I CAN DO THIS!

OK- So its official. Tonight I signed up for the Lebanon Sprint Triathlon. I have been committed to attending this event for several weeks now. My Aunt Renetta participated in her first triathlon - the Beaver Freezer- back in the beginning of April. It was an experience that has changed her life and resulted in much personal growth. I have always wanted to do a triathlon- she talked me into committing. I am so grateful for her support and enthusiasm.

I have been training. I am not a runner, but want to run as much of the race as I can. I have been out biking several times and am not as fast as I would like. I surprised myself by swimming tonight and actually not killing myself.

I am trying to stay positive and keep my spirits up about this whole thing.

I am struggling with strong feelings of inadequacy, fear of failure, and just plain negative "you can't do this, what are you thinking" voices in my head. This experience will be a huge confidence builder as well as a great way to get into shape and hopefully get rid of this baby weight. Plus it will be fun to be on this journey with a woman I love so much.

What do I have to do:
Swim 500 Meters
Bike 12.5 Miles
Run 3.1 Miles

YES!!!! I CAN DO THIS!!!!!!

18 days

Relaxation

I left these people:

For these people:

A HUGE Thank you to Marcie and Lulu for inviting me to scrapbook, watch movies, walk on the beach, read late into the night, feed me yummy food, not wake me for middle of the night feedings... and just make me feel so loved.

A HUGE Thank to you so my sweet Husband for not only being OK with my leaving him with my three favorite little ones, but completely encouraging me to have a little time off. I feel renewed and encouraged to do the things that are most important in my life.

Grand-Cookie

In an effort to be more help to my Mom I am committing to having my Dad over to play every Wednesday in order to get him out of the house. We made cookies last week and we made him an extra big ones. I also had Joseph over to play and the boys were quite jealous Grandpa got the huge and mungous one(according to Nate) or gianormic one(according to Joseph).

Glad you liked it Dad! Isn't he so cute?

Out of FLOUR!

Over the past several weeks(Including Easter weekend), I have made two batches of the worlds best brownies, one double batch of chocolate chip cookies, two different types of pretzels(same recipe, but two entirely different ways of cooking them), several loafs of my new no-fail french bread recipe(its really no fail).

(Nate doesn't like having his picture taken)

(Yum yum yum- this was the German method where I boil them first in baking soda water. I didn't like the baking soda taste so much. The second way I made them was buttered up. Yum)

I have no eggs. I have no flour. I do have new baking powder and backing soda. I am getting very low on my brown sugar. I have no powdered sugar, but don't use that in any of the above recipes, just thought I would throw that in there.

I wonder why baking makes me so happy? I don't think there is anything better than fresh baked items out of the oven. I LOVE that. I also love the idea that I am creating things from scratch. Wouldn't my grandpa be so proud? I didn't bake this past weekend because I had nothing to bake with and I was sad. I kept hoping someone would bring me cookies on Sunday and almost called a few people to ask them too(yes, I will do that!). But, I am still trying to fight the baby weight(Yes, I know Kathryn is over a year!) and it was probably a good thing no one did.

I am thinking $3.00

Leila's tooth has been hanging on by a thread for weeks! Finally a few nights ago she pulled it out. She brought it in and told us: I am thinking $3.00.

Yay for toothless smiles.

One finds trouble....

Can you believe this sweet little thing is trouble?

No? Well.. check it out:

She has also found her belly button-- been playing with it all week long.

I am not a runner

I am not a runner. I never will be a runner. I think most runners have a mental problem that causes them to run. Running is not even natural or good for the human body. The benefits of running are not a huge amount better than that of walking(which I love walking by the way).

That being said: I am starting to run.

I have been at it pretty regularly. You may remember my post about the 5K I was going to walk/run with my sister back in Feb- well I did it and enjoyed it and wished I could have run more of it. I might have been able to, except I only trained for about three days in the several weeks before the 5K.... At first when I started out I was simply walking as usual, then I would pick a landmark and try to get to it. I couldn't always make it, but it felt good. Tonight I have been able to run past my landmarks. I am not sure when I will be able to run the whole time I go out, but I am actually excited to find out(see mental problem from above).

Things I am learning from running:

• It smells good outside
• A cloudy night looks different from a clear night
• Music choice and volume make a difference
• Its important to stretch
• I feel really cool running down a hill(and its easier than running up it)
• I am very self-conscious while running and pray no-one ever tells me the saw me huffing and puffing
• I might be a runner yet!

I am toying with the idea of entering into several races- my sister has been toying with the idea of contracting a mental illness like myself and has sent me several very cool websites.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/

http://www.orrc.net/

http://www.c25k.com/

I am starting out slow with my health and weight my main motivator. Who knows where it will lead.

More to come....