• Body,  Mind

    2020 Running Year in Review

    As with many people as the year comes to a close I look back on the year to see what I accomplished and set goals for the upcoming year.  Since this is the first time I am doing this on my blog I feel the need to catch you up.  I have always enjoyed running and yet when I was younger never participated in any running sports, although there was one field day in sixth grade where I was selected to run for my class.  I couldn’t tell you the distance, maybe a quarter of a mile tops.  I ran my hardest, and at the end I remember it being…

  • Body,  Mind

    Snow Skiing

    As I have mentioned in other posts, I feel I am a late bloomer when it comes to taking on adventure and trying new things. An example is skiing.  The first time I finally went skiing I was in my late 20’s.  When I was younger my Dad talked about taking us but we never got around to it.  In junior high and high school there were yearly day trips but that was something my family could not afford.  In college one of my favorite professors, Dr. McGrellis was the ski club advisor. If I joined I could go for free by fundraising, a week in Vermont sounded wonderful but…

  • Soul

    Sin & Shame

    I have an hour commute to work, each way.  I mainly listen to music during this time with an occasional podcast.  A few years back I noticed how angry I was while driving, it seemed every little thing other drivers were doing had me yelling at them.  Things like “ nice turn signal,” “sure you can cut me off” or just, “what on Earth are you doing?” I would arrive at work or home very agitated and I realized my commute was robbing me of time with my family and time to be productive.  Lent was coming up and I don’t always give something up but sometimes try to incorporate…

  • Soul

    Holiday Traditions

    As we approach Christmas, I have taken the time to reflect on holiday traditions.  As so many things have changed in my life over the years the traditions I keep at the holidays have changed too. From my childhood, pre parents divorce, I remember a fake tree that we used some years but most years we had a live blue spruce that was then planted in the yard after the holidays.  Except the one year we had a pine that my dad insisted would fit, needless to say it did not and we had two trees that year!  Christmas meant taking out the electric race cars and setting up the…

  • Mind

    Charlie Daniels

    At the end of last school year my middle daughter needed to interview someone for her music class.  Being stuck at home with little options there I was.  We talked about music I like and the few concerts I have attended and then the question that really started my thinking was who is one artist you want to see in concert that you haven’t.  Charlie Daniels came to mind immediately.  I wanted to see him in concert since I was about nine years old. Logistics, timing and money prevented me from attending concerts when I was younger.  Over the years I attended a few concerts that were held at small…

  • Mind,  Soul

    Friendship

    I always felt that I do not easily make friends.  Sure there were days on the playground when you were invited to play with a group and I remember having an epic day but lasting friendships did not result.  Over the years I connected with a person or two and developed some close relationships that always ended due to typical childhood drama and my lack of healthy relationships to mirror.  There were a couple of friendships that dissolved due to moving but looking back they probably would have self-destructed eventually.  So now that I am growing up I realize that I was always too giving to friendships for fear that…

  • Body,  Soul

    Connecting with God Through Running

    When I started a couch to 5K program in 2016 it was simply to get active and shed some unwanted pounds.  Little did I realize I would start running again and all the benefits that running could provide in ways other than improving my health.  My first few outings were alternating between walking and running, I could not sustain a run pace very long and often could not run for more than 30 seconds at a pace close to a 15 minute mile. I joined a virtual challenge to complete 100 intentional miles in 3 months, this group had its own Facebook page and was women only.  I was in…

  • Mind

    Goodbye To-Do-List

    With our recent change in our daily life activities I have been struggling with my lack of productivity. As a person who is usually on the go working on tasks and chores that need tending to, not being productive is difficult for me.  I have been mentally beating myself up that I am not using my new found home time as productively as I could. In an effort to get back in the groove, last week I made a huge to-do-list of all of the projects around the house I need to do and want to do. I thought this would motivate me into action, on the contrary I feel…

  • Mind,  Soul

    Emergency Stop Button!

    I started this endeavor of creating a blog over the Christmas holiday thinking I would have some time to get it done.  I bookmarked a Facebook ad about how to create a blog and my Christmas break seemed like a good time to read it; little did I know it was a five-day class to have a blog up and running!  I jumped in with both feet and I did it, but I didn’t stop there.  I also started my first Twitter page I added a second Instagram changed my Pinterest to a business page and made a new page on my Facebook linking everything.  Next, I wrote a couple…

  • Soul

    Wandering Paths

    Sometimes our path isn’t what we think it should be. It has taken me many years to come to terms with the fact of the things that I thought I wanted to do or be never came to fruition and how I wished that my past was different so many times.  I often thought I could’ve done this or I wish I had different parents, or a different upbringing, many years of struggling with the should of, could of, I finally realize those experiences are what made me who I am today.  I finally came to terms with this by thinking about where those could of and should ofs would…