Thanksgiving 2012

This Thanksgiving was a special one for a few reasons, one we had the whole family together and we were saying goodbye to Mikey as he left for his mission in Bolivia. I went home a week earlier to spend time with my family and enjoy my nieces and nephews. As part of the holiday we ran a 5K benefiting the Burbank YMCA. I was so excited to do this 5K mainly because it was with most of my nephews and nieces and we dressed in costume. We figured that since it was Thanksgiving Day it was very fitting to have Indians, a Turkey and a Pilgrim. Unfortunetly our Pilgrim had to work that day so he was not able to go. But Joel was a real sport and was the turkey and even wore the tutu to go with his hat. Although, I have to admit he was a little too fond of that tutu and kept wearing it even AFTER the race :o). 2012 was a year of many trials for my family but it was a wonderful time to be able to be there together enjoying eachothers company, well as much as we could stand it before punching each other like the loving siblings we are. For one night we put our differences aside and left our troubles at the door. That night we celebrated our crazy love for each other, we celebrated my Fathers health, reminiced at how Mikey was now young man getting ready to leave home to serve the Lord, and celebrated the excitement of a new future member of the family. Overall it was a wonderful holiday!

Running and Its Lessons

For the past few weeks I have been working really hard on my training for my 5K’s. For the last few weeks my times improved and I have been taking 2-3 minutes off my time. A minute may not seem like a lot but believe me when you’re crossing that finish line even a second less is pure glory! So on Saturday I was very excited and ready to do my September 5K which was the 9/11 Heroes Run benefiting the Travis Manion Foundation. I had done it last year and let’s just say that it was pathetic how awful I did, but in my defense I had not trained at all and I was in horrible shape. So this year with my running time improving and having been running for a while I was ready to conquer this race. I got to the park and thought it would be all flat and well it wasn’t, it was more of a trail run which was something I was not expecting nor prepared for. My main problem while running is controlling my breathing but I was doing great and was on a roll but half way through it I looked back and it was all downhill from there. Everything that could come into my head came; “You’re way behind everyone; you’re going to be last, Just walk.” I knew I wasn’t tired and my breathing was great but for some reason I could not get my body to go. I thankfully got my second wind and finished the race. My time was better than last year for sure but I did not improve my time as I had expected. Well if you thought I was having negative thoughts during the race you should’ve heard everything that poured into my head all at once then. Today I was just trying to figure out what I could do to improve and really “What happened?” type of conversation, and then I read an article by Lauren Fleshman. One, I was not too excited to hear what she had to say since Lauren is the ultimate love of my ex, the “I want to marry her and have her babies” kind of love. I was like “Really? Pour salt on my wound why don’t you!” haha But she talked about how not only is it important for a runner to prepare themselves physically but mentally too. Lauren talked about how in 2007 she was training for her 4th USA Championship in the 5K as a professional runner and she just froze. She talked about how she became so consumed by fear and even though she was doing great and was in the lead she stopped and walked the half mile she had left. Lauren goes on to explain how we must prepare mentally because even if we are in our best shape if we are not in our best shape mentally we will not improve. I have to admit I was so glad I read that article because even though I am nowhere near Laurens level I felt the same way on Saturday, I was scared. It also made me think how we carry the same mentality into our personal lives too. Getting back in shape and eating healthier has truly been a journey and it continues to be and there are days when you slip and you eat that piece of pie when an apple would’ve been a better choice instead. But then you feel like “Oh my whole diet is ruined! I might as well just have that ice-cream while I’m at it.” And heaven help us if this happens mid-week because for some reason we think we can only start a diet on a Monday. As if any other day of the week is not as good to do so. I was reminded that I did not gain my weight overnight but that it was something that took time as well. The lesson I learned is that it will also take time for me to retrain my mind just like my body to be healthy and think positive.

So yes, I froze on Saturday and didn’t do as well as I hoped but I am better for it today. I now have the challenge to continue to improve my times and do better on my race for October. This race is done and there is nothing I can do about it anymore, my time will remain the same and no matter what I say or do. What I can do is learn from it. The lesson I learned from Saturday’s race was “Never look back” whether it’s in a race or in life. We will all make mistakes and wish there were things we did different or wonder “Am I the last one?” But our focus should be the finish line. We weren’t sent here to fail, we will fall and sometime come in last but we will finish and be better for it.

The wait is over; I’m going to be an aunt again!

Anyone that knows me well you know that I am always bragging about my amazing and most beautiful nieces and nephews in the world. As the years pass, it’s been amazing to see them grow from babies to young men and young women. All of my siblings have kids except my brother Monico and his wife Melissa. They had been trying to conceive for quite some time and after 13 years they have been blessed with the gift of parenthood. I am very excited for them because they will make amazing parents, and not to brag but that kid is going to be so cute since both parents are quite the lookers as babies. Plus I also told them I refuse to have an ugly niece or nephew, so they better deliver a super cute one preferably with blue eyes. With this news it has been very fun talking stories about the shenanigans those two did when they were kids. Melissa liked to run away from home and she was a climber. Monico well let’s just say my parents had a marked parking space at the doctor’s office from all the visits they made to get him stitched up. So it will be very fun to see them with their mini me. Now the only thing we are waiting for is what the sex of the baby is. Oh how much fun shopping will be if it’s a girl because they do have way cuter clothes but boys have the best toys ever! So we shall see.

Visiting Big Sky Country

A few weeks ago Monico and Melissa came back to Seattle to pick up the last of their things that couldn’t fit in their car during the move. Memorial Day weekend was coming up and they invited me to go on a road trip with them. Originally we had planned to go to Victoria, Canada because Monico and I haven’t been there but hotels & ferry were very pricey. So we joked about visiting Montana but then realized how it was pretty close to us and none of us had ever been there. So it was settled, road trip to Montana. Going through Eastern WA is not the most scenic drive but once we got to Idaho the drive was nice. Unfortunately there was a fire so we had a lot of smoke blocking our view on the drive through Montana. In a way it reminded me of driving in Monterey, CA because the smoke felt like fog at times. There were some areas where the river and the backdrop was breath taking that Melissa said she expected Brad Pitt to pop out any minute like in The River Runs through It. We finally made it to Missoula, Montana late at night and we were ready to head to bed and start our exploration in the morning. Missoula is a small town but with a lot of potential. The University of Montana is there and we happened to come on game day, so everywhere we looked there was Grisly Fans. I have to admit I really enjoyed that part because everyone showed love for the school that day. In the morning after breakfast we hit the Farmers Market in town and let me tell you, those vegetables looked like they were on steroids! I have never seen such HUGE produce and the price was awesome. The pictures really don’t do them justice. I only wished I had a cooler so I could have brought some home. After the farmers market we headed to a ghost town. Once there, Melissa pointed out how there were many rattle snakes because she could hear their rattle. Well you have to know this about me, I am TERRIFIED of snakes, any type and size so her pointing that out made it a very unpleasant trip walking down to the town. Once we made it there one of the park rangers asked me if I had any questions and I asked “Do you have a lot of rattle snakes?” To which thank heavens she said “No their numbers are low this season.” You have no idea how relieved I was to hear that, so with that new information I got a pep in my step and was ready to explore the town. This place is welled preserved and people can even rent some cabins to stay there if they want. I love visiting ghost towns and learning the history of what brought them there and what happened to the town. I was not disappointed by the town, very fun. On our way back we got some pictures but I think the view would have been more amazing if there wasn’t so much smoke. The next day we went mining for sapphires. Monico can be a nerd about certain things and I have to admit it cracked me up seeing him so excited about this. So we made it to the ranch and were given Sapphire mining 101. We actually found quite a few and I have to admit I had a lot of fun doing it. I wanted to take a picture of our treasure so I emptied the container in my hand and Melissa said “Be careful you don’t drop them.” And just as I was saying “Geesh I am not that clumsy” I dropped one of them. Insert foot in mouth! I was terrified of losing any more of them so I passed them on to Melissa and Monico as soon as possible. They had them appraised and we had quite a few that could actually be cut! They asked me if I wanted to keep any and well lets just say I figured they would be in safer hands if they kept them. Overall it was a great trip and great company. I hope to visit again.