The numbers are in

Well it's been a whole entire week of me being on Weight Watcher's and it was pretty tough at times, but definitely worth it. I bet you are all just dying to know how much I lost. Well here is the scoop...

Isn't that crazy...8.2 lbs in one week. I forgot what a week of good eating could do. I do understand that I am one of those people where you would see my picture with a little * under it that says "results not typical". However, I obviously am happy with the results. My goal for next week is just to lose 2 lbs.

We are still living in the deep freeze here. Actually, this morning the temp started at -32 with wind chill at -45 (that's in Celsius) and by the time this evening rolled around it had already warmed up to -19, so I figure by tomorrow we will be living in the tropics.

Smiley Day

Reasons:

#1. Completed Day 150 of running challenge and counting
#2. AMA (equivalent to AAA) came to my rescue and boosted my car for me. I called Trevor thinking he could come to my rescue before Mr. AMA---I needed to get to the gym for my run. I put the call in to AMA at 1:oo pm and there was an 8 hour wait, so I wasn't expecting them till 10pm. Just as Trevor got home Mr AMA drove up and came to the rescue --5 hours earlier than I expected. Hopefully now that I have plugged the car in for the night it should start tomorrow. Only 3 more days left of this FREEZING weather.

Okay...that's all folks...I am too tired and just ready for bed.

BRRRRRRR...

Today's temperature in Calgary is -44 degrees Celsius with the windchill (for all of you Americans that is -47.2 degrees Fahrenheit). On the news tonight they said if you don't have to go outside then stay in cause frost bite can set in after seconds of being outside. Tomorrow the kids have the day off of school and one of Kamden's classmates is sleeping over. It would have been nice if the weather was good, but I guess you take what you get.

Okay...so like I said that I am on Weight Watcher's right now and I am doing pretty good so far with counting points and staying on target. I am not sure how much I have dropped so far as I have stayed true to my word and have not weighed myself since Wednesday, which has been a feat in itself. I feel really good about everything, but I tend to get pretty hungry at night time---night time munchies. I am allowed 20 points per day and am given an additional 35 points for the week to use however I want. You can spread them out or if you have an event to go to you can save them up and use them all in one day. In order not to go insanely hungery at night I have been dipping into those flex points on average of about 2-3 per night, which seems to work. Today since it's freezing out I decided that I was going to go to 7-11 to get a coffee and while I was there I walked in the chocolate bar isle (probably not the smartest idea). I found this great find...it was a chocolate bar called ZERO...I was drawn to it because of the name. I grabbed the chocolate bar and look and read the nutritional info and I figured it out: 80 cals/6 g fat/1 gram fibre = 2 points...Wow...what a find. I get home and sit on the couch and open the bar and start eating it. It was sooooo yummy. I kept saying to Trevor "this is so worth the 2 points". As soon as I finish eating the bar, which contains 4 yummy squares of goodness in the package Trevor asks me to see the wrapper. So I hand it over and he looks it over and then he says "you know that the nutritional information is per 1 square. AAARRHHH....WHAT??? I just ate 8 points...oh no...that was so not worth it. So, needless to say, I will never get that bar again. I had to dip into my flex points for supper...thankfully I still have a lot left and I need to make them last until Wednesday---just in case any "emergencies" occur. So the lesson that I learned is to take a very close look at that label and read the what the serving size is on there.

Okay...call me crazy but I am going to continue the run challenge past day 150...what the heck...you only live once. The hip has recovered fully since last week and it's a great way to force me to get out there and do something till Ironman training starts in 7 weeks tomorrow. I am positive that if I wasn't participating in the challenge I would've taken it easy on the workout front, so this has kept me in shape and I think I'll have a pretty good base starting the training.

I can't believe I managed one entire day without...

...the scale. Wow, I actually did it, but it wasn't easy. Yesterday all I could think about was "I wonder how much I weigh". For me, seeing the number on the scale somehow makes me feel like I am in control. If I don't know what I weigh I just feel very uneasy. I automatically feel fat and bloated. It's like seeing the number on the scale gives me some sort of reassurance that nothing has changed. Day two has been somewhat easier since I haven't been home all day. I have been at the kid's school and as far as I know there is no weigh scale that I could gain easy access to...although I do remember seeing one in the admin assistance office some time ago...hmmm...I went to the gym after 4 hours of volunteering and I looked at the gym scale a bunch of times thinking if I should just take a peek and see what the number is. Actually, I told Trevor this morning that maybe I shouldn't have written on my last blog that I was going to go "cold turkey" but rather gone with weighing myself once a day---but he basically just laughed in my face and said that I am proud of you and I know you can do this. So while I was looking (admiring) at the scale at the gym all I could hear in my head was Trevor's voice saying that I can do this. So I walked by...honestly it felt like I had walked by my best friend without saying hi...what is wrong with me. Having said all that I am scheduled to see a therapist for all of my problems sometime soon.

Trevor and I talked about possibly ending the running challenge on Day 150. We discussed ending it together (which defeats why I am doing the run challenge in the first place to one up Trevor on the challenge---yup, I'll be sure to bring that up with my therapist as well when I get into see them) but today I had an 8 mile run, which went good (by my standards). I had to make it an 8 miler in order to catch up on the past two low mileage days. I have added Lakota joint and muscle pills to my daily diet, which is helping with the hip as well as some glucosomine. My hip is better than it was two days ago. So as Day 150 approaches on Monday I will re-evaluate and see how things are then.

Oops almost forgot to mention something that happened at Kamden and Simon's school. Yesterday they were having an issue with some of the Prekindergarten's gym shoes missing out of their cubby holes in the hallway. After some investigating they found 3 culprits. It turned out the 3 boys (Grade 2) were grabbing some of the shoes on their way outside for gym class and taking some of the shoes and throwing them underneath the portables outside. This morning during the Kindergarten's library time (that's when I was volunteering) the assistant vice principal came in with 3 boys and said that these boys have something to say to all of you kids. With tears in their eyes each boy, one-by-one, stood in front of the class and said "I was the one that took your shoes and hid them. It was wrong of me to do and I will never do it again. Do you accept my apology?" I truly believe those boys felt remorse for what they did and I can guarantee that they will not do that again. I just applaud the vice-principal and principal for taking such a pro-active approach. It would've been so easy just to call those kids down to the office and say don't do it again, but I don't think they really would've got it. YEAH...now if only we can work on our judicial system in our city and country.

Should've gone back sooner

I can't believe I haven't gone to a Weight Watchers meeting since 2005...it's almost embarrassing. I received my lifetime membership in 2003 when I lost 30 lbs in a short 10 weeks. When I received the lifetime membership I went once a month just for the weigh-in to keep my membership up-to-date, so I wouldn't have to pay. However, when I competed for figure/bodybuilding in 2005 your weight fluctuates so quickly doing those competitions that I stopped going to ww. Once you have completed a competition your weight goes up pretty quickly just because you are eating normal again. Being on a bodybuilding diet you need to have a low carbohydrate (carb deplete about a month before competition), low sodium, low fat...basically low everything. It is a very hard diet to stick to, so once you get off of the diet your body just holds onto what you give it and you gain the weight you lost back very quickly. (that's one of the reasons why I don't think I'll do a figure or bodybuilding competition again---it's very hard on you mentally). Another reason why I haven't been going to WW is because I felt that the meetings didn't really pertain to me. They were usually on subjects that I felt I was a pro at and knew everything about...boy was I wrong...2006 and 2007 passed and here I am...back at WW. I attended a meeting last night. Thankfully, I was still at my goal weight so I only had to pay for yesterdays meeting and then I don't have to pay any more (as long as I weigh-in) once a month.

Last night's meeting was about "Changing Habits". She started out the meeting by asking the group how you would get someone to change their eating habits and gain a lot of weight. Some of the answers were:

• Put cheese on everything
• Put bacon on everything
• Replace all water with pop (the real stuff) because it tastes better
• Make McDonald's one of your 4 food groups
• Always eat in front of the TV
• Use that treadmill to hang your laundry on
• Eat when you are bored and my favorite....
• Pack in as many calories as you can before you go to bed

Of course she was only joking that you would get someone to change their eating habits into bad eating habits, but it was kind of fun hearing those answers. Then our leader proceeded to tell us how we can actually change our bad habits into good habits.

1. Prepare Yourself -Make sure that your cupboards are not full of chips, cookies and candy, but rather fill it with low cal, low fat food options
2. Ask For Help-If you know that you are about to partake in something that you are not suposed to be doing then call a friend
3. Manage your thoughts-Why are you doing this?
4. Manage your feelings-How are you feeling right now?
5. Manage your environment
6. Monitor yourself-you've come this far you don't want to sabotage yourself
7. Learn from experience-last time I sabotaged myself I felt terrible after

Habit is success forming

That is what I learned about last night and I think did, in fact, learn something. My goal this week for WW is to lose 3.2 lbs by next week, which I think is realistic. I've bought a 12 week journal, so that'll take me right to April 16th (2 days before our 10Th wedding anniversary). I plan on looking more smashing than I did on my wedding day (and I thought I looked pretty darn good that day). My goal for the whole 12 weeks is to lose 20 lbs. So every Thursday morning you will see me update from the meeting the night before.

+++++BREAKING NEWS+++++ I DIDN'T WEIGH MYSELF THIS MORNING---this week I am going to really try hard not to weigh myself . The next time I see my numbers will be on the scale at my weight watchers meeting. I am going to quit the scale cold turkey, which will be difficult 'cause like some of you suggested I definitely do have OCD tendencies (especially with weighing myself and the run challenge).

I am so not happy

This is the story...last week when I got off the couch something in my hip kind of went and since then I have been having a hard time the hip. It has since gotten progressively bad, actually right now it is so bad that I no longer am walking properly. Getting dressed (putting my pants on) has become a bit of a challenge. I have been continuing with the run challenge despite my hip troubles. Usually it'll get worse in the evening and by the next morning it'll feel somewhat better and I'll get on the treadmill and the cycle starts over again. This morning I woke up and it my injury didn't seem to have improved overnight. You know me though...I still went to the gym and managed to get in 3 miles until I could no longer bare it. The worst part is that I look over 3 treadmills to my left and there is Trevor (who came to the gym at lunch) pounding out the miles (6.02 miles in 45 minutes). Today is just a hard day for me and as much as I want to end the challenge to recover and get my hip better I just can't. I must keep going. Trevor said that he'd quit with me and take a day off and then start the challenge all over again, but I don't want to start over again. I've come too far...AARRGH...I am not a quitter. So in the mean time and in between time I've pulled out my stretching sheet from the Chiropractor and will be doing those on a daily basis and hopefully things will be back to normal....quickly.

Hubby is off to Florida at the end of February for business. I knew he was off sometime soon, but now it turns out he'll be away for Kamden's 7th birthday (Feb 25th) and his 35th birthday (Feb 28th), which makes me a little sad (okay...a lot sad). He will only be gone for a week and should be home on March 1st---hopefully in time for Kamden's family birthday party. I think me and the kids should just pack up and go with him to Florida that way we will be together to celebrate the birthdays...after all birthdays are special...wishful thinking, right?!

Me and my problems

Looks like this will not be my lowest mileage month as I have already surpassed last month, which up until now was my lowest mileage month...Yeah...I can't foresee any problems in the next 9 days that will prevent me from getting the most mileage/month since September. Although I may be cutting it close. I guess I will just have to wait and see how this month plays out.

I need some advice...on what? Let me tell you...I seem to have an addiction to weighing myself. I've never actually counted how many times I weigh myself per day, but my guess is that it is anywhere between 10-20 per day. I weigh myself first thing in the morning, after I get out of the shower. after I eat breakfast, after I eat anything, you get the idea. It really is like a bad addiction. Trevor has offered to take the scale away or hide it, but I would get anxiety attacks if I didn't have access to a scale. It's crazy! I know the number on the scale shouldn't effect how my day will be or is going, but that is usually the outcome. I suppose having 3 scales in the house doesn't help. I know realistically I should just weigh myself once a week, but that just seems something I couldn't do. Maybe I should work my way down from 10 times a day to twice a day. If any one has any advice...please pass it on to me. Thanks!!

glitter-graphics.com

Could it possibly happen?

"My" New York Giants are off to the Superbowl. Another close game yesterday, but they managed to pull through. For the first time in my life I am going to be watching the Superbowl like a hawk. I can't even imagine winning money on a sports pick that I picked out by myself. Yes, I realize that New England is undefeated and the chances of The Giants winning are slim to none (and as my father-in-law would say "slim just left the building"), but I am not going to give up on them. I think sports is all about the upsets and if New England lost that game that would surely be one humongous upset...great for me if that would happen...$600 buck-a-roos in my pocket.

Yesterday I managed to get an 8.33 mile run in. I seem to be better at doing the longer runs now---not crazy long---I can always manage to do at least 6 miles a day. Today Simon has gymnastics in the afternoon and I have to study this morning, which only leaves this evening to head to the gym. Monday evenings are always crazy busy at the gym. I am not sure if people just eat badly over the weekend and feel guilty and head to the gym or what. I will try to get there around 4:30 pm that way I'll at least get a good treadmill. Lately there have been quite a few broken down machines.

Right now in Calgary, AB it is -19 degrees Celsius (-2 degrees Fahrenheit). It is a chilly one out there today, but should be warming up by 3 pm to -3 degrees Celsius. I don't mind winter, but when it gets that cold I really want to move somewhere tropical. I am thinking warm thoughts...

Goal revision for this month

Since I have been getting some pretty good mileage in the past little bit I have decided that I am no longer going to make my goal 150 miles for the month of January. Instead I have decided to make this the month my biggest mileage month since the beginning of the run challenge on September 1st. I am going to exceed my 176.38 miles, which I had back in October 2007. I am pretty confident that this can be done. One of these months coming up I am going to attempt to break 200 miles...who knows...if I get in about 4-5 10 milers before the end of the month I could possibly break it this month...wouldn't that be fanastic.

We recently purchased the Jack Daniels' book Daniels' Running Formula. I kind of flipped through the pages and to tell you the truth it looks like it may be a tough (meaning not to exciting---hopefully I don't fall asleep reading it) read, but I will definetly read it and see if I can follow the program that is layed out in there. Trevor has a couple of friends that followed the program and they had only good things to say. Of course, the days off will not happen as the running challenge continues and there is no such thing as a day off of training in the Oseen household.

This morning's workout consisted of a 6.52 mile run and 30 minutes on the elliptical. I was hoping to get a bit more mileage in, but today the old hip problems kicked in (anterior femoral glide syndrome). On Monday night I got off the couch funny and since then I have been hobbling along here and there. I think I am going to have to incorporate some of the stretching back into my routine....possibly even back to the Chiropractors. Our insurance will start covering Chiropractor visits in March, so I don't have to wait too much longer. Oh well...it'll get better.

Tonight, since it has been a while since we've eaten out, we are of to Sante Fe Grill for some Mexican. I love Mexican food and I can not wait.

Toboggoning in 2008

Kamden and Simon and I ventured out to our local community toboggan hill. The kids have been asking me since our first snow fall in November if they can go tobogganing. However, Calgary has been having pretty good weather. Even if it did manage to snow it never seemed to stick around. It snowed here yesterday and I promised the kids that I would take them out to the hill if there was still snow left today. Surprisingly the snow actually lasted. The temperatures weren't too bad either at -6 degrees Celsius. We picked up Kamden from the bus stop and went home got on our ski pants, scarves, hats, mitts and boots and...can't forget the sled...and off we went. One hour later and we had a great time.

Christmas 2007

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

everyone needs a daily motivator

It seems like a lot of the kids at K & S school are sick with flu like symptoms. Luckily the kids are not displaying any of the symptoms. Although Kamden has been saying that her throat hurts a bit. Ah man, that is the last thing I need is to get sick. I have been very lucky for the past year. I haven't been sick since the summer when I had the outbreak of hives and that problem with my shoulder's but even then it wasn't like I had a flu/cold. Trevor is always telling me to take vitamin C as a precaution, but probably only take on vitamin C pill every second week or so. I guess whatever I am doing is working for me.

Today I don't have to go into the school to volunteer, which means that I am about to hit the books. This afternoon I am off to the gym again for a good 6 mile run. My
average distance over the last 5 days has been 6.33 miles/day. We'll see how it goes today. Two nights ago I had a bad sleep due to some extreme winds here in Calgary. I was hoping that I'd be able to catch up on sleep last night, but I don't feel quite rested this morning. I probably should've have went to bed earlier, but didn't end up falling asleep until just before 11 pm. The Biggest Loser was on (one of my favorite shows) and I actually missed the last 10 minutes...thank goodness for message boards 'cause now I am all caught up.

One of my favorite websites is www.greatday.com and it has daily motivators, which I love reading first thing in the morning. I find that when I am lacking motivation or just need a bit of a push to make it through the day I just need to reflect on what I had read that morning and it seems to help me. Monday's was a really great one...

"Monday, January 14, 2008

Your actions Whether something is possible or impossible for you
depends more on what you do about it than on any other factor. Your persistent,
focused action is what brings possibilities to life.

Certainly there are obstacles that stand in your way. And you can
choose to use those obstacles as excuses for not taking action.

Or, you can choose to get up, get motivated and get busy working your
way toward the results you seek. Once you begin to take action, the obstacles
lose their power to stop you and instead become steps along the pathway to
achievement.

The actions necessary for success can often seem to be difficult,
complicated, inconvenient, embarrassing, uncomfortable, tiresome or demeaning.
Realize that those undesirable qualities are, for the most part, mere inventions
of your mind, and your choice to take action will override them every time.

When you know what you must do, then go ahead and make it happen. Stop
focusing on the excuses and start moving toward real, valuable achievement.
Your actions have the power to change your life and to change your world.
Make full use of them, and fulfill your greatest dreams.

-- Ralph Marston"

Look at me---I am Goofy!!

We are off to Disney World next January (2009) for the Goofy Race and a half, which is a half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday. I figure it can't be any harder than doing an Ironman. I am pretty sure that running through Disney World may possibly better than anything I have done thus far.

Calgary Police Half Marathon 2008 Update

I received an e:mail from the Calgary Police Serivce this evening. Here is the update for the half marathon!:

"
Thank you so very much for your interest in the 2008 Calgary Police Half Marathon and 5km Run and Walk.

The 2008 Calgary Police Half Marathon will run on Sunday April 27th 2008. The organizing committee is in the process of completing our website: calgarypolicehalf.ca this week, and we are busy organizing for another successful run. We can certainly appreciate everyone is anxious about registering.

The website will hold all information relating to the Half Marathon event, and will also see the 5km Run and Walk held for the third year on the same date. The website will certainly ease some of the Committee’s administration and communication activities.

Please note the Half Marathon has been expanded by five hundred registrations (total now is 2500) in response to the overwhelming interest in the race, which was fully registered within 18 hours in 2007. The 5km Run and Walk has also grown by 250 registrations (total is 750). The growth reflects runner flow analysis conducted in 2007 that shows the current race route will accommodate this change without impacting the quality of the race.

PLEASE ENSURE YOU MONITOR THE WEBSITE FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT AND CONFIRMATION OF THE REGISTRATION DATE, WHICH WE FULLY EXPECT TO BE FEBRUARY 1ST 2008.

Once again, thank you for interest in our run, and we wish you success in registering.
"
2008 CALGARY POLICE HALF MARATHON ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

I can't believe it!!

My team actually beat the Dallas Cowboys...how 'bout that? Now when I say that the New York Giants are "my team" I can't say that I am even a football fan. When Trevor and I were in

Las Vegas in the summer he decided to pick his team, Tennessee Titans, as the 2008 Superbowl champs. Of course, me having that competitive nature decided to just go on a whim and pick a team that I thought would win. I know nothing about football---well I understand how to play the game, but I can't say that I'd actually watch an entire game. The reason I picked New York Giants was as simple as me wishing I could one day go to New York and do some shopping. So I thought that I like New York, so I'll pick the NY Giants and I like the color of their uniforms :) Never in a million years would I have guessed that they would have come this far. I was so into the game today. It was actually kind of fun cheering them on. GO GIANTS!!!

The run challenge is going well for me. The past two days I've had a couple of good runs. I am slowly learning how to push myself. If I keep this up I will definitely have a good year (possibly even get that sub 2:00 half marathon. I am on track for the 150 miles and I might even exceed my goal. I think I may have to revise my goal and say that I will do more than 150 miles month. Day 135 and still counting.

Things that I am thankful for today

#1 That I am a fairly small chested woman
#2 That our gym has a "Ladies Only Area"

Why am I thankful for the above two items you ask?? Well, let me tell you why. For the second time in the past couple of months I forgot to pack my sports bra in my gym bag. How can I forget to pack it. I go to the gym every single day and I am sure I could pack my bag in my sleep. So, when I got to the gym I was shocked that I had nothing, nada, zilch in my bag as far as sport bras go. Oh well...what is a girl to do, but keep on her regular bra, which is exactly what I did. The only problem is that my bra...well...there's just not that much support and even though I've don't have much in that area what I do have isn't being supported, if you know what I mean. So I quickly headed over to the ladies area in hopes that no one would catch a glimpse of me. I had such high hopes for my workout today, but the best I could do was 7 miles.

In the past few months my average speed has gone down considerably. I just haven't had the desire to push myself, which has always kind of www.mygoals.com been an issue for me. I definitely need to push harder and truly work my butt off. My goal for this year is to eventually not have a run under 6.0 mph. This goal will definitely take some time to work towards, but it is achievable. It seems that I run much better outside as well, but unfortunately I can't just go and leave the kids at home and go running...just doesn't work---so for now---the treadmill is my friend. Speaking of goals there is this site which I heard on the radio which helps you to make and achieve your goals. It's actually a pretty interesting site. Here is some info from the site:

The most important step is to create a Goal plan that can work:

• Break big pieces of the goal down into small steps.


• Be sure you've listed all the relevant obstacles and the tasks needed to overcome them.
  

• Assign dates realistically. Adjust them as necessary.


• Set your reminders to keep you on track. Reminders are defaulted to weekly emails but you can make them more or less frequent, or program them to notify you at specific times.


• Think of the Goal plan as dynamic, intended to be changed as necessary. Add, rename, or delete obstacles and tasks as the situation warrants.

Now only if I could set and achieve my goals, which I put out for myself. On Monday Trevor and I will be signing up for the 2009 Goofy's race and a half challenge in Walt Disneyworld. I am really excited about doing that race. We will be making it a family vacation for January of 2009, but the kids have no idea. They've been to Disneyland three times before, but have yet to experience Disneyworld. Oh now I am get warm fuzzies just thinking about Disneyworld.

Back on Track

Looks like I am back on track for getting at least 150 miles in this month...yeah! I just have to do at least five miles a day, which really shouldn't be a huge problem. Speaking of problems, despite the fact that I just got new running shoes...New Balance 1225...I love them...I am still having some problems with the toe nails. What is up with my toe nails. I take an 8.5 in shoes and they fit great and they feel great. I believe that my run form may be causing the damage to my nails. The worst part of it is that my big toe nail finally looks good after Ironman Coeur d'Alene.

This morning when the alarm went off at 6:40am I thought it was the alarm going off for Trevor for the gym at 4:10am. It kept ringing and I was wondering why he isn't getting up to turn the stupid thing off and just as I was about to give him trouble I look up and the alarm is for me. Isn't it weird when you wake up and you feel you've slept good, but not very long. Well...that was how I felt last night.

The last few nights I have been getting to bed later than I usually do. Last night we watched The Biggest Loser. It is the the 2ND week of the Couple's Challenge and I must say that I was pretty disappointed with their numbers. These people are at a camp where they have trainers, which kick their butts, and have nutritionist (although they don't mention a whole lot about what the contestants eat in a day). This past week their weight loss numbers where terrible. The women lost probably an average of 2lbs per week, which would be fine for an average person, but this people are all close to 300 lbs, if not over, and their water weight loss alone would be more than than (even into week 2). I just don't get it. I could be at the Biggest Loser Camp and get to my goal weight in a month.

Yesterday Trevor had to drive my parents to the airport as they were off to Hawaii for 6 weeks and the trip to the airport didn't go quite as planned. This is a must read...go to his blog www.trevoroseen.blogspot.com and find out what happened...you'll laugh and laugh and laugh...Really!!

Off to the gym for DAY 131 of consecutive days running.

Kids back in school

Back to the grind once again. I was up bright and early this morning at 6:45am. The alarm was set for 6:40am, but as soon as it rang I quickly popped out of bed and hit snooze. I was just thinking 10 minutes extra would be so nice. However, as soon as I jumped back into bed I kept thinking about everything I have to do and I won't have time if I am sleeping, so I got up. Simon starts gymnastics today, which runs from 1-2pm. This time slot was the only one available for him, but it does interfere with my regular scheduled gym time. I did have good intentions of going this morning, but due to lack of motivation and lack of sleep I am going to the gym tonight instead. Oh well, hopefully by next week I'll get back into the routine of the kids being in school.

Trevor and I have added to our family...Yeah. We have been wanting to do it for a long time, but just never did. So yesterday we sponsored our first child from World Vision. Her name is Kim and she is from Cambodia. She will be celebrating her 10Th birthday on February 1st. We are so excited to be able to help her and the kids look forward to corresponding with her through mail.

Other than that nothing new with me...just enjoying life. I am a little behind on my run mileage this month (for my 150 mile goal), but I have intentions of catching up. My quads are sore for weights on Saturday. I didn't go heavy with the weights, so I am a bit surprised that they feel the way they do.

Update on run mileage

I apologize for not updating on my run challenge mileage. Trevor absolutely loves entering all of his data into the computer and I am the complete opposite. I am old school when it comes to that as I love writing everything down in Journals. I am a workout journal junkie. I guess I still have this fear that the computer will crash and there goes all my info. So thanks for the comment, Cam, it got me to finally go to my journal and finishing adding up my December mileage and posting it. My numbers have miles have definitely gone down since previous months, but I am hoping a fresh new year that I'll be able to get those numbers back up again. I would really like to see 150 miles per month. Today was a short run as yesterday I somehow pulled my left tricep muscle and running was a uncomfortable, so I am hoping with a little muscle cream that'll get better very soon. I think that I was hoping that I'd be able to start at the weights where I left off with back in the summer...obviously I was wrong. Oh well...it'll come in time.

Running Challenge DAY 125

New Beginnings

For my birthday last year I received a daily devotional book for women called "The Women of Faith Daily Devotional" and I enjoyed yesterday's reading, so I wanted to share it with you.

"Ripping into the Gift of Another Year

The first of the month has always been my own personal holiday. I just love ripping the old month off all my calendars and starting fresh on a whole new page. How wonderful to look at those clean, fresh, unblemished squares representing days I haven't messed up yet! And if you think I enjoy throwing away the old month, just imagine how much I love celebrating a whole new year!

God has given us measurements of time so we have some perspective on our lives. Think how hopeless we would feel if we were stuck in some stressful situation and thought it would never end. But God gives us a new morning--a new month, a new year--to start over again and again. With each new start we lift our voices heavenward, Laying out our hopes and prayers. Then we "wait in expectation." as the psalmist said, to receive the gifts and blessings--and, yes, challenges--God has planned for us.

Whatever comes, we know he will be there with us, throughout the day, throughout the night,
and as we begin afresh tomorrow. Without him, our lives stretch out to a hopeless end. With him we have the endless hope of a heavenly tomorrow."____Beverly Johnson