Sweater Weather

A month has passed since I turned a whoppin' 26-years-of-age. The good news= I don't need a walker yet! The better news= I'm doing pretty well on my 26 list.

1. I've sent 4 letters/care packages.
2. I've done my 26 plus miles every week- easy cheesy!
3. I've been spending 26 minutes with God every day, though to be honest, this is the most difficult challenge to remember to do.
4. I have yet to start taking my vitamins :/
5. No money towards loans. Whoopsidaisies!
6. I've gotten rid of ten items.
7. One random act of kindness. Hmmmm
8. No new Bible verses memorized. Eek!
9. No new phrases in another language... come on, Thanittha! I thought you were going to help me with this one. Tonight when you come over, it's learning time!
10. I have yet to write my book, but I do have a title!
11. I've done my push-ups. No problem!
12. I haven't even attempted a 26-minute wall-sit!
13. So far I have run on 10 new trails in a month... that's not too shabby!
14. I've gone on 5 one-on-one friend dates.
15. I have not taken any yoga classes.
16. I have only tried one new recipe and it was for gluten-free oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They were a success!
17. I have tried 5 new things.
18. I have given 25 epic highfives to 25 different people. I'm secretly saving my 26th highfive for someone awesome! Whoops! Okay, so it's not so secret anymore...
19. I did a plank once this month and it lasted for 1:06 so I have some work to do; HOWEVER, Jason had me do the plank after punishing me on the ball for an hour. My PT rocks!
20. I am on my 7th day in a row of yoga.
21. I have yet to run a marathon this month. Gosh! What is wrong with me? ;)
22. I am working on my first painting out of 26. I have a long way to go...
23. I have made 3 meals for my parents.
24. Surprisingly, I have only burned one CD! Weird... I thought that would be the easiest!
25. I have lost 1.4 pounds. Pretty sure it is all water weight, but whatever... WATER BE GONE!
26. I have read one new book so far. It was awesome. I was a fan. I should read more often...

I got out of the pool this morning before the sun had even risen. There was a light rain on my drive home and I smiled as I let the voice of Jon Foreman sooth my soul. Today is a sweater weather type of day. I cuddled up in a giant, totally unflattering sweater, threw on some jean shorts (31 degrees? That's a warm day!) and slipped on my Toms. Sipping my coffee on the way to work, I couldn't help but smile. Walking into work, I declared it was going to be a good day. My coworkers gave me grumbly pouts and we started our morning meeting. On the other side of the window, a rainbow sprouted from a field of weeds and pine trees.

A good sweater weather type of day indeed.

A Wise Fish Once Told Me

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming, swimming, swimming.

It was a sad day for America, but every day has its pluses. Shall I start with the good news or the bad news?

Good news it will be.

This was taken at 9:30AM... It snowed for another 7 hours after this

After a long day of dental work and coffee drinking while watching the snow fall, I decided it was time to get back into the water. Since it had been snowing all day long, I threw on my new bikini and covered up with booty shorts and a thick sweatshirt then wiggled into my Birkenstocks. Okay... so I may not have packed for Oregon well. I pulled up to the club and tried to keep the cold white fluff away from my toes as I shuffled my feet to the front door. Unlike my pool in California, the gym here heats the pool room. I shed my clothing and looked down to find I still had some definition to my abdominal region. I did a joyful dance as I thought to myself, "I've still got it", then I stood at the end of the middle lane and asked if the gentleman would mind splitting.

Scofield keeping me company next to the fireplace

With a pull buoy in between my legs, I did a 600-yard warm-up then followed it with a 1150-yard workout and 250-yard cool down. My balance was so off and it felt strange not to kick. I tried to add the kick at one point, but with a flexed foot, I felt like a flounder flopping about on a pool deck. Typically, I hate swimming, but I was so excited to be doing something with my body, that I forgot about the dullness of the activity and savored the moment.

Now, onto other news... This morning, my friend Dan texted me to let me know he had finished Boston in 2:50. Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting at a restaurant and the news popped on displaying the bombings at the marathon. Frantically, I checked in with all of my friends who were there competing; everyone I knew was safe. A few people were not so lucky today. I cannot even imagine being in Boston today. There are no words to describe the chaos, sadness and turbulence that is happening due to these bombings. One thing to keep in mind though, it takes a catastrophe to bring people together, but as soon as we start blaming others, we fall apart.