Hard Charge

About two months ago, and on my 39th birthday, I signed up for an obstacle race with these ladies (minus the one in the hat). Well, that race is in 5 days now! Ready or not, its happening. I’m scared, excited, plain crazy. But most of all, I’m enjoying a growing friendship with these two gals from church. Between the three of us, we have nine kids and seven of them are boys. Our families enjoy getting together and we’ve certainly done a lot more of that since signing our lives away for this crazy adventure.

If you’d asked me when I was 18 if I’d be where I am today, I couldn’t have imagined it. It’s a roller coaster ride of fears/insecurities and dreams/accomplishments. I’m wishing I had been a bit more daring (and maybe athletic) when I was younger. I know 39 isn’t old, but my body isn’t moving like it once did, especially after that bike accident last spring. I’m the oldest and slowest of this group, but I’m pushing myself and growing. In fact, last Friday, I smoked a personal record and shaved about six minutes from my four mile. I followed that time this morning with my second all time record.

I’ve been running four miles twice a week. It’s never a whole lot of fun for me, and I’m bummed I’m not one of those people that just loves to run. But, there are lessons in the process and rewards to be gained. I learned in training for that half marathon a year and a half ago, that God was speaking discipline to me. He continues to do so, not just in running but also in other areas of my life. I’m going to choose a positive and fun attitude this week. Even as I type, there is the beginning of some butterflies coming. I’m going to be really nervous. I appreciate any prayers you can say. Most of all, its exciting to have these gals for friends and share the adventure with them and their families. Our guys will be there cheering us on and I hope to be a positive and active role model for my children.

This video race course preview was posted on YouTube today showing some of the course that is being built. And the link at the top takes you to the website that tells about the race. FYI, I’m only charging for Fun not the televised Glory!

The picture of us was taken on Thanksgiving when we ran a 5K together.

Ice

After being 72 degrees on Tuesday, thunderstorms moved in around 11 pm that night as the cold front collided with our beautiful warm weather. Wednesday morning, we awoke to freezing rain that was building ice around most everything and continued to add layers throughout the morning. No problems with the roads as the ground had been so warm. And luckily, all our power lines are buried below ground, so we kept our power throughout the rain.

In the afternoon, I carefully ventured out and took several pictures. Since we’d been enjoying our spring weather, blossoms and buds were introducing themselves around the neighborhood. I feared what the ice would do to our spring, yet it was amazing to see the beauty of the ice covered berries and blossoms.

The tree pictured below is covered in white blossoms. This morning (Thursday), we awoke to bright sunshine and the forecast called for temperatures in the 40s. Everything looked so sparkly with the glistening sun shining on the ice. I took a few more pictures. As I type this post now, the ice has completely melted, and amazingly all the trees are still covered with blossoms and their branches have returned to their normal heights. I did see a few broken branches around the neighborhood as I drove to pick the boys up from school. We are fortunate though, and benefited from a good amount of moisture.

He is Risen!

On Easter, we drove to Gramps and Grams’ house for Easter dinner and an afternoon together. In my last post, I talked about the special touches my mom has for the holidays. I’m doubly blessed because I have that on Russ’ side of the family as well. His mom is so thoughtful in putting together celebrations and I always anticipate how the table will be set and the colors she will use!And the cake presentation – beautiful. Yummy too. We enjoyed this festive carrot cake. It was a beautiful day. Much different than Palm Sunday a week ago, when we awoke to howling wind and blowing snow.

The boys enjoyed playing outside and could hardly wait until after we ate lunch so they could hunt Easter eggs. Dad and Mom hid several eggs throughout the yard, and Sam and Dellen had a blast! Russ took these pictures of the boys and I adore them. Afterwards, we all headed to the park and enjoyed the rest of a wonderful afternoon together. Blessings indeed!