She Is Water

Looking back I have to say that 2014 was a good year overall. I am a glass 1/2 full type of person so I do focus on the good most days. And it was good. Can it be better? Absolutely. Always. We lost some beautiful people in our life that we will miss, 2 of them are the reason this blog exists. 2 of them are why I am doing what I am doing. 2 of them are why I will run 26.2 to fight cancer. I hope they have met already and Shirl, I hope you are showing Shelbie how wonderful a life without pain truly is. You are missed beyond words but life is beautiful from where you are I'm sure. Looking closely it was a year of huge growth. Which I think is kind of important, especially in one's 39th year. This is it. A milestone is coming up in May of 2015 and while I have always dreaded turning 40 I am going to embrace it. I mean #happybirthdaytome #imgoingtovegas. I don't feeeeeel 40, so what does it matter? I might after running 26.2. I might feel 140. But now I feel better than I did ...

It's VACATION WEEK for me and the babes. Bri is back to work. But we have/had a solid 12 days off. And we deserve it. I deserve it. I work hard. I love my job. I love my 23 seven year olds that surround me all day every day BUT (and this is a really big but) I love weekends. I love days off. I love vacations. I NEED vacations. Vacations are strategically placed throughout the year so teachers don't lose it. They might come very close to the losing of "it", but they keep it together very gracefully. Sort of gracefully. Just like her. She is so not going to lose it at all. So after walking out of school with 25 bags of cards, goodies, work to accomplish over vacation (haha that's funny) and my own 2 kids in tow, we breathed a huge sigh of relief. Because it was vacation!!! There are not enough exclamation points in the entire world. And I love exclamations. I mean top 3 highlights of the last day of school... This kid got 18 stitches out and was on the men...

"How lucky are we to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."  ~ Winnie The Pooh Cancer sucks and children should be off limits. No one should suffer through this horrible disease but especially a child. Life is unfair. Life is precious. Life truly is a gift and I can tell you that Shelbie Murphy would want you to live yours to the absolute fullest and to be so very thankful for everything you have. She would tell you to be thankful for your loved ones that surround you, for your blessings right in front of you and for life's one precious gift. That's what she would want. She would want that because she was THAT kid. I met Shelbie when she was just 9 years old and it was the summer before 4th grade. I was teaching right across the street from her house and she was this beautiful little girl inside and out. I remember meeting Jackie for the first time. Just as beautiful as Shel and so, so invested in her child and wanting her to succeed in 4th grade an...

This Saturday was my very 1st DFMC team run. I had been looking forward to it for weeks. I was so ready. Mentally I was ready. Mileage wise I was ready and then Thursday snuck around and all my preparedness went down the drain.  Colin had a terrible accident at school. He's fine. We are lucky and blessed and so thankful. Sooo thankful. A trip to the ER and still as handsome as ever, even with 18 stitches in his head but as a Mom, I crumbled. I didn't sleep Thursday night through Saturday morning. I had maybe one bottle of water in that 36 hours and I just wasn't myself. So I texted my 2 runner-go to- all around inspirational ladies in my life and both of them had the same response.  "You neeed this." I just didn't want to leave him but I did need THIS. Thank you SIL and thank you Sandy. So without a doubt (just kidding there were many doubts and more minutes of sleep lost in the doubts) I got up on Saturday morning to my chariot awaiting. My beautiful frien...

I have a lot of time to think logging 20-25 miles per week right now. A lot. Of thinking. Time. But I love it. I think about life. I think about people. I think about things. I might even think about you. Thinking takes up a lot of headspace on my runs. I'm learning a lot about myself on this journey. I've learned that I'm committed. I'm stronger. I'm learning to have more patience. I'm learning to let things go. I'm learning that there's no place for negativity here. That there's no room for that to take up space in my head. I've learned that if I set out to do something, it's going to get done. I've learned that it's not easy or fun to wake up up 5:30 in the morning and brave the cold. I've learned that injuries suck and set backs hurt. But I can still do this. Every day I wake up and face the day knowing I can do this.  We can do anything we set our mind to. I can. You can. They can. Anyone can. It's not easy but life ...

This journey is already incredible. I have met so many people, learned so much and have been inspired more times than I can even count. But I keep track. It's all in my head and it's all in my heart so no need for numbers. Numbers scare me. Especially 26.2 But I saw this bumper sticker this weekend and it made me laugh. I loved it. I laughed so hard. My husband said that it was right up his alley. It is... It's okay.  Opposites attract and he's like the best person I know so he can say those things. 13.1 1/2 Way there. But that's not inspiring. It's just funny. And laughing is my most favorite thing. So just laugh at it already. I also read somewhere that oversized sunglasses and short shorts are not for women over 30. #whatevertothat That's what I run in all summer. I am not alone. It's 100 degrees. I wonder what they think of compression socks. Really though, I love to be inspired and I honestly just go about my day every day trying t...

Last night was my very first DFMC meeting!!! Lots of exclamations needed. In fact, it was a meeting designated to "First Timers" running the Boston marathon. I asked Bernie if he wanted to come into Boston with me to catch the meeting and grab some dinner and I knew he would. He would drop anything for his girls. We drove in town and made our way to Dana Farber, a place that's sadly very familiar to our family. While I headed off to my meeting, Bernie visited the healing garden because he's traveled this road before...  And it was a road that changed our family forever. But we've learned that from struggle comes hope. Always. It's in many different forms, but it comes...eventually. I walked into a room filled with runners. So many runners. We got right into meeting people and got right down to some Q&A Our question: "What's your favorite pre race meal?"  My answer: Peanut butter/Banana on whole wheat toast. Coconut Water ...

So thankful.    With this long weekend behind us I was just thinking about how important it is to not just be thankful during a certain time of year but to be thankful all year long. All day long. Every single day. There is so much to be thankful for. And I am thankful for you. I'm thankful that you are reading this right now. I'm thankful that you share my mission and you support it. Cancer needs a cure. We all know that. Too many beautiful people have battled this disease and too many lives have been lost. It's time for a cure. Thank you for pushing me to be the best that I can be. Thank you for thinking that I can do this. Thank you for reminding me of the same. I would like to thank you for all of your support by holding a little thankful contest... It will be fun. I swear.     So you have to do 3 things to be entered into the contest.  1. Over on the right hand side of this blog you can follow my journey.  2. You can share this link on your Fa...