Hello 2017

Hello from the other side of the New Year, 2017 has begun and while most are talking about their resolutions, their plans to overcome and conquer, I am over here still glad I made it to the other side and pretty dang thankful I made it over here okay. No not great, but I am alive and I have my family and friends, I have my home and we are truly blessed.

I know that the 2016 memes were a hot mess at the end of the year and most people were hating on poor ole’ 2016. Many having the “welcome 2017, now come in, sit down and shut up” attitude.  All of this is understood, 2016 was rough and I am glad it’s over but here is the thing – I’ve learned a lot from 2016. So although I have yet to formulate a hard core list of resolutions for 2017, here are a few things I’ve learned from 2016.

1.)    2017 will not end anything like you expect it to.

       Don’t be dismayed by that, it’ll be okay. At the beginning of 2016 we thought we knew where we (as  a family) were headed. My son knew what school he would be attending in the fall and I knew I  should prepare myself for him to go.

2.)    Stay focused on your plans and prepare yourself to follow through with those plans.

I know #1 makes it sound like #2 maybe a waste of time but it’s not. In March we took a trip that took us from Seattle to Sacramento, with the main objective to stop along the way and visit Portland, Oregon. There we would meet with the school my son had set his heart on attending for the last two years.

3.)    Roll with the punches.

By punches, I mean punches. I mean you might be beat up, bruised and bloodied. Roll with it, when you can get up, get up dust yourself off and prepare to do it again.  As a parent you will make decisions that break your heart in half. You will feel that if you can move heaven and earth to make their dreams come true – you should. Then you realize that the tough part does not come from moving the heavens and earth, it comes from deciding that the best thing you can do is nothing at all. And that my friends’ means someone else may have a broken heart and when your son or daughter is heartbroken you want to do everything in your power to make it all go away. It’s a vicious cycle.

4.)    Be ready for round two, three and four.

      

      By August we had enrolled for a second year here at community college, the money we had tucked away was used to purchase a new/used vehicle for my son after old faithful died. Good thing we had some extra pennies in the piggy bank. We braced ourselves for the beginning of a new school year.  Then we received a call from cancer, who decided to make it’s self at home for the time being.

5.)    Love wins.

By November we lost my mother’s husband to cancer. As a daughter, to see your mom in pain is beyond words. To know there is nothing you can do to take it away, is hard. How does love win? Without it we would have fallen apart. Instead we held it together, during the holidays we found healing in being with one another. At the end of 2016, we have memories that no one can steal from us. I can look back and understand why it all happened just the way it should have and it’s okay. We start the New Year with hopes of a better year. I plan to stick the plans I have for 2017 so far and brace myself for the changes that may come along the way. 

Seattle 2017

Oregon Coast 2017

San Francisco - Golden Gate Bridge 2017

Lake Tahoe, California 2017

Galveston, TX 2017

Don't worry folks...I'm okay!

Really I’m fine… I know I've dropped off the face of the earth again but in my defense it is a crazy time we live in right?? I mean really who on earth would think of training for their first ever half-marathon during the busiest time of the year??? Not I says me…but then again me would be wrong! HA!

It has been a true mess these past 4 weeks, the holidays alone make it so that moms everywhere are busy with Thanksgiving and Christmas and the shopping and family and parties and eating! But trying to keep up with my running has made it even more of a challenge, SO just to be clear and we all understand - I am still running. I've missed a run or two in the process but that’s it. I’m still on board. I've eaten like a cow and for a couple of weeks and I felt almost like I did in the beginning when I would run…sluggish and heavy and exhausted. I understand more than ever that eating sooooooo wrong for even a short time can take a toll on your endurance and overall feeling or well-being.  Yes I know you think I sound like some cheesy commercial or something but really and truly it makes a BIG difference!

So just one week of better eating – mind you not great eating- I’m still at war with some of those wonderful awful habit of eating carbs and sweets. I naturally love me some carbs and sweets – especially chocolate! NOM NOM NOM  I can eat that stuff allllll day long if you let me…. chips and salsa are another yummy treat for me. If you take me to a Mexican Restaurant I will be full before my meal comes – NO JOKE!  SO with all this said I’m on the right track, my running felt MUCH easier this past week and so I’m good.

Of course the half-marathon in only 5 days away… eek! So my last big run was this past Sunday and I ran 11 miles just to be on the safe side!!! Here is a picture and link to the map we will be running… you see there where mile 11 is??!! I can run all of that! From there on it should be a straight shot to the finish!!

Although a wise man said to me once “it ain’t nothin’ but a thang!” I may have a couple of times when my nerves have gotten the best of me…. I try not to think about it too much and I know this, even if I walk across that finish line I will finish. SO here is what they tell you to do” set three goals”  the best case scenario, the simple and understandable scenario and the okay if all you do is finish scenario. Or something along these lines :) So my goals have been set, I would love to finish at 2:45 time frame, if that is not going to happen then a few minutes more will be okay, and of course if I were to get hurt or at some point feel as though I can’t run anymore then I will walk, limp or crawl to the finish. I know that to you crazy runners (ahem no names mentioned here) think this is not a big deal but I guess the bottom line is that it is a big deal to me.  I am going to commit to keeping you posted -  I will write a race report and I am going to keep a journal of the happenings before and after. I promise.

NEW YEAR – NEW ?? I don’t know. I have an idea of what my NEW YEAR RESOLUTION might be but nothing has set off a spark for me I have not had the ah-ha! moment where I know without a shadow of a doubt where I will be headed this year. This past year has been greatness. I have met my goals all year long, for a little while I was disappointed with myself for losing more weight but the truth is simple I’ve packed on the pounds and become addicted to eating habits throughout  my whole life. This past year was the beginning of something that I hope will take me into a whole other lifetime. Way of life, life style change….whatever you want to call. I am happy with what I’ve started and I hope to continue it :)