Lessons Learned in Three Years of Home Ownership

Three years of home ownership! Let's just say I've learned a few things:

1. Have an emergency fund.

2. Catching a hot water heater leak early is good. Paying for repairs for the neighbor's is bad.

3. Have an emergency fund. 

4. It's often cheaper to buy new than renew. (And tearing apart a stackable washing machine is a mess!)

5. Have an emergency fund.

6. Replacing an air conditioner is expensive.

7. Have an emergency fund.

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In all seriousness, I am so thankful for our home and still glad to be here, but man, owning a home and paying for its repairs and upkeep is expensive. Have an emergency fund. That's my advice. And make it bigger than you think you need. That's my advice after three years of home ownership. Hopefully I will have some better advice to offer after the next three years. We will see....

2022 Mesa Turkey Trot

I have run, but not trained since my last 10K. I did not plan to do hard workouts or any races until after the new year. When we decided to stay home for Thanksgiving and our city advertised the oldest turkey trot in Arizona, well, I had to sign up! I haven't raced a 5K in years, so I decided to just go and give it what I got. It turned out better than I expected.

Race day conditions: 50's and windy

Course: Flat, around a park, and a little short 

Goals: 

A: 8:30/minute

B: 27:00 (8:41/minute)

C: 30 minutes or under

Before the race:

I only did three speed workouts before this event: (0.25 mile slow, 0.25 mile fast) x 2 for a mile November 15; sprint intervals November 19; and regular intervals November 21. Other than that, I have been running very low mileage and doing Nourish, Move, Love strength workouts. I told myself I would be slow, but then also told myself that mindset matters as much as anything else, and I wanted to give it my best shot!

I spent most of the day before the race cooking. This was not the best idea, but what I needed to do to prep for hosting the next day. This race started at 8:30 am, which is later than I usually run. I debated trying to eat a full breakfast, but decided that I should heed advice to "not do anything different on race day" and stick with my banana and 8 oz of water. I did this about an hour and a half before the run. It was cold and windy after we picked up my packet, but I tried to stay warm. I did a five minute jog about half an hour before start time, and the wind was intimidating! I just went with it and made my last minute bathroom stop before moving to the start line. Since the start line was open, I was able to wear my hoodie until the last minute. That helped a lot! (Thanks to my husband for being the gear holder!)

(Photo courtesy of Start Line Racing)

Mile 1:

We started slow. It was a walk just to get over the start line, and then people were slow. The first jag was a down and back, and I jogged outside the cones to try to get around people. That meant facing the people coming back. Not the best idea! My phone read fast (under 8 minutes a mile) and then slow (8:30 plus). I was breathing pretty hard, so just kept at it. I remembered Run for PR's (2022) advice to not go out too fast, and I tried to stick with it. It was a bit of a struggle to get to half way through the race. I forgot about my splits. I was breathing hard, saw my pace at 8:36/mile or so and wanted to go faster. I told myself to wait until mile two.

(Photo courtesy of Start Line Racing)

Mile 2:

I told myself to keep working. This was a short race, and I could do it! I started trying to pick people off while waiting for 2.6, at which point I told myself to give it all I had. My chest was burning some here.

I saw what I thought was the finish line as I came around a corner. I started to gun it, thinking I could make it. Then I heard the volunteers saying, "Turn left." I remembered that the finish was different than the start. As I turned the corner, I also say that I needed to make a turn to make it back to the finish. I honestly was not sure I could make it. I started feeling nauseous. I told myself to keep going.

Mile 3 and finish: 

The course came up a bit short, at 3:03. I debated trying to run the 3.1, but there wasn't really room. I also felt pretty awful. I wondered if I would do the "real runner" thing and throw up, but I didn't. I looked down and saw 8:16 a mile as my Runkeeper pace. I felt pretty happy with that and planned to find my husband and go home.

(Photo courtesy of Start Line Racing)

After the Race:

This was a pretty big race, and I did not expect to place. I saw the podium set up, though, and I have never gotten to stand on a podium, so I checked my results. (Props to Start Line racing for the ability to check results online instantaneously!) It looked like I got second place in my age group! I was psyched and asked my husband to stay for the awards ceremony, despite the fact that it would delay our breakfast and Thanksgiving prep. I stretched some and we waited. After I got my medal, we departed.

My arms hurt some after the race, specifically my biceps. I guess I was using them hard to propel myself forward? My chest also felt tight for a while. I really crashed after eating breakfast, but you know what? It was worth it!

Concluding Thoughts:

I have learned a lot about running over the past year or so. Polarized training works! Strength helps. It really is possible (and now necessary, for me) to eat before I run and still perform. I think I am really a lower mileage runner. Overall, I am just so thankful, an appropriate sentiment for a turkey trot with a tagline, "Today I run with gratitude for..."

References:

Run 4 PRs Coaching [@Run4PRs]. (2022, November 23). Anyone racing a turkey trot tomorrow? Share our tips with your family & friends! [Instagram photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/run4prs/?hl=en

A Longer Table

My husband and I have a moderately small condo. Two years ago, we hosted my parents for Thanksgiving. Two guests are a comfortable amount. This year, it was our turn to host again, and we wanted to invite more people. Our table is small, and we only have four chairs, but we decided to see who would come and make it work. We did not want space to limit our hospitality.

Out of all we invited, only four (two being my parents) people came. When we added the built-in leaf, our table was big enough; we just lacked chairs. No problem. My husband and I stood. It was  small sacrifice that allowed us to enjoy our dinner, and our company. 

Some unknown person said  “When you have more than you need, build a longer table, not a higher fence." We don't need to build a fence. Our complex has taken care of what we need. We added a leaf to our table, and that ended up being all we need on the table. This holiday was a good lesson in faith and trusting God though. If God says invite, He will provide-longer table, bigger table, or whatever it is. He is sufficient!

All The Things That Were Good

The night of my car accident, my Mom reminded me that God can work out all things together for good for those who love Him (Rom 8:28). I don't know if she told me to look for the good, or if I just thought about it, but the sentiment stuck with me. This journey of car accident, car loss, and finding a new car has been hard, really hard. We grieve. We have pain, and yet God, in his grace, has still allowed me to see a lot of things that were good:

The accident was close to our home, which meant my husband could walk to the scene to support my friend and I.

The accident was at rest, versus moving at fast rates of speed.

Police dispatch answered my call.

The police came quickly.

The police were professional.

My husband drove the wrecked car home so I did not have to.

I already had an easy dinner planned that took little to no time to prepare after the accident.

My husband told me he loved me a lot after the accident.

I was able to call my parents for advice.

No immediate medical attention was necessary.

I was able to get some sleep that night despite sleep struggles.

I was not too sore in the morning.

My neighbor recommended a chiropractor.

Our insurance was able to help us get a rental car.

I was able to get a rental car the first day I needed to go back to work.

My workplace was gracious with my schedule.

I had sick time to cover hours of work missed.

My husband's friend helped him take the car to the shop.

When the insurance totaled the car, they gave us more money than I paid for it four years ago.

I felt peace from the Lord about finding a car online.

Looking for a car online led to several dead ends, that led us to more affordable cars.

The California car we planned to buy sold out from under us, which made us look local.

My husband did not have to fly to California to get us a car.

The local car that wasn't ready lead us to look at an SUV.

The SUV was in our price range.

The SUV was immediately ready.

The car salesman was nice.

My parents taught me to save, and we had just enough in our savings account to comfortably cover the increased cost of the SUV over the insurance amount.

We got to drive the car home that day.

We got to turn in the rental car a day earlier than expected, saving us some money.

We got to drop rental car insurance, which also saved money.

We can give stuff from our old car to my parents, who have a similar car.

The car we bought is three years newer than ours.

The new car has 30,000 less miles than ours did.

Lord willing, this car will last us further into the further than the one we had.

Lord willing, we are DONE car shopping for awhile.

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I am sure that's not all the things that are good, because we are not omniscient like God. There is still grief. This is still hard, but we are thankful.

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Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate!

The Apple Recipe Round-Up

I guess I just haven't been baking as much this year, but still, it's fall, y'all, so gotta share all the autumnal recipes. Here's the apple edition:

Easy microwave apple mugcake (Oats Lady)

Apple pie blended baked oats (Upbeet Kitchen)

Apple cheddar superhero muffins (Rise and Run cookbook)

Mellow apple pancakes (The Flavor of Wisconsin cookbook)

Small batch apple granola (One Dish Kitchen)

Russian red cabbage with apples (Easy Vegetarian Slow Cooker cookbook)

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Has anyone gone apple picking lately? I haven't, but it sounds fun! Feel free to share your favorite apple adventures and/recipes in the comments section.

Afghan 74

Another afghan off the bucket list. This is the the Oliver baby blanket from Edie Eckman. I used a chain of 121 and chose Red Heart spring green, Mainstays white, Red Heart royal blue yarn for my colors. (I used my ergonomic J hook again.) I accidentally forgot row two of the border, but otherwise, I think I made this as written. It was pretty easy, and worked up quickly with the half double crochet. My finished size came out to be 32 by 36 inches.

*Special thanks to our dinner guest who helped me unravel the royal blue yarn to get this finished!

Real Life Marriage: "The One"

A lot of people talk about knowing a person to be "the one" before they even started dating. I don't know about that. I definitely didn't know my husband was "the one" when we started dating four years ago this day. I just knew that he was a person I liked, felt attracted to, and valued, and for me, the relationship had to become something, or I had to move away. I was getting too attached.

When we got married, though, I committed to my husband being the one. In my vows, I told him that I chose him, and would always choose him. Between that and a covenant marriage, I gave myself no outs.

Attachment does change. I am sure there are quite a few people out there who said someone was "the one," and then it fell through. Those aren't the people talking, though. The people talking are the ones who are still twitter-pated over their love, in love with love, and in love with their lovers. Their sweet stories are the ones people want to hear.

Marriage is an opportunity to write a sweet story, though. Marriage is an opportunity to choose, to love well, to forsake all others, to be ONE. Marriage is an opportunity to glorify God, the One who made men and women and made marriage. Marriage is a high calling, a holy calling. Ideally, I only get one shot at it. I pray I do it well.

Grief Part 2: It’s "Just" A Car

There’s the grief of true loss, the grief of giving up, and then there’s the grief of losing things that “aren’t important,” like cars.

Four years ago, I was in a three car accident and my almost brand new car required over half of what I paid for it in repairs. Fast forward to last month when I got rear-ended again* worse, and my car was totaled. I knew to expect that, but had a little hope after my insurance agent said it looked fixable. I got the estimate and though it was almost equal to Kelly Blue Book value, it still looked like they would fix it. I breathed a sigh of relief and even wrote getting the car back and wrapping up accident stuff as a goal for November. Then I got the call that the car was indeed totaled. Insurance would give us decent money for the car, but we had to sign over the title, mail off the keys, and call the body shop to tell them to send it off. I felt a sense of loss.

This was the first (almost new) car I ever bought. It was the first car I bought as a working professional. The car held lots of memories, from work trips, to doctor travels, to our honeymoon, to my daily commutes. It was a really nice car, and I worked hard to keep it that way (minus the one fender scratch I got because of my bad parking skills). I felt comfortable in that car. And now it was gone. I wouldn’t ever even drive it again.

Now we needed to look for a new car, too. That brought on new grief: grief of time that I planned to use to do other things. Buying a new car isn’t quick. Nor are licensing, tagging, emission checks, etc. Grief upon grief.

It’s just a car. It’s not a place, or a person, or even a possession that has immense value. Although a car can enable kingdom work, I know I can’t take it to heaven. Even yet, I still feel grief. May God guide me through it, because man, this grief is piling up. "Just" grief or not, it's still grief, and it's painful.

*My passenger and I are sore, but okay. This accident could have been much worse, and we praise God for his provision in and through it, even with the grief.

Things I No Longer Do

'Tis the season to simplify. There are lots of things that I used to do, that I used to enjoy doing, that I don't do anymore. Priorities change in different seasons. In case it's helpful for your own recalibration, here are some things I've recently let go of (and what I've replaced them with, where applicable):

Researching and celebrating national holidays based on the National Day Calendar (Fun but I'm celebrating getting through each day a lot of days right now)

Reading every blog post by my favorite writers (Some of the stuff I don't need to know)

Extensive research pursuits (I find what I need to know to solve the problem at hand and move on)

Google searching for recipes (I used cookbooks instead.)

Making complicated recipes (Remember, simplifying?)

Browsing at the grocery store ("Get in and get out" is my motto most of the time!)

Thumbing through catalogs that come in the mail (It's not worth my time and can breed discontent.)

Watching movies on a regular basis (Shows are shorter and easier to pick up or let go.)

Listening to the radio (I would rather learn by listening to podcasts.)

Writing and mailing cards (This I mostly let go do to the pain of handwriting caused by focal dystonia. I still enjoy Facebook messaging and/or e-mailing people on their special days, though!)

Reaching out to friends who don't respond (I really hate this one! I'd like to keep up with people regardless of their response, but the truth is, I really don't have time. Friendships have seasons, too.)

Letting go, for me, has been gradual. In most of these cases, I didn't make a resolution not to do things. They just slowly faded in presence and prevalence. It's okay. Life is still okay. I still find joy. It just looks different.

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Readers, anything you've stopped doing recently? Why have you stopped doing it? And what are you doing instead? Please feel free to share in the comment section.

The Annual Pumpkin Recipe Roundup

It's that time again! Time for the annual fall pumpkin recipe roundup. I haven't been as intentional about making pumpkin things this year, but for what's it worth, here are the recipes I have tried.

Pumpkin spice creamer (Kim's Cravings)

Pumpkin superhero muffins (Rise and Run cookbook)

Chocolate pumpkin granola (Family Food on the Table)

Cinnamon pumpkin granola (Le Creme de la Crumb)

Pumpkin bars (The Flavor of Wisconsin cookbook)

And too many pumpkin mug cakes to list individually....

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Readers, have you found any new fall recipes? Or do you have tried and true favorites? Please share in the comments section.