The way I see it...

**For anybody that might be new to our blog, "The Way I See It" is my editorial that I write in the newspaper every week.  I added the pictures just for the blog. :) **

 

A Humbling Half

I survived the half marathon last weekend in Omaha.  Barely.  You guys, it was so hard, but I did it.  I have a medal to prove it!

 

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but my left knee bothers me sometimes.  I’m used to it. Well, it started hurting about mile 6, but I was kind of expecting it.  By mile 8, it was really starting to hurt and so I was making mental deals in my head to just try to run until mile ten and if I made it, then I would allow myself to walk.  

 

The good news is I was able to run all the way to mile ten.  The bad news is by that time my left knee felt like someone was sticking hot, sharp knives through the middle of it with every step I took.  

 

My goal was to run the entire thing and to finish around 2:15, which I was on pace to do.  Once I hit mile ten though, I ran a little and walked a little, for the remainder of the race.  

Less than a mile to go.  I was dying.  Not pretty at this point.

 

When I crossed the finish line, I took my very hard-earned medal and bottle of water and sat on the curb.  Aaron came over and I totally lost it.  Yep, I cried.  About a race.  Who am I?  These tears coming from the girl who swore she would never run because it was dumb! 

 

Anyway, in between tears I told Aaron that I was just sad because I’m so competitive with myself that I didn’t want to walk and it just sucked that I had to.  He assured me that my time was still good and he was proud I did it.   

I finished in 2:26.   You know what though?  I did run ten straight miles without walking.  And I finished.  It was hard and it would have been easier to quit, but I didn’t.  Not many people can probably say they went out and covered 13.1 miles on Sunday, but I can. My mental toughness was most definitely tested and I am a stronger person because of those 13.1 miles. It was humbling.  I ran.  I walked. I cried. I laughed at a sign that said, “Smile if you’re not wearing underwear.”  Who can’t smile at that?!  To experience all of those emotions, I’d say it was a good day. 

 

 

You know what was worth all of the pain?  That feeling I got when I crossed the finish line.  Nothing else really matters to me, except that I did it and made myself proud, but that’s just the way I see it. 

 ***********************

 I was a much happier camper after I got my emotions in check.  I hobbled up a bunch of stairs and Aaron took my picture inside Ameritrade Park, which is where the college world series is played AND the place we got to run through.  Pretty cool.  See that medal?  Recycled glass.  One of a kind, so also pretty cool. 

I basically took the week off, but did run/walk for 20 minutes on Thursday.  That was plenty.  I think I need to get back to running slowly and hopefully my knee will feel better.

Seven things...

1. I found the easiest recipe for simple ice cream!  Two ingredients.  Plus, whatever you want to add to it.  We did an oreo-butterfinger last week that was AMAZING.  For full directions you can click here.

 2. We went to the Iowa State Fair. Again!  I love it, I really do.  Saturday we met my dad and Linda there for round two.

 My Wisconsin born/Minnesota grown father was in heaven in the DNR building pointing out all the different kinds of fish to Jenna and Brody.

 3. I made some wall art for my office.  I like to get crafty, but I usually just don't have the time.  I bought this big canvas at Hobby Lobby and then we painted it.

 

After the paint dried, I cut out letters from the newspaper (because I work at the newspaper, get it?!  I'm clever like that. :)) I then modge-podged the letters on. 

 And the finished product looks like this!  I'm pretty happy about it.  I picked this quote because it pertains to a lot of things in my life, including taking the leap to be the editor at the paper, where I learned of my love for writing!

 4. School starts tomorrow.  I'm excited and sad.  Sad because it will be quiet around our house without Aaron, Jenna and Brody here.  Excited because I know that all three of them are ready for the new year and challenges it brings.

5. To go with number four, it's time to say good-bye to the summer list. :(  We didn't do too bad.  We missed a few things, but had a lot of fun, too!

6. This weekend we are participating in a 5K down by Iowa City.  It's to raise awareness for organ and tissue donation.  The guy who started the run actually needed a kidney and received one from his mom.  This race is like a tribute to her.  Pretty cool, huh?!  Also, our potential donor, Steph, will be there running her very first 5K!!!  We are so excited for her! :)

7.  Tomorrow is my 33rd birthday!  For the big day (ok, it's not really big since everybody will be at school, but anyway...) I'm going to run 3.3 miles.

I'm excited to see what year number 33 will bring.  I'm never one to dread my birthday.  I feel like we should be thankful that we are here for another year.  I always remember this..."Do not regret getting older. It is a privilege denied to many." 

Also, if I have to pick a motto for this year, I think it might be this:

Half-Marathon

So, Sunday was the big day.  My first half-marathon.  I, impulsively, signed-up for the Drake Relays Half Marathon ten weeks ago.  The closer it got, the more my stomach was in knots.  I was so stinking nervous!!  Guess what?!  I DID IT!!!!  I'm officially a half-marathoner!!!

Frank and Linda were nice enough to come down and stay with us Saturday night so Aaron could come down to the run with me.  He took this picture with my phone.  There was a lot of people and not enough room in the chutes for everybody. 


I did really well the first nine miles.  My knee started to hurt a little, but nothing terrible.  Then, about 9.5 miles I heard some ladies talking behind me about the hills in mile 11.  I turned around and asked them about it.  They said they were going to suck. 

They weren't kidding.  We turned the corner and it was two blocks of pure hill.  I said to myself, "Jamie, you haven't walked for 11 miles and you aren't going to start now.  Just keep going.  No matter how slow, don't stop running."  The 11th mile of hell almost did me in.  It was hill.  Then flat.  Then another hill.  And some more flat.  And one more hill.  I didn't stop running though! 

The last 2.1 miles were the longest of my life.  I'm not even kidding.  I kept looking at my GPS watch even though I told myself not to.  The coolest part of the race was that we got to finish in Drake Stadium on the blue oval.  When we came in and everybody was cheering on the runners I thought, I'm really doing this!  I'm going to make it!  Aaron was ready with his camera and I gave him a big old smile because I was so close to that finish line!!  Official time: 2:23.32  Not fast, but who cares!  Not this girl!

 

This non-trackster loves medals.  I was so excited when I crossed and they gave me that medal.  I wore it for a good solid four hours before I took it off. Haha!  When I got done, Aaron said he was so proud of me, which meant so much to me. :)  I couldn't have done this without him helping with the kids so I could train.  

When you run 13.1 miles, you have time to think.  I got to thinking about how three years ago I remember being so excited that I ran an entire mile without stopping and then there I was Sunday, running every single step of those 13.1 miles.  Look how far I've come.  It's amazing to me.

Jenna made me this sign that she had waiting for me when I got home.  Love, love, love it!!

 

Running is still hard for me.  I don't love it.  I like it when I'm done.  I still have to drag my butt out the door every single time.  Yes, every. single. time.  But, I like how it makes me feel.  I like that I'm a healthier me.  A stronger me.  Finishing that half-marathon made me feel like I can do absolutely anything.

The other cool thing about running is that it doesn't discriminate.  You can be old or young or tall or short or everything and anything in between.  Running doesn't care.  You will never meet a more encouraging bunch of people!  

If you want to try running - do it!  If I can, I swear to you anybody can!  You won't regret it.  

Aaron asked me if I would run another half marathon.   Hmmm....I'm not sure.  Time will tell I guess.  For now, I'm still basking in my runner's high. :)

2013 Resolutions

I'm a little behind here, but I have actually been thinking about my 2013 goals and resolutions.  I feel like I have a lot of them, which is probably bad since most of them end up failing anyway.  I figured if I put them on the blog, I might be more apt to follow through with them.  Probably wishful thinking, but here goes...

1. DATE NIGHT!  I would love for Aaron and me to go on a date once a month.  It's hard.  Really hard to find time with our crazy life, but I know that it's so important.  We have so much fun when we do go.  We act like we're 17 again. :)  

2. READ MORE.  I love to read and always have.  With my limited time problem, this will also be challenging.  My goal is one book a month.  I know you "readers" out there probably just laughed at me, but there are only so many hours in a day!  

3. LAUNDRY.  This is my Achilles heel to the upmost.  I hate laundry.  Despise laundry.  The thing is, it's not actually the washing or drying of laundry.  It's the folding and putting away.  Emphasis on folding.  Oy.  Again, it's the time thing.  The twins are at the point where I can't fold when they are awake because they mess up my piles, pull the clothes off the table, etc.  My goal when I'm home on and not at the office is to do one load - washed, dried and folded.  

4. ORGANIZE MY PAPER PILES. As a rule, I'm terrible at organization.  However, I'm really, really bad at organizing any sort of papers...mail, bills, work related things, the kids' paperwork from school.  My goal is to sort this stuff right away and throw away immediately what we don't need.

5. MEAL PLANNING.  See above comment about organization. :)  This was one of my resolutions for last year and I think I did it about 60% of the year.  When I did it, it worked awesome!  It was so nice to know exactly what to put on my grocery list and exactly what I was going to fix for supper each night.  This is a must!

6. TAKE TIME FOR ME.  This is also hard.  With our crazy, busy lives  a lot of times I get put on the bottom of my own list.  The thing is, whether it be running or baking or reading or whatever, I think I'm a better, less-stressed mama when I do take a little time for myself. 

That's where I'm at so far.  I'm trying to figure out some more specific running/workout/health-related goals.  I know I need something on the list pertaining to those, I'm just not sure what yet.  I will let you know what I figure out. 

Do you make resolutions?  What are some of yours?  I'm always interested to hear what other people's goals are!

A sign...

Do you have those moments when you know that God just gives you a sign? A sign that says, everything is going to be just fine. You really don't have things too bad.

I was feeling kind of bummed out on Thursday because Blake had been doing the morning puke thing for a couple days. It's not a bug, it's just kidney stuff. I work hard to get his weight up through feeds during the day and then it's like all the work just goes for nothing. He pukes, weight goes back down. We've been in the 17lb region since November. NOVEMBER.

Anyway, I was driving home with all three boys after picking up prescriptions and I clicked on a radio station. They were doing a fundraiser for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. They played these songs and had parents talking of their experiences throughout.

Do you know the Vince Gill song, "Go Rest High on that Mountain?" Gets me everytime. A mom was telling the story of her son passing away from cancer and she said her son told her that even though they were going through something hard, they should be happy. Because life is what it is and you may as well be happy. Those words just hit me. Life is what it is.

I cried. The truth in those words just hit me like a ton of bricks. It's going to be ok, this is just a small hurdle. I just needed a little reminder. :)

Project 365- Day 28

Sassy pants and I getting ready to head to the Lady Antebellum concert in Des Moines. The tickets were Aaron's Christmas present to me. FuN!

Project 365 - Day 27

My breakfast. It's called the green monster. Actually really good.

My dirty little secret...

...is this. Our bedroom.

When I say "our" it's actually not "our" problem as in Aaron is involved. It's a Jamie problem. I have this really bad habit of um, not putting away my clothes. I live out of baskets. I'll put the kids clothes away. Aaron puts his clothes away. I just don't. Because I hate it. These baskets have been here for a few (ahem) months. Yeah...

Saturday I was feeling motivated and I made myself a to-do list for the weekend. Cleaning this cluster of a room was #1 on the list. Let the fun begin.

Originally, I was just going to just put away the baskets, but then the more I thought about it I figured I should go ahead and clean out my closet as well. So our bed was full of clothes that I was organizing.

I seriously found a pair of these in the back/bottom of the closet...

BIBS! Are you kidding me?! Those were "cool" like double-digit years ago. I was laughing so hard when I found them I had to try them on. Jenna saw them and said, "Did you guys used to live on a farm?!" hahahaha!

This was the goodwill pile. Brody was relaxing and watching t.v. I think I ended up with 5 bags full to donate.

Four hours and three bags of trash later, I had an organized closet again.

I told Aaron that the reason I don't clean more is that it sucks. He laughed. This though, this makes me so happy!

One of my 2012 resolutions is to put my clothes away AS SOON as I get done folding them. No matter what. Wish me luck!

Right now...

A blog I follow did this tonite and so I'm stealing it, just because I liked it.

RIGHT NOW I'M...

listening to CNN in the background discussing the Iowa caucuses

sitting in the recliner with my feet up

drinking a glass of red wine

thinking I should be working out

wanting to curl up and go to bed at 8:12 PM

needing to fold some laundry

thankful for the dance party tonite with the kids. So fun!

wearing sweats and a t-shirt

praying for guidance

feeling frustration

dreaming of new possibilities

wondering when I will take my Christmas tree down

hoping for some snow!

loving the cuddle time with Jenna and Brody, reading, "Judy Moody."

10K

The 10K! In Mankato! Our first! Good news is...we survived! I was a nervous wreck starting Friday night. I don't really know why, but I was. Scott and Lisa Nelsen - our awesome friends - ran with us and it was their first 10Ks as well. For the record, Lisa was nervous about the run too.

Saturday morning we left the hotel about 6:30 AM and headed to downtown Mankato to get on a bus that would take us to the starting line, which was on MSU's campus. Here are all four of us in the hotel, getting ready to leave:

My super-smart hubby had the idea that we should have these shirts made that match our #keepfightingblake bracelets. In addition to wearing the shirts, Scott raised money for the Ronald McDonald House in Iowa City that is very near and dear to our hearts. Last I knew, he had raised over $500. Wow!!!

Jenna and Brody LOVE Scott and Lisa! A sleepy pic with Scott.

And Lisa too!

It was kind of weird because it was dark out when they dropped us off. It was a very "balmy" 36 degrees at the start of the race. It actually turned out to be the perfect temperature. The picture above was taken right before our run. Sorry for the bluriness, but it was with my phone.

THE RACE:

Aaron - he said he didn't feel like he ran very well. He even had the nerve to tell me after the race that he thought he was running so slow that he feared that he would look over his shoulder during the run and I would be right on his heels. LOL. Real nice, huh?! Aaron finished in under an hour, which was his goal.

Me - My lungs felt great the entire race! I never felt out of breath. I had been having some issues with pain in my left knee. The Sunday before I ran about 6.8 miles and I was in major pain that night and the next day. I took the entire week off in hopes to not injure it more.

Around mile 2, I could feel the pain start to creep. At about 4.5 miles my knee buckled and I literally almost fell. I kept going though. It sounds weird, but all I could picture was little Blaker's face that day he was poked four times. I thought to myself, this is just your knee. Look what Blake goes through every single day. Suck it up and keep running. And I did! I crossed the finish line in 1:07, beating my goal by about 8 minutes. I could barely walk the rest of the weekend, but it was worth it. :)

Scott and Lisa: They both ROCKED IT!! Lisa beat her goal and Scott did his as well. I am so very proud of both of them and it was extra special that we all did it together.

Aaron said he doesn't want to run any farther than a 10K, but plans to run some 5Ks in the future. I said I might want to try something farther. Maybe. We will see what happens, but it was definitely a great accomplishment!!

I'm "sew" embarrassed

Here's my embarrassing confession: we have lived in our house for 3.5 years and I have no curtains in my living room and toy room. White, white, white. Finally, I snapped last week. I told Aaron we were getting curtains and getting them soon! So, last Friday when we were in Target I found some I really liked for the four windows that were needing them. Aaron had other ideas. Our conversation went like this:

Me: I really like these curtains!

Aaron: You are not spending that much on curtains. I can make you curtains for half that price.

Me: Yeah right.

Aaron: Yes, Jame, I can.

Me: Fine. I bet you $5 (big better, aren't I?!) that you can't make curtains.

Aaron: Let's go to Hobby Lobby.

Fast forward to us being home. Long story short, a few years ago I was able to get a nice sewing machine for free. Well, it was finally time to use the machine and do you think we could find the darn pedal anywhere? Of course not! Luckily, our good friend Mary let us borrow her sewing machine and Aaron got to work.

My cousin, Ken, helped Aaron pin the material.

And away Aaron went! I was shocked he still remembered how to sew. I'm embarrassed that I can't sew because it's something I wish I could do, but I'm also impressed that Aaron can.

After watching for a while, I decided I wanted to give it a try. Me, a person who couldn't even thread the dang sewing machine in junior high. Me, a person who opted to take shop over home ec in high school so I could avoid sewing again.

Aaron was trying to give me the run down. I actually did ok, until...

I pricked my finger with a pin! Oh well, I can say I sewed two sides of one of the four curtains Aaron made, right?! :)

Drumroll...the final product....

He was so proud!!

Project for the Twins' Room

Once in awhile I like to do something a little crafty and I knew I had to make some personalized for the twins' room. I did two different things for Jenna and Brody's room with their names on it, so I headed to Hobby Lobby (I SO love that store!) for some inspiration.

After walking through the aisles I found some wooden letters, a wooden backplate, paint and baseball scrapbook paper. That's it! Bonus: everything except the scrapbook paper was on sale! :)

Here's what the letters and backplate-thingy looked like to start:

My two best helpers! Kids just can't resist paint, can they?

Here's what I did. I wanted them each to be in different colors, so I decided Blake's would be blue and Bowen's red. I had the kids paint the letters and then I painted around the edge of the backplate. Once that dried, I traced the scrapbook paper around the backplate to fit perfectly. I then modge-podged on the scrapbook paper. After that dried I used wood glue to adhere the letters on.

The finished product:

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out! Super-easy and cheap! :)