Brinley's 6th Birthday

Our little girl turned 6 on May the 4th, aka Star Wars Day. In order to get in all of the celebrations we had to start a few days early. We went over to celebrate with Mimi and Pap a couple of days before her actual birthday. We had dinner, cake and then Brinley opened her presents. She had asked for some time to have a bunny cake. So Jennifer made this amazing creation!

She had asked for some time to have a bunny cake. So Jennifer made this amazing creation!

Mimi even had this awesome towel that are words I could live by.

The part that Brinley was most excited about was when we cut into the cake. She had no idea that it was 5 different colored layers inside.

Mimi and Pap gave Brinley a tent for her birthday. I set it up in the basement and the kids camped out in it for about a week. They loved it, but of course the big debate was wether or not to keep the door on it closed or not. Maybe someday we will make it into the outdoors!

Going to bed as a 5 year old for the last time!

For the last 5 years we have had a birthday party and we always have a great time. This year we kind of waited too late/ didn't want to hassle with all the bells and whistles of a party. So, we asked her a couple of weeks before the party if instead of a party if she just wanted to pick every single thing we did for the day. She picked to have her own special day.

Brinley asked for cinnamon toast for breakfast. I got a little creative and cut her's out with some cookie cutters.

Brinley having a May birthday means that she will spend most of her childhood at school on her birthday. So, the age old debate continues between summer and school birthdays. I always hated having to go to school on my birthday, but I always remember my sister saying in the summertime that she wished her's was so that she could see all of her friends. However, she never had to take a test or do homework on her birthday. The debate continues....but at least this year Brinley was excited! Jennifer and I took some cupcakes to school for her and her friends. They all sang happy birthday to her while she was in front of the class. She got really embarrassed, but it was cute.

 After school Landon and I were waiting for her with six balloons for the 6 year old.

Brinley picked to go to Skyzone after school for a little fun adventure.

Brinley trying out the moving ladder. She has never gotten more than a few rungs of the ladder before tipping it over. Today would have been the same, except one of the workers noticed how much it was moving and came over to try and hold it steady for her during the duration of the climb. She actually made it to the end. I made a point to thank the young man because I know that it meant a lot to Brinley to make it that far. 

Playing a little trampoline dodge ball.

Shooting a little hoops while Landon watches his big sis.

Brinley picked to go to Olive Garden. I was surprised by this because I didn't think it was her favorite place. However, after dinner I found out that she didn't pick her favorite place of Texas Roadhouse because she didn't want them to sing to her like they did a couple of years before on a birthday. Oh well, we informed her that next year if she wanted we wouldn't have to tell the place of her choice that it was her birthday if she didn't want them to sing to her.

My kids are trained well to take pictures. Later in life they will either be  picture fanatics or hate them all together. We had a couple of people in the background for this picture too.

After Olive Garden we headed over to the mall so that we could go to the next place that Brinley picked, Build-A-Bear. We first went here a few months ago for Brinley completing her sight words. On her birthday she picked out another one of her favorite animals, a new bunny. Most people I'm sure would have assumed that I persuaded her to get the cheerleader outfit that was UK colors, but they would be wrong. She named this one Kaitlynn and even picked out the outfit all by herself.

Brinley with her new jewelry box that Grandpa got her.

Brinley with her bunny brownie and her gifts that she got for her birthday.

Grandma and Grandpa with the birthday girl. They are super proud to be grandparents and this is the first one that gave them that title.

A birthday selfie of mom and dad with our little six year old. 

To the girl that made us parents, thank you for making everyday exciting and filling our hearts with love. We are sad to see you growing up so quick before our eyes, but are excited to see what the future holds for you. Thanks for reading and God bless!

Flying Pig Half Marathon 2018

Jennifer and I have heard so many good things about the Flying Pig Marathon that we finally decided to give it a try. With no longer having to work every weekend it has allowed us to be able to do many more things that weren't options the last 6 years. Jennifer and I made the trip up to Cincinnati the day before the race and headed over to the expo to pick up our race bibs and swag. I enjoyed all of the flying pigs that they had dressed up in different attire. We also scored all kinds of free samples as well as a shirt, blanket, poster, and car decal.

Jennifer and I with a "flying pig".

The course layout for the race. We started in Cincinnati then cross a bridge into Kentucky and about 2 miles later crossed another bridge back into Ohio. Also we were warned multiple times about the massive hill. I had no idea what they were talking about but there is a huge hill that is spread out over miles 6-9. It was a beast! The only good part about it was that all of mile 11 was the descent back down that hill.

Another decorated flying pig.

We were unsure of where to park the morning of the race with all the road closures. Jennifer said it would be ok to walk over the river to the start line. We stopped on the bridge for a picture of the Cincinnati riverfront on the 1 mile walk from our hotel.

We made it to the start line with plenty of time to spare. We were in different corrals so we said good luck to each other and made our way to each of our starting gates.

I was so excited for this race. I had actually completed all of my training runs and the best part was that I didn't have any injuries during training. Those two things had never happened prior to a race day. I had high expectations for myself and I didn't want to let all that training go to waste.

I am used to taking all kinds of pictures during the race, but I knew that if I wanted to make my goal that today was not going to be a picture day. So, one last picture before I began. These were all the people I was excited about running the streets of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky with.

Just like I said, no pictures until I finished. At times the race was brutal (miles 6-9), but for the most part I felt great. I was keeping track of my times on my Apple Watch and I was doing a great job of staying on pace with my goal of sub 2 hours. When I crossed the finish line I couldn't have been more proud of myself. That was the first time after finishing a race that I felt like I had truly given it all I had.

The data that I got from my Apple Watch got me super pumped. For some reason I couldn't get it to show me the mile split times like it normally did on my training runs. It also showed that I actually ran 0.38 mile more than I needed. I can only think that this was because I was dodging in and out of other runners on the course. This of course was an unofficial time, but it was an awesome time for me!

For those of you that have never ran a longer distance race you may not know of all the different things that people hand out to you along the course. Sometimes it is just random people along the street (would not advise taking food from them) and other times it is race sponsored groups who will give you snacks, water, Gatorade, or other goodies. Sometimes these things seem to be such odd items, but tons of people take advantage of them. I only participated in a few of these this time. I had no idea what to expect when I saw a sign for hugs and kisses around mile 5. I had no desire to get a hug or kiss from a perfect stranger, but I was intrigued. As I got closer I realized that it was actually Hershey's kisses and hugs. Now we are talking. I grabbed a kiss from a perfect stranger and didn't even ask their name!

I was beyond pumped about this time. Not only was it a new Personal Record, but I shaved over 32 minutes off my previous best! This was a pretty neat medal that we got too. It is double sided and the back shows a picture of the back side of a pig.

A little while later Jennifer finished too. She also finished with a new PR and cut a little over 10 minutes off her time. I am really proud of her because she has not only been doing awesome at running in these races, but she has also pushed me to do better myself. She is my biggest fan and I am hers.

First time that I have finished a race and was greeted at the finish line with a slice of pizza. Thanks LaRosa for the slice. It really hit the spot with me after 13.1 miles!

Everybody was taking pictures with the Cincinnati skyline, but not many were giving any love to the other side of the river. Here is our picture with Kentucky - where we ran two of the miles.

Jennifer and I posing with some big block numbers. Never underestimate that 0.1 mile. It can be the most brutal little stretch!

I came, I saw, I flew with the pigs! I was literally on cloud 9 after I finished because I was so happy with my time. Now to work on getting faster for next time!

One last picture together on our long 1 mile trek back to the hotel. I don't think Jennifer was as excited about this walk back across to Kentucky because her legs were tired.

We had been in Cincinnati a few days before the race visiting the zoo and I stopped by Graeter's and I saw these cookies so I picked some up for a post race treat when we got back to the hotel. It was one of the most delicious cookies ever!

Since we had pizza and cookies we decided to go ahead and make the drive back to Lexington before eating something for lunch. Jennifer let me pick and I had been thinking about Wild Eggs for a couple of weeks. It sounded like the perfect post race meal. I think we earned it!

Last year Jennifer and I started getting more interested in running. We talked quite a bit about trying to set a realistic goal for our running future. We have heard other people that are working to accomplish a certain goal and it sounded like a great idea to us. Jennifer and I are going to try and run a half marathon in all 50 states with a little twist. We want to run 50 half's in 50 states before 50. Our progress as of right now is that Jennifer has 4 states and I have 5. We have quite a ways to go, but definitely achievable if we average 2.7 races a year. We will see how things work out, but that is our long term goal that combines two things we have interest it, running and traveling. Thanks for reading and God bless!

Rupp Arena Blood Drive

Every year the Kentucky Blood Center hosts a blood drive at Rupp Arena. Besides saving lives it comes with the extra perk that you can shoot around on the court! For any Wildcat fan this would be a dream come true. I have participated in this event for the last 5 years. This was the first year that Jennifer and the kids did not come along. Brinley had actually gotten sick at school that morning and Landon just flat out told me he didn't want to go. So, this year I headed out to Rupp by myself to donate.

They always ask you to go take your shots on the court before donating because they don't want anyone to pass out playing basketball after giving blood. There was hardly anyone there when I came in so I had my own little shoot around.

Trying to get the perfect picture.

The most important part of the visit - the actual donation.

Another little perk was that the guys from KSR were in the building doing their radio show. Ryan is the guy in the yellow shirt and Matt is right in front of him.

They actually had the replay of the 2012 National Championship game playing on the big screens!

I always think it is so cool for the cheerleaders and celebrities to spell out Kentucky. Here is my attempt at recreating it, minus about 23,000 people.

Another little freebie that they handed out were a long sleeve shirt and a tervis tumbler.

After I was done donating I was approached by one of the employees for a quote. They said that they had seen me there over the previous years and was wondering if I would talk with them. I was happy to tell them a little bit about why I donate. They took my picture and told me that it would be up on their website some time in the near future. I am not sure how long it had been up, but the other day I happened to think of it and looked it up. Here is the little story they put up about me:

Jordan Heflin

Jordan Heflin knows how important blood donation is. He sees its impact every day as a pediatric oncology / hematology nurse at the University of Kentucky Children’s Hospital.

Six years ago, Jordan began donating blood on a regular basis after realizing just how much blood young patients need. “If I can stick those kids with a needle, I can come in every two months,” he said.

Jordan also advocates for blood donation, frequently wearing his latest gallon pin and trying to convince others to become donors. It has become a favorite cause within his family, as his wife is also a UK nurse and a regular donor.

The power of blood donation hit even closer to home last year when Jordan’s father needed seven units of blood in the span of a week. The Heflin family was grateful for those who had generously donated the blood that would eventually help Jordan’s father.

“You’ll never truly know how much your donation impacts a family,” Jordan said.

So, get out there and donate! Save a life! Thanks for reading and God bless!