and we keep on keepin on ( just an update)

I didn't realize how long it had been since I have actually sat down and taken the time to blog, I also dont know if people actually read this BUT, if you do here is just a little update.

I'm no longer in Idaho. Before coming back home I was able to spend some time with my family in Washington and connect with everyone up there. I came home and about a month later, I enlisted in the Air Force. So, now, its just a waiting game. Still working out. still running. not blogging as much. Though, there are going to be some soon in the near future. Ive just been putting it off.

on a side note,the fall madness/ holiday season has officially started in my family. Its going to be non stop. Before I know it, january will be here.

You find out who your friends are...

I love my friends. I am so blessed to be friends with each and every one of you, and you are all special to me. So, before anyone gets all hurt about anything, I'm not saying because I didnt write about you this time around you aren't important to me. So don't even go there.
However, as a lot of you know, I like to think about all the weird things in life. I had this really weird thought cross my mind, who do I see my self staying in contact with through out my adult life. being realistic, of course. I mean, its not like I'm going to know all my facebook friends forever. While I thought about the handful ( or few handfuls ) of people that I would like to stay in contact with, one person stood out in my mind as someone extremely important to me that time has already tested our friendship. The one person I know always has my back, even if I'm wrong. The person I could call at 3 in the morning to come and get me from somewhere no matter how far ( not tThat we have done that, but still). The one person that has never been too busy to answer a phone call. The one person who would drop everything in a hearbeat if I was in need. The person who has been by my side through thick and thin. Who has laughed hysterically with me, who has cried with me, and who has hurt with me. Who has been apart of my family for as long as I can remember. Who has been my friend regardless of status. Who calls me to actually see how I am. Who isnt my friend only when its a convience for them. Who has seen the good the bad and the ugly. Who doesnt use me. Who knows more about me than anyone else. Who I can tell anything and still loves me anyway. The person who would curb stomp any jerk in our path, well maybe not but its a nice thought. The person who regardless of anything and everything that has come our way, regardless of how much time has passed we always pickup right where we left off; not just best friends but sisters. Makayla Rehanek. Honestly, as much as my life has changed, she has always been there. There have been times where we didnt talk for up to a year at a time but, it didnt matter. Makayla, I know I havent always been the best of friend but, I can only hope that you feel the same way about our friendship. I will always have your back, always. You are a very important person to me, and I am very greatful for our friendship. I love you.

yeah this one is cute...I know

Its the little things.

Who knew running could be so complicated. Come to find out, there are several rules and guidelines you need to follow to run correctly, and safely. Well, let me just say this was all news to me. However, I came to find out very quickly that shoes are very important, and this I learned the hard way. Now, for those of you who know just as much about running as I do, one of the things that you need to know is that your shoes need to fit correctly. Seems like a no brainer, right? wrong. Come to find out, for your shoes to fit right, they actually need to be too big. Well kind of. There needs to be a pretty good amount of room between your toes and the front of the shoe. Also, you shouldnt be able to bend your shoe in half. Then to make it evern more tricky, there are all different kinds of shoes and the way they support you, that you should be wearing depending on your gait and movement. Needless to say, I was doing it all wrong. My shoes pretty much fail this "test" and were the wrong kind for me to be wearing, and too small to really be running in.

After about a week and a half of running more than I usually do in these shoes, I started to realize why they were not the correct ones for me to be wearing. My toes have had a through beating, and my legs are telling me they have had just about enough. This morning, I really started to feel it. I was kicking myself for not having shoes that were good enough for me to be running in.

Now, before I go any further, I want you to think about what just happened there. I was feeling sorry for myself for not having something that was good enough.

Then, I thought about it. I still have both my legs, which my feet are still attached to. I still have all my toes. Im not bleeding. More importantly, I am lucky enough to have shoes on my feet. Im not walking to get food and water, and if I was, I wouldnt have to go very far to have axcess to some, let alone clean and cold water. Im not running from something that could hurt me or going to get help, if I needed that, I have a cellphone in my pocket. And when I turned around to go back, I was going to return to an air conditioned building, where if I so pleased, I could take my shoes off and lay on the couch. What a hard life I have?

There I was, complaining to myself about how I dont have the right shoes when some people dont have any shoes.

That in it self was a blessing. After this whole thought process, instead of complaining more, I could take a moment to be greatful for how fortunate I am. That here, I dont have to worry about whether or not I will have what I need to survive, I dont have to worry about whether or not I will have shoes on my feet.

Here is my challange to you. Take a moment and examine your life. Sure we all have our hardships, but instead of focusing on what we dont have, try and focus on the things we have to be greatful for.

So what is it that you are greatful for?

Daddy

Today I was out running. Just an ordinary run with my aunt through her neighborhood. As we were turning the corner, there was a taller guy riding a blue scooter with a jacket on. Imediately, I thought of my daddy. I didnt realize how much I missed him until I saw that guy on the scooter, and it wasnt my dad.

For those of you who dont know, I have the best dad in the entire world. From the time I was little every one has told me that I look like my dad. That I talk like me dad. That I have the same sense of humor as my dad. That I laugh just like my dad.  For the longest time, that really bugged me. I suppose its because I was young and I was almost offended that anyone would say that I looked or acted like a boy. however, now I realize how lucky I am to have my daddy, and in many aspects be a lot like him.

My daddy was always the most fun to be around. He would always play with me no matter what I choose.I could be boxing my dad, or dressing him up like a princess and either way it was fine with him. I cant even tell you how many times my dad has worn make up, let me do his  hair and accidentely made it out the door with jewlery from our tea partys still on. He took me to my first diamondbacks game and peeled off every bit of bread on his corn dog so I could have it. He had me memorize all the baseball players on the 1998 dback team, and let me pretend like I knew everything about it. Anything I showed an interest in, my dad was right there with me. He roller bladed with me, rode bikes, went to every horse show I ever had, came to marching band competitions, you name it he was there. I didnt know it then, but I was very lucky to have a dad that was always there to support me. My daddy spent countless hours with me out at the barn with my pony cleaning stalls, watching me ride, trailering me to 4-h, horse shows, helping me pack the trailer, and make me horse all pretty. He always made sure he had more than enough carrots for barkley, and would talk to him before every class, and tell him to do his very best, and he would get a great treat afterwards. Needless to say, whether we did well or not, barkley always got a great treat.

My dad has always made sure that our family has what we need. He would go to the ends of the earth to do so. He is a jack of all trades and knows a lot about many things. He has worked harder than anyone I have ever met to get through college and do so with high marks, despite not finishing high school. He has an amazing ablitiy to always go full heartedly at everything he does. I have never seen anyone study harder than my dad to learn what he needs to learn, in fact, he knows just about every airport in the united states and their abbreviations. I can remember times, where my dad would sit down with his bible for hours and just read.

He would always make an attempt to do things as a family. Family trips, family gatherings, family movie time, he would talk to us about God and the bible, and how much he loves us.

My dad is the best. The worst part though is that I never appreciated it. I always felt like it was such a drag to have to listen to my dad at horse shows, or to drive to church early sunday morning, to watch passion of the christ near easter. I hated it. As I got older I never wanted my dad to embarass me, and at times I was just plain rude. I didnt appreciate everything he did for me, all the knowledge he shared with me. None of it. It took me a very long time to give him the credit he deserves. All the time I would get mad at him for doing something wrong, and I would find anything that he did wrong to get made about despite all the things he would do right. I didnt realize that he was only human.

Now I have to say, I really regret not appreciating him more. I truly do have the best father that anyone could ask for. Not because he is fun to be around and was always there for us but because he has given me the foundation for everything in my life. He has given me a love for God, and our country. Has instilled respect in me for those who serve our country and sacrificed their lives for our freedom. He has taught me how to keep going when times are tough. How to show people love and compassion. How to be polite and use my manners.He has shown me the importance of working hard. I could  go on for days about everything my dad has done for me. Now I realize that everything he has ever done was to help us or make us better. He has always gone above and beyond, always made an effort to be apart of my life. All I can say now is that daddy, Im sorry for not always listening to you, and appreciating every little thing you have done with me or shared with me. You are the best dad that anyone could ask for and now I can see that you always had the best intentions for our family. Thank you. Just thank you. I feel like that isnt enough but daddy, I love you and no matter how mad or upset I get with you that will never ever change. you are the best, and thank you for everything you have ever done for me and our family.

I love you.

air planes, kettle bells, and a bit of african culture.

On monday I had a chance to talk to some really neat people. During one of the kettle bell classes I was taking, we all decided that to make time faster, we should talk about our "life stories" so we went around the room and said a little bit about ourselves and some experiences.

One woman in particular spent 20 years or so of her life in africa. Her and her husband spent time flying missionaries into places that were hard to reach. She told mant stories of things that happened but there were a few that really caught my attention. She was telling us that above all people are the most important. You would never answer the phone say hello and get straight to the point, you would ask the person how they are doing, how they slept, and almost get to know them a bit. When you would pass someone by on the street you would ask What they have done but rather If they have spent their day well. It isnt uncommon to spent a half an hour having a genuine conversation with someone. And just ingoring someone was just plain unheard of, and considered very rude. She said that you were very friendly with everyone, and for the most part, everyone helped everyone out. She had also told us that elders were very respected, no questions asked. It wasnt because of anything other than younger people simply havent had the opportunity to learn enough yet, and it wasnt uncommon for someone to ask to speak to an elder. She gave many example of when that would happen to her. for instance, many of the americans who lived there would help employ locals. There was a woman that would come to their home to clean that was significantly older than her. She would give the woman fairly simple tasks, and more than anything just have her around. She told us that often times other elders would say to the woman that they felt bad for her. Not because she had a job cleaning their home, but because she worked for a 30 year old woman, who simply hadnt had enough time on the earth yet to learn enough.

The reason I thought I should share this is because there is something that we can learn from it. Take time to legitimately talk to some one and value them. A life is measured by if it was well spent, not how much we have accomplished in a day. And respect your elders, take time to learn from them. Take in their experiences, dont take for granted all the things that we can learn from them. I know that it sounds kind of crazy to think that maybe the young should take time to learn from the old. We are conditioned to think that we are young and we have great ideas, and everyone should take us seriously, which may be true. we just simply havent been here as long, may not have seen as much, and didnt live during the time they did.

I really hope that I can hear more from her about her time spent traveling.

Hope youre having a great day!

team 413.

So, as part of my fitness adventure, I am on a month long trip to boise, ID, to work out with my aunt at the gym, she owns, fitness expressions. If you are in the boise area, you should check it out she is awesome. But anyways, she is really kicking my butt into shape. and for those of you that dont know, before I came up here the most I have consecutively run was about a mile, and after that... im pretty much done, dont want to do anymore. Upon arriving here, my wonderful aunt informed me that along with working out all day, doing various classes and personal training, I will be running five miles a day. I was pretty sure that I was going to throw up when she said that.

4 this morning was where my day started, and my first day at the gym in a awhile. I spent most of my time while getting ready praying about the day.First thing this morning was a run. it wasnt bad at all, I felt really good about it. then after breakfast and a quick nap :P, my first kettle bell class. Again not bad. Then, I was able to join in on a personal training session, followed by kettle bell classes back to back. I wasnt feeling too bad. Then I joined in on another personal training session. At that point, it was time to run again. I was getting a little scared, 1.8 miles; no walking. This is pretty scary for someone who can barely run a mile. Once again, I spent some more time praying, and just asking the lord to keep me moving and remind me why I am here. To push myself to dig deep and find some strength.

 My aunt told me that the woman I was going to run with was KC, that she was a good friend of hers that can help me learn how to run. We started out the door and I took a good look at the front of her shirt, it said team 413. I wasnt really sure what that was, and didnt ask. I was too nervous about keeping up. We ran side by side, and pretty soon after about a mile and a half I was slowing down. I felt like I wanted to give up, all I wanted to do was walk, and I could help but thinking Why the heck am I doing this, I cant, I cant, Im way in over my head, I have to stop. Right before I stopped I looked up and on the back of her shirt It said  I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Phillipians 4:13. That was my great reminder to start praying. Keep running, and keep praying. immediately, she slowed down, but kept me going. with her help, and some serious praying we were able to run all the way back to the gym.

Sometimes, it just as simple as a prayer. To just say, lord, I need you, please keep me going. I know that I can trust you, and I know that you will keep me going.

I had the opprotunity to talk more with this woman, and she is such a God sent. She has the biggest heart, and even though she is way above my level of running, she took time out of her day to help and encourage me. God works on your heart through others. I dont think it was any sort of coisidence that verse was on her shirt, in fact I truly believe it was purposeful.

In fact, I was feeling well enough to do a fourth kettle bell class.

The point of this was not about running at all. It was to show me that I can trust in the lord with any problem or struggle, no matter how small or silly it seems to others, he is there.

I hope yall have a great day!

Its kinda mind blowing, what love really means.

Today, while I was listening to the radio. A song came on that really just blew my mind.  The song I believe was called " What love really means" by jj heller and I couldnt stop thinking about it after I heard it.

Im not going to post all the lyrics, but, long story short, the song talked about all these different people and their brokeness. How they hurt, and how all they want is for someone to love they unconditionally; to show them what love really means. The chorus in particular really stood out to me.

Who'll love me for me?
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me?
‘Cause nobody has shown me what love
What love really means what love really means

As people, I mean that is all we really want dont we? To be love for us, plain and simple. For who we are. Not to have to change ourselves to be good enough for someone else, or to please people. That is the really cool thing about God, he loves us for us, not matter what we have done. If we turn to him and ask for forgiveness, and do so earnestly, we are forgiven.

He’s waiting to die as he sits all alone
He’s a man in a cell who regrets what he’s done
He utters a cry from the depths of his soul
“Oh Lord, forgive me. I wanna go home”
Then he heard a voice somewhere deep inside
And it said “I know you’ve murdered
 And I know you’ve lied
And I've watched you suffer all of your life
And now that you'll listen I'll tell you that I...”
I will love you for you
Not for what you have done or what you will become
I will love you for you
I will give you the love, the love that you never knew
To me that is so mind blowing, that he will always love us, and that we can turn to him for the love that we need. He is that one who will satisfy the emptyness.

Just some food for thought. Have a great night yall!

Sometimes, I wonder....

For those of you who know me well, this wont come as a surprise to you.

Sometimes, at night, before I fall asleep, I think about all the things about life that perplex me. The list has grown quite long and if we are going to be honest, there are A LOT that are just flat out weird.

So in light of my "getting into shape" I would like to share with you all my newest thought on life.

Losing weight. Its a super weird concept. Especially losing fat. Its perfectly logical, if you think about it in the sense of how it is executed. It actually seems quite simple, eat right, exercise, lose weight ( to be blunt about it) but what really gets me is where does it all go?

There are explanations all over the place for how, and where, but its weird to think that just by eating right and exercising that our bodies actual become thinner.

I know my words arent doing this justice, because I cant really get the  complete thought out of my head. But that is something I would really like yall to think about, even if it makes perfect sense to you, I can tell you that when you lay down in bed at night and think about it literally, you will wonder.

more than just a haircut.

I dont know about yall, but everytime something significant happens in my life ( or I would like it to :p) I get a haircut.
For instance, back in the day when I went from elementary to junior high...hair cut, junior to high school...haircut. New job...haircut.
 It didnt occur to me why I did this until a few days ago when I yet againn got another haircut. Youre probably thinking, well duh crazy, people get haircuts...and usually more than once a year.

But I dont. Actually, I think by saying haircut, I should really be saying hair style.

Before I go any further, if you live in the mesa, chandler, gilbert, tempe, queen creek area, anywhere really, and you need a haircut, check out diversity in hair on higley and southern...ask for lisa she is amazing.

When I like a hair style, I stick with it for awhile. Because its fimiliar, as are the the things in my life. But when something makes a huge change, or a bigger one at least I seize the opportunity to adopt a new style.

Often times for me, its about letting go of an old identity and going with a new one, leaving a stage of your life behind and moving on to the next.

And thats exactly what Im doing.

So watch out world, I have a new hair style, and Im ready to take you on.

I like running, until I actually do it.

I really like the idea of running. I mean who doesnt.
It seem like it would be so much fun. Havent you seen all those people running up the street that have that big smile on their  face like they really like it.
I want to be that person, not the one you see running up the street that looks like they are on their last leg.
It doesnt seem like it should be so hard to make your feet move just a little faster, right?
wrong.I always seem to get on the track, and Im really excited about running. Then I start going, and the only thing I can seem to think is why am I doing this.

Those are the time I wish I was a horse, they make it look so fun and effortless to run.

Truth be told, I need to work a lot harder at running.
So, Im going to try and turn this negitive in to a positive.

paracord, knots, and other things that save your life.

For some reason, I had this fascination with tying knots. weird right? I think they are so interesting. In fact, I think I was meant to be a boy scout, not a girl scout. However that is beside the point.

Awhile ago I had stumbled across a page called survival straps.They were this cool 550 cord bracelets that you wore around your wrist, that had cool knots and you could unravel them and have about 10 feet ( dont quote me on that) of usable cord that you guessed it, could hold up to 550 lbs. it was pretty cool. But it was until I read further in to the website that there were all this people endorsing the product, raving about how glad they were that they bought one. For some people it had saved the day, they were able to repair things with the cord, and for others it saved their life. it amazed me how a small piece of cord could do all this. So, I thought to myself, hey I wanna make one of those.

Recently, I bought some cord, learned some new knots, and made a bracelet. Sweet deal.

well, it wasnt until I started making these "life saving bracelets" that something occured to me. Jesus is a lot like a paracord bracelet. (for those of you who think I sound crazy, please just hang in there) On an average day, most people think of it as small and insignificant. Its just an accessory. Its really easy to think of the cord as just a bracelet, that looks cool, just as it is really easy to put Jesus on the back burner, and let your relationship with him just be another action in your life where you go through the motions. It something that is there everyday, wheather you forget about it or not. But eventually, there will be a point in your life where both of those would come in handy, sometimes just to patch things up, or to save your life. I understand how weird this analogy sounds, but just take a stretch and think about it. Some of us dont truly find God, and his grace until we hit rock bottom. Until there is no where else to go, and its your only option. To the point where you feel so broken that God is the only place we feel comfort. Where you reach out and say God I surrender, even though I havent called upon you much ( or for some ever), please catch me. Same thing with the cord, sometimes you get to that point, where that is your only option, is to pull that bracelet apart and hope that it really hold that 550 pounds.

So I bet youre thinking, okay this girl is crazy, but what is the common denominator there? Faith. You have to trust in that decision. Is Jesus really going to catch me? Is this cord going to break?  I can tell you, that yes, jesus with catch you. For some that could be strange to think about, but he is a loving God, and his intent is not to hurt you. Now, Im not saying that you can jump off of a sky scraper and be okay because you have Jesus in your life, BUT that if you surrender your life to him he WILL set your paths straight. Will it always be the way we want it to work out, probably not, but to be in line with HIS plan for us. We are living for a far greater purpose, one that isnt always clear, at first. After all this thought, my challenge for all of you, my self included is to totally surrender yourself to christ. Its can be hard, but now that there are people that will come in to your life to love and support you when you need them the most. I hope that this has struck a chord with you, no pun intended, and that you will at least think about what I said, whether you believe me or not. I know that he has changed my life.

Oh, and I dont know how the paracord works yet with life saving and all. Havent had to use it yet. Maybe the will be a future post, how the paracord saved the day...

one mans trash is another mans treasure?

I mean c'mon, dont lie, that is one of the worst phrases ever.
except, sometimes its true.
like today, second hand jewlery from kiley.
legit going to throw this stuff away.
luckily, I came just in time to score a sweet pair of noah's arc earrings.
Awesome right?

The only bummer is when second hand things start to get weird.
For example, savers.
why do they have a section of used underware?- To me, the is just screaming " I want the herp"...NO THANKS

A close second to underware would definitely have to be kitchen utensils and what not ( i.e. forks, cups, plates..) Something about that just gives me the creeps.

or wedding dresses, I feel like that is a bad omen. Hey honey, I love you, but im buying my wedding dress from goodwill that has a mystery stain on the butt. Good thing this day only comes once in my life.

Also, trophies. I mean who doesnt want to be king county senior league bowling champion of 1973. yep, thats me.

Overall, the worst part of it all...the smell, if it smells like it is dying...you probably shouldnt buy in.

Comment about your worst second hand experience.

I guess this sounds like a good idea

Well, now I finally have a blog. yay? I have been thinking about this for quite sometime.
I honestly dont really know what I'm going to write about yet.

Hopefully, the general public can handle this.
I kinda feel like Im back at myspace, except this time around...im out of practice with html.
awesome.

To get this bad boy going, how about some requests of things you would like to hear me write about?
Good? Good.
Ask away!