The day I ran a race

Chip time 00:36:42

Event Placement 875 of 2238

Us with our medals
They say "5K Finisher"

In the winter, my sister invited me to do a 5K with her. I was running at that point and thought it sounded like a good idea. The C25K was a great guide to get me going. I have yet to actually finish the entire program.

Over April and May, I sort of stopped running. I didn't have the time or the energy to do it in the morning and with my studying getting more intense, the weekends were out. Plus it was raining, which is a lame excuse, I know. I didn't feel ready for the race and it was one thing on a long list that is between France and I.

Sister and I ran my first 5k (her second) together the whole way and we crossed the finish line holding hands. We did it. Together. I had no clue how fun it would be. There was SO many people running and it took a bit to get going through the crowds. The energy of everyone around was awesome.
I figured we would take around 40 minutes to complete it. We usually did 4.5k in that amount of time when we were training together, so I was thrilled to see we were under that. We might sign up for another!

May Happiness Project: Success or failure?

I don't believe this month was a failure. It all depends on how you look at it.
Did I finish my tasks I set out to do? Not at all.
Do I feel lighter? Happier? Absolutely.

Take time for a project
I managed to get my garden going and it is growing like crazy! I'm still waiting for the beans, potatoes and one squash plant to surface, but things are looking good. I can't wait to have fresh veggies late summer/early fall.
Not complete
Wedding album photos
Photos of Beta/Taylor into album

Be a house of memories
I unloaded the camera of a bunch of photos that have been sitting on there forever. It's time to remove all the wedding and honeymoon photos that are just sitting on the card. They've been on the computer for a long time now, so there's really no need to keep a card half full.
I have yet to get around to making albums, but perhaps this summer.
Not complete
organize memory boxes
Update picture frames

Pray in the morning
I have been praying in the morning and it does lighten the day. It is a good start to let everything go and start fresh.

How I lightened up in unexpected ways

I am learning to let go and I believe a lot has to do with my garden. It's something new. Something I haven't ever done before. It's not up to me for it to grow. I can provide the seeds, the dirt, water and in part, the sun, but I can't actually do the growing. That is left to the plants themselves. If they grow, I'm ecstatic, if they don't, I guess it just wasn't the right.

When I was in therapy last week, my therapist thought it was interesting that I was able to just let go and not stress over my garden. It will grow or it won't. He also thought it was interesting that I have the same sort of laissez faire attitude towards other parts of life very near to my personal life.

So why can't I "lighten up" in different parts of my life? My go-to strategy needs to be adjusted for certain situations. I've discovered that I can use the "whatever happens, happens" attitude for things that are internal. Situations that have no influence by someone else, in other words, situations that are under my control.

http://developmentcrossroads.com

A friend of mine sent me that image once and I'm finally starting to see why it makes sense. In my most stressful situations or the ones that I worry about the most, I am in the yellow or the red. I need to shift my focus for those situations to the green and concentrate only on that part. It's a hard task to do for someone who is a nurturer or a giver. I have tendencies towards making other people happy before myself. It's a hard skill to learn, to take care of yourself first.

I feel lighter in May, even though I didn't get my tasks done I set out to. They'll be done eventually. I am working on reframing how I think of things. Looking at the things I can control and trying to forget about those I can't.

It's nice to let go. <-- never thought I'd say that!

13/30: Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Read from April 13 to May 08, 2013
Format: Ebook

From Goodreads: Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.

I was not overly thrilled with this book. Mostly because I wasn't aware of the heavy subject matter until it was too late. If someone would have told me what it was REALLY about, I never would have picked it up. That said, I won't be recommending this one to anyone. There is a warning on Goodreads if you view the Kindle Edition that is not there on the paperback.

I liked the Sky and Holder as characters, but they seemed more mature than I would expect for 17/18 year olds. I would have expected this book to be in university age rather than high school. The seemed to be so much older than they were and it threw me off. Most 18 year olds would not deal with the situations they were thrown into as well as they did. I felt it was a little unrealistic that they both dealt with the realizations as well as they did. Holder sounding like a therapist in parts made me roll my eyes. It seemed like everything was really rushed near the end during discovery and dealing with the past that they didn't have time to really let things sink in.

The relationship between Sky and Holder was worth reading. The chemistry between them was written really well and I loved that fact that he was a respectful boyfriend. And how many books actually go out of their way to work in safe sex to a scene? Not many because it's awkward and breaks up the scene but it was done well, so that was awesome.

I'm conflicted with this one. If I had known the content, I would have went in reading it differently rather than just a romance book. I would only recommend this one if the reader was aware of the content rating and was that it is not a YA book as I was lead to believe It is definitely fits better in the New Adult genre. (Which I'm starting to love the more I read of it.)

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Becoming greener!

Ever since my sister started selling Norwex, I've been thinking more and more about how to make our home greener. It takes a little work and buy in from the husband, but it's well worth it. The effects of chemicals on our bodies is astounding and the more we can eliminate the harmful effects, the better our health will be.
We don't do a lot, but every little bit makes a difference.

• No chemical cleaning using Norwex cleaning products
• Vegetables from the local farmers market
• Try to buy hormone free meats whenever possible
• Installed a clothesline to dry our clothes - love the smell of sunshine!
• Planted a garden - small one for now, but if all goes well we will put much more in next year.
• Installed a rain barrel
• Programmable thermostat - we shut our furnace off completely in the summer, but the winter it is programmed to only be on when we need it.
• No A/C in our house - We cool it down at night with one fan in the basement to pump cool air up and one fan in the upstairs bedroom to pump hot air out. All the windows get opened at night (that are safe to do so) and then close them all during the day. 
• Frenchie rides a bicycle to work 3 times a week. I take transit daily
• Using natural remedies for ailments when possible - the overuse of antibiotics is making our body systems weaker and bugs stronger and resistant. 
• We cook almost all our meals - healthier!!
• I have switched to natural deodorant - surprisingly I sweat less than I did with antiperspirant and do not smell. Plus my white shirts don't have yellow stains anymore.
• We recycle - our garbage bin is nearly empty every week

What do you do to be greener?

12/30: Essentials of Human Anatomy & Physiology

Essentials of Human Anatomy &Physiology by Elaine Nicpon Marieb
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Read from April 17 to May 08, 2013
Format: Paperback

From Goodreads: Essentials of Human Anatomy & Physiology continues to set the standard for short-course A&P texts. Its dramatically updated art program, more streamlined presentation of material, and integration of chapter objectives will help you better visualize and understand the structure and function of the human body. Elaine Marieb's clear and friendly writing style emphasizes the relevance of anatomy & physiology to your life and future career. The book clarifies concepts, defines key terms, and offers just the right balance of anatomy, physiology, and clinical coverage to make the content complete without being overwhelming. Elaine Marieb wrote this book specifically for the one-semester course and continues to carefully select a range of material that proves just right for the shorter course. New information on hot topics like the HPV Vaccine, Infantile Polycystic Kidney disease, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) draws students into the material.

Textbook #2! This book was required for the Anatomy and Physiology Subject of my Natural Nutrition diploma. Short course indeed! I burned through this material. My test is now handed in and I will wait 2 - 4 weeks for the results. Such a long time, but thankfully you don't have to wait to move on to the next module.

This book gave a really good overview of the anatomy system and all the interactions. I skipped taking biology in high school so with no background, I found this text really helpful. It was laid out well, the diagrams that went along with processes described really helped drive the information home. The "Did you get it?" questions sprinkled throughout the chapters were also great.

It truly amazes me how our bodies function. Every little cell plays a role and each organ is so interconnected. I especially loved the Lymphatic System (immune system) and it was very helpful to think of all our immune cells as a little army and what role they would play. I had no idea there was 5 types of white blood cells!
I have to say though, that people get really weirded out when you are reading about the Reproductive System (with drawings) on the bus. Come on people, it's not like you don't have those exact same parts.

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