Giving up

I give up far too easily.
I've been realizing this the past few months, and last night's "Losing it with Jillian" made me realize it even more. It's not a good thing, and it's something I'm trying to tackle a little more aggressively.

And it's tough. Obviously, because it's when it gets hard that I want to quit.

You'd think, for someone who loves "finished" things as much as I do, that I'd choose to complete them instead of leaving them started and walking away.

I've recently started something new, something that I'm really hoping to follow through on. And not just because there's an awesome scripture that fits, or because I spent so much money on it to start it, but to prove to myself that I can do it, and for the joy of doing it.




Josh and I have started running!!
Now you have to realize what a huge thing this is for me. I was in decent shape in high school, thanks to ballet classes, but I still was absolutely dead by the end of the mile-run twice a year. I hated it. I could never imagine anyone choosing to do that.
And after college, one of my very best friends ran a marathon. For fun. I'm still in shock.
I have no plans to run a marathon, or even a half-marathon. But I do hope to run a 5K. I found a list of all the runs in this area for 2010 and have one picked out for the fall.

We're doing the Couch to 5K program. I've downloaded the first week's podcast of Christian Indie Music to run/walk to, and we've gone out twice so far. Third time will be either this evening or first thing tomorrow morning.

And the awesome thing is how good it feels to get out and move!! I hurt after the first day, but the second day hurt a lot less. And I love that we're doing something physical!!

Oh, and in case you're wondering how it works, we got jogging strollers (a single and a double) and take them with us so we can go together :) We run on the roads in the cemetery behind our house. Peaceful, smooth, and lovely. No traffic, nothing. Perfect!

So writing this is, in part, one more way to be sure I don't give up on this. I'm telling the world that it's what we're doing, and it will make it that much more important for me to keep doing it!!

Thoughts

1. I wish it wasn't cloudy so I could make a wish on a star tonight.

2. I'd wish for the ability to write and be really funny. Like Josh.

3. I saw the coolest thing today: Early 1900s photographs in color. This article fascinated me. Especially the pictures of Turkey. Seeing Topkapi Palace when it was still used as a palace, not a museum?? Incredible.

4. But it made me wonder. There are so many pictures of people wearing clothes that we equate with their country (like the Dutch wearing wooden shoes). Did they still do that in 1900 for real? Or were they already starting to dress for the tourists??

5. (or do they still do that??)

6. I don't know why this is a list. I think I'm trying to be like Pioneer Woman. Is it working? Am I suddenly funny or at least more interesting??

7. We went to a garden store over the weekend. It finally answered a question I've always had: do peacocks show off their tails to get a mate, or to ward off enemies??
(answer: we should go back to the store in 4 weeks to see their babies).
(I was told by Josh's cousin that they do the show-off thing for both reasons, actually.)

8. I like lists.

9. I felt very old last night, when the cashier told me he was about to graduate from high school. I realized I've been out for 15 years now. He was 3 when I graduated. **passing out now**

Playful Hudson

Hudson's personality has seriously blossomed over the past month or so. He's 13 1/2 months old now, and such a fun little boy.
His best expression, by far, is his smirk. It says so much: he knows he's funny. He shows that he "gets" it. And he is likely processing it all internally, like Bekah and Josh, instead of externally like Jasmine and I do.

Last Friday we went to the zoo. Pathetic animal-wise (the giraffes weren't home, the bears and elephants were inside, and the wallabies were hiding because one was getting used to the glass so they had paper covering the display), but the kids had a blast. Hudson discovered the "dinosaur dig" was a great use of his talents (i.e. picking up little rocks).

My Father's World

It's been a long time since I updated. To make up for it, here are a couple recent pictures:




Jasmine has decided the past few weeks that she wanted to start going to school. Of course, that's because she just sees the playgrounds at schools and doesn't realize how little time kindergarteners spend in recess!
So we ordered the curriculum for kindergarten from My Father's World, and we got an extra set of student materials so that Bekah could do it with her.
They're loving it! They know their Bible verse ("Jesus is the light of the world") and a little bit about the sun. They're reviewing their letters, which is very much review since they're both doing a great job reading already. Jasmine's reading anything she sees and Bekah's sounding things out (not quite at the success as her sister because she's only halfway through the reading book).
Yesterday Jasmine was sick and complaining about her throat, so I had Josh take her in for a throat culture (negative; it was just a stomach bug that's gone now). She told the medical student that she was learning about the sun and the letter S, and that she was learning "tindergarten." This morning she told the guys delivering our new dishwasher that she was learning "my Father's world."
I love that she's enjoying it so much! It's the first thing they ask for in the morning.
I'm praying the joy and excitement continues!!