Friends and Walking

If you know me, you know that I love to walk....like alot....obession alot!  When David was first trying to grab my attention, he asked Beth-Ann what I liked, and she said "hot tea, hillsong and walking." So, he asked me to go on a walk around campus after our first little chat....and I was in love! :)

BUT, I would like to explain my slight obsession for walking and all the benefits it has in my life. :)              
And maybe it will inspire you to grab some friends, find a park and start walking to! :)
I mainly go walking to SOCIALIZE! :) I have certain girlfriends that I have developed weekly walking schedules with, and that is when we catch up on life AND exercise at the same time!

I think it all started with Rachel Riley.  We walked like crazy people to relieve our nursing stress during freshman and sophomore year.  She then transferred to Carson Newman and in order for us to keep in touch, we just decided to walk together every week no matter what!  We did miss a few, but we always tried! Lakeshore is our favorite and Rachel is intense at working out and always makes me do 4 miles. ha. Rachel is now engaged and so of course we walk and talk wedding wedding wedding!

Lauren James and I became so close during or time living at the BCM. Living together made it so easy to plan walks and get motivated. I remember for some reason we always fit our walks in early in the morning, and we would drag ourselves out the BCM door with no makeup on and hair in a mess and start walking! Lauren and I always had a million things to talk about, and now that she is at JMU in grad school I would give ANYTHING to enjoy a walk with her!

Chelsea Brooks and I have also developed a little walking social life together since we started nursing school and during this time we really developed our friendship and now she is one of my bridesmaids! She introduced me to Cherokee Trail in Sequoya Hills and I LOVE it! The whole thing is nearly 6 miles, and I think ONE time we might have done the whole thing! :) Chelsea got me through a lot of stressful times and helped me make it through nursing school with all her advice and help! She is a pro at nursing and got into Vanderbilt for Peds nursing! Go Chelsea! :)

Laura Hood and I met at the BCM and she told me she loved parks, and so I decided to introduce her to all the parks in Knoxville! We always go to Tyson and get lost in the gorgeous greenway! Tyson is so fun and it takes you all the way to Kingston Pike. But I don't think we ever went THAT far! Laura is such an amazing, godly friend who always asks about my walk with Christ on our walks, and things usually get deep and spiritual and I love it!

My cousin Megan is one of the most amazing cooks you will ever meet! She also is a hardcore walker and so we meet up at Trex on campus and more recently Lakeshore and catch up on our lives! She is making the groomscake for my wedding and I know it will look fabulous! She came and lived in South Africa with me for a few months my senior year, and we were the most avid step class members at my gym in South AFrica. If the class was offered, we were there! :)

Kayley Ray is like my twin. She probably loves walking more than me and she loves starbucks and green foods and we are just quite the pair. We started walking together when she came to UT at the beginning of the year. She is from Jefferson City, and so over Christmas break, we did not let the tradition die and we met up at Panther Creek in the freezing cold and walked walked walked! :) She is making my wedding cake and everyone is in for a treat!!!!! She did a trial run, mini version of the cake in December and it was gorgeous!

And of course, the people I have walked with my whole life.... my family! Every time I am home on break, SOMEBODY in my family is always there to walk with me! My mom and I will go and talk forever, my dad likes to go on walks and talk about my future (ha) and my sisters of course walk with me and we always have the best time!

David and I walked 5 miles tonight at Tyson! We have done hiking trails, random trails in Knoxville just to be adventurous and Lakeshore, Cherokee and Tyson a million times. Our most recent walks and talks are about wedding plans and jobs and where we are going to live and graduating and BCM etc etc! I really hope he loves our walks, because he will be walking with me for the rest of his life! :)