Journey to IRONMAN: The Dream

I can see it......

The finish line......

Everything hurts, its been such a long, long, LONG day.....

I don't know why I'm doing this and I have fought myself and my aching body for 13+ hours....

But

There it is.  Right down the line.  Only a few more steps...... just a few more seconds.  The crowd gets louder, their cheers bringing me to the end.  I feel my tired body reenergized, "You did it" I say to myself.  Allowing the reality of a dream come true overtake me, I speed up, against the screaming in my legs.  I raise my arms in victory and cross that IRONMAN finish line.  "Bethany Longmire, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!"  I hear.  A guttural victory cry escapes my lips and I fall into the arms of my family having done it.  

A Dream Come True.

I relive this vision practically every day.  I can see myself doing it.  I will be IRONMAN.  But, its gonna take a lot of work.  A LOT OF WORK.  The victory will be so sweet, but the journey is going to take a level of commitment and dedication that I am just beginning to understand.  It's big.

I rode 45 miles the other day and was exhausted.  The idea of having to ride 112 followed by a marathon and superseded by a 2.4 mile swim is simply hard to grasp.  How?  How am I going to get there?

One lap at a time.

One pedal stroke at a time.

One step at a time.

One race at a time.  Now that I have accomplished the Sprint Distance Tri, its now time to go bigger.  It's time for a Half IRONMAN.  This week, I did it, I registered for my Half IRONMAN.  Boulder IRONMAN 70.3 next June will be the halfway mark to the biggest endurance test of my life.

My journey continues.

Lily Got Her Fairy Wings

This post is late.....okay WAY late, but I just had to make sure I posted it.  We made the trek out to the Renaissance Festival again this year and took Memaw and Papa with us.  Lily was so excited to go back to "where the princesses live" and practically lived in her purple dress from last year for the week leading up to the big day.

The grounds are pretty big so we knew we would be on kid and baby time so we did just about everything we could right at the start, including getting Lily's face painted.  She was so excited to have it done, but wasn't so sure about it while in the chair.

This year was really all about Lily.  She is the perfect age for the festival and just had so much fun.  Upon walking in the front entrance she noticed that a girl had wings.  "Oh Mommy, those are fairy wings, just like Tinkerbell."  Yeah, Disney has got the run on little girls.  We discovered the Disney "Fairies" and have been fully enamored with all things fairy and flying.  Lily was just beside herself. "Mommy, lets get some fairy wings!"

Getting sprinkled with Pixie Dust

So, Miss Lily got her wings.  How cute is she?

We met the King and Queen, watched the jugglers, dancers and bell ringers.  We saw the horses and knights and ate ice cream.  We sat mesmerized at the Celtic Legacy group of musicians....AMAZING, and managed to get back to our car literally seconds before an enormous torrential downpour started.

It was a great morning and we brought home a sleeping baby and a very tired little fairy.

Soulmate

"Your Soulmate is not someone that comes into your life peacefully.

It is who comes to make you question things, who changes your reality,

Somebody that marks a before and after in your life.

It is not the human being everyone has idealized,

But an ordinary person, who manages to revolutionize

Your world in a second....."

Bob and I have had a glorious Summer celebrating our 10 years of marriage.  We are still so young, and yet, as we have reflected over the past decade we both say the same thing, "Man have we lived a lot of life."

Our celebration culminated in a 2 night/ 3 day stay at our honeymoon cabin just last week and I personally could not have imagined a better place to celebrate.  That little 600 square foot place is still standing and frankly in just about the same condition we left it in 10 years ago.  

Its tiny and rustic and the King size bed sits in the loft, just barely between the eaves of the roof.  Bob still can't stand up straight, a fact we reminisced and giggled again about.  They even had the Guest Book from 2004 sitting on the dusty shelf.  I found my short newlywed entry still on the pages.

Oh the memories of that time 10 years ago came flooding back.  That time before we moved all over the country or  had Lily and Evie. That time before we knew how to be married.  A lot of life has happened.

I'm so grateful that I had no idea the power this being, my husband would have in my life, both spiritual and physical.  Together we are more.  He has definitively marked my life and there is a clear before and after.  He did revolutionize my world in a second and for that I am grateful.

He is my soulmate.

14 Months: The Blur

This little girl, holy Moses has she grown!  Evie Frances is in full fledged toddlerhood and LOVING it!  She is so fun and so much trouble these days.  Life is so big to her and she falls into bed exhausted each night from her many adventures during the day!  Of course, in normal toddler fashion, it is getting harder and harder to stop her motion on my camera.  In 90% of all of my pictures there is a part of her that is blurred.  She is seriously non stop action.

YES, Evie is walking these days.  About 2 weeks ago she just upped and decided that crawling was not for her anymore and she took off on her two little tiny feet and hasn't stopped since.  Oh the places she can go!  She approaches her walking with complete abandon and has found herself on the ground too many times to count due to a lack of caution with her surroundings.  She is tough though.  Man is she tough.  She fell yesterday and hit her head, cried, snuggled briefly and shoved away to start going again.  No fear......AT ALL.

The Bee plays hard, ALL DAY LONG.  I have to constantly check on her because she is into everything (mmmmm, toilet water!).  Its a full time gig keeping track of her and making sure she doesn't go head first down stairs.  

Trying Cotton Candy for the first time!  It was a hit!

Eating Markers.  HMMMM

Evie is super independent, and yet she loves her "Momee!"  Yes, Evie says Mommy these days and it is music to my ears.  Speaking of language, Evie is coming on strong in that department.  She will most surely hold her own with Lily.  She signs and says "Please," "Thank You," "All Done, " and "More."  She calls for "Momee," "Daaaady," "Diddi" (for Lily), "Pupa," and "Momee" (for Memaw).  When she isnt saying words she is just singing and squealing.  Her delight is so tangible.

Evie still gives the best snuggles and the best kisses.  She is just fun.  Plain and simple. 

Little Bee, I love you so much, but you are just growing too fast.  Oh you are so precious and I am loving my days with you.  We have fun little girl.  You are so strong and so determined.  You approach all that you do with abandon and are a little risk taker.  You still love to be with people and are so social.  You cry for me only occasionally and I love that you love me so.  Happy 14 months wee one.