And sometimes you just need a getaway!

Once a year my husband goes on a dirt bike trip with 'the guys.'  Just as he supports me when I need a trip with 'the girls', I try really hard to make it as easy as possible to love him and support him when he goes on his trips, whether he's going snowmobiling or dirt biking!  Although I encourage him to enjoy these trips it does make me a little anxious at the same time!  Today Joshua left to go ride in the mountains with several guys for the weekend.

What wife wouldn't be worried about the thought of them climbing a hill/mountain like this?

Due to Joshua's, accident a few months ago, I'm a little more anxious than normal.  I really can't even imagine the thought of him getting hurt again and really didn't want him to go because of it! I've spent a lot of time in prayer over the last week for his safety and to ease my own nerves!  God has been faithful and has given me just the reminders I've needed this week.  Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  God hears the desires of our heart and for that I am grateful!  Although I'm still a little anxious I've been reminded that only God can truly protect those I love. 

Instead of staying at home while Joshua is on his trip, the kids and I loaded up and headed to Kansas to visit my Mom and Dad!  The kids traveled great and I survived driving all the way. It's trips like these that make me appreciate my dear husband as he usually does all the driving. First thing this morning, Kylee and I went for a 2 mile walk with Nana. Ky and I did a little running too and I got a little extra workout giving Ky a piggy back ride too :). It was wonderful to have a workout where we just giggled, leaped, jumped and played!  And did I mention it's extremely humid?

And of course we couldn't forget about flex Friday!

Then we went and did a little shopping and then headed back to Nana's to hang out in the pool. Jayce fell asleep on the way back, so Ky enjoyed some time together. 

And yes this pool is such a blessing to get to enjoy.  It's so peaceful, so beautiful and the company is just amazing. 

We were so excited when Nana and Jayce joined us. 

And then Pappy came home!  They were just a little excited to see him. 

So yes, we made a slightly unnecessary trip just to avoid being at home without my dear husband, but we're relaxing, enjoying family and praying that Daddy has a fun and safe trip too!  And as difficult as it is I WILL relax by the pool (and in the pool) and enjoy the giggles from my kiddos!

And for tomorrow's entertainment my baby sister (who is 17) has agreed to go on a 10 mile run with me!  Can she keep up with her big sis?  Or will she make me feel old?  Stay tuned!

Blessings,

Krystal

Just need a little break!

Sorry I haven't been writing much lately, sometimes we just need a little break to just experience life and experience God for a while.  My little girl and I also need a little break and just enjoy some precious time together.  So I took off from work a little early, picked up my girl and headed to Buffalo Mountain Pottery to do some painting!

Kylee just loves anything that's related to music and art!  She may discover other things that she enjoys but for now, these are the types of things that she just loves.  She is typically a little reserved and quiet in some situations, and music and art have helped give her confidence.

Kylee was on a mission to paint something for her Nana for her birthday.  At first she was going to paint a plate, but then she saw a horse and just knew Nana would love it.  Her Nana taught her how to ride bareback just a few weeks ago, which made this piece just perfect!

I really struggled on deciding what to paint.   I'm in the process of redecorating our home office/reading area to be full of running inspiration.  It's the place I sit to scrapbook, blog, schedule my workouts and enjoy my quiet time.  I'll be finding ways to encourage and inspire myself and my entire family through our love of running.  I'll be displaying all of our medals, bibs, pictures of us all running, scripture, etc.  I thought it only fitting to make a platter with one of my favorite verses to display in our new running inspired office/reading area.  I'm not very creative, but it's more about the journey and this special time with my daughter!

Kylee really enjoyed picking colors and getting started on her horse!

The conversation was so sweet and we even enjoyed just the quiet while we both painted!

We'll have to schedule another time to go finish our projects and just force ourselves to enjoy some more time together!  I love you Ky and love these special moments with you baby girl!

Stay tuned... we'll share our finished projects when they're done!

Blessings,

Krystal

  

Asking Forgiveness from Your Child

After completing our first race as a family and watching her mommy and daddy run in different races, our six year old little girl has started to have an interest in running.  And wow, has that made her mommy smile. I've really struggled with the balance of how to encourage her to stay active and healthy without pushing too hard and realizing that just because I enjoy running doesn't mean that either of my kids will. Deep down though, I would love to enjoy this together as a family. 

My Mom treated Miss Ky with some new running clothes last week so after she got home she was anxious to give them a try. Of course I know exactly how that feels. New gear always makes the next run a little more fun and exciting. While we were getting ready for the day on Monday Ky did what she typically does and asked how my run went and how far I ran (I love it when she inquires about my run). I told her that I did a different workout but would be running on Tuesday. She then asked if we could go for a run after work.  Of course I couldn't turn her down and agreed to a mile run after work on Monday. 

It was extremely hot, but we decided to venture outside (first mistake).  Josh and Jayce were out cruising around on the RZR and snapped a couple pictures of us. 

This was still at the beginning of our run so we were both feeling pretty good, but that changed when were about half way. Ky needed to walk, so we did, I then made a huge mistake. I started pushing her too hard to finish the run strong. This poor little girl was really hot, tired and frustrated. I should have let her just finish walking home but I told her she was strong and could finish the run. She cried a little bit and then we finished. After we finished the mile we walked the rest of the way home and I began to feel horrible. What should have been fun and enjoyable just turned into something she may never do again simply because of how I pushed her too hard. 

We did have smiles at the end, but we still had some mending of our hearts that needed to take place. 

I prayed for wisdom and guidance that evening as I began tucking my little girl into bed. I love God's grace and life lessons. I had to humble myself and apologize to my little girl for pushing her too hard and asked her to forgive me. She quickly said "of course I forgive you, mamma."  As a parent it can be difficult to apologize to your child, but God can do some amazing things during these times.  There was a tremendous relief both for her and for me. I then suggested to Kylee that if she wanted to go for a run together again that maybe we should do it in the morning while it's cool outside. She thought that was a great idea, and I was just excited that she actually wanted to run again!  God's grace is amazing!

We decided we would run together early Wednesday morning (after I finished my Turbo Fire workout), which meant she would have to go to bed early Tuesday night. I had her lay out her clothes and shoes so that it would be quick and easy for her to get ready when she woke up!

  

She woke this morning SO excited to run. She said she didn't want to listen to music while we ran so that we could talk. What a blessing this child is. I told her she could decide if we walk or run and I would not push her at all. The conversation we had was so sweet and genuine. We only stopped once as her shoe came untied otherwise we ran the entire time. After we reached the half mile mark she said 'I think I can run farther than a mile today.'  I said 'we sure can if that's what you want to do.'  We ran 1.26 miles but the true joy came from the mended relationship and the blessing of running beside my precious little girl!  

She truly enjoyed this run and so did I!

She was so proud of her accomplishment too. I love how running makes you feel good when you go a little further or a little faster than you did before. Great job Ky, your Mama is so very proud of you!

But then the REAL joy came. Kylee saw an absolutely beautiful sunrise. She said 'Mama, it looks as if God is shining down through the clouds.'  I said, 'He is baby.'  While sharing with my husband about our morning, we discovered that Kylee's never seen the sun rise like this before. She's typically not a morning person and the sun is usually up before she wakes up.  I'm so excited I got to share this special morning with her and am praising God for His grace every morning and for choosing me to be her mother!  

Have you ever shared a sunrise with your child?

Ephesians 2:4-9 
⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.

Blessings,

Krystal

Our Fourth of July!

As you all know my kids just spent a week with my mom and dad while Josh and I went to Las Vegas! One thing Josh really wanted to do was go to the Hoover Dam. It was going to be hot no matter when we went, so we decided to go on the morning of the 4th of July. Before we went though, we went and enjoyed breakfast at the cafe within the spa at The Venetian Hotel. I'm pretty sure Joshua got tired of me raving about how good their oatmeal was, which I had the day before (I really should have taken a picture of it)! Lol!  It was great to find a place to have a healthy breakfast and get away from the noise of the casino!

It was then time to head on our tour!  We finally arrived and WOW did I mention it's really hot in Vegas in July?!?  Despite the heat though, we were able to enjoy our tour!  

                                   

This tour was right up Joshua's alley and he was just taking it all in!

                                   

I on the other hand was getting a little overwhelmed with the sheer size of everything and the countless facts that were shared with us. All in all though, what a great way to enjoy Independence Day!

We then went back to the hotel and got out of the heat for a while. For supper I wanted to go eat at Bubba Gumps, which I REALLY enjoy and hadn't eaten at one since we were in Hawaii two years ago. I was kind of tired of all the fancy food we had been eating and just wanted some good sea food. So away we went :)

                       

The food and the service were great!  As we left we quickly realized everyone was waiting to watch the fireworks on the strip. We decided we would try to wait too. That is until I began to get overwhelmed with all the people and not being able to walk or breathe!

 

                         

 

My dear husband quickly realized that I was getting claustrophobic and beginning to panic, so we began shuffling through the crowds to get back to our hotel, which seemed to have taken forever!  He was so incredibly sweet as he would reach his hand behind and hold mine so that I could follow him as he made a way for me.  What a beautiful reminder that as my husband, he will always be there to lead the way and let me follow close behind him.  I can't even begin to guess how many people were on the sidewalks that night.  I did have to giggle though when my husband said "getting through the people is like trying to dodge trees when you're snowmobiling!"  As I was struggling, we happened to walk by a homeless lady reading her bible, which quickly gave me a sense of peace, but also made my heart ache for all these people who may not know Jesus that were in Vegas!  Vegas was fun and it made this small town girl appreciate the amazing husband God has blessed me with, our special kids, cool Colorado evenings, the small town we live and work in, our precious family, friends, and church family, and the agriculture community we enjoy!   I loved God's gentle lesson last week that it's not just about the destination but it's also about the journey getting there!

Thank you God, for where you have planted us and may we continue to grow with grace!

Blessings,

Krystal

New Year's in July!

New Year's always brings resolutions or new goals.  But we all know breaking down our goals to smaller pieces typically results in greater success.  Around New Year's I was still working on my two prior physical goals which was to run a half marathon and lose 25 pounds.  When I set these goals I was a little concerned that they might not be attainable, but I established a plan and just did the best I could each day.

As I've shared before I fell into the trap of allowing fitness to become my idol and had to reevaluate my priorities and make sure that God was first in ALL aspects of my life.  I'm currently going through Beth Moore's bible study 'David,' which I'm really enjoying (more on this journey at a later time)!  This has really helped bring my priorities back in line and draw me closer to Him.

After spending a lot of time in prayer, I've been able to refocus my priorities and establish some goals for the second half of 2013, which I'm really excited about.  First and foremost, my time in prayer in God's word is my first priority.  Time on the computer (or any other device at home) will not take place until my kids are in bed, ensuring that they don't feel like they have to compete with my time!  Keeping these areas, as well as my marriage balanced, will allow me to establish some new physical goals.

And without further ado, here's the new fitness goals!

1.  Run 1,000 Miles in 2013 (I've already run 503 thus far).  This will be a challenge, but I've got a plan and am just going to take one run at a time!  I use Daily Mile to log my workouts, which helps track my progress.

2.  Be able to plank for 7 minutes by the end of the year!  My plan is to begin with 1 minute planks and increase 15 seconds each week.  This will also be a challenge, but I'm hoping the increased focus on my core will help with reaching my first goal!

3.  I will also be using Turbo Fire as cross training on the days that I'm not running.  I needed something to change up my fitness routine to ensure that I'm working different muscles and ensure that I don't get bored!

One crucial lesson that I have learned over the last year is establishing a plan is crucial to success.  When I set up my plan to train for my first half marathon, I put every single workout on my digital calendar.  This ensured that I completed the workout and it also took a lot of thinking and planning out from day-to-day.  So, I set up the goals above, broke out the goals by weeks and then by day.  I'm still working on what the reward will be to myself when I reach these goals but I will get that figured out soon, which is half the fun of setting goals!  Here's a sample of my calendar for the next 6 months.  Having every workout established also helps me move workouts around if necessary when 'life' happens.

I'll admit, this process took me a considerable amount of time to put together, but I'm excited to have a plan in place!  I'll also be posting my weekly workouts on my blog for a couple reasons.  First of all to help hold myself accountable.  

The other reason is because I simply love running buddies.  If any of my girlfriends close by want to run with me on a day I'm scheduled to run, drop me a message and we'll set up a time and location (with a slight disclaimer that I usually run pretty early in the morning)!  I would absolutely love for you to join me for a warm up together, an entire run, or just whatever you have on your training calendar.  We're not on this journey alone and I ALWAYS welcome a running pal!  What goal are you setting for the second half of 2013?  Make it count!!!

Blessings to you on your journey,

Krystal 

Our First Rock Climbing Experience

Wow, has my idea of a vacation changed over the last year. Of course it's fun to relax, enjoy the delicious food, have a couple drinks and just enjoy the venue!  But I've now found myself looking for trails to run on, outdoor activities to enjoy, and various ways to enjoy the greater parts of wherever we're at, while staying active as well. Several months ago my dad decided he wanted to take a weeks vacation and have our kids come stay with them. They've enjoyed the week swimming, riding horses, going to the zoo, making homemade ice cream, and who knows what else!  Josh and I then started trying to figure out where we wanted to go to enjoy some time together. Neither one of us had ever been to Las Vegas, so we decided that's where we would go. We've had a great time just reconnecting as husband and wife, but the temperature has been over 110 degrees every day we've been here. This certainly put a damper in some of the activities I wanted to do. I really wanted to hike at the Red Rock Canyon and go kayaking, but it's just way too hot. 

We stayed at the Venetian hotel, which is just beautiful!  The spa has a 40 foot rock wall that you can climb, so we both decided it would be fun to do that since we couldn't do some of the other activities. I had originally planned on running 5 miles before we did the rock climbing, but my dear husband advised me not to. Have I mentioned what a wise man he is?  

We got our harness, shoes and helmet on (which I'm grateful for as I hit my head several times). I was beginning to get a little nervous, so Joshua went first. 

This all came very natural for him!

Josh made it through his first climb and then it was my turn!

We had a great instructor, who we discovered had a girl and boy the exact same ages as ours!

I finally made it to the top of my first climb!

It's quite a feeling to hit the bar at the top. I had no idea how tough and what a workout rock climbing is. Josh then did two more climbs (he's a monkey at heart).

He made it look really easy!

My next climb was really difficult for me. My hands were getting sweaty, my arms and legs were shaking and quite frankly I was just done. I had about 5 steps left to hit the top and told our instructor I couldn't do it and was ready to come down. She very quickly told me to take that word out of my vocabulary and that she wasn't going to let me down until after I hit the bar at the top. I finally regrouped and was able to finish the climb. I didn't realize I had an audience until I hit the bar and several people watching in the gym started clapping. I don't know why I let this challenge try to defeat me mentally, but wow what a great reminder that so many physical challenges aren't physical at all!

Josh did a couple more climbs and I did one more as well just to prove to myself that I was indeed strong enough both physically and mentally.  Then it was time for a healthy breakfast and some smoothies!

As crazy as it may sound, this was one of my favorite things we did together. I love working out with my man, and we'll definitely look into doing rock climbing again!  I strongly encourage you to look for activities to do outside of the 'typical' activities when on vacation. Definitely some unforgettable memories!

Blessings,

Krystal

Race Day~Slacker Half Marathon

The day finally came!  I've ran several other races before, but nothing compared to how I felt this morning. I was so excited to get to run in the mountains and of course a little nervous. I kept checking the weather to decide what to wear (which turned out to be my biggest struggle of the day) and trying to decide if I was going to carry my own water or if I was going to stop at the water stations. 

I also spent a lot of time in prayer for strength and endurance and for God's grace to fully enjoy the experience and His creation!  The texts and messages of encouragement were also a tremendous blessing. One dear friend (who doesn't really enjoy running) went for a run earlier this morning out of support and spent the time in prayer. Nothing touches this runner (wow I just called myself a runner) more than a run and prayer. This very kind and encouraging moment brought me to tears! A true example of a divine friendship that I will always cherish!  Throughout this journey I've been reminded to look for opportunities to be that same encouragement to others. I definitely became emotional as I prepared to run 13.1 miles! 

It was then time to head to the starting line at the Loveland ski area. Josh was going to drop me off and then head to a spot with the kiddos to cheer me on.  We got there and it was still pretty chilly!

My little dude helped me warm up!

A few more pictures and then it was time for them to head to their next destination!

The view as we waited to start was breathtaking!  The beautiful mountains, a gorgeous sunrise and almost 2,000 individuals getting ready to run. 

I (as well as a lot of other runners) were a little frustrated about the race starting about 15 minutes late, but it was a pretty minor issue in the grand scheme of things. The first 1/4 of a mile was really rough. It was on gravel (causing a lot of dust), had a steep downhill portion, and a few small creeks to jump over.  Definitely not something you can train for in Northeast Colorado. Once we got through that, it was an absolutely gorgeous path.  I always hate the first mile of ANY run. It usually takes my body that long to get into a rhythm and get my breathing under control. This run was definitely not an exception. 

After about 4.5 miles we started to run out of shade and the temperature began to climb and I began to get hot and started to regret not wearing my tank as planned. It was so cold at the beginning and I had no idea the temperature would increase 30 degrees from the beginning to the ending of the race!  It was a hard lesson to learn!  Follow your instinct and original plan for gear and DO NOT change your plan on race day!  I can't tell you how many times I read that on fellow running bogs and yet, I still did it!

I was so glad to see Josh and the kids at mile 6. It was perfect timing for some familiar faces and some encouragement. 

It was then time to keep pushing forward and finish this run despite the issue of overheating. My original plan was to stop at every other water stop, but due to the heat, I ended up having to stop at every one of them, which was every two miles. This was frustrating me a little bit, but I had to remind myself that I suffered a migraine a few days prior, had to run in elevation, as well as, struggle through the heat.  I then finally hit my sweet spot of every run, the last two miles. For some reason that's when I quit struggling mentally and just enjoy the finish. 

We were able to see the Georgetown Loop as we approached the later part of the half marathon. It was just beautiful!

And finally I hit the 13 mile mark and had the .1 to finish. It was then when I saw my very precious family. I was so excited to see them. And beside them I recognized a very special family. A dear friend and her family surprised me and were there to support while I finished. I then started to cry and had a hard time finishing. I was physically spent, excited to cross the finish line and so incredibly touched by ALL the support and encouragement I had received from friends and family up to this point. 

And here I am crossing the finish line. I can't even put into words the realm of emotions I experienced at this time!  I finished in 2:27:19, which was 6 minutes faster than I had run it on my training run.  It wasn't quite as fast as I had hoped, but the ultimate goal was to finish!  Running a half marathon is a big deal, but let me tell you, if I can do it anyone can!

It was then time to celebrate and love on my precious family!  They have loved and supported me from the very beginning!  I love these two so very much and hope I encourage them as much as they have encouraged me. It's amazing what our kids can teach us!

And then it was time to enjoy lunch with a special family!  These are the best cheerleaders a person could ask for (my poor little girl wasn't feeling well)!

I was so incredibly touched by the support, love and prayers from this family. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!  It was definitely a surprise I will never forget!

This was such an incredible experience and I can't wait to register for another race, as well as, support others who are also on this incredible journey!  

This year long journey has taught me to seek God first, set goals, develop a plan and enjoy every step (and stumble) of the journey!

Blessings,

Krystal