5K Friday

I'm back, baby! And man does it feel good!

That's right, I went to the gym this morning and ran my 5k.  In fact, I also walked before and after so I ended up doing 4.2 miles and I didn't feel like I was going to die!  It's good to be healthy again :)  Now I'm off to do my grocery shopping where I will walk another couple of miles.  Hooray!

So what's your plan?

The Last One

Kai's Kindergarten graduation was Monday night and I just don't know how I feel about it.

They were all adorable, of course.

They sang and did sign language and acted.

And while I'm excited to have all the kids in school all day next year........

I can't believe that this was our last Kindergarten graduation!

I feel so old :)

Wonderful Weekend

I had a really great weekend!  We cleaned the house for the first time in three weeks; a little embarassing that it had been that long, but what can you do.  It stopped raining long enough on Saturday for me (and the rest of the neighborhood) to mow the lawn.  Seriously, I think there were only two people in the whole neighborhood who didn't mow :)

 The garden is coming up in spite of all the rain.  We have onions, radishes, spinach, and ....

peas!  Hooray!

The strawberries are even starting to flower.  They should be fabulous this year, what with all the rain, if they can just outgrow the grass!

This is the kids' idea of a relaxing Sunday activity:

Kai says it's bigger on the inside than the outside.  It probably is although it's pretty huge on the outside!

The best part is that I'm finally feeling better!  I went to the gym this morning and did 5 miles between the elliptical and the treadmill.  Hallelujah!  I guess I just don't appreciate good health until I've been sick!

5k Friday

I didn't make my 5k today, but in all fairness I've been sick as a dog since Sunday night.  I did 2 miles grocery shopping so that'll have to do for now.  Next week I'm back to my usual routine or else!

You know you're sick when......

.......combing your hair means you have to sit down for a few minutes and wait for your head to stop spinning before you can do anything else.

Man, I haven't been this sick in a long, long time.

I found her

Saturday was the worst and best day of my life.

We were so busy!  Brian took me to market at 8am, then he ran home to take Graeme to his soccer game by 8:45.  Meanwhile, a neighbor came and took Chloe to softball practice at 9.  After the game and practice, there was a neighborhood cleanup scheduled and then Brian had to come back and get me at 1pm.  Crazy, right?  Well, we made it to market on time and I was doing my thing when the phone rang at about 10:30.  It was Brian and he said:

"Chloe's not home and I can't find her."

I can't describe how I felt hearing those words.  My heart stopped and I couldn't breathe.  I think Brian was surprised by the visceral nature of my reaction.  I was literally hysterical.  All I could say was:  "find her!"  All the worst case scenerios were rushing through my brain.  I couldn't see and my only coherent thought was that I had to get home and find her!  The problem was that I didn't have a car.  So did I ask a friend to run me home?  Look for a bus stop?  Call a cab?  No, I called my Mom.  Here I am, all grown up with kids of my own and what do I do in that moment of extreme stress?  That's right, I turn back into a small child.  Anyway, even though they live an hour away, Mom and Dad dropped everything and were going to come get me.  I am so very grateful for that.

An agonizing half-hour later Brian called back and said:

"I found her."

The three most wonderful words in the world!  It turns out she was still at softball practice, they were just in a different part of the park and Brian hadn't been able to see her before.  The relief I felt was so intense, it took me more than an hour to stop crying.  The people who stopped by my booth must've thought I was nuts!  When I got home, I just hugged her and hugged her.  Those moments when I thought she was lost were without a doubt the worst in my life and when she was found once more I was happier than I have ever been.

Here's the thing.  I constantly tell my Primary class how important they are and how much God loves them (and I know that to be true) but until Saturday I'm not sure I really understood.  As I was getting ready for church yesterday it hit me so hard I had to sit down.  That overwhelming grief I felt when I thought Chloe was lost is just a fraction of what our Heavenly Father feels when any one of us is lost.  We are His children and He loves us perfectly and eternally.  I wonder how much more His joy is when a lost one is brought home?  I'm sure the heavens ring with songs of rejoicing when those wonderful words come:

"I found her!"

5k Friday

Okay, I'm pretty sure that not even my mom is reading my blog anymore, but I'm going to give this a try anyway.

I have this goal.  I want to run (not walk) a 5k in real life.  It's not that far, only 3.1 miles, and I can do it on a treadmill pretty much anytime I want to.  And I can walk it (in real life) anytime I want to, but I really, really want to run that whole 3.1 miles in real life.

So I've been going to the gym three times a week and doing other exercise at home two or three times a week and every Friday I run that 5k on the treadmill.  And I guess it's getting a tiny bit easier :)

But here's the thing, in order to take that next step (jogging in real life) I need some moral support/competition.  So if you're reading this, I want you to commit to do a 5k every Friday.  You don't need to jog it; you can walk it, swim it, roller skate it, ride a bike (it) or even crawl it if that's what floats your boat.  I don't care what you do all the other days, just do that 5k every Friday.  Buy a cheap pedometer or drive out a route in your car or just time yourself (it takes me 40 minutes jogging, 45-50 minutes fast walking or just over an hour slow walking).  You don't even have to do a specific route, I did 1.5 miles just grocery shopping today.

Anyway, once you've done your 5k, either leave a comment on this post, write a quick update on Facebook or email me (let me know if you need my email address).

Again, if anybody's reading this, please help me out.  Thanks!

Perseverence

A couple of weeks ago Brian and I had the opportunity to go to Martin's Cove (Wyoming) and learn about the Willey and Martin handcart companies.  I've heard pioneer stories my whole life but I was deeply moved to be in the place where those people suffered and sacrificed so much.  And I've thought about them often since returning home.  The words of the women, especially, speak to my soul and evoke tender feelings of love and admiration and gratitude and pride.  They were women without peer.

I can't begin to express my gratitude that their trials are not my trials.  I doubt that I will ever be required to walk from one side of this country to the other.  I pray that I will never have to watch my children die from starvation and exposure.  I hope to never face a blizzard, unprotected, in the vast Wyoming wilderness.  So how did they survive?  How did they live through trials of such magnitude?

As best I can tell, they just kept going.  In the absolute, literal sense of the word, they persevered.

I have trials, and while they aren't pioneer trials they're pretty huge for me (no pun intended).  Right now I'm trying to lose weight and I've been trying for two years.  I'm down about 35 pounds with about 100 to go.  I feel so discouraged because I'm giving it all I have; I can run a 5k on the treadmill whenever I want to but I can't seem to lose weight.  So clearly I don't have pioneer trials but maybe I've got just a teeny bit of that pioneer spirit because surprisingly I'm not giving up.  I've come too far and no stinking blizzard is going to turn me back now.  I will persevere, I just wish I could persevere a little bit faster.