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Delivery Meditations, etc.

So…I’m here again! Apparently, I was missed. 🙂 But no worries, I am back. I’m not sure how long I will be back since our baby is due any day now, but as of today, I am still quite pregnant and quite whale-like. In fact, much to my horror, the nurse at the birth center this morning blurted out my weight…in front of my dear husband! I hope he wasn’t too traumatized. 🙂

Anyway, with the upcoming birth of our baby boy, I have been encouraged to pick out some verses to meditate on during labor. The one that most frequently comes to mind is from Psalm 70 out of the Scottish Psalter which reads, “Lord, haste me to deliver.” That verse has kind of taken on new meaning for me these past few days. I know King David was not speaking of the kind of deliverance that I am looking toward, but I think it can very much apply to my situation. What do you think may be some other verses that would be helpful to me to think on during labor? I’m thinking specifically Psalms, but they could be from any book of the Bible really.

I know this post is rather short, but I need to go put my feet up. They are pretty puffy and I am exhausted. 🙂

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Frumpy? No more!

So, I was thinking last night on the way to church about my appearance and apologized to David that I looked frumpy (just got out of the shower, no time to blow dry my hair, so I put it up into a quick ponytail – oh, and it was below zero and I went out with wet hair, lovely). And that got me to thinking that it really has been quite awhile since I actually put a lot of time into my appearance. I remember when we were dating, I spent quite a bit of time getting ready for the day with blow-drying my hair, curling it, wearing make up, etc. It seems that since we’ve been married, specifically since I had the kids, more specifically since I had my last, that I’ve just not put that much effort into looking my best. It’s easy to get into that habit though, especially when you have a crying baby needing to nurse and another crying baby with a dirty diaper. However, um, my children are now 8 and 9 and if my 8-year-old is still nursing, then well, that would probably make the national headlines. So what’s my excuse now? I guess I just formed a bad habit. It’s just easier to shower and pull my hair back into a ponytail than to spend the time to actually fix it up. So, this morning, I decided to do something different. I put on some make up and wanted to fix my hair nice and pretty. I ran into a slight problem though. I really didn’t (don’t) know how to do very many hairstyles. So, I spent a bit of time on the internet looking up some things that would be feasible for me to do. And success! I actually found something and was able to do it! Yay!

I also thought about my clothes and am really ready for a makeover in my closet as well, but right now with a 6-month pregnant belly, that’s just going to have to wait. 🙂

After doing some more thinking, I have decided to make it a priority each morning to spend some time and make myself look as nice as I can, not because I want to attract attention from strangers, but because I want to attract my husband’s attention. I think that’s important, even 11 years later.

So, I am attempting to rid myself of frumpiness. Frumpy no more!  (of course, after the baby comes, I think I may have to take some ex-frumpiness leave and resort to my former frumpy self because I’m sure I won’t care if my hair is curled after getting up every two hours at night).

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Cinnamon-Raisin Biscuits

I had promised this recipe in my last post (was it really in July?!) so without further ado, here it is!

Cinnamon-Raisin Biscuits

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup butter
1/2-1 cup milk
1 cup raisins
powdered sugar glaze (2 T melted butter, 1 1/4 c. powdered sugar, milk or water to desired consistency)

Instructions:

1. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Cut butter into flour mixture.

2. Add enough milk for consistency. Add raisins and shape into biscuits. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.

3. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-13 minutes. Let your biscuits cool a little and then drizzle icing over them.

And there you have them! Enjoy!

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A Long Overdue Update!

Uh *cough* hi…here I am again. I’m sure you all missed me something fierce. 🙂 I really don’t know why I just get so gung ho about blogging and then peter out after awhile, especially when I was embarking on something totally new. I’m sure you all want to know if I indeed ran a 5K. Well, to satisfy your curiosity…yes! I did!!! I was so excited I wanted to call my old PE teacher from grade school. Well, ok, maybe not, but it was/is pretty exciting! The first 5K (Lisa, you mean you ran more than one?! Well, technically not, but I’ll explain in a minute) was in April in a little town a little ways from here. My good friends who had been training with me all carpooled. Let me tell you, I was nervous! I felt like I was running “The Mile” all over again, except it was a lot longer. So, we get to the place where we start, and it’s at a golf course and we were all like, where’s the pavement?! The entire course was on grass! Not only that, but it was pretty poor terrain, hilly in spots, and poorly planned out. At times, we had no idea where we were going either. And that last hill…I just have no words except that I was barely running. It was little better than a fast walk, but I was still technically running. My, my my. I was beat! Wanna know my time? It was 31:25. I was completely shocked because before that I ran 3 miles around our neighborhood and my time was close to 39 minutes. How in the world I shaved off over 7 minutes was totally beyond me, especially considering the last hill and the terrain. So, we find out afterward – it wasn’t a full 5K!!! What in the world?! It was probably more like 2 miles or so. I didn’t really feel like I had accomplished my goal of running in an actual 5K, so my friend, Cara, and I signed up for the Race for Ronald McDonald at our local lake. After this race, I wasn’t sure I really wanted to sign up for anymore only because it cost $30 and that is just too expensive for my economical blood. Anyway, the race was at the beginning of May

For as bad as the first race was, this race was so much better! First of all, it was absolutely gorgeous that morning, a little cool, definitely not cold, and the sun was shining through some puffy grey clouds onto the lake. It was beautiful. To top it all off, we ran on pavement the whole way! And want to know what else? I ran the whole way without stopping once. 3.1 miles, people. For a girl who never thought running would be something in my future (unless I was running from a robber 🙂 ). My time? 41:04. Yeah, not great, huh? But David said, “At least you ran!” That’s right. And I got a $30 shirt out of the whole deal too. 🙂 And this is kind of funny but the guy who got first place ran the whole thing in 19 minutes and 22 seconds. What I think is kind of comical about the whole thing is if he ran the whole thing twice…he still would have beat me! Oh well.

So what have I been doing this summer for running? Absolutely nothing! I’m sorry, people, but unless it’s a balmy 70 degrees outside (which it isn’t in late summer in Kansas), I’m inside with the AC running full blast. But I have been letting Jillian Michaels whip me into shape with her 30-Day Shred. And I’ve been working out to Level 3! But the weird thing is, today I went back and did Level 1 for something a little easier…and it was SO HARD! I’m not sure what happened there. Maybe my body just wasn’t used to doing those kind of exercises. I really hope this fall I can get back into running. I actually miss it. Who knew I would ever say that? There is a 5K on September 11th here in town which I would like to participate in. It probably won’t be 70 degrees, but hopefully it won’t be 100. If it is, I’ll probably think about all those hot, sweaty runners out there and eat my ice cream cone at Dairy Queen. In air conditioning. 🙂

Coming up next (and hopefully soon), I have a cinnamon-raisin biscuit recipe that is pretty much the bomb (in my humble opinion) that a friend requested I share. So you have that to look forward to. And if you run while eating a cinnamon-raisin biscuit, you will probably spill crumbs everywhere, but at least the running may cancel out the calories. And if you run long enough, you may even be able to have 2! Wouldn’t that be nice, huh? 🙂

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The Coming of Titus

Hello, dear readers. I know it’s been a bit since my last post, and I hope you’ll bear with me as I go slightly off the well-worn path. And no, I’m not talking about the ruts I made while jogging around and around my house. 🙂 (did I ever post about that? Oh dear, I don’t remember!) I’m going to slip off my running shoes for a few moments and talk about something bittersweet, something of God’s wise and mysterious providence, and how he comforts those who are cast down.

I had recently gone through a very, very sad and difficult trial. In the midst of all that, though, we had some dear friends to mourn with us, pray for us, send us letters and flowers, and desired to be an encouragement in any way that they could. I know they wanted to take away the hurt, but even though they were unable to do that, they were willing to hurt right along with me. What a blessing to have dear friends like that! And so, that brings me to the title of this post. The Apostle Paul was comforted by Titus who came to Macedonia. Here’s the text so you can see what I mean.

For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus…2 Corinthians 7:5, 6

So, thank you. Thank you to all of you who mourned with us, and thank you for your prayers. And I am very thankful to the Lord who comforted me by “the coming of Titus.”

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We’ve Got It Goin’ On

Sickness that is. From pink eye to colds, we are bacteria central around here. I hope we are on the downhill side of these sicknesses though. It seems like we’ve gotten back-to-back creeping crud at our house.

Last week, I ran on Monday but didn’t get any running in for the rest of the week due to lack of time and not feeling well. So today I decided to dive right back in. Instead of doing week 6 again, I decided to go headlong into week 7, which is running 2.5 miles without stopping. Let me tell you something: it totally kicked my high-knee. After not running for a week straight, I really felt it today. I had to stop after mile 1 for about 20 seconds or so. Then I ran the rest without stopping. In all, my total running time for 2.5 miles was 28:53. Not exactly Flash Jordan but considering I took a week off I guess it’s not too bad. What’s really exciting is that I shaved 13 seconds off my first mile! That last half mile was pretty tough though. I kicked into survival mode. Not the kind of survival mode where you have to start eating bark off  a tree but the kind where you know what you’re doing is really hard but you know it can’t last forever so you just put one foot in front of another. But I made it! I just have to do this two more times this week…ack!

How is everyone doing with their running? I just want to give a shout out to my friend, Cara, who completed week 4 day 1 today and she survived! Go Cara!!! 🙂 Wherever you are with your training, keep it up! It does get easier and you get better at it!

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Some Things I’ve Learned

Since diving headlong into the whole running scene, I figured I’d post a few things I’ve learned/experienced so far. Keep in mind, though, that this is nothing earth shattering, just some interesting bits of info on yours truly.

1. The first thing is that since beginning running (or just working out more consistently in general), I have noticed my sleep at night is better. I wake up more refreshed in the morning. It also doesn’t take me as long to fall asleep and I don’t wake up in the middle of the night. Not that I woke up in the middle of the night that often before, but now when I crash, I crash hard. It’s great!

2. The second thing I’ve noticed is that my recovery time after a workout has improved significantly. Today after I ran, it didn’t take hardly any time to bring my heart rate down. Not only that, I wasn’t utterly exhausted when I was done. That’s pretty neat!

3. The third thing I’ve noticed physically is that my endurance is improving. When I was running today, I was able to keep up without feeling like I needed to gasp for air. My legs were getting pretty sore, but I really felt like I could keep going. In fact, I did! I was supposed to run 20 minutes today (day 3 of week 5; I was a day behind and will start week 6 tomorrow). Instead of running 20 minutes, I just tacked on another 5 minutes at the end. And you know what? It was great!

4. I am beginning to realize that I really like running. This factoid is earth shattering, at least in my book. I never, ever, ever, in my life thought I would ever say that. I mean, why would someone want to run voluntarily unless a gun was held up to their head? I really think the key is starting out slowly and then working your way up. Like Elizabeth said in her post about setting goals, set little ones along the way instead of going for the big one, losing steam, and then giving up. It was overwhelming when I thought of running 3 miles a few weeks ago. Now, though, it seems totally doable. Just keep at it. One foot in front of the other. You can do it.

5. Another thing I’ve found (and this is probably a no-brainer) is that it is SO much easier to run with someone else! (Thank you, Cara!) To have someone there to talk to is a great encouragement and makes the time fly. I highly recommend a workout buddy! I don’t get to run with someone everyday but I’m sure thankful for those times when I get the opportunity!

I’m sure there will be things to add to this list as time goes on. I’m already looking at a 10k training schedule that looks doable (changing my rest days to Sunday). Keep going everyone! You can do it!

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I Came, I Saw, I Got Intimidated, I Was a Wuss, but at Least I Ran

Let me just say, Exercise really kicked me while I was down today. And again, I really don’t know how I ran those 2 miles before. I ran 1.5 miles total today following the training schedule and wow. It really wiped me out. It felt like it was the first time I ever ran. I was sucking air just wishing it were all over (the run that is; life isn’t that bad). I had a stitch in my side; my breathing went out the window; and it was just plain hard. I had visions of this slim and trim Lisa in a fancy black dress running in front of me, telling me to hurry up if I wanted to look like her (rather cheeky, but she looked great. And yes, I have a slight obsession with this vision of Lisa in a fancy black dress. What can I say? I have issues. At least I don’t talk to her. I only talk to Exercise, but he’s mean and someone’s got to put him in his place).

Tomorrow’s run is kind of freaking me out a little since I have to run 3/4 of a mile twice! David offered me some words of encouragement though. He said when he was in the military, one of his sergeants told him if he wanted to improve his run, he should work on steady breathing and also push hard at first and then you can ease off as you get into it more*. David said he probably shaved two minutes off his run by working on his breathing and another two minutes by pushing hard at the beginning. Wow, really?! That’s kind of what I did today. In the spirit of pushing myself, I, uh, pushed myself. Because I wanted to work on my time, I ran faster at the beginning. David said that is probably why I was so wiped out afterward. He said if you feel full of energy when you’re done running, you’re doing something wrong. So, tomorrow I’ll see how it goes.  I will keep you all updated. In the meantime, hang in there! You can do it!

*Of note, after further talking to David, it appears I misunderstood slightly what he was getting at. He said if he wanted to “kill” himself on a PT (for all you non-military folk, this means Physical Training) test, then he would push hard at the beginning and then ease off. However, if you are not seeking to “kill” yourself, he recommended running at a pace in which it is comfortable enough to talk.

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To Boldly Go Where No Lisa Has Gone Before

Unless there is another Lisa besides me who has, but I certainly don’t know her, so in my limited knowledge of other Lisas, I suppose the title could be true. But I feel a rabbit trail coming on here so I better get to the point.

I am about to embark on week #5 of Couch to 5K. Technically, last week was supposed to have been week 5, but there was too much snow on the ground and I was, uh, trying to be careful and not slip, yeah that’s it! (of course, it has nothing to do with me being a wimp, nothing at all) What’s on the agenda for week 5? Glad you asked! 🙂 Here’s the skinny (at this point, I would love to insert a picture of me as skinny; however, that will have to wait until I can fit into a fancy black dress, but I wore a fancy black dress on Saturday for a nice dinner, but it wasn’t THE fancy black dress…okay, rabbit trail! Ahem):

Day 1: Jog 1/2 mile or 5 minutes
Walk 1/4 mile or 3 minutes
Jog 1/2 mile
Walk 1/4 mile

Day 2: Jog 3/4 mile
Walk 1/2 mile
Jog 3/4 mile

Day 3: Jog 2 miles without stopping

I’m trying to psych myself up here. I am really convinced that exercise has so much to do with your mentality. On Saturday I ran with fellow runner, Cara. We went ahead and did week 1 of the program and I was kind of pooped at the end. And then I thought, “How in the world did I run 2 miles the previous week?!” Unless it was a dream. And as you know, I do have some pretty nice dreams. So today, I’m going to attempt my running routine. Right now, I’m in one of David’s old Army PT shirts; my hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and I have some sweatpants on. After an attempt to find my motivation, however, I have come up empty handed. But, I’m thinking I may find it at the end of my run today. Wouldn’t that be lovely? And then I hope I don’t ever lose it again. Fancy black dress, come to mama!

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I’ve Lost It!

Where in the world did my motivation go? I just can’t seem to find it anywhere, not even in fancy black dresses! *sniff sniff* So, like, it’s been cold and snow has covered the ground for the majority of this week. In fact, I haven’t run at all this week, just did workout videos inside. After attempting to go run on the snow-covered ground, I realized that it was just not going to happen. My feet were cold and starting to get wet, so I went inside and worked out to Jillian Michaels, but it’s pretty amazing how long a 27-minute workout can be. I would much rather go running (wait, did I really just say that?!). But right now, I just want to go bake something with chocolate in it. That doesn’t involve sweating, right? Unless I stand next to the oven for awhile. Sigh. I ran two miles last week. Really, I did. Shouldn’t that be enough to motivate me? BLAH!!!