Thanks to Hallmark for sponsoring this post. 

As many of you know, I completed my first half marathon a few weeks ago. I had so much anxiety leading up to it, but after crossing the finish line I had such an overwhelming feeling of thanks and gratitude. The race I ran was the Kansas City Half Marathon and I was so impressed with how well the coordinators gathered together 10,000 runners and created an event that seemed to be pulled off without a glitch. The course was beautiful, the sponsors were great, the pace runners were friendly and encouraging and it was just an overall fantastic experience.

On Tuesday after the race, I was still basking in the glow of completing the half marathon and decided to send a thank you note to the coordinator. I looked up her address and wrote a note of thanks, explaining how much I appreciated the evident hard work and dedication that was put into creating such a great event. In return I received a nice note that included this…”I certainly appreciate your feedback and insights!  It’s not very often that we hear the positive things about the event…I appreciate that you took the time to let us know.”…

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Today, I want to tell you about a few of my friends. You see, I have some pretty incredible people in my life… people I probably don’t express my appreciation for nearly enough. Friends who, when I questioned true friendship, proved to me in many ways I just wasn’t looking hard enough.

So, today, I want to share with you how I am blessed to the moon and back with great friends…and with Hallmark’s help, I’m going to let a few of them know what kind of friend they are to me.

First of all, to my sisters……

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I just recently watched a heart touching video that reminds me of how hard kids have it. Sometimes I forget that among all the great moments of being a kid, there are quite a few hard moments. Moments, that I’d soon forget.

I send my kids off to school each day and hope and pray that they are treated kindly, are surrounded by friends, and they aren’t bullied. I hope they shine like the stars they are and have the confidence to get past anything tough they come across. …

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