good friends

good friends are hard to come by. i know that i have just a few close friends and i love them dearly. that's why when a dear friend of mine came to visit, it made me realize how lucky i am to have her in my life. we haven't seen each other in 7 years! what? actually, allison, was the first girlfriend i met out of college and we hit it off. she traveled all the way from missouri with her beautiful children lucas (13) and reese (10) and spent the weekend here. we did absolutely nothing, just caught up and played with kids... i am so lucky to have this girl in my life. thanks for visiting us!

what??!!

look at what i found!! i can't wait to use it, someday. it weighs about 65 pounds, is solid iron, and it is for a full size bed. perfect for a guest room bed, with a quilt....ohhh! the best part?? $10.00. yep that's right - $10 stinkin' bucks!

10/16 - 10k race

well this week was a turning point. be careful or get hurt. i am not going to get an injury at this point. after my 14 miles, my recovery time took a bit longer (meaning my IT band was killing me). after much appreciated advice, i took the week 'off'. i did some preventive maintenance and stretched, iced, rested and foam rolled the heck out of my body. i felt so guilty after taking two days off, i went to the gym and ran a short distance just to see how i was feeling and more importantly how i felt afterwards. i am doing good now! back on track and no turning back...

week 10:

sunday: rest (stretch, foam, ice)
monday: rest
tuesday: 2.5m stretch
wednesday: rest
thursday: 5m
friday: off
saturday: 10k race - fabulous. no pain. best time for me.. right around 54 min - i could have run faster, just didn't realize it. endurance was wonderful. now for the half marathon in 2 weeks.

9/16 - IT band

i know i am a bit behind on posting my running updates, so here is to catching up. training is beginning to get intense now, to the point where you don't want to wake up saturday morning because you know a long run is looking back at you. i ran 14 miles saturday. yuck. but i am so proud of myself. i did it! it was loooong. the sad thing is, is that a marathon is 12.2 longer than that! wow! my IT band has been hurting me. your IT band is a thick bundle of fibers that runs from your hip to the outside of your knee and can become irritated in runners (especially females b/c of our body layout), it just needs rest and stretching and probably some ice. regardless, week 9 is done and as you will see i will need plenty of resting.

week 9:

sunday: rest
monday: 1m, bike (IT band aches)
tuesday: 4m
wednesday: foam roller
thursday: 8m
friday: rest
saturday: 14m

the count down

the girls and i cut out shapes and numbered them for the final count down. they also got a quick lesson on patterns, colors, shapes and turn taking. was pretty impressed with myself...we are slowly making our way to number one!

innocence

it is fall break here, which means we are out and about again - which means plenty of opportunities for public 'displays'.

we were at cici's pizza (again) and there was a very helpful employee of mexican descent (big assumption, but a good one) that was tending to us, making sure we had what we needed and delivering kambel's pineapple pizza (of which she only eats the pineapples). as he was clearing the piles of napkins and half eaten pizza, kambel asks "mom, why does he talk like alicia?" my eyes get big as to tell her to be quiet. you see, alicia is diego's (dora's cousin) sister and yes they speak spanish very well. quite the observer kambel.

kambel, while at wal-mart, is in the back of the cart starts shouting, "mommy, mommy, mommy, is that our great grandma??" just as an elderly lady walks by with bright bright white hair. i don't think she heard us. lol. i did leave skid marks on the floor trying to maneuver between the isles to get away.

here in town we have a free local magazine that talks about community events, sales, birthdays and even highlights certain monthly topics. of course this month is about breast cancer. we always grab one and look at it together. on the cover was a family with a husband, wife and two children. the wife (kelly) is bald, due to her treatment for her breast cancer battle. kadence was very interested as to why she didn't have any hair, so i explained that the medicine she is taking to help get rid of her cancer is very strong and it is making her loose her hair. she was very concerned. or confused. probably both. a few days later while at mcdonald's playland, that same family walked into the playland too. her hair was a tad bit longer (fuzzy), but she was still enjoying her day with her children at the playland. kadence spots her and says, "mommy is that the cancer lady, look at her hair, mommy is that her?" yes, kadence i believe it is. "go tell her hi mommy." i explain to kadence that i have to clean up and get the kids together, she can tell her hi if she wants. "she walks over to her (i can hardly hear her) and says "miss kelly? we saw you in the magazine and we are praying for you." my heart melts and i start crying! omg, my baby girl just made me so proud. i walk over to miss kelly and tell her that we are praying for her. she thanks us and says that it is wonderful to see the innocence of a child. we should all be innocent. nothing in the world is worth getting worked up over when God is on your side.

8/16 - HALF WAY

5 boats, 10 dead frogs, 4 horse trailers, 4 empty mcdonald's apple pie boxes, 1 playboy magazine, 1 dead cat. that is what i saw on my second 12 miler. i seriously kept track of this while running - what else are you supposed to do when you run for nearly 2 hours? 2 hours. making progress.

sunday: rest
monday: 5m
tuesday: spin
wednesday: rest
thursday: 8m
friday: rest
saturday: 12m!!

i know i will be looking back at this week in about 2 weeks and wishing i were back here running these numbers. half way baby!!

october 24th, i run my 3rd 10k, november 7th i run my first half marathon and december 5 i will run my first marathon.

found the cord!!

promised photos

well here are a few. they are out dated. but, they are pictures! some of kadence at t-ball, the girls enjoying presents from aunt cate and uncle chris (sorry kambel is sideways), first day of school for the younger two (not ty's lunch box ;) )... as soon as i find my canon cord, i have a TON to post... until then...

7/16 - importance of resting

what a week! must say i am glad this week is overrrrrrrrrrrr. wow. i felt on top of the world running my 7 on thursday, perfect weather, nice pace, no aches. then friday rolled around (meant to be a rest day) and i had to do my long run instead of getting a rest day. i now know why it is crucial to rest between runs. here i thought i was getting a break... your body truly needs the time to recover and to rebuild the muscles that were burnt out the day before. due to childcare conflicts (knowing 12 miles would take me at least an hour and 50 min) i had to do it back to back with my 7 miles. within 24 hours i attempted a total of 19 miles. i finished, but it wasn't pretty. my body was doing some pretty funky things. mentally i was determined, i would not quit, but i have never felt my body not do what i wanted it to do. like i said, i finished my 12 miles, but it was strange. i will have another attempt at my 12 this coming saturday and believe me, i will rest the day before.

sunday: rest
monday: 5 m w/ 6 min tut
tuesday: spin class
wednesday: stretch
thursday: 7 m
friday: 12 m
saturday: rest

6/16 - i heart podcasts

this week was pretty uneventful with running, other than running my first double digits in one run!! mentally i am hanging in there, but did find myself struggling on my 7 mile run this week. one thing i can see evolving (other than my calf muscles) is my mental toughness. it is too easy to quit, too easy. i have not quit a run yet - and you know what? no one would know if i did, but i would. i would know if i ran a half of a mile short, or if i skipped a run completely. i don't want that, i want to continue training myself, disciplining myself - even if it means i have to walk during a water break, or if it means i run 30 seconds slower in order to run longer. i wont quit. during my first ever 11 mile run, i listened to 2 podcasts about running. they saved my life! i had to endure 11 miles on the treadmill due to weather.

sunday: rest
monday: 5 miles w/ 6 min tut
tuesday: spin class
wednesday: yoga/stretch
thursday: 7 miles
friday: rest
saturday: 11 miles

reality

i can't believe how busy i have been lately. call it a blessing or just pure craziness, but i am ready to take a bubble bath and sip on something yummy ;).

i am not certain what one thing is so overwhelming - well that is it, it just isn't one thing, it is a million little things! i can hardly keep up with the updates/permission slips/requests coming home from school, let alone all the other 'little' things i have to do. motherhood. gotta love it. one thing i am learning is that this is life. this is reality. you work so hard to balance this long board - on one end is your family and the other end is yourself - and in between is LIFE. you want to do the best for your kids (faith, foods, medicines, clothes, entertainment, sports, education) and the same for yourself. in graduate school we learned about different theories (of course), one of which i often think about. it is called the paradoxical theory of change, which basically states that the more we try to change the more we will stay the same. so no matter how hard we try to change our 'ways' most likely we will stay the way we are, is how i look at it. staying close to our roots, to what is right, to what provides love and caring for each other. not a random fad that is coming through or a new train ride to hop onto. so among all the craziness, i bring myself back to reality and remember who i am, what faith means to me and how i can provide real things for my family. i love you all, eric, kadence, kambel and ty. you too buster ;).