Soul

  • Body,  Mind,  Soul

    Haircut Update- Note to my Future Self

    Why is it when your hair is short it seems to grow so fast?  After about 4 weeks my new short hair cut was getting in my way and I had to start securing it back when I was at work.  I planned to get my hair trimmed but just procrastinated and could not get an appointment till about 12 weeks after the initial cut.  I went to a different salon and again showed my idea pictures to the stylist.  She added more layers to help my hair take advantage of the natural curl.  She diffused it to keep the curl and I was in love with the final result. …

  • Mind,  Soul

    Pre-Halloween 2021

    I have always been a fan of Halloween for the simple fact I get to dress in costume. Part of it is getting to wear something fancy and or fun but the other part is expressing my creativity. I will use any excuse to make or buy a new costume.  Last year derailed me in my pursuit of the perfect Halloween costume.  As usually happens when Halloween does not fall on a work day, my enthusiasm waned.  The Hallowed Half Marathon was deferred and my costume I spent the last year perfecting would not be needed.  A handful of us met to run the race unofficially, I wanted to save…

  • Soul

    Graduation Shoes

    As often as I have been eligible to walk at graduation, I have only walked 3 times.  My first was my eighth-grade graduation and I have no pictures of this day.  I passed on my high school graduation as I dropped out my senior year and transferred into an adult program where I did not know anyone. There was too much drama in my life when I earned my two associate degrees and again passed on the opportunity.  The stars did not align for me to attend my graduation for my bachelor’s degree either.  After earning my bachelor’s degree I started adjunct teaching, while working at the college as a…

  • Mind,  Soul

    Progression of the Beach Day

    I am fortunate to have always lived near the Atlantic Ocean.  My parents’ childhood included regular trips to the beach in the summer and they took me often enough to cement that love in my life.  My earliest memory of the beach, I was about 5, we were in Wildwood with some of my older cousins.  We spent the entire time in the water jumping waves and hanging out in the swells, it was a glorious day!  When I was eleven we moved to the Wildwoods and I gained unlimited beach access!  During my teens, it was grabbing a towel and a book and head to the beach with some…

  • Body,  Mind,  Soul

    An Object in Motion- My Early Running Days

    I wrote this blog Fall of 2020 I live my life by Isaac Newton’s first law of motion, an object in motion stays in motion.  While yes you will find me sitting still playing computer games, checking Facebook, and searching the net or reading I am also usually plotting my next undertaking.  During my doctoral program, the perfect storm occurred to rekindle a past love, my love of running.  I had gained some weight from eating to stay awake to write and lack of movement, I started to look for something to get me moving.  The easiest thing I could do was to start taking walks, about this time my…

  • Mind,  Soul

    I am a Princess

    I have often let myself be treated poorly or let others take advantage of me.  Just over twenty years ago I made some drastic changes in my life to start putting myself in a safer space and to improve myself.  It has been a slow journey and I feel like a late bloomer to only be figuring all of this out now that I am 50 and I am still a work in progress!  References to being a princess have been popping up and I thought I would take some time to think about myself as a princess.  One of the daily plans I read in my Bible app is…

  • Body,  Mind,  Soul

    My First Marathon

    I am thrilled to announce I am officially a marathoner!  I completed my first marathon on April 25, 2021, in Chesapeake, Virginia.  A week out I did not think I was ready, I had overtrained and had issues with the muscle on the side of my knee.  I took the week off from running, foam rolled, did my PT exercises, electric stim, and a ton of BioFreeze to try to calm the muscle.  My confidence in my ability to complete the 26.2 miles was shaken and as much as I wanted to just not go, I had told too many people about it to back out.  I over-packed my bags…

  • Body,  Mind,  Soul

    Getting Out, Our Ski Adventure

    As I have mentioned in previous blog posts Covid has really left me feeling unproductive and trapped at home.  Every winter for at least the last 4 years my family has gone for a weekend ski trip.  This year it was not looking like it would happen but I kept thinking I needed to get us out of the house and do something.  I checked the state website and found I could travel to our bordering states without the need to quarantine when I returned, I confirmed this was acceptable with my employer and started planning our trip. My girls wanted to try snowboarding this year and the usual resort…

  • Mind,  Soul

    Emergency Stop Button Update

    When I wrote the original post in January 2020, who knew the Covid-19 pandemic was on the way.  Due to Covid, I effectively received my emergency stop.  I had taken some vacation days when I was called to come into work to finish up some things before we started working for home for what I thought would be about two weeks.  At first, I was gung ho about working from home tackling paperwork projects that often took a back seat to preparing labs.  I started actually taking my lunch breaks, something I did not do when at work.  The introvert in me was more than happy to be sequestered away…

  • Soul

    Lent 2021

    Lent has begun and in the past, I have kept with the tradition and given up something for the forty days.  One year it was coffee, if you know me, you know I never stood a chance that year but I was able to cut back the amount I had daily.  Sugar was another Lent of failure as I just could not stay away from its tempting sweetness.  A few years back I gave up giving up something for Lent but instead looked to add new habits to my life that I could continue well past the Lenten season.  That first year I decided to make time to read the…