I felt like I was living in Pinterest.

Today’s run was awesome.  I got to run with my favorite Southern California running buddy, Meggan (just imagine running with someone that makes you laugh the whole time but you can also talk about really deep things with them too).  We ran at an 8:34 pace and it felt wonderful.

I wore my new necklace from PAM.  She got it at a race expo and now when people see it as I am running and ask me about it then I can take my phone out and show them pictures of Brooke and tell them all about her.

Added bonus.  It is purple.

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The award for the best almond butter ever goes to Trader Joe’s.  I seriously cannot stop eating it.

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Get ready for one of those parties that you see on Pinterest and wonder how in the world someone could be so creative and actually pull it off.  These are from my MIL’s preschool graduation today.  She is incredible.  I want to join her preschool.  

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Photos curtesy of Brooke.

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Who was your favorite teacher?  What grade?

-Mrs. Burton 5th grade and Mrs. Paey in high school.

Almond butter lover?  What brand is your favorite?

Who was the last person you ran with?  Do you usually talk with them when you run or not?

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101 comments

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That is the cutest party ever!!! She can come do any of my future daughter’s parties anyyyyyy time :)

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That is the most adorable party I have ever seen!! I want your mother-in-law to plan the decor for my future wedding, seriously! lol

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Your MIL is awesome!!! What beautiful decorations, I’m sure the parents will cry and the kids will love it!! The last person I ran with was a friend of mine who is also an Army wife. We always have the best conversations. She moved and I miss her dearly!

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That looks like an amazing party! Your mother-in-law is seriously impressive!!

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I honestly can’t remember!!! I have no idea who my favorite teacher was. I can’t even remember all of their names. I’m way too young for this memory loss.

Yes, I love to run with friends and chat the whole time. The last person I ran with was my friend Stephanie back in May. It was wonderful.

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Those party pics are amazing. I swear I teared up a little-just knowing how special your MIL is making the day for her little students! So creative!! TJ’s almond butter it absolutely the best! I don’t usually run with anyone because I’m so slow-lol!

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Now that is DEFINITELY a Pinterest worthy party. Does your MIL accept mature students? ;)

And I LOVE almond butter, but I’m going to have to disagree with you when it comes to the best brand. I can’t vouch for TJ’s stince we don’t have it up here in Canada, but I adore Maisie Jane’s roasted AB. It’s pretty much the only one I’ll eat nowadays…

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Awww what a cute party!! Love it all! I want one of those donuts, please and thanks ;) Also, Brooke is an excellent photographer! My fave teacher was my 6th grade teacher, Mr. McCloud. I mean, his name alone is my favorite! I love almond butter! But I reallyyyyy love peanut butter, and nothing can beat it in my mind. I ran with my husband yesterday morning, and we’re doing it again tomorrow. So excited to get back into running, and glad that he’s willing to do it with me!

xo

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TJ’s almond butter is not only super yummy but like 1/3 of the cost of other brands and doesn’t have palm oil in it.
I ran with 2 friends this morning and we talk the entire time about everything from technical running stuff to off-the-wall random stuff: this morning we told our most horrifying childhood accidents /falls/hospital visits.

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That last picture of Brooke!!! Gah. Why must you post picture of her? They make my ovaries ache!

I ran with my neighbor from across the street last week. I love running with her. We talk the whole time when we run. Not sure there is a time in my life when I am NOT talking though, sooooo.

I lurve almond butter. I have only ever had the Marantha brand from Coscto though and I just ran out of it last week. Guess I need to make a trip to TJ. Anything else I need to get?

That party is adorable! I love Dr Seuss. Evan’s room is Dr Seuss themed. I got a lot of that stuff that your MIL got from IKEA. I swear it was made just for Dr Seuss!

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That is so cute! I bet Brooke is hoping one day she can be a big girl and graduate from preschool :) Love TJ’s almond butter, but I have to say the Cookie Butter is the bomb (even if it has zero nutritional value whatsoever).

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Cute necklace! And oh my gosh that party is totally pinterest worthy, I’m so amazed with how creative and talented people are at crafts like that. I’m not sure I’d have the patience for it all.
Seriously, it astounds me.
I can’t wait to find a TJ’s just so I can try that almond butter, everyone in the US always raves about it, but I have yet to try it!

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Lovely party, wow!
Last ran with my mom. We are doing a half on the 4th and running together. I am so excited!!! She is hoping I help her get a PR.

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Wait all of those desserts look SO good. I need to have a Pinterest parties. I miss running with friends! It makes the time go by so much faster!!

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I love maranatha almond butter! It’s so good! And you definitely can’t help but keep spooning it up!

My favorite teachers was Mrs. Rhoades in first grade and Shriner in high school! And they definitely did Pinterest-y things!

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I want to copy your MIL’s party for my daughter’s 1st birthday party – and she’s not even born yet! lol

I have never run with someone (I KNOW! Crazy right?) unless you count the woman at my gym who I have secret races with on the treadmill. I don’t think I would like to run with someone else because I like to be inside my head while I run and I would feel rude if I wasn’t chatting the whole time.

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I usually run alone- I’m too competitive to run with someone faster than me and too impatient to run with anyone slower. Once I meet someone who runs at my EXACT pace, I’ll run with them every day.

Trader Joe’s makes the best EVERYTHING.

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What a cute party! I love Naturally More and Maranatha almond butters the best :-) I last ran with Joe and there wasn’t much talking because he tends to be a pace pusher! I don’t complain though because I want to seem tough…

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wow, that is seriously the cutest preschool graduation ever! i bet the kids loved the donuts with sprinkles :)

TJ’s almond butter is my favorite. i haven’t tried that many brands (because most other brands are so expensive), but it really is the best and you can’t beat the price!

my favorite teachers were mrs. stern (kindergarten) and ms. lieber (2nd grade).

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I am in school to be a teacher and it looks like I better get my creativity skills up to par if this is what is happening! Sooooooo cute!!!!!!!!!

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Hahaha! What grade do you want to teach?

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I was just thinking next year-that’s my end of year party. Now if only your MIL can come up and help.

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My last run with somebody was with my team on Tuesday-I’m the one who talks the most when we run…I love talking, I cannot help it! I already feel sorry for the people who’ll run the marathon with me in November ;)

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I love pictures of Brooke! She is SO SO cute.

Now, choosing my favorite teacher will prove much more difficult…I had so many great ones! My elementary school teachers were all wonderful, I had two fabulous French teachers, Mrs. Gibson in middle school and Mrs. Chabot in high school, and a great English teacher in high school, Ms. Weissler (she’s married now but will always be M-Dubs to me). I can’t choose just one!

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I usually run alone but every now and again I get to go running on trails with my favourite mother-runner AND SATURDAY IS THE NEXT TIME! So excited already!

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My favorite teacher was Mr. Robbins (grade 7) and he’s a huge part of why I am a teacher today!

I like almond butter but I like peanut butter wayyy more and will always choose PB over other nut butters!

I ran with my boyfriend and it was good but he’s wayyy faster than me and then we talk too much so it never ends up being a great run for either of us training wise – but it’s awesome to spend time together while exercising :)

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That is amazing! I am always jealous of people that are that crafty and talented :)
I love MaraNatha Almond Butter from Costco – its my absolute fav!

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The last time I ran with anyone was at a group run about 3 weeks ago. I pretty much never run with anyone. If I did, and it was an easy run, I would chat with whoever I was running with.

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I LOVE ALMOND BUTTER!! And almond milk. And peanut butter. And cashews.

I usually run by myself or with my husband. I talk to him while we run and he listens. He’s also not as into running as I am, so “listening” is more like gasping for breath. But it works for us :) Although I’m going to join a running group in Atlanta in July, so I’ll be running with some new friends soon!

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That party looks so awesome! Can your MIL throw my next b-day party?! haha

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What an adorable party… those donuts look absolutely delicious!!! I’ve honestly never been to Trader Joe’s and I’ve never had almond butter – clearly I need to get out a little more :) My last running partner was a guy from our running group and my son (in the jogger). I’ve noticed that the guys in our running group tend not to talk when running, yet the girls talk the entire time… hmmmm.

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Favorite teacher- Pat(ricia) Carey, Bethel Park Sr. High School, AP 11 English.

Favorite professor- Dr. Rick Simpson, St. Bonaventure University, English 102 and Brit Romantics.

Last persons with whom I ran- my hub and daughter.

Fave almond butter- MaraNantha from Costco.

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RoseRunner was probably the last person I ran with. My fifth grade teacher was my fave too! I was lucky enough to also have him for sixth as well :) TJ’s also has awesome sunflower seed butter.

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Wait you are running again?!?

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Sadly no. I’m referring to a run from several months ago :(

Someday…

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Omg you MIL throws quite a party!! Love it? Can hire her for my future kids parties?!

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My Trader Joe’s (which is an hour away) hasn’t had ANY almond butter for at least 1 year. They blame it on a recall. But I agree with you, it’s the best I’ve found. Jealous.

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LOVE almond butter. There’s a maple almond butter – I think it’s Maranatha – that’s AWESEOME. They also make a caramel almond butter. YUMMM

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That made me drool. I need to try it.

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The maple one is awesome, I load up when I’m in the USA!

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Wow, does your MIL do bday parties? I see a Pinterest worthy soiree in Brooke’s near future!

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Seriously I want to hire her for Brooke’s!

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I bet she’ll give you the family rate! ; )

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She better;)

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So much fun!! I love working for a preschool!! :) She did a great job (with your help of course) with the party! Looks great!! :)

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wow, what an awesome party!

My favorite kind of almond butter is definitely Barney Butter!

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My favorite teacher was my 4th grade teacher. She is a runner and has been commenting how proud she is of me on race photos on Facebook. I always feel so excited!

Since my running partner is pregnant, we haven’t ran together in a very long time. We usually chat until one of us gets tired. We never talked during races, but having her by me was the best thing ever. The last person I ran with was my boyfriend. He couldn’t keep up with me because I’m way too speedy (sarcasm, I think he had just eaten a big meal) and he was about 14 feet behind me. No chatting happened.

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That party looks ADORABLE!

I’ve actually never had almond butter. I guess I should remedy that!

During the week, I run by myself, but on the weekends, I do my long runs with a group of friends. We always talk and catch up, since that is often the only time we see each other all week. Super fun!

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I bet you really look forward to your weekend runs! Girl—> you have to try almond butter!

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Oh man!!!!! I taught preschool like 10 years before we moved and what your MIL did is just plain awesome!!! I mean just awesome!!! I am so impressed!

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TJ’s almond butter is the best! I’m addicted to their sunflower butter too. I put it on everything right now!
The last person I ran with was the hubs. I don’t like talking when I run! I find it distracting…weird? He always tries to talk and I just give him the ol’ stink eye. :)

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Your MIL is very talented! So is Brooke for taking all of those great photos!

I ran with my BRF Shawn this morning, and of course we talked the entire time! Is there any other way to run? :-)

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Does your MIL have a blog? I am a preschool teacher and would love to stalk her!! So cute!

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Hey! That is so awesome! She doesn’t yet but I keep telling her she needs to!!! I’ll post it if she ever does:)

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I love Brooke’s jelly shoes!

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My favorite teacher—- my Mom! I was educated at home, so she was my one and only favorite teacher!!

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I really loved a lot of my teachers! :) Actually, I enjoyed one of my teachers so much in High School that I took Calculus to have him as a teacher again. Trader Joe’s has my favorite almond butter too! I just bought some! :) (but unsalted)

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I haven’t really fallen for Almond Butter yet – but the TJ sea salt one intrigues me. However, cookie butter is a whole different story!

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Madame Burk in 8th grade and Mrs. Eaton in 3rd
I’ve never had almond butter
I ran with my youth group leader and we talked the whole time; it was awesome :)

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My grandma was Mrs. Burton! :)
My favorite teacher was Mrs. Seney 3rd grade.
I have never tried almond butter.. I know I’m crazy. I’m too lazy to go buy it.
I have cross country group that meets 3 days a week so my runs aren’t boring anymore!

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Favourite teacher was Ms. Sharpe – grade 10 drama, grade 10 english, and grade 11 english media. She was seriously incredible as a teacher!

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I’m really, really not trying to be mean or rude. But can you please post less pics of your daughter? Not all of your readers want to see her picture in every single post. Thank you.

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I like the photos of Brooke – she’s such a cutie! There are plenty of other running bloggers who aren’t mom’s that you can check out if this isn’t your thing. That’s the great thing about the internet – you can pretty much find anything you want if you just look.

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I don’t take it mean at all! Don’t worry!!!! It is great to hear from readers about what they like and don’t like. This blog is about my running but even more it is about my life and Brooke is my life hence all of the pictures of her:)

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Thank you for the professionalism! I was just trying to give constructive feedback from a different perspective

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My favorite professors are Larry and Jon – both Anthropology professors at Knox College.

I’m actually more a fan of goat butter – YUM! I get it from my local farmers market. I buy loads so I have enough to last me through winter.

The last people I ran with were two very brand new runners. I signed on to be a pacer for a beginner runner’s program. We ran 2.5 miles at a 13.02 pace but I’m so proud of my newbie runners – they did fantastic for their first ever run!!

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Cutest Party! I LOVE the garland in the back with the hot air balloons and tissue puffs. I love doing this kind of stuff. Lucky little preschoolers.

The last person I ran with is my daughter — well I pushed her and she patiently rode in the stroller. We had to stop on the way to see a family of baby ducks. Eight baby ducks all in a row.

I have never tried almond butter – guess I need to add it to my bucket list!

Where did you get the Jelly shoes for Brooke? I would love to get them for my little Kelly.

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I just saw them at Target the other day.

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If someone is within a half mile of me during a run, I will try and talk to them. So much more fun than listening to my breathing.

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I love your MIL. She is adorable!

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OH and where can I find the same necklace except it says “Momma”?

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My favorite teacher was Mrs. Gibbs in sixth grade. She was THE teacher that all the kids wanted and for a good reason. She was awesome!!

I totally prefer almost butter over peanut butter. I buy MaraNatha in the large jars at Costco. So good!

The last person I ran with was my daughters. They are the best running partners! I can’t wait to run with them in a couple more weeks!!!

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Had a track session with my running group today. I ended up running with another girl who was going to take it easy, and we talked the whole time, haha. It was so much fun getting to know her!

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That is awesome girl!

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I’m totally fine with ‘S’ voicing her opinion about too many pictures of Brooke but seriously?!?!? I have my own two kids that I love taking pictures of but I still LOVE the pictures of Brooke. Please keep them coming! Post away my friend, post away! :)

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That is my FAVORITE almond butter!!!! :)

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Wow! I want to join her class!

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Teacher Suzanne- 3rd grade (i went to a quaker school–im not quaker tho haha- but we called teachers by first names)- she was awesome and we adopted a manatee with her and i became obssessed with MANATEES hahahah

ill have to try trader joes– i like marantha almodn butter but its $$$$

last person i ran with? hm prob my sisters and yeah i like talking- most of the time!

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2nd grade Mrs.Scarpelli! She was only a teacher at my school for 1 year, she had a baby and decided that she just couldn’t come back. Gosh she was GORGEOUS and the nicest lady ever.

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Whoa, that party is straight out of pinterest! Your MIL is impressive!!

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My favorite teacher was Miss Colosimo in fourth grade. It was her first year teaching and she was the best! Fast forward about nine years later, I ran into her….AT MY HOUSE… she was going to be bringing her son to my mothers daycare so she stopped by for a visit. My mom kept it a surprise because she knew how much I LOVED her as a teacher. :) I still see her every so often.

xoxo

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That party decor is amazing!!! You are right—that was a Pinterest wonderland!! My fav teacher was my high school anatomy teacher. She is the reason I am a high school anatomy teacher.

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My favorite teacher was my third grade teacher, Mrs. Burns! And um, that party is AMAZING. It looks like professionals put it together.

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I lovee this book (and all things Suess, really) and this party is adorable. Seriously, can she deocorate my next birthday party?!

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Can you give your MIL a high-five for me? That party is awesome. I wish I could have attended.

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Mrs. Durkin – 2nd & 3rd grade, Mr. McKinnon – HS, Dr. Young – Undergrad

My mom throws parties that look like they could come from Pinterest all the time. That’s basically what I grew up on. She and my aunt were actually going to start a party planning business about 20 years ago because they are both amazing, but it never happened.

The only almond butter I’ve ever had was the crush-your-own at Whole Foods. Yummy!

The last person I ran with was myself…and yes, I always talk to myself while running.

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That is the cutest preschool graduation party I have ever seen!! Maybe your MIL should get a 2nd job doing party planning because she is fantastic at it!!!

My favorite teacher was my 1st grade teacher names Mrs. Walker. She was such a wonderful influence and I attribute my love of learning and reading to her!!!

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Wow, your MIL has some amazing talents! I think she needs to start her own blog with party tips:)

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The freshmade AB from WF is my favorite but TJ’s is a close second! That does look like Pinterest Land!

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I feel like this is a pinterest ad… definitely not real life.
I dream of throwing parties like this when I have kids but uh, I doubt that’ll be a truth for me. :)

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I like almond butter! I usually just get the natural kind from Fresh Market if I ever do get it!

I don’t normally run with people, but the last person I ran with is my husband and I tried to talk to him the entire time to encourage him to keep going :)

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Love the Trader Joes almond butter, it’s all I eat

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Panera is where my mom and I go for lunch at least once a week! They have awesome egg souffle’s there too for breakfast! (and their peach pecan crunch muffins are sooooo tasty!)

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I tell ya I am not one to read blogs with kids on them (only because I am too old for the new mom stuff), but that girl of yours is the cutest thing I have ever seen (besides my 3 grandboys) and I look forward to reading your posts everyday and seeing that cute little face.

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I always wondered who actually had parties like that. Can she come plan a party for me?? Mrs. Krueger, 5th grade was my favorite teacher.

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I am totally like your MIL and go crazy for parties :). I did a dinosaur theme one for my 3yr old son in February and he still talks about it to this day :). It’s so fun planning kids bdays and I am a sucker for marshmallows so if u could send one of those goody bags my way id really appreciate it!
Can’t wait to see pics of Brooke’s first bday extravaganza!!! :)

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I love your MIL’s party! You should totally have her plan Brooke’s birthday party for you!

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That looks amazing! Totally something I’d love to pull off!

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I love almond butter! I normally buy Maranatha but I hear its really not that good compared to other brands. Lately, I can’t even find it in stores. I live in Baton Rouge & we’re finally getting Trader Joes! I’m sooo excited!

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I love the theme, super cute!!

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Your MIL has mad skill for sure!! Looks SO nice!!!

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