Sunday, June 23, 2013

Fitness became my idol!

If you've been following my blog, you probably already know that I used to suffer a lot from migraines.    My mother has suffered from them for quite some time as well, so I'm sure it's partially hereditary.  Most of my migraines would come right after a stressful period.  I remember back when we went on our first flight with both of the kids a few years ago.  I was so stressed about getting everything caught up and ready at work, getting the packing done, anticipating what the kids would need on the trip, and the list goes on and on.  We finally got everything packed and arrived at the hotel close to the airport and I was FINALLY able to relax and then the dreaded happened, I got a migraine.  It was horrible as I wasn't at home, didn't have any medication with me, started to panic over the worries of recovering before our flight the next morning, it was just awful.  I did recover and we were able to continue our trip, but it was definitely a rough start.

I was so excited when after running for several months, I realized I was no longer getting migraines.  The balance between improving my health and a way to manage the stress of life, was eliminating them completely.  Over the course of this last year God has taught me a lot about priorities, making rest and sleep a priority, improving my eating habits (and that of my families), scheduling my workouts and not skipping them, and most importantly to seek Him during the difficult times.

Running has definitely become a huge part of managing my stress.  It's an incredible way for me to clear my head, stay fit, spend time in prayer and challenge myself.  Some of you may remember me posting about having a really bad run a few weeks ago.  I had given blood the day before and my body had not recovered before trying to run eight miles.  I was so discouraged and began panicking about running my first half marathon race.  After a good friend saw my post she wanted to do something to encourage and support me on this journey.  There's nothing that supports a runner more than prayer and a run!  It was so kind and encouraging and was just what I needed.  We invited other running/walking pals and got together early Wednesday morning before my big race.  I also asked my husband if it would be okay to invite my little girl to join us and let me just say this little girl was SO excited!!!

I can't thank all of these ladies enough for running with me!  It was a beautiful morning and I was so touched by how God was using each and every one of these ladies to touch my heart!  A great support system is so incredibly valuable for any goal we set in life!  Thank you Lori for putting this together and thank you ladies for inspiring and encouraging me!  I pray that I can be the same encouragement to someone else!


I experienced a great amount of encouragement and peace immediately after this run.  I was FINALLY to the point of not feeling nervous or stressed about the half marathon.  I had been over thinking and stressing about this big day for weeks.  I was ready to just relax and enjoy the experience.  Kylee and I then headed home so that I could shower and get ready for work.  Right after I got out of the shower the dreaded happened... I started seeing spots.  I couldn't believe it, I was getting a migraine.  I had been so excited to be done with migraines and couldn't believe I was getting one.  I immediately took the medication I have to decrease the symptoms, laid down for about 15 minutes and then tried to go to work.  I quickly realized that it wasn't a good idea to try and work and the symptoms were getting much worse.  I headed home and went through the painful motions of getting through a migraine.  That evening I finally felt better.  After eating with my family, my dear husband wanted to talk about my stressed induced migraine.  He reminded me that running had been a way for me to deal with stress and as the race began approaching it BECAME my stress.  Clearly this was a dangerous combination and one I have to learn how to manage or I won't be able to continue racing.

Just a few weeks ago I was chatting with a dear friend about how working out, fitness, losing weight, etc. can become our idol.  I praise God for that precious conversation as it helped put things in perspective for me.  God definitely used this migraine to convict me of this very issue.  I don't regret signing up for the half marathon, or improving my health and fitness, but I do know that I need to be more aware of the necessity for balance and not to let it become an idol as it did in these last couple weeks.  I found myself focusing much more on this big day than other important areas in my life, including time in God's word, valuable time with my husband and kids, and just not taking the time to praise God for what He's done in my life.  As you all know the first two big goals I set for myself on this journey was to run my first half marathon and to lose 25 pounds... my next goal, for the next 6 months I will spend as much time in prayer and in God's word as I do working out.  That's actually a pretty big order as I'm hoping to run another half marathon in the fall and you all know some of my long runs take a good amount of time.  My prayer is that it will help me keep my priorities in order, manage my stress level, develop a new perspective for my journey and simply draw me closer to God!  God has been so incredibly faithful through this journey and I'm excited to see what He has in store for this next year!

Stay tuned for my race recap from the big day!!!

Blessings,

Krystal



Sunday, June 16, 2013

Happy Father's Day

Father's Day is one of my favorite days.  I enjoy getting to show my appreciation and love to the special men in my life.  First and foremost, I'm grateful for my heavenly father.
What an incredible blessing it is to be a child of God.

I'm so grateful for my Dad.  He's an incredible man of integrity and dignity and has taught me so much.  The best part of my Dad at this stage in my life is watching him be an amazing Pappy to my kids.  Over  the winter my Dad mentioned to my Mom that they should keep our kids for a week.  So, my dad is taking a week vacation in a couple weeks and my kids will be spending a week with their Nana and Pappy.  They have been so excited for months.  They'll get to go to the lake, go swimming, go to the zoo and just enjoy lots of one on one time.  Josh and I are so very grateful as we'll get the opportunity to go on a vacation together as a couple and enjoy celebrating our 12th anniversary!



Joshua, you truly are an amazing husband and Daddy.  I absolutely love watching you interact with our precious kids.  You're patient, strong and so incredibly loving. We love you so very much.  

One day of gratitude for Dad's just doesn't seem like enough!


We enjoyed a very special and relaxing day together.  It was wonderful going to church together, came home and enjoyed some wonderful prime rib off the smoker, homemade bread, homemade brownies and a great nap!  

Yes, there were extra calories ingested today, but one day to celebrate this special man is worth it!


Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dads!  And a special prayer to those who have lost their dads, those who do not have a great relationship with their dads and to those moms who are on double duty as single parents.  You are loved by your heavenly father!

Blessings,

Krystal




Saturday, June 15, 2013

Watch the 'Spirit of the Marathon'

Several years ago my husband and I turned off our satellite and rarely watch television.  On occasion we'll watch a movie together as a family or I'll simply watch hulu.com while I'm scrapbooking, blogging or just catching up on some computer work.  At first I thought this change for our family would be difficult but it's actually quite wonderful.  We enjoy more frequent quality time together and when we do watch television it's very deliberate.  We also don't have to worry about what shows our kids are watching (or commercials).  I'm so grateful we had already made this change before Kylee started school and before I started training for my half marathon as it has made an incredible impact on our daily routine.



Last weekend while blogging and scrapbooking (in between some baking), I decided to watch the "Spirit of the Marathon" after seeing all of the excitement of 'Spirit of the Marathon II' that has just come out.  I highly recommend this movie.  It's an incredible documentary of several people training for the Chicago marathon.  An elite female runner, an elite male runner from Kenya, a single mom, a father/daughter training and running together, and others. It was actually really emotional for me to watch just days before my first half marathon as I reflect on the training, every drop of sweat and tears. The struggles they endured during training and during the race and the rush of emotions as they cross the finish line!  I'm so excited to experience this for myself next weekend!

If you need some inspiration or encouragement as you prepare for a race or are even thinking about running, take some time to watch this movie.  I guarantee you'l be encouraged and inspired regardless of the distance you're currently running!  I certainly was!  I'm looking forward to watching Spirit of the Marathon II!


Blessings,

Krystal

It's JUST 2 Words!

A little conviction today!  I've come to realize that there are two words that should be eliminated from EVERY runner's vocabulary!

The first word that should be eliminated is the word 'just'!
I have found that this simple word can be so discouraging to not just myself but those around me.  I began to realize the danger of this word when friends would ask me about our family run and I would say 'We "just" ran the 1 mile.'  God began teaching me a lesson regarding choosing my words and encouraging others around me.  What was 'just' a mile for me after training for a year was a REALLY big deal for my precious little girl who ran in her very first race.  I don't ever want to risk discouraging her (or anyone else) from wanting to run again by her feeling her distance was in any way inadequate.

The other dangerous word for a runner is the word 'only'!


Just recently I was talking about my training with a friend and caught myself saying 'I "only" ran 6 miles today.'  As I reflect on my journey over the last year, I was reminded when 6 miles or 3 miles was a really big deal for me (and on some days they still are a big deal).  Running is such a mental challenge and using these words can cause myself unnecessary struggles during a run.  I've since realized that when I'm sharing about my training, there may be someone who is just thinking about running and me using the words 'just' and 'only' could really discourage them from starting.  Or someone may be struggling with reaching their 5k goal and I risk discouraging them too.  Earlier this week a good friend came to me and said she wanted to get some friends/running pals together to run one of my final training runs with me before my first half marathon next weekend to simply show their love and support as I had a really bad run last weekend.  I was so incredibly touched and blessed by this and realized that just as I need encouragement once in a while, so do others around me.  I'm so excited to meet up with these ladies this week and am also so excited that my little girl is also going to get up and come run and support her mommy.  I have come to love this sport and lifestyle, and want to encourage others who are considering giving it a try or have been doing it for a long time and just need an encouraging word to keep persevering through each and every step!  

I know that I've been guilty of using these words when I shouldn't have and if I've discouraged any of you through my blog or through just chatting about running with these two words, I sincerely apologize and pray that you can forgive me.  I praise God for His mercy and grace every morning! 

Every single mile is an accomplishment and a part of your journey!  

Get out there and run a mile, a 5k, 10k, a half marathon or a full marathon... just run :)

Blessings,

Krystal







Thursday, June 6, 2013

A Menu Planner that FINALLY works for my family!

I have tried many different styles of menu planners including magnets on the fridge to write on, printed menu planners, one's that are emailed to me.  And for various reasons they just didn't work well for me or my family.  After a lot of discouragement from prior attempts, I decided to look for some other ideas.

When researching menu planners on pinterest I came across this menu planner from 'Life {Sweet} Life'


I just loved the concept of this style of menu planner.  It's adorable and extremely practical to have the cards printed and ready to choose when planning for the week.  I contacted my dear sister in law with 'Dippity Dot Creations' to see if she could create a custom menu planner for me.  I wanted one that was a little bigger so that it could include all 7 days of the week.  I couldn't be more thrilled with what she came up with!!!  She made it so that the pins are magnet as well as the little drawer on the bottom to hold the cards.  This makes it so easy to take them off and plan for the next week without having to take the menu planner off the wall!    


To make the cards, I just typed up various meal ideas (including leftovers, eat out, etc.) and printed them on some heavy cardstock.  Then I used the punch below to cut them out.  Plus it will be easy to add meals in the future!



Now once a week I have my daughter go through the cards and pick out what we're having for which day.  This makes it so easy to plan for groceries, eliminate the questions from everyone as to what's for dinner and my little girl just loves being a part of the meal planning process.  One lesson I learned through this simple task of trial and error with menu planning is, it's okay to try a process and fail at it or discover it doesn't work for you or your family.  What works for one family, may not work for another.  Please don't get discouraged or frustrated when it doesn't work.  I made that mistake and was way too hard on myself too many times over something so simple as menu planning!  Grant yourself some grace just as God does!

Blessings,

Krystal


Saturday, June 1, 2013

First Family Race Recap

After our kids have watched and supported Josh and I several times, our oldest has been asking to run in a race.  When we heard about a local 5k/1 mile walk/run race we were so excited to sign up as a family.    Living in a small town there aren't too many local races so we like to take advantage of them when we can!  The kids were so cute last night when I told them they had to go to bed early so that they were rested up for their race.  This morning we woke up, fixed breakfast together and then everyone got into their running gear, laced up their shoes and off we went!

It definitely wasn't a typical day in June in Colorado.  It was so windy and only about 50 degrees.  When Kylee heard the wind this morning she started complaining about not wanting to run in the wind and honestly I didn't either.  It was a great teachable moment though as we had a little talk about following through with our commitments regardless of the weather.  We also talked about how when you sign up for a race you never know what kind of weather you're going to end up running in, but you still show up and give it your best and praise God for the day!

We all got our bibs pinned on and we were ready to run (and to warm up). 


Some friends of ours were running their first race as a family too.  It was so much fun sharing this special morning with them!  I ended up running with Kylee and the boys all ran together.  I love how they were holding hands.  I heard that they may have crashed along the way too, oops! :)


As Kylee and I turned around at the half way point we saw Josh and Nate carrying the little boys on their shoulders, it was so cute!  I wasn't able to take a picture of them while we were running but had to snap one at the end of the race!  Great job guys!


I was so proud of Miss Kylee.  She struggled a couple times but kept pushing on and ran the entire mile with me in 11:35.  She even finished 1st in the 1 mile division.  I loved how she sprinted through the finish line.  After we finished she now understands the fun and excitement of a race regardless of your time or placing and is already asking to run another race.  We also had a sweet conversation with both of our kids on the way home about what the purpose of a race is.  It's not about winning, it's about getting exercise, enjoying time with others who enjoy running and enjoy being outside!     


I hope this is just the first of many special family runs!!! Thanks to Lifestyle Chiropractic & Fitness for putting on a fun run this morning!  We appreciate all your effort to encourage families to be active.

Blessings,

Krystal





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