The Big Half Marathons

It's hard to believe these big events have already come and gone for me! You spend months and months running your butt off (quite literally) for one day of glory. And oh is it glorious. This year, my life has been all about long term goals. Meeting any kind of goal is such a good feeling! But when you invest every day a lot of your time towards accomplishing something you initially thought was not going to be doable...it makes the victory even sweeter. Every person I like to think, sees what other people do and we imagine or hope that one day they will be that way too. 5 months ago, every day I saw people out running, I kept thinking how nice it would be to be that person. How successful they must feel every day! But when you actually decide to be that person and make it happen, it's a lot easier said than done! But truth is- success is found deep, deep down inside of us where no one else can see. Every time we are able to silence doubt or beat ourself at something that to someone else may seem simple or insignificant...that is success. This half marathon was a huge success for me because I beat myself day after day after day. Consistent, driven... fighting a mental battle...and winning. Man. I get worked up thinking about it. These long term goals that you fight and work for and want so badly make you a more confident and capable person! I have no excuses anymore. I can do anything I truly wish to accomplish. Psh...a measly 13 miles to so many people is nada mucho. But for me...this was one of my greater feats. 5 months postpartum and mama's still got it. BAM! This running thing is therapeutic, and now I can't stop. First it started when I knew I'd need a way to kick myself back into shape after baby number 2. It started one mile at a time, and finished here.

The Navy-Air Force Half in Washington DC. Amazing setting running around our nations capitol and national monuments, and the best running partner out there. Love my sis, she is crazy inspiring.

At the end of this race, I cried :) Choked up and teared up is maybe a better way to say it. What I had worked my tail off for months right after I had a baby was accomplished! So I did it again. This time, my dad flew into town and Nathan joined us also. We ran a half together on Cape Cod the end of October, and I don't think I have taken a more gorgeous run ever. Right along the beach in the cool morning. We ran up some rolling hills to a lighthouse and the whole view was awe inspiring. Running with my dad was so neat, and with every mile we came to, we each shared a new gratitude thought. My dad said something I found very beautiful and it gave me a lot of hope. He said he was grateful that he had been blessed to live long enough to watch the Savior mold him, forgive him where he fell short, and make him whole. And that he was grateful that he could live his life to give him the time to learn, grow, and be changed. When in doubt of any imperfections we may have, rather than feel undeserving or disheartened by our short comings or past wrongs, what a beautiful alternative to see our time here as a gift. The chance to be changed. My dad....he's a sharp one :)

Nobska Lighthouse

One of Nate's trophies.....yow.

The Runners

The finish line and the sun in our eyes.

Cape Cod Coast line. Truly Stunning.

What a blessing to be able to run in such incredible places! Who knows, maybe I'll get crazy enough to train for a full marathon next summer. The things that are hardest for me are the sweetest victories. And usually the biggest testimony builders too. I felt so small and incapable on my own to start! But with every prayer I said to make it one more mile or push for 5 more minutes....well, those silly prayers mattered to me, and thus they mattered to someone else. Same goes for everything we hope to accomplish that feels devastatingly difficult. I get rather emotional with each piece of self doubt I watch be removed from myself. What a beautiful blessing to be alive and watch ourselves have the capacity to change for the better.

"The miracle is not that I had the courage to finish....but that I had the courage to begin." -anonymous

A Runner's Rant

Warning: No Picture Post. Read at Your Own Risk

I am training for a half marathon. Two actually. My first. For me this is a big deal! I started my training feeling like an ice cream junky that has had two kids and doesn't actually want to be out running after she's been up a lot of the night with kids and chasing them during the day. I would get to the gym and after a half mile, I was shocked at my mind's desire to quit and lack of conviction! I wanted to stop and walk- all the time. It was in the early stages of training that my mind went through a crazy round of mental arguments, that I think most people deal with while they try to build a good habit. Half of my head deliberately hurt me! I can still hear my own voice in my head saying things like, "You don't actually like running. This isn't your kind of fun, and it doesn't have to be your thing. Not everyone is a runner and that's ok. You ran hard for 15 minutes, now go home and spend some time with your husband. kick back...." Talk about playing the adversary!! The weaker part of my mind would argue back, "You can do this. You gave birth without medication! If you can do that you can keep your legs moving for just another mile. Keep going! Don't stop! It's harder to start after you've stopped. You got this." This was the first week of my training. Ridiculously hard mentally. What surprised me most was that physically, I was not too tired or sore or over worked! So why is it such a mental strain? I am absolutely convinced that a "runner" is someone who has the mental strength and endurance to win the mental arguments inside their head. Now, on week 4 of my training, I have won that argument, and gained a new appreciation for the word "endurance". I have run further than I ever have before and almost entirely silenced the negativity in my mind. Dare I say I like running? And I love seeing results! I literally feel myself growing stronger and THAT makes it all so worth while! So here are a few things that I love about running now that I can call myself a "runner".
-I loved earning my running gear. The more I ran, the more I deserved a pair of new running shoes, a running shirt or pants. And I LOVE my shoes.
-I love running through Concord and its neighboring cities. Gorgeous, historical, colonial, city AND countryside scenery.
-I love entering my exercise into my "my fitness pal" app and watching the calories I ate that  day disappear.
-I love passing other runners. You have something in common! And when you smile and say hi as you pass, you feel like you can relate without even talking!
-I love finishing a 7-8 mile run and saying I ran the whole way, no walking, no breathers!
-I love watching my imperfections or the things I complained about disappear when I just do something to fix it!
-I love bonding with family or friends through fitness. I am running my first half marathon with my sister Stephanie in DC on September 14th, and am running a second with my hot husband and my dashing dad on Cape Cod in October! Family rules.
-I love being able to listen to hours of music! Sometimes I sing along a bit..loving Maroon 5.
-I love a little "me time" in a day. Running is therapeutic and helps alleviate pent up emotion.
-I love that running every day makes me want to eat healthier! (Though I do still indulge in a bit of ice cream here and there. Ice cream is therapeutic too. But that's a whole other post..)
-I love taking a cold shower afterwards! SO refreshing. Really.
-I love driving my routes later and seeing how far I went.
-I love using Map My Run to tell me my pace and distance so I can push myself or give myself new goals to reach.

Amongst other things, these are some of the pros to running. This last week I was unable to run for 4 days, and when you are training for a half marathon each day counts, so I was starting to feel uneasy and actually bummed out that I couldn't go run! It felt amazing to hit the streets again after those few days! And being in control of your body and accomplishing the goals you set out to meet- it's a rush. This 2013 year has been a year of setting and meeting goals, and each time I do, I want to do it again. So here's to meeting my half marathon goals! 2 in two months! I seriously can not wait. Who is this blogging? Yes, still me. The better me. I am becoming a better person! Highly recommend this to anyone. Even if you don't love running, you'll love how you feel afterwards!
I'll be updating my blog a bit better, and will include pictures of some of our latest :)

A Birthday

Ever heard the phrase, "baking a cake can be sentimental?" Well this year I learned baking a cake can be a lot of things. A mess, a project, a pain in the rear, and yes-surprisingly sentimental. Maybe it's that I've birthed two kids and my emotions are shot. I cry at the drop of a hat at anything the least bit moving it would seem. You know those "adopt a puppy, and save a life" commercials? Well, you get the idea. All this is to say, as I stood in my kitchen watching the sugar, flour, and eggs mull around in my mixer, I couldn't help but get a little teary eyed thinking about my sweet Carter and how he is already two years old! Where did the time go?? My sweet baby moo, growing up so fast? I felt panicked at the idea that I couldn't slow things down, and that he was changing every day right before my eyes! I wanted his cake to be perfect, something that even a two year old would love. This was not just a cake- this was a tribute, an expression of love for all of the joy that he has given me the last two years. And THAT is why baking his cake was sentimental. How can you express to your little boy who barely gets that it's his birthday (or doesn't) how much he has meant to you, and that you'd do anything in the whole world for him? Well, let's just say- it's tough. But Woody and Buzz Lightyear were my fighting chance this year :) Carter is obsessed with Toy Story and "Wooody and Buzz". We watch all 3 movies all week, every day, all the time it feels like. And Carter spends the rest of his day jumping off of furniture yelling "to inpinity......and eeeeyond!". So I knew if I wanted to speak love and devotion, this was how. Thus I got to work on my 24 hour cake project. A two tiered, fondant toy story cake. Because it was such a project, and this post is mainly to focus on the boy of the day... I'll just give you an idea of how it went making my own fondant, making the cake, homemade buttercream frosting, dying the fondant, and decorating..... mostly it looked like this.

And I don't think this illustrates the serious MESS that became my kitchen after the fact. This was just the beginning.

Carter loves balloons, and had me blow up a whole bag until I literally felt like I couldn't stand for even one minute at a time :) Oh the things we do.

Now for the decorations!

Complete with bubbles, party hats, and blowers.

And the cake.....let's give a few angles shall we? It only last literally 10 minutes as my masterpiece. 

Blowing out the candles! (I think the clouds on the cake are my favorite)

Mater the Bubble Truck was a birthday present from Grandma Rhodes, here featured by miss Ainsley.

We were lucky enough to have Aunt Roch here for the party!

Carter's present from mom and dad. He tries to steal every scooter he sees so we decided this was for the best :)

A present from Aunt Kar. Thomas the train puzzle and book, which we now read faithfully each night.

So that's about it. We love our Carter so so much more than we could ever imagine. He is truly the reason for so much of our happiness! So I'd just like to say for the books, "Dear Carter, although you were in no way planned, and perhaps the biggest shocker of our lives.....we would never ever trade you for the whole entire world! You are our most perfect accident ;) WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!"

*My dad for lots of years made a birthday video for each of us kids as a little tribute, and we watch it on each birthday. Nate is starting that tradition, so mostly for family's sake...you can see his birthday video here.

A Late Memorial Day

Memorial day in Concord was pretty neat! Normally when I'm at home, we go and visit loved ones at the cemetery and decorate their graves with beautiful flowers. I missed that a lot this year, but we did our best to celebrate differently. We got to visit some pretty neat grave sites still. Ralph Waldo Emerson and family, Louisa Mae Alcott and family, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau...all placed nearby each other on what people call "Author's Ridge". Never actually foresaw myself paying homage to these people at my local cemetery! But hey- I felt truly privileged! 10 minutes from my front door lay some of the greater legacy's of our American history. Driving past cemeteries and walking through them is actually one of my favorite pass time's here. They all look SOOO old! It is truly a wonder sometimes how the headstones are still standing in one piece. Incredible. But back to the festivities- what is memorial day without some hot dogs?? Now and again, when I was young my dad would take us to RC Willey to have a free hot dog and fountain drink at their memorial day sale. Now my memorial day pretty much revolves around that hot dog. Last year or maybe the year before, I convinced Nate to go with me to get that free dog, and I was literally crushed when they told us they were out. I never miss a memorial day dog. So naturally, we had to go to Costco. But I digress. Here's some pictures of our day.

I idolize this woman a bit. And LOVE her book little women.

This row of matching headstones are all of Louisa's sisters, with her parents just behind them.

Ralph W. Emerson's huge rock headstone :) loved it. 

and Nathaniel Hawthorne..

Now on to our barbeque complete with good lookin' kids!

Carter LOVES to swing. loves it.

My niece, Ainsley, AKA the diet coke cover child...

One in each hand...oh yeah.

A Historical Rampage

You know those places that on a rough day or when you need time to think, you escape to? Just because that certain place makes you feel happy, peaceful, or relaxed? I never thought I'd be able to say this, but Nate and I escape to the "Old North Bridge". A national monument! Part of minuteman historical park. Only 10 minutes from home. The north bridge now stands as a replica of the bridge that stood during the revolution near the old Manse house, a house built by Ralph Waldo Emerson's grandfather, Rev. Emerson, who actually watched the battle at the North bridge from his fields and his wife and children saw it from their windows upstairs. Ralph Waldo Emerson lived there for a time, and also Nathaniel Hawthorne who rented the home, and shared company with Henry Thoreau. It is striking. Nate and I recently shared some incredible Ben and Jerry's ice cream there in the parking lot for a "mini" date night. S'mores flavor? Brilliant. We've also taken the whole fam for a picnic. I like to run around this area, and it feels so quiet and beautiful. Something else about this place is so mystical! I know it is funny to say, but really truly, there is something special and perfect about being here! I think partly I love it so much because I feel like the scenery and historical homes put me into a different era. I like that. None of these pictures will do the place true justice, but to give you a glimpse...

Me and the Moby again, of course. Yes there is in fact a person in there, who I so happen to be munching :) 

The monument says,  "HERE On the 19 of April, 1775, was made the first forcible resistance to British aggression[.] On the opposite Bank stood the American Militia[.] Here stood the Invading Army and on this spot the first of the Enemy fell in the War of that Revolution which gave Independence to these United States[.] In gratitude to GOD and In the love of Freedom this Monument was erected AD. 1836."

(Kindly borrowed from good old google. This looks most like what it is now)

In 1837 on July 4th, Ralph Waldo Emerson dedicated the monument here with his "Concord Hymn"- famous for this portion..

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.

This monument here is the "Grave of British Soldiers". Pretty reverent to stand there actually. This place is amazing.

It is so amazing to me to stand where all of our independence began! Crazy to think of that day and what these hills must have looked like! Men running out the doors of their homes, leaving their wives and families inside as they grabbed their guns and maybe even said their last goodbyes to protect their freedoms. It paints an incredible picture to actually be here. Recently, Massachusetts celebrated a holiday they title Patriots day, on April 19th in honor of that first battle in Concord. It was SO neat! Everyone gets together and actually reinact all of the events that took place that day, starting at the crack of dawn. They wear time period clothing and reinact the battle and the surrender at the North Bridge. You can even hear gun shots and cannons going off periodically throughout the day. Watching it happen makes you want to shout for joy that people were willing to put their lives on the line for us! Against some really great odds, it is amazing what happened to bring America to freedom. There is a parade, and people walk in honor of the "minutemen" from all of their respective neighboring towns to come and help defend Concord. Some people walked up to 10 miles! It is incredible really.  I can't believe I actually get to live in such a place. Hopefully there will be many more walks, talks, and ben and jerry's shared on this incredible piece of ground!

The Cape

When you are native to Boston, Cape Cod is known as "the cape". My sister Stephanie mocks me for feeling legit saying this, but the cape is gorgeous. And I love it. One ordinary saturday morning, my adventurous husband said we should go for a drive to the beach. Cape Cod is only a couple hours from where we live so we felt pretty excited and privileged to live so close. So that ordinary saturday morning turned into a really exciting road trip. I love those spur of the minute kind of ventures. The kids were great in the car and Carter was ecstatic to be at the beach. It was hard keeping him nearby since he wanted to see the boats and play in the water. It was warm and sunny, and we even made a small seashell collection. Loved it. Everything was so stunning and it made me realize that I had not set foot on a beach for 3 1/2 years! Even more enjoyable. There are a lot of breath taking sights and incredible sea food to eat too. I ate the best clam chowda I have ever had in my life, and saw the biggest lobster I've ever seen too. 5 lbs! They call those ones the "small" guys. Crazy. Nate loves him some lobster rolls. I had no idea what a lobster roll was until I moved here. Essentially a lobster salad kind of mix on a big hot dog like bun. Wow. Amazing. We took lots of pictures and plan to head back there soon! It's amazing being able to live in such a historical, beautiful, beachy, green, and exciting place. Boston holds much of my heart these days. Check out the view from where we sit!

This purple wrap is called a Moby. And it has been a saving grace. Yes, my baby is inside it haha and she is happiest there so it would seem. It is a lot of work to tie on but is the best thing I have found for my girl thus far!

Such good lookin' guys. Ow ow!

This is felt very much like a scene from Prince Edward Island for those Green Gables fans like me :)

So gorgeous. I truly LOVE the beach and this place I can call home!