It’s a Tired Old Saying…

But it’s so true.

Here is the wreath I made. I got the idea, again, off of Pinterest.  I was so happy with it… for a half second.  Lesson learned:  don’t hang something on my door that will be destroyed if it falls off.

St. Paddy’s Smoothie

In honor of St. Paddy’s Day, I’m posting the recipe to my favorite green smoothie.  I’ve been drinking this for my breakfast every day this week and it is seriously delish.  I found the link to the recipe on Pinterest.  I’m having to eat my original words about Pinterest.  Oh, well.

If you’re interested in trying it, I promise it’s good (assuming you like banana since that’s mostly what you taste).  Keep in mind that this recipe makes 2 servings.  The servings seem a little small, but it’s very filling.

1 cup almond milk

1 banana

1-1/2 Tbsp almond butter

2 handfuls of spinach

That’s it!  I use frozen bananas and also add a little ice for volume.  Makes a perfect breakfast or snack!  Hope you enjoy it.  🙂

A Christmas Story

So I have finally weeded through all of my pictures from Christmas and have a few to share here on the blog.  However, going through my pictures, I realized I simply have to do this first…

Remember the days before digital photography?  I kind of miss the excitement of picking up my newly-developed film and discovering what was on the roll.  It wasn’t so much about great pictures as just great memories.  Sometimes, I wish we could go back to those days.  But then there are times like these when I wonder how we ever managed to get a decent shot when we were limited by how much film and developing we could afford.  I often take numerous photos of the “same thing” hoping one will come out great.  I’m usually not disappointed.  But even some serious tenacity this past Christmas Eve did not pay off in the way I wanted.  And yet, I could never trade this group of photos for a single perfect one.

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More Christmas pics to come!

A Letter to My Spin Instructor

Dear Spin Instructor,

I really enjoy spinning.  I didn’t think I’d ever say that because I tried spinning just over a decade ago, and my rear end couldn’t take it.  But something is different this time.  Either the bike seats are more padded, or my seat is.  I’m not sure which.  Well, okay, I am.  But that’s not the point. 

My point is that as much as I enjoy the exercise, I’m not sure if I can force myself to go back to your class, because you make me crazy.  Here are my top 5 tips for NOT driving people away from your class.

5.  Don’t wait until the last 5 minutes of the class to see if the video you were supposed to play is playing or not.  Your “oops” didn’t make it easier for me to stare at a heart rate graph for an hour when I could have been watching competitive biking through beautiful scenery.  [And, no, my dear readers, I can’t just go bike in beautiful scenery because I live in Dallas and also because I don’t actually know how to ride a bike.] 

4.  Please explain to newcomers that earplugs are provided at the front of the room because we WILL eventually NEED them to keep from going DEAF over your INSANE YELLING.  Some people might stupidly assume that the volume at the beginning of the class will be fairly consistent throughout.

3.  I know how long a minute is.  I’m a runner (despite what I may have said here), so I’m pretty good at pacing myself.  Please don’t tell me that we have a one minute hill and then try to convince me that 180 seconds is really just 60 seconds.  I paced myself for 60 seconds.  That’s what you told me to do.  I can tell time and I know a liar when I see one. 

2.  When you say, “Now, we’re gonna GO HARD for ONE MINUTE” (see #3 above to learn about “one minute”) and then you continue to talk for a minute, I assume you’re trying to distract me.  I’m NOT LISTENING.  I’m GOING HARD like you told me to do.  So when you finish your little monologue with, “Now GO!!!!,”  I’m already done.

1.  This is Spin Class, not professional counseling.  Please stop telling me to “Find my truth and LIVE IT!”  Please stop asking me if I’m doing what I need to do to become the person I want to become.  And, especially do NOT tell me that adding a gear will make me a better person.  I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt in assuming you don’t even remember saying that last bit, but you totally did.

Sincerely,

Someone Who Would Love to Continue Spinning But May Not Be Able to Handle Your Level of CRAZY

Cornerstone Kids > The Village Church

Cornerstone Kids > The Village Church.   Wow.  This is beautiful.

Child’s Play

C.J. has been home sick with his asthma quite a bit the last two weeks (including yesterday and today).  And now we don’t have school again until Tuesday.  He’s the kind of kid who is never fully happy being inside.  He’d much prefer to be running around outside, riding his scooter, playing with his friends, etc.  And that’s GREAT…except when his asthma is acting up like this.

So…I’ve been on a search to find fun activities for us to do at home, and hopefully some educational ones, too, since he’s missing a lot of school.  (Yes, I know it’s only Kindergarten, but still.)  Yesterday, we played board games, painted a birdhouse, did some chemistry experiments, made & practiced “sight words” flashcards, and played with the teaching cash register Mimi and Pappa gave C.J. for Christmas.  And…I’m a bit out of new ideas.  But, now I’ve found some cool ideas on Pinterest.  You may remember that I talked about Pinterest in a recent post.  Turns out, the site is WAY more than just crafts and if I had a ton of time to kill, I could easily spend hours looking through all the neat stuff there.

For my friends with kiddos (or grandkiddos), I’ll be listing some of the ideas/websites I find here.  Check back, because I’ll add more as I find them.  And if you know of some, please leave me the links in my comments!  I’d really appreciate it.  We’re desperate to stave off boredom right now!

Enjoy!

All For the Boys
Toys in the Dryer

Science Sparks

Play At Home Mome 3 

This Is The Year? – Tullian Tchividjian

This is a (very short) must-read for the new year!

HAPPY 2012!

This Is The Year? – Tullian Tchividjian.

Childhood Christmas Confusion

C.J.’s school has been doing some really fun activities the last couple of weeks involving a gingerbread man.  The most recent coup was when the gingerbread man escaped from the school oven when Mrs. Wooten ,the Principal, peeked in to check on him.  He ran past her, smearing her face all over with powdered sugar!  He sprinted down to the kindergarten hall where the kids had earlier painted their holiday shirts.  The shirts were lined up to dry and that darn gingerbread man stepped on all the shirts!  They knew it was him because the prints were brown and glittery and there was a trail of crumbs a mile wide!  C.J. came home and went on and on about the escaped gingerbread man who had infiltrated their school!  After I heard about that whole escapade, I knew something had to be done.  This morning, I went up to the school to help the class use GPS devices to find the gingerbread man.  We never did find the big GM himself, but he left some notes and somehow snuck into the classroom and left cookies for all the kids to eat – RIGHT BEFORE LUNCH!  Now I KNOW this guy is a trouble-maker!

Gingerbread Man left a note asking for a class photo.

This whole gingerbread man topic has made me think back to my old childhood Christmases.  I was thinking specifically about what I believed as far as Santa and all that business.  What I do remember is my dad coming into our den every Christmas Eve wearing a red sweatsuit and announcing, “I’m Santa Clause!  After you go to bed tonight, I’m going to put all those presents under the tree!”  Of course we had a million questions about how that could possibly be true.  He was always vague in answering our questions, but he was firm on the fact that he was Santa Clause.  It makes me laugh every time I think about it.  Of course, I eventually figured out that he’d been telling us the truth all those years.  I don’t remember how I found out or when, but it obviously wasn’t too traumatic.  What WAS traumatic was making it all the way to my junior year of high school thinking there were no such thing as reindeer!  I will never forget THAT discovery!  I was in the kitchen with my mom.  It was winter and she was talking about having seen a reindeer on a road trip they had recently taken.  I cracked up laughing and said, “Oh, really?  A reindeer!  [insert lots of laughter] You saw a REINDEER!”

Poor Mom was totally confused and responded in the affirmative while watching to see what crazy thing I’d do next.  But now I was a little annoyed or offended or something.  I mean, how old did she think I was?  “Wow, Mom.  That’s awesome!  Did you see Santa and the elves, too?”  Well, at this point, my mother doubled over laughing and hooting and hollering and I realized there was a big piece of humble pie being shoveled into my big mouth in that moment.  What can I say?  I’ve lived in Texas almost my whole life and had never traveled up north during the winter at that point in my life.  When I found out there was no Santa (*gasp*), I just assumed the whole story was bunk.  I mean, what good are reindeer that can’t fly?  Isn’t that the whole point of reindeer?  I guess not.  But it should be.

So those are some of my confused childhood Christmas memories.  Anyone else got any?  I’ll be waiting for the day C.J. discovers that the words to “Feliz Navidad” are not “Puh-lease, Mommy-Dog”! That might throw him for a loop…

Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio, 2011

Okay, people.  There’s a reason I haven’t said a word about my race last week.  I hate defeat.  And, yes, I felt defeated after that race.  Everything went wrong.  First, my expectations were high.  My last three long runs had all exceeded my previous records for pace.  That got me pretty pumped up!  I had set my original time goal very high, thinking I’d be really fortunate to meet it.  That goal was 2:05:00.  My first half marathon time was just over 2:16:00 and my second race was about 5 minutes faster.  I figured I might just have it in me to hit 2:05:00 for this third race.  And let me tell you, those last 3 long runs did nothing but boost my confidence!  In fact, I started thinking there was a slim chance that I’d break the 2 hour mark.  I knew it was a slim chance, but felt it was still within reach.

Then weather became a factor.  Everything I was reading about the race was focused on how hot and humid it was going to be.  I figured, okay, that I’d be racing in shorts for the first time ever.  I packed my anti-chafe balm, and felt totally prepared.  We drove down Friday afternoon.  Within 2 hours, I started feeling sick.  Within 3 hours, I was positively sick.  Snot, snot, snot, sore throat, sore throat, and more snot.  Uggh!  I couldn’t believe it!

From here, things just got worse as far as my health.  Sorry if I have any male readers (pretty sure The Hubby is the only one), but my “monthly gift” even arrived 2 hours before the race.  With heat, 95% humidity, a sinus infection and cramps, I headed off for the race with my sports bra stuffed with energy gels and my shorts stuffed with Kleenex…and other things stuffed with other things… and – somehow – determination in my heart that I would meet that 2:05:00 goal.  Before the race, Race Directors even came over the loud speakers to warn us – “This is NOT a PR (Personal Record) Day!  It’s HOT and HUMID!  Do NOT attempt to PR!”

1/4 of a mile in, I knew I was in for it.  I even realized a few minutes later that we were coming up on the street where my hotel sat.  I actually thought, “Hmmm…I could just take a right here, head right back to my hotel and take a nice little nap.”  Problem was that Rob and C.J. had parked themselves right at that intersection and were cheering for me like crazy – not realizing at all that I was ready to give up less than a half mile into my race.

So I plugged along…and plugged along.  To be honest, it was 2 of the longest and most brutal hours of my life.  Not THE longest – hey, I’ve been through labor! – but pretty close.  One moment stands out to me, though.  Last year, I had no idea that there was an extremely steep hill following a long, less steep hill right at the finish of the race.  When I hit it, I wanted to stop so badly.  A girl I didn’t know ran up behind me and whispered in my ear, “Let’s do this!”  It kept me running, as painful as it was, and I’ve never forgotten it – or her.  So this year, at the same point in the race, I saw a young guy stop running and start walking with a defeated look on his face.  I ran close by and yelled, “Don’t do that!  You’re so close!”  He looked at me like I was Jesus Himself and gasped, “Thanks,” and started running again.

I crossed the finish line at 2:13:20.  I was in so much pain that I literally started sobbing soon after crossing the finish line.  Part of that was disappointment that I had finished so far from my goal.  And yet, a new friend of mine gave me some perspective.  She had texted me, asking how the race went.  When I told her how “terrible” I had done, she said, “That sounds awful!  But YAY!  You persevered!  Way to go!”  Her comments weren’t anything profound, but it was enough to change my whole outlook on the race.  I had been so disappointed that months and months of hard work had not given me the results I desired.  But what she made me realize was that the months and months of hard work – as well as my determination and hard work on Race Day – were reward enough!

Running has challenged my body, my mind, my soul.  There’s not a single run where I don’t enjoy the feel of my body in motion, lose myself in thought, and thank God for the gift of a strong and healthy body.

I spent the large majority of this last race promising myself that I will never run (and especially race!) again.  But it’s been 7 whole days, and I’m a bit fickle.  Part of me wants the high I get from exceeding my expectations of myself.  Part of me loves doing something I never thought I could do.  Part of me loves to compete against me.  And part of me says that I can’t let my running “career” end in  pain and disappointment.  So, I’m not totally sure yet.  But I think I’m probably gonna run again.

Maybe I am a runner.

Happy Birthday, Ndiho!

Today is a special day!  Our Compassion child, Ndiho, is turning 8 today.  Looking back through my blog tags, it seems that I haven’t blogged about Compassion International before, which really surprises me.  Our family has been involved with Compassion since the day we first heard about the organization one Sunday at our church.  Their mission statement reads, “In response to the Great Commission, Compassion International exists as an advocate for children, to release them from their spiritual, economic, social, and physical poverty and enable them to become responsible and fulfilled Christian adults.”  That day, we made the decision to sponsor a child.  We picked Ndiho because his birthday is so close to our stillborn son, David’s, birthday.  That was about 3 1/2 years ago.  Since then, we’ve really loved getting to know Ndiho through the letters we receive often.  I can’t describe how fulfilling it is to exchange letters with a child across the world (Rwanda), and to know that we are having a positive affect on his life.

We recently received what is one of my all-time favorite letters from Ndiho.  He drew a picture of his family for us, which was adorable.  He also told us that he bought a rabbit with the birthday money we sent him and asked what we do during the winter season.  But my favorite part of the letter was the little fill-in-the-blank Q&A on the back of the letter.  This is something new that Compassion is doing.  We found out so much information that we’ve been wanting to know, but hadn’t asked, not knowing whether some of the questions were appropriate.  My favorite tidbits of information were that Ndiho’s favorite way to help his family is fetching water.  Also, we were told that they need repairs on their house. How great to know something specific we can be praying about!

So, today, on Ndiho’s 8th birthday, will you pray for him and his family?  He lives with his parents and has five siblings.  He loves playing soccer.  And please pray that they’ll get those repairs on their house!  Thanks, friends!