Memorial Day

Let me just start by saying THANK YOU to all those that have served and will serve our country. Since I do not have someone in my immediate family (though I do have them in extended family) that serves in some type of armed forces, I don't think about it everyday. There are so many sacrifices that those people make as well as their families....so thank you. Your service is much appreciated and means the world to us.

Often Memorial Day, and this weekend, is one that everyone does parades and picnics, boating and yard work. In our house, we usually have some kind of get together with the family. There have been a lot of events going on with the family, especially on Nate's side, so we decided to take a break from family this weekend and do our own thing. I love them dearly, but I was excited to not have a "schedule" I had to meet on my time off. It was helpful that the whole family decided to take a break and not just us!

Here was the plan today....1. go early and quickly fist thing to the flea market extravaganza for some awesome priced veggie plants 2. go to the Clinton parade 3. go bike riding with BFF's 4. Nate would go kayaking in his new kayak (that is a whole separate blog!) and chill out the rest of the night.

1. FLEA MARKETS ARE CRAZY ON MEMORIAL DAY! I knew this going into it, but thought I was doing good going super early. I sat in traffic for an hour, tried to park for 20 minutes and was in and out in less than 15 minutes getting my veggies. I was a woman on a mission....almost gave up and turned around, but figured I had waited that long, I better finish it out. I really like the idea of having a garden of fresh, organic veggies so I stuck it out and got my awesome deal regardless of how ticked I was at the timing.

2. Missed the parade! Due to the amount of people that wanted to go to the flea market today and forgot that Megan had a plan, I didn't get back in time for us to go to the parade.

3. We got to go bike riding on the towpath with our friends. It had been flooded, so the path was still a little muddy and had some rough patches, but it was fun to do. We got ice cream after at the local stand, which was yummy. We got to watch Mia (1 1/2 yrs old) have her second ice cream cone and she kept holding it like she was carrying a baby! Very fun!

4. Nate went on the maiden voyage of the kayak with his buddy. The "we'll be back in around an hour" trip ended almost three hours later. They had a blast. As much as I was not happy about that timing and it cutting into "my plan," I couldn't help but enjoy his excitement about it. It was like Christmas for him, he was so excited to go. ** Side note: now he is saying that he did a "14 k" because they kayak-ed 8.5 miles, but he coasted most of the way! **

Ultimately, we accomplished everything in the plan but the parade, plus we had a healthy dinner, planted the garden and spent time with friends. Sorry for the long blog, but here is TODAY'S LESSON: While things may not always go according to MY PLAN when I think they should, it works out. I need to slow down and remember this because I tend to get stressed out about it. Sometimes I think the things that drive me crazy are God's way of telling me to relax. We have fun memories, pictures and a nice sunburn to mark the day! Who cares what we do as long as we're together??!!

5k Phenomena

So I just completed my 2nd 5k EVER in my life. Keep in mind, my first was about 2 weeks ago. I have to say that I think I like this whole running a race thing. Right now I'm still in the very beginning stages of it where I'm running a little, walking a little, then running/walking a little more. In both races I finished around 39 minutes.

The funny thing is that these races bring all kinds of competitors. You have the serious racers. For example, today's 1st place finisher ended at 14 mins 27 sec! Wow! Kudos to them. You have the recreational racers that can pretty much run the whole time, but they're not necessarily looking for any awards. There are the newbies, like me, who haven't really decided if they're recreational or serious racers. Then you have the exercisers just doing the race to get some exercise, raise money for charities, etc. Most of them are primarily walking.

Regardless of the type of 5k racer, everyone is pumped and ready to do it! I think it helps push me a bit to continue running or walk shorter distances in between my runs. I have a mental thing going on where I need to keep up with him or beat her or make it to the next stop sign or keep running if someone is about to take a picture of the race!! It feels good, though.

After both races, I have been very proud of myself. 1. I finished! 2. I didn't come in last! 3. I finished in under 45 minutes! I'm looking to see which one is next. Who knows? Maybe this newbie will someday be considered a serious runner....we'll see!

The Beginning...

So this is it.  This is my first shot at "blogging."  I've read blogs and read about blogging - then I threw it all out of the window.  Ultimately, I am blogging because I want to, not necessarily because I am looking for a cult following.  Maybe blogging about my journey, challenges and successes will help me to be accountable for what I set out to do.  

When I originally thought about doing this, I thought it would be good to document my wellness journey.  I am working on transforming how I think about food, what I eat, how I exercise and more.  In all reality, though, I know that my mouth/thoughts will run away once I start, so I can guarantee this won't be limited to wellness alone.

Moving forward, I hope to journal the wellness journey, but also the life journey.  Whether we like it or not, it all takes a toll on our health.  It only makes sense to include.  I hope to include goals, activities, stories, lessons learned, links and other stuff.

If you're reading, I hope I can keep your interest.  If you're not reading, I'm talking to myself which is not all that unusual, so I'm okay with it!

More to come.....