Run, Chrissy, Ruuuuun!

I signed up for the Chevron Houston Marathon to be ran on January 17, 2010!

That's 26.2 miles, people! What was I thinking!?

Yesterday I ran in my neighborhood and I couldn't even do 30 minutes without almost dying! I think that's from the heat because it makes such a difference with your running! The heat zaps the energy right out of you.

Training has officially started so I've got ~5 months to get it together!

Birthday weekend

Yesterday, I turned 24. It was one of the most exciting birthdays I've had for awhile. My cousin, Andrea came in to visit for the weekend and together with my roommates, planned a fun weekend.

Friday night was the go out and celebrate night and the 4 of us got dressed up and went to eat at Onion Creek in the Heights. Meagan and I got burgers, Hubs a chicken salad sandwhich and Andrea had a pizza. The food was amazing and not expensive and the atmosphere was fun. We then drove to downtown to the Aquarium to check out Latin Beats. That turned out to be not what we expected but we enjoyed watching people dance and listening to the band. I really want to learn to dance like that but I'm just not brave enough to get out there for my first try with tons of eyes on me. (hey, look at that gringa try to dance) :P

On Saturday, Andrea, Meagan and I woke up and made some pancakes and fruit salad and talked and ate on our backporch. It was a nice, slow morning that I rarely get. Andrea and I then made it up to the pool to watch Billy and Liddy swim in their weekend-long swim meet. After cheering them on and playing cards on the school's cafeteria floor, we grabbed some Chick-fil-A and went to see The Proposal. Not my favortie movie of all time but definitely another great chick flick. That night my brother and his fiance (Meagan's sister) came over and the 5 of us cooked and ate this amazing Chicken Scampolini with salad and a glass of wine. Yummm. Mitchell came over later with Marble Slab ice cream and we had a good rest of the evening talking, laughing and going for a walk around the lake.

After midnight, "Happy Birthday" text messages and phone calls came in that truly made me feel so special. Sunday, my mom invited family and friends over for a birthday brunch and I got to have cake and open presents. I got some great gifts. Post on that later. The afternoon was pretty chill and eventually my mom, Andrea and I went out and did some shopping. We ended up at the swim meet again to watch Billy swim his last ever competitive swim race! He did amazing and we were so proud of him! And Liddy's relay team broke a Ponderosa record - huge deal!! I have some pretty stellar siblings! :) And that concludes my birthday weekend. Full of friends, family and good times.

I do have to point out though that there were so many friends that took a second to send me a text message, Facebook message or call me and that really meant the world to me. Just to know you care, or someone cares really makes a world of difference. It was a weekend in which I truly felt LOVED and am so thankful to be blessed with amazing friends and family. THANK YOU! I can't say it enough. :)

cool things to do in Houston

Houston, Texas

Do you ever find yourself doing the same things over and over again? Going to the same restaurants? Going to the same places to hangout? Going to the movies all the time because you can't think of anything else to do? Yeah... me too. So I try to be creative and come up with new things. Sometimes they sound really cheesy but turn out to be fun. Example: a dive-in movie. Not dRive but DIVE. I imagine you swim in a pool, or have a picnic by the pool and they play a movie on a big screen close by. I haven't done this yet but I really want to!

So I compiled a list of fun places to go in Houston and fun things to do. My all time favorite is the Miller Outdoor Theater in Herman Park. To me, picnicing on a lawn on a summer evening, watching a cool show and chatting with your friends can't be beat! But here's some other ideas.

Miller Outdoor Theater

http://www.milleroutdoortheater.com/

Onion Creek

http://www.onioncreekcafe.com/home.html

Helio's/AvantGarden

http://avantgardenhouston.com/home.html

Beavers

http://www.beavershouston.com/

Tacos-a-gogo

http://tacosagogo.com/

Buffalo Bayou Parks & Events (Sabine St bridge)

http://www.buffalobayou.org/

Brasil (sandwhiches, breakfast & brunch, pizza) on Montrose

http://www.yelp.com/biz/brasil-houston

Last Concert Cafe

http://www.lastconcert.com/

Bayou Place

http://www.bayouplace.com/

Barnaby's Cafe

http://www.barnabyscafe.com/

Empire Cafe

http://www.empirecafe.net/index.htm

House of Blues

http://www.houseofblues.com/venues/clubvenues/houston/

Indika (indian food)

http://www.indikausa.com/

Saint Dane's

http://www.saintdanes.com/

Ziggy's Healthy Grill

http://www.ziggyshealthygrill.com/

265/365

I only have 100 pictures left on my Project 365! I am becoming so proud of it and am so glad I did it! So i'm set to finish in mid-September which is awesome because I'll get my brother's wedding in it too. I really encourage you to challenge yourself to do it. Even if you aren't into photography, you learn! And you become interested in it. I can't wait for my camera to break so I can justify buying a newer, better one! :P Check it out!

Chrissy's 365

why haven't i been blogging?

I haven't blogged in a month and a half. :( Let's recap what's happened since the beginning of May. Well one big thing I can't talk about yet. Once there's confirmation it will happen, I will post on it, of course! But let's just say I love teaching my junior high girls at church on Sunday. I love middle to high school students. I know this is the age when people are figuring out who they are, making bad decisions, growing physically awkward, testing the waters, etc BUT they bring me so much joy. I love their energy and enthusiasm for life. I love how much they need a strong, positive role model in their life and I can only pray God can use me in such a way. Something I've been working on has a lot to do with this age group and the fact that I love teaching. ;)

Me with my girls at a junior high retreat:

Another thing that is constantly on my mind is Honduras and Latin/Central America in general. I mean, can I really be that into a group of people when I've only spent a week down there? I don't get it. I basically only listen to spanish radio in hopes that during this busy time in my life, I can pick up some spanish through that. I would be studying in the evenings but simply can't with the other thing I'm doing. When it's over, I will definitely be hitting the books. I love though that I can learn a word and then hear it clearly on the radio. God is definitely working something big in me over this though. I'm either crazy or following God's direction. Who knows? Definitely a post on that later.

Has American Culture Ruined You?

My results:

You Have Not Been Ruined by American Culture



You're nothing like the typical American. In fact, you may not be American at all.You have a broad view of the world, and you're very well informed.And while you certainly have been influenced by American culture (who hasn't?), it's not your primary influence.You take a more global philosophy with your politics, taste, and life. And you're always expanding and revising what you believe.


What about you? Take the quiz:

Has American Culture Ruined You?

The World

I just think this is funny... sad, but true.

The Path to the Cross

This week my church is putting on The Path to the Cross! Wed-Fri 5:30-8:30pm




"The Path to the Cross is an interactive Easter drama depicting Jesus' life as He journeyed through Jerusalem in His final days. "The Path to the Cross gives us an opportunity to share the Easter Story with hundreds of people," said Pastor Ed Hogan. Scenes included are Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the garden of Gethsemane, Herod's trial, and the crucifixion. We hope the Houston community will experience the fourth annual Path to the Cross as an effort to reach across faiths in the worship of Christ."

I get to act in the garden/trial/peter's denial scene. I'll be accusing Peter of being a disciple and after he denies it 3 times, the rooster crows. Here's my lines:

"Are you one of the disciples?"

"Are you sure you are not one of the disciples? Your Galilean accent betrays you!"

"I know you are. I saw you in the garden with Jesus!"

cock-a-doodle-dooooo

Coffee Break Spanish

In my post on Grathias below, I was listening to Coffee Break Spanish when I immediately had to turn it off because of their pronunciation of Gracias. But as I was reading up on other people's blogs, those who were learning Spanish recommended Coffee Break Spanish so I decided to give it a try again. And I've actually enjoyed it. Today, I laughed while I was learning spanish. :)

The lessons are set up like a tutoring session between Mark and Kara so I just speak with Kara and learn along with her. The good thing is, Kara isn't great at Spanish so I dont feel dumb when I cant say things correctly right away. Plus they are very laid-back and fun. I mean I laughed while I was learning spanish!! Usually, I'm stressed. I laughed at the part of trying to say the letter "v" because it's like a mix of "v" and "b", which is hard to do if you aren't used to it. Kara laughed too so it was a good time. :P So far so good... as long as I remember when they say words like Grathias and Barthelona, I need to put a "c" in, instead of "th". You can download their podcasts off itunes for free.

Disciple Now

This weekend, my roommates (Meagan and Ashley aka Hubs) are having a group of 11th grade girls over to our house for Disciple Now. Disciple Now is through my church and is a weekend for students to get out of their normal environment and study the Bible. We have college students come in and lead and each group is assigned to a house. Our house is 10X cooler than any other house because it's our house... there are no adults! I can't wait to see how the girls are gonna react when they realize that they aren't going to a family house... but a "single ladies" house. :P Plus the 3 of us are leading! So much fun!


The theme is "You Are" so girls are going to be You are Beautiful and guys are You are Warriors. We will be talking about how our beauty is not what we see on the outside like what the world tells us, rather what is on the inside that shines through. Because God is beautiful, we created in his image are also beautiful. With all the pressures on young girls these days, I pray that they can enjoy being daughters of the King and feel loved and cherished and beautiful!

to be content or to not be content

These past couple days I've been wrestling with the inequailty of my life and that of the Hondurans. First because of what I saw while I was down there. Second because I have a good friend down there who's family is going through a lot of uncertainty with their future. And when I say wrestling... I mean really wrestling. It's tearing me up how life can be so unfair. It bothers me greatly that our yards are better hydrated than some people and our pets are better fed and nourished than some people.

It makes me feel unworthy of the life that I have here. Who am I that I get such a comfortable life simply because I was born here? I immediately think of the parable of the young, rich man in Matthew 19 when Jesus says, "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." I didn't know this but... I am rich. Jesus obviously emphasizes that living in excess is not good. But then, how do you define living in excess? If I moved down to Honduras and embraced a life of having less, wouldn't I be one less person consuming more than I need in America? One less person taking something someone else could have?

Yesterday, I expressed all this and more to my roommate and she was able to offer me a different perspective. When I spoke of giving it all away and moving down to Honduras, she talked of Paul in Philippians 4:10-13 when he says he has had nothing and he has had plenty and he's been content in each situation. Just because we were born in America, does that mean we are less than the poor in Honduras? No. What astonishes me is the faith my Honduran friend has during this very difficult time. And when he hears me talk about this he says God put us each in our places, his life in Honduras, my life in America. Have faith in God that He is good. This to me illustrates the poor don't have daily bread, but they have God and eternal life through God. Lots of Americans have an abundance, but don't realize their need for God and the need to depend on Him. Who is worse off in this situation? Who's hearts should mine break for? Do I really believe that Jesus is the best thing that anyone could have?

read, read, read

I feel like that's all I've been doing. The only reason I've interacted with society these past few days is because I make myself get up and go do something else or because I have somewhere I have to be.

So what am I reading? Not books, or magazines or newspapers but blogs. Blogs from Americans living in Honduras. There are 2 in particular that update their blogs often and have been blogging for awhile and therefore have tons of information. When I first started contemplating going back to Honduras, I really thought I would be the only crazy American with such desires and would embark on this by myself. But I was so wrong, it was such a silly thought anyway. There's a complete network of Americans living in Honduras!

There is so much I've learned in these past few days and I've only grazed the tip of the iceberg! Here's some summaries on what I've picked up:

- Before moving to a new country, it's important to do plenty of research. As much as possible to fully prepare yourself for what to expect. Life is going to be completely different and you need to be ready.
- You really need to have a good grasp on the language, especially in a place like Honduras. There are people who will easily take advantage of a tourist or a foreigner who doesn't have a clue how to communicate.
- I'm going to need a lot of patience. Power outages and lack of water being top of the list of 'I need patience for...'
- I need to figure out how to be safe. Crime rates are higher than US. Not sure how to do this yet, still reading.
- It seems you need to be very independent and not rely on people much.
- Education is a big problem. Kids aren't going, teachers aren't teaching. For all kinds of reasons, especially in the public schools. This makes me sad considering how great our public school system and how incredible my teachers were. I would love to teach in Honduras so I can be a teacher who cares and encourages students to continue their education beyond the requirements.
- Oh, have I mentioned poverty yet? Yep, it's bad. One person mentions seeing children year to year who aren't growing. Malnurished children don't grow and their brains don't develop to their full potential. And several dont have access to clean drinking water. They should come to America and drink the water that comes out of our sprinklers, as we keep the grass in our yards better hydrated than people in other parts of the world.

There is so much for me to learn. Including Spanish... still working on that. :)

Chela

Who knows what "chela" means?

This is a new term to me. At first I thought it was funny, then I thought it offensive, and now I'm just indifferent. Down in Honduras, our translators and some of the boys at the orphanage called me chela. One little boy, Omar would follow me around, point at me and say "chela". I would say, "No, me llamo Chrissy, not chela". But he would just call me chela anyway.

So... ready? Chela means blonde hair/white girl. At first, I thought it was funny by simply the fact that they have a term for us beyond gringa. But then when the little boy would call me chela, I was a little offended because to me it was like him calling me "blondie" or something. I woudn't appreciate that if someone called me that here. Teasingly, I told one of our translators that I didn't like the little boy because he was calling me chela. But the translator, A-Bob, told me it wasn't a bad thing... more like a compliment. So now I don't really care because I don't really get the context of chela.

I watched Dirty Dancing Havana Nights after getting back from Honduras and the first thing I thought when I saw Romola Garai was "Wow, she is soooo chela". :P

Gra-th-ias

I thought I wanted to go to Spain to teach and learn Spanish but something quickly changed my mind. Well 2 things really...

1) I loved the culture in Honduras and felt very comfortable with it.
2) I downloaded some free podcasts for learning Spanish and was listening to it on the way to Bible study on Tuesday night. They got through the greetings and how are you's and got to saying Thank You. And this is what they said... grathias. I was like, what is that?? The man said this lesson would teach how to say words the way they speak in mainland Spain. I'm sorry but being from Houston, TX and hearing gra-see-as my whole life, I don't think I could ever get myself to say gra-thee-us. It's like nails on a chalkboard to me.

Therefore, I love Latin America and will stick to saying gracias.

Honduras trip

Can I just say in one word... amazing!!!

Run down of what all we did:
Friday - arrived in San Pedro Sula, waited in the VIP room while are luggage and passports were processed, went to our hotel
Saturday - in-country orientation in the morning, San Ramon private Catholic orphanage (~35 all boys) and had a Texas party with lots of fun games for the kids
Sunday - church at our Honduran leader's home church, our pastor preaches and Frances translated, Nueva Esperanza, government orphanage for a Texas party and taking care of the babies
Monday - Wednesday - VBS twice a day with San Ramon orphange
Wednesday afternoon - loaded all the boys and caregivers on our bus, stop at Burger King for lunch and spend the afternoon at the beach.
Wednesday evening - said goodbye to kids :(
Thursday - trip to Copan to see the Mayan ruins
Thursday evening - Farewell party and hanging out with our translators
Friday - leave to go back to Houston

It's hard to really put into words how great this trip was. I had no expectations going into the trip but it blew me away. I loved everything about it... the people, the culture, the language, the scenery, the weather, even the food! Well we did enjoy our breaks from Honduran food for McDonalds and Pizza Hut.

This was the first time for me to see poverty. Nothing compares to this in US. There is so much NEED in Honduras, it's hard for me to return to the US and live here. I never knew how rich I am here. I have an abundance and until you see people who live like the Hondurans, you don't realize it. I will never complain or wish I had more again.

I definitely will be returning to Honduras. I don't know when or for how long but one thing right now is really important... learning Spanish. I've already started but I realize this will be a slow process. However I am committed to it and will spend time everyday learning and soaking up as much as I can through several different avenues. My long-term goal is to be conversational by next summer.

Our picture site:
http://jvbchondurastripmarch09.shutterfly.com/

toooo busy

Life has been crazy and I've been so busy. It's been fun but hectic.

I leave for Honduras on Friday!!!!!! :) :)

I'm still debating about whether or not to bring my lap top and update my blog while I'm there like I did in Paris.

Teach English Abroad

For so long now, I've wanted to have some kind of go-abroad experience. Literally for probably almost 4 years now. Ever since my eyes were opened to the world around me (~after sophomore year of college), I've been wanting to go, go, go. So far the only time I've been out of the country was a 4-day trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with my college bf (random, yes) and last November's trip to Paris. Part of the reason was my parents hesitations, financial burden and busy-ness with school. But now I am free to make my own decisions and basically take my life into my own hands.

Since I didn't get the opportunity to study abroad, I have to be creative with getting this abroad experience. It's not enough for me to just visit a country for a week or so, I want to live in the country. To really understand the culture and learn the language. So what kind of opportunities exist for someone like me who wants to do a STINT in another country? The best thing I can come up with is teaching English as a second language. This past week has been a whirlwind of planning, scheming, researching, praying, freaking out, etc. At first I was thinking of going with CIEE, but that didn't work out. Now I'm thinking Oxford Seminars. I need guidance so I can't just get TEFL certified and then move to the country and find a job. I need help for sure.

Soooo where in the world do I want to go? Spain. I desire to learn Spanish so much. If I can't find a job in Spain, I'll look in South America. One of the countries in the northern part of South America. No worries though... I'm not packing up tomorrow. My brother is getting married September 12th so I'll be here for that but the Spanish school system starts school shortly after October 1st. Just 9 months abroad. Not too long. I may totally mess up my life plan and have to come back and find a place to live, find a job, relocate my furniture but I may NEVER have the opportunity to live abroad again. I must go now while I can. Besides, living in a different culture is on my 8 things I want to do before I die.

day to day

I think I have a tendency to write posts on all the fun things that happen in life. Like my weekend plans, trips I'm going on and stuff like that. But there are so many days in between the exciting stuff that should be equally important. Those days should be blog-worthy too.

For example, yesterday, I literally did nothing. Nothing exciting but when I reflect on yesterday there were so many wonderful, quiet, small things that contributed to a great day. I woke up 15 minutes early and read my Bible and journaled a prayer. On my way to work I listened to a sermon by Matt Chandler from The Village church in Denton, TX. There were great truths in his message and he taught on something I needed to hear.

Work went well... I got to sit at my computer all day and listen to KSBJ and gmail chat with friends. Plus we get breakfasts every Wednesday but someone got confused and 2 people brought breakfast! So I had double the options for my mid-morning snack.

After work, I went to my parents house and went for a walk around the neighborhood with my mom. We had great conversation and both were able to vent all the things going on in our lives. The things we are worried about. The things we struggle with. And then just hanging out, eating dinner with my family.

And then at home, I set up new lamps in our living room so our room has a soft, nice glow of light instead of the big fan light we've been using. I was able to respond to a few emails and chat with friends and get other random things done.

I definitely have my bad days and bad parts in my days. Like yesterday I had to go get my 3rd Guardasil shot so I can be "one less" and the nurse was 20 minutes late calling me in and she administered the shot very carelessly and it HURT. I'm not a wimp about shots at all and I seriously wanted to cry after it. But despite that, my day was restful, peaceful and simple. I dont want to forget how wonderful days are when we just slow down. I can learn to enjoy the quiet moments in life when I'm naturally excited for the big plans. Life is good. I can't complain.

Chrissy needs

Fun activity...

"This is a fun activity for the narcissist in you all....Go to Google and write your name and the word ‘needs’, in quotes — as in “Sarah needs” - note the first 15 sensical sentences that come up."

1. Chrissy needs a yard to run and play in.
2. Chrissy needs a few friends with open hearts and open arms.
3. Chrissy needs to be informed. Chrissy needs to know the truth.
4. Chrissy needs a home.
5. Chrissy needs a haircut!
6. Who thinks Chrissy needs a man?
7. Chrissy NEEDS YOUR HELP!
8. Chrissy needs your phone number again.
9. Chrissy needs to sleep.
10. Chrissy needs her spare time to focus on her family.
11. Chrissy needs to ditch this billy guy and get back with clay before he goes for allie or taylor
12. Chrissy needs LA help-not DC help.
13. Chrissy needs to turn 5 more or gain 120 more Vampire points to reach the next....
14. Chrissy needs to wear stilettos.
15. Chrissy needs a few minutes to nurse her baby.

Ok some of those are funny but some are wierd... and I left out the wierdest ones. The stuff people put on the internet these day.

Twilight 4 (Breaking Dawn)

I'm starting the 4th and final book in the Twilight series. I don't know what captivates us, women in these books. My sister who is 14, myself who is 23 and my mom who is... our mom, have all been enthralled in these books. And I know we aren't the only ones. As my mom put it last night, "There was a part I was reading in the last book where I had to stop and ask myself, 'Have I been breathing?'"

I think it's unfair for me to be reading these books though. Each night when I put it down to go to sleep I have to take a deep breath. I guess part of it is because I'm pulling myself out of this fantasy world and realizing the characters aren't real. Another part of it is, I think us unmarried girls long for the character of Edward in our own lives. His beauty, suaveness, agility, strength, kindness, patience and unconditional love he has for Bella. Problem is, he doesn't exist and we will never be satisfied if we compare anyone whe date to him.

Part of me loves these books and is sad I'm on the final one. But another part of me will be so glad it's over so my heart wont be constantly torn up after reading their love story. It's hard on my heart to read about a relationship this is so perfect and flawless.

For now though, I'm loving each minute as the final stretch of their love story unfolds before me in Breaking Dawn. Stephenie Meyer sure is talented and has a wild, vivid imagination.

future events

I get really excited about events that are happening in the future. Usually it's because I've planned something that I really want to do and so I look forward to it until it finally arrives. For example, this weekend is going to be ridiculously fun. It's Valentine's weekend and being a "single lady" and all, you'd think this would be a hard weekend, but not so. My friends and I are going to have so much fun.

Friday night, our good friend, Meredith is coming into town and we will probably catch a flick and then come back to the house for some girl time.

Saturday morning-afternoon, my 2 roommates and I are going up to The Houstonian Club, courtesy of my aunt and uncle's left over guest passes, for a good work out and massage from the spa!

Saturday night, the boys from my young adult small group are cooking- yes cooking with their own hands- dinner for all the girls. We have been told to dress up! Ooh lala!

Sunday will be a chill day and Monday I have the day off from work! I plan to go visit my roommates at their schools, bring them lunch, meet their kids, see their classrooms, etc. :)

Such a fun weekend, right? I have every right to completely neglect each day this week with eager anticipation for the fun weekend. But a good friend reminded me recently how easy it is to pass up the moments right in front of us:
"i have to remind myself to live everyday sometimes or ill miss opportunites bc im either looking for something in the future or worried about something in the past"

God has created each day for me, for some specific purpose. I need to stop looking forward to things that will happen and look at the things that are happening. Right around me...

11 posts a month

I've had this blog for 4 full months and for some reason, completely by chance, I have 11 posts in each month. Wierd? I'm gonna break the record this month. I want to be a better blogger. :)

new addition to the Honduras team

A month and a half until Honduras! Wahoooo! I leave on March 13th! At the last meeting, we got so much information about the trip and it was super exciting. I saw the itinerary for the trip, the VBS material, the hotel information, the packing list, etc. Oh gosh, I really can't believe I'm going. Not because I'm nervous about it but because it's such a privilege to be able to go, to be able to afford it and have the time to do it. Seriously, it's going to be an amazing trip.

However, 2 people are going with me. 2 dear, sweet friends. My roommate, Meagan and our friend, Bryan. I mean, I was already excited to go but THIS is an added bonus! Meagan and I have become close friends since living together and Bryan has been a great friend to all 3 of us.

I'm so thankful I will have my friends go with me and we can experience this together. God is going to do amazing things on this trip for us and for the little ones we will interact with. I can't believe I get to do this. I hope I never want to come home. I hope that these opportunities never go away. That my entire life, I'm presented with amazing experiences. I'm soooo lucky!

Breakfast

Last Saturday the most amazing thing happened. My roommates and I had some guy friends come over to our house and cook us breakfast. Let me tell you how it went down:

On Thursday night, at our co-ed Bible study, my roommate Hubs was talking to her friend Mitchell who really enjoyed the cake she brought to share. She mentioned she had never had his cooking, because he loves to cook. He immediately was like, ok, breakfast at your house Saturday morning. She kinda laughed but he was serious. I was standing near by so he asked me if I was gonna be home too. And then he said he was making Monkey Bread!!! A few other guys overheard and said they were coming too and our good friend Kali.

So on Saturday morning at 9:30, Mitchell and Kali show up with a big plastic tub of his pancake griddle, gallon of milk, juice and everything he needed to cook us breakfast. Topher and Kenny came as well and ordered us out of the kitchen while they cooked. The food was amazing! They did such an incredible job. The 7 of us enoyed eating together, laughing, talking and playing "Make it or Break it". And they cleaned up after themselves! It really was the coolest act of service I've ever received. I have some pretty awesome friends! :)

half-marathon fun

I finished the half-marathon!

13.1 miles

2 hours, 18 minutes

10:34 min/mile

One of the best things I have EVER done! It was hard, challenging and painful but so worth every minute! The first 6 miles I ran with my roommate and we ran about an 11 min/mile keeping up the run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute routine. But at 6 miles her dad jumped in and finished the rest with her. I decided I wanted to go faster and ran the rest of the race without stopping for walking breaks! It was incredible because I didn't train for that! The last mile and a half were the hardest and I really wanted to stop but I saw a sign that pushed me through:

The pain is temporary. The pride lasts forever.

It hurt really bad but I knew it would go away (and it has) and the sense of accomplishment that I finished will last forever. I am proud of what I did. I'm not a runner, never have been and still dont consider myself one. But I prayed before, during and after my race and know it puts a smile on God's face to see one of his children work hard and attain something they want so badly.

New goal: Full marathon Jan 2010!

marathon weekend

Friday is finally here... which means the marathon weekend is finally here! I could barely sit still through work today just thinking about all the fun that was going to be happening this weekend. But the time ticked by slowly sure enough and at 4pm, I was gone and on my way home.

All the fun begins tomorrow. My roommates and I have a bridal shower at 11am, so I'll wake up, get dressed and go buy her a gift. Rendezvous with the roommies and go to the shower for about an hour to an hour and a half. It will be a lot of fun to see old friends from high school and just have girl time and gush over the bride-to-be.

Then it's off to the EXPO at the George R. Brown Convention Center to pick up our race packets that will have our running bibs, timing chips and final instructions for race day. There will be lots of vendors there giving away free stuff and selling cool running gear at discounts. I'll be walking into a world I know nothing about, since I'm a swimmer and NOT a runner. But it'll be eye-opening to meet people who have dedicated so much time and effort to the sport.

After EXPO, we will need to decide on what we are going to wear on race day. We will definitely be wearing our names on our person somewhere but we can't decide just yet if we want to paint t-shirts, or paint fabric and pin it on fancy running shirts or what. But we will be putting our names somewhere so spectators can cheer as we run by! :)

Dinner is one of the things I'm most excited about. Our families are coming over for a spaghetti dinner at our house! We will work out all the details for the following morning as far as meeting up after the race. As well as just chat and get excited about the race! And then, to bed early!

And then you can guess what will happen on Sunday morning. :)

new favorite snack

While in Paris I was introduced to Nutella. On a fresh made crepe. And it was. Amazing.

So I bought some when I got back here but haven't found a way to eat it that I like. I tried it on a slice of bread dipped in milk like the French eat but... yuck. I didn't like it. I could try it on toast. I haven't done that yet. But basically until today, my Nutella jar has been sitting in the pantry.

I had an epiphany. Nutella + pretzels. I knew it was gonna be good before I even tried it. It was amazing. Basically chocolate dipped pretzels. Yummmm....

i'm sick :(

Sunday after church I started to feel this wierd thing in my throat and I immediately drank an EmergenC but it was too late. I stayed home from work today to rest and it was a really good decision. I rarely will let myself stay home from work unless I'm high fever and absolutely miserable. But I felt really bad this morning and the half-marathon is this weekend and I just didn't want to spread it to anyone at work. Such a bummer. I wish I felt well and hopefully I will recover soon since I stayed home today. Pray for me to feel better. :-/

TGIF

Today I am really, really TGIF. I think it's because the last 2 weeks have been shortened because the holidays and now we are getting back in the swing of a 5-day week. Plus work has just been stressful because one girl is on vacation, everyone is behind and my test is still broken. And I'm just excited about the weekend. One week until the half-marathon!!!

We got our packets in the mail this week that had all the details information on it like what time to get there, where the running trail will be, what to do after the race, etc. I'm so excited because we are getting to run through some of my favorite parts of Houston. Along the bayou, up Allen Parkway into Downtown. :) And I'm getting so anxious to hear the weather forecast for Sunday. I'm praying it's warm.

I don't have big plans this weekend except for a surprise dinner & a movie for someone I can't mention just yet in case they might see (highly unlikely though). But there's lots of things I need to get done including a 5-mile run. And on Sunday we are having our first meeting for the Honduras trip. I know I'm gonna get so excited once I have the VBS material in my hands and all the planning starts. I haven't started learning Spanish yet but maybe that can be the focus of my weekend.

Oh, thank goodness it's Friday! :)

In Flight Running

Look what I found:

In Flight Running

The KSBJ marthon team is training with this organization. I didn't even know it was a good idea to train with a group but it makes sense. I've been lucky enough that by coincidence my roommates are running the half-marathon so I've been training with them. But if I want to be serious about running in the future, it may be a good idea to train with people who know a lot more about running than me. Especially since I've never, ever, EVER been a runner. I'm used to the water supporting my body when I exercise... this is a whole new ball game for me.

They haven't even started talking about the 2009-2010 season yet but I'm definitely going to look into it. I think I'm catching the "running bug" as they call it.

Decisions

"He still had some doubts about the decision he had made. But he was able to understand one thing: making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision."
-The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho

Indecisiveness is my weakness. I'm terrible about making big decisions. I always ask someone's opinion before I make a big decision. Usually it's my parent's. But we make decisions all the time and it's important to be able to make wise decisions. Some examples of my indecisiveness have been moving out of my parent's house, buying a new car, changing jobs, going to Honduras with my church, etc...

But this book is all about following your dreams and realizing your destiny. It follows this young man as he realizes his dream and leaves everything behind to puruse it. Even when difficult times come his way, he finds ways to make the best of the situation. Even when he doubts himself, he sticks with his pursuit. I feel like life would be richer and I would enjoy more opportunities that way. I just started the book so a lot of it hasn't sunk in yet for me to say how I feel but this quote meant a lot to me. I want to learn how to not be afraid to make decisions.

Project 365 buddies

My roommates, Meagan and Ashley (aka Hubs) have joined me on doing Project 365. They are both super excited about it and so am I. It's nice to have people who are doing it with you so you can help each other with your pictures and give support when it gets hard.

Meagan

Hubs

I'm almost a third of the way done. It's going to take me a little longer than a year to get all 365 pictures because I slacked when I first started but I'm already becoming WAY proud of my project. Especially since I'm over 100 pictures now! Really, really consider doing one. It's so much fun.

I ran 10 miles today!

The peak of the half-marathon training. I did it in an hour and 52 minutes which equals an 11 minute mile. Not fast at all but I took a 6 minute walking break during that so I was running a little bit faster than that. I'm just glad I finished because I would not have been able to do it this summer. I feel like I've come a long way and I'm going to continue to challenge myself even when the half-marathon is over. The marathon is in 2 weeks! I'm super excited! :)

My roommates and I after running at Memorial Park!

Happy New Year!

I had so much fun ringing in the new year. I got to see lots of friends, new and old and most of my family on New Years Eve. Plus I had another 4-day weekend and I can't express how much I've enjoyed this extra time off work. My only vacation I've taken since starting work has been to Paris and that was not a restful vacation. This has just been heavenly.

I can't decide on my new years resolutions yet though. There's things I want to do but I don't really consider them resolutions. For example, I want to learn how to cook and bake well. I want to keep training in my running after the half-marathon is over (hopefully run full marathon next year). I want to keep making life amazing with awesome experiences and memorable moments. I want to make more new friends in Houston. I want to learn some Spanish for my Honduras trip. So you know... lots of small things. I'm just excited for how great 2008 was and looking forward to an even better 2009 year.