My Motivation

I have decided to run more.  For years I've run a couple of times a week, most weeks, ok, a lot of weeks.  Of course there have also been times when I didn't run for weeks or months for personal or health reasons.  I had a lower lumbar spinal fusion, pneumonia, ankle sprains, three children-one of which was high risk and resulted in an emergency c-section, etc... I've been a military wife/mom, I've been a single mom, and now I'm a married civilian mom raising my children mostly alone because my husband's job keeps him away about 75% of the time.

Since my competitive years (I started when I was 9 and ran in high school and collegiately), running is more of a social event for me than anything else.  I doubt I will ever be as fast as I once was.  It's not that it's impossible, but it's just not a priority.  I enjoy running with others and find it difficult to get out the door and run alone.  Last year I found a running group where I lived and made fast friends with a few members who lived just miles from me.  I ran alone a few days a week, as well as with my new friends once or twice a week.  I've since moved for grad school, but whenever I go home we do our best to meet up and run on Saturday mornings.

Generally, I lack motivation. I think it may be the procrastinator in me....but I want to run more.  Lack of motivation stems from: the hellish South Texas heat and humidity (heat index consistently in the triple digits), maintaining the house, keeping up with three boys-two of them under the age of 3, and my courseload.  I took 15 hours last semester (my first semester), 9 this Summer and will be taking 16 in the Fall.  I actually just got a phone call informing me that my request for an overload was granted.  A lot of times I also just have no one to watch the boys-we moved from away home for me to attend grad school, plus the great friends I've made are in my program and have the same class schedule as I do.

Lately though, I have been motivated.  I read several blogs about fitness, running and nutrition which makes me daydream about accomplishing my own, similar goals.  I've been reading them for months, however, and it hasn't really lit much of a fire in me.  My true motivation is coming from people who are just beginning (or re-beginning) their fitness journeys.  Maybe it's less intimidating, or because I know their struggles.  Those who are well into their journey make it seem so easy and effortless.  I guess I feel like I have training partners in the newbies because we are dealing with the same demons and their small words of encouragement through a text or social media means they're watching me too.
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Two weeks ago I decided to amp up the motivation and make an actual goal for myself.  I've run more races in my career than I could even begin to count but never anything over a 10k.  My goal is to complete the Hill Country Half in October.  Excerpt from their race description on active.com:
 "Lookin' for that new 1/2 marathon challenge in your life and a race worthy enough to call Texas home? Wrestle up your favorite runnin' shoes cuz the elements that make Texas great from the wide open spaces to the native landscape covered hills await you along a very scenic & smooth roads in and around the JW Marriott.  When you're done, enjoy an after party full of everything Texan and the kind of relaxation only a world class resort can provide. Great group room rates available. We run Texas tough; no challenge too steep and no reward too luxurious. Are YOU ready for the challenge?"
Definitely a challenging first 1/2 marathon to pick, but hey if you're gonna go for it, go big!  Here's hoping for smooth training....

Weekend family time

Spent the weekend here!

This weekend we went "home" to visit both sides of the family.  HR's parents hadn't seen the boys in several weeks and my older sister was driving down to meet Sophia.  We stayed at my in-laws.  The pic above is part of their backyard.  Isn't it lovely?  I took dozens of pictures, but this was one of my favorites.  The boys played in the water and roamed around the "ranch".  I imagine they feel pretty adventurous back there.  There is lots to do and find there.

We took a little break from the outdoors and went to see Monster's University.  This was Trey's first movie theater experience.  He did really well and we all enjoyed the movie.  Caiden's bff and cousin Katelyn joined us as well.  It's always cute to see how protective he is of her (and his brothers), walking her to the bathroom and up to her door when we dropped her off.

Excited for movie time.

On Sunday my mom's boyfriend bbq-ed for us.  The boys, my sister and I had a blast playing with Sophia.  The boys couldn't get enough of her, always trying to hold her and kiss her.  

Have I mentioned the hubs had a chance to come down?  He was supposed to be off Wednesday, Thursday and Friday but wasn't able to come home afterall.  On Friday night they finally made it in from Buffalo, TX and he decided to drive down.  He arrived at 3am and had to be back in Kingsville by midnight to be ready to be called out.  So we spent the day playing with the boys and he left after dinner, around bedtime.  Such a treat for them (and me)!!!

Now it's back to reality....class tonight!

Back at it

So I obviously took a blogging hyatus, again.  It happened near the end of last year too.  I guess I just need a break from life by the end of the school year.  I focused on getting my thesis proposal done and turned in, potty training Trey and Caiden coming home for the Summer.  Good news I got all As and also, Caiden made it home in one piece....so proud of him for flying alone. He made it here a full week before he decided we were boring and asked to go visit his grandparents and cousins, lol.

Now I'm back at it.  I am taking 3 classes this Summer and have already signed up for the Fall 2013 semester-16 hours, eek!  I had to apply/request permission to take an overload.  Luckily, one of my "classes" is my practicum which means no assignments or tests (although I'd argue that all the lesson plans ARE assignments as they take a lot of creativity, time and energy) and another just changed from a 3 hour course to 4.

I had to stop running for a few weeks because I sprained my ankle pretty badly playing basketball with my nephews and niece.  I still got some moves and by the way, my team won!  So I have been slowly building back up, going from running only twice a week, to finally running all week this week.  It's been a grueling comeback as the temperatures are now soaring in the 80-90s and humidity in the mid- to high 70s...makes for "real feel" temps in the 90s and 100s.  It is exhausting, but I have been reading some great articles on acclimating to the heat.  I intend on staying exclusively outside for another week or two and then moving speed workouts indoors to benefit from them more (and not kill myself!)

I must say I enjoy running here, despite the almost unbearable temperatures.  There is so much beauty around me.  I love seeing the historical structures, wildlife, livestock, open fields, Texas/country pride...  Here a few images of where my feet have taken me:

Ryan, my poor baby, he burned his hand on my curling wand earlier this week.  I was taking Trey to the restroom one morning just before leaving for daycare when he wandered into my room, plugged it in and then apparently touched it to the top of his hand.  He didn't cry or scream, I had no idea it had happened.  He walked to the truck and climbed into his seat and still I had no idea.  I figured it out when we got to daycare and got this shot of it: 

I'm no expert, but we are guessing it borders between a 2nd and 3rd degree burn.  It now (3 days later) looks like this:

                                                         

That picture was immediately after I uncovered it,that's why it looks a little "wet".  I have done some reading and contacted the doctor by phone (HR just got a new job and we are having some insurance issues) and he assured me the color and secretions were typical of a burn.  A moist environment is needed for it to properly heal and the skin secretes plasma to help protect the raw skin.  We are keeping it covered most of the day, especially at daycare and letting it breathe in the evenings.  

This weekend I get to go home and visit family, my sisters, mom and I will all be together to have a little welcome party for my newborn niece - Sophia Grace.  

Bubba

Tomorrow is Caiden's 9th birthday!  NINE!  I can't believe how fast time has flown.  I still think of him as my little chunky monkey.

I'm so proud of the little man he has become.  He has always known exactly what he wants.  I know it may seem odd to refer to him as a man, but he has always been his age going on 30.  He's strong, intelligent and extremely rational.  He keeps us all grounded.  He has a keen sense for others emotions and feelings, and I've seen him lie to protect us.

I am bummed that I won't be with him on his big day, but I know he is happy.  He told me when he came down for Spring Break that he knew how hard this was for me because I love him so much and he loves me too, but that he was happy to be in California with his dad because his dad loves him too and deserves a chance to get to know him better.  He couldn't be more right.

His big wish every year: to have ALLhis family together in one place.  Maybe someday.....graduation maybe?

I love you son, I hope that you have a special day with your dad!  Happy Birthday!

Huarache Turbo

A good friend and former collegiate teammate of mine is a race director in the San Antonio area.  Her company name is Huarache Turbo.  She and her family help advertise, time and organize races for others (sister company is iaapweb.com), but she has also started to create her own races.  They are creative and fun and usually have a Mexican flair about them.  Her newest "baby" is a race here in Corpus Christi, about a half hour from where I am going to school!  The run starts and ends on the beach and is the weekend before my Summer session begins at school.

If anyone is interested in registering, contact me for a coupon code for $5 off =)

Anyway, she is my motivation for working so hard recently.  She has created 5 of her own races and I would really love to support her throughout the year.  (Visit www.huaracheturbo.com to find out about her races) Having some races to look forward to will also keep me motivated and consistent with my running.  I have been running a lot here in Kingsville, but not as much as I had hoped when we first moved here.  The amount of running I get in during a given week depends on the amount of work I have for class.  Tuesdays and Thursdays I usually don't run because I am at school all day until 5 and then have to pick up the boys, so I decided I would do bedtime Insanity after I put the boys to bed.

I definitely have to modify Insanity, at least for now.  I had back surgery several years ago and have avoided core work because I have a difficult time differentiating good pain from bad in this case.  So, Tuesday I did girl push-ups instead of regular ones because it is less weight and less work for my back.  Today's workout had a lot of squat jump.  Squats and lunges, if I do too many, send a shooting pain down my tailbone area.  So, I didn't try to keep up.  I set the goal of picking someone out in the video and doing every other one with them.  That seems to work.  My core feels tired and a little sore, but I don't feel any pain.  I'm hoping that I will build up the muscles in my core enough that I will someday be able to keep up.

Generally I would do my long run over the weekend.  Last weekend I ran 9 miles with two good friends back home.  This weekend HR won't be home to help with the boys, so if I'm not too sore, I'm going to try to run long tomorrow.

Spring Break with Caiden

My Spring Break flew by, and I wouldn't have it any other way!  I Minecrafted everything I could think of for Caiden's room.  Since we moved after he left and he never saw the place, I really wanted him to feel like this was his home too.  Trey generally sleeps in there, but I didn't tell Caiden that.  I just didn't want him to think he didn't have a space of his own or for him believe we forgot about him.  He loved it!  I racked up many, many cool points there!

Caiden arrived on Friday, May 15th, alone.  He was nervous about flying alone, but we knew that although we too were apprehensive, he is very mature.  He ended up loving it.  As he got off the plane he said, "That was so cool, I want to do it again."  His wish would come true two weeks later :/

Unfortunately because our schedules didn't coincide, I was only able to see him on the weekends.  It was hard knowing he was so close, yet still too far away.  We were able to make the most of it.  The first weekend was a lot of traveling and trying to see everyone, my family, my father's family and my husband's family.  My sister took us in that night he flew in and we spend Saturday at the playscape in San Marcos.

We played a few rounds of parkour; he beat me every time.

Sunday night Caiden read to his brothers before bedtime.  HR and I took the boys to daycare Monday, I skipped class, and we took Caiden to the aquarium, the two-story Whataburger in Corpus (per his request because it's the "best burger place ever" and there are none in Cali), and then to the beach for an hour or so before heading back to pick up the boys.

At the Aquarium

The second weekend I took Caiden and his best friend/cousin Katelyn to see The Croods in 3D.  My mom and younger sister joined us.  I normally wouldn't go to the movies, let alone a 3D one, but he really wanted to see it.  More cool points!

The 3rd and final weekend we spend with my husband's family celebrating Easter and visited with my mom for a bit before driving all night to San Antonio Saturday.

Lawn darts; he beat me yet again!

Sunday morning Caiden and I said bye to the boys and HR before heading to the airport.  As we left, Trey got emotional and hugged Caiden tightly, to which Caiden replied, "Such a harmless thing (to want to see his dad), but it hurts so bad."  He's too wise.  At the airport he saw that he would be flying with a girl about his age who was also an unattended minor.  He looks at me and said, "I guess I'll have to make the most of it."  What a ham!  Miss my wise little man.  Can't wait for Summer to have him back!!!

Minecrafting

In case you aren't familiar with the game, this is a screen shot from Minecraft.  I just want you to see how blocky everything is.









Caiden is coming to visit for 2 weeks during his Spring Break.  I wanted to do something special for him.  He is really into the game Minecraft, so I began minecrafting a green storage ottoman of his into a creeper character. Minecraft is all about square, pixelated images, I thought scrapbooking paper would be perfect for some wall art.  I printed out a Steve and Diamond Steve on photo paper and mounted them onto scrapbook paper.  From the available colors I had, I also managed to make a cow and a pig.

Then I was stuck about how to hang my art.  I didn't want to put holes in them.  I used to use a glue gun at school, but I was afraid it would tear the sheet rock.  I thought about using the tacky gummy stuff, but I couldn't find any.  Square frames aren't exactly the standard.  This morning I found these:

$6 dollar store decorative frames

They were almost perfect!  The scrapbook pages are 12x12; the openings in the frames were about 11.5x11.5.  I had to cut my squares down.  I died a little inside as it threw off my proportions slightly :(
I kind of wanted to redo them, but it was time consuming to get it right the first time around.  I'm sure Caiden will not be bothered (though he's a lot like me and probably WILL notice).

No one makes Minecraft licensed bedding. To solve the bedding issue, I bought green sheets and a brown comforter.  I pained a creeper face on one corner of the pillow.

I so wish I could paint one wall green, but we are renting.  I am now on the hunt for some bright blue curtains.  I plan on painting blocky white clouds on them.  I can't wait for Bubba to see his Minecrafted room!!!