Back to school faves

 Ahhh...Fall! My favorite time of the year is just around the corner! And with that comes 

Oregon Duck football games, pumpkins, cooler days, boots & knee highs and Back to School! 

I wanted to highlight some of the other things I am excited about as we enter the new season.

Sort of an "Aunt Fab's Fall Finds" if you will.

Here goes:

 My Rolling Cart ($30, Staples).

I love this thing!! I can put everything I need in it for my work day (lunch bag, lesson plans and materials, etc.) and then, just roll on into work with ease! In addition, I added a little caribeaner (a couple bucks for a pack of 3 at Storables) to hang my purse on and a cup holder ($1.79 at IKEA ) for my morning latte! This way my hands are free as I negotiate my keys into the building...

 My closet organizer ($14, Target).

I actually stole this idea from my 13 year old daughter!

She lays out her outfits for the week and it makes it so much easier to get dressed in the morning.

It has just enough shelves to plan a week's worth of outfits!

Single serve coffee maker ($44.95, Eagle Bargain Outlet).

I am so excited about this find!!!

I have been looking all summer for one to have at work but, they were $70-90 

and I didn't want to pay that much!

I came across this one at an outlet store in Portland and it was the only one like it on the shelf! 

I guess they get items that have been returned and they cannot sell in the stores so, 

they are marked down quite a bit...

Yahoo!

I even found some discounted K-cups to use in it!

54 pods for $27! What a deal!

I should be set with coffee 'til Thanksgiving break!!!

 Okay, here's another idea I got from my teenage daughter

 (from all the you tube videos she watches!)

It's a Mason Jar Salad...and it is so fun and easy to pack for lunch -- 

not to mention, super healthy!!



All you do is layer your salad makings (putting dressing on the bottom 

so the lettuce doesn't get all soggy!) and then put the lid on and pack it in your lunch box!

When you are ready to eat, turn it upside down and 

shake all the ingredients together and pour in salad bowl!

So yummy!!!

HAPPY FALL!!

Eugene Half

It's been almost a month since I ran the famed Eugene Half Marathon that I've had on my bucket list for some time now. It was the BEST and the WORST race I have ever run!

The best because I got to run it with my awesome husband (we are both Ducks!!). I got to run past some very cool and meaningful places (my old dorm, my son's fraternity, Autzen Stadium, etc.!) 

The best because I got to finish on the historical Hayward Field, the same place Steve Prefontaine trained and where Ashton Eaton broke some records!

But, the very best part was running the race for our dear friend, Missy who is running her toughest race. Against cancer. It was my husband's idea to dedicate our race to Missy (she lives in Eugene and is a fellow Duck!)

 I had heard of people doing "prayer bands" during long races and dedicating each mile to a certain prayer, petition or person. I loved the idea so, I took to the internet and googled the idea! One great suggestion I found was to grab some pace bands at the Race Expo (Usually the ClifBar booth has them). Well, with neither my husband or myself being competitive or fast, we had NO idea what a pace band was actually used for, but we were very happy to turn them into our prayer bands for  sweet Missy!

Here's what they looked like. Each mile was a different prayer for our friend. Courage, Strength, Healing...13 prayers in all. I later told Missy that I was a little selfish with some of the prayers, particularly Strength, when I hit Mile 9 and a huge hill. She didn't mind one bit that I "double-dipped" that mile's prayer!

So, why was it the worst?

Well, for starters, I did not train as hard I had for my previous two halves. I think my longest run was somewhere around 8 miles. I remember asking one of my "running mentors" if he thought it'd be okay to skip the longer runs and he said, "It just depends on how sore you want to be!" And, boy was he right! I felt really good up to about Mile 7 and then my body started retaliating -- especially my knees! I have never had problems with my knees before, but this was an excruciating pain! 

All I could think about was crossing the finish line at Hayward Field and prayed that my legs would carry me that far! I no longer cared about my goal time of 2:30 but, rather just about being physically able to finish the race, get my medal and my well deserved pancake! 

(The race is sponsored by Krusteaz!)

In the end, I finished in 2:36:22 and my husband beat me by 3 minutes (who did not train at all, by the way!) I did not set a new PR, I had, however, just set a new record for the longest I'd ever run at one time and that felt pretty good! I was so happy to be done that I was on an emotional, adrenaline rush for the rest of the day! I had accomplished a very special goal and had run a very special race!

Yep, that's what I did!

this is 145

145 pounds. No matter how much I diet or eat or run or don't run, my scale somehow always ends up at this magical number. I guess that is just where my body settles and I'm okay wih that. My friends often tell me they can't believe I weigh that much (which I have always taken as a compliment, sort of!) Apparently, I have heavy bones or a lot of muscle! Or maybe both! So, you wanna know what 145 feels like?

It feels like waking up at 530am most days of the week and heading out for a run or fitness workout.

It feels like being able to run 13.1 miles all at one time without dying (or better yet, barfing. Or stopping.)

It feels like being strong enough to work 7-8 hours a day at a physically and mentally tough job and still have something left for my family at the end of the day.

It feels like maximizing your weekends by hitting the slopes, hitting the bar AND making it to Sunday morning yoga and Sunday night church.

It feels like visiting your son at college and feeling like YOU are the college student!

It feels like looking MS right smack dab in the face and laughing, while saying "Oh, and you thought I'd back down? Ha! Obviously, you haven't met me!"

Yeah, so that's what 145 feels like.  Strong. Confident. And Tough.
I would happily take that any day over  125 pounds of "Not-so-sure-if I-can-hack it"!

BOOM!!!

Oh, and just in case you are wondering, this is what 145 LOOKS like...

145's Not so bad, right? Well, truth be told I originally wrote this blog about 6 months ago, shortly before menopause took ahold of me and shook me to my core. And now, I am fighting to stay below 150! Oh, what I wouldn't give to weigh 145 again!!

Oh well, as long as I can approach my 50th birthday with strength and determination to be the best I can be, I'll take 145, 150 or beyond. Afterall, it's just a number!

And I've never been one to let a number define me.

B.O.D., Baby!

Lately, it seems as if I have been on the defense an awful lot. It's as if every time someone says or does something, I automatically jump to the conclusion that they are out to get me. It's ridiculous, really and I don't like it. Not one little bit.

So, I did what I do every time something is troubling me - I prayed about it. After mulling it over with Him, I came up with this idea: every time my mind starts to go to that dark place, instead of thinking the worst, stop and give that person the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they don't plan their day around making my life miserable, maybe they don't wake up in the morning and say "I really want to mess with her " and maybe, just maybe, they didn't even stop to consider how their actions would affect me at all. Maybe people are basically good and honorable and just. Maybe they don't have a secret agenda. Maybe some people don't deserve the benefit of the doubt. Give it to them anyway!

So, I have begun to train myself to give others the benefit of the doubt - or B.O.D.as I like to call it! When my mind wanders, I immediately think or say to myself  "B.O.D., baby"! It somehow takes the sting out of it and I find myself chuckling to myself and suddenly whatever it was that was bothering me is now forgotten and I've moved on. It no longer has the power to upset me because I have taken away it's control. It's actually pretty cool!

I remember reading somewhere that you should treat everyone you meet with kindness because everyone is fighting some sort of battle you know nothing about. So, the next time someone pisses you off in traffic, imagine that they are headed to the doctor's office to get a second opinion on their cancer or the next time someone is rude to you, imagine that they are pre occupied because they just received some horrible news. Life is short. Don't go through it mad or angry or resentful. Just give others the benefit of the doubt. It will add immense joy to your life and maybe even a few years!

"Train your mind to see the good in every situation"

no good deed

If ever there was a saying that rings true, it is this one:

"No good deed goes unpunished!"

It happens to be one of my husband's favorite sayings - and even though I had no idea what it meant the first time I heard it, it is now one of my favorites as well. Because it just fits so many situations!!

Here are a few scenarios that describe it a little better:

•My good friend teaches Sunday school at her church/One evening after teaching. she slips on ice in the parking lot and breaks her wrist.
•My husband picks up flooring boxes that blew out of a neighbors garbage can on a particularly windy morning and puts it in our garbage can/Another neighbor later berates him for not doing a better job of securing "our flooring boxes" in our garbage can.
•I offer to drive my daughter and her friend to the mountain/I roll my car on the way home.
•You run in a charity race/You get run over by a bus.
Okay, so that last one didn't really happen...but, you catch my drift, right?

Well, recently I experienced my own kind of "good deed punishment"!! I recently bought tickets for my daughter and I to see one of her favorite "you -tubers" perform live. I decided to splurge and buy the V.I.P tickets so, we could have better seats AND meet her after the show!! Later, I invited my niece to the show but, there were no V.I.P. seats left so, I just bought her a G.A. ticket, figuring she wouldn't mind since she really didn't know the performer anyway.

When the day of the show arrived, my daughter and my niece were so excited and it became clear to me that they needed to have the V.I.P. tickets! I mean, I didn't really need to meet and greet this 20-something "you-tuber" but, the two of them would have a blast posting pics to Instagram and telling their friends! So, I happily gave them the tickets. Unbeknownst to me, V.I.P.ers got in 15 minutes early to the show. So, I waited in line with them and once they were let in at the door, the ticket collector informed me that I needed to get back in line and wait with the other G.A. folks outside. Okay, no problem. How bad could it be? Well, just as I walked outside, the skies opened up and it began to pour. Down. Rain. I was suddenly wishing I'd packed an umbrella or at the very least, a garbage bag to put over my head!! I was suddenly reconsidering my decision to wear sandals and capris (to show off my new pedi and tan from spring break!!) Ugh. As if this wasn't bad enough, I saw that the line wrapped around. A. Huge. City. Block! So, there I was standing on a street corner feeling just a wee bit sorry for myself!

The only thing I could think of as I stood there with raindrops bouncing off my OPI bubblegum toes, was "no good deed goes unpunished!" I took a selfie of myself standing in the rain with a sad face and that very caption and sent it off to my husband! He knew exactly what I meant!

mary

I go to the public swimming pool once a week. as part of my job (working with special ed kids). A few weeks ago, I met a gal named Mary in the locker room! I liked her immediately. She was spry. She was witty. She was sharp as a tack. And she is probably around 85 years old, give or take a few years! We chatted and laughed like old friends. I saw Mary again this week and I still can't get the image of her out of my head.  She stood there, next to me, completely naked, just chatting up a storm, meticulously drying herself off. She laughed as she did, saying, "my skin is too big for my body now!" A huge smile in her voice and on her face. You see, I was trying hard to look at her face, not at the naked body beside me! But, part of me just wanted so badly to look at her body, to get a glimpse of what I might look like in 40 some years! I've never really seen a naked 80 year old, so I was curious! I finally lowered my eyes to take it all in and all I could think was "Man, I hope I look like that when I'm her age!" I think what I was actually thinking was "God, I hope I live to be her age and have the kind of confidence she has!" I mean, I still drape a towel modestly around myself when I dry off in an all-women's locker room and here she was, just letting it all hang out! And I do mean "letting it all hang out"!!

Standing there, talking with Mary and trying not to gawk, I realized something. I realized that we women spend our whole lives, not to mention our hard earned money to look good, to appear younger and to stay in shape...but, someday, we will be Mary's age and what will it really matter? Will it really matter that we gave up carbs for months on end only to end up gaining all the weight back anyway?Or deprived ourselves of delicious treats just to fit into a bikini for that vacation? Will it matter that we did or didn't get that boob job? Or Botox? Probably not. The point is that we are so hard on ourselves, constantly striving for that perfect ideal, that fountain of youth that we fail to realize that real beauty lies in a life well lived. A body that has withstood all of life's battles and storms and is still standing. A face that reveals a joyous, happy life, complete with the smile lines to prove that you laughed a lot! I honestly had never seen anything quite as beautiful as what I saw in Mary that day.

"Real beauty isn't about symmetry or weight or make up, it's about looking life right in the face and seeing all of its magnificence reflected in your own. " -Valerie Malone

Today's waves

I was reading my daily devotional, Jesus Calling the other day and this passage totally struck me. It was talking about not looking too far into the future and letting God do His job. Now, I've heard this put many ways before bit, somehow this time it really made sense and stuck with me.

Here is the passage:

"there are treacherous looking waves in the distance...by the time those waves reach you, they will have shrunk to proportions of My design. I am always beside you, helping you face today's waves."

I love the whole visual of this! Staring out at the ocean, looking at the giant waves and imagining them crashing up against the shore and swallowing you up! When we obsess about the future, that is exactly what we start to feel like. Stop. Slow down. Breathe. And let God do His thing. I read this a long time ago and it has always stayed with me: "worrying is taking on a responsibility that belongs to God." I don't know about you, but I don't want to step on the Big Guy's toes!

I started thinking about this idea and how it relates to every single aspect of my life. First of all, my MS. If I were to sit and worry about my future with this disease, I would surely succumb to debilitating fear and not want to get out of bed each day. Instead, I choose to take it a day at a time and trust God enough to handle it when the time comes.

Secondly, my running. I am signed up for a half marathon in July and frankly, the idea of running 13.1 miles again scares me to death! But if I focus on "today's waves" and put in my time training, I will be able to reach that goal when the time comes!

So, I guess the moral of my story is to stop worrying, concentrate on what you can do today and leave the rest up to God. He's got this!!