Lydia!

We always knew that some day we would end up with a dog.  We just couldn't get one right away because of the apartments outrageous fee to have one.  But now that we are in our own home, with a yard and some more space we decided to get our dear little Lydia!

I have a crappy camera, so my pictures aren't great.

She is a Yellow Lab with the most precious face you have ever seen!  

We picked her up from a very nice family this past Tuesday and have enjoyed having her around.  She already understands the concept of "fetch" and is picking up on the command "sit" rather quickly as well!  We do need to work on sleeping at night and not biting.  But hey!  It's not even been 48 hours since she entered our world.  

How is Mittens (our cat) handling this you ask?

Better than I thought.  I was so nervous about her.  I thought for sure she would run away and hid and I wouldn't see her again for a long time.  But she has held her ground.  She stays out, but stays high.  I hope that one day they can be friends!  (Wishful thinking, I know.)

Week 1 Run

Today I completed my first week of training for the Half Marathon in May.  It was a crazy busy week with Brett's birthday, so I won't lie and say it was a piece of cake. Get it?  Cake.  Because of his birthday...oh dear.  Anyways...I struggled to find the time to go to the gym.

This week included two 5 mile runs, one 3 mile run and ended with a 7 mile run.

On to week 2!!

Happy Birthday Love!

He is the zig to my zag....

He keeps me grounded...

He makes me laugh...

He's the husband I don't deserve...

He's my best friend.

Happy Birthday My Love!

A Runner I Am Not...Right?

In the middle of my 9th grade year of High School I transferred from my large, public school to an itty bitty private school.  Seriously the entire school, K-12th, was less than half of my grade size at public school.  It was a bit of a culture shock for me when I got there to say the least.

I had mixed emotions about going.  Part of it was exciting to know I would get a new start, but terrifying because being the new person is...well...terrifying.  It was a very ruff transition.  Most of the girls hated me right away.  I remember being told in my first few weeks of being there that I was only there to "steal their guys".  Gotta love girls!  There was a small handful of people who accepted me though.  And to them I was and am grateful.

But anyways...

I did what I could to put myself out there and in the Spring I signed up for track.  This was a good idea right?  I mean I had never run track before...why not start now?  I had sports induced asthma...but I could just take my inhaler, right?  I'd love to say that with the odds against me I powered through and did really well, but the truth is I sucked.  The only thing I excelled in was jumping.

Since then I married my husband.  Who is a runner. And ran a marathon.

After he finished his race!

I was so proud of him and loved that he set this goal and pushed himself to accomplish it.

About a year later I decided to try this whole running thing again.  I joined Planet Fitness and started slow.  I struggled to run more than a mile.  I try to go about 4 times a week.  Three times during the week for shorter runs and then a longer run Saturday morning.  It's a time commitment, but I feel so much better after a run and have noticed major improvements.  Now, for the first time in my life, I am signed up for my first Half Marathon!  I realize it isn't as big of a deal as a Marathon, but hey! It's a step in the right direction!

So during my training season I want to check in on here once a week with updates on my past weeks training.

Have you ever ran a Marathon or Half Marathon?  Any tips? 

My Valentine

We don't really do Valentine's Day here at our house.  Not yet anyways.  When we have kids I would love to send them on little love missions, but for now we see it as a silly holiday for stores to make more money.  I do have a stud muffin of a Valentine though :)  I will thank God a bit more today for him!

Ash Wednesday...Lent...

Growing up my family never really did Lent.  I remember my mom would give up chocolate or something sweet, but I never understood why.  I honestly never thought about Lent until I married my husband.  His family observes the Lent "season" and so I decided to start participating also.  I would give up something I enjoyed and fast on the designated days.  But honestly I didn't get much from it.  If I gave up some type of food it became more about losing weight than anything.  I think because I didn't fully understand it my hear wasn't (and how could it be) in the right place.

This year I decided to do a little digging for myself and this is what I came away with.

There is no Scriptural requirement for participating in Lent.  So if it isn't something you do its okay.  Although, if you don't, I feel like you could miss out on something wonderful!

Lent can be observed in a few different ways.  Pick one and focus on it or do something from each.  Whatever tickles your fancy.  I didn't get the feeling that there are strict rules to follow.

Prayer

Prayer is something I struggle with.  I find it so hard to just sit and be quiet.  My mind feels like it is always going a mile a minute and I have a hard time staying focused.  I am terrified of praying in front of others in fear of sounding stupid...which is pretty silly.  In my reading to learn more about Lent a suggestion was made to focus on praying for a specific person each day of Lent.  A family member, a friend, church family, missionaries and the people you don't get along with so well. 

Serve

This is something I enjoy doing, but don't do nearly enough of!  It could be something as little as writing a thank you letter to the person who made you coffee at Starbucks that day, making a meal for someone who is going through a hard time, secretly giving a gift card to someone or giving of your time to a shelter, soup kitchen, your church...ect.  Seriously I feel the list could go on and on.

Reading the Bible

This is an area I have been working on getting better at.  Reading my Bible daily.  How can I grow in my relationship with Christ if I'm not taking in his Word?  There are so  many readings out there that are specifically directed towards Lent.  I would encourage you to find one and give it shot and I will do the same!

Give something up

Lent could be a great time to cut off any bad habit that is getting int he way of walking with Christ.  It's also a great time to deny one's self of a daily habit (big or small) that you enjoy.  This might get annoying or hard to do, but this is daily reminder is to help us remember the hardship Christ encountered on our behalf.

Sorry for the long, wordy post and if you made it the whole way to the end kudos!  I'm sure there is more to learn, but these things are what stuck out to me the most.  I really want to push myself, learn and grow during these next couple of weeks.  I'm hoping that by the end I will have picked up some new and improved habits!