Dear Me,
Well, if the last 40 years flew by quicker and quicker then I can only imagine that by the time you're reading this, it will feel like you had only just written it a short time ago.
So here are my four hopes;
I hope that I will have taken the initiative to DO things when the urge strikes because before I know it, it is too late and the final results would have already been achieved. Have we sat and sulked or gotten off of our butts and finished something? If not, it needs to happen because there is no tomorrow anymore. There is only today.
I hope that I will have taken time to spend with my husband. It is amazing to think that it has been 13 years that we have been married and over 20 since we met but by the time you are reading this, it will be 4 decades. That is a long time to keep a promise to God and without taking the time for each other it will be very difficult. Every time I make time for him I am thankful for what a wonderful husband I have been blessed with. It is only in the hustle and bustle of life that we lose patience with each other.
I hope that I will have taken time to spend with my kids. As time flies by faster and faster the kids grow more and more independent. Lily is currently in her 3rd year of ballet and loves Taylor Swift and painting her toenails and sleepovers. Trevor has just discovered Star Wars and is the biggest kid in his class. They both have so much potential. By the time I am reading this, Lily will be almost 30 and Trevor will be close behind. I don't dare to pray for things that they will have achieved or accomplished by then because God's plans are so much greater than mine. They are both the most amazing blessings and I hope that I can share as much as possible with them while they will let me.
I hope that I will have sustained my relationship with God. It's not a church thing, although that helps. It's a communication thing. It's hearing his voice in my heart and relying on him throughout the day. Things happen in life to people that cause them to lose their faith or fall away from God and I earnestly hope that I can keep the perspective of God's plan for me as the years progress.
Right now I have enough clients with tax returns to file to work when I want to and clean when I can. We try to travel if we can because we know it gets harder as we get older. Will we have taken the time to go places or have gotten too caught up in our lives to plan for time away?
Grandma Pearl turns 100 in about 45 days. I am looking forward to seeing her at her party and spending time with Mom and Dad and Eddie and Erika before we make the long RV trip back from Oregon with the kids. Dave is in his second year of insurance sales and the first year went well so we have pretty high hopes for this year as well. The house is almost complete in it's remodel and now there will be room for the kids to have their own rooms. At this point however, they enjoy sharing a room so it's a shame to split them up. Scott and Julie are moving in across the street and Trevor and Grady couldn't be happier about being able to play with someone in their neighborhood.
At almost 40 it seems selfish to ask for anything more than 40 years I already have of blessings. People say that God gives folks only what they can handle so it concerns me that either I can't handle much or God has something big in store for me. I think I prefer the former. Well, by the time this letter is read I suppose I will know that answer. I hope you still remember how much God loves you whether the blessings continue or you get sacrificed to the volcano in a grass skirt. Life is a wild ride and His plan for us is for us to prosper.
Love,
Your former self
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Fancy Schmancy
Well, you can't really tell from these pictures, but I got a great haircut this summer. I was referred to a local salon by several ladies on our mountain and they were right. The salon is in the process of transferring owners and the new owner and retiring owner both gave me consultation on my hair and the new owner performed the artistry. She added some layers for body, but not too long. She sculpted my bangs and adjusted my part. And then finally, for a little fun, she added "peek-a-boos" of color (a few small streaks under my normal color). I've gotten several compliments on it and plan to go back to her in the fall. HOORAY!
Sunday, September 20, 2015
138.8
So here was my secret:
1) Get the bad flu - didn't eat for 3 days and lost 5 lbs
2) Get appendicitis - didn't eat for 3 days and lost 4 lbs
Besides that? I just stopped eating so much crap.
It's not that I don't eat ANY junk, I just cut down the volume from truckloads to garbage bags. Seriously though. It was rather easy to go from 155 to 150. That sort of just happened with training for the run. Then I got sick and went down to 145. I hung around that weight for about 3 months. Then I had surgery and went down to 141.
From 141 to 139 was the hardest. My scale would ready 140.6 or 141.3 off and on with no rhyme or reason as to my excercise or eating habits. Then school started back up and I got on a regular schedule. Somehow one day it just happened. I didn't skip any meals. In fact, I intentionally ate breakfast when I didn't use to always do that. My staple breakfast is ham and egg(s). I've found that some protein in the morning helps me not snack so much before lunch.
This morning I was at 138.8 (down from 139.6) and yesterday I had 3 cookies so who the heck knows? I try to choose good snacks and if I crave something I eat only a little of it and keep less junk in the house to fend off temptations. It was just like that - Less Junk. Thank goodness this worked out before Halloween because I am a sucker for snacksize candy bars....
1) Get the bad flu - didn't eat for 3 days and lost 5 lbs
2) Get appendicitis - didn't eat for 3 days and lost 4 lbs
Besides that? I just stopped eating so much crap.
It's not that I don't eat ANY junk, I just cut down the volume from truckloads to garbage bags. Seriously though. It was rather easy to go from 155 to 150. That sort of just happened with training for the run. Then I got sick and went down to 145. I hung around that weight for about 3 months. Then I had surgery and went down to 141.
From 141 to 139 was the hardest. My scale would ready 140.6 or 141.3 off and on with no rhyme or reason as to my excercise or eating habits. Then school started back up and I got on a regular schedule. Somehow one day it just happened. I didn't skip any meals. In fact, I intentionally ate breakfast when I didn't use to always do that. My staple breakfast is ham and egg(s). I've found that some protein in the morning helps me not snack so much before lunch.
This morning I was at 138.8 (down from 139.6) and yesterday I had 3 cookies so who the heck knows? I try to choose good snacks and if I crave something I eat only a little of it and keep less junk in the house to fend off temptations. It was just like that - Less Junk. Thank goodness this worked out before Halloween because I am a sucker for snacksize candy bars....
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Dear Me
Dear 13-year-old me,
It's hard to image you were almost 3 decades ago. 1988? Yikes. Try not to get caught up in the fashion insanity. I have five things to tell you, so listen up.
First find something reliable to build your life around and stick with that - like sports. Stick with basketball and track because you like it, and are good at it, even when you eventually get beat. Despite what some people will say, being involved in sports is important because it keeps you out of trouble and is a useful outlet of that ridiculous amount of energy you have. Enjoy it now because by the time you're 40 you will need to drink some caffeine to feel that way. Keep running and jumping and kicking and hurdling. It will keep you healthy, eventually take you good places and introduce you to important people in your life.
Second, you are a sponge right now. Soak in all of the knowledge that you can handle. Eventually you will have so much LIFE going on that it is hard to find time to pick up a book or take a class and you will fall back on those things that you learn in high school and college. There are many key lessons to be absorbed and even if you miss the details, the bigger picture will stick. Keep direction and soak it all in.
Also, thank you for going to church. Even if it's not the church you eventually become a member of, it is the foundation of your relationship with God. And even if it doesn't answer all of your questions, it makes you ask them and that is important. Remember, if all of the answers were known, it wouldn't be called faith.
A hard reality to accept is that God believes that you are beautiful and one day you will look back at these pictures and wonder what all the fuss was about. Stop over-analyzing and worrying about pimples and hairs out of place and whether your belt matches your shoes. Being thin is not a fault, it's an asset and you will one day be so very thankful for healthy genes. By this time you have dated and by the way, none of them is not THE ONE...but then you know that. There is a "THE ONE" for you and you won't meet him for a while so in the meantime, you are young - have fun and try not to take it all so seriously. God's timing is perfect.
Finally, high school is about to start for you. Girls are mean. As nice as you try to be to them, there will be ones who are not nice back. There's just no other way to put that. Be nice to people and forgive them like you would one day hope to be forgiven. Some are going to hurt your feelings, others are going to betray your trust and eventually only two or three of them stay in touch with you until you are 40. But guess what? Those are the only ones who really mattered anyway and you know who they are. I just wish you knew how to focus on those good relationships and stop trying to please everyone who doesn't really eventually matter. When your feelings eventually get hurt by a girl or boy, try to keep perspective that in 4 years (which seems like an eternity now I'm sure, but trust me...er...you, it goes fast), you will all part ways and go out into the world and your life will consist only of those people that you allow into it. Be discerning because each person will have an influence on you. Not all of them will be good and not all of them will be bad. A big part of the next decade will be learning to tell the difference.
To be very non-specific, things work out. It's a great ride and your family is amazing and eventually, all the last three decades are worth whatever trials occur because it brings you here, to almost 40, and happy, and blessed.
Sincerely,
Your older self
It's hard to image you were almost 3 decades ago. 1988? Yikes. Try not to get caught up in the fashion insanity. I have five things to tell you, so listen up.
First find something reliable to build your life around and stick with that - like sports. Stick with basketball and track because you like it, and are good at it, even when you eventually get beat. Despite what some people will say, being involved in sports is important because it keeps you out of trouble and is a useful outlet of that ridiculous amount of energy you have. Enjoy it now because by the time you're 40 you will need to drink some caffeine to feel that way. Keep running and jumping and kicking and hurdling. It will keep you healthy, eventually take you good places and introduce you to important people in your life.
Second, you are a sponge right now. Soak in all of the knowledge that you can handle. Eventually you will have so much LIFE going on that it is hard to find time to pick up a book or take a class and you will fall back on those things that you learn in high school and college. There are many key lessons to be absorbed and even if you miss the details, the bigger picture will stick. Keep direction and soak it all in.
Also, thank you for going to church. Even if it's not the church you eventually become a member of, it is the foundation of your relationship with God. And even if it doesn't answer all of your questions, it makes you ask them and that is important. Remember, if all of the answers were known, it wouldn't be called faith.
A hard reality to accept is that God believes that you are beautiful and one day you will look back at these pictures and wonder what all the fuss was about. Stop over-analyzing and worrying about pimples and hairs out of place and whether your belt matches your shoes. Being thin is not a fault, it's an asset and you will one day be so very thankful for healthy genes. By this time you have dated and by the way, none of them is not THE ONE...but then you know that. There is a "THE ONE" for you and you won't meet him for a while so in the meantime, you are young - have fun and try not to take it all so seriously. God's timing is perfect.
Finally, high school is about to start for you. Girls are mean. As nice as you try to be to them, there will be ones who are not nice back. There's just no other way to put that. Be nice to people and forgive them like you would one day hope to be forgiven. Some are going to hurt your feelings, others are going to betray your trust and eventually only two or three of them stay in touch with you until you are 40. But guess what? Those are the only ones who really mattered anyway and you know who they are. I just wish you knew how to focus on those good relationships and stop trying to please everyone who doesn't really eventually matter. When your feelings eventually get hurt by a girl or boy, try to keep perspective that in 4 years (which seems like an eternity now I'm sure, but trust me...er...you, it goes fast), you will all part ways and go out into the world and your life will consist only of those people that you allow into it. Be discerning because each person will have an influence on you. Not all of them will be good and not all of them will be bad. A big part of the next decade will be learning to tell the difference.
To be very non-specific, things work out. It's a great ride and your family is amazing and eventually, all the last three decades are worth whatever trials occur because it brings you here, to almost 40, and happy, and blessed.
Sincerely,
Your older self
Sunday, September 13, 2015
My New Pals
I made friends with three of the NICEST ladies this year.
The first is my friend, Jen and she just moved out from Nebraska with her husband and son and daughter who just happen to be both of my kids' ages. My kids were both nagging me to go on a playdate with her kids and finally I relented and we took them bike riding last fall. Now, don't get me wrong. Every first meeting is awkward and has brief, uncomfortable pauses, but Jen and I seemed to get along pretty well right from the start. That was almost a year ago and I can honestly say she's become one of my better friends here on the mountain now. As much as I let anyone in, she has clicked pretty well with me and our kids definitely get along great. Now I just hope her husband (who works for the railroad) doesn't get transferred away from the mountain.
The second is Johanna. Her youngest daughter and mine are in the same class and have known each other for about 4 years now. Johanna and I have KNOWN each other that long but didn't really have time to talk much between all the runnings about that moms tend to do. For some reason this year our schedules melded better and she has become someone I can really rely upon and talk to.
The last is my neighbor, Kristi. Haha, funny, huh? My neighbor of TEN YEARS or so and we finally meet and guess what, she's not crazy or boring or annoying or anything! We actually get along really well and she will even put up with me when we golf, which is saying something because I'm not a great golfer.
It's cool because in setting out to make "A FRIEND" I opened myself up to several people and wound up being blessed with a few rather than one. Each lady is different in many ways and as it turns out, that is what makes each of them such a good fit. Plus, they put up with me, which is saying quiet a lot.
The first is my friend, Jen and she just moved out from Nebraska with her husband and son and daughter who just happen to be both of my kids' ages. My kids were both nagging me to go on a playdate with her kids and finally I relented and we took them bike riding last fall. Now, don't get me wrong. Every first meeting is awkward and has brief, uncomfortable pauses, but Jen and I seemed to get along pretty well right from the start. That was almost a year ago and I can honestly say she's become one of my better friends here on the mountain now. As much as I let anyone in, she has clicked pretty well with me and our kids definitely get along great. Now I just hope her husband (who works for the railroad) doesn't get transferred away from the mountain.
The second is Johanna. Her youngest daughter and mine are in the same class and have known each other for about 4 years now. Johanna and I have KNOWN each other that long but didn't really have time to talk much between all the runnings about that moms tend to do. For some reason this year our schedules melded better and she has become someone I can really rely upon and talk to.
The last is my neighbor, Kristi. Haha, funny, huh? My neighbor of TEN YEARS or so and we finally meet and guess what, she's not crazy or boring or annoying or anything! We actually get along really well and she will even put up with me when we golf, which is saying something because I'm not a great golfer.
It's cool because in setting out to make "A FRIEND" I opened myself up to several people and wound up being blessed with a few rather than one. Each lady is different in many ways and as it turns out, that is what makes each of them such a good fit. Plus, they put up with me, which is saying quiet a lot.
Monday, September 7, 2015
Never Again
Those folks are nutso.
First I got passed by a fit dude in a Peter Pan costume....moderately frustrating but acceptable. He was probably a regular runner, dressed in costume.
THEN I got passed by a larger Peter Pan dude. Slightly humiliating but I was happy to have made it 7 miles in the run so I took it in stride.
But finally, in the last mile, while I was walking and just happy to finish...I got passed by a peter pan dude who was so big that one would think he had no business running a half marathon. And yet, here I was, NOT in costume, mind you, walking my last mile.
I was humbled to say the least.
I was also passed by a dude in full Jedi regalia, complete with robe and light saber, a fully costumed alice and white rabbit (I'm talking - baseball mascot costume style), a couple Maleficents, a Donald Duck and about 101 dalmations....friggin' ridiculious.
BUT! I finished. In 5075th place, but I finished. Here's a link to my time. Thanks to MarathonFoto.com for providing proof that I was there. The picture even says "Proof" - haha!
Soooo....that happened. I will not be signing up for this next year. My darling sister ran with me though and finished way ahead of me, like a rockstar. I'll leave the distance running to her.
First I got passed by a fit dude in a Peter Pan costume....moderately frustrating but acceptable. He was probably a regular runner, dressed in costume.
THEN I got passed by a larger Peter Pan dude. Slightly humiliating but I was happy to have made it 7 miles in the run so I took it in stride.
But finally, in the last mile, while I was walking and just happy to finish...I got passed by a peter pan dude who was so big that one would think he had no business running a half marathon. And yet, here I was, NOT in costume, mind you, walking my last mile.
I was humbled to say the least.
I was also passed by a dude in full Jedi regalia, complete with robe and light saber, a fully costumed alice and white rabbit (I'm talking - baseball mascot costume style), a couple Maleficents, a Donald Duck and about 101 dalmations....friggin' ridiculious.
BUT! I finished. In 5075th place, but I finished. Here's a link to my time. Thanks to MarathonFoto.com for providing proof that I was there. The picture even says "Proof" - haha!
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Out With the Old
We have been in remodel mode for about 5 months now. My sweetheart has been working his tail off to make this nest a little bigger and one of those honey-do items is installing closets in our master bedroom. Finally, last weekend they were completed (although I still need to paint them) so I was able to move back in! Part of that process was discarding anything I haven't worn in a year or so and those things that I see myself in pictures and think "What was I THINKING?!?" I got rid of two big garbage bags of clothes and it felt GREAT.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Who Knew?
He knew.
With a capital H...He.
I made myself get a primary care physician last fall for no real apparent reason (a wart on my toe). His only recommendation to me? - take vitamin D supplements.
And then?
Then I came home one night this August with pain in my abdomen and vomited all night. I thought it was food poisoning but after about 2 minutes in his office, he sent me to the emergency room and kept me from having a ruptured appendix by correctly diagnosing appendicitis.
A surgery and a month of recovery later I am fit as a fiddle with only a couple minor scars.
God has perfect timing.
With a capital H...He.
I made myself get a primary care physician last fall for no real apparent reason (a wart on my toe). His only recommendation to me? - take vitamin D supplements.
And then?
Then I came home one night this August with pain in my abdomen and vomited all night. I thought it was food poisoning but after about 2 minutes in his office, he sent me to the emergency room and kept me from having a ruptured appendix by correctly diagnosing appendicitis.
A surgery and a month of recovery later I am fit as a fiddle with only a couple minor scars.
God has perfect timing.
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