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.  

motivation

ahhh. I'm writing this smelling like delicious menthol I just rubbed all over my legs, and I can't stop thinking how satisfied I am with this awful pain from running today. I did 5 miles (on the treadmill, yes, because I am spoiled and don't like to run in the weird Texas weather!) training for this half marathon is probably the only thing that's keeping me sane, and focused, and I'm reallyyyy enjoying it. I didn't run for a couple of days, which is probably why I'm hurting a little more today than I should be, BUT I think it's also because I realized something, something pretty big. I used to work out because I wanted to feel good, but only because I felt good when others told me they were seeing changes. today, as I was running trying to think of things to motivate me I couldn't find that 'cute boy I wanted to look good for' I couldn't picture my favorite jeans not fitting (because I fit into my goal jeans now, WOOOOO!!!) I wasn't running for time, or distance, I was just running to see I guess how far I would go. Which means I could stop at any point right? As I was thinking of something to motivate me to at least finish mile 3 I thought, I'm doing this because it feels good, because I like the  way I feel when I run, and after my work out, and when I eat right, and especially because I will feel accomplished when I'm done with 13.1 miles. for the first time I was my ONLY motivation. and that felt soooo good. 

I found this quote on pinterest.com and I thought I had understood it, but after tonight, I think I reallllly understand it! 

so moving on, the holidays are quiiiiiickly approaching, which I'm a bit scared of because I don't want to fall off my workouts, but I think I enjoy them so much that I will be okay :) I've also made up my mind that I CAN eat whatever I want on Thanksgiving because I've been realllllyyy good with portions lately, and I know that my body is now doing a VERY good job of screaming at me every time I don't "eat right" so I'm not going to stress. I'll eat what I'll eat. I also have a feeling that since finals is coming up I will be super careful on eating the right 'brain foods' and because my time is going to be so scheduled, I will be forced to eat well balanced meals instead of just on the go fast food. (which I haven't really craved much lately) I have two Thanksgivings to go to this year...I'm going to my friend Dess' (soon to be my comadre ;) haha aka I will be her son's godmommaaaa :):) and then off with my parents to our friends house which I'm sure will be super fun!
I'm broke this year so no Black Friday for me...wahhh :( :(  but that's okay. 

but before all of this happens, Amanda and I will be doing our own little Turkey Trot...we're going running...outside! wahhh! but I just need to push through because the half is NOT inside so I just need to get over my weird fear/I don't know what else to call it of running outside and just do it! 

Hopefully I'll take some good Thanksgiving pictures and will be able to post them on here, especially how lovely I will look after running outside AND hills...two things I don't do very often AT ALL. stay tuned! :) 

I have a few questions, and you can email me or tell me in private or of course, post in the comment section...but what motivates you? do you have any specific songs that just get you going? what do you do on those days you're just 'not feeling' a work out? 

...and then life happens.

So let's all talk about how I never post on this thing! I get so mad at myself because the writer in me always has all these ideas on what to post and how I want to write everything I've been experiencing lately, yet when I finally get in front of the computer it's to do homework or after that I'm so tired I just want to be on pintrest and watch some shows on hulu. haha so then I have to put 60 things in a nutshell for this. 


nutshell numero uno: DISNEYWORLD! wooo!!! we drove. for 17 hours. yayyyy. but we finally made it to Orlando! My friend Amber and I went and we stayed with her friend (Josh) that lives there so that was nice. I met most of his roommates and his gf, and everyone was really nice and just down to earth people so I REALLY enjoyed that! I got to see my best friend from Mexico that I hadn't seen in more than 10 years so that was SUPER SUPER AWESOME! We had so much fun at the parks...meeting Mickey and all, but OF COURSE I think the funnest was when we all went to EPCOT! because MY favorite to do there is drink around the world! hahaha Josh's roommates met up with us there. You can see the pictures in my Orlando album on facebook. :) 


and this is where "life happened" when we got back from Disney, a mom that I babysit for offered me a live in nanny position, and although I had thought about it before, I just thought it wasn't for me but this time was little different. I decided I needed to grow my own wings, so I did.... and now I am so happy. SOOO much has been going wrong in my life lately that I figured why not change things up a little and just take a leap of faith? sometimes I fall flat on my face, and that's ok, but with this one, I had a realllly good feeling about it so here I am, writing from my new room :) hehe This mom and these kids have seriously been my angels sent from above. I hate to pick ''favorites" with all my kids, because I find them all extra cute and awesome and unique in their own little way, but let me tell you that these 3 little ones are so funny, and our personalities really 'click' if you want to say that...so I won't say they are my favorites, but...well...I am in love with them!!:) :) haha 


moving on to nutshell numero tres. (dos was moving)
it kind of goes with 'life happening'. Everyone knows I wear my heart on my sleeve, and it really is there for anyone to do what they please with it. I like that about me because that's one thing I learned: to be open to changes, possibilities, new relationships, new friendships, etc... yea yea, that all sounds so goooood. yet, I know that me wearing my heart on my sleeve also makes me open to heartache and my feelings being hurt, but now I've realized that that is part of life. I have to get up and learn from whatever life is throwing at me. the one thing I have learned these past couple of weeks is that I can be the NICEST person to EVERYONE and that doesn't mean that mean, nasty people aren't going to come around me. My feelings were really, really hurt by someone who was special to me, and yes it hurts and I am (still) sad about it, but I'm hoping it will get better. I know there's a reason why this curve ball was thrown at me...and I am also trying REALLY hard to be patient about it to see WHY it was thrown. speaking of balls....my twin Vanessa (not really twins from birth but I swear we are the same person in almost every aspect!) had to get me out of my house and out of my sad mood, so we went and watched Hardball with Brad Pitt, and I recommend that to EVERYONE :) :) 
This also reminds me of one more thing that life has reminded me is SUPER important: when you are going through a rough patch, it's easy to go in a little shell and not come out, and soak in your misery.DON'T. there REALLY are people out there who care more about you than you can imagine. I never knew the kind of friends I had because I was always the one bending over backwards but never let anyone in to do the same thing for me. A few friends finally broke my wall down and basically let themselves in because they knew I needed help, and I am more grateful for them, than words can explain. These people see the real me and love me for who I am and are convinced that I deserve a good life. and thankfully, they are willing to stick by me until I accept that for myself. I am forever grateful that I found that support system. You know who you guys are. I love you until the end of forever. <3 <3 


okay, promise my next post will:
1. be soon. 
2. not be so sappy and sad and emotional. 
3.be about my adventures with these kiddoes! :) :) 


and one last thing, SMILE. to anyone and everyone and at all times. The guy changing my oil this morning said to me "I need people like you to work for me, we need people like you all over the world" I asked why and he said "because for the hour that you were here I didn't see you NOT smile ONCE. I've never seen anyone so happy at an oil change place and you made the other 5 people in there smile too' this made me realize that if I can make someone just SMILE with my (half ass smile I'm sure I had because I really do feel beat down inside) then think of how many people we can ALL make REALLLLLLLY smile when we do that?! think about it and then... SMILE. 




<3, M

blessed.

sighhhh* I can't stop thinking how incredibly blessed I have felt lately. I have seriously been blessed with some amazing people in my life. so lets catch up. 

school started. woohoo! there were some road blocks I had to conquer for this semester but everything ended up the way He wanted it. It wasn't my perfect schedule but I have def learned that MY perfect schedule really is a big joke to God, and I'm okay with that :) 

My "kids" are simply perfect. Another aspect in which I have been blessed in! Last Friday I got to watch one of my littlest ones try eating by himself in the high chair for the first time. I was so amazed how quickly kids pick up things! and his brother was like "watch this" and showing him how he should pick it up and put it in his mouth. He's only 2, yet he already knows that he has a role in teaching his little bro, amazing, again :) 

What I really wanted to make this entry about though is really how awesome His love is and how I know that I have guardian angels that are guiding me the way He wants me to go. For example, last semester I was in this drawing class and it was at the worst time ever. especially on a Friday. but I got a good grade on it, but to top it off I met a great girl there that I call my "twin" because we literally have so much in common. She's quickly become one of my best friends and I KNOW for a fact she was meant to be part of my life (and I know will be in it for forever, as cheesy as that sounds haha) With this whole growing up thing I have been faced with a lot of people basically "pushing me over" yes, I just called myself a push over, it's ok. I've embraced it, and because I think I would rather let things go instead of standing my ground- most of the time. The road blocks and headaches that have been put in front of me with friends have really helped shape me. Even though I have lost some friends in that process, I still don't regret it because it taught me that sometimes we have to get negative out of our lives, and although it may hurt at first, I know it's what I needed to do. 

I'm in such an awesome stage of life right now, I feel like graduation is going to sneak up on me, I feel like it's in forever but it won't. I'm so excited about the half marathon in Disney in February, working out like this has seriously changed my life. I've surrounded myself with awesome people and I can't help but thank God for putting them in my life. Super excited about this semester, lets see what it has in store for me! :)