What am I running for?

This season of my life has been a strange one. Moving on to new things, yet not knowing what I am moving on to do. I am done having children, I am not a newlywed, I am done with small children. My youngest started Kindergarten and now I am now in charge of my own time for the first time in 15 years. What do you do with yourself? I could clean house, volunteer, work on projects or a million other things, but none of those things were quite right (though I did them all) Looking back I have discovered that I needed something that was mine. Something that said that I had accomplished something that wouldn't disappear and have to be done again the next day. Something that I was in charge of that was about my own determination and goal setting and achieving.

Am I a good mom? Probably. Am I a good wife? I try to be. Am I a good homemaker? Not so much, but I am not the worst. I play the organ at church which I am getting better at, but there will always be someone better. What is it that defines me or makes me good at something?

In December I got this crazy idea that I needed to start running. I don't know where it came from. I don't run; I don't like to run; I don't want to run, but I started. I decided that I needed to run in a race. I looked up how to train and got on the treadmill and starting running. During the training I figured out that I really don't like to run very much, but if I was determined enough I could do it. I just had to keep going and going and going.

I ran my very first race (5K or 3.1 miles) on April 22nd in Crystal City, VA. I ran it with both my sisters. I prepared and planned and then got sick. I ran it anyway (in the rain). Bib number 2031: Results 38:28minutes. I ran the whole thing and didn't stop. As I crossed the finish line the tears came. I really did it. I even did it 4 minutes faster than my fastest training time. I couldn't breathe and my feet had gone numb (from shoes that were not loose enough), but I finished what I started. I did something I never in a million years thought that I could do. I then ran another race in May. I am taking a break from running for the summer because I hate to be hot and I am a little bit burnt out.

So what is the next step? I think I am going to start training for a triathlon.

Gym Time

On the day that the kids all went back to school (August 20 something) I went to the gym and signed up. Over the previous year I had lost about 12 pounds by watching my diet, but I was tired of clothes that didn't fit and all that goes with it. I have been going for 3 months now and I am proud to say that I have only missed 3 days in that time. I never knew how addicting it could be. I go six days a week and think about it on the 7th (I know..) I have only lost another 7 pounds, but I have dropped 4 pants sizes. I finally went to the store on Friday because I didn't have any pants that fit. From the starting point of when I started losing until now I have dropped six sizes and I am only about 3 weeks away from another 2 more. I have so enjoyed getting toned and having time to think about nothing and everything. Who would have every thought that I would even be comtemplating signing up for a 5K race with my sister. I am still not a runner nor do I get on the treadmill most days, but I love all of the other equipment and am even up to 2500M on the rowing machine. To round off my total makeover I had my hair cut and colored. I even got hit on by some weirdo at the gas station.

(This is as close to a before picture as I am going to post) The after picture is still in progress.

I am still alive

Time just kept on going and I didn't really try to keep up with it. I won't even atttempt to blog about the last 6 months I will just say that it was spent with family and friends.
We are still going and I am still trying to keep up. Todd started high school and seminary, Hannah made it into YW, Joseph was baptized, Seth started Kindergarten, I am finally left to my own devices during the day, and Steve was called to be Bishop of our ward.

Life is Good!

Oh the Joys

There are just so many joys of being a mother that I can hardly keep track of them all. My particular favorite is that they always keep you on your toes and you never really know what is going to happen next. On Saturday evening we were at the park across the street playing with some friends. Joseph and some of the other kids were swinging and jumping off the swings. They were also wrapping their legs around the swing and flipping over. They have done it a million times so I didn't think anything of it until I heard Joseph screaming. He had fallen off and landed on his face. I ran over and grabbed him and carried him into the house. He had blood running down his face and coming from his nose and mouth. He did a real number on himself. We were able to get the bleeding stopped and it didn't look like anything was cut open just a lot of little things and a huge amount of swelling. Almost like he had been hit in the face with a bat. We decided that we didn't want to sit for the next 5 hours in the ER for them to tell us that he had a swollen face. Not to mention that we have huge fears about the hospital here. There have been many horror stories about it. Anyway..... I kept him home from church the next day. By Monday it was pretty obvious that things were getting infected (pus coming from his nose and cheek) I took him to the doctor and she looked him over and put him on antibiotics. She said that he hadn't broken anything and with cleaning, neosporin, and antibiotics things should heal fine.

So for the last week we have been rinsing, cleaning, applying, and taking medicine. He stayed home from school all week to prevent dirt getting into the wounds and so that we could keep his mouth clean. We picked up all of his work so we had a week of homeschooling. He had some blood blisters on his gums and just a lot of bruising and swelling. On Wednesday we took him back to the Dr for a follow up and as she was looking in his mouth she noticed something and she couldn't see before. It looked like he had torn his bottom lip away from his gums. On Thursday we took him to the dentist and sure enough he had ripped his bottom lip completely away from his gums. The dentist said that he did it down to the bone. It had already started to heal on its own so they are just going to keep an eye on it to make sure that it continues to heal properly. He has to swish with salt water after every time that he eats something to keep it cleaned out. We have one more follow up appointment with the dentist. He was able to finally return to school today. He was secretly happy to go back, but would never in a million years admit it.

Todd's Birthday

Todd turned 14 yesterday. I can hardly believe it. On Friday he had his friends come over and they .....wait for it.......played video games and ate pizza. It is kind of nice once they get older and they don't need to be entertained in order to have a birthday party. I only saw the boys a couple of times. Once when they came up to eat and the other when they came up for cake and ice cream.

On Saturday he had a jazz band competition in the morning. It was held at Shepherd University. His band did a really good job. I can't wait until Monday to see how they did. Todd plays the bass guitar in the band and really enjoys it. After the competition we came home for a little bit and then headed to Seth's soccer game.

Watching four year olds play soccer is one the the true joys in life. We laugh so hard every week that you can't help but feel happy for hours afterwards. After Seth's game then we headed to the mall in Hagerstown to meet Steve's mom. Todd got several accessories for his bass guitar and then used his birthday money plus some gift cards and bought himself an xbox 360. I tell you he was one very happy little (or not so little) boy. Steve's mom took him out and bought him his very first suit and then we all went out for dinner. Today we got to see him ordained a Teacher and get his Duty to God award. All in all a good weekend.

"Oh What do you do in the Wintertime"

The kids have been out of school since Tuesday last week because of the snow and will continue to be out of school for the rest of this week. We won't have to worry about what to do in the summer time because we will still be in school then. We got over 2 feet of snow and will be getting another foot again today. *sigh* Here are some of our adventures.

Steve obviously needed to clear the satellite dish so that we could watch the Super Bowl.

All of us just didn't fit in the little trench that we dug from the house to the garage.

Joseph was the one that we just couldn't get to come in the house

Steve is trying to dig a small path so that we can walk down the side walk eventually
My two little boys

Day 3 of Julie's Amazing Whirlwind 11 Day European Vacation

Our third day of the trip was definitely more satisfying than the first two days. We got to Frankfurt an hour late and our luggage did not make it, but I got a stamp in my passport and we were finally on German ground. Tami was there waiting for us, we filed a report regarding our luggage and we were on our way. Our first stop was the LDS temple in right outside of Frankfurt. It was small and nestled in this little historic neighborhood. The statue of Moroni which you generally see on top of the temple was on top of a monument in the middle of the courtyard.

After we were done walking around the temple we got back in the car and headed to the Germany city Trier. It was about 2 hours away. Trier is Germany's oldest city. It is a historic city in west central Germany, just six miles from the Luxembourg border and 120 miles SW of Frankfurt.

In Trier is a city gate called Porta Nigra. Porta Nigra is the oldest defensive structure in Germany, the Porta Nigra was built in about 180 AD when the city was surrounded by walls. The Porta Nigra is the only one of four Roman gates that still stands in Trier. It was given its name (which means "black gate") in the Middle Ages because of its weathered color. .

A little blurry picture of Emily and I storming the gate.

When we got to the city it was just amazing. I had to take a picture of the church that was right next to where we parked. Everything seemed to be wonderful and picture worthy.

The other really cool thing was that since it was right before Christmas, the Christmas market was in full swing. There were so many decorations and lights that you didn't even know where to look first. The phrase Frohes Fest in the second picture means Christmas Fest.

We stopped at this street vendor and watched as he made magnificent sculptures out of wire. They were incredible.

I am not really sure what this really cool pink building was, but I loved it. It made me feel like I was in a Jane Austin novel. The grounds were beautiful even though it was cold and snowy. There was a reflecting pool and lots of statues that lined the walkways.

The other really cool thing in the city (and a lot of the other cities) was the cathedral there. This13th- parish church was one of the first churches built Germany . It stands right next door to the cathedral.

This is how we were feeling while we were there on our first sightseeing adventure.

We unfortunately did not have time to go the extra six miles to Luxembourg. After we were "done" in Trier we headed back to Tami's house. Tami then took us to a wonderful little restaurant called HunchenHausen. It was soooo good. The pictures of me reflect the fact that I hadn't slept or changed clothes in days. The meal was fabulous. I got Chicken Cordon Bleu which I thought I had eaten before. Apparently I had been eating an impostor version. What a great meal. I learned that you eat as soon as your food comes without waiting for everyone to receive their meal. I also learned that the drinks do not come with ice and they don't automatically bring water to the table. You have to ask for water and if you don't want to be charged for it then you have to specify that you don't want it bottled. (Fleicshings Wasser) Also --the best part--once you sit down that is your table for the rest of the night. There is no pressure to leave at any time. You just have to signal to the waiter that you are ready for the rechnung.

We were completely exhausted and I was beginning to fall asleep at the table. It was a wonderful start to a completely wonderful adventure.

Thanks Tami!!!