May 22, 19_ _

YAY FOR MY SWEET MOM'S BIRTHDAY!!As selfless as my mom is, she deserves a day in which SHE receives all of the attention! The list of my favorite things about my sweet Mom could go on and on, and if you know her (or even if you're one of my blog readers), you know what a wonderful person she is. Just yesterday, someone came up to me and said, "I saw your mom yesterday. She is such a beautiful person!" My response: "I know. And she's just as beautiful on the inside too!" I hope to be half the person she is one day.

Allow me to share the most recent favorite memory of her. As you may remember, she went with me to Nashville a few weeks ago when I ran the half marathon. Now, let me preface what I'm about to say by letting you know that my mother is not really an outdoor person and she absolutely hates to sweat. HATES IT. I knew that going with me to the race wasn't exactly her cup of tea. She'd much rather be at home drinking coffee and doing a Sodoku.

So, she's with me at the marathon and it's really really hot. We got there around 5:45, and by the time the marathon started and I found her after, it was nearly 10:00. Do the math, friends. That's over 4 hours in which my mom stood BY HERSELF, waiting to watch me cross the finish line just because she knew how important it was for me to see her there. She was my motivation. It brought me such encouragement to me knowing that she and my friend Shannon were there cheering me on!

After the race, while searching amongst THOUSANDS of people looking for my mom, I envisioned seeing her miserably hot and sweaty and ready to leave! Instead though, the second I saw her, she was literally jumping up and down with her hands in the air cheering for ME! She was my number one fan that day and I definitely couldn't have done it without her support!

So, happy birthday to my wonderfully amazing mom! You're loved by so very many!