Cookin’ Dinner!

So, my mom and I just enjoyed a leisurely walk up to the grocery store to buy some goodies in preparation for tonight’s dinner.  It has been so beautiful out lately and it makes me very satisfied in my decision to stay in SoCal at least one more year!  Becca chose a meal out for us from Cooking Light, “Mexican Stuffed Shells”, and as I sit here on the computer typing away my mom is attempting to teach my sister how to cook-a new life goal she has before leaving to San Fran in a few weeks!  Despite a minor injury on my mom’s index finger that was quickly remedied with a band-aid, all seems to be going quite well! 

These nights have definitely come to be some of my favorite nights!  Every week, my mom makes her way over here to spend some quality girl time.  Last week we went to see “Sex and the City” (hilarious!) and enjoy The Outback.  This week, it’s some down and dirty time in the kitchen with Game Six playing in the background!  I will definitely miss these nights when I’m down in the SD,  but I am grateful for the opportunity to be sharing them now!

I have now been instructed to start making some guacamole, so I guess I better get back to work and stop all my “reflecting” that they are now both making fun of me for.   Out of love, I am sure.  And I need to jump back on my bike to grab some Tostito’s whole grain chips that we forgot.

I’m Kind of a Big Deal!

So, stealing Stephanie Anderson’s words: “Yeah, I’m kind of a big deal.”

As of about three hours ago, I completed my first triathlon!  After the prompting of my friend Latarsha, I decided to sign up for the Disneyland Triathlon.  I mean really, how threatening can Disneyland be?!  My intuitions proved themselves true.  When my alarm went off this morning at 4:30 am (after having friends over until 10:30 last night), I immediately questioned why I had convinced myself it was a good idea not to work out this last week and how I ever got myself to believe this was a good idea.  However, after getting all of my gear together and riding Mellow Yellow 1.8 miles down to Disney from my mom’s, my mind was slowly changed.  Seeing all the women around me (it was an all women’s tri, something I’d highly recommend) was encouraging and inspiring!  I even teared up yesterday after seeing about 10 of the 100 survivors (breast cancer) come up to the stage–and most were under 40.  If they could do it, so could I! 

After spending thirty minutes in line for the port-a-potties, I put on my swim cap and walked over to the herding area before swimming .35 miles in California Adventure’s Paradise Lagoon (supposedly the brown murkiness is due to food coloring…which I kinda believe now after cleaning out my ears!).  We then ran and jumped on our bikes to do a 10 mile trek around the Disneyland resort…twice!  I definitely rang my bike’s little bell a few time just to make myself laugh.  Mellow Yellow also received many compliments along the way.  I might have been a little intimidated by all of the beautiful new bikes surrounding us, but Mellow Yellow was quite confident and made quite a showing for his first time in a triathlon!  My mom and Jim were snapping pictures all along the way and cheering me on!  Thankfully, I found a friendly pace partner for my 2.5 mile run, because I don’t know if my body really wanted to do it.  I told myself I really didn’t want to walk and had set a goal to finish within two hours.  Patrick, my mom, and Latarsha were there at the finish line cheering me in! 

The results are in:

Overall Rank: 745 of 1332 (about the 55 %ile)

Swim time: 12:35

Transition 1: 5:37

 Bike: 44:04

MPH: 13.6

Transition 2: 2:28

Run: 19:40

Pace: 9:50

Final: 1:24.26

 

So, not too shabby if I do say so myself!  I am now sitting on my mom’s couch-freshly showered yet still wearing my medal.  We just finished eating a delicious post-tri meal of monkey bread, fresh fruit, and eggs with spinach, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, and cheese.  Delish!  My mom and Patrick are already napping-I guess cheering people on wears you out!  My adrenaline is rapidly leaving my body and I think I might lay my head down as well!

Thanks to Kristen, Steph, Bekah, and Irene for hanging out last night!  I had a great time!  Thanks to Latarsha for encouraging me to do this!  And, thanks to mom, Jim, and Patrick for making it to the race to cheer me on!  And, to sister, for coming out for post-party celebrations a.k.a. napping! 

And, by the way-I will be wearing my medal constantly through tomorrow evening.  Yes, I just finished a nap and, you guessed it, I wore the medals.

Also, I have two more potential triathlons lined up this season for those of you interested! There is one in Pleasonton (Bay Area) on September 27th and another one in San Diego on October 19th!  (Also, on August 24th there is one in Santa Barbara, but I have prior commitments-possibly useful info for all you SB folk!)

Dynamic and deliberate

As of late, I have been encouraged, inspired, and reminded of God’s faithfulness. And the reality that a relationship with Him is just like any other in the respect that it is constantly evolving and changing and growing. How astounding that the Creator of the Universe desires to have an intimate relationship with me. I am thankful for my mom’s request to hear how I became a Christian now almost nine years ago….crazy to not have shared that! I am grateful for my dad’s confliction over Sunday’s sermon and the questions and conversations it prompted. All of it reminds me that God desires to have each one of us constantly be striving to know Him more and be more aware of His presence.

The past few months, I have been taking a course at the Bible College offered through my church on Galatians and Ephesians. I have thoroughly enjoyed the consistency this brought to my spiritual life and the fire it lit to learn more and grow more. Through the people in my class, my professor, and ultimately the Holy Spirit, I have been challenged to dig deeper. Although I am sad tonight was our last class, I will be taking a course on Prayer next semester starting May 14th. I feel like I got a little sneak peak tonight in class. John mentioned the fact that a majority of (if not all) the prayers in the New Testament are commands (i.e. in the storm, Jesus commands “Be still”. The Lord’s Prayer “Thy will be done, Thy Kingdom come”) and they are approached in a positive light (“Be healed”, “Be cleansed” rather than “Do not be in pain any longer”, “Do not be dirty anymore”). This really shed a light onto my prayer life. So often, I find myself requesting selfish prayers such as “take my anxiety away…help me stop worrying” rather than declaring the promises I have in Jesus “Give me peace. Calm my heart.” etc. A slight shift of semantics, really, but with powerful implications!

Also on my heart lately has been the importance of ‘community’ (one of the Christian buzz words, I know…but still!) and accountability. Sometimes I worry that I get too caught up in this…but really, in being created in His image, we are relational beings so it’s only natural that I would desire these relationships in my life. And I am thankful for the people He has placed in my life to bring stability, accountability, and encouragement! He is a good God who loves us well.

The End of a Break

Reading my friend Becky’s blog inspired me to recount what I was able to sqeeze in over my three week break from teaching.  It was definitely a highly enjoyable time full of fun times,  forming of great memories, and even a little R&R.  Do not feel any pressure to read this, just humor me.  I think I’m mostly posting it so I can remember my break as I look back.  Because I barely remember it now!

12/15 Break begins!  Spend the day at Jillian’s with HerShe and then drive up to SB with J-Jax and Dani to the open mic night for JP and Garth

12/16 JP and Garth get married!!  Wonderful day with friends celebrating!

12/17 Spend the day with Bekah, Raleigh, and Lauren and then go to Stephanie’s game that night!  Head back to LA

12/18 Relax! Christmas celebration with Patrick

12/19 Disneyland with Acosta

12/20 Relaxed and went to work for a few hours.

12/21 Drive to San Diego to see Mistie, Jess, and the whole Boyd-Blomquist clan!

12/22 Ice Skating with the FCA girls and late game night fun

12/23 My sister finally comes back home!!!!  Lots of time with her: hair cuts, Starbucks, pedicures, etc.

12/24 Christmas Eve with my mom and Jim out in the O.C.

12/25 Christmas craziness: mom and Jim in the morning, quick trip to the airport to go see dad in AZ

12/26-12/31 Arizona!  Lots of reading, hanging out with friends (Courtney, Sarah, Elizabeth, Jen, Jenny, Mistie, Jaan, Wayne, a little bit of Desi and Meg, Tara, etc.), and tons of Boggle with dad (full statistics available upon request)

12/31-1/5 Trisha in town!  NYE with Bekah, Jamie, and friends, time on the beach, time with friends, time with my mentee Rosalyn for her birthday, Hollywood site seeing, Universal Studios excursion, dinner and time with mom and Jim, and a failed game night attempt (the rain deterred many visitors, but we still had fun wii-ing it up!)

1/6-1/7 Weekend to remember (i.e. last weekend of freedom for awhile)  RELAX!!!  Clean, organize, work out, etc.

And, so it goes!  Back into the routine and having a tough time adjusting.  Students are back with a vengeance and keep me laughing and on my toes.  God bless ‘em!

A Belated Turkey Day Message…

Thanksgiving has been one of my favorite holidays for quite awhile.  I always like how Thanksgiving meant guaranteed time with friends and family.  With basketball during college, I lost that valuable time that I treasured.  Granted, I got to spend it with teammates, coaches, and fans…and some of those people had some great food hook-ups…but it just wasn’t the same as the good ol’ days.  So, you better believe, as soon as Christmas of my senior season came I mailed out invitations to the following year’s Thanksgiving.  Yes, that’s right-11 months ahead of time!  My first Thanksgiving back after such a long hiatus will always be remembered in my heart!  The actual Thanksgiving day has been spent with my dad’s family the last few years.  In order to account for this, my mom has started the wonderful tradition of an early…or, as in this year, a late….thanksgiving celebration.  It is now up tied for my favorite holiday.  We just finished celebrating Thanksgiving this past Saturday and it was great!  Both Thanksgiving celebrations were smaller than usual, but very lively nonetheless!  Thanks to my sister, I even was inspired to cook!  AND IT WAS AWESOME!!  You really should check out the Food Network online.  Sweet Potato Balls are “decadent”, as my mom’s friend said.

This being said, now this season has come and gone and Christmas is right around the corner!  I can’t wait for all of the celebrations and traditions that come along with this time of year.  I forget how lucky I am to be surrounded by such an awesome family and incredible friends.  So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, thanks to you!