Wow!!  I'm really not doing so well at this.  I will try to do better.

So, our town has an awesome 4th of July celebration complete with a 5k that I have never participated in.  Last Friday, my sister called me to tell me that if I was going to run the 5k with her, I needed to start training by this Wednesday.  We had talked about me doing it, but I was pretty scared to try it.  I have never seriously run before.  I had to run in P.E. in middle school and I always failed the tests.  In high school, someone told me that I looked stupid running and it looked completely un-natural (I'm sure a big part of that was due to the rods in my back making it so I couldn't bend it).  I decided then that I would never be a runner.  But part of me really wanted to do it.  So, I told my sister that I would start it today so I could do my weeks Monday, Wednesday, and Friday instead of having to switch on Wednesdays.  I was pretty sure I was going to die on the first day.  Especially because my legs were already hurting from weeding my raspberries for 8 hours on Saturday.  But, I enlisted the support of some friends up here, found a podcast I could run to, and went to sleep "early" last night. 

My friends and I decided to "run" at 6:30 in the morning.  All night I was worried about not waking up in time.  I would startle awake, find out I had lots of time left, then struggle to go back to sleep.  I finally woke up at 6:00 and laid there for 9 minutes.  I finally just got up.  I showed up at 6:30 and neither of my friends did.  I found out later, one of them thought we were meeting at 6:00 and had already waited for us for 15 minutes in close to freezing temps and the other one's phone had died during the night and never went off (They both ran later today, I think).  Nathan had talked to me about how, if I wanted to do this, I needed to commit to it.  Even if everyone else dropped out.  This morning was my test.  I went anyway.  The first week is:  warm up for 5 minutes, then 8 times of running for 60 seconds/walking for 90 seconds, then a 5 minute cool down.  Doesn't sound too hard, but for me it seemed a little overwhelming.  So, when the first cue to start running sounded, I started running.  I was sure it was going to be one of those times where a minute would seem like an hour.  Like when you have to hold nasty tasting mouthwash in your mouth for a minute and accidentally swallow some and it burns your throat.  I listened to the music and didn't even have time to worry about it before it was cue-ing me to walk.  It did get harder towards the end, but I did it.  I really ran.  I was so proud of myself.  As I look at the weeks ahead, I start panic-ing, but then I remember my cute 7 year old nephew was able to do it all and even ran his first 5k on Saturday with his mom, brother, and sister.  I can totally do this, right?

Apparently, just running wasn't enough for me today.  When I got back home, my kids wanted to walk to school.  They have to cross a busy highway and I'm not way comfortable with them doing it by themselves, so I've been walking with them.  So, we walked to school (about 1/2 mile) and Zoey and I walked home.  Then, I had to go back to school to help Zoey's teacher.  Zoey wanted to walk back to school, so we did, then back home.  When it was time for Zoey to go to school, we were going to walk again, but her homework took longer then we thought, so I ended up driving her.  But my friend and I decided to ride bikes this afternoon (I'm trying to keep my knees good by riding my bike).  We rode in a wicked wind.  It was a bigger workout than I was expecting.  So, today was all about exercising.

1.  Tonight I'm grateful that I was able to run.  There were a lot of odds stacked against me:  I was tired, I hurt before I even started, I have never been successful at running, etc.  But I was still able to run.  I was successful.  And it felt great!  I'm also grateful for the stretching video my sister showed me.  It helped quite a bit.

2.  I am grateful that I had the energy to exercise more.  I'm grateful that I could still walk with my kids and ride with my friend.  Hopefully I didn't overdo it.

3.  I am grateful that our ward is so service oriented.  I love that they are willing to help out at the last minute, even if it's different from what they had planned that night.

4.  I am grateful for Advil.

5.  I am grateful for friends that are willing to run with me and ride bikes with me.  It's so much nicer to have someone to be accountable to and also someone who you can enjoy being with while you're exercising.

1.  I am grateful that I was finally able to go to bookclub tonight.  I've missed getting together and talking about good books.

2.  I am grateful that "Art Mom" went well today in Josie's class.  I didn't get any paint on my clothes this time and most of the kids seemed to understand how to do the project and have fun doing it.  I'm also grateful that it was the last one.  I love helping out at school, but the next few weeks are going to be crazy getting ready for school to get out.

3.  I am grateful that I rode my bike to school.  I got to walk/ride home with one of the kids in the neighborhood and we had a great talk.

4.  I am grateful for spring.  Even though it means that there is a lot of work to do, I love the weather.  I'm excited that it's warm and I can ride a bike, be outside, and have my windows open.  I love sandals and not having to wear 3 layers.  I love that it also inspires me to get healthier because I can't hide under 3 layers.  It's also easier to get healthy because there's so many fun ways to exercise when it's warm outside.

5.  I am grateful that my kids enjoy learning and going to school.  I love that they're all excited to do different 4H/clover bud projects this year.  I love seeing them light up.

Today was a hard day, but a good day.  I have a lot to be grateful for.

1.  I am grateful that Nathan asked me to come out and help him measure and cut his stringers for his stairs.  I enjoyed being with him and we were able to have a good talk.

2.  I am grateful that the dirt bike accident I happened upon wasn't worse than it was.  But I'm also grateful that I was able to see that I can handle blood, larger amounts of blood than happen with just a few scrapes (people who grew up with me will know this is HUGE!!).  I'm not ready to be an EMT, but I know I could handle more than I thought I could.  I'm grateful to know that I don't lose my head when something happens.

3.  I am grateful that I have a husband that will tell me when it's time to get over something and admit that things will never be perfect and to make sure my priorities are in line.  It was a very timely discussion.  I'm grateful that we had it last night before I found out that my new floor is having problems.  I was able to tell Matt that we'll just move on for now and maybe later we'll fix it.  At least this one doesn't seem to be flaking off like the other one.

4.  I am grateful for my new purse.  It's awesome!!  Thanks, Nae!!  It makes me smile, plus it makes me feel so organized.  I even realized that a small soda bottle (the little Sprite bottles I got in Utah when Owen got sick) filled with water fits great in the big pocket along with everything else I need to put in there.  I love it!!

5.  I am grateful again for a good bike ride.  I am also grateful for a good friend that will go on shorter bike rides with me until I am feeling up to going on a longer one.  It feels great to get out and be active.  I'm grateful that the weather held out until after our ride.  I'm also grateful that Nathan took the time to go through my bike with me last night and oil, tighten, and pump everything up that needed it.

So, apparently I'm not very good at doing my blog on the weekend.  Oops!!  It was a crazy weekend.  Friday night we ended up having the missionaries stop by to correlate.  On Saturday, Josie and Nathan went to help Gabby doctor horses.  From what I understand, they helped give immunizations, put in ear tags, and brand.  They both had lots of fun!!  Josie came back with a tired, but big, smile on her face.  Owen, Zona, and I stayed here and got some stuff done.  Matt came and put one more coat of polyurethane on the floor, and it was a nice day, so we went outside.  The kids played in the tree and in the shade and I weeded raspberries.  Unfortunately, Nathan and Jo took the one good bottle of sunscreen, so I got burned pretty good. 

That afternoon, Nathan worked a little on his new shop and I cleaned out the chicken coop (a nasty job, but it's SO nice to be done with it!!!).  That evening, Jo and Nathan went to get Mel from the trainer.  About a month ago, Nathan decided that Mel needed some good hours under a saddle and that he wasn't able to give those to him.  He had a guy that comes in to his work sometimes who was willing to take him.  Mel's been helping out on his ranch.  Of course, when Nathan came back from picking up Mel, he had to try him out.  He'd also gotten a new saddle since Mel's been gone and wanted to try it out as well.  I guess Mel doesn't have good withers, and the girth strap on the saddle wasn't short enough, and Nathan ended up landing on the ground while Mel was loping.  I think Nathan's planning on getting a new girth strap soon.  But he did say that Mel is an awesome horse now.  He's really excited to have him.  His looks have always been flashy and he has a great personality (his form of spooking is to step to the side and stop), but now he has some good training to go with it.  Nathan said he's not ready to put anyone up on him yet, but he'll get there.

Sunday was just a lazy day.  We watched the old Parent Trap for our family movie.  I LOVE that movie!!!!  Nathan bought a VHS copy of it and about 10 other movies at an online auction.  I was so excited to watch it.  I'm afraid I ruined it for my kids.  I kept laughing before anything happened.  My kids thought it was hilarious.  Just watching it brought back so many memories of watching it with my family.  Especially my dad.  LOVED it!!

Today was a catch up day (isn't that what Mondays are all about?).  I cleaned the kitchen, picked up the house, dropped Zoey off at school, went on a bike ride, cleaned off the porch, and I was finally well enough to go to quilting (yay!!).  Tonight, I cut the missionaries' hair out on the porch.  My house still smells like Laffy Taffys and very powerful nail polish and I didn't have a place downstairs to cut their hair anyway.  Elder Eudaley brought us some yummy treats made with Ritz crackers, peanut butter, and chocolate.  We had them for FHE treats.  Yummy!!

1.  I am grateful for good weather.  In spite of my sunburn, I'm grateful that I was able to get so much done outside.  I still have a ton to do, my yard was horribly neglected last year, but I started.

2.  I am grateful that the elders brought us some yummy treats.  It made FHE so easy.

3.  I am grateful that I was able to go on a bike ride with J'lene today.  It was great to be outside and exercising and it's always fun to be with a friend.

4.  I am grateful that my floor is done (I hope?).  Now we just have to wait for it to cure before we can move everything downstairs.

5.  I am grateful that my kids didn't have homework tonight, so they were able to play outside all afternoon.  After dinner and bedtime is always so much better when they've had time to run around and play.  I'm also grateful that Nathan took time to help Owen on his bike.  I think he might actually learn how to ride it.

Just gratitude tonight.

1.  I'm grateful that everyone at the pack meeting tonight was patient with Owen and let him ride his scooter in the "bike rodeo."  I'm grateful they also complimented him on his cool "motorcycle bike" and hopefully helped him be excited to learn to ride an actual bike.

2.  I'm grateful that I felt good enough to finish cleaning my house (okay, all except mopping the bathroom floor - I promise, I'll do it tomorrow).

3.  I'm grateful that people ask me to help people out.  I'm grateful that I have the skills to do it.  Sometimes I want to serve others, but I'm lost when it comes to coming up with ideas for how to serve.  I'm grateful to have unique talents that encourage people to ask me to serve.

4.  I'm grateful that my kids love going to the park to play.  I love when they get together with other kids from the neighborhood and all play.  I'm grateful that they love to go to the park, even when it's raining.  They just put their jackets on, and take off.

5.  I'm grateful that my stomach isn't screaming at me anymore when I put anything in it, even water.  It's still not completely thrilled with me, but I actually ate lunch todaywithout getting too sick.  Woo Hoo!!

I think it's a good sign when my house starts bugging me.  I think it means I'm definitely getting better.  My house was driving me CRAZY today.  My house was still smelling a lot today (I'm not sure I'll ever be able to eat banana Laffy Taffys again), so I opened all the windows to get the smell out.  Luckily the wind was blowing like crazy and a lot of the smell is gone now.  Unfortunately, that meant it wasn't comfortable to be upstairs.  The wind was chilly and blowing stuff everywhere.  I decided to spend the afternoon downstairs.  My family had eaten popcorn downstairs on Sunday and I think the popcorn popper exploded or something.  I was feeling good enough that it bugged me enough that I vacuumed.  That was a huge job.  Everything is in the family room from downstairs, so I moved then vacuumed, moved then vacuumed, etc.  Then, I came upstairs and it bugged me.  So I cleaned the living room and swept the kitchen/dining room before my energy completely gave out.  I'm definitely doing better.

My floor is curing nicely, too.  It's taking longer than we thought.  Probably because the concrete is cooler than room temperature.  It's darker than it was last time.  I was concerned about that because I really liked the floor last time, and I'd coordinated my walls with it.  But I still like it, and I think  my wall color is still going to go well with it.  I'm so excited to be on this end of getting the floor done.  It's looking great!

1.  I am grateful that Nathan helped me put up a tarp and plywood "tent" to keep the 60% chance of rain off my floor last night.  I'm also grateful that we didn't need to see if it worked last night.  Even though there was a 60% chance last night and a 50% chance today, it didn't rain.  I'm sure somewhere people wanted the rain, and I'm sorry, but I'm very grateful it didn't rain.

2.  I am grateful that I had the energy to clean today.  I feel so much better when my house is somewhat clean.

3.  I am grateful for the mood my family was in tonight.  They were all on one.  When I was having a hard time being in a good mood, they pulled me out of it.  They were all hilarious!

4.  I am grateful that when I dropped the sour cream container on the kitchen floor, it just cracked and I was still able to save most of the sour cream.  It could have been a lot worse.

5.  I am grateful that I actually forgot to take medicine for most of the day today.  I wasn't counting down until I could take my next dose.  I just realized I have been medicine-free since 3:00 and I don't feel too bad.

Edited to Add:  I'm also VERY grateful to have my furnace back on!!  It hasn't been overly cold, but I'm grateful to have it on and be warm.  I read once that to lose weight, you should keep your house cooler.  I joked that it was because you shivered, but I can see it being a real thing.  I found myself looking for stuff to move around and do today (i.e. cleaning my house).  I do feel like I burned more calories today than I did when I was sitting around sick.  But still, I'm grateful to feel warm air coming out of my vents.  Even if it does mean that I have to be more self-motivated.

Today I'm feeling even better.  I'm still super tired and I cough like I've been smoking for 30 years, but I don't have deep aches anymore (except in my diaphragm and my abs from coughing) and I think my fever is gone.  I can tell I am feeling better because my house is starting to bug me.  I got my dishes done twice today and actually took care of dinner.  Yes, it was leftovers and all I had to do was heat it up, but I didn't IM Nathan and beg him to bring home pizza like last night; or I wasn't completely oblivious and he had to take care of it or let the kids starve like on Sunday night.  So, we are making progress.  Tomorrow, I even plan to make taco soup.  Maybe I'd better conserve my energy.

Another exciting thing happened today.  My house smells like a mixture of banana Laffy Taffys and very strong nail polish.  Matt came and put the sealer on my floor.  Yes, we're still not done with our remodel.  I was reading through my posts the from last year right before I stopped blogging and realized that I stopped before things went wrong with my floor.  The sealer that was used on my floor last year didn't adhere well to the concrete and started turning white and flaking off.  The guy that did my floor has been so patient and just got done re-doing my floor all again. 

Matt came to do our floor when Nathan and I were out of town and found it wasn't as easy to get a floor scraped off as you'd think.  Especially if it's already flaking off.  He tried to do a different fix on it.  That took off some of the sealer.  Then, the kids and I went out of town for Spring Break two weeks ago and Matt was going to strip off the sealer and put something else down.  Still no cooperation from the floor.  Finally, he got everything off that he could and started all over.  It looks beautiful!!  Once the smell goes away, I'll really love it.  I am baby-ing my floor this time until I'm sure it's good and cured.  I don't want it to be all good and have me mess something up.  I'm planning on waiting a few weeks before I put anything on it, except feet for walking.

A few more remodel updates from the last year:  I did get all of my doors and trim painted.  But that was another adventure.  I painted two doors (the ones I mentioned the paint scraped off easily) and within two weeks, they were peeling again.  The paint was sticking to the door jamb instead of the door.  Finally I hired a professional painter to come in and look at it.  He gave me some tips on how to hang the doors differently and gave me good quote on painting the doors and trim.  I do have some touchups to do on them already, but I'm glad to be mostly done with that. 

Nathan took out the bathroom fixtures we put in to get the floor re-done.  We still don't have the baseboards up (hopefully we will in the next few weeks), but we did decide and buy the white baseboards.  And we still need to get cabinets, countertops, and a sink put in the salon along with the handrail and rain gutters outside.  And I still need to get rid of a dryer chair.  I do have a mirror in my salon now, with a little countertop underneath.  It's been SO nice.  I was finally feeling like I was doing hair in a salon instead of a storage room.  I also traded haircuts for blinds for my two windows in my salon and the window in the door of my salon.  Nathan also built me shelves in my storage room to organize my toys.  That's been a huge help!!  My kids can get and put away toys by themselves.

I still don't have my Adirondack chairs on my porch.  I actually ended up giving up on those chairs.  Nathan found me some rocking Adirondack chairs at Harbor Freight that were bare wood.  I still need to find time to paint them.  I have hope they will turn out okay, but I'm a little gun shy after my last two attempts at painting chairs.

Also, I'm really sorry about the pictures (or lack of) on my blog.  I had some mixups with my email addresses and blogger decided that I really didn't want pictures on my blog after all.  I'm trying to decide if I want to try and fix it, or just go from here.  We'll see what happens.  I think that's about it.

1.  I am grateful that I continue to feel better.

2.  I am grateful that it was a nice day outside.  Nice, but chilly.  I'm grateful it didn't rain, though.  My door to my salon leaks and with Matt doing the floor today, it couldn't get water on it or he'd have to re-do it (again!!).  I'm also grateful it was nice, so I could open my windows when the smell got to me and I didn't freeze too bad.  I could also send my kids to the park so the smell didn't make them sick.

3.  I am grateful that I got my dishes done today.  And I'm grateful that Shauna got the song from Mary Poppins stuck in my head while I was doing them.  It made me smile.

4.  I am grateful that Nathan found English Tea Cookies when he went to the store yesterday.  They made my hot chocolate so much better (when I was chilly when I had to open the windows - good excuse, right?).  They reminded me of when we were first married.  English Tea Cookies are one of the few things we splurged on when we were first married.  They are delicious with hot chocolate.  Then we couldn't find them anymore.  Nathan found them yesterday after over 10 years.  It totally made my day!!  I loved sharing them with my girls tonight and I'm hoping to share them with Owen tomorrow.

5.  I am grateful that I don't have anything going on tonight so I can go to bed early and hopefully feel so much better tomorrow so I can do a good clean on the parts of my house I can clean.