I ran 10 miles yesterday.

That is the craziest thing for me to say/type.  It's still a little surreal for me, I think...even though my legs are quick to remind me today that it, in fact, did happen.

When I started this 1/2 marathon training program back in July, ten miles seemed super far away and an impossible task. 

I remember running our usual route one Saturday.  It was my 1st day of 1/2 training.  I was suppose to run five miles that day.  I just remember thinking how impossible that five miles felt and wondering how in the world I was ever going to accomplish 13.1 if five was so hard.




Before my 1st 10 miler.

I know I've mentioned this before in previous running posts...my running time is my Jesus time.  It's the time when I can have alone time with Jesus.  My day is filled {exactly as I wished} with my kids' needs and wants.  My night is interrupted by a baby who doesn't sleep through the night yet.  Trying to find alone time is nearly impossible.  Thankfully running covers my physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs....it is my alone time and as my training continues, my alone time with Jesus grows.

So this particular day, I decided to just let God take control of my training.  I determined that anything over my usual 5K would not be my own doing.  I could easily run a 5K, but I had tried so many times before to run more than that and train for a 1/2...only to injure myself or just give up.  I've never been able to do it on my own.

I told God that if he would just help me get through this training and this race that I've committed to doing, I would give all the glory of my success to Him.  I need Him to run with me and push me to accomplish my goal. Otherwise...I'll just give up.

That first five miles was amazing....and all the conviction I needed to know that I needed to invite Jesus to run with me every time I hit the pavement.

Yesterday, two months after that 5 mile run, I did something I never thought I would ever do.  I ran 10 miles.  That's double digits, y'all.  That's just over two hours {for slowpoke me}.

What?! Two hours! Ten miles! I went from one small town, through another, to the city limits of yet another town, and back again in one big TEN MILE loop! I ran in three different towns yesterday! I *went to town* on my feet!



TURN AROUND!!

Running is such an emotional experience for me. I cry about it all the time...before, during, after. Just thinking about how *far* emotionally running has brought me.  I cried at mile 7 when I realized I only had a 5K left to finish.  I cried at 9.75 miles when I realized that I was actually going to make it...and when I finished, I was only just 5K away from running a 1/2. I cried on the way home, thinking about how far I've made it so far.

This time, last fall, I was a hot mess.  I've shared this story before...Joshua was just a few months old, I was getting very little sleep, the hubs was working out of town, I had lost a couple of things that were super important to me, I was depressed, angry, bitter...and I couldn't run to save my life.  I lost everything I had built up before my pregnancy.  I could barely go a half mile down the road before I gave up and cried my way home. 

I wanted to bad to run but I just couldn't.  I had all these anger issues welling up inside of me.  And I started to hate running.

Thankfully, the Run for God program was put in front of me.  And thankfully I was put in charge of leading the group...because I can tell you, had I not been one of the group leaders, responsible for showing up and leading these other people on their own running journey, I would have quit within the first couple of weeks.

As it was, I withdrew and basically turned the group over to the hubs who was the other leader.  I wanted nothing to do with it. I fought it for weeks.  I wanted to stay angry and wallow in my self-pity and depression, but this program just wouldn't allow it. 

Having to stick with this program drug me out of myself....my anger, bitterness, depression.  All of it.  I had to face it and deal with it so I could continue running.

As the weight of this junk I was holding on to began to fall off, my love of running started to come back.  I was able to go those short distances without physical and emotional pain.

Yesterday was exactly one year and one week since that first day of Run for God.  Bo and I are leading two Run for God groups this fall, and I'm all in this time.  I believe in this program so much now. 

....and yesterday.  I ran 10 miles.  I went from hating life and running and everything in general to running and believing again.

Jesus runs with me every time I go out.  He is my running partner.  He never disappoints...always shows up and always encourages. This is all HIM.  He has gotten me this far and I know He will continue to push me toward my 1st 1/2 marathon in less than two months.

This half marathon training has reminded me that we only need to be willing to do the possible, and leave the impossible to God.  For me, running a half is an impossible task.  Turning my training over to Him makes it possible. 

I'm so thankful.  I just can't even begin to express how thankful I am to my Jesus who cares so much about me that He would make my small dream of running a reality. 

It's a wonderful lesson that ALL things...big or small, important or not-so-important...are possible through Jesus Christ.  If it's a big deal to us, it's a big deal to Him. 

And if He is so interested in making our little dreams come true, how much more interested is he in the BIG dreams of our world?   If all it took to make big changes in our world was to step out in faith and say "God, I'm going to do what I can and I know you'll show up to use that in a HUGE way."




After my 10 mile run.

Easy peasy painted jars {Pinned It, Made It}

We LOVE mason jars at our house!  We drink from them, stored things in them, and {hopefully soon} will be canning with them.  We also have a super cool light fixture idea planned for my dining room...thanks to the hubs, my very own super amazing electrician.

 

Also....we just have a lot of mason jars!  Our fave salsa comes in a mason jar.  My mother-in-law picked up several boxes for us at a yard sale a few years ago {when we first started making noises about canning...we'll get there eventually!}

 

I have seen several pins on Pinterest involving painted mason jars....and always wanted to give it a try.  My sister-in-law posted the CUTEST painted jars on my Facebook page one day. 

 

 And that was all it took....I just sat down and started painting! 

 

I decided to paint on the inside so the outside stayed shiny.  The words on the jars really stand out this way too!

 

I found this website tutorial, and dug out my paints.  My FAVORITE color in the whole wide world is turquoise...any shade.  So pretty.  And I have a lot of it around my house...especially in my office and kitchen. 

 

It was super easy.  I just kind of read through the directions on the website and then did my own thing.  I dumped a small amount of acrylic paint into a jar with just a little bit of water so it would coat faster. {I'm a tad impatient}

 

Swirled it around and around.  Added more paint as needed. {You'll get the hang of it as you keep working.  By the 3rd one...I had the amount figured out for my jars}

 

Swirled and swirled. Swirled and Swirled.  You get the idea.....

 

Then I turned the jars upside down on a paper plate to dry.  I left the first two for a couple of hours and then picked them up.  They weren't dry and so the paint ran back down into the jar which kind of streaked the jar in places.

 

Don't do that!!  You don't want streaky jars!!

 

Leave them overnight....or some kind of a long, long time.  Let them completely dry.  Have more patience than I managed.  You'll thank yourself for it later when you look at your amazing streak-free painted jars.

 

So that's it then!  I did have to clean around the edges with a baby wipe.  Probably wouldn't have it I had just left them alone for a long, long time. {Learn from my impatient mistakes and you probably won't have to do that}

 

 

 

I added some burlap ribbon and a flower to one...so cute!  Another holds my dried flowers from our vow renewal ceremony...love!  The twine around the jar was wrapped around the flowers.  For now the small white jar {oh yeah...I did a white one too...obviously} just holds the extra flowers. The little {non-mason} jar used to be a pumpkin jar.  One of my kiddos broke the lid so it became my penny jar.  Now I use it for pens or pencils...or just a pretty on my desk.  The two with yellow flowers sit on a shelf in my kitchen and the other two are on my desk in my office. 

And since we're talking Pinterest, here are a couple other Pinterest-inspired posts!

Some cutie printables I found for my kindie boy.

And my pretty pink desk chair.

   

Some seriously cutie kindie printables

My little cutie kindergartener fully believes he should be working as long and hard as his brothers at his own schoolwork.  He totally doesn't get why he should be finished so early. 

I added a few games. 

I added more work. 

I made the work harder. 

Still....he finishes before his brothers. {As he should since they are in 2nd, 4th, and 10th grades.}

 

 

So in an effort to appease him AND give myself the time needed with the older boys, I went on a search for cutie kindie printable games and activities that he can do himself....all day long...until he's completely worn out...and ready for a break.

 

 

Of course I took my search to Pinterest....because that's where all the super cool games and activities hang out.

 

Here are a few that I found:

 

 

The CUTEST and FREE Monsters Pack from A Mommy Talks.

 

 

 

This ADORABLE and FREE Fall Odd and Even sorting game from The First Grade Parade.

 

 

 

And this {$}  SWEET Fall math and literacy printable set from Mrs. McGinnis' Little Sizzlers.

 

 

 

I'm looking for a few more so if you have {or know where to find} a fun free or almost free printable activity set, let me know!

 

 

 



Week 2 and 3

See? Not even a month in and I'm already failing on the weekly updates. Ha!
 

We had some awesome moments and some not-so-awesome moments. You relate?
 

And I have to admit the MOST awesome happened today....the start of co-op.
 

New (huge) host church.  A lot of new faces. New classes. New teachers. New challenges. New excitement.
 

It was exhausting and incredible at the same time....and of course I have no pics because I literally ran circles around the (much bigger) campus all three hours. So you'll just have to imagine the smiling, happy faces this week. :)
 

And no pictures of the teenager who hides out in his room most of the day doing his schoolwork.

A super busy fall is ahead with two playing football on different teams, one playing basketball, and our co-op activities.  Looking forward to it and dreading it all at the same time. :)
 

Happy weekend!!

PJs and couch school.

Chemistry!

 

Joshua school

Teacher of the day

Look Mom...I'm cleaning the shelves!!