Father's Day

While most of the world does not see him as a father, I know he is.  Happy Father's Day to my handsome and loving husband.  I cannot wait till that day in heaven when you will meet our Maker face to face and he will introduce you to our child!  What a glorious day of rejoicing it will be as father and child praise their heavenly Father together in one accord:)

Running Adventures and My Rediscovered Love of Swimming!

My running adventure started in January of 2011.  I told Stephen in the car on the way home from Alabama after Christmas that my goal that year was to run a 5K (pretty sure that was the world's longest run on sentence!).  So with a little blip in training due to surgery in early March, I ran my first 5K on April 9, 2011 at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.  My time was 26:49 (8:36) and I came in 59th place for my gender and 674th overall.  Two months later I ran my second 5K in Nacogdoches in the Running of the Blueberries on June 11, 2011.  My time was 26:29 (8:33m) and I came in 5th place for my gender and 38th place for my age group. 

I set my sights next on a 10K and having not run like this before, I did not realize what I was getting into with the Texas heat!  My running routine quickly change from 4:00 pm runs to 10:00 pm runs.  (I guess I could have run in the mornings, but that would have required me to actually get up early and we all know I'm very much morning challenged!).  So I picked out the Get Your Rear in Gear race in Ft. Worth (I thought from the title it was an run encouraging people to get off the couch.  Nope, it was a colon cancer awareness run!).  It was the perfect race because it landed on the same weekend as Stephen's Texas Pharmacy Association meeting in Ft. Worth that year.  It was literally right down the street from where we were staying!  So June 25, 2011, with the help of my awesome SIL, I completed my first and only 10K to date.  I cannot find my official race results from that day, but I know I either ran it in 52 or 53 minutes.  My goal had been to finish it in and hour and ten so I was super pumped about my time.  We thought I had maybe finished in the top five or so in my age group and stayed to hear the results, but I didn't.  Come to find out later when I went to check the official times I was not on the list.  When I checked the 5K results I was on that list.  So it looked like it took my an hour to finish a 5K :(  I was pretty bummed about that!

After the 10K I decided I wanted to try and train for a Half Marathon.  Unfortunately my knee had other plans and around October (the half was in December) I was running around an hour and a half and the knee pain became unbearable:(  So I had to stop.  I cut back and was just running anywhere from 3-5 miles.  Then in February my morning sickness was out of control terrible and I was lucky to run a mile or two twice a week if that :(  After my miscarriage I decided I wanted to give the half another shot, but unfortunately my knee got worse this time and only about two weeks into the training.  I went to the doctor and he thinks I have a torn meniscus.  I got a cortozone (sp?) shot and while I didn't really think it was going to help, to my surprise the shot along with cutting back on the running to only twice a week has done wonders! 

Last Saturday I decided to run in the Running of the Blueberries again.  In the seven days before the run I only ran one time and two miles at that.  I did not expect to do that well and was just going to be happy with a finish.  My time ended up being 26:56 (8:41m) and I placed 5th in my age group and 53rd overall.  Not as well as last years, but considering the knee trouble and having cut back quite a bit on the amount of running I will take it!

When I realized the half was not going to happen this June, I switched over and set my sights on a sprint triathlon.  I've spend about four days a week swimming and two days a week running with one day of a swim/run mixed in.  Hopefully I'll get my SIL's bike in a few weeks and the bike training will start.  I'm shooting for my first sprint tri in August.  I'm having to realize that the half just might not be a possibility (however I want to give it another try in the fall after the sprint and when the weather gets cooler) but I have rediscovered my love for swimming after a long 19 year break and I'm super excited about that!  I swam competitively when I was little from about the age of four to eight.  My sister and brother both swam too and it was a huge part of our lives.  When I was eight we lost our amazing coach and because I was a child who was not self disciplined and would not work hard unless pushed, so I ended up quitting.  Let's be honest, I'm still this way as an adult.  I hate to admit this, but unless I have something like an app that posts on Facebook or a friend working out with me I tend to cut myself short.  I won't do the whole workout or I won't push myself as hard as I should.  This is why my friends on Facebook get to be annoyed by all the Nike Plus and Pace club posts from my workouts. 

So for now I am just running between two and three mile runs twice a week and doing four days of swim workouts that average between 1500 and 2400 yards.  In about five more weeks we will up the yardage as we switch to the intermediate level and do practices that will range between 2000 and 3200 yards. 

20 Weeks

I wonder what I would look like if I was still pregnant? What would I feel like? Today would have been the halfway point.

There is a beautiful hardwood antique style crib in my empty front bedroom. When I was looking for nursery ideas I found this Old World Crib and fell in love with it. After searching for the best price I quickly realized it had been discontinued. Crazy enough I found someone outside of Nashville, TN on Craig's List selling one brand new in a never opened box for over half price off. It was meant to be, or so we thought, and we jumped at it quickly and luckily had a precious friend who lives in Nashville pick it up for us. So I have this beautiful crib, the material for crib bedding picked out and a beautiful gender neutral nursery planned in my head with no baby on the way.

The door to that room generally stays closed 24/7, but I find myself walking up to it and pausing only for a split millisecond to wonder what it would look like if I was still pregnant, how it would be coming together, how it would look painted.

How so very different my life looks today than I thought it would be looking just 9 weeks ago.

Taste of Nacogdoches and Random Thoughts and Information

JoDee and I went to the Taste of Nacogdoches this evening and met up with Ryan and Erinne.  I must say it was some good groceries! 

I've been counting calories for the past two weeks trying to limit my consumption and lose about ten pounds.  I blew it tonight for sure, BUT we did do a 45 minute swim workout this morning and then walked 3 miles this evening.  So we burnt about 700 calories with our exercise. 

So lately I've been feeling kinda blah and not really sure why.  I started back on a semi regular schedule at the Jewelry store and I've been hitting the workouts pretty hard, especially the swimming.  I feel like I'm accomplishing my workout goals for sure and am loving spending the time with friends like Callie, JoDee and Shelly.  We've been about to have several different people over for dinners and the fellowship has been awesome!  So I just can't really pin point it, but I hope it passes soon!

A side note, my beta levels are almost down to zero.  A week ago I had them check and they were at thirty!  They were originally 1200, then 900, then 600, then 300 and now 30.  I like to think this is a GREAT sign that there are no cells reproducing from the partial molar pregnancy.  So hopefully next week when I test again they will be ZERO and I won't be getting a needle prick for a good long while, well six months ;)  If this is the case then I would think our next IUI will be in January.  That seems so far off, but hopefully the time will fly!

This is just a random look into my past several weeks.  Not too much going on in our lives, but we are still really enjoying being in Nac! 

My First Group of Small Group Kids

So my first group of small group kids graduated this weekend.  Stephen and I moved to Lufkin in the Summer of 2007, and that fall we began hosting seventh and eight grade small groups at our house.  It started out just being girls, but due to unforeseen circumstances we took in the boys too.  God has used this group to bless both of us through out the last five years.  I have seen them all grow both physically and spiritually over the past several years and it has been so much fun! 

Here are a few things I've learned....

Kyle Reed only drinks water and purple kool aide.

Ryan Castro is under the impression he is a Mexican.

Ruth Watkins has the last say if ever there is a doubt to the legitimacy of a word.

Phoebe Roberts just might be a Cullen, I mean have you seen her house in the woods?

Lizzie Wallace is quite possibly the whitest thug I know.

Loren Huffstetler has the best hair ever!
Rebecca Sanders has some mad dancing skills.
Hannah Ashby, I'm pretty sure is a closet runway model.

I've known each of you at different levels at different times.  Some more when you were younger and some more know that you are older.  I want each of you to know I love you and I am so proud of the young men and women you've become.  My door is ALWAYS open to you even all the way over here in Nacogdoches:)

Hudson Girls, I forgot my camera at your graduation:(  I promise I was there and love you just as much!

Last Day of School

I have to say that on the last day of school last year I was leaping for joy thinking I would not be returning to the halls of LHS anytime soon.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVED working at LHS and I do believe the Social Studies department is the best kept secret of LISD (...guess I just let the cat out of the bag ;); however, I was ready for a break.  Little did I know God would bring me right back to those halls and use two classes of Junior American History Dual Credit kids to bless my life.  I cannot begin to describe how much they have loved on me these past five months.  I even got a couple of gifts and notes on the last two days.  I'm going to miss seeing them and will most assuredly think of them often next year as they are enjoying their SENIOR year!  If any of you guys happen to read this, please know I am so grateful for the time I was able to spend with you!

It's Almost Summer!

Summer is almost here, just one more week!  I've really enjoyed getting to know my students this semester. It's crazy to think that this time last year I could not WAIT for school to be out because I knew that my teaching career was on hold for the next several years.  I didn't really know what exactly I was going to do, but trusted God would help it to all work out.  I needed the time to do fertility treatments and it would have been impossible to do that and be able to give my students 100% or really even 75% of my best, so resignation was the best option for both them and me.  But here I sit with two awesome classes or kids who God has used to minister to me for the past five months.  After spending most of the fall subbing just a few days a week between trips for treatment and such, the opportunity to teach part time was presented in January.  While it was every day, because of the hours it still made it possible for me to continue to travel to Shreveport and make my appointments without interfering with much class time.  I did have to miss a few days here an there and when the kids asked where I was, I was open with them about our fertility treatments.  They are the ones who saw me every day and watched me go from that cute dressed new teacher to barely making it to class on time, dirty hair in a ponytail, puking my brains out teacher.  They KNEW before most because they could see it and tell.  My department head went ahead and told them all what had happened when I miscarried and had to miss class for several days.  I cannot begin to explain how mature and sensitive these kids have been to me.  God truly has used them to love on me in some of my most joyous and devastating months of my life.

So my plan for the summer...I started working at Kennedy's again at the beginning of May.  It's my home away from home and with the exception of 2011, I have worked for them in some form or fashion every year since 2006.  So this summer I will be working two days a week on Tuesdays and Fridays and a couple of Saturdays each month.  It's the best of both worlds...I basically have the entire summer off, but will still have a job.  Now mind you that usually a job means you are making money, but as Stephen likes to point out he basically pays for me to work at Kennedy's.  That's how he sees it, I see it as breaking even because lets be honest, I would still be buying all those gifts and jewelry whether or not I was working there ;)  And I get to hang out with some pretty amazing people!

So along with working two-three days a week, JoDee and I are planning to continue training for a mini triathlon and trying to convince Callie she can do the swimming and do it with us too!  We've got the running down and started swimming about three weeks ago.  It's been so fun to get back into the pool.  I swam on swim team when I was little, but hadn't been in the water like that since.  I've found my groove and I actually look forward to our swim workouts.  Hopefully we will get bikes soon and start the bike training, this is the part that worries me the most, and also start to do some bricks with swimming and biking and running all together.     

We also have two "vacations" planned for the summer.  We will be going to my brother and SIL's at the beginning of July to have a stay cation with my mom and dad, sister, her four children and them.  The only person missing will be my BIL, but he will be on a mission trip to Europe so we understand.  Then Stephen and I will have a early TPA (Texas Pharmacy Association) meeting/vacation.  It's more of a vacation for me and business with a mix of pleasure for him. 

So as this week comes to a close, I have a lot to look forward to over the next several months.  I will miss these Juniors so much, but I know God has something great planned for me next school year, just not sure what yet:)