Coffee Breath: Not Just For Coffee Drinkers Anymore

Tags

busy, caffeine, coffee, Colgate, hygiene, invention, lazy, morning, orange juice, Palmolive, quiet, ritual, teeth, toothbrush, Yahoo

It’s late so maybe I’m a bit delusional, but apparently Colgate-Palmolive is attempting to patent a toothbrush that will administer your morning caffeine.

It’s exhausting, really, having to drink your coffee before brushing your teeth. Everyone knows that coffee and orange juice are two things you cannot possibly consume within an hour of the ritual. Spearmint/peppermint/cinnamint somehow destroys the delicate balance of flavors in both beverages and makes them taste more like toilet cleaner or air freshener. We’ve all had that moment, crunched for time, when we guzzle the last few ounces of scalding hot java because we know it will be impossible to do so after our teeth are clean.

It only makes sense that we should skip our morning joe altogether and instead be caffeinated by the object with which we scrub our pearly whites, right? These incredible toothbrushes would also be able to dispense flavor packets and drugs. So, not only can we skip our coffee, but we can also simultaneously take our Tylenol and enjoy a burst of fruity freshness.

The problem is I kind of enjoy positively adore my morning coffee. The cozy smell, the warm reminder to face the new day with a smile, the sweet way it accompanies an early morning book. It’s a ritual that sets my day straight.

And it kind of freaks me out to think that my toothbrush could drug me.
Anyone else?

All of this seems like a strange joke comprised by over-stimulated business people who see some worth in consolidating their morning coffee, pills, and oral hygiene into one easy step. What they really need is to sit on the patio with their coffee and enjoy a few moments of golden silence before they face the day.

At least we can be thankful that they’re brushing their teeth, I guess.

And remember, friends: It’s Friday. You gotta get down on Friday.

___________________________________________________________

Would you use this nifty caffeine-administering toothbrush?

What’s the strangest invention you’ve encountered?

Caution: I’m Pissed

Tags

friends, friendship, insecurity, kindness, lifestyle, sisters, wine, women

I’ll tell you why I’m angry. Hang on, I’m counting to 10…again.

Okay, here it is:

I am upset because I am seeing more instances and hearing more stories of women unable to show kindness to other women. I’m trying to understand why this has become the social norm. Women are often known to be catty, bitter, petty, and calculating. All you have to do is turn on the TV to see several examples of this phenomenon. Mean Girls, Easy A, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Glee, Awkward—just a sampling of movies and TV shows that portray this woman against woman mindset. 

Why do moms make snide, underhanded comments to other moms? Why do women critique each others bodies and style choices and careers and relationships? Why do we see one another struggling and do nothing? Why are we so hard on each other and ourselves?

I think it’s because we are, in general, insecure. We never feel like great moms. We can’t lose that last ten pounds. We aren’t as successful or organized as our friends. Sometimes we leave the house in yoga pants with greasy hair and no make-up. Our kids don’t listen. Our dishes aren’t done and God only knows what’s for dinner.

As a result, we judge other women’s shortcomings to make ourselves feel a little better.
We make biting inward comments about their dress or habits.
We offer “advice” when it isn’t solicited just to display our superb know-how.
We think, “I may not be awesome, but at least I don’t do that.”
Anything to make ourselves feel like we aren’t the only ones failing miserably at life.

This is so frustrating because I know what we all need is to have our sisters look us in the eyes and say:
“You look great today!”
“You’re an awesome mom!”
“I’ve made that mistake, too.”
“It’s okay that you don’t have that figured out.”
“I understand.”
“You’re doing good.”
“Screw it and have a glass of wine.”

I mean, seriously, ladies, how many of you would have been shocked nigh unto death if another girl walked up to you and said one of those things today?

When we see a young mom frazzled in the grocery store, what if we let her know that she will get through it and she’s doing a good job? What if we told our girl friends how awesome they are when they get a promotion or handle a tough situation? What if we put an end to whatever stupid competition this is and began pointing out the great things we see in each other?

What if when we looked in the mirror in the morning, we started the day by treating ourselves with this much kindness?

Here’s the truth: until we take care of our own insecurity, we may misinterpret the behavior of other women as critical or demeaning when, in reality, it’s just our own criticism that we’re hearing. We see the world through the lens of our own insecurities, and it’s ugly.
I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: we can’t be kind and loving to our fellow women when we are berating ourselves.
When we become comfortable with who we are and stop comparing ourselves, we can be truly happy to see success and beauty in the lives of others. This takes practice. It takes finding our worth in who God has made us to be and not allowing insecurity to steal the joy and transparency from our friendships.

Ladies, relax.
You’re beautiful, interesting, unique, and successful.
You are great moms, great wives, great friends.
This is not a competition.
Love each other.
Please.
We need to be able to trust one another.
Don’t gossip. Don’t gripe. Don’t compare.
Be you and encourage other women to do the same.

*If none of what I said applies to you, good. You’re awesome, go on being awesome.

**If it does apply to you, if you’ve ever criticized or gossiped or felt a little superior or  wallowed in your own insecurity, you’re not alone. This is not meant as judgement toward anyone because I’ve done it, too.
This is our opportunity to acknowledge that it’s crap and to stop. Now.

Sound good?

________________________________________________________________
1. Say something genuinely kind to another woman today.
2. Have a glass of wine to celebrate our progress.

I’ll be doing the same.
*cheers*

Evidently, it’s award season and I am underdressed on the red carpet.

Tags

award, award season, Best Moment Award, blogging, Bouquet of Three Award, pay it forward, red carpet, Sunshine Award, Versatile Blogger Award, writing

Miss Rebecca over at The Dissocial Mom gave me a bouquet! It’s actually the Bouquet of Three Award. I can’t put it in a vase, but it also won’t dry up and lose its petals so really it’s a win/win.

It’s always an honor to know that someone out there reads and appreciates the words I string together on this little blog. The fact that I get to take this award and pass it on to other bloggers I admire is a bonus.

This particular award is called the Bouquet of Three Award because it is a combination of the Versatile Blogger Award, the Best Moment Award, and the Sunshine Award. Wow, right? That’s a lot of good vibes to cram into one award.

So, as with all blogger to blogger awards, there are a few rules.

1. Display the Award Certificate(s) on your website.
2. Announce your win with a post and link to whoever presented you with the award.
3. Present 15 awards to deserving bloggers.
4. Drop them a comment to tip them off after you have linked them in the post.
5. Post 7 interesting things about yourself.
   

I can handle this—however, I think I’ll present the award to 7 bloggers. Because 15 is a lot. And I like to break the rules. Seven facts, seven nominations. Seven is a good number.

I’m running out of interesting facts. Let’s see….
1. I love cooking. I hate doing dishes.
2. Cookie dough rarely makes it into the oven when I’m around.
3. I’ve tried gardening, but apparently lack a green thumb. Or green anything. I may as well be a plant murderer.
4. Traveling is so much in my blood that I’d sell everything at a moment’s notice and take my loved ones on a new adventure. Who needs a couch anyway?
5. I like a little bit of unpredictability in my life.
6. Saying that I’m not a cat person would be the understatement of the year.
7. I would almost always rather be on a deck with a view (either ocean or lake, I’m not picky) with a glass of wine and a book. That’s not real life, but doesn’t it sound nice?

Now for the nominations (drum roll, please):

1. Our Little Band of Brothers. Davi is honest and refreshing, versatile and sunshiney. Her blog is always a pleasure to read.
2. Shanamama. Reviews, recipes, photos and lots of fun stuff. You’ll leave with something new to try/buy.
3. Co-Pilot Mom. Stay at home mom navigating through life with her little family. It’s heartfelt and fun to read.
4. Atlanta Mom of Three. Encouraging, helpful, fun, thought provoking. And a brave home schooling mom!
5. Normal Is the New Boring. Hilarious. And genuine. And also hilarious. She says everything you’re thinking and afraid to say.
6. Hollis Plample Daily Comic. Short and sweet, humorous, any topic is fair game. You’ll wonder where this blog has been all your life.
7. And finally Jack Flacco. He is about to be a published author and certainly doesn’t need blogger to blogger awards, but he is deserving and that’s the qualifier here. One minute he is talking about his awesome family and the next he is prepping you for the Zombie apocalypse.

There it is, folks. I’d love it if you’d accept your nomination. If not, then please ignore me. I’ll just be over here wearing my jeans on the red carpet.

And now I get it, Mom.

Tags

faith, family, friendship, gratitude, inspiration, love, moms, Mother's Day, parenting

Now that I have a little one of my own, I know that no one in the world will ever love me as much as you do. Thank you for being so kind and compassionate and loving throughout the craziness that was my childhood.

I’m sorry I was a hellion. I’m sorry for the times I stomped my foot and said you were ruining my life. I’m sorry for the days I made you worry. I’m sorry for the all the times I desperately wanted something then changed my mind. I’m sorry I fought you over appropriate dress shoes. I’m sorry for the times I didn’t think you knew what you were talking about. And I’m so sorry I saw you only as my mom and not as a person with goals and dreams you happily sacrificed for me.

Thank you for encouraging me to imagine wildly and to pursue whatever I loved, even when it changed daily. Thank you for giving me space when I needed it, but never being more than a word away. Thank you for your time and attention, for listening to me when i rambled on about dreams and boys and music. Thank you for making me feel precious and important when the world wanted me to feel ordinary. Thank you for showing me how Jesus loves me, unconditionally and relentlessly.

I am unspeakably blessed to be your daughter.

I understand now. You do love me more. Just like Myla will never love me as much as I love her, I’ll never be able to match the selfless love you have always given so freely.
(As I’m sure you already know, I accept the challenge and will be giving it my best shot.)

For my mother-in-law, Tasha: Thank you for raising the boy that would become my kind, loving husband. And thank you for actively working to bless your family, immediate and imported. You love us all the same and I’m so grateful.

_________________________________________________

Happy Mother’s Day, Mamas.

Everyone else, don’t forget to kiss the woman who kindly wiped your butt when you couldn’t, cleaned up your puke in the middle of the night, and listened to you whine and moan about your middle school problems.
She deserves it. 

Rain, sleet, wind, freezing temperatures. Kansas in May? Sounds about right.

Tags

5k, Color Me Rad, color run, exercise, fitness, goals, running, summer, weight loss

The Color Me Rad 5k was last Saturday. It was freezing and windy and gross. The friend that ran with me kept reminding me, “This was your idea!” I’m sure I’ll never live it down. In my defense, how was I supposed to know that Kansas was going to forget there was a difference between winter and spring?!

It’s quite obvious that we are freezing in the “before” picture. We had a blast, though.
In the spirit of setting ridiculous attainable goals, I have signed up for a 10k taking place next month.
(What is wrong with me!?)

 

_________________________________________________________

What warm weather activities are you enjoying?

Is it warm where you are?

Probably not. Sorry I brought it up.

An egg in the hand is better than two in the cart…or something.

Tags

adventure, children, coffee, eggs, groceries, humor, laugh, Monday, motherhood, parenting, SAHM, shopping, story

It’s Monday.
You’re probably tired and you probably hate whoever invented this stupid weekday.
Don’t worry. I understand. I’m here for you.
Drink some more coffee and pull up a chair so I can attempt to make you laugh…or chuckle. Heck, even a smile would be fine. Let’s not be overzealous.

If you don’t have kids, this should make you laugh out of pity if nothing else.
If you do have kids, you will nod and smile sympathetically at the computer screen and then laugh.

Let it be known to all that having a toddler makes every mundane task difficult absolutely titanic. The more boring and necessary the task is, the more arduous it becomes. Things like going to the DMV, vacuuming, washing dishes, answering e-mails, showering, putting on shoes, etc all become virtually impossible exercises.

Last week little M and I went grocery shopping. She was well behaved for the first half of our excursion. During the second half she tried to eat frozen peas through the bag, throw my keys over the shelves, taste-test raw chicken, and a miscellany of other toddler-ish things.

In spite of this, she and I were having a great time and I was being uncharacteristically patient.

As I perused the cheeses, my back was turned to little M for maybe a moment—or half a moment. When I turned back around she had rotated so that she could reach into the basket portion of the cart and had one little hand wrapped around the lid of the carton of eggs. Those poor things didn’t even see what was coming to them. In one smooth motion, she lifted the lid—and consequently the carton—and eighteen perfect eggs fell helplessly into the cart.

I did not shriek. Or cry. Or panic. Or yell.
I did not.

But for a moment my heart did stop beating as I imagined egg yolk smeared all over the groceries I’d spent an hour collecting. I couldn’t re-shop. No way. And there are not enough Clorox wipes in the world to rid boxes and cans of that lingering egg-y slime. *shudder*

When I finally worked up the courage to peek at the damage, I was relieved to find that (miracle of miracles) only 1 egg had broken enough to actually leak on my precious groceries.

I scooped up eggs nestled in Kale leaves and wedged against granola bars and put them back into the carton while simultaneously fighting two chubby little baby hands busy doing everything they could to snatch those irresistible spheres away.

She is nothing if not persistent.

It would be funnier if I told you that I then secretly traded our disaster eggs for unbroken ones and tip-toed out of the store like James Bond, but I didn’t. I bought two cartons instead and just threw away the cracked eggs when I got home.

We’ve got eggs, folks. Lots. Any takers? I make a mean omelette.

The adventures never end with this little one. I can’t help but count this one as a success just because it could have been so much worse.

____________________________________________________________

What task do you find particularly difficult with your kids?

Any funny stories to share about said difficulties? Please?
It’s Monday. We need to laugh about your kid problems.
Please.

Regarding My First Liebster Award: Oh. My. Goodness. Gracious. Me.

Tags

award, blogging, encourage, fun, happiness, Liebster Award, pay it forward, writing

See that title? Such was my articulate response when Patricia, aka The Do-Gooder Mama, informed me of her nomination of my little blog.

All I could say was ohmygoshohmygoshthankyouthankyou!

Real smooth, Kaela. Real smooth.

The Liebster Award is exciting because it is given by newbie bloggers to other newbie bloggers (those with 200-300 followers). No one really knows where the Liebster Award started and the rules seem to have morphed over time, but one thing stays the same: those who are nominated get to nominate other bloggers! I get to nominate eleven lovely, talented writers and hopefully make them as happy as The Do-Gooder Mama made me.

First things first, I need to give you 11 random facts about myself and answer Patricia’s 11 questions.

Here we go!

Eleven Random Factoids About Yours Truly:

1. I have lived in approximately 23 different homes throughout my short lifetime. (I have to say approximately because I’ve honestly lost count and it’s exhausting to try to remember them all.)

2. I hate wearing socks.

3. I was home schooled throughout all of grade school and middle school by my incredibly smart and talented mother who somehow managed to make sure my brother and I both loved learning and didn’t turn out too weird. (Hi, Mom!)

4. I say I love coffee, but in reality I love coffee with plenty of creamer. Or maybe I love frappucinos. Or dirty chais. Or green tea lattes. But not coffee. Not really.

5. I play guitar, piano, and bass—adequately. I’m no savant. Singing is also a particular passion of mine.

6. When I was about seven we lived on a farm and took care of leppy (orphaned) lambs. I can bottle feed a lamb like a pro.

7. I grew up in northeastern Nevada and central Idaho. Both places lent themselves to an outdoor type of lifestyle—hiking, camping, dirt biking, snowboarding, swimming. I’m an adventurer at heart.

8. When I was a senior in high school, my church bought me a beautiful new guitar to replace my old (faithful, but worn) one before I was even accepted to the worship music internship I’d applied to. Their confidence and kindness changed my life.

9. I love the stars. Lying in a field for hours watching them sounds like heaven to me.

10. I love Jesus. I’m not a fan of religion.

11. It took me years to actually voice my desire to be a writer. It still sounds weird when I say it out loud! I was too afraid of failing to really throw myself into it. No more! Fail or flourish, I’m in it for the long haul!

Eleven Questions from Patricia:

1. What musical artist are you listening to these days?
Imagine Dragons, The Lumineers, Sara Bareilles, Parachute, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift—Spotify is awesome.

2.  If you could be any animal, what would you be? Why?
I would be a bird. Flying would be….amazing. And when someone makes you mad you can always just poo on their newly washed car.

3.  What do you say when your (or someone else’s) kid asks you why the sky is blue?
Thankfully my kid is still a little young for such questions. For other people’s kids, I explain to them how light refracts through gas and water molecules until they get bored and walk away.

4. Favorite Food?
I love all food. Sushi is a favorite. Also Italian. Also everything else.

5.  If $$ were no object, where would you travel on your next vacation?
Europe. Start in Ireland, hop over to Scotland then Norway, on to France, down through Spain, over to Italy, Albania, and finally Greece. Not that I’ve thought about it at all.

6. How do you like your eggs?
Scrambled with ketchup, or fried with a runny yolk over toast.

7.  Favorite Reality TV Show?
Sadly, I’m not a fan of reality TV. Unless America’s Got Talent counts…?

8.  What was your very first job?
Barista at a small local coffee shop opening at 4:30am on Fridays!

9.  What book is on your nightstand right now?
I have a stack. The Pursuit of God, Because of Winn Dixie, Why Revival Tarries, an Amplified Bible, an ancient Nancy Drew mystery for decor purposes, and my Kindle with at least a dozen books begging to be read including Anna Karenina. My nightstand is a literary dead zone. If a book is there it doesn’t get read. I need to fix this.

10.  What’s your guilty pleasure?
YA novels and chick flicks. I love me some happy endings.

11.  At what age is your earliest memory?
The first clear one is when my little brother was born. I would have been two and a half. My dad and I had Burger King at some point. He pointed little bro out through the nursery window. I was vaguely interested in the baby and extremely excited about the Burger King.

My Eleven Nominees:

1. Surprisemama

2. Creating My Niche

3. The Usual Bliss

4. The Inner Beauty of a Restless Heart

5. Sunshine, Lollipops, and Stilettos

6. Momtimes4

7. Writer’s Block Near You

8. Ratnam Residence

9. Chasing After the Son

10. 40 Fit in the Mitt

11. Mommy Training Wheels

My Eleven Questions for You:

1. What is your favorite book?

2. What is your dream job?

3. Who inspires you?

4. If you had to describe yourself in one word, what would it be?

5. Cabin or beach house? Why?

6. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?

7. What does your name mean?

8. What is your best memory?

9. What is one chore you absolutely hate doing?

10. If you were immortal for a day, what would you do?

11. Why do you write?

It’s dreadfully late and I need to sleep now. Dear Brilliant Blogging Friends, be encouraged, pay it forward, and keep writing!

~K

On motherhood, weight loss, and redeeming my body image.

Tags

baby weight, beauty, biking, BMI, body image, exercise, fitness, health, honesty, lifestyle, motherhood, running, SAHM, scale, walking, weight, weight loss

I don’t think I’ve ever been more happy with my body than when I was pregnant. There isn’t much in this world more amazing than your body creating a new little life. I was strong and healthy and being pregnant was pretty easy—all of which made me very grateful.

By the time my little girl was born, I had gained 60lbs. Instead of thinking about it too much, I turned my focus to being the best mom I could be. I knew, deep down, that it didn’t matter how much I weighed; but no matter how much I ignored my weight, I couldn’t escape the way I felt. 

After a few months, I started walking. Pushing little one in her stroller I could easily do five miles. Then I would go biking—10 or 12 miles—with little one strapped into her bike trailer.

I was losing weight, but slowly. In my research and wondering “How do other moms do this??” I ran across an article stating that if you had not lost your baby weight in the 6 months following your child’s birth you weren’t going to lose it at all. If I ever meet the person who wrote that I may slap them.

I was discouraged but I kept at it, trying to be active and eat better. In all of my effort I had to answer the question “Why is this important?”
After all, I am the same person regardless of what size I wear. I’m a great mom regardless of my waist measurement. My husband thinks I’m beautiful at any size. So why am I trying so hard?

There are a few reasons. I needed to feel healthy. I wanted to know that I was once again strong and capable of pushing myself. I realized I had no balance in my life. There were times when I would be desperate to lose weight and other times when I would give up completely. In order to live a life of balance, my whole lifestyle needed to change. I needed to let go of how I wanted to look and start focusing on how I wanted to feel.

I’ve struggled with unhealthy body image since I can remember. It’s something most women (and many men) struggle with at some point in their lives. I had to face that dragon and identify where it came from before I could move on. Someone needed to show my daughter how to be kind to her body and appreciate it, and it needed to be me. In order to do that, I had to learn to be kind to and appreciate my own body.

My husband and I changed our lifestyle. We started eating healthy: whole grains, lean meats, lots of fresh veggies. We started working out faithfully, but not obsessively. We didn’t diet (because, let’s face it, neither of us can stick with it); we just changed the way we ate and how much. I have a sweet tooth—I still eat sweet things, just less than before. We stick to unprocessed foods as much as possible and stay away from chemicals. Honestly, I really started losing weight when I ditched diet soda. Go figure.

I will always envy women who gain little to no weight during their pregnancy, but I wouldn’t trade the lessons I’ve learned for anything.
Now I know the difference between wanting to be skinny and wanting to be healthy.
I know that being fit is important, but it is not the most important thing.
I know that I am beautiful at any size, but also that there is a size that is best for me—and it has nothing to do with a number on a scale.

Women can be so brutal to one another. Some of the things women said to me while I was pregnant left me feeling ugly and abused. The truth is, the things we say and think about other women are a reflection of who we are, not of who they are. When we say or think ugly, critical things about others it is usually because we’ve said/thought them about ourselves first.
My goal is to always say kind, uplifting things about others and to always think them about myself. You cannot hate yourself and love others, it just doesn’t work that way.

It took me 15 months to lose all the weight I gained during my pregnancy. A little slow by some standards, but I went on living my life in the process and avoided obsession with my body. My husband encouraged me to share this. Probably because he knows how much work it’s been, not only to get fit, but to change the way I think.

So, here it is y’all.

205lbs in labor and delivery:

145lbs, 15 months later:

145 has always been my natural weight. As women, we like to hide that number but I’m just going to be honest with you guys. Because I like you. And because it’s ridiculous. It’s just a number.
I’m very short, so 145 puts me at the very top of my healthy weight window according to the BMI scale. But I feel good, I’m active, I eat well, and my doctor seems to think I’m doing great.

I’m sharing this to encourage you: we’ve got to take back the control where our health and body image is concerned. Most normal women don’t weigh 100lbs. What the media portrays is NOT the standard of beauty. We are the standard.
We have to learn to see ourselves as we are—strong, healthy, beautiful—so we can pass that image on to our daughters and the women around us. Health is measured in how we feel, not in what size we wear. There will always be women who are naturally slimmer than me. I’m at the point where I can be happy for them because I’m happy for me, and dang that is a good feeling.

Be kind to yourselves and to each other, ladies (and gentlemen!!). I don’t want to hear about any one being critical of strangers or movie stars or (God help us) friends. Be proud of who you are and what you look like and others will follow your example.

________________________________________________________

What have you done to promote a healthy body image in your own life?

What does your healthy lifestyle look like?

Wanted: Adventurers to settle an alien planet. No experience required.

Tags

adventure, alien, apocalypse, humor, Mars, Mars One, space travel, zombie

Ten years from now, four crazy lucky people will set out to colonize Mars. After a long and strenuous process of eliminating candidates, public voting (whaaaaa??), and years of training they will each be given a one-way ticket to the red planet.

Wow. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that we would be settling on Mars in my lifetime. While I’m a little skeptical as to whether or not this will actually happen, the dreamer in me says it’s about dang time.

I was reading the Yahoo! article and was surprised to find that I meet all the requirements to make this journey to Mars.
I meet every requirement.
I could travel to Mars.
The girl who needs a calculator to do math.
…..who never took physics.
…..who has never flown anything other than a paper airplane (and I’m impossibly bad at that).
…..who likes to push buttons just to see what they do.
…..who forgets every appointment and birthday.
…..whose idea of “high tech” includes an iPhone and a coffee pot that brews on it’s own.
This is your future, people.
Terrified? You should be.
Someday when Earth is consumed by aliens or pollution or zombies, people like me will become your only hope. (That is the whole point of colonizing Mars, isn’t it? Maybe I’ve been reading too much fiction, but I can’t think of any other reason.)

I have to admit that I’m looking forward to seeing this entire process unfold. It’s exciting to think that people may be living on Mars ten years from now. Also, it’s important to note that I will not be throwing my hat in the ring on this one. I like Earth too much.

Please, Mars One, choose wisely. While it takes a little bit of crazy to make a person agree to live out the rest of their years on an alien planet, let’s try to make sure they are at least mostly sane. Remember: there may come a day when we need these people to rescue us from disaster.

_______________________________________________________________

Will you be applying for a place on Mars One?

What do you think the requirements should be?

Dance like nobody’s watching…Love like you’ve never been hurt…Run like you’re training for the zombie apocalypse.

Tags

5k, apocalypse, Color Me Rad, fitness, health, jogging, perseverance, running, SAHM, zombie, Zombieland

I used to run quite often. Before I moved to Kansas to marry my Midwestern boy, I lived in Idaho. It was snowy and usually about 10 degrees below zero. Being the dedicated bride that I was, I piled on the cold weather gear and ran myself into shape for my wedding.

How gross is that?

Now that I’m no longer an idiot a little smarter than I used to be, I only run when the weather is bearable. This has been difficult because it’s April. In Kansas.
On Monday we had hail.
On Tuesday it snowed.
On Wednesday it was sunny and chilly.
On Thursday it was beautiful.
Unpredictable doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Although I knew the weather was going to be crazy—and that I hadn’t run farther than a mile in over two years—I signed up for the local Color Me Rad run. That was like a month ago, before I remembered how bad running hurt.

Gaaaahhhhh.

After some kicking and screaming and sweating and crying (and some sitting on my butt eating brownies)…
I. Did. It.

Ran 3.2 miles.
Pushing my little one in a jogging stroller.

And I decided that no one really likes running. It’s the way we feel when we run that makes it worth it. For the first time in a long time I feel strong, and feeling strong makes me feel beautiful.

Just a few more weeks and I can run my 3.2 miles while people throw colored corn starch in my face. Sounds like fun, right?

I’m proud to say I would now survive the zombie apocalypse for at least fifteen minutes. After all, the #1 rule in Zombieland is cardio. Everyone knows that.

________________________________________

What gets you running?
(All answers are accepted, including but not limited to: rabid dogs, men with chainsaws, ice cream at the finish line, etc.)
Have you ever done a color run?