In high school, the answer to "Why I Run" would have been: to stay in shape for basketball.

In college, the answer to "Why I Run" would have been: to avoid the Freshman (and Sophomore, Junior and Senior) 15.

After I got married the answer to "Why I Run" would have been: to stay in shape, so I can eat what I want, and it's fun to go to the gym with Jon.

Then I had kids.

Then I took 5 years off of running.

I lost any shape I was ever in, gained the 15 anyway, needed to watch what I eat, and didn't go to the gym with Jon.

All bad.

In November 2009, I changed that. It's still hard to fit running into my schedule -- VERY hard. But now, this is why I run:

I run because it keeps me healthy. I run because I like to eat. I run because I want to set a good example for my kids. I run because the outdoors in springtime (except for the allergies) is the best place to be. I run because I want my kids to enjoy exercising.

This little guy...



... would go all day if we let him. He's a mile a minute, barrel of energy, go getter of a dude. Sure, he gets tired -- but he is only 3 after all. He boogied so fast on that bike of his that we couldn't keep up! We were shouting to get him to stop and turn back -- but he was so far ahead he couldn't hear us! (Not exactly a wise plan on a wooded bike path -- thankfully we're in a safe area... but still!)

He's a whiz on that bike, and loves every minute of it.



Can you tell?

This little gal...



... would probably prefer to watch movies and eat ice cream all day if I'd let her. She's about as chill and relaxed as they come. I love that about her -- she's a very "go with the flow" girl, and always has been. She adapts quickly to basically any situation we put her in.

But... she's never enjoyed exercise. Of any sort.

Until Friday.

Crazy girl wanted to ride her scooter, but couldn't keep up. So she ran. And ran. And ran. And ran. We followed a 1.8 mile loop, and she probably ran a mile of it.

And she's begging for more!

When we finished, she said, "Whew... I tired myself out so I can be healthy."

My heart swelled with pride! Way to go, kiddo!

Then last night, she said, "Mommy, when we go visit Uncle Greg again, can I run a half marathon with you?" Apparently I made it look too easy. *cough, cough* (how about swamp land in Florida?) I laughed and told her "let's start with a mile."

All weekend, she's been begging to go out running again (it's been raining though).

And at the end of the day... that's why I run. And why I can't let myself take a 5 year break again. It's not good for any of us!

Well, you've seen pictures of the race - at least a few of them. But I haven't yet shared photos of what we did.

Jon, the kids and I drove halfway to ATL on Wednesday night, then stopped at a hotel. We drove on Thursday and met a friend for lunch in Birmingham. This friend, Josh Sarhan, is walking a cross around the country taking the opportunity to witness to those he meets. It's an incredible journey, and amazing to listen to him tell the story.

We arrived in Atlanta on Thursday night, right around supper time. We hung out that evening and most of the day Friday. Reese joined us Friday afternoon.

Friday evening we did our "carb load" meal and hit a yummy italian restaurant for some pasta. Saturday, Reese and I drove downtown to pick up our race packet and get a feel for the course. It was at that point we realized that Atlanta was very hilly. Ruh-roh...rooks rike rubble, Ruby!

Saturday afternoon Jon, Reese, the kids and I hit the zoo. Greg walked there following his presentation and joined us. Nothing like a dude in a shirt and tie carrying a shoulder bag and presentation tube at the zoo! :) He was a sight. We also saw Chris Webber (of Fab Five Fame) while we were there. It was a GORGEOUS day - and while people definitely recommended the aquarium over the zoo, we weren't about to spend it indoors!



Sunday was race day. Reese, Greg and I headed into the city. Jon, the kids, Mom and Dad drove to cheer us on at the park -- but the traffic was all clogged due to road closures, so they missed us. They did get to the finish line in time to see us finish! Yay! Following that we went out for brunch, then headed home for a nap. After naps, we did an Easter egg hunt and painted Easter eggs.



Monday we decided to split up our drive home again. I was just too stiff, and 12 hours in a car sounded daunting. So the kids got to go outside and blow bubbles with Grandma and Grandpa. It actually SNOWED a little bit Monday morning. Nothing that stuck, but those were some big, fluffy, white flakes coming down! Crazy spring weather!

My favorite pictures are in the collages above, but I thought I'd share these slide shows as well. Enjoy!

I'm an official half-marathon survivor.

How did that happen, you might be wondering? Good question... since I admittedly avoided cross country and distance track in high school because i didn't want to work that hard! Prior to Christmas 2009, the farthest I've ever run is 3 miles.

So here's "the rest of the story."

Back in August (was it really August?), I joined an online Christian bookclub called Bloom. I really wanted it to just be a Bible Study, but it became so much more. I developed friendships with a select group of these wonderful women. One such friend is Reese.

(This is us PRE-RACE on March 21, Downtown Atlanta)

Reese came up to visit us in November, which happened to be our local Girls on the Run race. I was on our office's committee to work at the race, so she came along as well. She mentioned that she'd always wanted to run a half-marathon. I believe I responded that I'd NEVER wanted to run a half-marathon. Jon of course jumped in and gave me a hard time about my comments. Then he added that he'd give me a back rub for every day I trained.

For whatever reason, the two combined challenges made me take the bait.

Just before Christmas 2009, I put on my running shoes and actually used them for their intended purpose again. I had taken basically 5 years off. I had essentially quit working out the day Amara was born. I hated that fact, but hadn't taken the opportunity to get back into the habit.

Admittedly, I didn't train well. There were many opportunities for excuses, not the least of which was the crummy weather we had, the cold temps, and the unexpected amounts of snow. I effectively used those excuses and trained poorly. Infact, I trained so poorly that the farthest I ran pre-race was 6 miles. Most of my training was indoors on our elliptical.

That said... I finished!


(Me crossing the finish line.)

It wasn't pretty, but I did it.

Remember that I said I'd only run 6 miles in training. Well, as you might know, a half-marathon is 13.1 miles. I had hit nearly 8 miles on the elliptical, but it doesn't mimic well the pounding that your joints take in an actual run.

And my joints felt it!

I started off well -- the first 2-3 miles felt pretty good (other than being oh-dark-thirty). The next couple miles I didn't like real well. Then after a bathroom break at mile five (oh the joys of having children), I felt great through about mile 9. Somewhere between miles 9 and 10, I began to wear out. I was still able to talk (ok, so I was singing), but my legs and joints were screaming at me. I was very happy about my lung strength though -- because that had gotten ridiculously bad in my time off.

So anyway, miles 10 to 13 were painful. I knew that the pain was temporary and not an injury, so I pushed through. But I won't lie and tell you I enjoyed it! When Greg said, "Only a 5k left" I thought I might have to punch him! Never had a 5K sounded so long!

But then I saw the finish line. The gray drizzle that had been present through the last half of the race was still there. The orange finish line, balloons, crowds, music -- all the stuff that had been absent through much of the course due to the rain was there again. I dug in and kept going.

As we got within a block of the finish line, Greg said, "Go for it!" I just laughed and said, "Not a chance." I didn't have any more in me to sprint across the line. But I did run across it! I saw my family on the side lines cheering me on and gave them as much of a grin as I could muster.

When all was said and done, I ran about 11 of the 13.1 miles. Not too bad considering my lack of preparation! It would have been more like 12, but the last 2 miles really did me in. I registered with a 2:30 goal time, and finished in 2:35. Again, not bad.

I do owe it all to this guy though...

(My brother, Greg)

You see, Greg's a GOOD distance runner. He thrives on this kind of running and these distance races. He slowed his pace down to a crawl to run literally every step of the way with me. He took my verbal abuse when I didn't like his encouragement ("halfway there" doesn't sound so good when all you want is to see the finish line). He told me my pace was good and my form was solid. And maddeningly, he talked on the phone to my family, who was enroute, AS HE WAS RUNNING and WITHOUT GASPING FOR AIR. Crazy runners. Seriously though, I couldn't have run as much as I did without him by my side, because I certainly wanted to walk more of it!

And of course my kiddos. You can't see their "Run Mommy Run" shirts, because it was too cold to go jacketless, but they wore them with pride.


(Post race hug from Amara & Dominic)

You see all those shirts that say "Running is my life." During the race, I saw a shirt that said, "Running is my hobby. My children are my life." Still not quite accurate as far as my priorities go (God, Jon, Kids), but it echoed my sentiments much more closely. They are a big reason I chose to run this race. They need to see me modeling healthy lifestyles -- and my couch potato lifestyle just wasn't cutting it.

They're also the reason I signed up to run it again next year.

And next year... I plan to run all 13.1 of the hilly Atlanta miles.

I've had service on my mind for basically 2 years now. The thoughts get stronger daily, and circumstances are placed in my life (books, people, events) that I don't believe are any coincidence. Rather, I feel that God is taking a boot to my head to make sure my eyes are opened -- or my heart is opened.

Last night our family went to "Present in the City" presented by Cobblestone Project.

It was a beautiful night. A heartbreaking night. A challenging night. A powerful night. A hopeful night.

The night opened up with a video clip and music montage of people in need contrasted by the plenty that we all are blessed with. Dominic turned up to Jon and said, "Daddy, this is a sad movie." The purity and innocence behind that comment -- may his little 3-year-old eyes be open to the reality of this world and may his little heart be stirred to do something about it.

Amara said to me, "Mommy, I saw picture of little kids in jail (they were behind barred windows), and it made me sad." May her compassionate heart drive her to action and obedience when it comes to following God to serve others.

Through the night, we heard several different updates from "normal" people doing things daily to serve others. And they're EASY things to do - relatively speaking.

- The Garden came from a local restaurant who began as a company wanting to donate a portion of their profits to global orphanages. When they were out of money in a mere 6 months, the owners felt God telling them to "give it all away." His initial thought was "there's nothing left" -- but he gave it all away anyway. Now there are 3 soup kitchens in the area with talks of more, and they just bought an industrial kettle that alone will serve 750.

- Out of The Garden came The Farm, which logically plants and harvests food to make soup and other meals. Even more than just serving this community, however, they are using heirloom plants that can be harvested and shipped around the world to help other communities begin their own farms.

- Jon got up and spoke about Our Step, and was followed by an incredibly powerful video about Don, who was a homeless man just placed in an apartment. Because of this placement, he was able to get custody of his 3 year old daughter. Not a dry eye after that video!

- Another initiative that truly, anyone with a roll of quarters and a jug of laundry detergent can undertake is Laundry Love. To hear the stories and relationships built from Laundry Love is absolutely humbling. It takes what, 2 hours to do a full cycle of laundry? You can have a 2 hour conversation with anyone in there -- or paint women's nails, color and read with children, seamstresses have been there to patch blankets and sew on buttons. The opportunities for community are really endless, and seriously -- for a $10 roll of quarters and a bottle of detergent. How easy is that!? They said that the volunteer list for this service opportunity is several months out!

- Shear Kindness is another initiative that has my heart. As a female, how much better do you feel about yourself and life in general after you've had a good haircut (and color as the case may be)? I'm seriously going to change my hair stylist to the salon that supports Shear Kindness. I'm going to do some digging on this one. I'm certainly not a stylist, but I CAN wash hair, and maybe even better, I can braid the hair of any of the little girls who come in. I'm good at that!

Part of our sermon on Saturday night focused on serving too. In short, I finished the weekend with a hole in my heart where "service" to others is missing. I know that a big reason for that is that I'd prefer to serve WITH my family so that we can make it a family event. However, I also must acknowledge that Jon's JOB is service. So he needs (and deserves) a break from that during our family time. So I came out of the weekend with a few things:

1) I asked Jon to call me with volunteer opportunities at his work that would allow me to work alongside him. Even if that means me taking a few hours or a day off of my own job. As the situation permits, I'd love to spend a few vacation days working alongside my husband serving.

2) I need to make it my DAILY prayer that God soften my heart with my attitude toward serving my family. Currently, I see cooking and cleaning as an obligation, not an opportunity to serve. If I can make that simple mind/heart change, it will make all the difference. I absolutely hate obligation and typically try to avoid them. Having a "guilt complex" like I do, that's not always easy...which probably makes me dislike obligation even more! However, I LOVE to serve! And admittedly, I'm not always good at serving my family -- most probably because I see much of it as obligation. Imagine what that simple change in focus might do!

As the night came to a close, a full hour past the kids' bedtime, I was grateful that we didn't drive separate so the kids and I could leave when they got antsy. They did get antsy. But they also saw and heard service.

You want to see a fast event tear down? Go to an event designed to celebrate service and those who serve. The whole place was cleared, torn down, tables loaded onto trucks, etc -- in under 1/2 hour. It was incredible. The cool thing -- the kids got to be a part of that. The kids were putting the decorative stones back into their respective bags, hauling chairs all over the place to be stacked, helping me fold up tables. And seriously - they were as happy as I've ever seen them. They "get" that it's wonderful to serve. The love to be able to help others. And I was SO thankful to be able to give them that opportunity -- even if it meant this morning was a struggle to get moving (for all of us!)

The quote of the night came from Greg Russinger, founder of Just One: "The Holy Spirit can't comfort you if you're not living an uncomfortable life."

I don't think I'm uncomfortable enough.

How about you?

Last weekend I needed to go to Dallas for work, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to bring the family along for a little mini-vacation and meet some more family "in the middle" for a fun time.

We left on Friday (later than intended), and met Luke at the hotel just before dinner. Jon and Luke went to the Mavs vs Kings game while the kids and I set up the room that I was supposed to present in. Then my friend Reese met us for dinner (rather, she brought Chipotle to us), and we took the kids swimming.

The kids had a lot of fun swimming that weekend, and had several opportunities to get wet! Dominic was his usual fearless self and enjoyed swimming all over the pool. Amara decided this weekend that she was going to trust her life jacket, and she joined in the fun of swimming all over. I was SO proud of her conquering that fear! I ended up getting in the pool (which I hadn't intended to do), because they dropped the mask in the 5ft and couldn't reach it. Thankfully it was near bathwater temp and felt actually quite good. Getting out was much chillier!

Saturday I spent the day presenting, so Jon and Luke took the kids swimming again, then met Matt, Jessica, Tish, and Matthew in our other hotel for the 2nd night. I joined them as soon as I had finished my presentations. Shortly after I arrived at the hotel this was the site in the "living room" portion of the room.


Jessica and I always comment on how much we love to see our kids getting along. The siblings may fight, but the cousins get along fabulously!

After the kids had taken naps, we decided to head into the city and take in the car show. The girls wanted to pose by every car, but I told them to find the unique things. So they found a robot, an audio pod, and this awesome light up screen that they danced on for quite a while.


Jessica happened upon a great little restaurant for dinner called Blue Mesa Grill. We intended to eat at the Cheesecake Factory, but it was a 45 minute wait. Blue Mesa was SO much better and more unique! Good find!

On Sunday the kids got up and went swimming again (with Jessica) while the rest of us got ready for the day. We ate a leisurely (and delicious) breakfast at the hotel, then hit some shopping. We ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, which the kids thought was particularly cool. Then we said our goodbyes and headed home.

We'll definitely have to hit Dallas for a long weekend again. That was fun!

I’ve had this post rolling around in my head for about a month now. It’s probably time to get it out.

As a working Mom, I’m often considering what to involve my kids in – soccer, piano, birthday parties, etc. I want them to experience everything. I want them to have a full and rich childhood. I want them to discover and develop their passions. Yet I also know that I have precious few hours with them after work each day, and the weekends are very “protected” as family time. I simply can’t put them in everything I’d like to.

Several months ago, I was looking through facebook photos of my friends with my Mom. I was showing her how happy they were, what they were up to, trips they took, activities their kids were in. And I was lamenting the fact that “my kids haven’t done this,” or “we haven’t made time to do that.” Essentially, I was stacking my life against theirs and determining that I was doing it all wrong and I’d end up with miserable children.

She wisely pointed out that we were looking at snapshots. When people share snapshots of their life, they share the good parts, the memories, the treasures, the “golden moments.” To compare my life with only the good parts of someone else’s just simply isn’t fair or right. (Not to mention I probably shouldn’t be comparing my life anyway.)

But lately it really got me thinking about what “snapshots” I share with others. Through this blog, it’s not my intent to be transparent with my deepest thoughts, my biggest fears, my insecurities. I will be vulnerable, but only to the point I’m comfortable. Yet I know several other bloggers who are completely vulnerable and open with their blogs. I applaud them for that, even though I’m not willing to venture there myself.

I think that’s something that we as women and mothers struggle with (at least I hope that I’m not the only one). It’s so easy to compare ourselves to other’s snapshots. Why can't we sometimes put the "real" us out there (i.e. admit that there are dishes in the sink, laundry needing to be folded, toys scattered all over, and a frozen dinner instead of a homecooked meal) so that we don't feel alone in our chaos!?

Recently I saw a photo of a mom’s “messy” house. Messy by her standards. My house looks like that on its cleanest day! I probably spent the next hour lamenting my lack of neat freak tendencies.

Seriously.

I think the blog world has perpetuated what I consider to be a negative trait in women – of always comparing ourselves to each other and trying to hold ourselves to impossible standards. Don’t get me wrong – I love the blog world (I am, after all, a part of it, right?) – but I think it has also played into many of our insecurities. Who has the most “followers” in both Twitter and blogland? How many friends do we have in facebook? Who is going to the next blog conference? What blog-celebrity have you met there? What corporate sponsorship can you get for blogging?

Some of it literally makes me want to shut down my blog, cancel my facebook and Twitter accounts, and just melt completely into the REAL world and into virtual obscurity.

At the same time, I know that in doing so, I’d miss out on a lot of the rich friendships I’ve gained through Bloom and the blog world.

So Snapshots…

What does your snapshot say about you? Is it the “real” you or only the “happy” part of you? Or maybe only the “hurting” part of you?

God has made us to be beautifully complex… perfect in our weakness and imperfection. I challenge myself and each of you to compare yourself only to God’s snapshot. To live up to HIS standards. To live a life worth of HIS calling. To seek out HIS direction and purpose. To find passion in HIM.

And may our Snapshots also point to Him.