happy.

The past couple of months I have been: content. Since we all know my emotional scale is usually pretty off the wall, content was a happy medium (along with content, another one of my favorite words lately) and life was good. I was training for all my runs, and staying focused on school and work, which sometimes meant not going out as much and going to bed really early, which I was perfectly okay with.
and then life happened...

I met a person who has made me happy. I was surprised, and I think everyone in my life is also surprised at the sudden change in my life. Everyone is used to me being the one that loves to be single, or the one that loves to meet new people and enjoy everyone's company, so when this amazing person came into my life, there was a big change. I'm not one to want to spend everyyyy day with someone, and I enjoy my alone time-a lot. With that said, I've seen this boy everyday since our first date and I enjoy every minute of our time together. (and I won't go into detail of why because I will write forever! )
and then life happened, again...

It's been FOREVER since I've happily said "I have a boyfriend" so I guess I forgot how much time management it needs. Basically, my free time has been spent with him, and I am perfectly happy with that. Others? not so much. but here's where you find out who your friends are.
My family and my friends have told me how happy they've seen me lately and how happy they are for me that I finally found someone I deserve. woohoo right? well I have some "friends" that aren't really that okay with it. I was upset for a while because of course I want to make everyone happy and I really did feel guilty. But the more I talked to friends and the more everyone told me how happy they were and the more I thought about it, I'm realizing that I am making everyone happy. Everyone that matters.
Who matters? the people that are sticking by me. The people that understand that circumstances change: I wasn't going out as much because I was training, now I'm taking a break, hence why I can let loose a little :)  The people that truly know me and know that half the time I'm not around anyway, but know that we can pick up where we left off ANY time. The people that realize this new relationship is a big deal for me, because if it wasn't, I wouldn't be investing so much time into it. and I know that I am making them happy because they have wanted this for me.


and one more thing, I usually don't mention anyone's names on here, but I neeeeed to give a shout out to:
Nicole. you are the epitome of an amazing friend. Thank you for always understanding me, loving me unconditionally, and loving me for me-flaws and all (even after I make mistakes).Thank you for always knowing what to say when I don't even know what I need to hear. I love you.

Amanda. thank you for believing in me, even when I've lost all hope. thank you for understanding me and still loving me through my craziness. I love you.

Vanessa.thank you for always making me laugh. for your awesome friendship in such little time.  Thank you for letting me into your life and accepting me for who I am. I love you.


Now that we've addressed that- in other news...

Austin Jailbreak this weekend! I'm excited for a lighter race! and it's my first mud run! hopefully we will get some pictures so I can share with you guys :)
no more big races for me until after the summer probably...but I'm looking for some good places to run around in San Antonio, I love my babcock hills but I want to switch things up sometimes too! :)
and for all my mommy friends, the kids have been obbsesed with the Winnie The Pooh soundtrack from the latest movie, and now I am a bit too :) It has Zooey Deschanel singing and I am falling in love with her voice! it also has some instrumental songs that (at least my kids) enjoy! which makes me a happy girl because that means they recognize good music, not just Mickey Mouse singing :) It's def worth a download, it's adult bearable. :) :)
and last but not least, I LOVE LENT! this lent season has been fantastic!!! looking forward to healed hearts, and renewed spirits!

<3

Get up.

Get up.
It's what I tell myself every morning. It's what I yell at myself when I'm running uphill. It's what gets me out of bed on Saturday mornings when I have a long run planned. It's what I tell myself when the alarm goes off at 5 am and I know I have a long commute to school. Get up.
Funny how I'm obsessed with quotes (especially with pinterest now a days! follow me:marimon) but it seems like a simple, two word sentence has really become my go-to motto. Then I started thinking why? Saying get up, for me, isn't because I have to...it's the reasons why I choose to "get up" so here I go. :)
1. I get up for school because I chose to be an educated individual. I made the decision to challenge myself and go to college, to be educated, and in the long run, so whatever life may throw at me, I can be (or at least feel) prepared. I chose it to make my family proud, I chose it to make myself proud. That's what "get up" means to me in the mornings, it's one day closer to reaching these goals. So, I choose to get up, get ready, and drive :)

2. I get up for work because I have been beyond blessed to have a job that I love. I get to wake up before the sun is up to two beautiful children (one very sleepy, one veryyyy awake) I laugh at how much we do before we are even out the door, and by the time everyone is out the door and at school it feels as if it could be noon already, but it's not, it's not even 9 am! :) :) But I can't complain because those cute little smiling faces make it all worthwhile.

3. I get up to run because, again, I chose to live a healthier lifestyle. The way I feel after a work out, the way I feel after a good run, that's my sanity, and my happiness. I know when I don't work out I feel moody and irritable, so I choose to give my body what it is asking for. I also choose to get up and run, because I chose to challenge myself and do something I thought I would never do: run a half marathon. Now I've ran 2 and I've challenged myself yet again, and now I want to run better and faster. (also known as runner's high, lol)  So I get up because I want to push, and fight, and ultimately win. Not a race win, but win against myself. because trust me, no one reallllllyyy cares you ran a marathon, or your time, or if you beat your personal record. Sure you get compliments and people think you are crazy, but for me it's not about that, it's about how much I want something and proving to myself how much I am willing to go for it.
It's about drive. and discipline. and happiness.

so, life lesson learned: everything seems so much easier when I have a goal, when I constantly remind myself that I have chosen to be where I am now because of what I want for my future.

I hope this lets people understand me a bit more now and the changes I have been going through. I heard a friend complain to someone else that I was happy all the time. It hurt my feelings because I get happy when others are happy, so why would someone be so annoyed that I am happy all the time? do other people feel the same way? I hope not, but I hope this clears some things up, but more than anything, I hope this pushes someone to make that small change they need in their lives to be happy.

and I will leave you with these two awesome, inspirational Biggest Loser quotes from last week's episode.
"I'm changing on the inside and I like what I see" -Chris
 and my favorite....
"I'm gonna keep going, I'm not going to stop-because how I feel now is better than I've ever felt before in my life and I never want to feel different." -Chism, 19. After losing the weigh-in, what a rockstar!

Jillian Michaels detox

weird that as I was watching Biggest Loser tonight, I got a few texts asking about the Jillian Michaels detox that I had done in the past! so here it is :

Now, obvi when you think detox you think you don't eat anything right? well I literally searched a bunch of websites and blogs and comments and none of them say you don't eat. So...the first time I did it I think I missed 3 days out of the 7. I ate healthy and normal. I  think I even ate out once. I did see SOME weight loss, but it was more about how my body was feeling and I could literally feel lighter every time I peed. lol 

The second time I did it I cut down carbs to only TWICE in the 7 days and still kept a healthy diet. I lost weight and again, my body felts so much better. I also think this helps with your water intake in case you are having trouble drinking water during the day. It def helped me! 

I'm going to do it again starting Monday probably but I'm still not sure if I'm going to cut carbs or what my eating plan with it will be. 

DISCLAIMER: I found this thing on pinterest AND never found anything directly from Jillian saying that...except maybe an old workout video that now I can't find. lol so I'm not 100% it really is her idea, BUT I think it taste delish and I drink so much water that this is always such a good sub for water sometimes! :) 

and while we are on the water topic, I did find some water FYI on her website http://www.jillianmichaels.com

Q: How much water should I drink each day? I hear all kinds of answers, including 1 ounce of water for every pound of body weight, and six to eight 8-ounce glasses. Which is right?

JILLIAN SAYS: Water is a vital part of any diet and exercise program — not to mention life in general — because it aids every aspect of bodily function. Water is a huge component of muscle and is important for energy production, so if you want to make the most of your workout, make sure you're well hydrated.

There is no real one-size-fits-all approach to water consumption. As a general rule of thumb, men should consume 128 ounces of water daily, and women should consume 88 ounces, but this doesn't mean you need to drink this amount of water every day. Other beverages, as well as the moisture content of foods, also count toward your water intake. The following factors affect how much water you should consume:

Exercise: If you exercise or engage in any activity that makes you sweat, you need to drink extra water to compensate for that fluid loss. Drink 12 ounces of water two hours before a workout, and another 12 ounces 30 minutes before you begin. While you are exercising, you should drink 4 to 8 ounces every 15 minutes. You should consume an additional 12 ounces within 30 minutes of the end of your workout. During intense exercise involving significant sweating — say, during a marathon — you may need a sports drink rather than plain water, to replace the sodium lost in sweat.

Environment: In hot or humid weather, you need to drink additional water to help lower your body temperature and to replace what you lose through sweating. You also need additional water in cold weather if you sweat while wearing insulated clothing. Heated indoor air can cause your skin to lose moisture, increasing your daily fluid requirement. Additionally, altitudes higher than 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) can affect how much water your body needs — higher altitudes may trigger increased urination and more rapid breathing, which use up more of your fluid reserves.

back to watching Biggest Loser tonight,I realize that this show seriously gets my blood pumping! I wish I could wake up, watch it, THEN go work out.(but then I would be waking up at 4am haha)  I absolutely love Bob!!! and I would die for ONE workout with him! I swear everything he says inspires me! or maybe just for someone to yell at me the way he does-WOOOO!!! :) :) I get excited just talking about it! haha and not to mention my little crush on Dolvett (spelling?) even though I always root for Bob's team! :) anyway,to finish it off I'll leave you with my favorite Biggest Loser quote from tonight's episode:

"If you move your feet one more time I'm going to cut them off"- Bob Harper 

(funny one tonight!)

learning...

HA! how far I've come since my last post...I was so excited about running 5 miles and now I laugh about that! here's a little update: in case you haven't heard me crying about it, I won't be running my Disney Princess half marathon in February...booo! but I am okay with it, because I just don't think it was God's plan for me to be there this year. on the bright side, I was really anxious to run so I signed up for a half that's here in town at the end of January! yayyyy! 


okay, so this is what I have learned recently. 
TRUST GOD. sometimes I forget that. I forget that when we make our own plans our Lord just laughs. The Princess run seemed like my perfect first half to run, I was going to run it for my uncle who passed away from Leukemia, it was at DISNEY which is my absolute favorite, and to top it off, I would get sprinkled with Pixie dust at the end. But so many things jumped right in front of it and I kept trying to knock them down, and then I finally realized that this was His way of telling me not to go and I was so relieved after I figured that out. I could focus on other things that I needed to focus on, instead of trying to get rid of all these impossible obstacles I was trying to overcome. and then all of a sudden, things started falling into place. PRAISE HIM!!!! How sweet everything is once you let our Savior in and let Him take the wheel! 


and with "how sweet everything is"....another thing I learned in the past couple of weeks- how passionate I am about my kids. These little people seriously are 'my happy place' when I'm tired, when I'm cranky, when I feel like I can't go anymore, all my cuties find a way to say the right things. Today I was a little bummed about some things and out of nowhere my little Miles love said "Love you to the moon and to the planets and to the stars and to the flowers" and just like that I was fine again. :)  


Anyway, I was writing this because "I finally had some down time" and then my phone started blowing up, so I guess I will wrap this up and hopefully blog some more sooner. and with pictures. promise! :) but, I will leave you with this quote..it's MOST DEF gotten me through these past couple of weeks.