Pat's Run 2.0

Pat's Run number two is in the books! 

And we made an enjoyable weekend of it. Chris and I went down to Tempe Friday night to run a wedding errand. Then we picked up my race packet and went to dinner at Oregano's. 

It wasn't the most amazing food ever, and the environment was a little noisy, but we enjoyed our time nonetheless.

My Italian flag lasagna (Seriously, though, the garlic bread was the best part!)

Then we walked around Arizona Mills Mall. 

Look at this lego statue!

And made a quick walk through IKEA. I mean why not?

He went to his sister's house and I went to my trusty Drury Inn. Drury is expensive, but quality is consistent. I somehow got a king room with a whole office area. 

Too bad I was just there long enough to sleep and head out again!

The pre-race pinning of the bib!

Then it was race day! I got up at 5 am. Chris picked me up at 5:30 and we were off to the Metro parking. We rode the Metro and then walked to the race corrals at ASU stadium. Some of the vendors were already out of giveaways, but we still picked up a few goodies.

And took a pre-race photo.

I got into my corral about 6:45 am. I was in Corral 4 this year, which was way better than Corral 13 two years ago. There were still 1,000 people per corral, though (28,000 racers total).

This year, it felt a little cramped.

The road felt congested too.

But I heard the national anthem. Our corral was led by a University of Arkansas graduate, which was pretty cool, since I moved here from Arkansas. 

The end of the race felt a little hard this year. I drank a little water on the way, but I felt a little like I wanted to vomit by the end. Was I running too hard, or was it the heat? I don't know.

But I finished.

 And I found Chris. (He took this photo.) 

That equaled success with all the people that were there!

We waited awhile for the Metro, but that's okay. People in Corral 28 were getting off the Metro when we got to the station. Corral 18 was starting when I finished. I felt like we made good time.

Post race, we brunched at The Egg and I with Chris' sister and family. We only had to wait 25 minutes to get a table, and the food came out fast, so I felt it was a success.

My Hiker's Benedict

We went to a game store in Gilbert, came home, and I did stuff at home and then made dinner.

Cauliflower carbonara, boiled carrots with parsley, and homemade freezer garlic bread

I mean sunshine, movement, and cooking are therapy for me, so why not do them all on the same day? 

It was a good weekend. 

Thank you, Lord!

When Times are Good...

Life is a swirl of excitement right now. There's a new niece, and wedding planning, and friend visits, and spring, beautiful spring! I want to celebrate it all and live out this season of celebration, but honestly, there's still fear. 

Fear of not having enough time to invest with all the people I love
Fear of missing out on one thing or another
Fear of the other shoe dropping and this facade of happiness crumbling
Fear of sickness
Fear of conflict
Fear of fear

And all the fear eats at my joy.

"When times are good, be happy," King Solomon wrote (Ecc 7:14a, New International Version). That's the sentiment that keeps coming back to me. So I'm trying. Trying to live in the moment. Trying to wring every drop of joy out of this season. These times are a blessing, for God has blessed me.

With family I love
With a fiance I love
With a beautiful new niece who's growing by the day
With warmer weather
And sunshine-y days
And hiking
And living 
And planning
And breathing
And being

WITH BEING A BELOVED CHILD OF GOD!

Hard times will come. That's what the latter part of the verse says. But God has made the happy times as well as the hard. I want and need to celebrate both.

Filling My Heart

I told someone recently that it's been a rough several years. It is not that my life is bad. In fact, I am very blessed. I have a job and a home and family and friends. But emotionally, life been tough. There have been a lot of highs and lows and everything in between. Sometimes I just feel emotionally beat up and bruised and don't know how to recover.

I've been telling myself lately that I need to find a life. It's not that I don't have a life, but that I need to be more diligent in trying to things to do other than sleep, eat, work, and repeat. And the things I choose to do need to be sustainable and attainable. They need to help fill my heart so that I have energy and life to live and give. These past few weekends, God has given me the following activities to fill my heart:

1) Hiking: This requires some planning and exertion, but the sun and the effort and the stillness of nature calm my spirits and promote rest in my body.

2) Quality conversation: I don't have a lot of friends here, but when I actually make time for the few I have, it's worth it. Sometimes quality conversation looks getting creative with time differences to schedule a phone date over the distance, too. I don't really need a lot of friends, just quality ones who will be iron sharpening iron and speak truth into my life.

3) Cooking: It's a simple thing, but therapeutic in its own right. It's so fulfilling to chop or knead or stir or bake something into existence. And the eating of the food is enjoyable, too.

Self-care isn't all about activities. Sometimes it's about rest and alone time and quite frankly, plain old isolation or hibernation. But for me, I'm realizing that I need to balance effortless activities with some efforted activities. May God continue to show me the way....