Counting Down

 This time, one week from today....I will still be sitting in my living room.  Actually, I will probably be packing.  9 days from today my hubby and I are leaving for Jamaica.  I am extremely excited, and ready to go!  We are going with some great friends, Josh and Jenny G.  :)  I am so happy to have a week to hang out with them.  It will be great.  Sitting on the beach (which I haven't seen in about three years) and drinking nice cold drinks.  It will be fantastic, I may never want to leave mon!
Let me tell you how much I love Skype.  It has to be the best invention ever.  I have Skype, some of my friends are on Skype..my parents are on Skype.  That is why I love it so.  Recently, my parents were babysitting my favorite niece Olive.  She is just so darn cute.  I got to skype with her and my parents, and she is just so funny.  She talks up a storm, and loves for me to be on the computer...I have no idea what she is saying half the time, but she does and that is all that matters.  Last weekend I started singing head, shoulders, knees and toes (yes I know...it's in my head now too), and she was doing the motions along with me.  She could say head and toes.  Shoulders and knees were a little harder for her to grasp.  In fact, her shoulders were her arm pits.  It's okay .. she will figure out the body parts soon enough.  Most of the time she went straight from the head to the toes, and just skipped the shoulders and the knees.  It's fine...you don't need those parts anyway.  It was just so funny to see her do this.  And then we stopped, and about 10 mins later...she started the song again...on her own!  Little kids are just so smart.  I think they are way smarter than us adults.  The things they can do at such an early age is just amazing.  I think my niece is a genius (but then again, who doesn't think highly of their own family?)  I cannot wait until my next Skype date with them.  Hopefully it's soon.  I cannot wait to go home in September.  She always seems amazed when I am there...like "how did you come out of that computer screen"?  One day it will all click for her.  But if you don't have Skype...get it!  Call all your family and friends that are far away or down the block.  It is the best thing ever! :)

Motivation

J and I at the finish line of our second 5K race :)

I just read my friend Jenny G's blog, and it made me want to write my own post.  Her blog was about her first 5K race.  :)  I am so proud of her for just going out there and running.  We talk every day through email at work (yup it is listed as party of my daily duties).  We always talk about running and training...kind of motivating each other to our running goals. 
I started running maybe 2-3 years ago.  I completed my first race in March for St Patty's day.  I did not run the whole thing, but I finished, in 36:24.  Which for me is fantastic.  I played softball in high school, but when it came to running the mile...let's just say I had no interest in doing that.  I never thought I could.  Finally at the age of 27 I went on a healthy/lifestyle change kick.  I dropped some weight and thought, why not start running.  I started slow...walking/running until I build up to running 2 miles.  Then I thought if I can run two miles, why not the 3.1 needed to do a 5K race.  I will admit, those thoughts didn't come until March when I actually signed up for my first 5K race ever.  With much encouragement from my hubby and my friend Jenny G I set off on that adventure.  I survived.
This past week, there was another 5K race in town.  The person who runs the gym talked me into signing up, though he didn't have to twist my arm very hard.  I was already thinking of signing up.  Ever since March I have been working on my running routine trying to finish a whole 5K and shave time off my first race.  :)  SO...I did.  I signed up without my husband even signing up at first.  He signed up later, so we were off for our second race together.
Guess what?  No I still didn't complete the whole race running (I only made it up 3/4 of the killer hill..but started running again right at the top) but I did beat my time from the first race.  I was so proud of myself.  At the end of the race, who was waiting for me...my biggest supporter and motivator, my hubby.  He was yelling "push it you can beat 36:00 if you push it!".  I was so grateful for the extra boost it helped me sprint to the end, where I came in at 35:38.  I almost shaved a whole minute off my time.  This does not make me an elite runner obviously, but I was so proud of myself that night.  :)  For the first time, I cannot wait to sign up for the next 5K race.  This coming from a girl who hated running.  Now I cannot imagine not running.  Amazing how sometimes the older we get, the better we get at certain things.  Maybe one day, Jenny G and I can sign up for a 10K race together, as that is what I will be training for next.  And who knows, by the time I am 40 maybe I can do a half marathon.  Thanks to my friend Jenny G and my fantastic hubby for continuing to push me to new levels!