Reeds Lake 10k 2008

Ah. the beginning of my late spring training. ok, maybe it is summer training at this point because July 1st is this week. How familiar it is, the early Saturday mornings, the feeling of the pavement and playing mind games to pass the miles. Let's not forget my favorite, the carb loading. My good friends from small group, Kate and Jamie, joined me this morning in the East GR Reeds Lake Run. The registration read "2 hills" but I think they should have mentioned the not so slight inclines present through the whole race. What doesn't kill you earns you a donut afterwards right?! (cinnamon roll with chocolate frosting for your information).

I am actively working to catch the running bug again after last year's season of ups and downs. My goal this time around is to focus less on performance measured by time and more by how healthy I feel. It is embarrasing to admit how bummed I was last time when I didn't achieve my goal at the GR Marathon. Sometimes my personal motivation drive works overtime and I get myself hyped up over expectations I have for me. I am working on it though with the help of my husband's regular reality checks and pride in me.

I guess I better go take a shower before even my dog won't want to sit by me from the smell of a Michigan muggy day run. Enjoy your weekend!

welcome to the jungle

Let me start out by saying that I love nothing more than a summer night on a deck (mosquito free) with good conversation. Some great memories on decks like last summer with my Dad, Ryan and Erich over a whole carrot cake from Bar Louie, or what about that August night 2 summers ago when Em and I shared endless laughter over a bottle of Tabor Hill semi-dry white on her back patio in our pajamas.

And then there is MY yard, deckless and overgrown.
So, with a little help from round up & my powered hand held weed trimmer I was on my way. For 2 hours I cut, and pulled and raked and cut some more...right through not 1but 2 extension cords! I am very aware in retrospect that this wasn't the safest probably but in the moment I wasn't going to let a shredded power cord and some sparks stop me, so I pulled another out. And I can't really use the excuse that they blended in because they were neon orange and yellow. Hm. maybe I can pose this concern to Ryan as a safety hazard and hire this out. Nah, I think the pride will be worth it when my yard looks like this:

a girl can dream right?

what I was looking for...

I always thought I would marry a dark haired older man, who was somewhat allusive yet had life figured out, was finishing their
PH D and would afford me all of life's luxuries. God did even better when He gave me Ryan, who yes is 5 months and 3 days older, wears his heart on his sleeve and is figuring out life with me. I never guessed I would marry someone from my own small high school & return to West Michigan. But here we are, 3 years later living in my grandparent's first home, a little family with our pup Toby and I couldn't be happier.


We went to a wedding last night and sappy as it is, I am always reminded of how lucky I am to have married my best friend. The thing I love most about Ryan is his spirit of adventure and challenge towards life. I am now starting to believe the old wisdom that you look for someone like your Dad. Ryan is an entrepreneur to the core which is something I have always loved about my own Dad. He thrives on talking about ideas and concepts which always keeps life exciting.



Tonight I spent a couple of hours at his office with him, where I am typing this now. This isn't a typical Sunday night for me but I am realizing more and more as I am home how hard he works for us and for his business' success. Little did we know that Ry quitting his job 2 weeks after our honeymoon would lead to this place for him career wise. It is really exciting to watch the company ebb and flow and grow stronger each year. I will share a few pics of the new and improved Stability One like a proud soccer mom wearing her kid's picture button. (if they had pins, you better believe I would don one).

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Happy Birthday little brother

A sibling may be the keeper of one's identity,
the only person with the keys to one's unfettered,
more fundamental self. ~Marian Sandmaier


What is most exciting about E's birthday every year is that it is his spiritual birthday as well so welcome to year 3 of your faith. May it prove to be as fruitful and filled with God's blessing for you.

I tell Erich's story of being saved and baptized often because I have never seen the transforming power in someone's life so cleary. Redemption's story lived out through life experiences, decisions and ulitmately leading to the cross when there was no where else to go.

The summer after I moved home from TU I was living across the hall from E for the last few months before marrying Ryan. A series of decisions and trouble led to a weekend of examining life and really facing a fork in the road. Our little brother Austin, who was 8 at the time was being baptized that weekend on Erich's 20th birthday. During the service, the pastor gave an open invitation to anyone who wanted to be baptized. Erich grabbed my hand and we RAN up to the stage where he declared that today was his 20th birthday but he wanted it to be his first birthday in Christ. He was baptized then and there in a large tub on stage and I got to be in the water with him.

How amazing that day was but even more the steps that have been taken as a result. There is now in place of that boy a man who has an awesome group of Chrisitan friends, serves with high school guys as a small group leader & is walking into a bright future. You are loved Erich!

from Good to Great...well actually it didn't start out so good

Well today wasn't one of those mornings where I popped out of bed; more like the snooze is probably broken from overuse and at 8:50 (embarrasing, I know for someone who prides themself on being a morning person) I drug myself out of bed only to find out I was having a terrible hair day, ripped my last spare contact and that my favorite business jacket was as wrinkly as a pug. So, with a quick straighter attempt on my hair and ensemble, I was off one-eyed to an interview.
Thankfully those nice (translated as accomadating in this case)ladies at the eye doctor hooked me up with full vision in 7 minutes flat so I had time to spare in the traffic back up.

I had to laugh though, amidst talking to myself on the highway on the way home. Amazing the time and opportunity this break from the 8-5 is affording me. I met with the executive director of a local organization and was so blessed by her story. She is in her early 60s and just beginning to explore her true passions in life within this organization. She was so affirming of me right where I am at and over coffee I could see that something in us was connected through our stories.

So back to the talking to myself; what I said outloud was "I have really great friends."

I realized today how many stories God has been weaving into my path. I think I have felt myself going through a shift in the past year or so of not thriving as deeply in a long list of acquantances but longing for deep relationship in those who I share life with. People who know my stories, like the time I ate a whole can of beans and threw up out my nose, or the high school heartbreak I thought would destroy my LIFE when he brought the replacement girlfriend in fishnets to district finals. Or the girls who drove me to 3 different gas stations to find a ben & jerrys flavor that sounded good at 11 p.m. and passed hours on a futon sharing reruns of friends and determining who a good pick-a-date would be, endless handy andy breadstick Tuesdays and shameless afternoons of skipped classes to go to Indy.

Those stories of the past and then the stories of the now shared over walks & lots of coffee in the corner chair at beaners in recent weeks! I am very clearly blessed so those of you who are characters in my story, thank you for playing your part and making me so bubbled over that I had to speak it outloud today.

molding

Ah, something roomy and inviting about this blank page to spread my thoughts about. For me, this is about being real, returning to me, finding the me who seems a bit shaken up but I think it is all in perspective, maybe I am not shaken but being molded & crafted. The potter is workin on me. And I don't want to miss a thing.

Just like throwing on a wheel, when the clay starts to feel dry and begins to crack, the Potter softens it again and soothes it with more water. God isn't going to let me dry up, He is sustaining me.

So I'm ready, I'm in transition from being in my early 20s to my mid 20s as I just marked the quarter century marker. Alot of what this clay bit about for me right now is identity. Today is the beginning of my 3rd week unemployed, by my own decisiveness. I would have loved for everything to be lined up for my next career move; you would have thought giving 10 months notice might breed that type of transition. But I am in a place where I cannot find my daily validation in what I can accomplish professionally-- and yes, I feel myself grappling for it in other areas, suddenly my intent for a clean house and folded laundry has risen.

And then I remember that this is about something exciting, something bigger than me. and this blog is to remind me of that. to share my thoughts, neurotic as they may be and most of all to recognize what is right in front of my eyes

today I am thankful for:
coco mocha nut iced coffee (with whip)
pandora.com providing a soundtrack for the now (Norah, John, Natasha, Coldplay)
wireless at home
Ryan's trust
a closed road forcing me to walk to the post office
the library calling to tell me the book I requested is in
free texting
a home that we love
unexpected lengthy emails
sore legs indicating a good run