Birthday Week

My birthday week really started the week before when Missy gave me this amazing gift!  I am compiling old and new recipes and have found the organization a lot better than what I was doing before.  I don't panic anymore when people ask me for recipes and I can find them faster because of the colored paper that sits behind each card.  I can't wait for the summer when I have time to learn how to cook new things.
 My actual birthday was spent at school teaching music and wishing I was outside.  Here is a pic of my disorganized thinking.  Trying to pick out music for tweens, and making it fun and interesting, is more stressful than you would think.  Especially when they have never heard of any of the songs you chose and you have to convince them that "old" music is fun to sing!
When I went to erase it later I found a small anonymous message hidden in the center.  It reads, "We all love you."  That really made my birthday special.
My bday gift from Jason.  Italian leather smells so good!
 On my birthday weekend, I finished another half marathon here in town along the Columbia river.  I had a hard time getting in my runs due to work and a busy schedule but I discovered new running gear that made me want to get out and put in the miles.  My new favorite running item is the FLIP BELT.
Running was even harder after I had the flu for a few days during the peak of my training.  Even still, I met my modified goal of 10:00 minute miles! I checked the national average for people my age who run half marathons and discovered that it is 11:00 min miles. I feel very fit at 41.

I couldn't feel my legs at this point and I was happy to be done.

My good running friends from my church ward.

After running the half, my best friend Erine took me out to dinner and I was surprised by a few other friends with gifts and balloons.  Eating chicken parmigiana and lemon cake was a nice way to end my birthday week.

 Jason and the boys have been spending some time building mountain biking and hiking trails up in Sage Hills.  If you look hard enough you can see Evan's red back pack in the center of this picture.

Jason is getting fit by mountain biking more and he sent me these pictures of his Sunday ride on Red Hill.  We live in a beautiful place!
Train to Red Hill

The Enchantments that we hiked last summer are in the background.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Be Yourself

Image
Be Yourself.  Love who are.  Find out what you are good at.  Do not compare yourself to others.  You are unique.  Growing up I heard all of the above phrases and more.  Funny thing is, I never actually took that advice to heart until much later.  I did try to be someone else (or at least imagined I was).  I did not always love myself the way I should have.  I even thought I was not that gifted at anything.  I compared my weaknesses to the strengths of others.  I didn't feel like one of a kind when I had braces and glasses. Now that I am raising kids myself, I just can't get over the fact that I felt that way at times.  I know for certain that I earned every ounce of confidence I now own.  I now realize that every single one of us needs to learn how to be ourselves without worrying about what others may think of us.  It is a hard lesson.  One I personally learned over years of failures and through prayer. I work with kids 180 days a year and I see first hand how hard it ca
Read more

Day 2- My Blog Name

Image
When I was 8 I had my life generally planned out. A lot of it centering around my religion, some of it planned just for fun. As I grew older, I was amazed to discover that life does not always go as planned. I did not plan on falling in love at 16 - which turned out great in the end but what an emotional roller coaster! I did not plan on becoming a music teacher - pretty unbelievable thinking back now. And, I did not plan on giving birth to only two children - I am blessed to have those two for sure. There are a lot of small instances that did not go my way as well but I have learned to embrace what comes. Even the big devastating days when I feel like all is against me. I have to confess that faith and prayer have gotten me through every rotten moment. I can say with strong conviction that my belief in Jesus Christ has given me hope every day of my life. On the flip side, good things can happen unexpectedly as well. I did not know that being a mother would make me a better per
Read more

O Me! O Life!

Image
 I was riding in the boat yesterday and it reminded me of the last few lines of Walt Whitman's poem.  It seemed to be the perfect combination of water, sun, and happiness that got me thinking about what I have contributed to this world in the past 39 years. The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?    Answer .   That you are here—that life exists, and identity; That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.   I had similar thoughts watching my boys tubing.  I thought of each of them individually and wondered what they will contribute to this world.  The answer I heard was "great things", and that really made my heart soar!  To top the day off, I saw and captured a picture of one of the most beautiful birds, the Great Blue Heron.  I googled it when I got home and discovered this bit of info..pretty amazing! " In Native Ameri
Read more