Dallas Half Marathon

This post is long overdue, I'm terrible at updating this.

On December 9 I ran in my first half marathon with 30,000 of my best friends at the Metro PCS Dallas Marathon.  It was stupid humid and really warm for a december day but this is Texas.  I ran the majority of the course with my running buddies which always make running so much more fun.  As we headed to our corral we passed by several porty-potties but we decided to wait until we found our corral to take care of our business.  By the time we found the corral, there were no potties (that we wanted to use) in sight so Jennie, Deb, and I snuck into the fancy Adolfus hotel just to pee!  Yes, that was the highlight of the day.  Because it was so humid outside we decided to take it nice and slow and I felt great the entire time, just walked by the water stations when we needed to.  At mile 10 I was surprised out how great I was feeling so I told my running buddies "See you at the finish line!"  and ran ahead.  I'm glad we started out slow because towards the end, there were a lot of runners that had to end up walking and I was able to run past (slowly, but surely).  Matthew was at the finish line waiting for me and I'm so glad he was there and that we found each other.  I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to find him.  I waited at the finish line for the rest of the group and we all had our pictures taken then we headed to Eddie Deans ranch for some celebrating.

I'm so glad I was able to finish this race.  I've wanted to be a runner my entire life but was always told by doctors and others that I would never be able to do more than a few miles and only during certain times of the year.  I think I proved everyone wrong.  I sent my asthma doctor a thank you note for helping me get here and for encouraging me to do this.  

I am planning on running in the Dallas Rock-n-Roll Half in March. :)

It Isn't Ours

Over the past week or so, I have been reminded that everything that I have isn't mine.  Everything I have belongs to the Lord.  He's the only reason why I am where I am, doing what I'm doing, and have what I have.

This past Sunday morning I went to go get gas.  When I arrived at the gas station, there was a U-haul truck, a BMW, and a super fancy Mercedes.  As soon as I pulled up to the pump and got out of my car (which was next to the Mercedes) the man from the U-haul truck came by and asked if I could give him some gas money.  As this guy was talking to me, I could tell that the older gentlemen in the Mercedes was listening in on this conversation.  I told the U-haul guy I would be glad to help and as soon as I started my gas pump, I went over to his, put my card, and started pumping his gas.  I didn't ask the man's story, but from what he said, it seemed that they had recently been evicted and were just living out of the u-haul for now until they found a place to live.  I told the man to pump as much gas as he needed and he only pumped $35 worth.  When he was done he was greatly appreciative and tried to shake my hand a give me a hug but I was way too sweaty for any of that non sense.  

When I walked back to my car the older man in the mercedes was waiting for me.  Mercedes man was on his way to church by the way.  He thanked me for what I did and then handed me $10.  I wouldn't accept it from him.  He told me that he felt guilty for not helping the man out and was encouraged to see me help him.  He asked what made me want to help the guy and I told him that the money doesn't really belong to me.  The Lord has given it to me to bless others.  The money isn't mine to keep.  It felt good to encourage another believer to realize everything we have isn't ours and it was nice to bless someone in need, even if it isn't much.  

The purpose of this post isn't to say "hey look what i did" but to remind myself and everyone to be sensitive to the needs of others and find someone to show them Father's love.  Way to many times I drive by homeless people and make a huge effort not to make eye contact with them and I never give them money.  I see people at the grocery store who could use a little extra help with carrying their groceries or even paying for them but I never offer my help to them. 

My prayer is that I will not be so consumed with myself that I miss daily opportunities to minister to others.  

Stars and Yoga

Tonight Shawn Marion and I were in the same yoga class.  Yep.  He's pretty tall.  We compared foot sizes and I had to shush him in the yoga room because he was talking in a silent zone.  :)  It was his first Fire 60 class and I think he was surprised at how hot and hard it was.  Good times :)

First Week of School

I survived the first week back and this week has been FANTASTIC!!!!  We have such an amazing administration and the 7th grade team is AWESOME!!!
This group of kids are very different from last year's group.  Not the brightest group but they are pretty sweet.  I think my most challenging class will be 1st period--there's a lot of personality in there and I can definitely see them getting out of control quickly if I don't stay one step ahead of them.  My favorite class will be 2nd period.  This is my ESL class.  I only have 17 kiddos in that class--1 is from Abilene (I know west Texas can be like a different country but I'm not sure why he's in this class), 5 are Hispanic, 1 is from Egypt, and the rest are from Burma and those kids are such a joy to be around.  Most everyone in that class is so eager to learn, even the two kids who just came to the country just the past week.
As always, with teaching at this school there are numerous stories that make me want to take almost everyone home.  The kids started their "Lifeline" (using rational numbers to represent their life events) project this week.  The kids have to have a few events from before they were born, their birth, and events that happened not on their birthdays.  It was amazing how many kids didn't have a clue about anything that happened before they were born.  Even students who have older siblings couldn't come up with a fact that their siblings were born before them.  It was weird.  I was even more surprised to hear how many kids didn't know their actual birthday!!!  I don't have a single kid that is a Jehovah's Witness so why did so many have a hard time figuring out their birthday?  I had to look it up on the school system so that the students would know.  Crazy.  It was pretty crazy to hear the Chin students talk about when they went into hiding, fled to Malaysia, and then came to the US.  They are a lot braver that I am!
This week I learned of a student that watched his dad almost murder his mom, way too many of my kids have at least one parent in jail (it seems like more kids than usual are opening up this early in the year) and last night, a few of my kids witnessed a murder.  Ugh, it makes my heart hurt.
It's just now 7:30 and I'm already in my PJ's and I'm pretty sure I would be asleep by now if The Princess Bride weren't on tv right now.  In my defense, I am running 10 miles tomorrow so I should be going to be soonish  :p

Jesus I Come

We sang this song in church yesterday and I woke up with it in my head.  I love this song.

Too Hot To Handle 15K, 2012

On Sunday I ran in my first 15k!  I was definitely slow but that's okay.  The race is called Too Hot To Handle for a reason and I didn't want to push my body too hard in the heat.  My goals were to finish the race, keep a steady pace, and run the whole time.  I did walk through the water stations but that's just because I can't run and drink at the same time.  :)  I met those goals!
We really lucked out with the weather.  It was in the mid 80's when the race began, there was a lot of cloud cover and a lot of shade at the beginning of the race.  I had planned on running with my group for the first half of the race and then I was going to try to push myself a little more on the second half.  I felt great at the beginning but once we started the second half, the clouds went away and the sun was  on us.  I went on ahead of my group but not too far.  That sun really took the energy out of me and I ended up with my group again except for the last mile and I tried to finish that last mile with a little more speed.  We kept a slow and steady pace and at the beginning of the race if felt like everyone and their mom was passing us but at the end, we still had the same pace and we ended up passing a ton of people!  When I came through the finish line there were a ton of people still cheering all of us turtles on.  I was able to find Matthew in the crowd; it was encouraging to see him smiling and cheering me on.  I finished the race a few minutes under 2 hours--told you I was slow but that's okay.  The next time I run a 9.3 mile race, I should definitely beat my time.
The Sunday, I will start my first 1/2 marathon class.  I plan on running in the Dallas Half Marathon in December.  The race benefits the Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas, as hospital near and dear to my family's hearts.
I see my asthma and allergist today and I'm sure he'll be proud of me.  I see my electrophysiologist and I'm sure she'll be proud of me too.  As of right now, my average resting heart rate is 61 and my average blood pressure is 101/62.
Maybe now I'll call myself a runner.  I spend more money on running and yoga gear than I do on dress clothes and shoes.

9 Miles!

This morning I ran 9 miles with my RunOn! group.  9 miles.  I can't believe I can actually go that far.  The first time I tried to run the entire 5k I thought I had reached my limit.  Apparently not!  It was definitely a hot day today but the RunOn folks treat us well and provide water and gatorade every two miles or so.  On mile 7, someone was out there giving out popsicles and ice cold wet rags.  What a treat!
I'm officially proud of myself.  I may not be super fast but I ran the whole time.  I don't have a single family member that has run more than maybe 2 miles.  Who would have thunk it, that I would become the runner in the family.
I see my miracle doctor the day after the Too Hot Too Handle 15k and if I finish the race, I'm pretty sure he'll be proud of me.

2012 US Open

Last Tuesday, Dad and I flew out to San Francisco to watch the US Open, a Christmas gift from Mom.

We walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, walked around Fisherman's Wharf, saw Alcatraz (I didn't leave Dad there but I did think about it), saw the shrinking Sea Lion Colony, and bought Matthew way too much salt water taffy.  We spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at the golf course.

Monday-Wednesday are practice rounds so you get to take your camera.  I took my little camera so the pictures didn't turn out as great.  I've been to 2 US Open's before and have literally about 500 pictures of my favorite golfers so I didn't take very many pictures this time.   There weren't a lot of people there on Wednesday and we were able to follow Tiger Woods for about 9 holes.  Even when he sucks, he's a ton of fun to watch.  He was looking really strong on Wednesday and I was hoping he would pull out a win but he choked on the weekend.  We didn't see Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, or Bubba Watson on Wednesday.  I was a little disappointed about.

Here are a few pictures I took (mostly of Tiger)

Funny Story:  Hole 8 is a Par 3.  Pictures and tv cannot to this course justice.  This was an incredibly tough layout with steep hills and very small greens.  The Right side of hole 8 is a giant hill that spectators were allowed to sit on.  A very steep hill.  It reminded me of the grassy side of the Lake Waco dam.  We loved sitting up there because of the great view and the laughs from all of the people sliding down the hill.  On Thursday, Dad and I set out or area on the hill.  I placed my chocolate chip cookie down except i didn't put it down on the side.  Instead, I accidentally put the cookie on the edge and it rolled all the way down the hill.  It went past the ropes and landed just in front of the right bunker right in front of the marshall.  When I saw the cookie roll down the hill, I started to run to catch it but quickly realized I would end up rolling with it.  I cautiously walked down the hill to grab my cookie.  I grabbed my cookie right before Ernie Els' group walked up to the green.  It was pretty funny.  I think it was a been there moment to really understand what happened.  :)

2012 Spring Piano Recital

Last month I went home for Kaylee's piano recital.  She is taking piano from my former teacher, Amy.  Amy asked me to play a duet with her at the recital so the day before the recital we picked out a song a practiced.  The sound quality isn't great.  Not bad for learning and playing it together the day before.  She's asked me to come back for the Christmas recital.  We'll pick out the duet this summer so it should be much better.  And of course, Kaylee nailed her piece :)

 

Not A Weekend Project

A little over a month ago Matthew and I moved into a town home.  When we first looked at the place, we knew it was pretty out of date but it wasn't that big of a deal because the rent was a decent price and the location was perfect!  The owner said we could repaint the bathrooms as long as it was a neutral color.  I took on this challenge thinking it would be good practice for when we move into a house next year.
The place was built in 1984 and still has all of the original wall paper.  The owner had the kitchen re-painted but hired super lazy people and they painted over the blue duck wall paper.  I know this because the painters missed a few parts.
Anyway, here are the pictures of the bathrooms that were going to be my first project :
The bathroom downstairs, just a toilet and a sink

The bathroom in the guest bedroom.  It isn't the best picture but you can tell that the wallpaper is straight from the 80's or early 90's :

The master:

I decided to start with the bathroom downstairs since that's what most of our guests will see.  My plan was to remove the wallpaper this weekend then apply a paint primer so that when I get back into town, I can paint it.  When you apply wallpaper, the best thing is to add some sort of paint/primer/coat to the drywall so that when you remove the paper, you don't remove the drywall.  Whoever did the wallpaper didn't do that.  That's right.  So when I was removing the wallpaper, sometimes the first layer of the wall paper came off, sometimes all of the wall paper came off, and other times, the drywall came off with the wallpaper.  Grr.  So now, we have to find a sander to sand off all of the extra paper, we have to cover the bathroom and create a ventilation system so that we don't get dust all over the place, then we have to fix the drywall, sand again, and then start to paint.  A weekend project has now turned into weeks long project.  Cool.

I don't think I'll be painting the other bathrooms, especially the master.  I'm okay with living with the outdated and ugly wall paper for a year.  

May 2nd

It's May 2nd.  The 13th May 2nd.  David says it perfectly when he says that "there is a sacred hush..."  That's exactly how I feel every May 2nd.  I wonder if there will ever be a morning of May 2nd when the bus accident isn't the first thing that comes to mind.  On the other hand, I dread the moment when I forget what happened on May 2nd or lose track of the date.
13 years and I absolutely remember EVERYTHING of that day.  I remember what time I found out, what I was wearing (a purple WWJD shirt with my orange and yellow tennis shoes) and who the first people I saw and talked to right after we heard.  A total of 7 people died that day; 6 of them were on the bus.  I knew 4 of them.  Astyn and I had a sleepover the weekend before it happened, the next weekend she died.  Tough stuff for an 8th grader to process.  
Some years I cry, other years I reflect on the day and allow myself to be sad.  There are some years where I feel incredible guilt.  I should have been on that bus but I changed my mind the last minute and decided to go to a handbell competition with my church instead of church camp with my friends.  This year I cried on my way to and from work and have thought about that day all day long.  I don't know why some years are different than others.  I think a big part is that we've grown up and they haven't.  We've gotten married, had kids, succeed in our careers, and they didn't finish junior and high school.  It just doesn't seem right.
I am thankful for a Saviour, for everlasting life, a peace that surpasses all understanding, and knowing that there is a huge Christian family reunion that is in our future.

Finding a Home

Matthew and I are ready to get out of our current apartment.  We thought we moved into a nice apartment but the renters don't seem to fit the "profile" we had in mind of other renters that we thought would live here.  I was okay with the thought of living here for one more year (the inside is nice, we love the kitchen, love the parking garage...) but then we received a notice that our rent would be almost $2000 a month.   What!?!?   I don't think so.  So we decided that we wouldn't renew our lease and find a rental home.  The area where we live is a very popular area and it seems like everyone and their mom wants to live here.  It has been incredible hard finding a decent rental home.
(Almost everyone we know (except for my parents) are pushing and pushing for us to buy right now.  Yes, the market is perfect but we are trying our best to be financially responsible.  We want to be 100% debt free, have a 3-6 month emergency fund in place, and have 20% for a down payment.  We already have the emergency fund and we will be debt free on June 20, 2012.)  
Today we started our serious search.  We looked at one today that was completely updated and perfect for us, except it was even more than $2000 and they aren't willing to negotiate since it has only been in the market for 2 days and 5 people have already offered to pay that much.  Ugh.  Then we decided to look at a house that has been for sale for nearly 2 years.  I drive by it almost every single day and I've always wanted to look at it.  We were hoping the couple would be willing to rent for a year but an older couple lives there and they have several rentals that they're trying to sell and they want to downsize.  The house is PERFECT for us.  Perfect location, completely updated with the things we would want,  a fantastic backyard and plenty of room for my grand piano.  The man of the house is a civil engineer and has overseen all of the remodeling and the house looks like it has been very well taken care of.  The only thing we would change would be :  add a screen door, maybe change the paint color (the entire house was painted in the same neutral color), and refinish the bathtub in one of the guests bathrooms, oh and maybe get rid of the storage shed.  It was originally on the market for 450k and is now for sale for 319k.  Holy. Moly.  The houses in the neighborhood are worth about 400K to the low millions.
So why aren't we putting in an offer?  Well, we're trying to be financially responsible.  Also, we aren't sure we want to stay in Dallas.  We talk about moving to Seattle almost on a daily basis.  It is tempting to think that we could pay more than 10% down on this house and hopefully sell it next summer and the value of the home should go up.  Then, we could rent it out for a good profit.  If we did that, we wouldn't have any money for a house in Seattle.  Ugh...
We've kind of given up on the rental house search.  Dallas rentals (and close suburbs rentals) are skyrocketing right now because the population is booming.  Today we decided to start looking at a new apartment complex and that was a little disheartening.
Things I need to work on right now: trusting Him in everything, being content, and not comparing our situation to someone else's.

Hot Chocolate 5/15K

Originally I had planned on running the 15K but 1 week into the training class I came down with bronchitis so I decided to run the 5K.  I've been having a lot of problems with my asthma and allergies for the past two months but it didn't keep me from running.  On Thursday, I saw my doctor and he said "I know that I can't tell you to run on Saturday because I know you'll run anyways.  Just don't push it.  Walk if you need to.  If it's too cold, don't even go."  I said, "Um, yeah, ok.  I'll try."  Friday night I washed my clothes, set up my running outfit by the wall and then watched the news.  Holy. Moly.  They were predicting that by race time the weather would be in the 20's and the windchill in the teens.  Now I know there are people all over the country that say "just wear layers; it is winter by the way."  My response is, It has been incredibly warm.  We've been training it 50-60 degree weather and a few times in the 70's!  I definitely was not prepared to run in the cold.  This morning I woke up at 4:30, got dressed, stepped outside and boy was it cold!  I checked my e-mail and there were weather concerns from the medical director.  I decided that running outside would probably kill me or make me super duper sick so we stayed in.  Boo.  I was really looking forward to eating all that chocolate after the race.  Hopefully next year I'll be able to run in the cold.
The more research I do on the best places to live with allergies, the more excited I get about leaving Texas.  I love Texas but I also love being outside and not taking 8+ medicines a day just to keep me breathing.

Buffs

I can't run out in the cold without a mask.  Doctor's orders.  The mask I had wasn't working out for me so I bought two buffs!  The wool one is green and the other one is purple.  They're pretty amazing.

Holiday Blog

I don't know why I'm so bad at updating.  I think about doing it often but I never do.  So here's a long blog devoted to the 2011 Holidays
Matthew turned old, again, received a great present and we stayed at home for Thanksgiving.  I posted pics of his birthday present but never the final project.

That's right.  This sucker is over 4 ft long.  Matthew said he would tear it down and put it back in the box until next year but he hasn't done that yet.  And yes, he likes to carry it around the apartment and make flying and shooting noises.  I married a 12 year old.  

Vanessa had her baby

The parents came in town for the Baylor and Tech game and guess who won???  That's right, Baylor did.  It was such a sweet victory for this Baylor Bear that grew up in Raider Land.  My mom sported her Baylor Colors, even though she wore a Tech shirt but dad can never root against Baylor.  He wore his Tech gear proud.

 Pickles, my mom's new dog came.  He's cute but he is all puppy. 

Chris Melton, a Baylor/Truett friend got married.

Do you see that Ally's shoes, Chris's new step-daugheter, match the bridesmaid dresses.  How cute is that?

Mom came into town for Angie's Wedding shower and we watched RG3 win the Heisman Trophy.
No Pictures here, sorry.

We had a Peck Christmas dinner with the Pecks.  I was so relieved to find out that my mother in law loved (or at least approved of) my gift to her.  Turns out she enjoys Orgins scrubs.  Amy gave me the book, Born To Run by Christopher McDougall and an REI gift card.  So sweet of her.

My nephew, Ethan, trying on Aunt Beth's new cowboy boots.  

Bachelorette/Ladies night out for Angie.  We went to Painting With a Twist then to Cru Wine Bar for dinner.  I don't know what happened to all of the pictures.  I'm so glad I sat next to Angie at PWT.  We were by far the least creative people there.  The teacher had to come help us out with our paintings several times.  Someone else has the pictures from Painting With a Twist.  Look how beautiful, classy, and romantic our room at Cru was!

We went to Lubbock for Christmas and the weather was fantastic!  It snowed all day Christmas Eve and Christmas day but it was never icy.
I received several gift cards to RunOn and REI and Matthew bought me the Nook Color Tablet.  I love my Nook!  I wasn't sure how I would like it but it is fantastic.  Also, my mom bought my dad and I two plane tickets to San Francisco this June.  Why, you ask?  Well to see Sergio Garcia, Tiger Woods, or Phil Mickelson to win the U.S. Open!!  I'm soooo excited to go to the US Open and I love that its just a father-daughter trip.
I enjoy getting and giving gifts but I would be okay if we didn't do the gift giving thing, to family members anyways.  I'm so thankful that for us, Christmas isn't about the gifts.  No wonder people get so stressed out, they're working so hard to please others and get the perfect gifts.  I'm so thankful that Christ came to save.



We left Lubbock the day after Christmas to spend 2 days in Dallas then we were off to Galveston for Angie's Wedding Festivities.  We watched the Baylor bears win at the Alamo Bowl!!!  Holy moly was that a stressfull game.  The wedding was beautiful.  She got married at the Hotel Galvez.  We were hoping to get pictures on the beach but the fog was crazy!  We were right across the street from the beach but it was so foggy we couldn't see it.  The fog never let up but I know the pictures will turn out beautiful anyway.  The wedding went great.  After the ceremony, Angie looked at her new wedding band and noticed that one of the diamonds had fallen out!  Ahhh!!  So we had family members, the wedding party, and the staff looking for this little diamond and someone found it!  It was so crazy.  She gave it to me to hold on to until she got back and I didn't lose it.  I was pretty proud of myself.

 Rum and Coke before the wedding!

 Matthew's not drunk, just really bored and exhausted.  Happy New Year!

Leaving Galveston.  We had to drive by an old cemetery which meant that Matthew had to hold his breath so that he wouldn't breathe in any ghosts.  

We left for Dallas the next day and I had to be back to work on Monday.  It was a really busy holiday.
This week we started our new running class.  I wanted to do the 15K but I have a bad case of bronchitis and right now I can't handle running that far in the cold.  I'll just stick to the 5K class now and then start training for a long run in the spring.  Stupid asthma.

 This is how I have to run until it gets warmer.  Cool, huh?

Joey is glad to be back home.  We won't be leaving town for awhile now.