Time / Life / Faith

Time
     Time passes so quickly.  I have thought about this blog quite a few times since I last updated it and for some reason just couldn't sit down and type.  There seemed to be something else to do, something else that has come up.  So I do apologized to anyone out there that was reading this. 

Life
     Life has been good.  J and I have been running quite a lot and our times and distances have gotten better.  Who would have thought that when I started running outside with J that I would want to run 6+ miles on a Saturday morning (a chilly 32 degree morning).  But it's become a stress reliever of sorts just knowing that I get out of the gym and can enjoy the out of doors doing something that I have come to love.  We actually ran our 1st official 10k 2 weeks ago and to say that "racing" wasn't mentally or physically challenging is an understatement.  The hills about did us in.  And I think that I realized that I love to run but I'm not much on the racing end of running.  For a good cause, I will run a race, but just to better my time or do it just because so is not something that works for me personally. So I think that our races will be few and far between.  Work for both of us is stressful at times and we've come to realize that it's part of work.  But at the end of the day, we go to the gym, run or work it off and go home and relax.  My mother came up and visited us at Christmas and we had a wonderful time.  Even though she wore me out!  That has been life as of recently.

Faith
     Thursday night a heavy rain came through our area (12 hours worth of it).  And our roof started to leak.  And when I mean leak I mean that water was coming in through our light fixture in our hallway.  SCARY!  Thank goodness God blew the rain through a little quicker than was expected.  Friday morning of course I called a roofer to come over and take a look at it and called the insurance company.  And as anyone knows the insurance company can take a few days to send someone out (Monday supposedly).  The roofer did come by Friday afternoon to take a look.  And it's another case of nails popping up and rain/water coming in.  He is supposed to come back Monday morning to tarp/fix the area or nails before it starts raining again.  But wouldn't you know the rain is supposed to start Sunday night now!  So now I'm really freaking out.  To the point of J and I went to get tarps today and he put some up over the areas of concern this afternoon.  But I'm still worried.  This is where the faith part comes into play.  I know that I need to let God handle this.  We've done what we need to do here, and he's got to take care of the rest.  That's what faith is.  But there are some times where I just get nervous and can't help myself.  So please pray for me specifically to have faith and to give it over to the Lord and that he will calm my fears.  Also, pray that the tarps do their job for the time being and we don't have the flood of 2013 in our house. 

Again sorry for the lack of updates.  I am so going to try better. 

Blessings & Faith,
Magnolia

Update & What's Next

So J and I and a friend ran the Palmetto Health Race for Life 5K a couple of weeks ago.  I was actually really fun, okay maybe not so much fun at the start, but after the running crowds thinned out, it was fun.  The best part of it was this HUGE hill at the very end that we ran down.  Boy howdy did we really pick up some crazy speed!  And of course it helps your time!  HA!  We all did a great job and had personal bests.  So thankful for good weather and good pals to run with.
So what's next, well we're not signed up for any other races right now.  There are a couple the end of the year and one next year that we might consider, but for now, we're just working on extending our mileage and bettering our times, and have some couple time together.  I think that we both appreciate that we can do this together and be healthy as an added benefit.
The last couple of weeks have been kind of crazy.  Just goofy things that happen.  Sometimes you just have to shake your head and let it go.  We did get to spend little time with our oldest niece who was "home" from California.  Oh, how I love that girl.  She's actually only 15 years younger than I am since my sister is 12 years older than I am.  Let me break it down, my sister was 27 when she had my niece, I was 15.  So I guess you could say that I'm more like an older sister to her in a way.  I've always been close with her since I babysat her about 3-4 nights a week when she was little.  We'd play and have a big time.  Those are some of the most precious memories I have.  They grow up so fast!  And she's all the way across the country now!!  But she's happy and doing well there and secretly I'm a bit jealous that I didn't have the courage to do anything that big, like moving that far from home.  Bottom line, I love that blond haired, green eyed baby girl of mine!
So that's what's been up around here lately.  The next outing is this coming weekend.  My sister, youngest niece and I are taking my Mom to Charlotte for a shopping weekend for her birthday.  We started this a couple of years ago and my Mom just loves having all her "girls" with her.  Mainly waiting on her hand and foot for a couple of days, but I'm just sayin.

Blessings & Stuff,
Magnolia

Sunday - A few Updates

Oh my how time flies!  Ok, so the big news from the last couple of weeks is that J and I ran our first 5K together.  I have wanted to do one for a while but knew that the time wasn't right, and I wasn't
"there" yet with my running.  But a 5k can along and God was heavy on my heart to do it.  So we did the "Run for our Troops" on 9/11.  With J in the military I couldn't think of a better one to start with.  We did great, great in being that we finished and had a decent time.  I'm not much on the competition end of running, just the fun and charity of it.  In fact, I have decided that any "race" that I do, I want it to mean something, not just to enter and run.  I've got buddies that enter just about every race out there, but God is not leading me down that path at this time.  Our next 5K is the Palmetto Health, Race for Life, which benefits breast cancer.  I was thinking about it for a while and a friend wanted to do it but didn't have anyone to run with, so J and I agreed to do it with her.  God works in weird ways.  Sometimes you just need that extra hint that he throws you.

Okay other than that, we're running, working and doing the norm around here.  Nothing excited, thank goodness.  On thing, please say a quick prayer for a friend from my running circle that broke her femur and had surgery 2 weeks ago, three pins and a whole lot of waiting for it to heal.  I feel guilty when I go run knowing that she can't but she's been very supportive of all her running buddies.  Now if we can just keep her out of her running shoes long enough for her to heal completely.

 And just so that you know, I'm going to throw some of these "Reasons to be fit" at you from time to time.  They are actually pretty darn inspiring.  And remind me of what I'm capable of, or something to strive towards.








Blessings,
Magnolia

Thursday - Oh My - That's A Lot!

Had to post this quickly before I forgot.  This is just crazy, see why I've just given up on McDonald's altogether!
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/slideshow/2012/09/13/mcdonald-calorie-surprises/?intcmp=features#slide=1

Sunday - Good Week!

J and I have had a really good week with our running.  I think that it's just about time, but I'll let you know more about that in about a week or so.

I was so excited to have my hubby back, especially yesterday, so that I don't have to run all by myself.  But I actually realized something yesterday..... I don't mind running alone.  It's actually kind of nice from time to time.  I seem to be able to pace myself better when he's not running ahead of me.  But I'll get to a point that it won't matter and I'll be able to run at my own pace, I know that I have to be patient.     What I am glad of is that he was home and I got to spend some time with him just running around doing stuff!  And what stuff are you asking......

Oh, just these two dresses that I found on sale at Belks!  Yeah me!  I actually liked them better on than the one from last week that I tried.  I also got a good deal on some tank tops at the Gap!  I love me some tanks!















Blessings & Running & New Dresses!
Magnolia

Saturday - Another "solo" Run

I ran my last solo run today.  And it was another good run.  I'm running further and faster and not taking but about 3 "walk" breaks.  And when I say "walk" breaks, I mean about 30 seconds of not running.  So completely thrilled that these last two weeks that I didn't chicken out with J being gone.  God gets all the glory for getting me up out of the bed and dressed!  And I even got out there before 7am and I didn't have anywhere to really be until noon!  Yeah me.  It also kept me from worrying so much with J on the road driving home.  God knows best!

I do have a prayer request this week.  A friend of mine, from grade school, her mother has cancer and has been going through chemo treatments, but her white blood cell count was not where it needed to be for the next round so they've had to stop treatment for now until they can get it back up.  I've been told that the cancer at this point is in-operable. That is all I know right now, but please say prayers for her and her mother.  They are special people.

And not to let you go without a "good" thing this week.....

This dress is super duper cute!  I tried it on today at Belk's.  It really does look better in person.  The only thing is that it is quite klingy, so if you've got a bump or two it's not going to look to hot.  The only reason that it didn't come home with me is that it wasn't on sale!  Oh how I can't wait until it does.  I think that I might have to wait a while since it's part of the Fall Collection!










Blessings & Hubby's Home!
Magnolia

Saturday - On My Own

Today was my first solo run.  J is out of town for work, so I decided that I'd go solo.  And I'm really proud of myself.  I could have chickened out, considering that I had to get out there about an hour earlier than normal since I had a hair appointment at 10am.  But I was determined that I could do this solo.  I'm so glad that I could prove myself right, at least every once in a while.  My run went better than I ever expected.  One reason is that last Sunday the sermon really struck a cord with me and J.  It  was about "AND".  You done "X".... "AND"?  It really makes you think about a lot of things that you could really do.  And that's really when I decided that if I were ever going to run the Cooper River Bridge run that I had to get serious about my running.  I mean, serious, running further and faster.  Have good runs and not just runs that were okay.  So I decided that I had to push myself, and not listen to that little voice that tells us "I'm tired" or "I think my legs are starting to hurt", I had to take the attitude "Mind over matter" and trust God like never before.  And then I got to thinking, okay "And" why am I going to do this, was it just for the Bidge Run??? And then it hit me, there are lots of charities out there that have 5K or 10K runs that are so worthwhile.  So that is the goal, run some of those for charity.  And for now that's my "AND" Goal.  So please pray that I stay focused and committed and not chicken out and definitely not listen to that voice in my head.  

And yes, my hair does look GREAT!  Thank goodness, it was really starting to get on my nerves something terrible.  And not to mention after a 4 miler today, I needed to chill out and it helped pass the time since J was gone.  The weekends are the worst.  And if I might mention, I ended up at Talbots and bought 2 belts for a total of $22!  And a "S" at that, I never thought on any planet that I would ever wear a small!!!  God is Good my friends.

Blessings & "AND",
Magnolia