Running Your Own Race

COVID has brought a lot of changes to life. I registered for two races last year and both went virtual. I had two races in mind so far for this year, and both got postponed. I felt disappointed, and I was still motivated to train and race. So guess what? I made my own races.

The first race was supposed to be a spring, "Running with the Beards" I did with my husband. We made our training plans and a week or so afterward, it got postponed until the fall. We decided to train and run on the day anyway. I wanted it to feel like a real race, so I ordered things to make up my own swag bag. We took pictures and we went out for breakfast after we ran. All components of a good race day, if you ask me.

The second race was a 10K that also got postponed. A friend and I talked about running a race together, but that got put off due to scheduling issues. I did not want to lose the stamina I had built in base building and training I had put in, so I set out to do it anyway. I picked a time and a place and a pace and set out for it. I did not do as well as I did in my first 10K, but hey, I did it, and I did it alone.

There is a time and a place for racing. Man, I sure do miss it! I think there is a place for running your own race, too. Pick the components of racing that matter to you (time, place, pace, photos, and after party activities for me), and make them happen. (If you don't want to plan, consider enrolling in a virtual activity through a company like I Run for Movement.) You could also do a racing challenge with a long distance friend, like I did for the Avo-Cardio 10K last weekend.

David and Megan Roche write in The Happy Runner about racing as celebration. Celebration is possible without actual races. You just have to do it, make your own race and then run it.

Arkansas, Actually

"Arkansas, actually." That's what I say when people ask me where I went to school. I received not one, but both of my degrees from a little school in Siloam Springs, Arkansas called John Brown University. It was by no means a perfect school, but I am thankful for it. And this past weekend, Chris and I got to return to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the school.

We started off our journey with an early morning trip to the airport. We of course got delayed in Dallas, but we took some good Texas pictures.

And I found some Twisted Root:

It took us a bit to get our rental car, but they were out of the economy model I requested, so we got to toodle around in this Hyundai Tucson. 

Off we went to the mall for some birthday shopping, and then to Hammontree's for some gourmet grilled cheese.

(I got the Ragin' Cajun, with andouille sausage and poblano peppers on cornmeal bread.)

Then off to our gracious hosts and to bed for the night.

I woke up decently early Friday morning and decided to go for my 4.5 mile jog. I forgot that Arkansas has hills....

Then it was off to the centennial chapel and time capsule opening. 

The time capsule opening was not that fantastic, but hearing them read what is going into the new time capsule was pretty funny. Who knows what will happen in the next 50 years? And seeing my best friends from college made everything all the better.

After the time capsule, it was alumni shopping time and lunch time. We visited my great aunt and uncle, I took Chris to see the camp where I spent some growing up years, and then we had dinner with our host family. 

Saturday was walk with a friend,

coffee time, rugby,

 and the Homegrown festival. 

Chris and I basically just hung out with my Arkansas best friend until lunch time. 

Lunch was the vegetarian burrito at La Huerta, an old favorite!

I napped Saturday afternoon because I was SO tired. Then we went to dinner at Barnett's.

(I mean, I really just went for the ice cream.)

Then off to the showcase and fireworks. 

The fireworks show was pretty epic if I do say so myself.

We had another early flight Sunday morning, more flight delays, and a long day in Phoenix, but it was worth it.

Sweet potato red pepper sandwich at Worth Takeaway

Here's to another 100 years, JBU, Lord willing!

How We Had a Low Stress Wedding

I've attended more weddings than I am years old. And weddings tend to stress me out. They're so special and celebratory, but they can also be so detailed and over-the-top. They can also be bride-centric and somewhat exclusive of the groom. So when it came to my own wedding, I wanted to go simple and low stress, and include my groom, because this wedding wasn't happening without Chris! Here's how we did it.

Invitations

We didn't send out save the dates. With as short of an engagement as we had, we really didn't have time.

We sent out a one page photo announcement/invitation. I liked the idea of people having a picture of us even if they could not attend the ceremony.

We didn't include an RSVP reply card. Instead, we asked people to RSVP via our Knot website. This was inconvenient for some, and for that we apologize, but it really worked best for us and for our budget.

We kept invitations pretty open. If people saw us and told us they wanted to attend, we invited them. Planning a simple ceremony allowed that.

The Ceremony

We kept it simple. We wanted the focus to be on the Lord and on our vows, so we asked our pastor to officiate that way. He did an amazing job.

We limited our attendants to two each. We have many family and friends we value and could have asked to stand with us, but we stuck to one friend and one family member that we knew would support us in our vows.

We chose not to do a meal. Again, this was inconvenient for some, and for that, we apologize. But we wanted to keep the reception short, and we wanted to have an open invitation policy. That meant no elaborate food plans.

We cut everything that didn't matter to us. Wedding cake? Cut. First dance? Cut. Bouquet and garter toss? Cut. Chris developed some "filter questions" for our ceremony and if something didn't honor God, enrich our marriage, or specifically exist to bless our guests, we got rid of it. That allowed us to keep and focus on what really mattered to us: our covenant of marriage and the friends and family who came to support us in it.

The Decorations

Get a planner. Here's where not everyone can do what we did. My best friend is an amazing amateur decorator, florist, wedding planning, do-it-all type gal. I flew her out to help me find my wedding dress, and we planned a lot of the wedding that weekend. She then collected other decorations, made our bouquets and boutonnieres, etc. and brought them with her. Her help was invaluable.

Use food. My best friend and mom proposed using pinto beans and split peas in jars to decorate (since we had a cactus/southwest theme). This was a great idea! The decorations cost less and were even repurposed into after-wedding food, like the split pea soup we made in our Insta-Pot the first week we were home.

Let other people take the lead. Again, not everyone can do what we did, but I told everyone that my best friend was in charge, and left. Yes, I let other people decorate the church without me. It was less stressful for me and truly let me get some rest in my body, soul, mind, and spirit before the big day.

So it goes without saying, but a big part of our low stress wedding is thanks to my best friend.

The Day Of

Go low key with exercise. I knew I wanted to get outside the morning of the wedding, but I also didn't want to get all sweaty. So I went with an early, low-key stroll. That was enough to help center my mind without stressing my body and getting all nasty and gross.

See the groom. This broke status quo, but Chris he was a big part of helping me not get overly caught up in details or stressed about things. I also didn't like the idea of not seeing him the entire day before we made a lifelong commitment before God and men. So before I got my makeup done or we started getting ready, we spent a few minutes together to try to wrap our heads around the day and what was in store for us.

Do calming activities. There was so much I could have done the day of the wedding, but I wanted to be a calm and collected bride for my groom, so I just said, "No." Instead, I looked at social media, read a book, colored, and blogged.

Go professional for makeup. I wasn't originally on board with this, but my best friend suggested it, and I am so glad she did. I went to Ulta, so it wasn't super expensive, and having someone else do my makeup improved my confidence and made it easier on my bridal party and attendants.

Order food you will want to eat. I was worried I wouldn't be hungry or want to eat the day of the wedding, so I ordered my favorite Chick-Fil-A salad. I'm so glad I did. It tasted good and kept me fueled for the long day ahead.

Get ready with family and girlfriends. All those girls I might have wanted to ask to stand with me? I invited them to get ready with me. They (and their cute kids) kept me entertained and not too anxious. My mom was also there, which helped a ton!

Have room to pace. Again, this might not be possible for everyone, but we had a fairly large room (the church fellowship room) for getting ready, and when I started to feel anxious, I walked, yes, wedding dress and all. I'm thankful that I had comfortable shoes!

Pray! My friends prayed with me and for me during the wait time, and I know that made the greatest differences.

Was our wedding perfect? No, but it was wonderful. And besides being wonderful because of the man I married, it was wonderful because it was very low stress, something this perfectionistic, type A girl needed in order to really enjoy and be present for the day.

Moments and Memories

I never thought I'd have a wedding day. And then I did. Marrying Chris was (and is!) such a blessing, but there are so many other God-things about the wedding weekend and wedding day that I want to remember:

1) Having my entire family back together again. Thanks little brother for majorly inconveniencing yourself with work in order to make it!

2) Having both my best friends in the same place at the same time. And on National Best Friend's Day, at that!

3) Saturday night family dinner. I was initially opposed to this, but seeing and spending time with maternal and paternal relatives before the wedding was such a blessing.

4) Not having to decorate, and being able to nap instead. I read some time ago in my Savor devotional that "what make[s] a wedding day perfect is...a bride and groom who are happy, connected, and present" (p. 165). The best gift I felt I could give Chris was an unfrazzled bride. Letting go of decorating and resting was one way I did this.

5) Our rehearsal dinner. One of our sweet friends and her cohorts decorated for us and put scriptures about love on each table. The decorations were both beautiful and meaningful.

6) Prayer at my girls' get together/bachelorette. My friends prayed the sweetest things over me and thanked God that they got to be part of my life for my long single season. The words they said and offered up were so encouraging. They gave me a ton of gifts, as well as a notebook with well wishes and a long list of fun questions for Chris and I to discuss on our honeymoon drive. Thanks, girls!

7) Singing "To God be the Glory" right before the ceremony. My Mom prayed for God's glory in the ceremony, and then we had more time to sign. Hearing my best friends, mom, and bridesmaids sing alongside me was probably the best moment outside the ceremony.

8) Having our niece and nephew as flower girl and ring bearer. They were the cutest! And they stood through the whole entire ceremony. Basically, they're rock stars!

9) Dismissing our guests row by row. It is still hard for me to remember everyone who attended our wedding, but I am so glad we at least got to see and greet them all as we dismissed them to the reception. This made us feel better about not being present for much of that time. We really wanted the reception to be for the guests and not us anyway.

There are many more moments and "God-things" from wedding weekend that I could probably share, but for now, this is a pretty good list.

Don't Judge My Jeans (Or Whatever Pants I'm Wearing)

I didn't wear jeans until around fifth grade. I didn't like the way they fit or felt. I started wearing jeans when I moved to Arizona and was made fun of incessantly for my stretchy pants. I had a love/hate relationship with jeans shopping. I had to wear cowboy Wranglers for awhile to get them long enough. Later, I paid too much for Calvin Klein jeans that fit, but quickly ripped. I found some St. John's Bay jeans that fit for awhile, but then JC Penney stopped selling them. My last pairs of jeans were hand-me-downs from my Arkansas best friend. I outgrew one pair and the other is only good for winter. I told myself to look for new jeans and I occasionally did, but I didn't buy any last year. And I didn't for most of this year.

So what did I buy? Yoga pants and legging. They're not for everybody or every job, but they work for me. I spend a lot of my work days playing with kids. My body is constantly changing and fluctuating in size and yoga pants will fit most of the time. Yoga pants are cheaper and easier to clean than jeans anyway. And I can buy multiple pairs for the price of one pair of jeans. It seems like a win to me. And it feels more authentic.

Clothes are so much of a status symbol. And I'm not saying I'm immune. But what I am advocating for is more acceptance. Please don't judge me or the person next to me based on our pants (or our pant sizes!). You never know why a person wears what the clothes they wear. Those clothes might be all they have. Those clothes might be medically or job necessitated. Those clothes might be a marker of that person trying to accept their body. Those clothes might be just for comfort in a stormy season of life. Whatever the case, don't judge.

Side note: I did finally buy one pair of jeans. They're the same brand as my best friend hand-me downs, but decidedly shortly. They work with boots, so for this season, they'll do....

Butterfly Run 2.0

I like running. Maybe I'll do a post some other time about all the reasons why, but this post will be about one particular time I liked running: The Butterfly Run this past weekend in Tempe.

The Butterfly Run is a partnership between Nationwide Children's Hospital and Big Lots. It is designed to bring awareness to pediatric behavioral health issues and raise money for research into the causes of and treatment of the same. This was my second time running the race (a recap of my first is here) and I will run it again if I can. I like running, but I'm also passionate about the mental health of children.

The course this year was once again at Kiwanis Park. We went around the opposite way around, however. I did make all the turns and got in the full race this time, unlike last year when I had to run around a little extra to get in the 5K.

One of my friends ran with me, and my best friend from Arkansas watched, so that made the race extra fun. I've been sick and haven't been running that much or that hard lately. I've also been focusing more on physical therapy for my dystonia and gaining muscle than I have been on speed training. But somehow, I made really good time and set a personal record on this course. I also got first place in my gender/age division (only six people, but still, I'm thankful). 

The weather Saturday was beautiful and I got to go to brunch and spend time with my best friend after the race. We ate at The Uprooted Kitchen, wandered the gardens surrounding it, and then went shopping at Marshall's. 

I like running for a lot of reasons, but this weekend, I particularly liked it for the ways it allowed me to connect with causes and people I care about. My heart was filled and I came back from my "mini-vacation" a happy girl. Thank you, Lord!