Heels

Amy and I swore at the Dodson wedding that we were officially done blogging. I no longer had any inspiration, it seemed like more of a burden than fulfilling. She felt the same. So we were done.

And... it lasted only a month for me. Her too.

This time around, I'm taking a more concentrated approach where my thoughts will be focused around a theme: being brave. This new blog will be more consistent and will emphasise the little things of bravery in my life. It will hold me accountable for living out my life motto by making sure that I do something brave each week that I can blog about. I also hope it will inspire you to seek out acts of bravery each day; pushing yourself past the comfortable limits to make life extraordinary.

My closet contains an assortment of shoes that I have collected over the years. Of course there are an overabundance of running shoes and many flats, but I do have a few pairs of heel that only seem to make it out of the shoe box for weddings and other events. Occasionally, I find myself pulling a pair of wedges or patent leather heels out, trying them on with an outfit, and then losing the courage to wear them outside of my room. Probably a mix of not wanting to draw any sort of unnecessary attention to myself and not wanting to be taller than most of the men, makes me put them away.

I was tired of that.

These past two weekends, I went out. Instead of putting the heels back in their boxes, I put on my new J. Crew pants accompanied with the heels and confidently walked out the door.

My bravery for the week :)

Happy Travel Eve!

It's the eve of my holiday travels!!! I cannot contain my excitement, so I may as well use my blog as an outlet!!! First stop: San Antonio for the cross country coaching convention! Lots of learning with lots of runners. Next: Colorado for the Brunko-Dodson wedding!!! Hellooooo Hillsdale reunion and dancing and an open bar (?) and mountains and friends friends friends!!! Finally: Grand Rapids for Christmas! Family, friends, trees, food, coldness, Detroit City, cousins, ahhh it's just exciting! The Christmas season is simply magical and that becomes more and more present as the years pass.

Some good times:

Some ridiculousness with Erin and Kerry at the Dale, fun night!

Cousins!

Amy and Erin... reunion!

Oh yeah...

I forgot to post this a few weeks ago, I went surfing :) It was quite an experience, challenging, but fun. I stood up about 4 times!

Present for Advent

Life is busy, but I keep falling into that terrible rut of thinking of the future way too often and desperately wanting it to come as fast as it can. In a week I go to Texas, then Colorado, then good ol' Grand Rapids. That trip can't come soon enough. Then, while I am sleepily sitting in class, I look even farther down the road dreaming of the day when I will never sit in a class again. I swore in undergrad I would never go to school again... that lasted a whole year. These destructive thoughts drive me into a rut and I increasingly become dissatisfied with the present. Not good. My stomach gets all twisted with useless urges to unravel my future. Of course, I don't have the power to do that.

So, as I enter into the season of Advent, I need to focus more on today, enjoying today and living today as if today is that last day. That's what Advent is for, anticipating the second coming of Christ and we approach the annual celebration of His first coming. That means living this moment and patiently awaiting the future, because on God knows, today could be it.

"The liturgy of Advent helps us to understand fully the value and meaning of the mystery of Christmas. It is not just about commemorating the historical event, which occurred some 2,000 years ago in a little village of Judea. Instead, it is necessary to understand that the whole of our life must be an 'advent,' a vigilant awaiting of the final coming of Christ. To predispose our mind to welcome the Lord who, as we say in the Creed, one day will come to judge the living and the dead, we must learn to recognize him as present in the events of daily life. Therefore, Advent is, so to speak, an intense training that directs us decisively toward him who already came, who will come, and who comes continuously." -Pope John Paul II

No time... but I'm still wasting it

Lately, I've been struggling to find topics to blog about. I don't have as much time to just sit and think as I have had in the past. I guess that is what happens as you get older and have more responsibilities, you loose that free time to figure out the world. That means I need to squeeze in those thoughts as much as I can now; figure out the world a little more before I get too busy with old age.

On a different topic, this is my newest obsession and guilty pleasure: Pinterest. The website where you pin your favorite pictures from the web. So many crafty things, yummy recipes and stunning photos. What a time sucker, but I love it and have many new inspirational projects and ideas that I can thank Pinterest for. Here is something I found the other day, it kind of looks like my room in NJ... Too bad I don't live in NJ anymore.

Stormy Days

It's raining in Southern California today. What a rarity. A drizzly day like half the days in the Midwest. But it fit for today, it matched my mood, and I ended up cherishing it more than I would ever expect.

A few weeks ago, I received a letter from a friend who just recently moved from California back to the east. After being in California for four years for school, and though he enjoyed the weather, he discovered a certain appreciation for the cold dreariness. I anticipate I'll be the same. Though I love seeing the sun daily, it's almost too good to be true, too easy of a life, even though it is wonderful. But I'll just be a Midwest girl through and through.

Of course, a stormy day leads to some shopping. I've been craving new music. Amy posted about her new favorite song reminded me of a Best Buy gift card and a CD I wanted to buy: Lady Antebellum. I love this song.

Conference: Then and Now

The conference championship is the pinnacle event of the season at the high school and collegiate level in every sport. Athletes fire up to race familiar competition, coaches strive for bragging rights in the running community, and athletic directors schedule this one race each season to say they have watched each team under their domain compete.

My good memories of conference races are rather sparse. Senior year high school cross country at Johnson Park: I made the All-Conference team placing 9th. Senior year track at Hillsdale: I finished 2nd in the 5k. Other than that... lots of crying, slow times and sprained ankles. Only now, after time spent away from my own internal sufferings on the pavement, can I look back and say: "Was racing really as important as I built it up to be?" Was it bad enough to have sleepless pre-race nights, hours of nerves with butterflies filling my stomach, or ceaseless amounts of envious thoughts toward my teammates who beat me in workouts or races??? Ummm... NO! What a waste of energy! And on such a simple activity!

We had SCIAC Championships this past Saturday and the day could not have turned out better on the Men's side, well it could always be better, but it was everything we asked for! Four All-Conference athletes in the top twenty with Alex finished 2nd. Awesome!! Then the ladies with Micaela finishing 16th for All-Conference honors as well. They all proved to me that with a mind focused on the goal at hand, any goal is achievable.

Congratulations the Leopard Cross Country! Regional time...

Coaches and All-Conference athletes!