Part I:
January: This was
a month of mixed emotions, early in the month I had the opportunity to attend
one of my best friends weddings in L.A.
Chrisi was a great friend of mine who I met when we both worked at BYU
Info and years later we reconnected randomly to become roommates in Santa
Monica. She has always been such an
awesome friend and so supportive in every way.
It was such a beautiful day and leave it to Chris to pull of the wedding
in such style. Very clear from the
beautiful reception that she’s a designer.
The end of the month was bittersweet as my amazing Grandma
McLeod passed away. It’s weird how time
and love and loss can make you see the perspective in things. After my Grandpa McLeod passed away 11 years
before, I think Grandma surprised us all with her strength to carry on
alone. And to be honest, that was a
great lesson that she taught me. Grandma
was truly one of a kind: she relished her role of being a Mom and Grandma, was
honest (sometimes painfully so J),
thoughtful, funny, appreciative of life and where she was at, up on the trends
(from Dancing with the Stars and the Bachelor to dressing to the nines for
family dinner) and unabashedly in love with chocolate: sometimes 3-4 runs a
week for Lindt Truffles. I love my
Grandma and miss her every day. Every
once in a while I’ll still make cookies and have extra and think to run them
over to her and realize I can’t L I am so proud to be a part of the legacy that
my Grandma has left and see bits of her and my Grandpa in every single member of
the McLeod/Pulley bunch.
February: Happy Valentine’s Day!!! Someone left this cute note and bag on my
car. Was a great lesson to me to
remember the little things, it sure made a difference for me!
April: As
long as I could remember in the back of my head I’ve thought, “it would be
pretty cool to be able to run a marathon”, so I signed up for the S.L. Marathon
several months prior. Well, all was fine
and dandy, except for the fact that even though I was running and felt great,
those long runs went the way of the wind and before I knew it the day of the
marathon snuck up on me. I can’t lie I
really did go back and forth as to if I would even be ready. If this is any indication, when I went to the
registration fair, one of the volunteers upon hearing how little I had trained
said “you know, you can always switch to the half”, but then I started thinking
about it, Amber told me to just go for it and that she knew I could do it and I
decided yes! The next morning I woke up
to a total downpour and almost had to laugh.
What an incredible experience though and one I’ll never forget! Can I just say? There is no way I would’ve crossed the finish
line without my family and friends. They
are amazing! I ran the first bit by
myself, then Amber joined in with me and we ran several miles until we passed
my parents house where my whole family was standing out with signs, bananas,
cheers, etc… I felt so loved! Then Ky picked up and ran with me (total
trooper considering his non rain appropriate gear J)for several miles, then we
met up with Jen and again Jen ran with me for a long stretch then I connected
with my friend Lisa from work who ran with me and kept my spirits up. The last few miles I was joined by Am, Ky and
Tay and we laughed, hurt, chatted and celebrated until the last mile where they
left me to finish out where my cute mom and dad were waiting for me there at
the finish line. It was seriously a memory I’ll never forget.
