I like to enter contests online. It's free and doesn't take much time and occasionally I win! Tonight I found out I won a $100 Macy's gift card from http://hotmomsclub.com/ and that made me so excited! I can't wait to go shopping for Christmas at Macy's now!

A few months ago I won a contest from http://health.com/ and got a $50 iTunes gift card, a 6 month supply of Skinny Cow frozen desserts and a cool credit card sized pedometer. I'm using the iTunes card to get music for my marathon running and I love the Skinny Cow popsicles and ice cream sandwiches (mint is my favorite). The pedometer was so useful when I was in NYC- one day I walked 8 miles just sight seeing!

I also won a contest from Honey Bunches of Oats and got a coffee maker and year's supply of coffee (I gave those to a friend who drinks coffee). Thank goodness it came with a year's supply of the cereal too- which my oldest daughter loves.

My aunt has a website (http://purplefromtheheart.blogspot.com) and she has contests all the time. I've won some great socks (I'm wearing them now actually), a beautiful silver bracelet that I get compliments on all the time, a gift card to Kohls (I got a great jacket that I wore in NYC- scroll down to the photo of me next to the Sphinx in the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see it), a gift card to Blockbuster and a yummy box of treats from the Popcorn Factory!

My grandpa loved to enter contests too and won lots of stuff through the years. I think about him when I enter some of these contests. Maybe one of these days I'll win a big contest with lots of money and prizes, but these smaller prizes are just as much fun too!

Last weekend I ran 20 Miles! I'm getting closer to my marathon (Dec. 13) so my runs are getting longer and longer! I have never run 20 miles before and it really was not bad. I searched the web for advice for first time marathoners and found lots of useful tips but my favorite was to name every mile. I run with Nike+ so my ipod tells me as I pass each mile. Each new mile I would dedicate to someone important to me and spend that mile praying for them. All my girls had a mile, so did my husband and all my family. It was great! I spent the four hours praying and growing closer to my Savior and those that I was praying for. I wasn't thinking of me or how I felt, but of others. I will do this from now on every time I run. A lot of running a marathon is a mental game and I think this is the way I will beat that part of the game. I don't want to quit the race on any of my girls' miles so they will be the last four. I'm doing this for them too, afterall. I want to show them that they can accomplish anything they put their mind to.

Happy Halloween!
We went to a haunting howliday party this weekend and had a great time! There were 3 Sarah Palins, 2 Edward Cullins and an assortment of White Trash couples along with the usual monsters like us. We took advantage of my DH's height and went with Frankenstein and his bride. This is the first time he was willing to wear face paint! He even shaved his beard for it (YEAH!) and let me spray his hair black for the night. He made a great Frankenstein, if I do say so myself! I made the neck bolts myself. You can find directions on the internet- thanks to all those creative people who took the time to post it online!

For my DH's birthday we went to see Bobby Flay at the NC State Fair. My DH thinks Bobby Flay is the best chef on Food Network- his favorite TV channel, so when I found out Bobby was coming we had to get tickets. Bobby was great. He answered questions from the audience while cooking up a sweet potato clam chowder, pork chops and barbequed oysters. We're not oyster fans but liked the tarragon butter they were grilled with and plan to use that for another recipe. Bobby seems like a down-to-earth guy and we enjoyed watching him cook in person.

I had a wonderful time in New York City. I loved all the sights and shows. I had been dreaming of a trip to the big city for a long time. I had hoped that my dear husband and I could go for our 10th anniversary but it came and went and no trip happened- we're on our 13th year now! Then this year the stars aligned and I got back in touch with one of my best friends from high school and found out he was moving to the Bronx. I was invited to visit and I jumped at the chance to see my good friend more and see the city that never sleeps. I smiled so much my mouth hurt. I got blisters on my feet but nothing stopped me.

The best part wasn't in the city - it was at home. My husband was amazing. He never once asked how much the trip cost us. He never complained that I would be gone for 4 nights. He even took a day off work to help out with the girls. I took a 6am flight home (which meant I had to get up at 4 am) and expected to come home to a mess- after all, I'd been gone for most of the week. I was exhausted and I walked in the door and it was clean! He'd cleaned while I was gone! I was able to take a nice 4 hour nap and he cooked dinner and did the dishes too! I have to brag about my husband because he gave me the best gift!

I love NY but I love my husband so much more!

I did it! I ran a half marathon today. When I was done, I plugged in my ipod and realized I have also run over 100 miles with my Nike Plus. Follow this link http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus/v1/html/milestones/print_certif.html?id=1089886213&region=us&language=en&locale=en_us&dateFormat=MM/DD/YY to see. If you don't know what Nike Plus is, please let me share my favorite running tool with you! It's this nifty sensor that goes in your shoe (you can buy a pouch off Amazon so it can go with any shoe, not just Nike) and it sends a signal to your ipod tracking your miles, calories, time, speed and more. I love it and wouldn't do my marathon without it!

I got this email from a friend asking for one word answers- which is harder to do than one might think. You answer and send it on to other friends. I thought I would share this with my blogging friends and encourage them to do the same. One word is all you get. :)
1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Your significant other? Steve
3. Your hair? long
4. Your mother? talking
5. Your father? working
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? hurricane
8. Your favorite drink? lemonade
9. Your dream/goal? travel
10. The room you're in? dining
11. Your hobby? photography
12. Your fear? bugs
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? healthy
14. Where were you last night? party
15. What you're not? short
16. Muffins? berry
17. One of your wish list items? Peace
18. Where you grew up? Raleigh
19. The last thing you did? run
20. What are you wearing? cotton
21. Your TV? --- on
22. Your pets? dog
23. Your computer? addicted
24. Your life? Blessed
25. Your mood? thankful
26. Missing someone? megan
27. Your car? abused
28. Something you're not wearing? socks
29. Favorite store? goodwill
30. Your summer? fast
31. Like someone? friends
32. Your favorite color? pink
33. When is the last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? forgot
35. Who will resend this? everybody