Five Golden Rings

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me 5 golden rings! In this case I am focusing on the golden rings piece. I always thought I would want a princess cut, white gold or platinum engagement ring.

We all know the “ideal” ring we dreamed of. I loved it for years, yet when it came time to get engaged the “what” didn’t matter so much as the meaning of the ring and the importance of why I would want to wear it. My ring is really not what I expected but I love and cherish it. It’s gold (which I wear very little of) but more importantly it’s a family ring. My grandfather bought it for my grandmother in 1950. There were married in 1951, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2001. They lived a happy life (or so I presume looking from the eyes of a grandchild). I was my grandpa’s favorite, known as poppy to me. He meant the world to me and I was his “little” girl. I was devastated when he passed away in 2007. I loved my grandmother fiercely as well! A hole has been missing in my life since she passed away in 2011. They both lived great lives and I was fortunate to be shown how a successful marriage can flourish over a lifetime. I will make my best effort to live a purposeful life to make sure I am doing them proud as they continue to be my angels in heaven, helping to guide my life. We (really my mom) jokes that her parents (the ones I just spoke about) are why I am with Jim. You see my grandparents and Jim’s grandmother lived less than 5 miles from each other. So it’s very likely they knew each other through the catholic church, which both were very involved in. The thought is they (with the help of the Lord) schemed for us to get together. Which is one of the reasons why we knew it was right from nearly day 1.

So my 5 golden rings are dedicated to my own golden rings I wear each day now (the bottom ring is Jim’s which is white gold).

Keeping joining me for my daily version of My 12 days of Christmas!

Never Ever Linkup

Yup that’s right the Never Ever link up again!

Never ever. . .

• will I understand why it’s OK to be rude to people! If you see someone say hi, and if they smile at you, smile back. It’s not that hard people! I feel like it’s harder to be rude!
• will I not enjoy waking up only to realize it’s not time yet, so I can go back to sleep.
• will I love rain drops as I drive to work. It causes major traffic. It’s just a little water people!
• will I want to do what I did on Friday again! It was by far the hardest thing I had to do.
• will I not be thankful for the love and support of my friends and family, and my soon-to-be husband.

 

Half Marathon Wrap-Up

So the BIG DAY was yesterday (march 16), the DC Rock and Roll Half Marathon was a success! Out of some miracle, Thank you God, it didn’t rain. . .yes you read that right the Lord blessed me with no rain the entire time. It was one of my biggest fears going in to the race on Saturday morning with a 70% chance of rain. The other miracle being the bad right knee, which also was good the entire race. I am not sure if the adrenaline pushed me, or the crowds, or the bands along the way, or the great supporters but something helped push me through all 13.1 miles. I know they have said it before, but you do more than the 13.1, in fact my phone said it was 13.7, that is more than a half mile over what I signed up for, but I digress.

We looked good at the start! Ready to go, despite the threat of rain and it was still dark, and a bit cold!

It was a good race, although the hills were killer at times . . . I believe the hill just before mile 6 was INSANE! We were lucky enough to have some family/friends at the top of the hill cheering us on. I never realized how important having people along the way would be. We had people at mile 1 (then we went through the park for a while), mile 6, mile 7, mile 10 and somewhere between 10 and 11. The last 3 miles were a bit rough but we made it through. It was great to cross the finish line and know that I completed my first half marathon. I still haven’t decided if I will do another, but at least I can cross this off the bucket list!

Today I feel pretty sore, but mainly only when I have been sitting for along time and get up again. I went to my parents hotel room and had a soak in the hot tub there. After they left I went for a massage, hoping to relax the muscles. I am thinking it will take a few days to feel “normal” again.

Thanks to everyone that followed along my journey! Now I just need to figure out what the next goal will be for me!

 

Wednesday Wishes

I decided to make today Wednesday Wishes since it’s what I am looking forward to that counts today and I really need (want) everything to go smoothly!

My Wednesday Wish is . . .

• Today’s training run (the last one I think) goes smoothly and my knee doesn’t hurt
• Today’s training run isn’t too cold since it’s a bit windy but I am still choosing to take it outside
• Thursday’s training I plan to deliver goes smoothly since it’s a new topic
• Friday’s Race Expo isn’t too crazy and I can pick up everything easily
• My parents arrive at a reasonable time on Friday (no crazy traffic snafu)
• The “meeting of the parents” goes well this weekend
• I can successfully finish my 1/2 marathon with little pain!

sadly sick

Yes i know the title sounds pretty depressing and well to be honest over the last few days I have felt a little depressed with myself. As you know (if you have been reading along) I have been working out, and eating healthier the last few months yet I seem to be getting sick quite often.So yes I am sick AGAIN! This time it started with a cough, then fever, then congestion…it has been an icky sickness. I am hoping it going to be ending soon since it will be a week shortly. I know I have been traveling more and many say traveling takes the toll on your body. So I am thinking what else can I be doing to make sure I stay healthy! My mom suggested some vitamins so perhaps I should try that too.

The other sadly sick part is being a single girl and being sick really is not fun! No one brings me tea and soup, or goes to the store to get more tissues and OJ. Everything just sits and waits for me to do it, like the cooking (which I haven’t eaten much since I got sick) and the laundry, and the cleaning (finally did some of both today). I think sometimes just the thought of having someone else take care of you sometimes (instead of always doing it myself) would be nice. At times I say how I love the independence of living the solo life but I also think it might be nice to settle down.

I also wonder if part of my wanting the need to belong to something bigger is in part because of the Easter weekend. I remember the days of celebrations for all the holidays (even small ones) and now I don’t celebrate many of them. The last few years I actually had Easter Sunday dinners but that didn’t happen this year…and I missed it. I was glad to go to church this morning at Six:Eight but other than that my day was spent alone (yes part of it was because I was sick). I love holidays and celebrations, yet lately I don’t seem to be doing either. I need to think more on that.

What do you love about being single or being attached?