from the mouths of babes

scarlett had a couple of really awesome moments this week. 

1. we were conversing at the dinner table about playing with her friends and she asked me, "do i need to get skinny?" my internal mom-o-meter is flipping out but i try and remain calm and collected(like i am naturally) so i can get more information out of her before i go ballistic on whichever of her little friends planted this ridiculous idea in her head. i asked her, "who told you that?" her response was that a neighbor girl who has been a bit of a toxic friend in the past had stated that they both needed to work on "getting skinny". i'm gripping the table with white knuckles to keep myself from running across the street and telling off this little 6 year old but i asked, "so what did you say to her?" 

scarlett's response? "i told her that God made me this way and that i am perfect just the way i am." 

. 

2. today scarlett kept telling me that she wanted to talk into the microphone at church. she said she had a testimony that she wanted to share. so, i figure, after everyone leaves we'll go back into the chapel, turn on the microphone and she can say whatever she wants. no harm, no foul. she was really, really nervous but she walked up to mic and said, "i want to bear my testimony. i was riding my bike and i was scared to go down the hill so i thought about Jesus and then i knew i could go down the hill. in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

so, at 5, she's way more mature than me. i'm taking the rest of the year off from parenting.

and i made these matching skirts because they don't know how dorky this is yet. 

how not to train for a half marathon

i ran a half marathon on the 12th. it was super hard. mostly because i didn't really train very well because of my recurring hip and knee injuries. plus, since the course was in the foothills of the blue ridge mountains, i couldn't go more than 10 feet without having to go up or down some mammoth hill. i could now write a book called, "how to not train for a half marathon and end up hating yourself for 2 solid hours". 

*hi, i look like a creepster. smiling when i actually didn't feel like smiling. 

around mile 6 i really starting feeling pain and i was ready to quit but my dear friend and running partner/athletic mentor/positive attitude purveyor amy stayed with me the whole time(even though she is the most incredible runner last year did the boston marathon and could have run the course twice in the time it took me to lace my sneaks) and she gave me pep talks and rubbed numbing cream on my leg every few miles. everyone needs an amy. 

i ran my slowest time ever. i've never wanted to quit running so much in my whole life. i had the worst attitude. the bad attitude is really what made it terrible. i've run through a lot of pain in the past few months but as soon as my brain decided that i couldn't do this race as well as i would like, it was the hardest thing ever to convince myself to keep trying. running is hard. but the mental anguish of being a quitter would be a gazillion bajillion times worse than running slow. i'll take being slow any day over being afraid to try. 

but, every race and training regimen has it's lessons:

1. negativity only makes a bad situation worse. 

2. i can run long distances without my ipod. i know! crazy! i normally would claim that the only reason i can run is because of music. most of this training was done without music. i ran this entire race with good conversation.

3. i can run long distances with a water bottle in my hand. i am still nursing the baby and it was much easier to get dehydrated as a result. it took a solid month to get used to holding the bottle without clenching my shoulder muscles or sloshing the water all over myself.

4. running is still one of the best times to pray. i love being alone. i love communing with nature. i love to exercise. what a great time to pray!

5. everything is better with a friend. now i just need to convince thomas to run with me. 

the worst part of all though was the fact that they passed out coasters instead of medals. LAME. you can't wear a coaster around your neck.

glorious! glorious!

glorious! glorious!

how glorious to hold a baby! 

sometimes i will hold her and feel full to bursting!

i'm in love, i'm in love and i don't care who knows!!!

and yes, she does almost always have a messy face. 

lessons from 2012

just a short list of things i've been reflecting upon lately:

*everyone has something that they are crying themselves to sleep about. 9 times out of ten, it is something we would never guess or would never be privy to.
 if you don't think so, just you wait.

*humility is often earned. it's a badge of honor for surviving difficult times.

*each trial includes blessings. during and after.

*"there should never be just 2 options: perfection or giving up... growth and development take time. learning takes time." brad wilcox

*i need to be anxiously engaged in a good cause, NOT over-anxiously engaged. set a good pace.

*time goes by so quickly. trying to slow it down is my biggest heartache.

*shutting up is really important. we should all try it sometime.

*supporting your spouse is one of the most important things that you can do. always.

*i'm glad that i have a desire to change. i want to get over my anxiety issues and feel free to do what i need to or not be overwhelmed by guilt if i DON'T do something.

a couple of my resolutions-
*heed the promptings to serve. plan to serve more, but in smaller ways. not everything has to be a production to be effective.

*keep a better record of my family in my journal and on my blog.