Run Streak
October 10th, 2011

There’s an organization handing out certifications for Run Streaks.  Not sure what one can actually *do* with such a certification other than pat one’s self on the back, but since I’ve always considered myself certifiable, count me in.

The official definition of a running streak, as adopted by the United States Running Streak Association, Inc., is to run at least one continuous mile within each calendar day* under one’s own body power (without the utilization of any type of health or mechanical aid other than prosthetic devices).  I have no health aids and no fake legs so I guess I’m on my own.

I considered Days 1 & 2, in my own interpretation of the above rule, to have occurred on October 1st (from 10:oo p.m. to 11:59 p.m.) and continuing into October 2nd (from 12:00 a.m. to 1:44:48).  During these two hours, 44 minutes and 48 seconds that stretched over two days just so happened to occur while I was running my first ever half-marathon at Disney (yay me!).  I ran Day 10 today.  My first mini-milestone.

Will I make it the full year?  Part of me says “heck no” – truth be told, I’m a lazy butt and I’m pretty sure it’ll be a strong desire to sleep in one day versus an injry that sidelines me.  The other part of me says “why the heck not?”  In either case, it’ll be good while it lasts and gives me something fun to movtiate myself with.  I’ve connected with some other streakers through Daily Mile and am drawing strength and encouragement from those whack jobs (I say that with love and sincerity!).

*Ed. Note: OH CRAP. I’ve gone about this so far thinking the streak only needed to be 100 days. It wasn’t until I pulled up the site and verified the definition that I realized its for an entire YEAR.  Umm…yay?

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Posted in Aaaah Crap, Run Streak, Running My Face Off |
Time Flies
October 8th, 2011

It’s crazy how long it’s been since I last posted. The time needed to devote to any sort of regular posting just doesn’t exist. Wait. I take that back. I’m sure it exists, it’s just being spent on Facebook, Twitter & Daily Mile. The interaction on those sites is so much more immediate and personal. I need to look to this blog less as a source of interaction and back to the basics of why it was created. Brain purging.

Tonight my brain is full of so many wonderful things going on in my life. I continue to be blessed by God in so many ways through my family, my friends, and (news to some of you) a very important man who came into my life this past winter. The Fella. My fella. My love. My Solomon.

It seems like there is so much to tell, so much has happened in the time that has passed. I can’t go back and draft out all the details so I’ll just try and pick up where I am from today and move forward from there.

Today was a good day. Thank you God for the blessings in my life. Amen and good night.

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Posted in Daily Life, Finding Soloman, Is This Thing On?, Short & Sweet |
After The Fire – One Year Later
May 18th, 2011

The calendar says it happened tomorrow. But I know it happened on a Wednesday night a year ago today. I know the first 911 call came in at 7:48 p.m. and I know a short time later a friend came and pulled me out of choir practice with the words, “Go home. Your apartment is on fire.”

Journaling, as always but especially through those first days, helped keep me sane:
Fire
The First Few Days
The Next Few Days
The Last Few Days
Back On Track

What now? Now I do pretty good most days. I can now go days instead of hours without thinking of everything that has happened over the past year. I can search for missing items and not have to doubt if it’s really missing or if was lost in the fire and I need to stop looking.

One day I’ll be able to be around a lit candle without wanting to blow it out. One day I can be around a bonfire or a grill and not feel every hair on my the back of my neck stand on end. One day I’ll enjoy the fireworks on the Fourth of July and not have a panic attack.

One day I’ll be able to look back over this time in my life and not shed a tear. One day I’ll be able to go through the last few bags and boxes that I stuffed in a corner and prayed would disappear. One day I’ll be able to go through them and say good bye to what’s inside. I won’t ever have to say good bye to the memory they are attached to.

Nothing can burn that away.

**********
More Links:
Video
News
Pictures

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Posted in The Fire |
Something Different
April 6th, 2011

Since I couldn’t figure out how to re-organize my layout on this blog to post health related entries yet keep them separate from this landing page, I had to move it of blog to someplace else.  Someplace different.  Someplace actually a whole bunch easier to upload posts, pictures & links and have it all cross post to Facebook and Twitter.  Because seriously, heaven forbid if the entire world doesn’t know what I’m doing every second of the day.

So click HERE and see what’s going on.

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Posted in Uncategorized |
Technically Challenged
February 25th, 2011

I’m frustrated because I want to do something with this blog that in my mind, I ought to be able to do…but I can’t.  Or at least I haven’t been able to figure out how.  Yet.

It’s a layout/content issue and I hope that with a little bit of digging I’ll be able to figure it out.  I’ve been manipulating blog templates and writing my code since 2006 – I *will* figure this out. 

In the meantime – you may see random (or regular) posts about my journey towards a healthier lifestyle – including weight loss, weight gain, nutrition & recipes, exercise, and basically my ramblings about all these subjects and more.  I have found that my own life has been an example (both positive and negative) for some people and I’ve decided I want to be able to encourage people on their own journey of health.  If that means posting fat pictures then…well, maybe it’ll come to that.  They gross me out now and motivate me to make better choices, maybe it’ll do the same for someone else.

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Posted in Uncategorized |
Truckloads Of Pebbles
January 2nd, 2011

Are we quick to trust God with the big things and still feel like we must keep control over the little things? Can we quantify hope? Are we short-changing God when we say, “ok Big Guy, I trust you to move the mountains, but this little pebble? Nah, I got it,” especially when it’s the truckloads of pebbles that add up to way more weight than we could ever carry?

God tells us that if HE can trust US with the little that He’ll trust us with the big. That makes sense, start us out slow, build up to it. But what we in effect do is flip it around, wave our holy hands in the air praising God and declaring all this great faith and trust in Him…umm, wait? That pebble? Nah…I got it.

But we don’t. And we can’t. Because He didn’t make us that way and that’s certainly not what we signed up for when we first said, “I will trust in you.” God doesn’t want a piece of our faith or a sliver of our trust. He wants it all. Every mountain, every boulder, every pebble.

Name your pebbles. You’ve already started haven’t you? It doesn’t matter if it’s a handful or a truckload. Quit sorting the piles into His and yours and just give it all over to Him.

P.S. I’ve already named 7 pebbles. God has claimed them all.

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Posted in Hopes Dreams And Unicorns, Jesus Is Cool, Rambling And Probably Drooling |
Relationships, Resolutions & Opportunities
January 1st, 2011

I look back over the past year at what all our family has gone through and am amazed and humbled at where God has brought us. You imagine the never will’s and what-if’s that could happen but we are skeptics and shake them off just as easily as our mind conjures them up. Then they happen and you realize they don’t shake off so easily. But you find yourself in the palm of God’s hand and you do not despair, you do your best not to waiver, and with the help of a mind-blowing circle of friends – you pick yourself, dust off and carry on.

It’s no great secret that there have been rifts in the core foundation of my family for several years now. But in God’s grace and will, those relationships are beginning to heal and with it, my greatest Christmas wish was answered. Are we back to square one? No. But we are working towards wholeness and most importantly, wellness. We take two steps forward, and even if there is an occasional step back, we still focus on progress.

I focus on all of these relationships, with my children, my sisters, my friends, and hope that I serve them well. I want to focus on strengthening all of them and along the way, myself. That’s what this is all about. Relationships.

Do I have resolutions for this year? Not really. The things I want to accomplish are continual goals never tied to one year or the next – love more, worry less, grow my faith and teach my children how to nurture theirs, strengthen my body and expand my mind. Maybe do laundry a bit more frequently…

There are opportunities for all of this and more. I don’t want to miss out on a single one but I also don’t want to miss the chance to slow down and appreciate the small stuff. The hugs, the thank you’s, the I love you’s. Big stuff actually.

Open your eyes, Elle Dubya. Look for the chances and then take them.

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Posted in Daily Life |
The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
December 14th, 2010

This is just as true today as it was one year ago when I first wrote it…

My Christmas List

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Posted in Dating Games, Finding Soloman, Hopes Dreams And Unicorns, Jesus Is Cool, Rambling And Probably Drooling, Short & Sweet, Single Life |
Bounce Bounce Bounce
November 21st, 2010

Wow, I really dropped the ball here with this 30 Days thing.  Meh…sue me.  I will tell you one more “truth” and then be done with this:  I hate daily blogging.  There.  Big secret is out.

In reality it was becoming too much of a chore and sucking all the fun out of writing pretty much anything.  Writing from a prompt is supposed to be easier, but what if I didn’t feel like writing about “why I think I’m still alive today?” or “what if I were pregnant?”  Which come to think of it, would be a pretty hysterical post to write for multiple reasons (the least of which would be grounds for medical malpractice and/or the second coming of our Lord because it would have been immaculate conception!)

So I’ll write when I feel like writing and post when I feel like posting.  You can read when you feel like reading.  Deal?

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Posted in 30 Days Of Truth, Short & Sweet |
Day 21 – (scenario) My Best Friend Is In A Car Accident And We Got Into A Fight An Hour Before. What Do I Do?
November 7th, 2010

She’s spent thousands of hours on the phone, listening to me cry, doing her best to make me laugh (and succeeding), and talking be back from that figurative ledge. She’s heard all my dumb stories, celebrated all of my successes, and seen me through my failures.

She was the first call I made 10 minutes after my son was born, the moment I passed my Series 6 exam, and the night my home was destroyed in a fire. She’s opened her heart, shared her life, and made what was hers mine. She is my best friend.

If a fight were to occur and then a horrible accident happen, there is nothing on this earth that could stop me from being by her side. The argument would evaporate & be gone. Disagreements become trivial in moments like this and you realize what really is important – and who is important – in your life.

It’s all about relationships. That’s what really matters. That’s all that matters. A missunderstanding or feelings that may have been hurt? Those things become meaningless in a flash as you are able to focus with laser-like intensity on what counts. The knot that grows in my throat when I think of some horrible fate falling on my children is the same knot that forms when I think of my BFF being met with a similar fate. It becomes unthinkable.

We’ve gotten through so many trials before and knowing how life goes, we’ll face more of them. But we’ll face them together – no matter what.

Love you Chica.

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Posted in 30 Days Of Truth, MeMe, The BFF, Writing Prompts |
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