Lessons from the Glow Run

Last Friday night Kendle and I ran our first race together - a 3 mile night glow run along the Columbia River here in Pasco. Our Relay for Life team sponsored the event and it was a total blast. Everyone was decked out in all sorts of neon and glow in the dark accessories and clothing. Not only was the race itself super fun, but the fact that so many people came out to show their support for such a good cause was awesome. I'm so glad that we had such a great experience participating in our first race.  I usually don't consider myself a very competitive person, but there was something about running and raising money for cancer and thinking about those that we have lost and those that are dealing with cancer right now that just made me want to run my heart out for all of them.

I had a personal PR for a 3 mile run at 24:06. Pretty sure if I could have started sprinting right away I could have made it under 24 minutes. It was hard bobbing and weaving through all of the people at the very beginning, but eventually it cleared out and I was able to get a good pace going. Kendle and I started out side by side and she was actually cutting a nice path through people for me. She kept up a good pace with me for the first half mile or so. She had a great time of 30:52. She ran her little heart out, I was pretty darn proud of her. She came up with her own system to get through the race: sprint, run, jog, and then walk when she got tired. She loved it and wants to do another race soon.

 I have to share this experience from the race that has stayed with me and I think it really taught me something that I needed to see, feel, and learn. Kendle and I were keeping pace together really well at the beginning, I was sprinting pretty hard to get a good start going and she was keeping up. About a half mile in I could tell she was starting to struggle and slow down. I was tempted to slow down with her and give her a break, but I was trying to be this fast race runner lady and wanted to do my best, so I made the decision to go on ahead and leave her behind. As I put distance between us, I took a glance over my shoulder and I could see her slowing and getting swallowed up by the darkness and the sea of runners. It made me kind of sad. She was trying so hard and really wanted to finish with a good time.  My next thought was just to concentrate on running as fast as I could so I could be to the finish line in plenty of time to watch her finish and take a picture. I found a fast person in front of me to keep pace with and did my best to keep up with them the remainder of the race.  After crossing the finish line myself, I stood and cheered with others on the sidelines as the other racers came through. In the darkness it was hard to make out who was who, and I kept searching and searching for her face to appear among those nearing the end. When I spotted her face among a few other runners approaching the finish, I felt like I had just learned a profound lesson that I as a mother needed to learn at this exact moment in my life. It literally felt like I had a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. [At this point in our mother/daughter relationship, we don't always get along and very rarely see eye to eye. We disagree more often than not and I've been frustrated with the yucky road I felt our relationship was heading down. It is something that I have been trying to figure out how to make better and worrying that her and I would never have the type of bond that I wanted us to have. I would lay awake at night imagining her going off to college and leaving the nest without her feeling like she has a strong link to me. That's a terrifying feeling for a mom.]  But I realized as I saw her cross that finish line, that sometimes as a mother you have to just go on ahead and hope that what you are teaching your kids and the love you unconditionally give is good enough for them to make it across the finish line in their own time and in their own way. At some point in their life you have to loosen the reigns and just have hope. You can't always run with them and hold their hand and pull them along and slow yourself down with frustration and worry in the process. I recognized the fact that I need to lighten up on my feelings to control most everything in my life and take a lighter approach to our relationship. Don't force things.  I'm going to try my best not to be so hard on her. I already knew she was amazing and is capable of great things, but I'm not going to push so hard and not try and make her get where she needs to go, because she is already well on her way and will get there on her own. I read a great quote the other day that said something along the lines of "Don't be so worried about raising a great kid, that you forget you already have one."  I had the distinct and overwhelming feeling when I gave her a big congratulatory hug that everything is going to be ok with us. Not in my time which is usually now, now, now, but in time. It was kind of ironic, but I felt like that finish line represented the possibility of having a fresh start.



If I had my own Nike running poster, this is what it might say:

"That's me in that picture. I am 32.  Mom of four great kids. Wife to a hard working husband. Three years ago I never thought I'd be running. Never thought I'd love running. Never thought I'd call myself a runner. Now I'm looking forward to more races. And training for a half-marathon. Most days I have to be super mom. But when I'm running, I just concentrate on being super fast. Here I come."

Oh yeah, and that girl in the picture with me? She's a stud. An academic. Softball, soccer, and basketball player. And now I'll add runner to that list. Future doctor, writer, professional soccer player, President of the United States, mother, marathon runner -- whatever she wants to be.

Miles and Miles

Here it is the last day of February and I was able to squeeze in a little more running and working out thanks to the extra day this month courtesy of Mr. Leap Year. I'm breaking in some new running shoes and trying out some new workouts to mix things up and keep my body and metabolism guessing. Results are slow and steady and I just keep at it.

I wanted to try and run on average 50 miles a month this year. As of today I am at 95 miles, and I probably could have eked out more if I hadn't gotten sick and felt so rotten a couple of those weeks. Still having trouble getting all the junk out my lungs and getting my full breathing capacity back so I've scaled back on the miles for the time being.

Started back up with some free weights and my arms and back are feeling better. I've been reading up on healthy fuel for the body to restore and replenish exhausted muscles after a hard workout and found that chocolate milk is one of the best things you can drink post workout. A glass of low-fat chocolate milk and a banana and peanut butter (the potassium from the banana helps prevent muscle cramps and the peanut butter just helps me get a little more protein) are one of my go-to snacks now to help make sure my muscles are getting the refueling they need.

My challenge for March is finding more healthy dinner ideas that the whole family will eat and planning them way ahead of time. We are jumping full throttle into Riley's high school soccer coaching season, Kendle's soccer season, added onto school, work, church, piano, and everything else. We've been in a food rut so hopefully I can overcome that in the next few weeks and make good things happen.

This Year

We sat down as a family on Monday night for FHE and wrote down some personal goals and also some family goals we wanted to try and accomplish during 2012.

*Family Goal:
Across the board one of our big family goals we agreed on was to read the Book of Mormon as a family this year. So far it has been quite a challenge to get everyone to sit down together, but we have made it 4 nights in a row so far and hopefully we can keep it up. I know it will be crazy once Kendle starts basketball and Riley gets into soccer season so we might have to read during breakfast or whenever we can squeeze it in if there are nights that don't work. I saw this cute idea on pinterest for some fun rewards when a chapter is completed.

Hopefully throwing some of these fun rewards in

will keep us motivated and having fun together.

*Fitness Goals:

Riley and I both set some fitness goals for ourselves and really want to go on a cruise or other vacation if we can accomplish them. (For privacy sake I won't put down what they were, but I'll just say we are aiming high.) I think that is some pretty good incentive to think about on the days I don't want to work out.

*Financial Goal:

We set a goal to pay off our cars. We are really close - so I think it is pretty attainable if we buckle down.

*Some places that the kids said they would like to visit for a family vacation:

Morgan said an indoor water park and Kendle said the Grand Canyon. I think the Grand Canyon might be a stretch, but who knows?

*Some things we'd like to learn or be better at:

Sarah - photography (taking more and better pictures and documenting them better in general)

post edit: I'm also adding that I want to practice shooting my gun more and get more comfortable with it.

Riley - Handy man skills

Kendle - Baking

Morgan - Fishing

Cooper and Kale - They obviously didn't make a goal, but I'll put down getting potty trained for them!

Some bad habits we'd like to break:

Sarah - skipping breakfast

Riley - losing temper

Kendle - talking back to mom and dad

Morgan - yelling at mom and dad

Some good deeds we'd like to do:

Sarah: Babysit for friends so they can go out without having to pay a babysitter

Riley: Help a stranded motorist

Kendle: Help an elderly person clean their house

Morgan: Take cookies to friends

And to help us with all of these great things we want to accomplish day by day, here is our new family motto that I framed and hung by our front door:

I hope this year brings our family closer together, that we learn to be more patient and kind to one another, that we grow wiser and learn from our mistakes, and most of all that we have lots of fun and make memories to last a lifetime.

What's Inspiring Me Today

Do you ever feel like you a need a little push to keep going? I do - all the time. I saw this quote the other day and absolutely fell in love with it. It applies to so many aspects of life and I will think about it all the time from now on. It is permanently ingrained in my mind.

"The minute you think of giving up, think of the reason why you held on so long."

Week 1 of 2011

First of all, is anyone else having as much trouble as I am writing 2011 on everything? It is just insane. I keep having to double check that I've actually written the correct date.

I am glad to say my first week of the new year has gotten off to a good start. I've worked out every day this week, changed up my workouts a bit, stayed organized and used good time management, went to bed at a good time and got some good sleep. (Well, except for Tuesday night when Cooper woke up at three in the morning and was bawling his eyes out. I really do think babies can have nightmares too.) I did good with my meal planning and my goal to stay ahead of the laundry by doing one load of laundry a day. I've tried to be diligent about taking a little quiet time each day to just relax. This week has felt great.

One thing I've put off doing is cleaning out our closet by the front door. It is stuffed with coats, the vacuum, toys, boardgames, and who knows what else. You know when you can barely get the door closed and it looks like those parts in movies where everything is going to come flying out at you that it is due for a clean up. For Christmas we received four new puzzles and board games and they've been sitting on my dining room table needing a place to go since Christmas. So, they need a home and the closet needs to be tamed. Maybe I can get to it if I'm really brave today!

Well, I am glad that it is Friday and I am ready for the weekend. I am looking forward to:
A.) Pizza
B.) Riley cleaning out the garage
C.) Getting started on a few little projects
D.) Watching some new Netflix movies

Have a fun weekend!

2011

While contemplating the new resolutions I wanted to make for the year and spending much time and thought on the subject, I came up empty handed. There were too many things to narrow down into a small lump. So, I decided I wasn't going to make any. Instead I decided that 2011 is going to be the year that I make life style changes that will effect my health and happiness. It is easy to get bogged down with every day life and that feeling of defeat can easily start creeping up on me. I've realized that my overall health and attitude directly affect my husband, my children, and everyone I come in contact with.  I recently read an article that listed a few simple things to do daily to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression and promote an overall positive way to take the steps toward taking better care of yourself. They are simple things most of us try to do anyways, but when looking at them in a list for some reason, it just made more sense and looked like a manageable plan for making the changes I wanted to implement in my life.

*Eating a healthful balanced diet
*Exercising daily
*Meditation
*Breathing exercises to reduce stress
*Surrounding yourself with supportive friends and family
*Making sure you get enough sleep
*Planning pleasant events into your day
*Effective time management

These can easily be broken down into categories for:
Health and Fitness
Spirituality
Fun
Organization.

I think the hardest thing that I will try to manage is the planning pleasant events into your day part. I always feel like if I'm sitting down relaxing for more than five minutes I need to get up and do something else that needs to be done. Mom guilt? Yes, I have it.

So this year, I am going to strive to take a little more time working on Sarah, so that I can be and do better.  I feel like this is really going to be a good year for me.

It's Almost Christmas Break

Today is the last day of school and then we have two full weeks of Christmas break. The last few days I've been busy as a squirrel storing nuts for winter. I've shopped, baked, cleaned, worked out, dealt with a broken dryer, wrapped presents, put decorations back on the tree the twins keep pulling down and watched as the days until Christmas have slowly been dwindling down. I've loved having Riley home every afternoon after work and I'm dreading him starting soccer again in January.

I'm also a little annoyed today.  I'm really tired of our school not letting the kids have holiday parties. Is it the school's or the teachers? Once again, I have to watch my daughter head off to school totally dejected because no holiday cheer is to be had in her class. LAME! I had her dress up in full Christmas colors and jangly bells anyway. Ha! They can't say it's a money issue because us parents would sign up to bring treats and whatever else was needed in to the class. Also, no Christmas concerts/plays/programs. DOUBLE LAME! I have so many fun memories from my childhood of our class parties and school programs that it makes me sad for Kendle to not have any of that. I can remember being Blitzen in my kindergarten program and Mrs. Snowman in first grade. We looked forward to it every year. It is seriously unbelievable to me that things like that are becoming a thing of the past. Ok, glad I got that off my chest. :)

Riley was having his work Christmas party/meeting today and spent all day yesterday smoking the ribs for it. My fridge and kitchen have smelled like garlic for the last 24 hours and I'm glad he finally packed those babies up this morning and I can have it start smelling like Christmas again and not a BBQ joint. To him that smell is heavenly, to me it just smells like campfire.

I am so stoked because as of this morning I have lost 10 pounds since I started running in September! It has been really tough, I won't lie. I have to literally drag myself onto the treadmill some days, but it's awesome to see the hard work paying off. I know if I followed a better diet the weight would probably be coming off quicker, but hey - I like to eat yummy food. My other goal was that I wanted to be able to run an 8 minute mile by Christmas. Today I ran it in 8:15. I'm getting closer every day. Realistically, I don't know if I can run much faster on the treadmill than I'm already running before I just fly off of there. I think it's easier on a track or the road to sprint really hard. Think I can make it to my goal by Christmas? We shall see. The best part isn't just losing the weight, but I am also feeling better and having more energy and feeling strong so that is all good. My next goal is to lose another 10 pounds by the end of March. I think slowly but surely is the best way to lose weight and keep it off.

I'm excited I get to catch up with my gal pals tonight and enjoy some yummy dinner. Tomorrow night we are doing Riley's family Christmas party at his brother's just a few block's away. I think we have a fun weekend in store.

Chef Kendle

Last night Kendle was in charge of planning and preparing a healthy dinner so she could complete one of her requirements in her Faith in God book. The Faith in God program helps boys and girls ages 8-11 live gospel principles, develop testimonies, build friendships, and develop righteous qualities that help them to achieve their great potential as children of God. There are so many wonderful activities listed in the booklet that give the children an opportunity to learn and serve. I'm excited to work with Kendle on this throughout the next few years.

She was in charge of choosing what to cook, making a grocery list, and then doing the cooking and setting the table, and so on. She chose to make spaghetti which is one of her most favorite things to eat, and I told her I would teach her how to make home made french bread to go with it. We were also going to make a salad to go with it (but mom forgot to get a salad mix from the store), so after thinking it over with Kendle we decided to just add some olives and grapes to the menu instead. This was her meal after all, it should be things she likes to eat. We were also going to make fruit pizza for dessert, but we are going to make it for tonight's dessert instead. We were a little cooked out.

She came racing in the door after school, so excited to get started. I had to help with a few things for safety reasons (like draining the pasta), but other than that she did just about everything with some instructions from me. I think she liked baking the bread the best. I tried to be patient the whole way through (which at times was a bit tough) and I think it turned out to be a good experience for her and for me as well. It made me realize I need to get her in the kitchen more to help me and learn from me so I can start giving her more responsibilities. And, I think she realized how much work it can be to prepare a meal and clean up. She was very good about my cleaning as you go rule and even helped unload the dishwasher while she was waiting for the bread to rise. So it was win-win all around.

Here are some pictures:

Morgan was excited too. He loves spaghetti and french bread. He told Kendle that the food was dee-wish-iss!

2010

***

picture

Goals for 2010:

*Be healthy and get back to my pre-baby physically fit form. (I'm talking, pre-pre-pre-baby, I'm aiming high this time.)

*Enjoy each of my children at the age they are at. Spend quality one-on-one time with them each day.

*Strive to be more patient.

*To not forget myself no matter how chaotic and busy life gets.

*Take more pictures.

It's going to be a GREAT year!

Today

*Today Kendle is Star of the Day at school and has a tee-ball game.

*Today Morgan is clomping around in Kendle's cleats and swinging his foam bat around.

*Today I will try to clean up my disaster of a house, or at least my living room that people see when I open the door.

*Today I am smiling at Morgan holding the baby doll and giving it kisses and being "soft" with it. (This is good practice)

*Today I will try and think of a meal I can prepare for my family for dinner that has no smell or off-putting ingredients.

*Today I was showered and dressed by 10:00 am, quite the accomplishment in light of how I feel.

*Today I will try to go through my huge stacks of mail and magazines that have been piling up on the counter the last few weeks.

*Today I will try to fix Morgan a real lunch

*Today I will walk and get the mail and get some fresh air.

*Today I will not be hard on myself or feel guilty about the things that are not getting done or that I don't feel like doing.

2009 Ready or Not

Wow.

2008 has completely flown by for me. Can it really be the start of a new year? I'll turn 29 this year. When I was a kid that used to seem so old, and now I still feel young and like I have loads to learn.

I love the prospect of a new year starting and being able to wipe the slate clean and set new goals. I still have not made my official resolutions yet.

This year I would love to simplify my life in every area possible. I would love to keep my car clean for more than a week. I want to designate more time for myself that is scheduled into my daily routine that is non-negotiable. I want to be a happier, more care free mom. I want to not let the little things stress me out. I want to make every day better for my family.

I saw this family motto and thought we would adopt it for our own family this year:

*picture via Tatertots and Jello

20 pounds

*Warning-this might be a little whiny and self indulgent, so read on at your own risk.

OK, I'm putting it out there. I'm trying to lose this last 20 pounds that won't budge. This baby weight is happy and comfortable and not wanting to go anywhere. I'm not one of those people who have the pounds melt off after having a baby, I have to seriously work my booty off with diet and exercise. The last couple of weeks I've been able to make a few pounds go away and stay away, but I'm still a far cry from my goal weight. I'm not even trying to get down to what I weighed before I was pregnant, just in the ball park. After I had Kendle, it took me almost two years to lose most of the weight ( I guess that's what happens when you gain almost sixty pounds), but I remember I had to really shock my body into losing weight. I jump started the process by going on a no-carb diet for a little while, and then gradually adding a few carbs back in. I looked at some pictures of myself from over the weekend, and had one of those "aha" moments. I asked my husband "is that what I really look like?". Of course he says all of the nice husband things, like you look great, and all of that, but it was then that I realized that I'm not going to sit around and complain about it anymore and starting this week I'm going to put myself in weight loss mode for real. I usually run or walk on the treadmill a couple of times a week, but I'm going to really push myself this week to run hard and do all of the other extras (crunches, resistance bands, lunges, stretching).

*Here is where the whiny self-indulgent part really kicks in. Just warning you.

I think the hardest thing for me, is that my whole life I've always been thin and not had to worry about my weight. This is not an asset to me because I can trick myself into thinking that I can still eat whatever I want and burn it off. Boy how the metabolism gods are laughing at me now.

I know a lot of you can relate to that, and I realize that it's not a diet, it's a life style change that works in the long run. Here are some things that sabotage my weight loss:

-I love to bake. AND I feel like a bad mom if I don't make cookies or a little treat for my family at least once a week.

-This time of year our family is on the go constantly, and it is way easier to eat junk or grab some fast food, than pack healthy food or eat before we go. (I know, excuses, excuses)

-My family loves to snack. If we go to my parents house they always have tons of snacks and goodies and I feel like I have a free pass or something to eat whatever I want because I'm at their house. I know it doesn't make sense, but in my delusioned state of snacking, I can convince myself that whatever I eat there will not count in the weight department.

Why did I write this post? I'm embarrassing myself into accountability I guess you could say. Next time you see me, I want you to ask me how my weight loss and exercise program are going.

Also, if anyone has any tasty low-carb, low-fat recipes you'd love to share, don't be afraid to send them my way. You can e-mail them to me if you'd like. If I get quite a few recipes, I'll post them on my blog for everyone to share.

Happy New Year!

This is my 100th post, and it seems fitting that it falls on New Year's Day.

It's that time of year where we feel like we can wipe the slate clean and have a fresh start.

This year I want to celebrate the small things, and really LIVE my life. No more excuses. I want to be my best self and stop worrying so much. If there are things that are bothering me, I want to change them. I'm going to stop being so hard on myself. I want to be more relaxed and a bit more spontaneous. I want to wake up every morning and say to myself, "life is good".

2007 was a good year for me and my family. I'm glad to say our "ups" outnumbered the "downs" and I feel like we grew a lot together (and grew in number as we added another Dodson to our clan). We are going to set some family goals this year and I will be optimistic that we can accomplish them.

So here's to a great 2008!

Also, today is my oldest brother Jeremy's birthday! What an old man you are Jer, but one cool fella! Wish we were there to celebrate with you.