Late night

Well it's a Saturday night and I'm being a major loser and at home! But considering I'm getting over the flu, I guess it's probably for the best that I'm just watching HGTV in bed at 11pm! Ha! 

But for some reason tonight I'm missing Haley and Greece. I don't know if it's because Thursday I discussed going to Greece with Liz or if it's b/c it felt so good outside today i wished I was sitting on the island of Corfu. But at times like this it's really annoying when one of your best friends is 8 hrs away and you can't pick up the phone and call! I think I'm also missing Spiros, it's weird that this time last year we were talking for hours! I miss how great our relationship was! He would always make me smile no matter what kind of day i was having!  

I know this is totally random post but for some reason I felt like it! 

Stronger Woman in Me!

I did it!!! I actually completed the 1/2 marathon in Phoenix without collapsing and before they closed the course! Haha! In all seriousness though, I was totally surprised by how not as bad the whole race was! Now, I must admit I definitely didn't run the whole thing but I did try to run as much as I could, I would say I ran maybe 70% and walked about 30% of the time. I finished at 3hours and 9 seconds! If only I hadn't gone to the bathroom 4 times during the race I might have come in under 3 hours, but oh well, can't do anything about that now! ha! The weather was perfect though...cold in the morning and warmed up as we ran and I even got some sun on my face! The bands along the course were great too and very energizing! I actually didn't even listen to my ipod as much as i thought i would.

Overall, the trip to Phoenix was marvelous! My trip started off with a bang when Billy, Joy, Nick and Moses picked me up from the airport in true form: radio blasting, screams out the windows, Brandi-sandwich and lots of inappropriate dancing around the car in Billy form! We all had such a great time together. The weather was so great we spent most of our days at the pool, talking, drinking and stretching! Ha! Moses (Jon) ran his first full marathon and lives in New Orleans with Billy and was a great addition to our group! We were all so sad to leave the “paradise” we found in Phoenix dry heat, great restaurants and continuously wonderful radio stations!

As I threw my arms up victoriously as I crossed the finish line, I was overwhelmed with emotion as to what I’d actually just done! I teared up a little bit and really wished my friends were close by (but with 35,000 running it took a while to find them!). But I also realized it was a great personal accomplishment and the Jewel song has been running through my head as I write this:

Well tonight I'm going to be

The kind of woman I'd want my daughter to be, oh

I'm gonna love myself more than anyone else.

Believe in me, even if someone can't see

There's a stronger woman in me

I'm gonna be my own best friend

Stick with me till the end

I won't lose myself again, never, no

Cause there's a stronger woman

Stronger woman in me!!!!!!

And I know that in the end I’m a stronger woman for conquering those 13.1 miles! And I can mark it off my list of things to do before I’m 30!! Yay!!!! God blessed me for sure on this one! 

Boas and Bachelorettes

Well it’s a Monday and I’m not gonna lie, I’m in such a FUNK!! I don’t know what it is! I’m just not in the mood to be at work or doing anything today! So I thought I’d try writing!  This weekend was great…I headed to ATL for Megan’s bachelorette weekend! Friday night we had a low key lingerie shower followed by reliving old Megan stories and the men of her past! Lots of laughter and wine! Then Saturday I actually got myself up for a 6 mile run in ATL, although I discovered a street they call “Cardiac Hill” and my legs are now paying for it. That night we tried something a little different for a Bachelorette party and went to a burlesque dance class. Don’t worry people it was all PG-rated. We all had boas and men's button down shirts to learn dance moves with. Haha! Our instructor was one of a kind and knew her moves! We had a ball though and at the end Megan got to be the star and show us all her dance moves! LOL! It was hilariously fun and different!

 

This weekend I'm off to Phoenix for "the race"! Since some of my fellow racers have backed out due to "injuries", there's only 2 of us running now. I was (and still am) very tempted to back out considering I've only ran 6 miles so far in my training...oops! Although I should be up to 10 miles, I'm still gonna give it a go and just try to COMPLETE the course before they close it! I'm hoping these little short legs can make it that far! GULP....If you could all throw up a prayer for me Sunday morning I’d appreciate all the help I can get! I’m really excited to see the group of guys/gals going to Phoenix though so it’ll be fun no matter if I make it or not! Close enough time to go home for the day! Hope y'all survived Monday! :) 

Christmas change-up, plane-up!

So the usual Bendall family Christmas occured this year...I waited patiently, staring at my Santa presents, for my sis, brother-in-law and sawyer to make it to our house! Present unwrapping began and we had a fabulous breakfast! Then for my 1/2 marathon training I got my sis and B-I-L out to Spain Park for a good 5 mile run. (Brooke said she hadn't worked out that much since giving birth! Ha!) I was pleasantly surprised to see lots of happy families trying out new toys. And many illegal mexicans freely enjoying our tax money at work.  The rest of the family arrived and we had more eating and present opening! B-I-L got a Guitar Hero so that replaced a Christmas puzzle this year! 

My cousin Les got laid off in this lovely economic time of ours and decided to enjoy his severance and figure himself out in New York for the month of December. So he was leaving the next day...he jokingly said "you should come back with me Brandi" And me being the continuous traveler that I am...thought...umm... good idea! So for kicks I checked tickets to leave the next day and VOILA...there was one decently priced!! So literally bought the ticket at 11p.m. and left the next day at 5 p.m. You only live once, right????

**Please note, I looked up at my sister with a crying baby and thought...wow...she can't do something like this...I might as well do it for her and for myself! **

Les and I had the best time ever in NYC! He'd been there long enough to know the ropes of it all very well and was staying at friend's place who was gone for the month; it was a perfect fit! I love visiting a city and getting a little sliver of that feeling of actually living there. (and not being in a hotel!) I'm sad I missed a lot of friends who live in NYC since they were home for the holidays! But we covered the city from head to toe. 

My top 5 favorite things we did:

1)Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge 

2) Saw the lovely (ha!) Clay Aiken in Spamalot (hilarious!)

3) Views from Top of the Rock

4)Wandering aimlessly through Central Park with snow on the sidewalks

5) Having a great, delicious deep talk dinner/drinks with my cousin about life

I hope everyone had a MARVELOUS Christmas and New Year!!! (i'll share my thoughts on that soon!)

One of my favorite movies this time of year is Love Actually!!! And I know many of you out there LOVE it too!! So below I have added my one of favorite scene and link to youtube to another favorite! It's hard to narrow them down! But i like the meaning of this one b/c as many of your know I love some honesty. Nothing is more honest and ballsy than what this guy does! And maybe secretly I hope someone will do this to me one day, as I'm single and available! Haha!!! Enjoy my dear friends!!! (be sure to turn up the volume on youtube!)



and then who doesn't love hugh grant dancing...not much more to say once you watch it!!!

Obsessed with Him!

Ok so my little boy Sawyer is getting bigger and bigger by the day! Now for those of you who know me, know i'm very cheap when it comes to a lot of things. One of those things including paying someone wayyyy too much money to take your picture...i mean seriously you can do a lot these days with your own digital camera, photoshop and your computer! But my dear sister has never been budget savy, which leads me to write this post. She has gotten some (admittedly) very good pictures taken of Sawyer by a professional! I've already offered up my services for his 1 year old pictures, which Matthew is a fan of but I don't think Brooke is! Haha! 

Anyways...if you're bored at work or home during this holiday season...check out my precious lil baby! And yes, great job on the photos...

www.theblinklady.com

Click on proofing and ordering, then look for gallery: BrookeB

Password: BURGESS (all caps) 

My BFF Haley!

Well many of y'all know my dear Haley Hogan. We began our friendship once upon a middle school day and she hasn't been able to shake me since. But we managed through Briarwood HS, University of Tennessee, Greece, short life in Florida and back to Greece again. This time though it'll be a permanent move, to one of my favorite islands Corfu. So this time around I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that it'll be quite a while before I see her face in Alabama again. Distance has usually never been a factor as you can tell from her locations listed above, but Greece is definitely the most challenging because:

1) She's always doing something cool over there and isn't concerned with a phone call from pitful ole me in America.  

2) The time difference is a pain in the booty! 

3) I can't just show up at her house and force her to drink a glass of wine and sit on the porch with me.

4) She loves Cristo more than me.

5)It's EXPENSIVE to call!!! 

So as she prepares to leave me on Dec. 31st I thought I'd make a special post just for her to remember how much I and many others love her here in America! For those of you who are recently new friends, Haley is how I developed my sense of adventure for traveling abroad. I knew I slightly loved it when I went to France in high school but after venturing to Greece 3 times, there's no doubt I'd do it in a heartbeat. And I'd do it alone...something I could never say about myself years ago. One of my proudest moments is when I literally showed up in Greece, totally unannounced to surprise Haley in 2007. No one in Greece was expecting me at all it was a TOTAL surprise, done on a whim and one of the most exciting things I have done! All to see my Haley! And even though distance has separated us Haley knows me better than anyone. I mean it's actually eerie how well she can tell me what I'm going to do before I even do it! Just one of the many great attributes that comes with her fabulously, smart brain (yay, law school graduate now!) Thankfully also w/ that brain comes her ability to remember a lot of things, which happens to be my HUGE downfall...worst memory in the world! So for many things in life I rely on her to reminisce about many amazing times! LOL!!! 

So as she leaves me...I'll tell her a thousand times I'll miss her! But I know she won't be sad b/c she's moving to a man she loves on an island that's 2 die for (food, views and lifestyle wise). And she also knows that I can't stay away from Greece for many, many reasons! So thanks for being one of the best friends I could ask for Haley, love you lots and will miss you here in America. Can't wait to see what all the future holds!

 "Here's to Greece, may we come back in one piece" (who would've thought...)