Week #8 (a bit early)

Well, in just a few more hours, we'll be heading to MN!! So, I've decided to post the 8th week schedule since I won't be posting for another week. I've got plenty to do, so I'll make this speedy.

Week 8

Monday- 2.5 miles
Tuesday- rest
Wednesday- 2 miles
Thursday- rest
Friday- 3 miles
REST THE WEEKEND:)

Hope you all have a wonderful week!
ps. I'm sure liking running. seriously. :)

Week #8 (a bit early)

YAY for GRACE!

Well, Grace (without stopping) ran her 2.5. I guess all that slacking really paid off. Maybe I'll try that sometime. If I did that, I'd end up in a .25 mile run with extreme exhaustion. That girl. And the scale.... that's a whole other story. I AM proud of her though:)

Our Mikayla's not feeling too well:( I think she has (yet another) ear ache. (Don't you love how Blogger now automatically saves your drafts??) I called the dr this morning and we're due to be there @ 11am. So, I'd better go get ready for that. I'm thankful that she'll be able to be seen today.

Ps. Thanks, Laura, for my hubby's birthday wishes!
pps. Lord willing, we'll head out Friday afternoon (after my dad and hubby get off work)
pps. Thank, Jamie!

Sonic ice is so nice

Well, isn't it? The other night I had quite a yummy treat- tons of Sonic ice with lots of orange juice. So good. It's soft ice (if there could be such a thing). You oughtta try it sometime. It really works well for me b/c I use just use one ice tray that produces ice about the size of a brick. NOT fun to chew on...

In other news, my goal today was to run 2.5 miles. Phew. I (almost) made it.

Lap 1: walk
Laps 2-9: run
Lap 10: walk/run
Lap 11: run
Lap 12: walk

I'm sure that made NO SENSE AT ALL, but to me it does. :) And maybe to Grace or Jamie. The verdict is still out on whether or not Grace will be running tonight. Goo... GRACE! You can do it!

Tomorrow my lovebug's going to be 34!! Yep, it'll be his birthday. I'm totally in love with him. sigh. He's ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL. I praise the Lord for allowing me to be his wife. I wouldn't rather be anywhere else on earth than right here being a homemaker and a mommy. I don't feel like I'm "wasting" any "skill" (ha!) or not fulfilling my potential. Jody says he loves coming home to me and Mikayla. Totally priceless.

And, Reva, I can't run with you on Tuesday, sorry, we're going (Lord willing, of course) to Minnesota!! Yay! I'm looking forward to spending some time with my grandparents, and I'm thrilled that they get to meet a great -grandchild. And, we'll be staying @ Barney's on the Bowstring (?) (a cabin on a lake). So, we've got lots going on very soon in our lives. What fun though:) Reva, when we get back, we'll race! Ok? :)

'til next time!

"Train up a child in the way he should go:

and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

~Proverbs 22:6

Week 7

Well, Jamie (and grace) are you ready??? This seems quite scary, but I think we can do it, right?? Here's the ever so helpful quote:

Your body has had some rest now and should be ready to move on. This week we are stepping up the training a bit. Don't be suprised if you find yourself struggling; it is meant to be tough, but you can do it!

Week 7

Monday: rest
Tuesday: 2.5 mi
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 2.5 mi
Friday: rest
Weekend: one day rest; one day 3 mi

No excuses here, but I pulled (slightly) something in my calf muscle while playing tennis with my dad, my husband and my parents' new pastor last night. I ran my 1.5 this morning and REALLY noticed it. So, hopefully, the rest of today and resting tomorrow and most of Tuesday will put me back in "running" order. I really am enjoying running. It's great alone time, and it's so fulfilling (in a physical way).

AND, my mom bought me a running magazine!! That was fun to read. It had an article about the Comrade Marathon in Africa. 55 miles! It's a mega-marathon. and the time limit is 12 hours. Can you imagine that?? Running for 12 hours?? Right now I'm good for about 20-25 minutes of jogging. ANYway, THANKS, mom!! What a sweetie she is.

Did I mention that I love my family?? I do! Thanks for your music comments. Good night!

M(ore) O(n) M(usic)

How's THAT for a subject?

I think there are 2 things to ask ourselves when listening to music (right now I'm talking about "Christian" music:

1) Does it glorify God?
2) Does it grieve God?

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth." ~John 4:24

If the song doesn't reflect truth, then how can we worship God through it? To find out if a song is truthful, compare it to the Word of God. If it goes against that, it can't bring glory to God. Right? I do try to be very careful of the music I allow myself to listen to.

As far as secular music, I also think we need to be very careful. I like plenty of songs that aren't "Christian." I make it a point, though, to listen carefully to the lyrics, and if it's offensive (vulgarity/blasphemous/etc.) I turn it off. Just like objectional movies, it's simply not worth it to have my spirit grieved and to know that I've grieved my Lord.

Anyway, any thoughts on these things? I want to hear.

I've been thinking about what Laura asked in a comment earlier -

"Is there any thing that is morally neutral? Or is everything we do categorized into the sin-section or the non-sin section?"

I'm not sure. I guess I DO think there are things that are "neutral." Let's look at the definition of sin. In 1 John 3:4, it tells us that "sin is the transgression of the law." Aren't there so many things we do that do not fall into that category? Boy, what a topic. Sure gets you thinking.

In other news, Jamie posted about prioritizing (sp??). It was so good that I VACUUMED my house (something I've been putting off for several uhmm... weeks? now). It looks much better, I must say. Thanks, Jamie!

One last thing. What would YOU do without your makeup bag?? Well,, Grace and family came and stayed for a night and for some reason, they took my makeup bag with them. With my face lotion, pluckers!, contacts, not to mention the makeup I wear sometimes. I'm not a big makeup fan, but I certainly do miss the option:( I've been having to put regular lotion on my face- yuck!- it's so greasy and feels like I'm putting sunscreen on. I'm hoping to get it back very soon.

That's all for now. I think my dad's coming over for lunch. yay! :)

A VERY selfish post

I DID IT! I RAN TWO MILES TODAY. WITHOUT STOPPING. YAY!! I just HAD to share that. Sorry for all that yelling... It'd been about 8 years or so since I'd run 2 miles. Phew. My dad encouraged me to just take it slow and to breathe using my stomach. I guess I was doing it wrong all along. So, that really helped, I think.

I had a LOVELY day with Ali and family and even got to see Mary! What a treat indeed. My mom and I took some pictures and ate a lot of Ali's food. :) Very yummy. we had avocado egg rolls. How could you go wrong with that?? Very delicious. Oh yeah, I got to meet quite a delightful PRECIOUS new baby. sigh. I think my heart melted. (Ok, Grace, not literally (she's VERY picky about people using the word "literally" b/c it's often used incorrectly)). (I'm pretty sure I didn't do all those parentheses right, but that's ok, I'm sure)

So, thanks for the encouragement Reva, Jamie and Grace. Y'all are great. Yeah, you, too, Christy:)

Music and Running (schedule)

What's the criteria for music you listen to- to be "appropriate" or "acceptable?" My Joseph and I were discussing this today, and to me, it's an interesting topic. Any thoughts? Opinions? Convictions? Please share.

Oh, I can't believe it's Week 6 already. Grace and Jamie, are you ready??
Here it is.....

Week 6

Monday- 2 miles (uh-oh)
Tuesday- rest
Wednesday- 1.5 miles
Thursday- rest
Friday- 1 mile
Saturday/Sunday- rest one day/ 1.5 miles the other

I hope that I can make the two miles tomorrow without stopping. Last time I couldn't do it- only lasted about 1.5 miles. So, we'll see. I'm a wee bit nervous, but I know I shouldn't be. and the other day I asked myself, why didn't I start this running BEFORE I had my Mikayla; it's not like I didn't have the time:) Oh well, here I am.

I have the privilege of taking some photos of a newborn tomorrow!! How fun:) Maybe I can post a picture or two of the outcome. I'm excited!

I hope to have a week that brings honor and glory to my great God! Good night.

Way overdue

Hello, people out there. What's everyone been up to?? It's definitely time for a new post, eh? It's almost Mother's Day. I like this holiday. We don't "do" many holidays, but we do like this one:) yay.

Tomorrow morning is the Birdwell's family photo session. I just get a tiny bit nervous- ha!- about the whole thing. We were going to shoot some photos @ a little gazebo in town, but I went there this morning and we would've had to swim to get there. Not worth it, so I moved to plan B. We're starting out at the park, then going downtown to to an old building. We decided this morning on black and white film. Yes, I still have a film (anyone remember those?) camera where you have to decide BEFOREhand what kind fo film to use. There are definite perks to having a digital camera, but I'm very thankful for my camera, and I mean to use it until they quit making film (which seems like it'll be in the next few months or so). SO, hopefully the whole shoot will go well and we'll get some good shots. WONDERFUL family:)

Running is going well for me. Yesterday my dad and I went together to the track and jogged around; afterwards we went to play tennis for a while. It was really a nice time and the weather was BEAUTIFUL. Hopefully my Joseph will want to play some tennis with me sometime. I'm pretty bad at it, but I do have fun.

AND, Grace is helping me with the photos this time. Usually it's my sweet mommy (and hubby) helping me, but my mom has to work the election (some excuse that is!). So, while I'll miss my sweet mommy, I'll enjoy Grace's assistance, while my hubby gets to sleep in.

Ok, I'm off to hard boil some eggs for tomorrow. Grace told me that once they start boiling it's 8 minutes. Does that sound right? Hope so!

It's week 5!

Ok, Jamie and Grace, here we go:

Week 5 and 6: Recovery

Your body is probably pretty tired from the last month of running. These next two weeks are about allowing your body to recover, so that it can continue to build. In our house analogy, I suppose we are letting the cement dry. These two weeks should be about staying hydrated (lots of water), trying to eat the right foods and letting your achy muscles have some rest (but not too much). You may also want to take some time to read more about running.

Monday- rest
Tuesday- 1 mile
Wednesday- rest
Thursday- 1.5 miles
Friday- rest
Satruday/Sunday- rest one day/1 mile the next

Sounds very doable, eh?

Jamie, I really enjoyed reading your running story about your "cheerleaders." How cute! Hope you all have a great week!

Psalm 130

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.

Lord, here my voice: let thine ear be attentive

to the voice of my supplications.

If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities,

O Lord, who shall stand?

But there is forgiveness with thee,

that thou mayest be feared.

I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait,

and in his word do I hope.

My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that

watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch

for the morning.

Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD

there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.

And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Ps. Grannybear's birthday is tomorrow! :)

Psalm 93:4

While I had my Bible opened, I looked down and saw this verse and it just seemed to jump out of the page.

"The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters,
yea, than the mighty waves of the sea."

It's been a good day, but an exhausting one. Heather, thank the Lord!, came out of her surgery not too long ago. She has function in her arms and legs, but they are unsure if her speech will be affected from the surgery. I've spent lots of good time in prayer today. What a truly mighty and merciful God we serve.

We had my parents over for dinner which included: chicken strips, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, and steamed broccoli. I also had a bit of Emily's bread before we ate- very yummy:) (Thank, Emily!)

Off to bed "early" tonight. I praise the Lord for his goodness and his steadfastness. For his Word, for keeping his promises, and for giving strength. I love my Savior!

Good night!

ps. I was watching Jeremy Camp's dvd and found out that he was married before. I had no idea. He said he and his wife had been married about 4 months, and the Lord took her home; she had cancer. He was angry and asked the Lord "why?"; he said the Lord showed him that if her knew, then it wouldn't be walking by faith. Interesting. Any other JC fans?? I like most of his music.

My 100th post- dedicated to....Heather

I was contemplating who I'd "dedicate" my 100th post to, and I was having a rough time deciding. Until I thought of Heather @ http://especiallyheather.com. Grrr... I wish I could do a decent link, but I won't dwell on that.

Although I don't personally know Heather, I love this girl. I love her in Christ. And I'm praying for her. Her story is so loaded with sadness, heartache ,pain and shock. But, most of all, it's filled with a precious attitude of trusting in her great God, it's filled with encouragement, selflessness, and hope. I just stand in awe of the grace of God in her life.

Tomorrow morning she's going to have brain surgery. Wow. I pray the Lord will so richly bless this dear girl. She's a daughter, a mother, a wife and so much more. And my heart aches for her like crazy. Heather has helped me so much with perspective. She's a jewel; I'll leave you with a quote from one of her writings:

"Anger, bitterness, and hatred are Satan’s tools. They steal the hope that has been given to us at such a huge price. There are people that I haven’t been able to pray for in years, yet I find myself praying for them now- even in the midst of this, Christ alone gives me that strength. He reminds me that His love is not just for those I deem worthy, because I am so unworthy myself. His love is far reaching, it is all compassing, and in all honesty it is completely undeserved by any of us. "