March on May Day. against the Arizona Bill

So last minute, my friend Anna and I decided to join in a March against the new Arizona bill that will bring racial profiling and discrimination against many people. It was good to see democracy at work and people of every walk of life coming together and peacefully demonstrating the need for change and reform on such an important issue.
I also learned something valuable this week which was a semi-hard lesson, and made me realize that even in this day and age of instant communication from practically anywhere with practically anything, you can still be misunderstood in your intentions. Case in point: I posted a remark on my Facebook status that people began to sound off on, some were in agreement with my status and some were not. As I responded to comments, ther was one active participant in particular, that I thought we were just having a lively debate about a very important issue. I later learned that my active opponent thought that I was personally attacking her with my statements. I was shocked, because that was not my intention at all. I was just responding to what was being said. Anyway, this person privately emailed me and said as much and then deleted me as a friend before I even got the chance to respond to what I was accused of. Until that point, I never had taken anything that was said personally. I did take the "unfriending" really personally though and in the first time in a long time, a person other than someone in my immediate family made me cry. I couldn't believe that out of the two of us, the active debator thought I was the one doing the attacking. Out of anyone, I thought I should be the one entitled to being offended, since I have myself have an immgrant husband and mixed race children as well as many friends who I know that are not legal residents of the U.S.A. but who contribute in many valuable ways to our community. Anyway, I did respond to the email I was sent, and explained in much more detail my position that I could not really state in such a public forum as my Facebook profile page. The person turned around and added me back as a friend, and I didn't hesitate to accept the request, because out of everything that was said, I had never felt malice or ill will towards this person.
This situation has made me pause and think a bit about all that's going on in our crazy country, and how miscommunication, misunderstandings, and a total lack of willingness to see things from the point of view of others can and will make rifts and damage people's relationships. Usually, I just shut my mouth and don't comment on others political views, but in very rare cases, I cannot help but let my voice be heard especially on something that can potentially put my family at risk and in danger.
I have decided that I refuse to be cowed on this subject. I do not want to be unreasonable, but I will no longer feel bad or guilty if someone's feelings get hurt when they decide to take me on in matters that are close to my heart. And if they don't want to be my friend because everyone has to agree with them, or sugar coat things, then they are not worth my time, and they can unfriend me all they want. I will never unfriend someone who disagrees with me or whatever, but I think I have learned a certain amount of tolerance and patience in my life and have learned that not everyone has to be like me, think like me, act like me or even like me. You might wound be, but you will never break me.

Patience and Prayers

I think Heavenly Father may be trying to teach me something. Well, I think He's trying to pound it into my being until there is nothing left but peace and serenity as I wait *patiently* for answers to our prayers.
Beginning in September our family has been praying everyday for Heavenly Father to help Colata get a fellowship after graduation. After many many applications and several interviews, things just didn't seem to be heading in the right direction. I was getting nervous about the future because I don't like not "knowing" what is happening, especially knowing that our current status as "students" was quickly coming to an end.
But no matter, we kept praying. And thankfully, my husband is VERY, VERY proactive and was seeking help and information from all fronts.
One Sunday he met with the Bishop and asked him for a blessing. Bishop was prompted to ask me to join them for the blessing. Prior to the blessing, Bishop Wilcox asked what it was Colata was in need of. Colata explained our situation and asked that the Bishop help him as he interviewed and saught out job opportunities after graduation. As we were speaking with the Bishop, he remembered a man he served with in his prior stake who was a hospital administrator. He told us that he would contact him and ask him if he could put Colata in touch with his friend.
A few weeks later, Colata got the okay to email his friend and was later able to speak with him on the phone and discuss the possibilities of a fellowship or job after he graduated. Through his interaction he was able to schedule a face to face meeting to hopefully encourage the administrator to be willing to push forward with an employment opportunity.
After this meeting we were told he would be contacted about going through a fellowship process.
It felt like we were playing the waiting game for many months, when finally, things started to roll, and in a few weeks, Colata will be hopefully finalizing this whole process and coming home with a definate yes for this job.
I am so grateful for many things. I am first and foremost grateful for my Heavenly Father who loves us sooooo much that He takes care of our needs, the ones I know of, and the ones I don't. I am grateful for a wonderful husband and bestfriend who works so hard day in and out to be the loving husband, father, and provider for our little family. I am grateful for my children who brighten my days with laughter and love. I feel so blessed right now.

My first 10k

Kaisha recieved the honor of being the top of the pyramid because she was the first to cross the finish line.

Showing off our big muscles!

Yay us!

Saturday, April 17th, I ran my first 10k. The first half (5k) of the race I completed in 33:52, and that was my personal best time. I lost a little bit of steam there after and walked on and off the rest of the race and finished the whole 10k in 1:13:32 seconds. That means I averaged a pace at about 11:50 per mile I think.
I also realized that even with all my little injuries that I am trying to overcome, the biggest challenge for me at the moment is the mental game of having the mental stamina to finish the race without walking. Anyone have any ideas on how to do that? I guess I just have to be like the little engine that could and tell myself "I know I can, I know I can etc" and not give up. I know my body could have physically finished it, but I was mental exhausted.
So in May, my friend Anna and I signed up to do a half-marathon in Spokane, Wa. I am super excited and hoping to enjoy the scenery and company of my friend for the event. I am also looking forward to my visit with the Sports Med Doc who will hopefully figure out why I am always having the pain in my ankles. Hopefully he can help me improve my technique and/or tell me what else might be causing the problem.

Oh my aching feet!

So last week after my 3rd 5k, I have challenged myself to take on the idea of doing the Earth Day Half Marathon on April 20th. This week I have been focusing on increasing miles I log in. I hope to log in at least 10 miles before the race in a day. This week, I have logged in a total of about 27 miles, and 8.5 miles came from my exercise today. My feet are really sore, and I added a blister here and there, but I am trying to work my way through the discomfort "walls" that I encounter as I have been pushing myself harder to increase my stamina. I have been icing my ankles, as they seem to feel the most distress and pain from my increased efforts (which makes sense, because the left ankle I sprained really bad about a year ago, and the right ankle I sprained a few years before that, and they seem to still be rather weak).

I must say that I am quite proud of this small accomplishment. A year ago, I would have given up after my first blister, and now, I am motivated to keep going despite the blister. It's the little things on this journey of health, wellness and weightloss that are making be happy and content with myself. It's the little victories that I find that keep me up beat and satisfied with my progress. I think in the past I used to be so caught up in success = weightloss, but now, I am finding I am loving it when success=portion control, or success=not bingeing, or success=running 3 5k's in 3 months.

3rd times a charm... almost!

Today I finished my 3rd 5k race with a Personal Record of 34:32 seconds. That's an 11:08 minute mile for all of you who were wondering. I almost ran the whole way, but stopped to walk once on a hill that I just thought I wouldn't be able to get up without wasting all of my energy for the rest of the race. So close, but not quite reaching my goal of running the whole race all the way through. I would say I'll do it next month, but I am not sure if I am running a 5k in April or will be doing the special Earth Day half marathon. I am still debating myself on this one. On one hand, being able to say I did a "half-marathon" is really cool. On the other hand, I doubt I can run it the whole way, and walking/running it off and on, it will take me over two hours to finish the race, probably closer to three.
For now though, I will keep my training up, and try to work on endurance levels, so that I can work my way to feeling more confident about competing in a race that is 13.2 miles long...

In sickness and in health...the Peacemaker Saga continues

Being a peacemaker is hard to do, and its even harder to do it when you don't feel good. My family has been fighting a flu bug for the past two weeks passing it back and forth and it has really been hard to remember to be peaceful when all I wanna do is have someone else be "mommy" for a while so I can lay down and catch a break.
I've also had to come to the realization that as a Mom, sometimes the way I must keep the "peace" is by discipling my kids and correcting bad behaviors that I have let them get away with for to long. Gabe has had several "time outs" in the corner for climbing and screaming, and he hates it, but he has learned from these experiences because he isn't climbing up so much, though the screaming is something I am still trying to figure out how to manage.

The influence of music on being a Peacemaker...

Music, we all know has a profound impact on our moods. For me, when I am running on the treadmill and trying to improve my time, I need fast paced beats and music that is fun and seems to keep my feet moving up and down. But if a slow song is thrown in the mix, it throws off my pace and my motivation, and I seem to stutter and lose the "endurance" factor, and have to slow down and take a breather. I don't know why that is, but the music impacts my "will power" to keep going.
And tonight, after FHE, I was looking at the LDS.org site and while I was just "looking around" I came across the music site which led me to find a song that won the Award of Distinction for 2009. It was a submission by Sally Deford (I love her music and arrangements) and went to her site to listen to it right away. The song was beautiful, and as I was listening to it, the mood in the house changed. I wasn't even trying to change the mood, it seemed fine to me, but It brought the noise level down, and Jada started doing a beautiful interpretive dance and Gabe came and sat next to me just to listen to it. We listened to it about 5 times.
Even though the song has long stopped playing, the mood in the house has lingered, and I can't help but be encouraged that good, beautiful music that invites the Spirit, also invites and helps me be the peacemaker I need to be. So, if you are struggling with being a peacemaker, put on your favorite church song, or hymns or arrangement, and let the spirit of that song take hold of you, and I bet that you will not be able to help the peace and love you bring to your home because of that Spirit that you feel.