazy couple of years.  It’s seemed impossible at times.  But, there hasn’t been a single day that I’ve questioned that decision.  For the best days of our lives and the worst, I am in.  I’m so glad you asked.

He did it!  I warned you he would.  He did.

135 miles.  Starting at the lowest point in the western hemisphere (Badwater in the Death Valley National Park, 282 ft. below sea level) and covering 135 miles over 3 mountains and ending at the portal of Mt. Whitney (the highest mountain in the continental USA).

40 hours and 55 minutes.  Stopping only for brief massages and wardrobe changes.

As an at-home spectator, it was a very exciting and emotional two days.  There were long stretches that the crew would lose cell phone service, so I wasn’t able to get real-time updates.  But at other times, I was able to hear the latest, and watch a webcam set up at various mile markers.  I was even able to talk to him on the phone at mile 122.  Click here for a very rough recording of the webcam and my phone call.

My dad and I share a special bond with running and we’ve had some of our best memories together pacing and pushing each other (me pacing him for his first 100 mile ultramarathon, and him pacing me for my first marathon).  So, it was heart-wrenching to not be there for his most challenging race yet.

Here are a few excerpts from his race report:

• “I can sum up this race report by simply saying I ran and ran and ran and shuffled and shuffled and shuffled and staggered and staggered and staggered and stopped.  Obviously, Forrest Gump was a lot smarter than me.  He just ran and ran and ran and stopped.”
• “Amanda, my marathoning daughter, couldn’t go since she just gave us our first grandson 6 months ago.  In her place Kacee stepped up as the adopted daughter.  Of all the hours I spent on the road, the ones with Kacee gave me the most joy.  I’ve had many blessings in my life but my 3 kids are the best and Kacee makes 4.  What a lucky guy I am.”
• “I had to force myself to open my eyes every time I blinked.  I am even pretty sure I went to sleep several times while running.  I’ve read about this but never experienced it and really have never been sleepy in an ultra before.  Judy has told me that sometimes I run in my sleep, so why not sleep in my run.  It only seems fair.”
• “In Lone Pine, Amanda called to see how I was doing and to let me know that Pressley Ridge kids had been following my progress all day.  Even though I was exhausted, this was the most motivating thing I could hear.”
• “After the race I got to bed as quickly as possible and have been eating, resting and sleeping pretty much since then.  I have to admit, I’m getting good at those activities.”

Congratulations, Dad!  We’re all so proud of you!

Now, if someone could maybe turn the man on to golf or antiquing, we might all rest a little easier.

I wonder what it’s like to have three girls and planning to pay for three weddings one day.  We count our many blessings that Rhett is a boy and prom dresses and weddings are not (yet) in our future.

The third and final wedding took place last month.  My younger sister, McKenna, tied the knot in Jamaica.  We’re totally pumped to have Lavell in the family.  Besides being a tennis coach with free lessons for family, he’s perfect for McKenna.  Great guy and loves her like crazy.

Congratulations McKenna and Lavell.  We love you both and we’re praying for God’s blessings on your marriage.

Before you judge my dad, know that you’re in good company.  I am a judger. I think he’s totally crazy and most of my prayer life is consumed with prayers of protection and sanity for him.

He’s running 135 miles in Death Valley on July 12.

“Who does that?” you ask.  Well, he does.  Along with about 80 other people in the world every year.   The conditions are grueling. It’s not uncommon for the temperature to be upwards of 135 degrees, even in the shade and at night.

The average finish time is 40-48 hours (the current record for the course is a finish time of almost 23 hours).  He’s aiming to finish in 36 hours – before nighttime the second day.

He has a “crew” of 8 people, including one of my best friends, Kacee, that will be able to see him every couple of miles.  (I couldn’t join the crew because of the small human that I am responsible for).

He’s running to benefit the organization he leads, Pressley Ridge. You can read more about his journey and how you can support him here.

I’ll keep you posted with the results.

In less impressive news, I ran 20 miles this morning and I didn’t die. Look out, Chicago.

Easter is my favorite holiday.  As far as I can remember, it always has been (since my birthday isn’t usually recognized as a holiday…unless you celebrate the International Day of Democracy).  When I was younger, I remember liking Easter mostly because of the colors, the weather, a new dress (and sometimes a new hat), and bunnies are just funny.  The older I’ve gotten, the more mature I have become in faith, and through the work God is doing in our church, I’ve come to regard Easter as the most significant day in human history.  The day that represents life and hope.  Christ rose from the dead!  Defeated the grave!  Let us celebrate!

This weekend, Gigi and Pops came to town.  Because we’re Texans to the core, we took our obligatory bluebonnet pictures.  Gigi sat on a cactus (which makes us even more Texan).  We went to church, which was awesome.  Click here to listen to the sermon.  And we feasted.  Ham, mashed potatoes, asparagus, salad, and deviled eggs.  Delish!

After Gigi and Pops left, we watched Where The Wild Things Are.  I told Doug that I had looked forward to seeing the movie, in hopes that it would help me understand the book.  Nope.  They are both weird.  Maybe I’ll have Rhett explain it to me in a few years.

Since we had Rhett, I’ve really never been more acutely aware of the fact that Doug and I have zero family in Austin.  Having a grandparent run over to babysit for a weeknight date sounds like a dream.  Oh, but things could be a lot worse.  We’re so blessed to have family within weekend driving distance.  This weekend, Gigi and Pops (Amanda’s mom and stepdad) came for a few hours on Sunday afternoon.  We went out for lunch and back to the house to watch Rhett.  Yes, you read that right.  That is just about all we did (and all we do).  The kid doesn’t even know he has hands, yet he couldn’t be more entertaining.

Thank you, Gigi and Pops, for coming for a short visit…and happy anniversary!  We love you!

Sweet Nothings

Beautiful Gigi and Rhett

Gigi, Pops and Rhett

Welcome to a new look.  We were having some trouble with the way our old site was looking on some browsers, so we’ve had a facelift.  We’re still getting some kinks worked out and working on transferring our photos.  We should be up to date soon.

But, lately…

• Grandaddy and Mawmaw (Amanda’s dad and stepmom) came to visit.  They are wild about Rhett.  They hadn’t seen him since Christmas, so they were due.  The weather was awesome that weekend, so we took Rhett out for his first picnic.

• It’s hard to believe that it could be picnic weather one day, and snow the very next day.  Oh, Texas.  Rhett was completely uninterested, but I think one day he will appreciate that we have documented his first snow.

• Rhett was born two days before our first anniversary (yes, the math works out).  So, we were coming home from the hospital on our anniversary.  We didn’t really celebrate…unless we count Rhett peeing all over his room as his rookie parents unpacked diapers.  So, on Friday, the 26th, we finally got a chance to celebrate.  Gigi and Pops (Amanda’s mom and stepdad) took the day off and came for babysitting duty.  Doug and I headed out to Bastrop, to the Hyatt Lost Pines.  We got there as early as we could, and stayed as late as we could.  We had a great time – rode bikes, kicked a soccer ball, went on a walk, played pool (I won), had a great dinner, and slept till 11 AM (I told you that I like to sleep like a college student).  It’s hard to believe how quickly life can change.  It’s been one crazy year – a new marriage, a new house, a new baby.  We’ve never looked back.  So thankful for so many amazing blessings in our life.  A look back at our big day…

We had our Parent/Baby Dedication at our church today.  Rhett was a star.  Give him a pep talk and a spotlight, and he came alive.

My grandparents (and Rhett’s namesake), Don and Thelma Hudson, prayed thanksgiving, strength, wisdom and grace over our little family during the service.  It was such a sweet time.

Rhett had a very proud audience…four grandparents, two great-grandparents, and one great-great-aunt.

Rhett’s life verse: Who is wise and understanding among you?  Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.  James 3.13