The Reynolds Nation

What an awesome weekend! It will go down in the book of awesomeness! After 9 weeks of training, I completed my first 5K! Yes me! Can you believe it? This coming from a person who never ever ran.  I am so excited.  I had a challenge in front of me and I took and ran...literally!     Bryn trained with me also.  Here she is with Matt after she ran the 3.1 miles. We are so proud of her!  Here Bryn is running...right before the end of the race.  She did a great job training and preparing for the race..even when she was on vacation!  Here are some picture of my cheering crowd! They were there at the end of the race and they met me half way through and cheered me on. I was so excited to see them at the halfway point...more motivation to keep on running! Here I am at the end of the race with Matt...all sweaty and hot.  Thankfully Tropical Storm Beryl was out on the Atlantic, so the day was nice and overcast. Perfe...

Matt anticipated being the only one in the office this Friday, so he made plans to bring one of the kids to work with him. Fridays are slow anyway, especially the day before a holiday weekend.  All the kids have gone with him at one time or another...they love going with him.  William hasn't gone in a long time, so Matt told him in the beginning of the week that it was his turn. William was so excited...he started counting down the days and talking about it like crazy.  Yesterday, Matt reminded him that he needs to wear a professional outfit.  Oh my, I could see the wheels turning in his head.  He thought about it ALL day and when daddy got home they picked out this outfit.  I think it took me longer to iron William's shirt than Matt's shirt...lol!  So, they just headed out this morning.  I love that Matt takes the time to do this.  He always makes each child feel so special.  It really is just about the little things. Happy Frida...

Time to embrace the camera folks.  I am adding a shot we took last week waiting for the train when Bryn left for Washington D.C.  It's a good shot of my man and me...take a moment today to embrace the camera...it's so great to see myself in pictures again! Head over and see Emily too.  She has some great shots posted this week.

Okay, so I feel like I have been on sabbatical or something.  I am still here, I promise.  I hate not posting much.  It just seems like an extremely busy season lately.  We have been finishing up our school year...subjects are finishing up and we have lots to get done. We will be officially done with school in 2 weeks.  I am so ready and so are the kids.   My 5k training is still in full swing.  I am exactly a week away from running my first 5k.  I am so excited...I can't believe that I have come this far.  It has been an incredible, exciting journey and I have loved every moment of it. This is my last week of training and I am running 30 minutes three days a week.  I feel great...my body has responded so well to it.  And after this week I will be starting my training for a 10k.  I feel like I have found my niche, you know what I mean? Our oldest, Bryn, left for Washington D.C. on Friday night with her Nana.  They went b...

Yesterday I hit my second interim goal.  I hit the 50 pounds lost mark.  WoooHooo! Can't believe it.  I did it in three months and one week.  I know super fast. But all done by healthy eating, and lots of exercise.  This is the most weight I have ever lost, and I am so proud and so excited. It has been an incredible journey. My husband Matt was the catalyst of this whole journey.  He decided in January to start a juice fast.  He had seen the movie, "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead," and he totally identified with the man who made the documentary.  He felt like he had gone to the other side when it came to his health.  And after losing his father a year ago from heart disease,  he knew he was going down that path.  I knew that I was on the brink of major health issues, and wanted to do something about it.  So, he started a complete 60 day juice fast and I started a partial juice fast.  And we got totally extreme about it too.....

 Here are two of my favorite pictures from the cruise.  We were there to celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary. Three days by ourselves.  Though we were not overly impressed by the cruise, we did enjoy being along together.  That's mighty important for the parents of five kids.  The first picture is when we were at port in Nassau and the other one when we were floating on the Atlantic.  Love my fabulous husband and all the he is and going to be. Now head on over and see Emily and take a moment today to Embrace the Camera! Have a great one!

Well, I am still not officially here yet...in mind anyway. Matt and I just got back from a wonderful cruise to the bahamas...which is why I haven't blogged in days.  I am still very tired and swaying a bit...so I will be back soon with some gorgeous photos and details of all the fun we had!!!

Matt went out yesterday for a bee inspection.  The bees have been incredibly busy...there has been a definite flow going on here in Florida.  Every day we watch the bees taking off and disappearing.  They have to be some of the most interesting creatures every created. Here is Matt by the two hives with frames laid out on the table.  He does so good...he never has been stung outside with our hives.  On the second hive, it was flowing with honey.  Matt took one of the frames out and the comb broke off because of the weight of it.  The honey just started to ooze out.  I had to hurry and grab a large bowl to put it in.  It was amazing to see how much honey was stored in this one frame of comb.  Matt pushed all the honey out the comb and started to strain it in our kitchen.  What a sticky mess, but well worth it.  Here is my man, showing off his pure goodness.  He worked hard for this first quart.  Lo...