Happenings at our house...

I've just got to share what Cassidy just said. She has a little plastic Dora talking backpack that she got a plastic orange stuck in and we asked how in the world she got it in there in the first place she said "I just tried hard and I didn't give up!" Isn't that great! Then she started a song "Keep trying, Keep trying, Don't give up, Never Give up, Don't stop" from a cartoon Yo Gabba Gabba. Priceless I tell ya.

Well, my mom lived here in Lancaster for 1 year and 5 months and is going back to Urbana at the end of the month. She misses her friends over there and well honestly anything else I say about it won't be very nice.

Moving on....My brother was here for a visit this week. I think most everyone got to see him when he visited my grandpa at the nursing home. He stayed here at my house for 3 days. Kent and I (look at that, I called him Kent not brother) went to a goodbye party for mom that the residents held for her at her apartment building (again, holding my tongue!) on Tuesday and we went out to lunch with mom before the party. It's always nice to see him even if it's only once a year. But I talk to him weekly or bi weekly anyway so we are always in touch. We've always been close which is good for being 11 years apart. Ok, that's it for now. Gotta go run.

Awesome Running Shirts

#3 says "If found on ground, please drag across the finish line"

I love these shirts! These are all great contenders for my first race in May. Of course, I don't know if I have a certain shirt I have to wear for a race or not but if not #3 will most likely be the one I wear! I found these at the One More Mile online running store. "Slow is the new fast" describes me now as does the top one "running won't kill you, you'll pass out first". Man have I found that last one out when pushing myself to go a little longer on absolutely no breath left at all! I'll go too long on little breath and I'll start having shooting pains in my neck and that's when I realized I have to slow down and add more distance gradually. That and the fact that when I push myself too hard I have a migraine the rest of the day!

My running journey

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."- Confucius


"Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired." - George S. Patton, U.S. Army General, 1912 Olympian


"I've never regretted going for a run, but I have regretted skipping one."


Now that school has started I'm running in the mornings after I drop the boys off at school. Somedays are easier to get out there than others. Yesterday was an easy day. I was ready to run and when I got out there I quickly found out that while my mind was ready, my body was not. I was only able to do two 1/4 mile running intervals before my calves called it quits. I didn't call it quits though. I did shave 1/2 mile off of the rest of the trip because my calves really hurt and I couldn't run and couldn't walk fast at all but I pushed through the pain, passing streets that I knew would get me home quicker but my mind and heart were in it to the end no matter how much my legs hurt. I came home after a little over 2 miles and immediately put ice on both shins and today they feel fine. Today though, my body is ready and my mind keeps saying "it's cold right now and I'll go out later". I'm still at the internal struggle with my running. That's why I put the quotes at the start of this post. I may have days that I don't go out and run but I will get back out there the next day. I haven't let myself quit and I won't. Just like the last quote says "I've never regretted going for a run, but I have regretted skipping one." I know I'm still at the very beginning of my running journey but I know in my heart that I've commited to running and I will continue. I have received words of encouragement in that last few weeks that really make me feel good about myself and my running. Thanks Tracy, Wendy, Kendra and neighbor across the street. You keep me going.


AFTERNOON UPDATE: So after writing the beginning portion of this post and reading more inspirational quotes I decided that groceries can wait and running can't. So no regrets for me today! I was feeling really bad about waiting to go out, feeling like I was a quitter and I refuse to give up. So today I did something for me. I put me first. And it felt great! I pushed myself harder in this run today and beat my record time by 4 minutes and added more distance in two running intervals. Yay Me!

a big ol' update

School started today here in Lancaster. Brenden is in 5th grade now and Spencer is in 1st grade. Brenden is part of the safety patrol in the morning and afternoon and he's very excited about that. The boys' school only goes up to 5th grade so Brenden is happy to be one of the top dogs, so to speak, this year. Spencer's best friend is in his class so as long as he's got Zach in class with him, that's all he cares about. Spencer doesn't like to have a bazillion friends like Brenden does. He's a lot more reserved than his big brother. If a kid is bossy or mean to others, Spencer wants nothing to do with them...ever. I'm thinking of letting Cassidy go to a pre-school class held on only Tuesday's for her age at Josh and Jenny's church. I think she might like to do it and this morning told me she'd love to so I may just have to try. I'ts only an hour and a half long and Hope is there which is good for Cassidy. (Hope is Cassidy's cousin) But I don't know how she'll be with me leaving which is why I wanted her to go where Hope and Jenny will be so maybe I can leave and she'll be ok with it.

On to other family news. My grandpa (Mom's dad) was moved into a nursing home over the weekend. He'll be 87 in November and has been living in his home with a live-in aide for the last 2 years but the time has come that he needs a different type of care. Earlier this year my dad and his siblings sold the farm that my grandparents (Dad's parents) had lived on for also over 50 years. Kinda sucky to see both of those homes now gone from my family. I loved the farm and sitting in that swing in the tree in the front yard, yep, you would always find me there. And my grandpa's house, where the hill is absolutely off limits, but that didn't stop us from rolling down it anyway. Their homes may be gone, but the memories will be with me forever.

I can't wait til the new season of DWTS!

Wow! The cast of the new season of "Dancing with the Stars" was announced this morning and I am very excited to see this season. My before the show starts favorite contestant is Melissa Joan Hart who I've watched in sitcoms since her days as Clarissa in "Clarissa Explains It All". Others I very much look forward to seeing will be Chuck Lidell (UFC Champion), Debi Mazar (she has the most beautiful cat like eyes), Kelly Osbourne (Yep, Ozzy's daughter!), and Kathy Ireland. Of course we knew eventually Donnie Osmond would be on it and lo and behold this will be his season. They recruited former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin as their former football player this year; Aaron Carter, Mya and Macy Gray as the formerly popular pop artists; and a few other people I've never heard of. I think this will be a great season and can't wait til it begins.

Spencer's new haircut

Before
After

School starts on August 24th and Spencer wanted to get his hair cut off. He looks so cute! Not much else going on besides surviving the heat of this past week. Running is still going well. I got up and ran 2.5 miles this morning because evenings have been so hot and I don't like to run so soon after dinner. Morning runs are peaceful and nice and cool outside still but it is hard to get up early to run. I just have to train myself and I'll be fine. That's it for now.

I knew running wouldn't be easy....

"Running is real and relatively simple - but it ain't easy." - Mark Will-Weber


I enjoy running. I'm getting better with each run. I'm walking less of it and can't wait until I can run the entire 3 miles. I knew it wouldn't be easy though. Sometimes I'm having the internal struggle with myself to turn around and go back because I'm too tired but I don't and never have, for which I'm very proud of myself. I read other blogs by runners and I'm inspired by them and feel good in knowing that they all started out the same as me; can't breathe, can't run for too long, injuries, etc. I've learned over the last few months how to properly breathe, which I've begun doing, and to stretch properly and that ice and Advil will no doubt be my best friends some days. And even through all of this which would deter a lot of people from even beginning, I'm pushing through. I feel so good about myself after getting back from a run and one of these days when 'Army man" runs past me, I'll be able to keep up. (Army man is an older guy who lives in our neighborhood who runs daily and always wears his green Army shirt.)