Life lately has been nothing short of a whirlwind. Since the school year began again, I feel like time has started moving at warp speed. That does, of course, not include the weekend that Stephen was in Houston, which was one of the longest ever. But that's just cause I'm a wuss when it comes to being apart. And being alone in this giant house doesn't exactly help the cause.
So the question is, what's new?
Well, I started running again. If you've been a faithful follower of this blog, you're probably rolling your eyes right now. Yes, I am aware that it's been an on and off cycle for the last 3 years. But I'm almost 4 weeks in and doing great. I did my first week on the treadmill and was pleasantly surprised by how well I was able to do after a few months' break. But then I decided to start trying to run outside in hopes of doing a 5k in the near future. Let me tell you, that first run outside was killer. It was definitely a humbling experience. However, persistence does have its benefits. In the couple weeks that I've been running outside, I've dropped my 5k time from 43:00 to 38:43! Yes, I know that's not fast but I can't lie, I'm pretty proud of that. And no, I'm not able to run the entire time because I have a hard time pacing myself evenly when I'm running outside, but hey, I'm out there and I'm working on it. Besides, when the place you run looks like this, how can you not enjoy going?
I want it to be Fall on this trail always. I'm not looking forward to losing this beautiful spot when the evil white stuff comes and ruins everything.
I recently had some blood work done to check for possible autoimmune disorders. The good news is that my labs all came back normal. That was a slightly stressful few days. I'm on some medication now to try to clear up my symptoms and hopefully that will all be behind me soon after a couple months of dealing with it.
No news on the baby front, which has been rather disheartening. We got pregnant so quickly the first time that I thought it would be easier than this. But, it's not. I've been reading up on things a lot and trying to be patient but it's hard. I feel like life is really working against us right now but I'm trying to be positive. I'm not doing a very good job of it, I'm afraid. But, for some silly reason, Stephen still loves me through the crazy.
Speaking of the cute guy that I married, I'm really very lucky to have such a loving and patient husband. He honestly is my rock. There is no person that I would rather spend time with and no place I would rather be than with him. I'm so blessed. He's so encouraging through everything we've been going through and always cheers me on through the things that I'm pursing (like running!).
I'm also super blessed to have two of the best friends that a girl could ask for supporting me through this adventure. My two sisters, Sandi and Nikki, have been taking this running journey with me and doing it themselves. It's so awesome to be working on the same things, in three different states, and supporting each other through it. Nikki is working up to a half marathon and Sandi is working up to a 5k in January and I couldn't be more proud of these two and more thankful for the ways they support me. Can I just say how much I love group text?! Can't wait until we get rid of Nancy, girls! (P.S. We need some new pictures!)My 30 Before 30 is going fairly well. The most enjoyable long-term goal so far has got to be the trying of local restaurants. So far we've been to a burger joint/bar, Mexican, pizza and BBQ. Looking forward to finding an Italian and Chinese place to try! I didn't intend for it to be diverse like this but I'm enjoying that it is!
Is it bad that I already want to decorate our house for Christmas? I have grown to like certain things about Fall: leaves turning colors, wearing scarves, cute boots and Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate. But there is no joy in decor quite like there is for Christmas. I can't wait.
