Recovering.....

It's Day 3 after my big run! I am still so excited and just thrilled about my race. I am thrilled that I met my goal (to actually run a full 13.1+miles without stopping) but I am also thrilled about my pace/time. I finished with a 2:06 time but then found out a day later that the course was not a 13.1mile course, but a 13.45mile course. This means I was close to running a half marathon in less than 2 hours which is just absolutely unbelievable to me!!! WOW- I was shooting for 2:15! As you can tell, I am learning as I go....and still have so much more to learn.


Well that leads me to today! On Sunday, during the last mile of the race, Texas FALL blew in! Our temps have dropped and now our blistering days are hopefully GONE and the weather is just PERFECT! I took 48hrs off, but yesterday I got my first post race run in. Felt pretty good...ran a little, walked a little, ran a little, etc. Today rolls around and I thought I would run a quick 2.5-3miles (just too pretty outside to NOT run). But boy, my legs are TIRED! I now believe running after a race is the hardest part of running half marathons!!! UGHH!!!

I plan on getting boot camp in tomorrow and hope to have a few more run/walk workouts the remainder of this week! I think I will save my bigger, longer runs until next week....maybe even the week after!!!! COS MOMMA BE TIRED NOW!! ----like my picture:-)

But, I won't lie---I have been looking for a full marathon race for late Spring 2011 or Early Fall 2011. Not sure I can really do it, but hey----can't hurt to look and see if it is possible??? Unthinkable and unreachable is always possible!!!

My Run

I did it!!! I did it!!! I did it!!! Yesterday I completed my first half marathon (13.45miles) race. I have been running for several years but in the last nine months, God begin to work on me from the inside out! So nine months ago, I began to up my mileage. At that same time, I began to lose weight, gain my strength, but also regain my self worth. (and yes, I also got alot of help from my thyroid medicines too:-) haha).

I really don't have a real reason on WHY I chose to have a half marathon as my GOAL? Maybe it was because to me, that was the unthinkable and the unreachable. And if you have known me for any length of time....I do always go for those types of goals! So nine months ago, I needed a goal! So I set my mind to it and went for it!

It's been 36hrs since I ran the race. I have has so many congrats from friends but yet so many questions: did it hurt? did you want to quit? did you cry? are you sore? were you nervous? etc.

Interesting enough....my answers were:
No, it really didn't hurt all that bad (because I was mentally and physically ready for the race)
No, I didn't want to quit (why run if I thought quitting was an option)
No, I didn't cry....but I did get chills at the first sight of my family at 3.8 miles in and 11miles in when I knew God would carry me through
No, I wasn't nervous (except for the check in procedures that I wasn't familiar with)

See, the real change in myself wasn't on race day! It was the last nine months of my life! It was what God showed me as I trained day after day! He conditioned my heart, soul, strength, and mind these past few months.... And with God, I can run any race if I am truly conditioned!!!!

I have so much more to share about this race day and hopefully will share more later....but here's a quote that was on one of the many signs as I ran along the path Sunday that spoke deeply to me.

"Obstacles are only things in the way when you are not focused on the goal." Finishing my marathon was exactly that..... I was FOCUSED on the GOAL!!!!














Thank you God for your sweet reminders and for being the best training partner ever!!!

TGIF....for real:-)

Todd and I have been extremely blessed with wonderful jobs...both in ministry (which how that came to be is a whole post....later). I work part-time as the Children's Director for Grace Bible Fellowship in Gunter. And he works a Vice President of Web Ministries for Insight for Living. But get this, he has every other Friday off.

And now that school is back in session, I LOVE THOSE FRIDAYs that he is OFF!


Let me just tell you what we did today....

1. He let me sleep in and he took kids to school.
2. Then we went riding on 4 wheelers (just the two of us) in the rain and mud just outside of town (thanks James for letting us play on your land). I love love love getting outside and getting dirty! SOOO FUNN!! --i know, I am weird that way!
3. Came home and cleaned up.
4. Lunch date at Romano's in Van Alstyne.
5. Came home and took a quick little nap before kids got home!---little snuggling too;-) haha

Who needs date night when we have every other Friday to just hang out!!!! We are really getting spoiled to having these hours together:-) Sure hope they last......

Change

This morning I poured my heart out in a lovely little email to my husband! HAHA! You know the type of email I am talking about...the one where you should have reread it or let it sit in your inbox a day or two before you decided to send it! HAHA!

I had just got through watching some of the BIGGEST LOSER while folding laundry and then I found myself madder than a hornet! I was mad at myself, made at Todd, and mad at our nation for selling fast foods!

So in short, I typed an email to send to my husband to vent my anger. I really wasn't angry.....I just wanted to prevent being angry later! (so that's how I am justifying sending the email:-) Anyhow-I have lost weight for the SECOND TIME in our marriage. I am 45lbs down..with only a few lbs left until my goal weight. I am a running maniac. And I am running in my first half marathon this weekend. But in the meantime, while I am eating right and exercising. I am feeding my family JUNK. My kids do exercise alot, but still....how will they ever learn to eat right if I don't teach them. And then, I was also upset because Todd, my handsome husband, had yet to jump on the bandwagon with me on this new healthy lifestyle. This leads me to see that I am setting SOMEONE up for failure in my family..... Either I will fail AGAIN and gain weight because of my surroundings OR worst off, my kids will not learn the value of a healthy lifestyle....OR even worst, my husband may die at an early age leaving me alone with 3 kids asking WHY?

So....that in a nutshell was what I typed out to my sweet husband today (but mucccchhhhh lonnnngggggeeeerrrr).

Here is a quote I found today...and it fits so well.
"Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts."

Full of alot of Birthday!

Didn't know how to title this one........ LOL!

Why is it that when we have birthdays as adults we celebrate by going out to eat? And not only did I celebrate my 35th by going out to eat...but I celebrated it 3x this past week! HAHA!

My mom and I spent the day together on my actual birthday....and we ate at Babe's.

My girlfriends took me out the following day for a pedicure and for La Hacienda lunch:-)

And then my family took me to Lucy's after a very hot day of football games yesterday.

I feel MISERABLE! HAHA! I did have fun being with all the people in my life that have made my 34th year absolutely amazing though! Which made me begin to reflect.....what did I gain (or lose) this past year in my life.

So here is my top ten list from what I have learned this past year:
1.) I am chosen for God! This year while in Israel I finally have realized that God CHOSE ME!
2.) No one has more IMPACT on my kids than ME!!!!! WOW~~ little eyes are watching and listening....
3.) Baseball has become one of my favorite things to watch with my family and friends!
4.) I have learned to BE STILL for quick moments (stop and listen)....and I usually find myself smiling at God in those moments:-)
5.) Old friends aren't really old friends....they are some of your very best friends! I am so blessed to have reconnected with some special friends from my childhood years this past year! Amazing to have come to full circle with them and will probably go another full circle while parenting our children together!
6.) I LOVE to travel to new places with my husband. I know it sounds kind of mushy...but seems I fall in love with him over again each time we get away from our crazy, busy life. Not to mention, we are learning alot together when we travel so we aren't just talking about kids and schedules.....
7.) I can do anything if I just STICK to it..... gonna run my first half marathon in ONE WEEK!
8.) Simple is good.....so simplifying is what I am learning to do
9.) Family time at the big table is important...not to just me, but my kids too
10) I don't like 3rd grade homework!

I am now 3 days into my 35th year and I feel extremely blessed to have such amazing people that surround me in my life!!! So here's to 35 and counting...............

Empty Hangers

About 3 weeks ago, I decided to clean out my closet....which led to a full's day work of going through EVERYTHING I owned in there. It was absolutely unreal how much STUFF I had packed away in that little space.

I had held on to several size 6 pants from 4 years ago, thinking that when I got my weight back off, I would wear them! HAHA! Whose kidding?? I don't want these "old fashioned" clothes! LOL! I did hold on to a few cute designer capris but most everything went into a give away pile.

GOOD-NEWS-BAD-NEWS: I had tons of fairly new clothes that I could not wear anymore! YIPPEE!! It was soooo fun trying on all these clothes that fit months ago and they wouldn't even stay on!! But so depressing to get rid of almost brand new clothes! I am not joking, but when I was done, I had 2 trash bags to throw away, 3 Goodwill bags, and 3 big buckets of give away clothes (that I gave to friends). I was then left with a very empty closet! HAHA! And a whole lot of hangers...


And these are just the "good" hangers. I threw out about the same amount of wire hangers, as well!

Now three weeks later (which just happened to be yesterday), I needed to run to the doctor to get medicine for the sinus problems I had been having. While I was there, I noticed the doctors cute flip-flops. She then tells me about a salon in town that has these cute designer clothes....and for cheap. So on this nice raining morning, (well, flooding morning) I had to waste some time while waiting on my prescriptions to be ready! So guess what I did?? Oh ya, I went to check out the Salon/Shop. I found so many cute clothes. And everything was on SALE!! Got a pair of flip-flops, a pair of size 28 MISS ME jeans (oh ya baby!), and 5 tops! I am so excited cause I now have a new place, close to home, that is reasonably priced that I can shop at!!!!

Let's begin to fill up the hangers!!!! :-)

What Happened to the TIMEOUT RULE??

Being a mom is HARD work! The list of responsibilities never ends! Actually, it seems like the list grows! You know the list I am talking about... wake kids up, feed them breakfast, be sure they are clean, sign the homework folder, get them to school. And even when they are away you are still living off the list of responsibilites of motherhood.....praying for them, cooking for them, cleaning sheet for them, being sure they have matching socks and clean clothes, etc.... This list can go on and on and on.

But what about that D word: DISCIPLINE. It sounds easy but really it's quite hard. This past week I spent the majority of my time repeating a few of the same phrases to my kids.. "Did you get your homework done?" "Is your room clean?" and the one that did me in this week... "Did you ask before you left the front yard?"

School has been in session for two full weeks now. And in the time, it seems that Preston Glen (the road I live on) has triple in number of how many kids live on this street. So after school, you can see nothing but kids playing ball or hide go seek or riding bikes. I must say I LOVE that about my street and I know how valuable that is. But have three children (ages range from 6-10yrs) it seems that our YARD RULES have been tested to the max. Gabe is my youngest. He is still not allowed, without special permission to go across the street to the neighbor"s yard. The other two older kids, are allowed to go play at the neighbors house...but under strict rules...
1) They must ask me before they leave
2) They must play in the yard ONLY...no going inside (unless I get a phone call or text asking them to come over)
3) Returning back home at the time agreed on
4) Not leaving that yard to attend another yard, without me knowing
5) Play nicely

So this past week, the two kids kept leaving the front yard and not telling me where they were going...and then sometimes they got permission but didn't remain where they said they would be...and sometimes they just ignored the RETURN time. So Saturday, MEAN MOMMA MANDY came out to their surprise! Both Addison and Zander broke the rules, YET AGAIN! The kids were banned to be inside on LABOR Day....their day OFF...but they didn't get the day off! Instead, Addison and Zander spent 3hours doing household chores!!! It was hard for me to do this! Why? Well, I hated telling their friends to go home but they couldn't play because they didn't follow the OUTSIDE RULES! I felt like I was embarrassingnt them, but at the same time, I wanted their friends aware that my kids had rules they HAD to follow to be allowed these privileges. Then, it was a beautiful day outside!!!! And NO HOMEWORK OR FOOTBALL PRACTICE!!! This is a RARE thing for our household in the school year! I felt so bad making them come in and do housework for half of the day when I knew they needed the play time.

But I knew I had to IMPRESS on my kids that what I said, I meant, and it can't be tested anymore! The reality of this is the rules are rules because mommy is being mean. But the rules are the rules cause mommy has an important job! God gave me the responsibility to raise them in a SAFE, LOVING, and GODLY HOME!

See, it's hard being a mom! It's hard to follow through on what you said would happen if rules weren't obeyed! I know that this is not the last time I will feel bad for doing what I know is right! I got years and years of this ahead of me....

Sure was easier when they had timeout!!! HAHA!