On the run!

Life has been busy. One thing that I've always enjoyed doing ever since I was a kid, is being physically fit and exercising. In my younger years, I ran track and cross country, and participated in a few sports in high school and college. Working out has always been a part of my life. Some days are better than others, but I've never completely fallen off the wagon. Well, while I was pregnant, I ceased all exercise except walking. Carrying a baby inside me for nine months was exercise enough! Well, I've gotten back into it recently, and as of late, have established a somewhat haphazard routine. My friend Peggy and I started doing yoga together earlier this Summer. I really like it, though I'm not that great at it. It's completely brand new to me. I definitely notice the benefits. I feel stronger for sure. Also, I've gotten back into running. Sometimes on my treadmill, and just recently, outside. I've been so motivated lately that I signed up to run my first 5k since high school ( a fairly long time ago)! I'll be doing the Mermaid Run in San Francisco this November! I'm so excited. Here is the link for the race I'm running!

http://www.mermaidseries.com/home

First Week of School

Well, this week was the first week back to school. Busy trying to get back into the swing of things, and establish a new routine, and better habits for me and my boys. So far so good. The boys needed photographs of their family, and themselves this week, so I got those done. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and also print out pictures to frame and give to my husband for his office. This has been a long time, on my "to do" list. When I went to visit him at work a month or so ago, I was reminded that I still had yet to do so. You couldn't tell that he was a family man with four kids from the absence of photographs in his office. Now, he's got some framed photos. Yay! I intended to post a picture of the framed pictures, but he got excited and packed them up before I got a chance to photograph them.

I used target online for the first time, to order prints from home, and pick them up the same day at the store. I must say, I really liked the experience. Very easy, and gratifying.  I'm a bit old school, and really enjoy having prints to frame and place in albums, versus viewing them online only. I haven't ordered prints in the last several years, because of the change from film photography to digital. I guess I just needed to jump in and try it. This has motivated me to get a few of my framing and album projects done. We'll see how that goes!

Here's a picture of the first bloom from my white hydrangea plant! I'm so excited. The flowers are still not fully opened. I bought it in a pot last year, and intended to plant it in a huge pot to place on my patio, but well, as all my other good intentions of last year, this one fell to the wayside, so it is still in the original pot. I hope to get that planted this fall. Gotta go and do some laundry!

Keeping What Matters in Sight

This was a very full and gratifying week for me personally. It was the last week before school starts up, so I decided to take my kids to the park as often as I can. Honestly, this is not my favorite thing to do. For various reasons, it has always been too large of an undertaking for me, thus I've lacked motivation in doing so. Well, I found the motivation, and it did my heart good. I enjoyed watching them develop their play skills, enjoy being kids, interact well with other kids, just to name a few. And, by choosing to take them often this week, my oldest son finally learned how to ride his bike fully on his own. This has been an area of frustration for him and for me as well. Seeing him attain that huge sense of accomplishment brought me such joy. I'm glad I made this time for them, instead of giving in to my urge to try and hustle and get more organization stuff done, and what have you.


My bike riders



My toddler who refuses to use the tiny tot slide



My amazing climber

I also have been continuing to enjoy my garden. I think posting about my flowers last week motivated me to step it up with the care of them.

Here are more new blooms from a plant I have yet to put in the ground.

Here is an arrangement I made of flowers and ivy from my garden, so I can enjoy them indoors.

My mother passed away 9 years ago, and last week was the anniversary of her death, so I thought I would bring some flowers to decorate her memorial. She also loved hydrangeas, so it felt appropriate. Making time to do this has also been a challenge for me. One of those things I keep meaning to do, and never get around to doing. 

My grandparents are also buried in the same place, so I left flowers for them too. My grandmother was the one who first taught me how to garden, and first introduced me to hydrangeas, or as she called them, "million flowers."

I miss them very much, and I'm so glad I took the time to remember them this week.

 

I also helped my cousin to host an end of the quarter party for her teenage bible class students. These kids are a lovely bunch, most of which I've known since they were babies. I loved having them in my home, and witnessing them have a blast, and create memories.  It also felt good having them in my house, inspite of my house not being as clean as I like. A personal goal of mine has been to not care so much whether or not my house is "perfect," so I don't hinder myself from hosting guests when there is an opportunity.

 

It has been a good week. Although I didn't accomplish as many mundane things as I would have liked to, I wouldn't change a thing. It was a good reminder for me to stop and make time for the things that really matter. Time is fleeting, and I can't waste it on good intentions alone.