I am a runner. I love to run (most days)
if you are not please hold on and keep reading, it is not a blog about how to run.
When I hit the road its usually early morning , before my husband leaves for work and while the kids are still asleep. Its my alone time, my deep thinking, clearing my mind, pep talks for myself time. I get to usually watch the sun come up, I see NO ONE and its perfect.
I am in the middle of Marathon training right now, this coming Saturday I am running longer then I have ever ran, its intimidating and scary, and challenging to just think about, let alone go out and do. I struggle with the mental battle of "can I really run that far?" and some days its a physical challenge, my legs are tired, my knee is sore, I am loosing my toenail, I have blisters on my heels from my socks rubbing for 13 miles, I have chaffing under my arms.... its not a pretty sight.
But I view running a lot like life.
Some days I am exhausted. Its hard to even get out of bed let alone put my running shoes on and take that first step out the door.
-Life can be exhausting , it can make you so burnt out you cant even open your eyes until you have had your coffee. So tired that you feel like you are numb and don't remember actually working or playing with your kids that day. But you just got to keep going.
Its messy, some roads are dirty and there is trash and dead things along the road, I have to side step and run around those things to keep going. And sometimes its absolutely disgusting , I have to hold my breath and just run as fast as I can to get away from the smell.
-Life is that way too, sometimes its messy . Its not perfect, it can be challenging and you have to detour just to make it. you have to side step the trash the mess around you, But you just keep going.
Road blocks...both physical and mental happen out there during a run. Flooded roads, or fallen trees, or mental aspects of just thinking I can not take one more step , I might pass out.
-road blocks happen in life, we know that, sometimes those roadblocks change our life, sometimes they consume all of us all of our energy, they make us into people we didn't even know we could be both good and bad.
but we just keep going. we don't give up.
A bad run.. I have to remind myself that even the BEST runners (which I am not) have bad and hard runs. they happen. And all I can do is try again tomorrow. Give it my all and know that I am human.
-We have bad days in life, we have crummy stinky attitudes, we have jealousy and anger and sorrow. Some days suck. lets be real with each other sometimes you just want to start the day over. Some times we just want the next season of our life to happen. But we just have to keep moving forward.
We don't give , we keep going. Whatever we face we become stronger, we become braver, we become warriors. Life is messy, beautiful but messy. Whatever you are facing today, whether mental, or physical , roadblocks, life let downs, sorrow, grief, joy, a hard day, a good day....just keep going. you don't think you are , but you are doing a great job.
Someone once told me, "if you think you are a bad ... wife or mother or friend or whatever it is , you're not . Because you care enough to ponder and want to be better at it."
Its hard to not be hard on our self when we face challenges or situations BUT its how we learn and grow from them that make us who we are. So like runners, lets just keep moving, lets just keep running. One step at a time.
Happy Monday Friends.
Nicole
Monday, June 22, 2015
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Mission: Find a Yard
When we were discharged from the hospital just a day and a half after Sofia's birth, like all new parents, we cautiously packed her tiny frame into her car seat, arranging her and rearranging her. While Daddy drove the car, Mommy sat in the back next to the baby, certain that her newly honed mothering skills would be needed during that 25 minute drive (for the record, they weren't). When we arrived at our destination and the car was parked, we made the trek, the long, oh-so-public trek up the wind tunnel that passes for a sidewalk to our condo building, past unit after unit of other families who had done the very same thing at some point. We made our ascent up the flight of stairs, which suddenly seemed so mountainous now that we were holding such precious cargo. We reached our landing, shared with our neighbors from three other units, punched in our key code, opened the door, and stepped in. We were home.
Our condo has served us well. It houses Sofia's toys, clothes, and books, all of which seem to multiply nightly while we sleep. It contains our wild beast of a house cat, Rufus. It gives us a place to relax, rewind, reset. It has been our home.
Within a couple of months of bringing Sofia home, we put our home up for sale. Our goal was to move into a single family home. A place with our own driveway, fewer immediate neighbors, and a yard. A yard filled with trees. A yard to plant flowers and vegetables. A yard for squirrels, chipmunks, and bunnies to frolick (species which are exotic around our condo thanks to the lack of large trees). A yard for Chris to mow and rake, shovel and blow. A yard for barbecues and parties. Most importantly, a yard for Sofia to run and play and scamper. A yard for her to have the kind of childhood Chris and I both had, one filled with the simple pleasures of swinging in the sunshine, riding bikes up and down the driveway, catching fireflies. A yard.
Of course, we were quite hopeful at first that our condo would sell by that fall and that we would share our first Christmas as a family of three in our new home. Summer, fall, and winter passed. Spring came, and we were still in the condo. This time, we were cautiously optimistic that our condo would sell by the fall and that we would get to have our second Christmas as a family of three in our new home. Again, the seasons passed, and still we found ourselves in our condo. By this time, Sofia was running and jumping and yearning to be outside. So, outside we would go, walking to two little playgrounds within our complex or drawing with chalk out on the shared sidewalk. All the while, we were dodging piles of dog poop ignored by their owners, side-stepping sticky puddles of unidentifiable liquid spilled by other children, and picking up and disposing of lots of trash - Sofia just couldn't help but to pick up bottle caps, wrappers of all colors and sizes, broken toys, abandoned snacks, and the like. It was as if the trash beckoned to her.
After nearly two years on the market, the pressure of keeping the house tidy at all times, the seemingly endless parade of prospective buyers coming through to assess the condo, FINALLY, we received an offer, and we gladly accepted. We were free to hunt for houses! We looked high and low, near and far. We drove around to scope out different neighborhoods and to size up potential neighbors. We examined tax records and school districts. We studied listings and photos posted online of home after home, certain that the right one was somewhere out there. For reasons too numerable to list, each one fell short of exactly what we were looking for. Until today.
Today, we saw a quaint, tidy house, the exterior reminiscent of a gingerbread house. Inside, it had two full bathrooms, beautiful hardwood floors, three bedrooms, and a space to be used as a playroom. It had lots of floral, grandmotherly wallpaper and dark pink bath tubs and toilets. It had a smallish kitchen with decades old range and dishwasher. It also had a yard. A glorious, lush, green yard with lots of trees and flowers, a small pool, a sturdy white fence around a good portion of the back yard, a beautiful deck, a treehouse, a detached two car, heated garage. A small toad crossed our path as we wandered around and reminded us that a creek was just a short ways down the road, so likely much more wildlife regularly traverses the yard. The birds were chirping and the breeze was blowing. We envisioned our vegetable garden off past the pool. We staked out a spot for a swingset. We could see Sofia learning to ride her bike in the driveway. We knew we were home.
Our condo has served us well. It houses Sofia's toys, clothes, and books, all of which seem to multiply nightly while we sleep. It contains our wild beast of a house cat, Rufus. It gives us a place to relax, rewind, reset. It has been our home.
Within a couple of months of bringing Sofia home, we put our home up for sale. Our goal was to move into a single family home. A place with our own driveway, fewer immediate neighbors, and a yard. A yard filled with trees. A yard to plant flowers and vegetables. A yard for squirrels, chipmunks, and bunnies to frolick (species which are exotic around our condo thanks to the lack of large trees). A yard for Chris to mow and rake, shovel and blow. A yard for barbecues and parties. Most importantly, a yard for Sofia to run and play and scamper. A yard for her to have the kind of childhood Chris and I both had, one filled with the simple pleasures of swinging in the sunshine, riding bikes up and down the driveway, catching fireflies. A yard.
Of course, we were quite hopeful at first that our condo would sell by that fall and that we would share our first Christmas as a family of three in our new home. Summer, fall, and winter passed. Spring came, and we were still in the condo. This time, we were cautiously optimistic that our condo would sell by the fall and that we would get to have our second Christmas as a family of three in our new home. Again, the seasons passed, and still we found ourselves in our condo. By this time, Sofia was running and jumping and yearning to be outside. So, outside we would go, walking to two little playgrounds within our complex or drawing with chalk out on the shared sidewalk. All the while, we were dodging piles of dog poop ignored by their owners, side-stepping sticky puddles of unidentifiable liquid spilled by other children, and picking up and disposing of lots of trash - Sofia just couldn't help but to pick up bottle caps, wrappers of all colors and sizes, broken toys, abandoned snacks, and the like. It was as if the trash beckoned to her.
After nearly two years on the market, the pressure of keeping the house tidy at all times, the seemingly endless parade of prospective buyers coming through to assess the condo, FINALLY, we received an offer, and we gladly accepted. We were free to hunt for houses! We looked high and low, near and far. We drove around to scope out different neighborhoods and to size up potential neighbors. We examined tax records and school districts. We studied listings and photos posted online of home after home, certain that the right one was somewhere out there. For reasons too numerable to list, each one fell short of exactly what we were looking for. Until today.
Today, we saw a quaint, tidy house, the exterior reminiscent of a gingerbread house. Inside, it had two full bathrooms, beautiful hardwood floors, three bedrooms, and a space to be used as a playroom. It had lots of floral, grandmotherly wallpaper and dark pink bath tubs and toilets. It had a smallish kitchen with decades old range and dishwasher. It also had a yard. A glorious, lush, green yard with lots of trees and flowers, a small pool, a sturdy white fence around a good portion of the back yard, a beautiful deck, a treehouse, a detached two car, heated garage. A small toad crossed our path as we wandered around and reminded us that a creek was just a short ways down the road, so likely much more wildlife regularly traverses the yard. The birds were chirping and the breeze was blowing. We envisioned our vegetable garden off past the pool. We staked out a spot for a swingset. We could see Sofia learning to ride her bike in the driveway. We knew we were home.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Summer Time Fun
Hello Mommas and Happy Monday!
If you live on the West coast you've probably realized that Summer has come, according to the heat this weekend and our local schools being out! As an adult with a child not yet in school there isn't much difference, really, besides the weather change to signal summer for us, so this weekend was a perfect transition for us!
After my husband was gone last weekend I was ready to have some fun with Jase outside as a family and with the heat I thought water involved with play would be a great idea. A couple weeks ago I saw a Instagram friend post a video of her child sliding down his slide into a pool. Amazing idea, I had to try it with Jase! We have a slide and we had a pool so all we needed was the hose!
I started to blow up the pool while my husband was cleaning the yard up and realized Jases' pool from last year had a hole, so off to Target Jase and I went. We upgraded to a larger pool, which really worked well for his age now and it only cost us $13, so I call that a win! Hubby blew up the pool and I got Jase ready to play. It turned out to be so much fun and Jase must have went down the slide about 50 times! Totally a GREAT idea!
I love summer time!!! Below are some pictures from the fun!
I'd love to hear what you do for fun in the summer time! Any traditions?
If you live on the West coast you've probably realized that Summer has come, according to the heat this weekend and our local schools being out! As an adult with a child not yet in school there isn't much difference, really, besides the weather change to signal summer for us, so this weekend was a perfect transition for us!
After my husband was gone last weekend I was ready to have some fun with Jase outside as a family and with the heat I thought water involved with play would be a great idea. A couple weeks ago I saw a Instagram friend post a video of her child sliding down his slide into a pool. Amazing idea, I had to try it with Jase! We have a slide and we had a pool so all we needed was the hose!
I started to blow up the pool while my husband was cleaning the yard up and realized Jases' pool from last year had a hole, so off to Target Jase and I went. We upgraded to a larger pool, which really worked well for his age now and it only cost us $13, so I call that a win! Hubby blew up the pool and I got Jase ready to play. It turned out to be so much fun and Jase must have went down the slide about 50 times! Totally a GREAT idea!
I love summer time!!! Below are some pictures from the fun!
I'd love to hear what you do for fun in the summer time! Any traditions?
<3 Lindsey
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