29.

I've made it a habit over the past few years to use my birthday as a time of reflection, both for the past, and for the future. I like groups of three, so here's the past and the future.

Three Favorite Memories From the Past Year:

The Patriot Run September 10, 2016-My family got to see me run for the first time, and I had the privilege of honoring the victims of September 11th, the Granite Mountain 19, and the men and women currently serving our country as part of fire departments, the military, and the police force.

Getting to know my sister-in-law better over Christmas-My brother and sister-in-law made a sacrifice to buy tickets to come out and visit us in Arizona. I love my brother, but it has been such a treat to get to know my sister-in-law better. She is a compassionate, kind, courageous, Christlike, and adventurous woman, and I love her so much!

Pat's Run April 22, 2017-Such a special weekend with my mom!

Three Goals for the Next Year:

This is the notorious "final question" of the traditional birthday questions. My friends know what I'm talking about. In the past, my goals have been along somewhat the same lines:

 2015-More philosophical than practical, but along the lines of love God, love others, and love self.

2016-More practical and specific. I actually accomplished the first two. The third one, eh, not so much. And I am not sure that falling in love with a guy/getting married is God's will for me. I'm working to accept that and find my place in the world as a single woman.

2017-My goals for this year revolve around that second point of my third goal for last year: loving myself. Since moving to Arizona/that first doctor's appointment where the nurse practitioner said I was weak and had potentially serious neurological problems, I've felt pretty crappy about myself. Physically, I think I'm stronger than ever before. I ran 4.2 miles with the fastest miles I've probably ever run,

but I still feel dissatisfied, not necessarily just with my body, but with myself over all. I just don't feel "at home" in this vessel. Mentally, I had that small breakdown in March, but before and after that, God has given me Holy Spirit perspective on a lot of tough situations. Yet somehow I don't feel like myself. Spiritually, I learned a ton from the True Woman 201 study and I enjoyed singing in the Christmas and Easter choirs at church. But I'm really struggling with understanding the church and what it should be about, especially after what I'd call a crisis in my local church. So without further ado, my three goals for next year center around health, mostly in physical ways, but in ways that I think will benefit my health as a corporate entity:

1) Eat satisfying foods instead of just whatever I find lying around. This means I need to cook more. I don't know how that will happen with my busy schedule and not having my own kitchen, but I can try.

2) Improve my sleep quality-My body started waking me up at 4 am sometime last fall, and it hasn't really stopped. I get up at 5 am every morning, purposefully, but I usually feel exhausted. Naps have been shorter in duration and less satisfying. I'd like to have more restful sleep. Sleep is so vital to good mental health.

3) Find what feels good-as far as exercise and life in general. I've experimented with yoga not once, but twice. I didn't like Yoga Revolution, but the phrase, "Find what feels good" has stuck with me. I've been trying to listen to my body more, especially as I trained for Pat's Run. I decreased my cardio (no HIIT and very little extra walking), lifted more weights (I'm up to a 40 pound deadlift, which is a lot for me!), and did more regular yoga. I'm still learning.

And that goes for the rest of life, too. I'm always learning. I won't "arrive" until heaven, but I'd like to become better in the next year. Until next May 5 and the BIG 3-0!