What's been going on?

What a week!! We've had some serious fun at VBS this week!

We've had an average of about 30 kids each night, which is great!!

I challenged the kids to raise $125 for missions this week. We'll give the money raised to a girl in the church that is overseas right now.

As of last night, we've collected $180!! WOO! We're hoping to reach the $200 mark tonight, which is Family Night!

Speaking of challenges, I challenged myself to run 30 minutes everyday for 30 days (Sundays being my rest days). It was going GREAT until I fell and skinned my knee last Friday.

I haven't run since. Sad!

But, my knee is healing nicely and feeling better, so I'm hoping on running today.

52 in 52 has been rough the past few weeks! No real excuses other than me being busy with school work and VBS prep the past couple of weeks. I didn't even realize that I hadn't posted about it last week until last night.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

joy, peace and hope

I want it to overflow!!!

Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.

Psalm 147:5

This is our theme verse for VBS this week! My prayer for them is that they've truly experienced God's amazing power as they learn about Him this week!

3718

sentences

I went running yesterday. 2 miles. It stunk.

I walked up one of the hills instead of running it. I'm a wimp like that.

I was finally able to get a picture of a family's sidewalk while I was being a wimp though. I've run by it many times now, and I've never stopped to snap a picture. Love!

We only have 21 days of school left. I'm excited. But I'm sad. Definitely conflicting emotions here.

I need to cut my grass. I was going to tonight, but now I'm not feeling it. Ever have days like that?

I won this print through a giveaway on a blog awhile ago, and I've never put it in a frame. Until now!

I got the frame from a friend's yard sale, but it didn't have any glass in it. So I got a frame for $5 at a discount type store in town, and I used the glass from it for this frame (wasn't fond of the frame itself). Score!

It now hangs by my bedroom door. Perfect place for it.

I was accepted into graduate school last week. Excited? Totally! A bit nervous? Yes! Ready for the work? ha!

Excitement wins out though.

Izzy is still her cute self. She takes over the bed when I have it in disarray with the sheets in the wash.

That's the only time she's allowed on my comforter. Otherwise, it's covered with another blanket so she won't get it dirty.

I love her. Dirt and all!

PS - It's now 8:37 and I just finished cutting my grass. Yes. It was worth it. :)



2688

my week, according to Instagram

The week after Spring Break always seem to be a tough one. Getting back into the swing of waking up early isn't always easy!

This week was no different! I spoke with about 4 other teachers that all said the same thing: Spring Break was such a glorious taste of summer that coming back was almost unbearable! Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad, and we didn't exactly say it was that bad, but it was rough! I have enjoyed being back on a "normal" schedule again, and I truly did miss my little kiddos, however I struggled with waking up early and having energy to last me through the school day. Yawns were in abundance, and afternoon naps were a constant threat. But we made it! And we only have 33 days left (I'm pretty sure that's correct).

So here's a peek at my week. ha! I'm a poet and didn't know it. ba-da-ching!

-On Tuesday evening, I helped throw a baby shower for one of my best friends Mary. Okay, so this is totally not a picture of Mary, but it is of my little dog Izzy. While I was at the shower, Izzy set the security alarm at my house off, which eventually called the police because they couldn't get ahold of me. Craziness! Thankfully, everything was fine, I didn't have to pay a false warning fee, and it was all chalked up to me rushing out of the house in an I'm-going-to-be-late frenzy. Oh, and when I got up Wednesday morning, in my very sleepy state, I pushed in the duress (emergency! Call the police now!!) code on my security system. Thankfully, I immediately realized it and called the security company to cancel the code. No police came on Wednesday morning, thankfully!

-This is actually from last Saturday, but we'll pretend! :) I finally planted flowers in my flower boxes outside. They make me so happy when I pull into my driveway! And I haven't even killed them yet!!! Score!

-One of my precious students brought me flowers on Thursday just because. Love!! She even said I could keep the vase (which stands about 6 inches tall) because her momma can get them at the store for $1. haha Can I just say, that as a single woman, I'm glad my students bring me flowers from time to time! Of course, this is not to say that I'm expecting my one-day husband to buy me flowers all the time, but I love how God romances me even through simple signs of love such as a student bringing me flowers. Makes my heart smile. :)

-And lastly, my new kitchen cuties! I got Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper today at a Come See Me (Rock Hill's spring festival) event, and I love them! So cute. I also picked up the small plate/dish beside the happy seasoning couple this week. I'm so happy about having something to put my spoon/spatula/whatever on while I cook! No more food-dirtied counters! Yay!

And one more picture! The number line in my classroom started falling on Monday afternoon, so I decided to hot glue it back up! Well, I don't exactly have a ladder in my room (it's at the top of my wall), so I put the spinny desk chair to the highest it would go, heated up my hot glue gun, and stepped up to glue my number line back into place. Easy peasy, right?

Hot so much. The hot glue dripped, and the dripped glob of hot glue landed right on my foot! Ouch! And turned it yellow!! Strange, huh?

Just kidding. The hot glue didn't turn my skin yellow, but it did burn it pretty bad! And one of my dear teacher friends insisted that if I put yellow mustard on the burn, it would stop burning. She almost talked me into getting some mustard from the cafeteria, but I decided to wait until I got home since I needed to run a couple errands, and I didn't think it would be very attractive for me to walk around with mustard on my foot (however, I'll snap a picture and post it on Instagram/Facebook? Weird, I know).

Well, I tried it when I got home, and it WORKS! I was so stinking amazed that the mustard just pulled the burn out completely! I let the mustard stay on until it was just about dried (yes, gross. lol), and I had to make sure Izzy didn't decide to have a mustard snack that afternoon. Now, the spot is sloooowly healing. Hopefully there won't be a nasty scar there.

Well, there are about 40 minutes left to this week, so I better hit the sack so I can start next week bright eyed and bushy tailed! How was your week? Drop any hot glue on your foot? I wouldn't recommend it.

(Oh yes! I was supposed to run in the Come See Me 5k race this morning, but I slept late. Arg! I've run it the past 2 years, and I was excited about keeping the tradition going! I think God was telling me to slow down and take it easy some. My body listened this morning, I reckon. Oh well. Next year!)

2488

a porta potty adventure + a late race + a terrible time = a great weekend!

We had a great trip to Charleston! I loved spending time catching up with Cindy, my cousin that lives in too-far-away-Charlotte. Okay, she's only about half an hour away, but that's just too far! It was also fun to meet her new roommate, Britney. The three of us drove down on Friday morning and spent some time bumming around the expo, and then downtown Charleston.

We were stuck in traffic for awhile on the way into Charleston (something about 40,000 people running the race causes traffic. Odd, eh?), and I REALLY had to potty. Bad! So, as we were stopped beside some porta potties lining the road (for the following morning's race, of course), I hopped out to potty really quick hoping to get back out to the car before the cop at the light decided to let our lane drive.

Well, half way through my, uh, potty break, I heard cars moving. Sad times. I came out to new cars in front of the porta potty parade, and my cousin's car nowhere in site. I wonder what the people in the cars thought about the girl that randomly came out of a porta potty with a confused look on her face. Anyhoo, I ran down the sidewalk trying to find her car, and thought that maybe they just went on to the expo, which was only about a block or so away. So I give them a call, and finally found them (yay!). They had pulled up on a sidewalk the next block down and was waiting for me. Apparently Cindy tried waiting for me at the porta potties, but multiple cops came running towards her car in an attempt to get her to move, so she had to drive on. Of course, this all happened in a span of maybe 3 minutes. Fun times!

Oh, and I can officially say that I've used a sparkling-clean porta potty! The seat even had plastic wrapped around it, saying it was newly sanitized. God bless the porta potty sanitizer people. I couldn't do it, I'm afraid. But I'm glad someone did!

I had another interesting porta potty experience the next morning before the race. This one included me wearing a tutu in the teeny tiny porta potty. But we won't go into that experience. *shudder*

Anyways, the run was fun, however not my best at all. Lack of sleep (I randomly woke up at 1:15AM and didn't get back to sleep), starting the race an hour late (yes, they started an hour late - more on that in the next paragraph), standing around for almost 3 hours before the race ever started, not eating for 4 hours before the race, a crazy sharp cramp, and some lady issues didn't make it my best time at all. At. all.

Remember how I said they started the race an hour late? Yeah. Apparently there were some issues with the shuttle buses taking people from the Charleston side of the bridge (finish) to the Mt. Pleasant side (start) and people were still on buses at like 7:30 (30 minutes before the race). Then, the buses had to clear the bridge before we could start. So, instead of starting the race at 8:00, they started at 9:00. Which means since we got there round 7:30, we had to stand around for an hour and a half before we started. We also stood in line for the buses for about an hour before we loaded our bus to be taken to the start. I think I was mentally done before we ever started. lol

So, my time. My goal was under an hour. Last year, I did it in 1 hour and 3 minutes. This year, not so much. I finished 1 hour and 10 minutes (+ some seconds). I am honestly proud that I was able to run and finish the race in the time that I did. However, I am so competitive with myself that my time totally bummed me out. But that's okay! I'll do better next year. :)

Okay - done complaining!! I really did have fun, and although it wasn't my best run, I most definitely will do this race again next year. The experience is always completely worth it.

Cindy did an EXCELLENT job during this race! This was her 2nd 10k, but I don't really count her first one since she had a broken tail bone. She ran it in an hour and 18 minutes! Yay!! So proud of her. :)

-Cindy and I finally made it on the bus, after waiting forEVER! All smiles here though. :)
-Everyone was wondering what was taking so long to start. The people behind us were making jokes like, "I never practiced standing around for an hour before running 6 miles before! I'm not prepared for this!" I decided it was a good sit down and rest your legs time.
-One of my favorite pictures from the weekend! Cindy and I are waiting for the race to start. And the guy standing behind us totally photobombed our picture. Nerd! Funny nerd though.
-LOVE the bridge!! This picture makes the race totally worth it. Such a pretty run!

Lesson learned? God can humble us even through regular life experiences. I was so pumped up about running the race in under an hour, yet I was completely knocked on my rump with everything that lead up to the race. I don't exactly deal well with failure, but I'm learning to slap on a smile and clamp my mouth shut! Not sure I did a great job at that this weekend though. lol

How was your weekend? :D



2146

time to beat my time! ... and some precious promises (52 in 52)

It's Spring Break for me now!! Yay!

That also means I run the Cooper River Bridge Run in 2 days! Woo!! :D I looked up my time from last year. I ran it in 1 hour, 3 minutes, and 38 seconds.

My goal is under an hour. Think I can do it? Yeah. I have my doubts too. lol

My cousin Cindy and I are going down together (with her roommate Britney) and staying at a hotel tomorrow night. It'll be a fun little getaway for the evening, and we'll have plenty of time to catch up on the juicy cousin news! Can't wait. :)

Have you watched the new show Touch that started last week? I'm hooked! Jake, the little boy in the show, is absolutely adorable. His hair just melts my heart! Maybe I'll have a little boy with curly hair like that one day. ...maybe.

I was also watching the other new show Awake, but I'm not sure I can watch it anymore. It's become a bit too scary for me. But I may just be a wimp.

My grandpa's birthday is on Saturday. I'm not sure I'll have time or enough energy on Saturday to work in my yard, but I'm planning on doing some planting next week to celebrate his birthday.

I miss his smile and his blue eyes. And his voice. Such a rich voice.

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

2 Peter 1:3-4

I'm drawn to this verse for some reason. I can't quite put my finger on it though.

God's very great and precious promises. Promises that some day, we will be able to see our loved ones again. We'll be able to see our Savior face to face. Promises of a life without tears, sickness, pain, or sorrow. A life filled to overflowing with worship and praise to our Father. Promises of life with Him.

Maybe I just put my finger on it. Promises of seeing my Uncle Mike, Grandma, and Grandpa again. Thoughts of that day are certainly very great and precious in my mind. 

It's almost midnight. I better hop in the bed before I turn into a pumpkin! I'll let you know if I beat my time on Saturday! :)



2020

some randomness

For some reason, I feel like today should be Wednesday or Thursday. Maybe that's because I'm taking Friday off to drive to Charleston for Saturday's Cooper River Bridge Run.

Did I mention that I'm running the Cooper River Bridge Run on Saturday? Well, I am! I'm so excited!! I need to look up my time from last year so that I can try to beat it.

I saw The Hunger Games last night! It was an EXCELLENT movie!! My friend Bekah went with me, and we're both itching to see the second one now! She hasn't read the books, so she wasn't expecting the movie to just stop mid-story. Keeps you wanting to see more! (PS - Just in my I-don't-have-kids-yet opinion, if you're thinking about taking your young child - aka not in HS - to see it, I would rethink it. It is pretty rough in some spots with the "game" scenes. Just my $0.02 though!)

1. I got to hold little Mr. Toby during church on Sunday morning. (Having nursery does have it's perks, eh?) i. love. him. seriously.

2. I'm hooked on edamame! I found it in the frozen section of Aldi, where I do 90% of my grocery shopping, so I snagged several bags. I've now eaten about a bag and a half since Friday. Yum!

3. I did some more planting last week! I now have some of Grandpa's daffodils around my mailbox. I'm pretty certain that I did not inherit his green thumb. Sad times.

4. I locked us (a 9 year old, a 2 year old, and myself) out of the house while I was babysitting last week. It wasn't so terrible though. We had fun!

I was supposed to run 5.4 miles yesterday, but the movie plans definitely trumped those plans.

I was planning on running the 5.4 miles today since I didn't run them yesterday, however I have been sitting here on my couch like a bump on a log all evening. I can't seem to get going.

So, I'm watching The Biggest Loser (which I normally don't watch), and they mentioned Zumba. Think that's a sign? heh

Spring break is 2 days away (well, really 3...but again, I'm taking Friday off! Yay!). What are you planning for Spring Break with your kids, or if you don't have kids, what about Easter with your family?

1912

booming visits, my run, and an undivided heart ... in reverse order

Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name. I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever. For great is Your love toward me; You have delivered me from the depths of the grave.

Psalm 86:11-13

What do you feel your heart is divided between? Maybe it's between following God and continuing a habit you've developed. Maybe it's trusting God, but also feeling as if you can't fully trust Him. Maybe it's between wanting to be obedient to God, yet still have that "little sin" in your life. Whatever it is, having a divided heart is terribly hard, isn't it?

I want to be undividedly (I made up that word!) devoted to God!

--------

I went running tonight at 7:00 again. It's SO much nicer running in the evenings than in the afternoons! First off, and obviously so, it's much much cooler in the evenings. An added bonus is that I've been able to see more people while I'm out running. Although I feel disgustingly gross when I run, and I feel like I look like a dying cow at times, it's still nice to see people outside going for an evening walk! And something about knowing people are around and can see me running makes me run just a smidgen faster. lol

I did 3.8 miles tonight in 38 minutes and 22 seconds. Pretty good pace! I'm getting closer to my goal of running 10 minute miles again. Once I accomplish that, my goal will then be to run under 10 minute miles. I know I can do it! Just have to keep working...er, running.

--------

So, I like to track how many people are visiting my blog between posts. Usually, I'll have about 40 or 50 people visit my blog in a span of about 3 or 4 days. However, since my last post (which was Sunday), I've had almost 200 people visit my blog. That's crazy! I'm seriously wondering if I really have had almost 200 people visit my blog since then, or if there is some crazy internet machine or something that's kicking the count up.

I'd like to think I've had that many people in that short amount of time because that would mean they're reading Scripture, being encouraged to get out and run (do I encourage people to do this?), and that my thoughts are being heard (a bit of a scary thought sometimes lol).

I'll just let myself think there really are that many people reading. A nice confidence boost, right? :)

1656

tis the season...

To run in the evenings!!!  It's hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!

Yesterday's 4.9 mile run was tough. I got up and had some breakfast at 9:00, then headed to my grandparents' house around 11:00 to dig up some daffodil plants that are still around from when Grandpa was doing his gardening years ago.

(The patch of daffodils I got them from)

Honestly, I was hoping to dig up all of these to transplant at my house. However, after digging for awhile, I realized there were TONS and TONS of daffodils here. I basically dug up one small portion of what you see, and this is what I ended up with...

(My daffodil babies)

Bekah came over when I was just about done, and we headed over to my house to plant them there. I did a row on each side of my storage shed in the backyard. Before I planted them, I counted how many I had gotten.

Are you ready for this?

I dug up about 105 daffodil plants! Crazy!! I could totally put them all over my yard and not have to worry about grass again because the pretty daffodils would take over. I think I'll refrain from doing that though.

So, I was finished with the gardening around 2:00, and then I decided to head out for my run.

About halfway through, I remembered that I hadn't eaten anything since my breakfast at 9:00 that morning. And then I also realized that it was much hotter than I expected!

I actually stopped at one point and asked a random guy for a glass of water. He was outside playing with his 2 year old son (he looked to be able 2). He went in and got me a bottle of water. Then, as I was walking so I could drink the water, a lady asked if I needed anymore water. (I must have looked pretty bad lol) She said to feel free to stop by her house for water anytime. Hopefully that won't be a need though!

I think I'm going to start running in the early evenings now. It's getting so much hotter these days, and I can't seem to run my best in the heat. I'm thinking 6 or 7PM would be much nicer!

For now, I'll have to be happy with my 4.9mile run that I did in about 54 minutes.



1483

I got my rear in gear!

Last Saturday was the best run I've had since I started back this year. It was also the third time I've run the Get Your Rear in Gear 5k race, which benefits colon cancer. It's always fun.

(Before the race, with my pink tutu!)

A parent at the school where I teach always gets a group together to run it. We're called The Wise Cracks (get it? Since it's for colon cancer!) We get shirts each year, and there's always this little dude on it with his bare bottom. It's cute, but I prefer not to run around with bare bottoms on my shirt, so I put a tutu on him. That's the pink thing on my shirt.

(After I finished, with major sun in my eyes.)

I ran the race in 31 minutes and 33 seconds. That's my best time since starting back this year.

This is one of my favorite runs because they end it with a complete downhill sprint, which I love! I always try to sprint the end, and the downhill definitely helps with that!!

Until next year!



1479

1.5 miles ... I'm okay with that!

Well, it's been over a week since I've had a good run. I couldn't stand it any longer today. I had to get out there for a run. 1) for my sanity and 2) for my waistline. grr.

But we won't go there.

So, I set my sights high again and was hoping for a 5k run today. ha. My calves aren't THAT much better right now, I reckon.

I went about a mile and a half and decided my calves were going from "uncomfortable" to "painful" at that point, so I decided to walk home. But then I looked at my phone and I had gone 1.46mile, so I made myself go the extra 0.04 to top it off at 1.5mile.

So glad I did! I feel much better about a 1.5mile run than a 1.46mile run. Wouldn't you?

I still have a 5k race on Saturday, so I'm hoping for at least a 2.5mile run before then.

Good thing is that while I was walking Izzy after my run, my calves completely stopped hurting. So, that's pretty exciting!!

On a random note, I'm in the process of planning a very real post soon. "Real" as in totally what my heart has been feeling lately about some things. I just haven't gotten around to fleshing it out into words yet.




1394

taking thoughts captive (52 in 52) and my new kicks!

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God; and we take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:5

My high school/college Sunday school teacher used to talk about this verse a good bit. She was very real in telling us her struggles and weaknesses. Mrs. Rita died after battling breast cancer several years ago, but her legacy still lives on! She once challenged our class in high school to memorize the Fruits of the Spirit during one of our units - I can still say them all for you! (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control -- Thank you, Mrs. Rita!)

This verse has been very real to me lately. However, I never really knew (or paid attention to?) the first part of it, but I love it.

As human beings, our minds are great at justifying our actions and making excuses for ourselves. We argue with God and tell Him that of course we're right in what we're doing. We justify unhealthy friendships, thoughts that spur from low self esteem and limited confidence, damaging behaviors, and anything else in-between. But when we stop arguing and listen to God, we see the truth. We see His leading and His guidance. He starts to break our arguments apart and forces us to view the true problem at hand.

So, when I start thinking that I'm not good enough or pretty enough, I take those thoughts captive and remember Who made me. And why He made me. He didn't make me to marry someone or turn heads. He made me to worship Him and bring praise to His name. Period.

And I think of Mrs. Rita every time it comes to mind. Such a special lady, she was!

2 Corinthians 10:5 was my verse for this week's 52 in 52. I didn't have a chance to post about it earlier in the week because our family had a very exciting, very tiny addition this week! Jennifer, my sister, had her fourth child on Tuesday afternoon! Little Tobias William (Toby for short) is a perfect little man. :) This week was full of baby holding and older children watching for me, and sleepless (but very blessed!) nights for my sister. Please pray that little Mr. Toby learns to sleep in his bassinet very soon!

This week was also exciting because I received my new running shoes! They're Vibram Five Fingers, and I love them!! I ran in them for the first time today, and it went really well. I set my sights pretty low and planned on running only 1.5 miles in case the shoes weren't working out very well for me. However, after running those 1.5 miles, I decided to keep going. I ended up running 3.26 miles in about 34 minutes. This is still not the pace I'm wanting, but I will get there!

I tried on a pair of Five Fingers at a store before Christmas and was warned that they would kill my calves when I first started wearing them. Umm, yeah. Let's just say that I most definitely found that to be very accurate! Ouch! I'm doing lots and lots of stretches for my calves today. :)

And one more Mrs. Rita story to close the post. When we would go on youth trips, we would usually end up "staaaaarving" by the time lights out came around. Of course, we'd tell Mrs. Rita that we needed something to eat, and her response was always the same. "If you're hungry late at night, that means you just need to go on to bed!"

I still try to follow this simple rule to late night snacks, although not always successfully. Mrs. Rita surely was full of wisdom (of many kinds)!



1302

rambling (what I do best)

I ran my 5k today! I'll be honest and say that it was rather boring. I'm afraid my neighborhood is going to be a boring place to run if I plan on running more than 1 or 2 miles at a time. I'll most likely start running in the Country Club more often again. A friend of mine lets me park at her house, so I just park and then run (my route is about 3 miles, but I can make it longer if I want). There's a good mixture of hills and flat runs.

Anyhoo, so my run. I did a tad over 5k in 34:48. I'd like to think it's a bit longer because there were some pretty fierce hills to scale, and then I had to stop at one point to let someone back out of their driveway. I was afraid they didn't see me, so I waited patiently for them to move on.

Overall, it was a good run. The more I get out there and run, the more I'm reminded of why I enjoy it so much.

Three more weeks until my next 5k race! I think my goal will be to run it in under 32 minutes. That's probably more realistic than shooting for 30 minutes!

After my run today, I decided to pull out my Wii Fit. I think it's literally been a year since I've done anything with it, but I had fun! I've decided to do at least the Yoga part after my runs, and then do everything (Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics, and Balance) on my off days. We'll see how long that one lasts though. :)

Oh yeah!!!  I ordered a pair of Vibram FiveFingers shoes! YAY! I'm so very excited. I've wanted a pair for awhile now, but they're so stinking expensive! Well, I got bored earlier and decided to see if I could find a good deal on a pair, and I ended up getting them for $43 shipped from Moosejaw!  WOO! That's like 1/2 off, I think! I can't remember if the pair I got is normally $80 or $90. Either way, I'm super excited!!! (I said that already though...) Can't wait until the come in the mail. :)

Happy running!



1245

Running: the good, the bad, and ...the stinky

So, there are definitely some things that I love about running, some things I could do without while I run, and also some things that are down right stinky...literally. Let's start with the good first, shall we?

I love the feeling of exhilaration right after a good (or even bad at times) run. I think that's what is addicting for me. Such a rush!

I love the fact that Tim Tebow keeps telling me that I had a nice run on my Nike+ GPS app. It's happened three times now! And honestly, that may be the only name I've recognized. (They have a famous person tell you that you did a great job after each of your runs, and I usually have NO clue who the person is!)

I love running a race for a good cause.

I love this one little dog that is in a fenced in yard on one of the roads I run in my neighborhood. He barks his little head off at me, and he jumps so that he's almost above the fence even though he's a little ankle biter. It cracks me up every time I run by. I almost stopped to take a picture of him today, but I'm not fond of stopping while I run.

And of course, I love that my clothes seem to get bigger after I've been running consistently. (Although I'm still waiting for that one to happen right now!)

The bad...

Although I love that one little jumping bean of a dog, I do not enjoy big scary dogs that bark at me while I'm running. Although all of the dogs in my neighborhood are in fences (except one, and he has an electric collar), I have this crazy fear of them jumping the fence (or bounding through the electric fence) and attacking me. I just try to look straight ahead and not make any eye contact. That helps, right?

I do not enjoy people that do not go to the other side of the road while they're driving past a runner. Safety first, people!

And the stinky...

Monday is stinkday around here...otherwise known trash day in my neighborhood. If you know me in person, then you know that I have something called trashcanophobia. I avoid touching them at all costs, and when I must, I use a napkin. So, when I'm running on Mondays and trying to avoid the numerous trashcans lining the road, I have to hold my breath every few cans. Of course, not all trashcans stink, but the ones that do...really do. Yuck!

Another time that I have a hard time breathing is when a car drives by with someone smoking in it. No offense to anyone reading this that may smoke, but I find it rather stinky to inhale a lung full of secondhand smoke while I'm running. Maybe it makes me run a bit faster though!

Car exhaust is up there with cigarette smoke. It seems to linger longer though. I've almost turned around to run away from the stink before!


So, let's end with a love! I loved running 2.15 miles today in about 22 minutes! This is a much better pace than I've had since I started back. I'll run 5k tomorrow, and hopefully it'll be much closer to 30 minutes than it was a week ago! I'll let you know what happens. :)



1218

psst

I ran again today.

1.51 miles

(that 0.01 counts for something, right?!)



1202

existing (52 in 52 wk 7)

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I life by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Galatians 2:20

Have you ever had a thought, an epiphany so great that it just made you stop dead in your tracks and think? Like, really and truly like about its meaning. And then when you go to explain this epiphany to someone, you have a hard time putting into words what your heart and mind were just conceiving to be absolute truth?

Yeah, that's how I'm feeling right now. I'm having a hard time coming up with the words to explain this great revelation I've had. When I looked at this verse to be my 52 in 52 for week 7 (this week), I was stilled by a note I had jotted down.

In my Bible, I have written in the margins beside this verse, "live = exist!!!" (Yes, there are three exclamation points in there too. :) So, let's look at it with the word "exist" instead of "live" ...

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer exist, but Christ exists in me. The life I live in the body, I life by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Galatians 2:20

Dwell on that for a moment or two.

I no longer exist. Christ exists in me.

No wonder I had three exclamation points there! That's a mind blowing concept. When I think about my day to day life, is Christ truly existing in my life? Am I allowing Him the freedom to live through me?

I'm coming up short with ways to explain what this verse means to me. However, when I've been working on this verse yesterday and today, I can't get the word exist out of my mind. It seems so much more grand than live. I don't know why, but it does.

If I find that I've come up with better words for my thoughts, I'll share them with you. I'm sure you'll be anxiously awaiting another post! ;)

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In other, totally unrelated news, I ran 2.5 miles today. Well, it was actually 2.65 miles, but we don't have to be that technical, right? ;) I'm just proud that I was able to get through it with little troubles! I had a few "Oh gravy! There goes my knee!" moments, but I think they're mainly due to me figuring out my form again.

Tomorrow is a 1.5 mile run. Gotta keep myself moving!! :) I'm signed up for the Get Your Rear in Gear 5k on March 10th, and I'm also running the Cooper River Bridge Run again this year on the 31st! Yay!! It feels great to be at it again. I've missed it.

Happy Monday, my friends.

1180

Cupid's Cup & my inspiration (aka my grandma)

Do you ever do something simply because it makes you think of someone you love?

Maybe you go to a particular restaurant or sit in a certain pew at church - all because that special someone liked going there or used to sit there. Maybe it's something that honors that person and helps you remember them in a special way.

That's what the Cupid's Cup 5k race is for me. This race benefits heart conditions. My grandma died [partly] due to congestive heart failure in December of 2009. In February of 2010, my cousin Cindy and I ran our first 5k together - The Cupid's Cup. I ran it again in 2011 (Cindy couldn't because she had a broken tail bone. Ouch!). Today, I ran it with Cindy.

All for my grandma.

She was such an amazing lady. Her love for my grandpa was so obvious and loud. She loved him and love him for years. When Grandpa was put in a nursing home in the summer of 2005, she didn't let it stop her from spending everyday with him and taking care of him as best as she could. She drove herself to the nursing home every single day for 4 years. She sat with him, made sure the nurses were taking care of him as best they could, and of course, there were often some times that she nagged him. The nagging was most definitely out of love though.

Even when Grandpa's mind started to slip and he didn't act like himself, still she drove to be with him everyday. Even when Grandma started getting sick herself, she insisted that we drive her to see Grandpa each day. She loved him with a strong love. Through the good and the bad, she loved him. And he loved her.

When it was obvious we were not able to care for Grandma the way she needed cared for anymore, she went to stay in the same nursing home as Grandpa. On the day Grandma died, Grandpa was taken to see her. He knew she wasn't doing well. So they sat together in the quiet. In the silence of what they knew was happening.

That night, Grandma went to see her Creator. She was also reunited with her oldest son, my Uncle Mike. Oh what a great day of rejoicing that was for her. Grandma was in the presence of her Savior, she no longer felt pain from missing her son, and she was able to walk without growing tired again. 

This morning, I may not have ran my fastest 5k. However, I did run beside a great friend and cousin, and together we ran for Grandma. 

It was a great race. Can't wait until next year!

1156

i ran

I went for a run this morning! I did 5k in about 30minutes. It was a little rough because I haven't run in several weeks, but I did it, and I'm glad I did. :)


550

sprints vs distance

Kickball. Tons of fun, right? Definitely!

Our school formed a team of teachers to battle another school's team of teachers in a game of kickball.

We're such tough competitors, aren't we? Be afraid...be very afraid!
(Yes, the tutu made an appearance!)

We had an absolute BLAST! There were tons of laughs, a few confusing moments, and hopefully we were able to raise some funds through concessions for our schools. Our school didn't win (sad!), but that's alright. I hear there will be a rematch next year (hopefully), and we're supposed to actually strategize and practice maybe once. ...we'll see!

So, that's the background to my post. Now for my point. :)

I can go out and run 5miles, no problem. I actually enjoy it, oddly enough (a year and a half ago, I would have laughed in your face if you told me to run 5miles). So, I should be fine running around some silly bases, right? HA! Good gravy, my thighs are STILL bothering me! I didn't realize sprints worked a completely different sets of muscles than distance running. But, now I do!!

Speaking of running, which I speak of often, I haven't run since last week. This week has been rough with my grandpa's funeral, and then some things at work (prayers appreciated!), so I haven't gotten out for a run at all this week. We're furloughed tomorrow though, so I'm hoping to get out for a run while I'm off.

And one more thing. If you haven't watched the new show Coming Home, you should definitely check it out! Just have some tissues handy. :)



543

esty shop memo & a real rain check

Just fyi - the etsy shop is in my sister's name, not mine. Soooo...although it says Jennifer S., I'm there too! :)

I sold this little bag today.

Time to make more stuff!!! :D


So, I was planning on a good run this afternoon. Took my running clothes to work and everything - couldn't wait! It was going to be the perfect ending to a work day that included a PTO-catered Italian lunch - yum!!! (Thanks, PTO moms!!! You rock!!)

So, I stayed for a yearbook committee meeting as we wrestled with the yearbook software (we will prevail!!), and the closer it got to my marvelous afternoon run, the worse it looked outside. My teacher friend (and just friend in general!) Ashley kept asking if I was sure about going running this afternoon. Well, I was at the time...until I left. By then, the sky had opened up and it was POURING rain. Craziness!!

So, needless to say, no run today. Instead, I headed to Old Navy with a "free ankle jeans" coupon one of my students had given me. I tried on some "ankle jeans" (aka capris...or any jean that showed your ankle - who knew? lol), fell in love with a cute sun dress, decided I looked terrible in Old Navy's "ankle jeans" (something about my big hips/thighs just doesn't mix with them), and bought the lovely dress along with a few other things. So, although I didn't get my run in, it was a good afternoon of shopping. I actually forgot about the monsoon outside while I was looking around Old Navy....that is until I had to swim back to my car to head home.

Will try again tomorrow!



497

Get Your Rear in Gear ...in a pink tutu!

Last year, when I was just getting into running, one of my students' parents mentioned putting together a team for the Get Your Rear in Gear 5k benefiting colon cancer. I jumped on the chance to be in the team, and we were eventually named the Wise Cracks (haha!).

We ran the race again today. Our team just about doubled this time though! We are teachers, spouses, friends, and children. Here we are...

(You've guessed it - I'm the one in the pink tutu.)

My big brother Aaron (affectionately known as Bubba to me) ran in the race as well.

I helped him pin his race number on.

*ahem* Can I just say that I beat my big brother in the race?! :D Aaah...victory! I still love him though...and of course, he still loves me...even if I do rub it in his face just a few times. :)

Quick picture before the race.

The race went really well. I didn't remember the course being very hilly, and it really wasn't. There were a few hills, but not an abundance, and they were completely bearable.

I always do a really big sprint at the end of the race, trying to beat the clock.
I must say that I'm pretty much a beast at running when I do this.
I run hard, and I run fast.
If only I could run that hard and fast during the whole race - I'd beat the pants off everyone there!

Okay, so..my time for this race. The clock as I crossed the finished said I ran it in 30min 36sec (boo!!). But when I started thinking about the course, they didn't really time it very fairly. Instead of starting your timed chip when you crossed the start line (having it be a true measure of your race), they started timing when they started the race. So, although I was probably in the middle of the pack, meaning I didn't cross the start until probably a minute or so after the first people did, they timed me as if I started at the front of the pack.

That being said, I checked my Nike+ time, and I ran the race in 28min 59sec!!!!! Yes, yes...that is UNDER 30min, people!! Woo!! I was so proud!!

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Side story! So, in the last picture I have up there, take a peek at the tall guy with the blue shorts on. Okay, now rewind to last month when I ran the Cupid's Cup 5k race. This guy was standing around near me and some friends waiting for that race to start. He talked with me a little about my tutu - he was wearing bright pink shorts, so we teased about switching so I would wear his bright pink shorts and he would wear my pink tutu. I saw him briefly after the race, we said good race, and went our separate ways.

Fast forward again to this morning and this race. Shortly after the race began this morning, this random guy ran up beside me and was like, "HEY!!! Remember me?! Wanna trade still?!" It startled me, but totally made me laugh!! He continued running...buuut! I caught back up with him and finished just a second or two behind him at the end of the race. I wanted so bad to run back up beside him and catch his attention before we crossed the finish, but he was just a hair too quick. That's okay though. I still finished in under 30minutes. :)



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