Life is Good

Today was a jaw-dropping good day.  I woke up at 4 AM and went shopping with my wonderful mom and sister for clothes and Christmas presents. After leaving the mall, my sister and I drank chocolate milk and shared a platter of strawberry french toast while waiting for Nordstorm Rack to open at 8 AM. 
When we finally came back home around 9 AM, my dad took me to buy new running sneakers.
While eating lunch in the afternoon, my mom came into the kitchen with a thin black box in her hand. It had the two best words inscribed on the front - "You're in!". So I have been accepted to my dream school in Chicago. (:

It was such a good day that our refridgerator died from joy. Now my parents are doing something they never imagined they would have to do today - go shopping for a fridge on Black Friday.

Give thanks to the LORD for He is good, His love endures forever...

Thanksgiving

After two hours of cycling, wading/swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, and digging a 5 foot hole in the sand in order to bury my father up to his neck, my family went home to shower and prepare the Thanksgiving meal.

The apple cider brined turkey came out delicious - not soggy, not dry, perfect. The rest of the table held whole grain cornbread, mashed sweet potatoes with brown sugar, ciabatta rolls, green bean casserole, orange mandarin iced tea, sparkling pomengranate juice, and coffee.

After the meal Tina and I half-heartedly tossed a volleyball around in the backyard before taking a walk around the neighborhood.  I attempted to run, but the food digesting in my stomach held me at a waddling pace.

I jotted down a list of the things I am thankful for this year:

• God's Redeeming Grace: God's forgiveness of my sins and the many blessings he has poured upon my family make me acutely aware of how much He truly loves me despite my unworthiness. No matter what happens, I am secure in the hands of God.
• My Compassionate Family
• Physical Health & Strength

There are so many other things I am thankful for, and this verse reminds me that I should always keep an attitude of thankfulness.

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.  For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.   Colossians 3:15

Family Times


After strolling around downtown Hollywood and looking for a restaurant my whole family could enjoy, I chose an Italian restaurant, Plazza de Pasta. By "chose" I mean that I took a menu from the smiling greeter, showed it to my mom, and asked for an outdoor table by the scenic intersection. I have passed by this restaurant numerous times, and have always been impressed by one of the greeters, a lady who seems to wear a different maxi dress every day. The best part of the evening was the group of acoustic guitar players on the outdoor patio of the restaurant. I must admit that I was initially worried that they might be Mariachi singers (who are on my list of phobias), but my apprenhension was dissipated by the fact that they weren't wearing sombreros or singing.
My mom ordered fried zuchinni and calimari for an appetizer, which Tina persuaded me to try. For those of you who have never eaten fried squid before, it tastes like breaded and fried rubber bands.

Cheesy focaccia

 

Kristina munching on her marinara pizza


 

Timothy sampling some of dad's pizza



Outlet from Injury

Collecting a cache of running related pictures from my Runner World magazines, I put some of my favorite photos on a corkboard hanging next to my bed. I made this one before cross-country season, and it is leaving me longing to run despite my pulled hamstring. I only ran 2.5 miles last week and am crawling up the walls.

In a rampage of resourcefulness, I began using a Starbucks coffee cup to hold colored pencils, with a brown mug holding paintbrushes.  Of course, a bowl-like cafe mug contains make-up essentials such as lip gloss, eyeliner, and mascara.

It dawned on me that God could be using my pulled hamstring to pull my heart closer to Him, to abide and trust in Him alone.

I Conquered the Intersection

Yep, that big, bad intersection separating my neighborhood from the park. I conquered it.  That busy cross-roads has kept me from enjoying a run in the park many times, but today I made myself sprint across the intersection like Usain Bolt was on my heels.  I guess that my greatest fear was a sense of stage fright on the intersection - I am unguarded from the eyes of those sitting behind tinted windows.
After this 5 mile tempo run (8:38 pace for the stat nerds), I feel accomplished and fearless.

Districts

 NOT a good end to my senior cross-country season. Nope. No way. My time went up by three minutes. That is huge. The worst part was probably watching the top fifteen girls receive their ribbons as their coaches and team members bursted with cheers and applause . I thought that God was going to strike me down with lightning because of the vast amount of envy that consumed me.  I cooled down on the bus by unintentionally taking a nap and dreaming about the day that I complete an Ironwoman and qualify for the Ironman race in Hawaii.  

 

Swimming in the A.M.

I followed through my resolution and woke up at 5 AM to go swimming in the gym's pool.  I arrived before it opened and did some "land" warm-ups and stretching while waiting for the lifeguards to arrive.  Once they opened the pool, a whole herd of thirty to fifty-somethings wearing colorful swim caps and speedos appeared. I shared a lane with a fit chick whose age was beyond me (swim caps are as effective as masks for covering identities) and who was super nice.  I have never been so self-conscious of my swimming stroke before - all of the adults were part of some swimming group/team thing and were flying across the lanes, showing off their butterfly and back stroke.  I lamely pulled myself behind them with my breast-stroke and swam in awe as they out-freestyled me.  At the end of 30 minutes, the lady that I was sharing a lane with asked if I wanted to swim with them - I smiled as I shook my head and said that I had to get ready for school. Heaving myself out of the pool I walked to the locker room for a quick shower and change of clothes.