“10 Things Science Says will Make You Happy.”

Read the original article here: “10 Things Science Says will Make You Happy.”

The list, paraphrased, is:

1. Stop and enjoy the present. (matthew 6.34)
   
2. Don’t compare yourself to the Joneses. (exodus 20.17)
   
3. Don’t obsess over money. (1 tim 6.10)
   
4. Aspire to leave an imprint. (john 10.10)
   
5. Be intrinsically motivated on the job. (colossians 3.23,24)
   
6. Build a supportive network of family and friends (hebrews 10.24,25; e.g. early church)
   
7. Act optimistic even if you have to fake it. (romans 12.12)
   
8. Gratitude, baby, gratitude. (1 thessalonians 5.18)
   
9. Exercise is all good. (1 corinthians 6.19)
   
10. Givers gain. (acts 20.35)

My first half marathon!

Well I made it! After 3 months of training, I finally crossed the finish line! It was the most bittersweet moment I've ever had. I was so emotional about finishing so I was trying not to look like the crazy lady out there. I was so happy and proud to cross the finish line, but my body was in so much pain, I wasn't comfortable standing, walking, sitting, laying, etc.....Everything hurt! But it was over and I got to go home and eat roast that I had put on the night before and take a nap under my new snuggly blanket! The pain is still in effect today, but I'm adjusting to it I guess as I don't notice it as much. I think next time I do a half or especially if I do the full, I will take the next day off work. It has been so hard to be alert and moving around today. I want to still be in bed eating and watching movies! My sister-in-law, Whitney, and I are trying to convince Scott and Daniel to train for a half and we'll all run it together. I think that would be really awesome, but feel like I haven't been a very good example to him of what it's like! haha

Well enough yapping, here are some pictures of the day!

Ready to go!!

When I still had knees
A little sleepy, but ready to go!
Starting to get a little nervous
Action shot at mile 13 just .1 more to go!!
Haha do you see me? I got really excited when I saw Daniel!!!
So tired and so glad I'm done running for the day!
Don't worry I had walked around a little and stretched before I let myself crash against a wall
Feelin' the runner's high with my medal!
Runner's got free leg massages after their race! It was obviously my favorite part!

My other favorite part of the day was the cake that Daniel let me buy from Corner Bakery for a job well done. I don't have a picture of it, but believe me, it was AWESOME!!!!

So long story short, I've done one....taking a break.....start back up in 2009 for my next one!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

This is best blanket I've snuggled in, in a while! Daniel let me buy one Monday night at Restoration Hardware if I promised to not use it until after Christmas. I'm hoping that I can act pitiful enough Sunday after the half marathon, that he will let me come home and snuggle up under it! Anyway, you should look into getting one! They're amazing!

We've pretty much finished up all of our Christmas shopping and I even have our tree full of presents! We are having a progressive dinner with a couple of our friends tomorrow night and by then the house will be completely decorated inside and out. I will take more pictures then, but this is all I have of our tree thus far.

It's cold here and now feels like Christmas. I think it is going to be short lived though. Sunday it needs to be warm and then after that I don't care!!!! I love this time of year!

Good Message!

http://iamsecond.com/

Belated Gobble Gobble

Oh what fun the Holiday's are with family. Thanksgiving just made me that much more anxious for Christmas to get here!! I had so much fun with my family....all the running, eating, footballing, visiting, laughing....well you get the point. We left for Abilene Wednesday night after work. Ugh traffic was awful. But we finally made it there safe and sound. Thursday morning Thomas, Jenn, Jakson, Landon, Shae and me went and ran in the Turkey trot.

Here is my pre race action shot. Mom looks excited!

Who says you can't find beauty in Abilene. What a great view first thing in the morning!

Look at those trees! God's creation is amazing!!!

Thomas finished in 18 minutes! That was like a leisurely stroll for him

I finished in 27 minutes. I realized after the race I was so slow because of that sweatshirt....and the horrible allergy attack that ravaged my head about 10 seconds after crossing the finish line.

The Thomas Talley's pre race pose

All of the runner's after our races!

That afternoon Mom, Daniel and I drove out to Winter's for the Bahlman family reunion. It has been on Thanksgiving Day for something like 30 years. We eat Bar-B-Q.....for Thanksgiving dinner. At least it is good.....actually the best I've ever eaten. We had a good time visiting with family and singing till we could no longer make noise.

Me and Granny

Granny, Aunt Pat, Mom, Aunt Doris and Me

Daniel enjoyed the many photo ops that the trip to Winters presented. The next few picture are pretty common sights that I grew up around.

My mom spent most of her growing up years in fields like this picking cotton. We just had to stop and capture the view!

Me and Mom putting up the Christmas tree on Friday night


Right before the picture took Daniel told me to look surprised. What do you think? Mission accomplished?

Ah, West Texas sunsets!

And now for the biggest news yet. Saturday I ran 10 miles in 1 hour and 28 minutes! I was so excited. I now feel like I can confidently tackle the half marathon that is now less than 2 weeks away!! After I finished my run that morning, we went and watched the ACU football game. They suffered their first loss and it was freezing cold, but I'm glad we went. It felt good to be there.

Last night Daniel and I decorated our house, so you can be sure there will be pictures up soon of our night o fun!!

This past weekend my sister and her in-laws came in to town for the Cowboys game on Sunday. Anytime, I am with the McNeill clan, I can be sure that by the time they leave my abs will have had a serious workout (you know, from all the laughing). Long story short we had quite a bit of fun.



If you know me at all, you know that I have a small army of nieces and nephews. They make my world go round! I got the pleasure of spending this weekend with two of them. We had such a special time on Saturday morning as they had their grand opening of "cafe coffee". They made a sign and hung it in our kitchen and handed out coffee and muffins to everyone for breakfast. They were such big helpers that the big spenders in the family even tipped them for their good service!

Ethan really wanted to play the part so we found him Daniel's aTm chef hat and apron. What a vision in maroon!!!

Here is Kathryn getting some water out of the fridge. Who drinks water for breakfast? Especially at Cafe Coffee, the best coffee in town!

The biggest news of the weekend was definitely when Ethan hit his first really big milestone.....other than walking, talking, starting kindergarten and eating whole pizzas. He lost his first tooth and got his first visit from the tooth fairy! He was so excited and precious that it brought a little mist to my eyes. I'm such a sucker!

This next weekend we'll be with 3 of my other kids.....well my brothers kids! I am looking soooo forward to having a few days off work and hanging out with family. That might be my favorite thing in the world! I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and is safe traveling!!!

Has it really been a week?

I really do want to blog more than just once a week, but the week seems to go by so fast that I always feel that I just posted something. Oh well, enough with the excuses!

Last night I went to see Coldplay. They are just phenomenal! That's really the only word I can find to describe them. I am really sad that I don't have any pictures to document it. Our tickets said in all caps NO CAMERAS OR RECORDERS. So, since our only camera now is worth more than a pot o gold, we did not risk taking ours. However, I think we were probably the only people in the entire AA Center that did not have a camera. While Coldplay was fantabulous, I certainly had my reservations about one of their opening acts. The first band that went on was actually pretty good. I really enjoyed their pedal steel. Then, this other techno sort of thing came on. The "music" he was making was ok. It kind of reminded me of Enigma. BUT, he did this weird psychadelic video thing with it. Just to let you know how weird it was, Daniel's exact words were "who sits at home and dreams up this crap?" It was just weird.

In other news, we are going to finish our kitchen lighting project tonight. We had 4 total to install and have done one, leaving us 3 to do tonight. It should make the kitchen alot cozier and alot less flourescent. Speaking of cozy, it is supposed to get really cold tonight and I think I'm going to make Daniel make a fire in the fireplace.

Another home project we are going to tackle (after the Holidays) is replacing the floors in a few rooms. I think we will do wood in the kitchen, dining, formal living, and entry. If anyone has done this before and has some great DIY advice, we'd love to hear it!

So my half marathon is about 3 weeks away. I really hope I'm as ready as I think I am. I guess I will find out this Saturday as I have a 12 mile run ahead of me. The weather will be quite different from what I'm used to running in, but probably more along the lines of what the race day weather will be like. I just really need to work on being calm about the race and not getting so nervous to just run. I'll keep you posted.

I apologize for all of the rambling as you probably have not made this far into the post due to boredom. If you have read this though, thank you for your interest!

Ode to Claire!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

She is receiving an "ode" because I missed her 1st Birthday because I was at an Aerosmith concert! Therefore I'm trying to make up for it 2 years later!!

Claire is the sweetest hearted little thing you will ever meet! She continues to steal my heart everytime I see her! Enjoy the pictures of this sweet little angel.

Claire, I hope you have a wonderful birthday and Uncle Daniel and Aunt Tiff love to pieces and pieces!!!

What a Week

It has been quite a week hasn't it? So much so that I couldn't even figure out what to blog about. Where do I start? Perhaps I could start with how much fun we had last weekend....we were smurfs for Halloween. We won best overall costume at our Halloween Party, but I think it was a pity win because I yelled our names to be nominated to be funny and then everyone was like "well they did paint their faces". I guess a victory is a victory....although I feel that I cheapened it with my nomination. Before our party we went and early voted. We made a lot of new friends as people were eager to talk to us, children wanted our autographs, and some old British man said he wanted to hang me on a wall like a picasso painting....creeeeper

And with my victory on Friday night and all that standing in line to vote, Tuesday night I, and many other Republicans were defeated. It was a sad night for me. I didn't sleep well and boy was a grouchy at work on Wednesday. I feel alot better now after realizing that the fate of our country is not in the hands of me, John McCain, Barak Obama, George W or anyone else. It is in the hands of God and find alot of comfort in that.....no matter the outcome.

On another note I am still training hard for my half marathon on December 14. I am starting to get a little nervous about it. I think it is just nervousness due to the unknown. I've never ran in any sort of race like this so I'm not quite sure what to expect. Speaking of....a quick shout out...Bonnie I hope you read this entry because I know you are running the white rock half and I was going to ask if I can run with you? Unless you have some rediculously awesome time and then, nevermind.....I will not be running that fast.

Lastly, I want to ask everyone to pray for a friend of mine. My friend Taylor called me last Friday with news that her mom had been diagnosed with colon cancer. Since that time, they have gotten a fairly good report that they removed all the cancer, but will still do chemo for several months just to make sure they get it all. Cancer is a scary thing and to be real honest it gives me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I really just want to ask everyone (whether you know Taylor or me at all) to pray for complete healing for her mom.

I hope everyone has a great Friday and wonderful and safe weekend!

New pictures with the new D80!

Daniel here - i think this is my first actual post to this thing. I've been having fun with the new camera - although i still have a LOT to learn about how to use it. here are a few shots i liked...