Turning 29, Planning for Spring Break, and Dealing with Disappointment.

Some of you have seen my Torteous Twenties post and if not, you can check that out here. But alas, I had a birthday this week and it was a glorious weekend/week of celebrating with dear friends and family. The day after I turned 29, I ran 9 miles with two of my friends I have been training with, and I NEVER would have imagined I could do that. Lo and behold, God continuously likes to shock me; and I'm now in a season of trusting, resting, and relying on Him for some healing. I ran 5.5 miles this Wednesday, 3.3 over hills on Thursday, and as soon as I stopped, my left knee started right back to square one of popping, catching, and causing me some good pain. It woke me often throughout the night last night, which hasn't actually happened before...I texted my good friend who is a PT and she said, "If you listen to your body when it whispers, then you won't have to listen to it scream." I'm tearing up just typing that, largely because I believe there is so much truth in it, but also because I know my body is whispering to me RIGHT now. And that's hard. In five weeks I've gone from not knowing I could run further than 3 miles consistently, to running good distances every single week. 

I know it's not the end of the world, but I never would have imagined that I'd be so disappointed to sit out a TEN mile race. I was so looking forward to running with my friend Lauren and to seeing my husband and kids at the finish line... but I'm still excited to cheer my friend on and to hear how she did. And now we get an earlier start on our vacation, so that's of course VERY exciting. I'm praying that a week off from running--maybe some hiking and strength training periodically, will help mend my knee and I am ultimately praying I CAN do the mini marathon at the end of April. So fingers crossed and I won't mind one bit if you add me to your prayers!

Anyway, this week looked like playing outside, sitting by the heater when it randomly got cold, learning about spring, drawing spring scenes, and planting wildflowers to grow inside. I love watching my kids learn and absorb information; it has been a ton of fun teaching them over the past couple of months. Also, Pierson visited the allergist and he is apparently allergic to cats, dogs, and mold [soooooo since we live in a zoo of animals that's not exactly good news]...but the doctor was AMAZING and he's on some medications now to hopefully help him with all of this. He's just had a bad bout of bronchitis and a double ear infection he couldn't kick, but I think we are finally on the mend. I also got to watch my friend Lauren's son Jadon this week. He's 14 months old and my kids ADORE him (as you can see from the photos below).  It's surreal that my husband's spring break has arrived. Tomorrow we head for Asheville, NC to camp for two nights + then we are staying at Myrtle Beach in a condo. Our two best friends Tim + Clayton are joining us--it's going to be SO much fun. [And probably also incredibly exhausting... but well worth it I already know!]