Waiting, waiting, waiting...

House update: We have a verbal acceptance from the bank and are just waiting on signatures to make it official. Then, and only then, can we start the lovely process of escrow. If all goes well, we should have keys by Easter. We're praying!

House Hunting Chapter 2

The first house countered our offer way over the asking price so we are onto bigger (2,054 square feet) and better (forclosed houses as opposed to short sales) things. So, this is what we are trying to get now. I love it. Our offer went in this morning and now the house shows as "pending". But we only want it if this is what the Lord wants for us. Tons of pictures!

26.2

It's over. Eleven months of training. Non-runner to marathoner. It's crazy how it just stops. Heather said it reminder her of the night before a wedding when she and Amy saw me the night before the run. It totally does feel like that. You do all this planning and prep, it consumes your thoughts and your schedule for months, and after a few hours of the event, it suddenly comes to a halt. Only, when I got married, I went to Hawaii for a week with Nick. This time, I hobbled around for 2 1/2 days and got to ride in a car for 7 hours.

We drove down Friday morning to Irvine to stay with my brother, Trevor, and his wife, Amber. But we detoured a little to have lunch at Wings To Go in Bakersfield. This is the only one in California and it's the best wings place ever. This was my payment to Nick for supporting me through all of this- he ran the 1/2 marathon that weekend with me too. We also had lunch there on the way back home! Tori brought down her black nail polish for me to wear. I read in Runner's World about a girl who painted her nails black before running marathons because it made her feel hard core. I'm totally hard core- but the more you have to say you're hard core, the less hard core you become. Friday was the night I needed to get a good night's sleep so we all (my parents and little sisters came down too) retired early for the night.

Saturday started out great. Nick got up with the boys and let me sleep in. We went down to Huntington Beach to the Expo so we could pick up our shirts and numbers. Jeremy, Lollie, and their girls met us down at the beach so we could play a little. Adam loved it but Sam tried to pick up his feet whenever they touched the sand! Trevor was in charge of the carb load and made such great baked ziti that I had 3 helpings. I laid out everything I could possibly need for the morning out on the table and checked it through four times, set the alarm, and went to bed.

Sunday, February 1, 2009. Marathon day! I wake up before my alarm. I feel good. Refreshed. I'm ready. It's dark outside but it's probably 5am- time to wake up. I check the clock...12:32am. Oh.

I wake up before the alarm goes off. Check the clock before I think too hard. 4:56am. I love it when that happens- right before the alarm. I feel good. Ready to go. I put Glide on every part of my body that might ever even slightly touch another part. Oatmeal. Aleve. Socks, shoes, etc. We're good to go.

Then we hit the traffic. I guess I didn't really think about the impact 18,000 runners and their friends would have at six in the morning. I start to get a little nervous as the traffic cops direct us away from where we want to go. I tell Nick that I'm getting out of the car. I have utterly no concern for anyone else- all I know is that I start my race in 17 minutes. I'm not the only one who's running today. Nick and Amber are doing the half marathon, Jeremy, Tori, and Alicia are running a 5k, and Adam and Bella are running in the one mile kids run. Nick, Tori, Alicia, and I hop out and Amber, bless her, ventures off to find a parking spot.

It's beautiful weather. A little cold but it's 6:49...in the morning...at the beach. The guy on the mic up at the start line asks for a shout out for all those doing their first marathon. Woo-hoo! I cheer with the rest. Then he asks who's doing their last marathon. My lone voice yells out from the crowd. Everyone else just doesn't want to admit it. This is hard. And time-consuming. And really not very good for you body. And it hurts afterwards.

6:50am. The Beach Boys' "Surfin' USA" song blasts through the speakers as they let the sub 4 hour runners go. And three minutes later, it's our turn. I've been training on a run/walk program where I walk for a minute out of every mile. Eleven minutes in, I start to walk for my minute, and a spectator looks at me and asks, "What happened?" I smile and let him know it's all part of my plan. The first 8 miles were great. I was keeping up with the 4:45 pacer and somehow lost him in the park. Dozens of kids were lining the park paths, cheering us on. It was so great. They were full of energy that we were running out of. Just past mile marker 7, a lady was cheering on the side "You're doing great! Almost there!" Are you kidding?? We have 19 miles to go!!

Somewhere around mile 9, the half marathoners merged with us. It totally killed my morale because the batch that came through then were running at 8 minutes per mile. I've been running comfortably for over an hour and a half and all the sudden, hundreds of people are passing me! It might have actually been good, though, because it made me run a little faster to try to keep up. I see Nick running up the hill as I'm running down and yell at the top of my lungs to him. I'm pretty loud but that was a pretty big hill and he was focused.

We turn back onto the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and head north. There were so many switchbacks on this course. I see people running south and know that's where I will be in about an hour. I feel like I'm going the wrong way! I finally make it to the turn-around and on my way back down, I search for Nick in the oncoming runners. He was so excited for me. So encouraging. He ran over and said, "There's my girl!" and then he tried to catch up. I passed my 13 mile marker and said, "Praise the Lord! I'm halfway through." I'm slow so he did catch up and we were able to run together for about 3 miles. That was great. I'm so blessed with him.

Nick left to finish the half and I still had 9 miles to go. This part of the course was beautiful. A paved path right on the beach. I played games with myself to catch a certain person up ahead or run at least to the flag and then I could take a walk break. Up to this point, I thought I was going to break 5 hours. I've been very consistent in my training. 12 minute miles. I expected to finish sometime between 5:20 and 5:30. My hope started to dwindle. This is hard. "Eye of the Tiger" came onto my ipod for the third time as I rounded the turn-around. I ran the last four or five miles near a 80 year old man. I mostly ran a little behind him because his shirt had Isaiah 40:31 on it.

"Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Thanks, I needed that. I saw my dad, camera in hand, at mile 25. So close! I ran down to their pier, and back up onto the PCH. I rounded the corner and saw thousands of people lining the street. My bib had my name on it so people cheered for me by name. I saw my husband, my kids, my family, my friends, and complete strangers cheering me on to the end. I crossed the finish line at 5:07. What a beautiful day! I felt great. Heather and Amy, who drove all the way down to support me for the weekend, hugged me even when I was sweaty and smelly. They were so genuinely happy and proud. I love my people. Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with these people.

Back to the house for the Superbowl party where I indulged in every snack that I wanted. Hey, my ipod told me that I burned over 3,600 calories that day! Thank you to everyone who has put up with my running stories. In a very small corner, in the back of my mind, I think that I would like to try again to break 5 hours but I'm trying to ignore that corner. Maybe a triathalon, though!

House Hunting

I am sorry it's been so long since I've posted. Our lives have been filled with holidays, church, running, and now- house hunting! Today, I found the one. I hope. There are no pictures online so I'm posting the ones I took. We've looked at about 20 houses with weird smells, trashed carpet, bad neighborhoods, old roofs, etc. We walked into this one- REAL hardwood floors, crown molding, fantastic neighborhood, great layout... I love it and Nick really likes it too. The only real downfalls are that it doesn't have a big sideyard and that it is a short sale- so it's a longer process and we might not get it. We've been praying that the Lord would make it totally clear where (and if) He wants us to go. So we'll see... We are going to put in an offer tomorrow afternoon- the day before we leave to go down to Huntington Beach for the marathon! So, lots going on and we'll let you know how it goes! And if we don't get this one, we know the Lord has better plans for us.

21.

The miles I ran. My marathon is 6 weeks from today! - said with excitement AND fear. I started running in March and 5 miles was the first run that I didn't know if I could even do. I remember that Nick went with me and I actually survived! Since then, I've been pretty confident that I might be able to do this thing. Until yesterday... I started having doubts. 21 miles seems like such a long way. I didn't know if I could do it. And I couldn't. I can't. But God can. Only by the grace of God am I able to run that far. Who does that? I don't know. Sometimes I think I am crazy but I love to go out on the long runs with my ipod. It's my time to ponder God for more than a few moments. I download the latest sermons from Francis Chan and just take off running. It's great. Thank you, Lord.

The pounds I've lost. I originally wanted to do the marathon so that I could have some motivation to get off the Sam baby weight. It didn't work so well. Contrary to what I had believed, running does not take off the weight. You have to actually eat well too. Imagine that- diet AND exercise! So, six weeks ago, I cut out all refined flour and sugar from my diet. It's been great and I don't feel deprived. To quote my skinny cousins: "A moment on your lips, forever on your hips" and "Nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels." So there you have it. 21 is a great number for me this week.

SAM I AM IS A WHOLE YEAR OLD!

Happy, Happy Birthday, baby Sam! It's amazing to think back to a year ago when he just decided, all of a sudden to join our family. He was almost born in the car (seriously, we had a bowl in the back of the car for the placenta in case it did come down to that) and if you want to read Nick's rendition of that night, here it is.
What a blessing you have been to our family, Sam. We thank God for the gift of you every night and love that we get to share our lives with you. We love that you are so cheerful and that you get so excited to see us each morning as we come in to get you out of your crib. We love how you adore your brother and try to show him by cracking your skull against his. I love that you have a dimple like your daddy! I love that you are so easy to get to smile and will wave at anyone who looks your way. I love that you start dancing when you hear music. I love that you suck your thumb when you are sleepy. I love that you climb up in Adam's chair and rock yourself back and forth. I love that you are crazy and reckless in the bath. I love your smell. I love the way you touch my face when I feed you your bottle. I love to rock you and sing to you about our Lord. I love that you enjoy food and your thighs remind us of how "healthy" you are. I love your soft skin. I love to watch you play and squeal in delight. We love you, Sam! Happy first birthday ever!

My mom is really smart.

My mom had a four year old and two 22 month old twins when I was born, then had two more after a 15 year break, and lived to tell about it. So, I usually call her when my kids are sick before I call the doctor. Sam had a fever for three days and then it went away and was replaced by mysterious little red spots on his tummy. Called mom, she asked a few questions, said "Sounds like roseola virus. Look it up on the internet and see if it matches." Lo, and behold, my child had exactly every symptom that was described. I talked with my doctor because that's what What to Expect the First Year says to and we were good to go. Anyway, my mom is smart.

On the road again- oh, wait. It's a treadmill.

A little update on the running. While we were in Tahoe, I was scheduled to do my 15 miles and God was scheduled to send snow that day. So I spent the better part of the morning, over 3 1/2 hours, on the treadmill in the Marriott's gym. I staked out a pretty good one- overlooking the pool, watching the snow fall on the trees. I was afraid I was going to be bored because I detest running on treadmills so I put an audiobook on my ipod to keep me company. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers is a novel based on the story of Hosea. Note to self: it's pretty difficult to cry while you are running. But I did it and I think it was the first time where I felt like I actually might be able to run a marathon in February. Through Christ who strengthens me...

Fast forward two weeks to this past Saturday. I ran through 3 cities! 18 miles. A little less than four hours. And a whole audiobook. I felt good when I was done but I need to find some long trails to run on. It's probably not safe to run over Kirker Pass but I want to run from Walnut Creek to my house. Only three more long runs before Huntington!

The First Snow

God is so nice to us! A family in our church gifted us with a week in Tahoe at their time share. What an unexpected blessing. Nick and I left the boys with my parents for a few days while we went by ourselves for a little R&R. We slept in, read by the fire, played wii golf, ate lots of food at non-kid-friendly restaurants, saw the movie Fireproof (so good, by the way), stayed out past the boys' bedtime, went on a run (which was a little hard to get used to in the over 6,000 foot elevation), and totally enjoyed God's creation up there. Then, Nick drove back to pick up the boys to join us while I went on a long run. Adam loved it. It was the first snow of the season when we were up there and he and Nick scraped up all the snow they could to make a little snowman. What a fun way to see snow for the first time.

Halloween

I'm a little behind on the blogging so here comes a bunch...
Adam bounced around like Tigger all day long and would not let go of his bucket because that was the key to getting the goods. Sam had no idea what was going on but looked so cute dressed up like Winnie the Pooh and his fat little belly.

My parents bought Adam and Sam each a pumpkin in October. Adam calls it his "pumpkin pie" and carries it around with him in the car, sits with it at meals, they watch movies together on the couch, and he practically sleeps with it.

The Cat in the Hat

I read this at least three times a day...I have the first 10 pages completely memorized...just wanted to let you know...

Rock n' Roll Half Marathon

On Sunday, October 5th, Missie and I participated in the Rock n' Roll half marathon in San Jose. Here is a minute by minute breakdown of our experience. Much of it may be made up. Or not. I can't really remember because I was pretty tired.
6:30am - I awaken to my lovely wife's happy face smiling way bigger than anyone should be smiling at 6:30am. She is obviously much more excited about this race than I am. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I have run a total of 6 miles in the last, oh, 6 months and she's been training three days a week for ever. A half marathon is... let me check... 13.1 miles long. Red flag.
6:45am - Missie introduces me to a product called 'Glide' which looks like deodorant but is actually a lubricant that is designed to keep your rubbing places from chafing. I take the 'more is better approach' and apply it liberally to my whole body. You never know what's gonna chafe.
6:46am - I can't get out of the bathroom because my hand keeps slipping on the door knob. This glide stuff really works.
7:00am - Missie frees me from my bathroom prison. We ceremoniously eat a spoonful of peanut butter for breakfast. Missie swears that tons of runners eat this stuff as fuel before a race. I think it's just an excuse to eat peanut butter.
7:03am - Missie turns her back and I shovel a bunch more peanut butter in before she can catch me. I hope she doesn't read this blog.
8:00am - We're lining up for our race, and I find out that I'm not supposed to be in the same coral as Miss. Apparently they assumed that since I'm a boy, I'm probably faster than Missie. Sexist pigs.
8:01am - Ok, I am faster than Miss. but today I'm running at her pace so I bend the rules and start in her coral. A guy close to us is wearing a prison jumpsuit and a mullet wig. Apparently we picked the PARTY coral! I'm wishing I wore my 'Mr. Tumnus' costume.
8:05am - We start running.
8:35am - We're still running.
8:45am - The running continues.
9:00am - You're probably thankful at this point that I'm not doing a true 'minute by minute' rundown of our experience. Let's just stick to the highlights.
9:07am - We are thankful for roadside port-a-potties. I'll spare you the details.
9:15am - We pass a cover band playing 50's bee-bop rock. The Rock n' Roll half marathon is unique because several bands are placed throughout the race to encourage and inspire the runners. Many of the runners raise their hands up and cheer for the band. I hope we get some 'Eye of the Tiger' at some point.
9:25am - The sun is starting to come up and I am sweating gratuitously. My wife is glistening. Gratuitously. I'm pretty happy with my decision NOT to wear the Mr. Tumnus costume about now.
9:38am - Every couple of miles there are tables set up with water and Cytomax (Gatorade competitor). It's pretty fun drinking your fill and then just chucking the cup on the ground. I feel like a rebel. Missie is fighting the urge to pick up every cup and make sure it finds it's way into the trash.
9:51am - We've been running since 8:00am. That's almost two hours, or more than I have run in the last three months combined. What am I doing out here? I pass a guy who's wearing a t-shirt that just about sums up my experience: "Our sport is what your sport does for punishment". That's seems about right.
9:55am - We come up on another re-hydrating station. In addition to my free Cytomax, a volunteer hands me a protein gel packet. I tear it open and squeeze some into my mouth. Apparently I got the 'Bitter dirt' flavored protein gel. I litter the packet and then run back to the table for more Cytomax.
10:03am - We're getting tired, so we start to play a game were we pick out a person in front of us and try to catch up to them. It motivates us, and keeps our mind off the fact that we could be doing anything other than running on this beautiful Sunday morning.
10:15am - "Hey Miss, you see that tall guy in the red..." "THE GAME IS OVER. I DON'T WANT TO PLAY ANYMORE." Wow. I guess that's just Missie's 'competitive streak' coming out. Or maybe she didn't use enough Glide. That's some good stuff right there.
10:20am - We spot the donkey lady ahead of us. The donkey lady is a supremely pleasant gal in her mid fifties who is wearing a pair of stylish donkey ears that set her apart from the pack. Something else that sets her apart from the pack is the fact that she is speed walking, and faster than a bunch of us who are running. We are determined to finish ahead of her.
10:24am - Donkey lady is faster than we thought.
10:30am - We are officially not going to make it in our goal time of 2.5 hours. But by golly, we will not be beaten by a senior citizen wearing Donkey ears.
10:32am - As we climb a subtle grade, a young woman beside us is struggling. Her friends, who are obviously more athletic and better prepared than her, give some cheerful encouragement - "You can do it, pump your arms." "I'M PUMPING ALREADY!!!", she replies, obviously tired of hearing encouragements from people who do not feel her pain. 80 percent of the other runners around her immediately cheer her frustrated response, she has said what most of the people in our pace group want to say but don't have the energy to.
10:34am - Those donkey ears are taunting us, gently bobbing up and down at a brisk rate as we scrape together the last bit of energy we have. I bet you Missie is wishing she shoveled in a little more peanut butter this morning. She hits the 'power song' button on her i-pod and we make our final push.
10:38am - I give donkey lady props as we PASS her, just minutes before the finish line. Ok, so how lame am I that I'm proud I defeated a speed walking grandma in a half-marathon. Regardless, we're almost there. I think I hear 'We've Come So Far' from the Hairspray Soundtrack playing from Missie's earphones.
10:40am - IT'S OVER!!! We cross the line and are immediately greeted by volunteers holding cold wet towels, chilled water bottles and signs that encourage us for working so hard. That refreshing towel makes the whole thing worth it. Oh wait, no it doesn't. But seeing the joy in Missie's face that I was willing to share this experience with her DOES make it worth it. I'm really proud of her, and I'm grateful that I'll always be a big part of her memory of this day. Ok Miss, I ran a half marathon with you, now you get to enter a jiu-jitsu tournament with me, right?