I Can Do It!

I am so proud of myself. I just finished week 9, day 1 of Couch to 5K - -and I flew today. Really felt like I had wings on my feet. The weather has cooled down slightly {by that I mean we are in the 90's instead of the 100's - but I do feel the difference!}and I am feeling like I could run and run and run.

I didn't do that because I am convinced that this couch to 5K program really works, so I am continuing to follow it exactly. But this week is my last one {the program ends - -and I will have finished it!} and I will be on my own after that. What I have learned over this nearly 9 weeks that I've been back running is that I can do it. And in conjunction with that, I have also realized that I can do anything I put my mind to do. Right now, that means I can run for 30 minutes without a break and that feels good.

My body might be old{er} but I am happy to announce that it will do whatever I ask it to do, as long as I take good care of it.

Great news, right?!!

I'm Still a Runner! (Who knew?)

Anyone who knows me at all knows a couple of things about me - -that I was an avid runner {think 6 - 7 miles a day, pretty much 6 days a week} for many years. Like probably 15 or so. Maybe more. I loved running. I started out walking and eventually, just to make things more interesting, would challenge myself to 'run to that tree' or 'run to the corner'. After that, I got competitive with myself and would see how much faster I could do my regular route than the day before. And I got hooked. I loved running.

Fast-forward to our move here in 2004: heredity + years of running = foot problems. I had a couple of surgeries and decided I could not keep running as my feet hurt 100% of the time. So I switched my allegiance to the elliptical machine which is great exercise, and is weight-bearing without impact. I learned {after quite some time} to love the elliptical too. I pretty much spend an hour a day 5x a week on our elliptical machine.

But recently, my Natalie decided she wanted to be a runner, so she got herself the Couch to 5K app for her phone and took off. It was hard for her at first, but she persisted - - and now {you can see it coming, right?} she is hooked on running and loves it. She's training for a half-marathon in December. I am so proud of her.

So then, she encouraged her dad to try that same program. Not to be left out, I got it on my phone, and we decided to do it together. Mostly, I was doing it to encourage Mark and to spend a little more time with him. We did great for the first 4 weeks, but at that point, Mark's knee pretty much gave out on him and he is seeing an orthopedic doc on Monday. So he's out.

But me? About that same time {4 weeks in} my body made it clear to me that it remembered that I am a runner. And I am. I am still a runner. I have now nearly completed week 5 and plan to continue and will do a 5K in October. Natalie is encouraging me to train for that same half-marathon in December.

Not sure if I will get there or not. But what I am sure of is that I have missed running and my body knows it. It makes me happy. And my feet? Well, they hurt all the time anyhow and it's no worse when I"m running.

So I am running again, and loving it.

It's my Birthday!

I guess that last post about aging leads right into this one - it's my birthday today!

I can't say that I'm 'happy' to be another year older but I do appreciate being another year smarter, despite the wrinkles that seem to accompany anything I do anymore. I have so much to appreciate and to be grateful for and it just seems to get better.

I have a wonderful family: parents, siblings, in-laws (I pretty much just count them all as siblings, I think!), husband, children, more in-laws (again, just family in my mind) and now grandchildren. The older I get the more I appreciate the great family I came from, the great family Mark came from, and the fact that we have been able to create a great family of our own. I love them all dearly.

I have so many dear friends. I kind of consider myself a bit of a hermit -- but over time, I have made so many wonderful friends -- again, people I pretty much consider family. Another thing that I have learned is that people are what really matter in life. Things are fine, but people are what make our lives fuller and richer in every way.

I'm grateful for pretty good health at this point. I've definitely had my share of ups and downs in the health area, but I am so thankful that right now, I can do whatever I choose to do, as long as I put my mind to it. I am running again and that makes me more happy than I would have thought. I'm so grateful to Natalie for encouraging both Mark and I to try it (for me, again -- for him, the first time) and that my body knew all along that I was a runner -- I've just been on hiatus!

So happy birthday to me! And I'm hoping for a zillion more!

Aging

"Aging seems to be the only available way to live a longer life." ~D.F.E. Auber

I found this quote on one of my calendar pages recently and while it made me laugh at first, it kind of struck a chord with me. My dad will be 88 on August 3 and my mom is 86 and they are not enjoying aging because of all the things that go along with it. They both use walkers now, Dad is in pretty much constant pain and has a hard time getting around. Mom is on oxygen 100% of the time and has a pacemaker along with other physical limitations. Neither of them is loving this season of their life, as it's frustrating to them to not be able to do everything they'd like to do.

I really hate seeing them be this restricted at this point. After all, they were (and are) wonderful parents, active, responsible members of the Church and always made a great contribution to whatever they were involved in (and it was a lot!). I wish for them that they could do more of the things they'd like to do.

But on the other hand, I suspect (just from my own personal experience in this area!) that what they are experiencing is exactly what comes of living a long, full life. And the alternative is not a great one.

It makes the reminders my mom gives us very real: "Make sure you do everything you want to do and see everything you want to see before you can't do it anymore." She is grateful that they did go and do a lot of things while they still could.

I intend to do that, and for now, I'm grateful that I have both of them still here on the earth with us.

*picture by Mary Engelbreit

Dinner

I'm consistently amazed at how much I hate fixing dinner. Really, though, the actual fixing isn't my biggest problem {although it definitely is a problem!} -- mostly it's deciding what to fix that is my biggest problem.

To be fair to Mark, it's not his responsibility to fix dinner {he does go to work all day, every day!} -- but this little cartoon is a great illustration of how we both seem at dinner time. Mostly we'd rather eat nothing than have to fix something {anything!}.

Lame. We are lame.

Home is Where the Heart Is

I just returned from a week up in Alberta {or as Natalie calls it, being called back to the mothership!} with my family. I had a wonderful time visiting with my mom and dad, my sister, brother-in-law, nephews and niece-in-laws and even got to help celebrate baby Oliver's 1st birthday.

I know I've said it before but there is truly something that draws me back to that area and it's not just family although that is without a doubt the most important thing. As I drove around Lethbridge with my parents and saw the change and growth there, I realized that that area is my heritage. There is a part of me there and always will be, even though I know I will never live there again.

And when Val, Keith and I spent a day and a half in Waterton I realized even more {despite the fact that Billy the Goat and his family, the mountain sheep as well as their deer friends had invaded the townsite} that there is something of me there as well.

So today, on Canada Day {Happy Canada Day!}, I am grateful for the heritage that I have, the family I was raised in, the love that I feel for them all and from them all, and the fact that I have now two wonderful countries to call home.

Here's Billy!! The sheep were everywhere -- places I'd never seen them and they were pretty aggressive. Made me quite nervous!

Looking down on Waterton from above -- as we drove back down from Cameron Lake.

Gorgeous blue water.

Val and Keith - my cute sister and her husband at the still {surprisingly} frozen Cameron Lake.

Beautiful!
See Old Chief Mountain? Lovely!

Clearly I can love both the US and Canada.

Again, just lovely.

Prince of Wales Hotel in the distance, where I worked, more years ago than I can believe.

Val and I. Isn't she gorgeous?

More of us. I love her!

Me, standing by Cameron Falls in the Waterton townsite.

Keith and I, with the mountains in the background. He's the best.

**all pictures taken by my sister, Val Walker

Changing Hearts

"We discover he is more than the babe in Bethlehem, more than the carpenter’s son, more than the greatest teacher ever to live. We come to know him as the Son of God. He never fashioned a statue, painted a picture, wrote a poem, or led an army. He never wore a crown or held a scepter or threw around his shoulder a purple robe. His forgiveness was unbounded, his patience inexhaustible, his courage without limit. Jesus changed men. He changed their habits, their opinions, their ambitions. He changed their tempers, their dispositions, their natures. He changed men’s hearts."~Thomas S. Monson

I'm such a slacker -- no posts in such a long time! I guess I feel like I don't live a terribly exciting life although I do love the life I am living, for the most part.

I also love the above quote and it spoke so clearly to me today. Our Savior Jesus Christ always focused on what really matters: what happens in our hearts. He is the only way a heart can change.

I continue to strive to be more like Him: more forgiving, more patient, more kind, more courageous and more loving.

And I need those changes.

picture by Greg Olsen

We are the Easter People

"Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people, and hallelujah is our song."~Pope John Paul II

I can't begin to say how much I love this quote. We are the Easter people! We really are, and hallelujah really is our song.

It's Easter week {finally - -seems like it's very late this year!} and I have had my Easter thoughts bubbling up for the past few weeks. I had a sort of epiphany recently as I was saying my morning prayers, expressing my gratitude for all that I have. But it hit me that I need to be grateful more for what I know, rather than what I have. I have many blessings, and I am grateful for all that I do have, but more, I am grateful for what I know.

I am so thankful at this time of year that I know that the story we read in the scriptures is more than just a story. The fact is that Jesus was born on earth {in a miraculous way}, He was raised by a mortal mother and father, He taught, served and loved the people on the earth at that time, and eventually, as His mission neared the end, He was taken by unbelievers and crucified.

But the glorious fact {here comes the hallelujah part!} is that after 3 days in the tomb, He rose again. And because He did, we will too. And not only that, before he was put to death, he atoned for our sins. Every one of us. Every one of our sins.

I am one of the Easter people and hallelujah really is my song. I am SO grateful.

At this beautiful time of year and always, I hope everyone will take a minute to reflect and be grateful for a truly magnificent gift. Happy Easter week to all!

The Love of a Good Book

"I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves." ~Anna Quindlen

I love reading. I love books. I love the library. And now, I love seeing our grandkiddoes all curled up with their noses buried in good books or chuckling over something that tickled them or hearing their excitement over a book they love. There really isn't much that makes me happier than that. I love reading to them, I love reading with them, and I love hearing them read to me.

Books opened a whole new world to me when I was a child, and they still do. And it makes me so happy to see the children I love loving books like I do.

A New Career -- Clowns! (?!)

This past Friday, the Cottam kids and their neighbors threw an awesome carnival for charity. The kids came up with the idea and with the (awesome) help of several mamas, they ran with it. It was amazing. Booths with games, fortune-telling, food, fun -- and (wait for it!): a fabulous clown show.

Yes, we were the carnival clowns. Maya came to us the week before the carnival and requested that we put together a 'clown show'. We looked at each other dubiously and then agreed because seriously, when a 7 year old and her cohorts think you can be funny, you suck it up and do your best.

I was a bit nervous -- I have been sick for the past couple of weeks and while I was feeling better, I wasn't sure I was going to be very energetic or very funny. But we pulled out the old Raggedy Ann and Andy costumes, found some jokes, got a helium tank for regular balloons, got Mark trained to make a few balloon animals with the skinny balloons (yay for the internet!), and figured if we danced the chicken dance and threw out some necklaces, all would be well.

But the chicken dance wouldn't play on the CD I burned and when we tried to do the helium balloons, that didn't work either. Sigh. But the (very corny) jokes were pretty well received, the necklaces were popular, and Grandpa was a hit with his twisty balloon animals. (actually, only wiener dogs -- he's going to up his skills for the next time around.)

Because you can be sure there will be a next time. And if we get asked, we will try harder to be funny. As it was, I heard from a neighborhood mom that 'the clowns were our favorite part of the carnival, mom!'

I love seeing kids put their minds to something and really do it.