LLRB 365: 2011 Week 23

Here's a peek at my week!

Monday

6-6-11

K finally made it back to gymnastics - she's a little sore. (Shout out of thanks to FitBloggin swag for the ArcticEase wraps - K loved it.)

Tuesday

6-7-11

My grad class materials came in the mail - time to crank out the credits!

Wednesday

6-8-11

What I Wore Wednesday

(aka - the race where I beat my husband!)

Thursday

6-9-11

Used a gift cards from one of my students for a yummy treat.

Friday

6-10-11

School's Out!

(and these two are now HIGH SCHOOLERS!)

Saturday

6-11-11

I got to spend some time with Mel :)

We hit up the Local First street party for some local beer and wine.

Sunday

6-12-11

K and D were confirmed at church today :)

So, you saw what one of my favorite summertime treats happens to be (hello yummy mocha coconut frappucchino - nonfat of course!)  What is your favorite summertime treat?

How Did This Happen?

How did I go from having adorable kindergartners ...

... to crazy teenagers who are now officially high schoolers?

It just doesn't seem possible.

Congratulations K and D on graduating from 8th grade.  Mom and Dad are so incredibly proud of you!

Thankful Thursday

This isn't a post I normally write, but I feel it's something I need to do more often.  I'm extremely blessed in my life and I don't always take the time to appreciate what I have or say "thank you".  I don't know if this type of post will enter the regular rotation or not, but it's here for today anyway.

1. I'm thankful for friends who support me, whether that be in my crazy running/fitness pursuits or when I'm having a sad or stressful day.  Even though they may be thousands of miles away, they are cheering me on and encouraging me.  I throw an idea or concern or whatever out on Twitter and within minutes I have friends all around me telling me I'm not crazy, it will all be ok, and that I can do anything I put my mind to.  I appreciate that more than they (and I hope they know who they are) will ever understand.
2. I'm thankful for children who are not afraid to share their faith with others and who are comfortable talking to God as if He were a friend.  I wish I had that same level of faith.  
3. I'm thankful for having a job that I love and for working with a staff that are simply amazing in their love for their students.  Today was the 6th grade farewell and watching teachers tear up as they gave out awards and praised their students was especially moving. 

I'm blessed.  For that I say, "thank you".

Wednesday Check In

Wednesdays are traditionally my day to report to you all how I've been doing on the fitness (and to a lesser degree lately) weight loss fronts.  I'm happy to report that I am healthy, happy and at my lowest weight EVER.  So close to a new decade that it has me wondering whether I should try and get there, or just stick with the status quo and see what happens.  I don't really care if I get any smaller from a number on the scale standpoint, but also know that a couple more pounds gone would probably look pretty good on me.  IDK.  I'm conflicted.

Fitness-wise I'm also conflicted.  For the first time in over a year, I am not training for a race.  I have a couple on the distant horizon, but nothing I've actually registered for.  I'm thinking about a local 10k for 2 weekends from now, but made the mistake of looking at last year's results and my competitive nature got the best of me.  I didn't sign up.  I know my pace shouldn't matter and everyone tells me it's a great race, but to me, with as hard as I've been training, knowing that I'm really not getting much faster is very frustrating.  Granted, I also know I can't compare a 10k with a 10 miler or 15 miler.  Still.  Frustrated and conflicted.

I did just sign up for The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans' newest challenge.  Go here to check it out.  Because my school schedule (I'm taking 2 grad classes this month) this summer is going to be insane, I won't be participating from a team standpoint but will definitely be getting in as many boot camp workouts as I can and will cheer you all on from here.

There you have it - a Wednesday check-in in a nutshell.  Do you have any fun races coming up?  What is your favorite race distance?

True Confessions: The Quickie Edition

Tuesdays are True Confession days over at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.  My day has been one for the books, so I apologize for the bullet points.

This week:

• I have not run in 10 days.  I'm a little afraid to start again, but I plan to bite the bullet and run either this weekend or on Monday.  Pray that nothing hurts.
• I have done a few days of push-ups and a few NTC workouts.  I also did yoga one day. Still, not nearly enough to counteract the lack of running.
• I'm stressed about getting everything wrapped up for the end of the school year.
• Because I'm stressed, I'm not making the best food choices.
• I've been very emotional this week and I don't like it, but friends are telling me it's ok to feel, so that's what I'm choosing to do.
• I just received my coursework for my 2 grad classes and looked at the dates and realized I've bitten off WAY more than I can choose.  I have about a month to complete both classes and get everything submitted for my job.  I'm hoping I haven't completely screwed myself.
• I want to make good heath and food choices, but I'm afraid I'm failing at that right now.  I will do better.  It's a requirement.

Hopefully this isn't the first time you've come across my blog.  If it is, I promise it usually looks better than this, but this is also me keeping it real.  Some days I literally only have 5 minutes to write.  Not every post is going to be life changing.  Heck, the majority of them won't be, but hopefully you will stick with me on the journey.

How was your week?  Give me one brag - something you did for YOU this week.

LLRB 365: 2011 Week 22

How is it even possible that we are into the month of June already?  I love June - school gets out, summer finally arrives, the weather is beautiful (usually).  Hopefully you all had a great 22nd week of 2011. Here's a look back at my week 22.

Monday

5-30-11

Happy Memorial Day
Thank you to all those who have served and are serving now.

Tuesday

5-31-11

Mini tour of my landscaping

Wednesday

6-1-11

D and K got to perform the National Anthem at tonight's West Michigan Whitecaps baseball game.  They did a great job!

Thursday

6-2-11

Worked on a new memory board - finding my happy place.

Friday

6-3-11

It was a margarita/chips & salsa night.

Saturday

6-4-11

Festival of the Arts - Grand Rapids, MI

Calder Plaza & Grand Rapids Symphonic Band

Sunday

6-5-11

After 2 years of hard work, D & K (along with their 9 classmates) completed confirmation classes with their Profession of Faith.  Each student's cake had a verse selected by Pastor.

K: Philippians 3:14

D: Hebrews 13:20-21

 They will be confirmed during the church service next Sunday.

This week marks the final week of school for this school year.  What does this coming week bring for you?

May Your Way: Final Check-In & National Running Day!

It is so hard to believe that we are at the end of our 31 day May Your Way challenge over at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.  This was an amazing challenge because it allowed us to set our own goals.  My goals for this challenge were simple.  In fact, I really had only one goal: "Get through "Marathon May" without any injuries."  I am happy to report that I did just that!  I had three races in three weeks this month.  Something I've never attempted before.  Two of those races were long ones too!  You can read the recaps here, here and here.  My last race (this past Saturday) was also awesome because I crossed the finish line before my husband :)  Even if he beats me in every other race we run together, I've still managed to beat him at least once and for that I get bragging rights.  There might even be a t-shirt purchased to rub it in a little bit.

I wasn't in this challenge for weight loss, but I did end up 2 pounds less than when I started.  I'm down into the 132's, which freaking blows my mind.  The last weight loss challenge I did had me finishing around 138, so I'm thrilled to see 132 on the scale.  I honestly don't remember ever being this small and didn't see myself ever going below 135.  I'm not sure if this means I'll try to break into the 120's or just leave well enough alone, but I'm certainly not going to complain about this little nudge in the downward direction.

Now, as the title of this post says, today is also National Running Day.  Since I am taking a hiatus from running (my doc recommended at least 2 weeks and I'm already going crazy at 4 days, so we'll see how long I last), I won't be running with you today, but I can encourage you to run.  Even if you run just a couple of blocks, I want you to try it.  Read my "about me" page and you'll see how far I've come.  I'm the girl who said I would NEVER run more than 3 miles and this month I raced a total of 28.6 miles, including a races of 15+ and 10 miles.  Never say never.