a life beyond running shoes.

a year. wow. even as i process being with my husband's family last week, i am still overwhelmed by how quickly it went, yet how significant of a year it has been that it seemed to have crawled by at the same time. sweet pea was only six weeks old when my father-in-law died. she is getting so big. these guys are all within four weeks of each other. (sorry locks.... didn't mean to capture you in tears) this is how i know that time is passing. i also realize that i don't feel as raw. i don't feel as if i am walking around with my nerves endings on the outside of my skin. i can still get bowled over by my grief, but it doesn't come as often. and god's comfort and grace come more quickly. it has been a long year..... but we are still resting in the arms of our savior. he has been good.... all year.

it is a strange thing to realize your life was altered significantly a year ago. my husband and i flew down to florida to be with his family on the one year anniversary of his dad's death. strange to say, but it was nice to have the occasion to reflect, remember, rejoice. in the midst of daily life, work, school, busyness, those moments can slip by. we got to gather, sing god's praises, tell stories of god's goodness in the midst of sorrow, and laugh. lots of laughing. there were tears.... but there was more laughter. i remember singing jesus, i am resting last year. it still was like a salve to my soul again this year...... jesus, i am resting, resting in the joy of what thou art. i am find out the greatness of thy loving heart. oh how great thy loving kindness, vaster, broader than the see. oh, how marvelous thy goodness lavished all on me. yes, i rest in thee, beloved, know what wealth of grace is thine, know thy certainty of promise and have made it mine. every lif...

i had a date with my new 5 year old. we went and saw our first musical (off broadway). 101 dalmatians . he loved it; i tolerated it. he did not want to go back stage to meet our friend from the show. he is 5 and was hungry: sushi. in the city. he ate half this plate. the business lunch next to us thought he was a riot. then, we got home..... the perfect day was over.... scooter was stolen off stoop. little bit wet his pants 2 feet from toilet. sweet pea had a screaming fit - 102 fever. she pooped in the bathtub three times. we went to the school potluck.... it was the wrong night. it was a poor end to a great day. i am thankful for the my little man that is getting so big.

his favorite place. (in this photo he had to get up and dance with the mouse..... not his idea of fun but he was a champ and a good sport!) games, tokens, tickets, and a mouse thrown in for fun. he was bouncing around all day. i guess he had fun..... i know i had a ball watching him enjoy the day. here is the cake i made. think it is optimus prime....but i am not totally sure. it is a good thing we don't go big for every birthday. i am exhausted!

while we did not capture a good easter picture yesterday..... we did celebrate big! we feasted for easter sunday, rejoiced over the resurrection, broke bread with friends, and sang heartily. we also had my mother-in-law to help celebrate the big 5 year old. amazing. how did that happen?! 36 cupcakes after church during the potluck...... does it get any better than that? well, maybe..... he gets to go to chuck e. cheese on friday and skip school!

2:15:20 i beat my last race time by 4 minutes. i loved my cheering section. they really helped for that last half mile. what a day. it was hard, but i finished. and the final fundraising total for team world vision was $250,000. way to go!!!

while on vacation with the kids this week, i got to do one more final run. 26 minutes. 40 degrees. country roads. hills. faster pace partner. rain. thanks a million, jessie! while it might not do anything for my race on saturday, i think it did heaps for me mentally. i have done all my training. 12 weeks..... long runs, intervals, speed work, hills.... i finished! now let's just run 13.1 miles. oh boy!

we are away for a few days with some friends... no daddy. so he doesn't forget us..... this is our favorite church song right now. he sings it all the time. full volume. full body. it is awesome. enjoy! and yes, we use photo booth.

here is world vision team brooklyn: we ran 10 miles in central park today. it was 35 degrees. i was freezing. i had gotten very used to the warmer, spring weather. this was a terrible joke. but it was nice to have a change of scenery..... i keep having those moments of "hey, i live in NYC.... wow!" it was really fun and amazing. thank you to everyone that helped me reached my fundraising goal of $500. i decided to try and go for $700... they give orange (team color) shoelaces to wear on race day to those who hit that mark. i have never been on a team before. it is really fun to see other people wearing the team jersey.... it was super encouraging yesterday to see other teammates running.... especially on that second five mile loop as we were heading uphill. orange jersey - what a great sight! i think there are 600 (of the 3000 runners) that will be wearing jerseys. HOW COOL!! as much as i get nervous before a race, i am also getting excited. thanks for joining my jou...

we love to sing church songs all week long. we have some new favorites but today he wanted to sing one of our favorite from christmas. never mind that we are in the easter season..... theology lesson to come :) he also likes to make up words that fit into songs. he is the creative type!

spring is here!!!! (photo from ditmasparkblog.com - photo of the day by nelson) this weekend's 10 mile run - 65 degree weather. spectacular! of course, everyone was out in the park.... i did get a bit testy. this morning it was 50. i get confused how to dress for this. i know thirty and below. i know 60 and above. 50 is just confusing. stef and i had a good, hard, quality run this morning. we did the hill.... that blessed, beloved hill three times. upon finishing the last hill and working our way around the rest of the loop our cloudy morning turned into spring showers. it wasn't a drizzle.... it was raining. like the sky opened up. adventure run - spring style. epiphany: i really do love this sport. there were not that many folks out there this morning.....nor a few weeks ago when temperatures were still hovering the 30s. i have trained and retreated now three times. that would be three babies later, i am still training hard for a race..... i don't have many moments ...

i got the email this morning with all the race weekend info. holy cow!!! here is my fundraising page . i am over 50% to my goal. this has been an amazing journey so far. just over two weeks until race day. 13.1 miles. we have cancelled four long runs: 2 for snow, 1 for temperatures below 20, 1 for rain and wind up to 65 mph in central park. training in the winter certainly has limitations. but last week i had a great training week. two really hard run. one easy loop. this weekend we are doing three loops of the park. next weekend we are doing 10 miles in central park. then the race!!! WOW! i can't believe it is getting closer. some days i think i am ready. some days i think i am crazy for doing this. but having never done a race where i actually raised money, i am finding myself so much more motivated, inspired, and eager. it has been really cool to do this.....and for an organization that i really love. thanks for journeying with me! and for donating!!!

i took a detour from sophie's choice . the last 75 pages are hanging over my head.... i'll get to them next weekend. for now, young adult. #3 in the series. delightful. witty. interesting. easy. mindless. engaging. silly. young. refreshing. light. so not sophie's choice . it was what i could handle at this moment in time. it was a wonderful saturday night read. thank you anne dayton! i look forward to #4!

the baby girl is walking. she took a few steps before her birthday but has taken off this week. and here is proof: (eat your heart out grandparents....)

can i post about a book i am almost done with? i love my book club. going on five years. i think we found our core group. six women. different as can be. we all come because we need it. in some way, it gives us something. we have had a wide variety of characters come through our book club doors. some have stayed; some have moved on. some needed us only for a time; some might come back. this discussion's book: sophie's choice . discussion helped me see its merits past the sex, foul language, and laborious narration. it is the type of book that warrants discussion. it almost necessitates it; it is too hard and too complicated to just sit in the private thoughts of its reader. it has to be grappled with, wrestled with, hated and loved. had it not been for this group, i would not have finished. because i finished, i would put it on the list of books i would like to teach one day and am probably not qualified to teach because it is so complex, difficult, sensitive, and raw. my...

halfway to each other: how a year in italy brought our family home. susan pohlman quick read. my favorite kind these days. she was interesting. marriage falling apart. they take a shot at rebuilding by living in tuscany for a year. two kids. beach side property. my cynicism says.... duh, of course you could rebuild in that environment. but what struck me was the way she candidly revealed how they ended up so far from each other: materialism. perfectionism. productivity. the social life. the kids. the activities. the life style. the american dream. it was what allowed them to stop communicating. i think she is careful not to blame those external things but admits those "things" are what gave them the excuse to stop working toward each other. it allowed their life to become just passing each other in the hallway between drop-off, pick-ups, dinner parties, family, friends, and church. it allowed them to get to the place of thinking "i work harder than he/she does." ...

and strip me naked. need a little assistance. yum chocolate. what a love! dear sweet pea - what a year it has been. thank you for being such a joy in the midst of sorrow. you are a blessing we didn't know we would need. you are a delight. you are precious to us. who knew i could like pink, even a little. i am thankful for purple, green, blue & brown. while you are cute in pink, i still love my babies in overalls. you are adorable. you love your daddy. you are funny and have great expressions. here's to learning to walk, getting some teeth, and getting some hair in the front. we love you, baby girl!

can you believe she is one? i can't. it has been a whirlwind of a year. i think i was in a fog for a good bit of it. it has been a journey for our family. but she is an amazing addition for us to celebrate. manhattan children's museum. family adventure. the boys loved the fact that baby sister's b-day warranted a trip to their favorite place. she enjoyed treating them to such an adventure. candles and cupcakes tomorrow.

the day is approaching..... it is saturday, but we made some cookies today with our neighbor, ms. shirley. i'm not sure how it happened. but it did. sweet pea's birthday. she is a funny girl. have i mentioned that she loves her daddy. she tolerates her brothers. only has two teeth. can climb the stairs in no time. and has taken a few steps. she is a delight..... when she isn't screaming for someone to pick her up (that would be someone other than little bit which tends to illicit the same scream). the agenda: friday - family trip to manhattan kid's museum. pizza night (which she actually missed every week since she goes to bed at 6). saturday - family lunch w/ cookies.... she already snuck a couple. thanks, dad. sunday - church. lunch with church friends and cupcakes. not bad for a first birthday!

if you have three minutes..... check out this video . it gets me so excited about the half-marathon i am training for. i teared up thinking that because of amazing people, i have reached 30% of my goal. thanks for participating!!! thanks for helping the world. thanks for being supportive of my training by giving financially. i am thrilled to be doing this. it is a great motivator. i get excited about getting out there and running hard and training hard. thank you!!!!