Thankful Thursday: I'm thankful for...so many blessings!

I've been slacking on my "Thankful Thursday" posts lately. Sorry about that! So much to be thankful for this week.

For one, I'm thankful to be blessed with a home...and one that is still standing after this Monday's insane storms! We had some damage: a large branch went through our fence and kitchen window, a portion of our front gutter needs to be replaced, and a couple roof shingles are popped up. But after surveying the damage of all the surrounding neighborhoods, Brent and I realized how incredibly blessed we were with our minimal repairs.

Second, I am SO thankful to be blessed with a job...a job that I love doing, and one that provides me with such incredible opportunities. Not only do I get to express myself creatively at work - be it with website design and coding, PR, and graphic design - I also get to attend awesome educational conferences in some of my favorite cities (New York, Boston, Las Vegas), and I just adore my co-workers (Victoria and Angela, y'all have been my ROCK this week...LOVE you both!). Those opportunities have led to both personal and professional growth, most recently with a social media podcast and super fun speaking engagement, courtesy of the Social Expedition! I'm able to promote Mahaffey and myself...good stuff!

Finally, I'm thankful to have such amazing family and friends. I am so blessed to have two wonderful parents, two sisters whom I love very much (and one getting married in about two months!), a great group of friends, a husband who is truly awesome to me, and Buster the Boston Terrier...enough said.

Life is full of blessings. You just have to know where to find them. :)

"What seems to us bitter trials are often blessings in disguise."
-Oscar Wilde

Take that, 20 miles!

For those who don't know, my first 20-mile training run didn't go that well. So needless to say, I was pretty nervous about this go-round. Not only was I running this ridiculous distance alone (again), but I was also concerned about how my knees were going to hold up.

I've been going to physical therapy for a little over a month now, and it's amazing how much it has helped. The stretching and strengthening exercises for my IT bands (the root of my knee issues) have truly worked wonders. I've also been reading up on the Hanson's "less is more" training plan.

I had planned to run 18-20 miles on Saturday, but really just wanted to get through whatever my body would let me. I am SO excited to say that I made it through 20.5 miles, and I actually felt good afterward! I only stopped at mile 8 to take Gu, mile 11 to stretch for 30 seconds, mile 15 to take another packet of Gu, and mile 17 to stretch for 30 seconds. A few months ago, I would've beat myself up for stopping at all. But seeing as how I have been doing the "run a mile walk 30 seconds" plan for so long, yet didn't feel the need to do that this time (my longest run EVER), I was extremely proud of myself!

No music, no running buddy...just me and the open road. Bring it, Country Music Marathon!

20.5 miles courtesy of Casey at OrthoMemphis, a harsh ice bath, and so many people who have encouraged me throughout my training. :)

P.S. I am SO getting a shirt made like this!

Seriously...a diet?!

Okay, don't freak out...I'm not going on a "diet," per se. But now having a history of kidney stones, I have been put on a low-oxalate diet for pretty much the rest of my life. Just fabulous.

So, this is all pretty boring stuff. And to be honest, I didn't give it much thought until this morning when I felt a small nagging pain in my lower back. I know it's not another stone, but it did get me thinking; so I gave my lovely do-not-eat list a good once-over. I consume so much of these products on a daily basis...not good. I guess it's time to officially go on a "diet."

Here is a link to high-oxalate foods I'm supposed to avoid. Green beans, draft beer, strawberries, and cereals are all on the list. Awesome. Oh yeah, so is tofu...there goes my plan of becoming a vegetarian.

Overview
Oxalates are compounds found in many foods and may be one source that leads to the formation of kidney stones. According to MayoClinic.com, kidney stones develop when there is not enough fluid in urine to dilute mineral and acid buildup. Oxalic acid, the byproduct of ingested oxalates, is one factor that can become out of balance. High oxalate levels in urine and plasma may work to create calcium oxalate, the substance that forms some kidney stones. Neutralizing the oxalate levels in your diet may help prevent problems with your kidneys and improve overall health.

My instructions:

1. Limit your intake of high-oxalate foods. Cut down on green leafy vegetables, chocolate and caffeine drinks, such as soda or tea (not including green tea...thank goodness!). Brewed coffee is OK, but stay away from instant coffee mixes. Other foods to limit include cereals (dammit!), bran, nuts, black pepper, and soy sauce.
   
   
2. Increase your intake of low-oxalate foods. Include lean meats (turkey meat...thank you!), green tea (morning ritual...thank you!), bananas, cherries, mushrooms, cauliflower, cabbage, and most berry fruits...but I have to stay away from strawberries. :(. Shifting your diet away from foods that contain high levels of oxalates is the best way to eliminate the acid from your body.
   
   
   
3. Drink plenty of water each day (I'm a runner...duh). One factor in the formation of kidney stones is low levels of liquid in urine. Drinking water will counteract that problem and neutralize oxalate. Monitor your water intake to ensure you drink at least eight glasses or more of water daily.
   
   
4. Add 2 cups of calcium-fortified orange juice to breakfast (luckily I already drink a glass of low acid juice every morning). Citrus juices contain citric acid and may neutralize some products in urine, including oxalic acid. Science has yet to prove this, but MayoClinic.com lists citrus juice as one alternative medicine for treatment of kidney stones.

For more information on this oh-so-interesting topic, visit http://www.livestrong.com/article/268569-how-to-neutralize-oxalates-in-a-diet/.

Wedding Planning...my second career!

Too bad I wasn't working for Mahaffey during my wedding planning...it would have ROCKED!! It still did, in my opinion, so that's all that matters. :)

I have the incredible honor of being my sister Laura's Matron of Honor, and I've had so much fun being involved in all her planning. From dress shopping to venue hunting to photographer selecting to shower planning to designing save the dates, invitations, and other stationary...this time we've spent bonding, having fun, and just being silly with each other has been more rewarding than I ever could have imagined.

After Cary's sweet proposal!

We've gotten so close over the past few years, and I feel so blessed to call this beautiful woman my sister - just as I feel for our younger sis, Ashley. :) Family is truly the most precious gift from God, and I'm so grateful to finally understand the true meaning of that gift.

Her wedding is taking place at the absolutely stunning Heartwood Hall this June...and I'll be sure to post a few more blogs before and after the big day.

Check out her and Cary's FABULOUS wedding website:
http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/LauraGlankler&CaryCheston

Congratulations, sweet Sis!! I can't wait to stand beside you on your most special day! :)

Bad Company Corrupts Good Character

Just a quickie post today...

This is a favorite verse of mine, and one that rings true more so now than ever. I like to consider myself a positive person, and I take pride in trying to find the good in everything. However, it's been very hard as of late, so I decided to post this as a reminder to remove myself from negative situations and people who try to put you there.

Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."
1 Corinthians 15:33

Marathon Training: 20 miles...or not

So...Saturday was scheduled to be my longest run to-date: 20 miles.

I started out feeling good, though I had to deal with colder than normal temps and a slightly nagging knee pain. Oh yeah, and I was going to be running all 20 totally alone. I haven't run with music in over three years, so I didn't want to mess with my routine this far in. So off I went...

About six miles in, my left knee started screaming at me. Awesome. It's always been my right knee and/or hip giving me issues, while the left side never justified so much as a thought. I started walking for a few minutes to see if that helped, then tried to run a mile or two. Not so much. I pushed through the pain, knowing how stupid that was (side note: after the 2007 St. Jude Half Marathon, I had to take 8 months off from running due to completely screwing up my knee and IT band) and made it through 12 miles. Granted the last six were mostly a brisk walk, but I still marked it down as a solid 12.

After basically crawling up my driveway in pain, I completely broke down. About 1,000 thoughts ran through my head...how did I get here again? Why did I even sign up for the marathon? Can I really do this? I'm so not enjoying running right now...wait, what did I just say?! Ugh, I hate this!

Then it hit me. I did this to myself!! I got so wrapped up in the amazing "runner's high" that many of us runners experience, and that's all I did. No cross training mixed in, if I stretched at all it was nowhere near enough, and my mindset was totally off.

That was it...that was the day I decided to start singing a different tune. I immediately called OrthoMemphis and set up an appointment for physical therapy. The one good thing about meeting your extremely high insurance deductible? Everything else for the year is FREE!! :) I also started reading Marathoning the Hansons' Way, which follows the less-is-more plan (booya 20-miler!). We'll see how it goes!

Wish me luck...more to come on my training and PT experience!

Fabulous Las Vegas with some fabulous co-workers!

What a wonderful job I have! Not only was I able to travel to fabulous Las Vegas for an exciting conference for our industry, but I was finally on a trip with some of my FAVORITE co-workers!

I arrived late Sunday afternoon and headed straight to my resort: the stunning Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas! Luckily the majority of the conference took place here, otherwise I probably would have been stuck somewhere like the Luxor (sorry, work peeps). My room wasn't ready upon check-in, so I decided to pick up all of our conference materials. The front desk then called to let me know it would be at least another 2 hours before I got into my room, so I made my way down the strip to the fabulous Fashion Show Mall...what's a trip to Vegas without shopping?! I did minimal damage, at least in my opinion (Brent begs to differ, I'm sure), ate a wonderful sushi lunch at hot spot Ra, and headed back to the hotel.

View from my terrace!

That night, I met up with my friends and co-workers, Cherie and Clint, who had been attending a different conference all day. We watched the spectacular Sirens of TI show in front of Treasure Island, then headed inside for a delicious meal at Isla Mexican Kitchen. If you've never been, it is a MUST. Their margaritas and guacamole selection are to die for!! After that, we waddled our way back to Cosmo for a few drinks at the exquisite Chandelier Bar. It was just after 11pm when I turned in...though it was after 1am my time!

Chandelier Bar at Cosmo

Monday kicked off with a run down the Las Vegas Strip. This is always a favorite to-do while in Vegas. Not only for the exercise, but for the excellent people-watching. If you go early enough (before 8am), you get the pleasure of seeing at least a dozen women doing their walk-of-shame back to a hotel, car, or wherever. It's quite awesome. Around 10am, I started manning our promo booth. That afternoon, a consultant and friend of mine and I had lunch at Blue Ribbon Sushi...the food was just okay, but the service was excellent! I would plan on going back, however, the prices were somewhat ridiculous. The rest of the afternoon was spent promoting our booth...

The whole premise of this conference was for Mahaffey to move into more of a marketing partner role vs. being an average vendor. In order to do that, I came up with an idea to host a video booth, where attendees and exhibitors could come and film a 1-2 minute video promoting their business and telling viewers what strategies they learned and were excited to bring back and implement within their own business. Mahaffey's name is attached to each video, which we called a Mahaffey EventCast (on a Mahaffey-branded YouTube channel), and our name was the talk of the tradeshow floor!

Monday night, the ladies attended the Event Solutions Spotlight Awards, which we were named a finalist for Rental Company of the Year. Though we didn't walk away with the top prize, we were happy for a rental partner of ours. The event itself was mediocre at best...we paid something like $150 per person and didn't even get so much as a light hors d'oeuvres selection!? We made up for it, though, with good company and a trip to the Cheesecake Factory!

Cherie, me, and Angela

Tuesday was a great day, kicked off with another nice run down the strip! It was a long day at the tradeshow, filming company after company, hearing what makes them stand out and their top takeaways from the conference. Mahaffey's Catersource Video Booth a great success!

As soon as the show ended, my super fun co-workers invited me to join them on "The Roller Coaster" at New York New York, which luckily happened to be directly in between both of our hotels. If you haven't ridden this coaster, it is a MUST do! SOOO much fun!

We loved it!!

After that, we all got ready and headed over to Lavo at the Palazzo...another Vegas to-do! I have eaten here twice before, though none of my friends had. Once again, it did not disappoint! Everything from the calamari to the flatbread pizza to the salmon to the incredible wine selection and more is just heavenly! Once we finished our amazing meal, the five of us (Cherie, Clint, Angela, Josh, and myself) made our way over by limo (the said cheaper mode of transportation) to MGM Grand, where we attended KA by Cirque du Soleil. Amazing doesn't even begin to describe this show! It was hands down the most acrobatic, entertaining show I've ever seen. What a treat to go to something so fun with such fun people! The night quickly faded into a blur...but what an exciting blur it was!! ;)

Love me some Angela! :)


The Mahaffey crew! :)


hahaha!

Wednesday was another long conference day...especially after only three hours sleep (so worth it, though!). A big thank you goes out to my friend coffee. Most of the group headed back to Memphis that afternoon, with the exception of Angela and myself. Once I wrapped up our booth and even filmed a marketing promo (more info on that to come soon!), I met up with Angela at Caesar's Palace for more shopping. Once again, I claim only minimal damage to my bank account. :) That night, we ordered some scrumptious room service and turned in early. It was back to Memphis on Thursday!

I sure do love Vegas, but it's always nice to return home. And this time, I was coming home with a new found respect and admiration for both my amazing co-workers and my job, which allows for incredible opportunities like this!

Marathon Training: 18 miles!

I haven't done a very good job of logging my training, but I promise to start!

Today was 18, and I have to admit I was EXTREMELY nervous! It's been almost three weeks since the kidney stone ordeal, and my longest run has been 16 miles (the day I went to the ER).

14 miles was a breeze. Autumn and I actually started our run/walk plan (run a mile, walk 30 seconds, run a mile, walk 30 seconds, etc.) for this distance, and it worked really well. With this being my longest distance ever, you can imagine the uneasiness. My legs did start feeling a little like lead come mile 12, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared. 16 miles was even better. I didn't feel achy at all during the run...though we all know what happened after. :/

But 18...I wasn't sure how this was going to go. Autumn had just informed me that she wouldn't be doing the marathon, as she has a stress fracture in her foot. As much as it bums me that I won't be running with her (my awesome motivator), I know it's eating her alive not to be able to run with me. This was going to be her first "just for fun" marathon, and she won't be able to do it. :(

However, Autumn came up with an awesome plan to keep me on track. I would run the first 9-10 by myself, then she would catch up and ride her bike next to me the rest of the way. It sounds so silly...and I'm quite sure it looked exactly like that. But it worked! She set her gears to the lowest setting and encouraged me the entire 8 miles back to our car! (We have come to LOVE the Shelby Farms Greenline for training, so I left her to get some studying done at Republic Coffee, ran 9 miles one way, turned around, got a mile back, then we finished together.)

While she was itching to get in some exercise as well, Autumn definitely could've gone off and done her own thing on the bike...but she was determined to be there for my longest run. Now that's a friend for you!

More training posts to come!

The Power of a Kidney Stone

The phrase "it brought me to my knees" took on a whole new meaning for me last week.

For months, I was dealing with some major health issues...from unbearable pressure in my lower back to dealing with hypoglycemic symptoms to blood in the urine. After a few trips to the urologist and one to my OB-GYN, they found a couple small kidney stones. Of course that was after a lovely bill from a CT scan, cath test, and who knows how many other tests. Thankfully everyone was in agreement that my running had nothing to do with any of this. :) The urologist assured me that the blood was just from an infection and being that the stones were so "microscopic," I shouldn't even feel them pass. HE. WAS.WRONG.

The Saturday before last, I had the incredible honor of being invited to go wedding dress shopping with one of my closest friends! It was such a fun day (once we got there, at least). We were meeting at Kelly's at 6:45 that morning, as her appointment was at 9 and the place was about an hour and a half away. Around 6:15, I had my first attack of the day. After about 10 minutes, the pain went away, and I finished getting ready. I was a little nervous about it happening again, but went about my day anyway. About an hour into our drive to Low's Bridal Shop, another attack came on. This one was worse than the first...I started sweating profusely, and the pain became unbearable. I laid across the back seat of Kelly's Jeep, across her sister and Molly (thanks again, ladies!). Thankfully I passed out for a minute. A few minutes later, we stopped, and I was able to get out and use the restroom. I felt fine after that and didn't have another episode for the remained of the day.

Sunday was a different story. I ran 16 miles with Autumn that morning, and oddly enough, it was one of my best training runs to date. I felt great the whole time and was totally pain-free! We started super early, as we both needed enough time to get ready for church. Around 11am, just before we were about to leave, I started feeling really sick. Then came the back pressure. I tried laying down on the bed to see if stretching helped, but that only made it worse. Then it hit me...it was the most EXCRUCIATING pain I've EVER felt! It was like someone was beating my kidney with a steel hammer, while stabbing and yanking it out with a knife...all at the same time.

At first, Brent thought I was just being a wuss and needed the heating pad. I could barely speak, but managed to get out that I needed to go to the ER right away. He said I would be fine, just needed to lay still for a few minutes, and it would pass. He left to go to Walgreens to pick up some Tylenol Extra Strength and a heat wrap. In the 5 minutes he was gone, I called him twice, called my dad, and was about to dial 911. Never had I ever been in that much pain, and it wasn't letting up even the slightest bit. Finally, I convinced Brent it wasn't your average back pain (maybe it was the ridiculous shrieking that did the trick?!), and he drove me to the ER.

We got there around 12:15pm...four hours and 45 minutes of me screaming my head off and causing more ruckus than in all my 28 years of living, I was finally admitted into a room. It was 30-45 minutes of excruciating pain followed by 20 minutes of just numbing pain followed by another 30-45 minutes of excruciating pain followed by 20 minutes of numbing pain. It went on like that the entire time in the waiting room. About three hours in, I was at least put on fluids, as they needed me to have something in my stomach for when I was finally given pain meds...which were AWESOME, by the way! If you've never taken Dilaudid, take my word for it!! Not trying in any way to promote an addiction to pain killers, but for someone in the amount of pain I was in, this stuff works!

A few hours, another CT scan (confirming a 3-4mm stone), and three more injections of Dilaudid, and I was finally able to go home. I have to throw in that my amazing parents were up there with Brent and me the entire time. :)

The doctor told me I would pass it by the next day...umm, not so much. I had three episodes on Monday, two not-so-bad ones on Tuesday (even went into work for a few hours), and had the stone removed by cystoscopy on Wednesday. I went into work for a half day Thursday and was back to myself and totally pain-free by Friday. Madness, I tell you! Madness that cost us about $5,000...not awesome.

Through it all (aside from the first few minutes of not taking me seriously on Sunday), Brent was absolutely amazing. He never left my side, made me soup for every meal, carried me from the couch to the bed, brought me TCBY (my fave!), and showed me more love than I could've ever imagined. I am so thankful for him and feel so blessed to call him my husband.

Now that that's behind me, I'm just hoping to stay injury-free until marathon day!!

Thankful Thursday: I'm thankful for...being able to unplug!

Being a marketer and in today's world of smart phones and other innovative devices, I have to say that I embrace the fact that I am always "plugged in." However, it was incredibly refreshing to be out of the country for five days without access to email, the internet, Facebook, etc.

My super fun aunt invited me to join her and her friends in Cabo San Lucas for a few days of fun in the sun. With the insane winter we've had here in Memphis this year, I was itching to travel to an exotic locale and spend a few days on a luxurious boat!

The whole trip was planned around the Cabo Half Marathon...running is always a great travel incentive for me (though I didn't need ANY kind of incentive to make my way to the beach!). The race was canceled, however, but we still managed to get in a 10-miler one day and at least 5 miles every other morning...all with a scenic view of the Pacific!!

We ate at the most AMAZING restaurants (Hacienda El Coyote, Edith's, The Office on the beach, Senor Sweets, and more), drank some incredible Mexican wine, made a trip to Cabo Wabo (woop!), had the wonderful Captain Edgar take us out on the boat for a day (which my aunt had catered...so yum!), played with sea lions and saw a couple whales, dolphins and a sea turtle, chilled at the nearby resort pool, took advantage of the flea market, and even watched Don Juan DeMarco on our last evening (my first time to see the awesomeness that was this movie). It was the most wonderful, relaxing, and refreshing vacation I've ever had! And the fact that I was able to stay unplugged (with the exception of a couple text messages and one quick phone call a day to Brent) made it that much sweeter!

So thank you, Aunt Mignon, for such an amazing vacation. You are the best, and I can't wait to go back!! :)

The boat!

I love pirates!

Love you, Aunt Mignon!

Dinner at Edith's

The roommates

Sea lions!

El Arco...gorgeous!

Our friend, Pancho

Running buddies!

I love me some tequila! :)

Last night at Hacienda El Coyote

Tamarind Margarita...YUM!!

Cabo Wabo!!