Fall Morning
Blue Ridge Mountains
Sitting out on my porch
Small Mountain Town
Birds, Squirrels, Falling Walnuts
Coffee
Color
Cool
Crispness
Clear Skies
Calendar Day Open
Kid Giggles coming from inside,
as they jump on couch cushions and eat pancakes on the side
Unmade beds
SUNSHINE
Happily sore legs from a week of solid running and fitness
This will be a day I come back to in my memories...
Cue the screeching car break sound. Or finger nails on a chalk board......
We interrupt this short moment of bliss for a few moments of full blown four year old fit reality!
Really?!
Deep Breaths, tight chest, irrational logic from a four year old boy who insists that jumping off the couch towards cushions right up against a brick fire place is the BEST idea despite anything we say to convince him otherwise.
Deep breaths.
A few tears.
I took a few moments to sip my coffee and take in the beautiful morning thinking the worst was behind me. Then another fight broke out. And another. And, ready for it? Another. I guess my kids were clearly NOT on the same vision page as I was on this fine day. In an attempt to reclaim my happy energy, I tried to sit in silence for a bit and read past posts on here and in my journals related to Happiness. This helped. It reminded me of how capable of sweetness and love my kids really were. It also helped me reclaim my happy mojo to be reminded of just how many things there are to be happy about. One post in particular that made me smile was one written almost exactly a year ago:
Reading this post (along with the comments from you) made me smile. All is calm again and I'm ready to add to my happiness list throughout this day
Things that make me Happy Today:
- Beautiful morning
- Tracking friends at the Portland and Twin Cities Marathons.
- Seeing my daughter get better at riding her bike.
- Watching my husband be such a good father to our children. His patience is a gift to all of us. When I'm feeling more emotional than normal, he is so quick to step in and pick up the slack.
- A family walk/bike ride to the local bakery where we ate some really great kale salad and shared a cookie.
- Living in this beautiful place that I love so much. I know it is short lived but when we say good bye in July, we get to go back to Portland, Oregon. Not a bad place to live at all. One of the coolest places I know actually.
- The Jewel Fairy came today and brought Halloween Jewels.
- Yoga with my sweet 6 year old daughter. I could write an entirely separate post on just the different gifts that each of my children are. So unique. This little girl is my calm. She always has been. Sweet. Happy. JOYFUL. Humble. And Wise. Having her next to me for the hour of yoga was such a sweet moment of life. She kept turning to me on our shared mat and mouthing to me that she loved me and telling me how much fun she was having.
- Finding my voice again. Not that I lost it entirely. It was just a little quieter than usual.
- New opportunities. They always come when we are willing to put ourselves out there and take more risks.
- Trader Joe's came to Asheville! Yippie! Only thing is that everyone else is saying "Yippie!" too. Gee, you'd think the circus was in town. This place is crazy right now because EVERYONE in the general Asheville area wants a piece of it.
- Excited about training for another marathon! This DESIRE is KEY! Yay for it coming back. Now, let's see if my body agrees that it's a good idea. I think there will need to be plenty of yoga and strength type stuff.
- My friend Stephanie broke 3 hours in the marathon this weekend at St. George! Such inspiration to me. Thank you for this inspiration Steph, Soggy Runner Girl! Write that race report as soon as you recover. LOVE! Incredible to watch you on your journey in finding your gifts. I love you. And I miss running with you even though you are much faster than me.
I could go on and on with this list. Making a list like this has left me smiling. Similar to listing gratitude...such a powerful exercise in helping us change our perspective on things...or just saying THANK YOU for all that we have that is GOOD. And when we recognize these things with gratitude and love, we almost always get more of them.
I would love to hear a few things that you love...first few things that just pop into your head when you comment (IF you comment...I know, I know, I've been so so bad at commenting back lately so I'm surprised that anyone still reads this thing). Love and Happiness are contagious...I love reading what people are thankful for, what makes them happy or what they love. So, in either a comment or a post of your own.....TAG, you're it!
And Just because the pictures from my post from my Friday's Post make me HAPPY, I'm including them again!
Oh, and the next post will be all RUNNING! I promise. I know, I don't need to write about running but this used to be kind of a running blog, right? I want to ask about marathon training plans, talk about favorite shoes, Savannah Half-Marathon (yes, I switched to the half), Girls on the Run (LOVE this program and want to be more involved soon!), The Asheville Marathon, and a few other running-related things.
And Just because the pictures from my post from my Friday's Post make me HAPPY, I'm including them again!
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| It's a boots, long socks, dress, sunshine, crisp fall kind of day! Love my Keen Bern Baby Bern |
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What a perfectly wonderful message from the universe for this little boy on this beautiful morning: "You are LOVED!" I love that my 4 year old noticed this "heart" on the walk into preschool, a sign clearly meant for him! What a gift of a day! #love
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Oh, and the next post will be all RUNNING! I promise. I know, I don't need to write about running but this used to be kind of a running blog, right? I want to ask about marathon training plans, talk about favorite shoes, Savannah Half-Marathon (yes, I switched to the half), Girls on the Run (LOVE this program and want to be more involved soon!), The Asheville Marathon, and a few other running-related things.
What makes you Happy?? First 5 things that come to your mind.
Who raced this weekend??! Portland Marathon? Twin Cities Marathon? What else?
Amanda
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1. By this time next week I will have completed my 50 mile race!!!
ReplyDelete2. A couple of the 20 things that we were supposed to do this weekend changed/were cancelled so we actually had a some nice family time.
3. A good friend is keeping the boys next weekend!
4. The weather has been so great lately!!
5. Posts like this that remind me to stop and think about things that make me happy!!!
How exciting! 50 miles! We need a good friend to keep our kids!
Delete1. A better finish than my training warranted today.
ReplyDelete2. Fall weather FINALLY being here.
3. Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day with my 9 year old, watching him stick with things that were hard until he could do them, riding the trail with him and hearing, "I want to come back here!"
4. Riding my bikes with fun people.
5. Blog comments...thanks! :)
Good to hear from you Kate. How fun for your 9 year old! And yes on fall!
Delete1. Being more in love with my wife than ever after 25 years.
ReplyDelete2. Being more in love with running than ever after 25 years.
Awww, this is so sweet!
DeleteI'm happy this weekend because I slept in. And made my family pancakes eggs and bacon for breakfast. I finished a 30 week Ironman training program recently so there haven't been too many lazy weekend mornings. I'm happy also because I enjoyed 2 glases of wine with dinner. And it was a perfect fall weekend. Where my 10 year old boy drove the 4 wheeler all by himself and my 12 year old daughter started cello lessons. And my hubby and I liked each other. For 3. Whole. Days!
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you J.L! Wow, sounds like you need some downtime for sure! Cello lessons....ah, I LOVE cello. Your comment makes me happy.
DeleteIt really does all go by too fast. And all you will remember are those special moments and not the fights if my mother-in-law is anything to go by. She swears her kids never fought (despite my husband telling me otherwise). But then again she's 93 now.
ReplyDeleteHa! Yes, I have a feeling she's forgetting.
Delete1. I actually love waking up in the middle of the night to my hubby's snoring. Yep, hubby of just over a month, and I love, love, love him so much. The snoring is so peaceful and so *right*. It reminds me how lucky I am to have this relationship.
ReplyDelete2. One of my sever special needs students makes me incredibly happy (until 3 pm when he's climbing the walls and my nerves are shot). Each morning, he wants to sit on my lap while I do attendance. He strokes my hair and sometimes puts his head on my shoulder. His mom told me once that that helps him stay calm when he's a little overwhelmed. :)
3. Running. And running. And more running.
4. Coffee with the running group after our long runs.
5. My 20 lb cat taking over my pillow.
This makes me happy!
Delete1. No matter how crazy the day is and how frustrated I get, tomorrow is the opportunity to start new.
ReplyDelete2. 4 little spitfires that God has blessed me with.
3. A man that I love more today than I did when we married.
4. Caffeine and lots of it.
5. Life. The good, the bad, and the downright ugly. It has made me who I am today.
Caffeine...yes! With those spitfires we need this. Ha! Thanks for sharing Sheila! Made me smile.
Delete1. My parents (although, they can get on my nerves) make me happy, because they are with me during this recovery time. I"m couchbound and need a lot of help.
ReplyDelete2. My dog walker/dog sitter/cleaner upper/soup maker also made me happy by saying she's watching my dog for free, while I'm couchbound and can't walk him at al.
3. My friend sent me salt water taffy (even though, I will hate this later when i've realized how much weight I've gained during said couchbound.
4. The same friend sent me a metal straw that bends....makes my life so much easier now.
5. My wonderful boyfriend who is taking the reigns and planning my family trip to England over Christmas.
Okay, now time for me to catch up on your blog and figure out why you're couch bound! :( But you have some good things to be happy about. Awesome!
DeleteSurgery to remove my bunion on my left foot. It sucks. I'm a week in to it and I'm already tired of it. I have five more weeks to go (at least) and I'm ready to be done.
DeleteJust wanted to stop and say Aloha! I've always enjoyed checking in on your blog, but have only run to keep fit for a number of years (before kids was much more competitive, etc.) I had a chance to run the NYC Marathon in a month with the Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy charity team, and so I am on a fast track training program! :) Ran the 25K as part of the Honolulu marathon series last weekend, and so far feeling strong and healthy. I look forward to any running posts you have as I am brushing up on everything! Just thought I'd say hi. ;)
ReplyDeletePS I moved to Hawaii FROM Portland. My last marathon (18 years ago!) was the Portland Marathon! My PR too--3:23. :) And now that i am training again, that sounds extremely fast. This time I just hope to finish. haha.