shinsplints

i think i figured out what's been causing my shinsplints. and the good news is, it's actually because of something i did right! 


how, you ask, can you get shinsplints from doing something right? well, i'll tell you.


i was talking about my frustrating shinsplints with a friend, and we were talking through the possibilities trying to figure out what could be causing them when she mentioned weight gain/loss. sometimes gaining or losing a lot can throw your body off as it readjusts to the weight distribution. and as i thought back, it seemed the problem and the weight loss seemed to coincide, if i'm remembering my time lines accurately.


and then i thought, "but i've only lost about 12 pounds." then i did the math. even at 12 pounds of weight loss, starting out at 165 means i'd lost about 7% of my total body weight. i suppose that's probably significant, especially since the first 8 came off in just a few weeks. 


so, i cut back on my runs and haven't had any problem. i think i was already starting to adjust before since my weight loss stagnated a little for a couple weeks, and i'm losing more slowly now. but, anyhoo, it's nice to have an answer! and i have to say, it's even kind of cool knowing i've lost enough weight to affect my body that much. i'm about halfway to where i want to be now, and still losing. i'm optimistic. 

memorial day fun

we haven't had much time or money to go explore since we've been here, but yesterday we finally drove up highway 62 towards crater lake, though we didn't go all the way there because we didn't want to pay to go into the park. it's a beautiful drive, and it follows the river almost the whole way up. we stopped and let the kids out for awhile. there were several people fishing. then went a little further up to lost creek lake. it is a HUGE lake, and there were lots of people out there, but it still didn't feel crowded. we didn't really spend much time at the lake though, but took a nice little walk through the trees between the lake and the lost creek campground. we weren't really equipped to play in the lake unfortunately because we woke up to all clouds and didn't know if it was going to warm up or not. hopefully, we'll get to spend some time there later this summer.

rogue river

super clear water

we brought the stroller...and ended up pushing it empty.

he was faking being sad

alexa's off ahead, like the was almost the whole time.

there's always a light

today has been a better day than i've had in awhile. i wish i knew what all the contributing factors were so i could reproduce them day after day. of course, i have my guesses, and there are a couple things i did differently today that i know were helpful. 


maybe it was just a temporary emotional crash and i can get back to normal again. that would be nice. i didn't care for feeling like a mean/bad mom, not to mention the feeling of just wanting to cry all the time.


the last few days have been really beautiful here. the earth is waking up, the trees are getting leaves, there's tulips and daffodils everywhere, and i think it's helping me to shake off the winter doldrums. thank goodness for the seasons!


thanks for all the support from everyone who's been there to listen or let me cry, or say the right thing at the right time. each part is always equally important. 


i love the way heavenly father answers prayers. instead of just a single answer, it is almost always given to us a little bit at a time. and while this serves the purpose of giving us only what we can handle at any given time, i find it to be such a blessing in that i get to experience heavenly father's hand in my life multiple times in a short period of time. it might be easy to ignore or explain away one answer or small miracle, but when so many little things happen at once to create a bigger picture it's much harder to ignore or explain away the divine assistance as mere "coincidence." he cares enough about me to create an entire network of people and answers that all work just right for me (and somehow for everyone else at the same time. amazing!) and that makes me feel loved and important.

Spring Day Fun

so, in case you're curious why these are two weeks late, it's because we decided to put off the commercial easter celebration in order to better help our kids and ourselves focus on the real meaning of easter. i got this idea from the march ensign and liked it, so i decided to run with it. i think this will become standard procedure, though i'm not sure when it will be, especially since easter moves every year. it's fun to have an extra day to look forward to as well. i found this much more fun and enjoyable for me as a parent, not having to worry about making sure the kids were really understanding the holiday a midst the candy and fun. i just got to enjoy their smiles and revel in their fun, plus it made for a good family home evening. 

 the boys had a lot of fun dying eggs.

and dying their hands...

their works of art (they haven't really gotten past the one color thing yet...next year. ;)

check him out, jumping down

checking our their hauls

love the duck lips. i asked him if he needed help and he was in the processes of saying "nooo."

you can actually see the caramel hanging off her fingers, hehe.

mmmmm!

for some reason...

i thought it was going to get easier when we got here. 

i'm not sure why. 

i knew we were stepping into the unknown.

with no family, and no friends. 

no job, and no real knowledge of the area.

i guess it was the fact that we were doing what we were supposed to do.

but that has never been a guarantee for either success or ease.

sure, it helps, but if it were that simple--and quick--it wouldn't be much of a test. 

and i know it hasn't been very long.

still, this has been hard.

smaller paychecks, higher bills, less resources and physical support.

it hasn't all been bad.

and there are still many, many blessings to count.

but i'm feeling very overwhelmed much of the time.

and hoping and praying that maybe, just maybe, there's a light at the end of the tunnel of this financial trial.

because the desire to curl up and cry is getting stronger every day.

jumping back on the bandwagon

okay, so i've learned some things in the last two weeks. 


#1: it's hard to be good when you have crap in the house. it's SO much easier if it's just not available.


#2: there's something to be said for making a commitment and sharing it with other people to create accountability.


#3: my husband has an even worse sweet tooth than i.


anyhoo, basically what i'm saying is, tomorrow, i'm starting another 30 day sugar fast. i was really good the first week and a half or so after i quit my official fast, even continuing to lose weight. but for some reason paul bought a bunch of crap right after i finished (we had some words over that one, haha). anyhoo, i've decided to do this again and make it public. i want to make the commitment and i want everyone to know and help keep me honest. i like and make a consistent effort to be a woman of my word as far as it is in my power. so, i'm giving my word. 30 days. i've got a goal and i want to reach it by the end of june.


here's to another 30 days.

even more little things

last night i prayed for sunshine, because weeks of clouds tend to get me down. and it's not even the clouds as much as the cold, because cold means bundling, which means very little desire to be mobile. this is what it looks like today:

And even though there are more clouds than blue sky, it has still been sunny more than half the time.

What a beautiful day.