All In a Day's Rest

The allergy meds won. I slept until 6 a.m. this morning...oooOOOooOOopss. Good thing the stock market was closed. The extra sleepage meant no morning work out for me (in order to squeeze in a legit WOD before work, I have to be up and at 'em by 4:30)...and the complete and total lack of foodage in our fridge meant no gym visit after work either (insert stressful trip to the grocery store here instead). oh well. Although I didn't accomplish my work out, I did accomplish a few other things after a full day of work today. Sometimes a girl's just gotta get her domestic warrior on!

I took my little lovebug for a walk because it was GORGEOUS outside.
I love this action shot , hahaha

view of Pikes Peak from our autumn afternoon stroll

I pulled a legit paleo dinner out of my ...wait that's not appetizing...
I made cinnamon apples and pork chops with Brussels sprouts! 

I sliced up four apples and sauteed them in a skillet with some coconut oil, cinnamon, and a dash of sea salt. After they got warm and slightly tender (not totally mushy), I dumped them in a bowl and set the pork chops in the skillet, I sprinkled some cinnamon on all of the pork chops and browned them on both sides. Then I added a splash of white cooking wine and cooked them until they were 160 degrees. For the last few minutes of cooking, I dumped the apples on top of the pork chops to cook them a bit more. The Brussels sprouts were just warmed with some sea salt until hot and tender. Easy enough, and edible! (always a bonus!) 

I carved Mark's pumpkin. (It's a sorry excuse for a jack o lantern, I know)

I just didn't want it to go to waste and
had to get these seeds out of it for roasting!

I dried my own Basil. (fur'reals!) I had some fresh basil starting to look a little , um,
dead-ish in the fridge so I tossed it in the oven on the lowest temperature until it was dry. 

Do you schedule your rest days or take them as you feel/end up needing them?

What's your favorite thing about the fall season?

Fail

I think we all have seasons where we feel like we're not really succeeding at anything. Sometimes the world can make us feel like we are making no forward progression, or that we are, in fact, failing.

I'm smack dab in the middle of that season. My work performance is mediocre. My house is not condemnable, but is cluttered and dirty. My food intake is borderline catastrophic. My gym time lacks umph. I'm a distant and noncontributing friend, a lazy pet owner, and an "okay" wife at best. My coursework for college is completed last minute in an effort to at least get some credit.

The solution is not a new organization system, a new vitamin regimen, or reading a motivational book.

I feel like I'm failing in all of these areas because I'm striving to please the world. I'm striving to be a more fit and strong woman, a more social friend, and the good housekeeping version of a great wife. When we work to please the world, we will always feel as if we are falling short. Dinner could always be more creative. The house can always be cleaner. Our friends can always use more support. Work can always be done more efficiently. However, God does not ask us to be efficient. God does not ask us to be extraordinary chefs, bodybuilders, and maids.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. ~Colossians 3:23

There will always be times where we feel like we cannot find our place in this world.Times when we don't fit in at the office, at the coffee shop, at the local pub, and sometimes not even in our own homes.  This rings especially true to me after visiting an old haunt last night to celebrate after my brother's wedding. I remembered how many days I wasted there trying to find my place in the world, and I remembered how much I always want to give drunk people a nice shove and watch them flail around for stability. (I suppose that's not a very nice thing to say) The good news is there is always a place for us. No matter how bruised and broken we may become by the trials of day to day life, and no matter how many places we visit and feel as if we don't "fit in," we never have to change in order to "fit in" with the Lord.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. ~Romans 12:2

Work to fulfill God's calling, live to please Him, and perhaps this feeling of repetitive failure will subside.

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. ~Philippians 4:13

When Life Comes Full Circle

overdressed and underprepared...story of my life...

Saturday I FINALLY got to run in the Police Memorial 5k. I've missed it every year due to prior engagements of failing CPAT tests, working, traveling, hunting, etc. It's just never worked out. I forced myself out of bed Saturday am to run in the chilly fall air (one of my least favorite things ever...I overdressed preparing for a blizzard and -therefore- sweat my binoskis off the entire morning) Since I was running alone, I snuck my iPod onto the course with me, knowing it was a bad idea. More on that later.

Saturday was the most random day of my life. I should probably not say that because now there's sure to be more oddities laying in the road ahead of me. Waiting on the race to start, a photographer asked if he could 'grab a quick photo of (us) guys." My brain went "who guys? me guys? I'm here alone. I'm with no guys." And before I knew it I was standing next to an elderly gentleman smiling awkwardly and trying to explain to the photographer that I didn't know this person. So, when there's a picture of me and a random gray-haired fellow in the newspaper, that is NOT my Dad. (contrary to what my t-shirt implies) The photo probably won't make it...I'm pretty sure it looks like something off of awkward family photos or people of Wal-Mart, or maybe something in between. Anyways, back to the iPod. I ran along choking down the sewage fumes that engulfed pretty much the entire course for the 5k and noticed a crew of Bomb Squad guys pointing at me and mouthing words I couldn't hear. Then I felt a swift yank at my left arm and was flung out of the way of a cyclist on the trail. One thing about being amongst cops, they're always on the lookout for oblivious idiots like me so we don't endanger those around us.

This was my worst 5k time ever. And I mean ever. Worse than my very first 5k right out of the shoot. Oh well, I did it to show my support and gratitude, not to make PRs. We all have off days...and we all have to face the consequences of eating crap and sleeping through training sessions.

Two years ago, I missed this race because I took the firefighter Candidate Physical Aptitude Test...and I failed. Right then and there, my lifepath changed course. I had trained and trained and trained and I had failed. So here I was, two years later, running the worst 3.2 miles of my life, getting pulled out of the way by the bomb squad, and getting photographed with randoms. I spent the day trying to figure out where in the world God is leading me and how in the world I've managed to "screw things up" so badly along the way. And then later, I went in to work to train a prospective client. To begin our session, this client informed me he wanted to be a firefighter, and had already passed the CPAT test. So here I was, two years later, training a client who could already pass the very test that had thwarted my lifelong ambitions. I'll spare you the details and just say the training session was awesome and this was my favorite thus far. I actually had some knowledge to pass on to him and some new challenges to guide him through. I started thinking I'd be a total waste of this guy's time, and left feeling like I maybe really am doing what I'm meant to be doing right now.

Be still and know that I am the Lord ~Psalm 46:10

 

  

I recovered on Sunday with some gluten free cinnamon rolls clusters (I'll just pretend there was never any hope of these being "rolls") and my usual Lions mug of coffee.

 

 

And here's where my week got awesome....

 

 

...found this at the grocery store this morning. This really is too tasty to just be a seasonal delight. 

Words

 

 

 

 

source

Rage Fest Cancelled

Sometimes, not very often, I feel like I know just where I'm going and just how everything is going to align in life. Other times, okay most of the time, I feel like I have control over nothing and after awhile, my world becomes one giant full fledged rage fest. You say you don't know what a rage fest is? Oh, well you must not know me personally then.... my derby name was Mandgrenade for a reason. (think of a small self-contained item with a rough outer shell that explodes quickly causing loud noises and flying objects...that's me)

the Grenade

Lately, it's been a rage fest all up in here. It's no secret that I don't exactly love my job. I'm not too thrilled about living in this cramped little townhouse anymore. My heart is longing for a slower pace of life in a friendlier environment where everything has the soft glow of a rural summer sunset. Chances are that is just a pipe dream. (what does that phrase even mean anyways?) I've been so frustrated with where we are that I'm ruining the journey to wherever it is that we're going.

I'm not so great at waiting. I started working at the age of 14, applied for EMT jobs before the ink was dry on my certificate, and bought my first house at 22. Every cake I've ever made has sunken in the middle because I open the oven door to stab it with a toothpick before the timer goes off. remaining patient is not my specialty. Unfortunately, that's what this period is allllll about.

This period...of waiting....has been a challenge like none other for me. But it's forcing me to grow up and chill out. I don't know what the future is holding for us. I don't know where we'll be or how I'm going to get there. It's been a great test in trusting God, knowing that He will put us exactly where we're supposed to be for this next phase of our lives.Over the past couple of weeks , I've been brain-washing myself out of our current situation. "It's so crowded here. Everyone is so rude! this house is falling apart so I don't want to live here any more anyways!" What I should be doing is preparing my heart for a new season. Preparing myself to accept new and uncomfortable situations that God is going to brings to us. I should be opening my mind and clearing out the clutter. A new season is near and I need to be ready to welcome the challenge with open arms rather than with a bruised heart.

There's a small spark in my insides that can just feel that God is taking us somewhere special I think He is going to place us in an interesting new corner of the world that will absolutely BLOW OUR MINDS!

So the Rage Fest has been cancelled, y'all. I'm done throwing things and screaming obscenities. (did you hear that? That was my husband's sigh of relief.) I'm done pretending that I have any control over anything at all. I'll grow up and let go and realize that it's not about me, and it's not going to happen on my timeline or in the fashion that I so choose.

After all, if you've got to start somewhere; why not here?

 

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

~2 Timothy 1:7