I have truly been a horrible blogger this Summer. I guess it's the whole concept of not being in my normal routine of school, work, homework, blog, bed. I have had a very busy Summer.
We kicked off our Summer with a very awesome trip to Disney World. Riley had so much fun, and the very first day at Magic Kingdom we took the ferry to get there, as we got closer you could see "Cinderella's" castle and Riley's jaw dropped and she said "oh my gosh its beautiful." I am so glad I took her because she had so much fun and seemed to have so much fun. We also went to Universal Studios, however we were very disappointed with that trip. The only upside to Universal was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which was awesome but there was only one ride in that area that Riley could ride. Next time, whenever that is, we will not waste time at Universal and spend our time at Disney World where everyone there is so nice and they move you on and off rides in a timely manner :-)
After our trip to Walt Disney World we spent the next few weeks preparing for me to start Summer School and for the arrival of Adrien. Adrien lives in France, he came last Summer through an exchange program and for some reason really liked our family and asked if he could come this Summer just for a visit. Adrien was here for 3 very short weeks. The time flew by so fast and before we knew it we were driving back to DC to take him to the airport. Having Adrien for the past two Summers has been a fun adventure. I love hearing about how people live in other countries, and when it comes down to it we all live the same way. Except in France they don't have peanut butter, who would have thought. They don't sell Pringles, which he loves, and they don't sell the red mountain dew, which he drinks by the case while he is here.
All in the middle of all of this, I went to the ER because I wasn't feeling well to find out that I have a gallstone! Not really what I had wanted to hear, good news I get to keep my gall bladder for a little while longer. I went to see a surgeon and he believes my stomach (acid reflux, indigestion) is more so related to GI issues instead of my gall bladder. I have to see a GI doctor which I have really been putting off, however today I have been so sick and have not been able to eat because of my acid reflux. I guess I better stop putting it off and get in to see the doctor.
Also this Summer I began a weight loss program at Zacharias Ganey. I started losing weight and than the ER doctor put me on physical activity rest, so I took it easy but I am so ready to get into the gym and I am going to resume my workout program on Wednesday. Also I am happy to say that despite not working out for the last 2 weeks I have kept my weight off :-) yay. I hope this program works and I hope that after the program is finished in October that I can continue to keep a routine of weekly exercising and healthy eating.
I am telling you the list just goes on with all of the new and exciting things that have happened over the Summer. This Summer I also got another job for the Fall. I will still be working for Henrico County however I got a job with the Henrico County Preschool Program where I will have my own school and my own little ones to tend to :-) I have been very excited about this new opportunity and I think even more excited to be able to decorate and arrange my clinic and files any which way I would like. I am so excited for this new journey.
I think I have pretty much caught back up to the present. I started class last Tuesday, I am taking Anatomy and Physiology. My professor is very nice but he has his quirks and he also looks just like the mad hatter from Alice in Wonderland. I began my new journey with the new job on Monday :-) This next week is the last week in August and the last week of Summer vacation. I have had a fast, but absolutely amazing Summer.
I hope everyone has had as much fun and been as busy as I have this Summer.

Saturday, August 25, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
JUNE
There are so many things I am looking forward to in June! The first is the end of the school year. I cannot believe its Summer all over again. This year has flown. I don't know who is more excited for Summer, me or the students. Second, with the end of the school year I get a break :-) Although I am going to be working Summer school, I still get a 3 week break from work. And the third thing that I am excited for is, during my 3 week break from work I will be taking a trip to.................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Wait for it............................................................................................. DISNEY WORLD :-) :-) :-)
I am so excited. Riley saw a commercial during Christmas which got my gears turning and over the next couple of months I started planning, searching for the best rates and finally booked our trip. Riley is so excited and talks none stop about going to Disney. She talks so much about Disney, you would think that she has actually been there. I am just so excited that I am able to take Riley to do something that she wants to do. I have so much to get done in the next few weeks, but in the end it will all be worth it to see the sparkle in Riley's eye as she meets Cinderella (her favorite) and Mickey Mouse. She is going to get a princess makeover at Cinderella's castle, followed by lunch at Cinderella's table :-) I cannot wait to see the look on her face. When she sees pictures of Disney World, she goes wild with excitement and asks if she will be able to see those things and meet those particular characters.
We are also going to spend one day in Universal Studios: Island of Adventures so that we can visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Every time she sees the commercial for this place she says "Mommy we are going there to see Harry Potter" She wants to go to the store there to get her very own magic wand. She is a Harry Potter fanatic. I must admit I am not the biggest fan, I love the movies, never read the books (too long and boring for me to get through). Riley on the other hand, is addicted to the movies. She shouts, screams, and laughs out loud at the TV during certain parts of the movies. She is always yelling at Lord Voldemort for trying to hurt Harry Potter.
Anyhow, June is going to be a busy, but very fun filled month. I will try to keep up posting and definitely post while we are in Disney.
On a side note, May was a busy and fun month as well. Riley had her very first dance recital with Dance Destination. She and all of the other girls were absolutely adorable. I look forward to the many more years of my baby girl dancing. She is something else dressed up and dancing on stage.
I am so excited. Riley saw a commercial during Christmas which got my gears turning and over the next couple of months I started planning, searching for the best rates and finally booked our trip. Riley is so excited and talks none stop about going to Disney. She talks so much about Disney, you would think that she has actually been there. I am just so excited that I am able to take Riley to do something that she wants to do. I have so much to get done in the next few weeks, but in the end it will all be worth it to see the sparkle in Riley's eye as she meets Cinderella (her favorite) and Mickey Mouse. She is going to get a princess makeover at Cinderella's castle, followed by lunch at Cinderella's table :-) I cannot wait to see the look on her face. When she sees pictures of Disney World, she goes wild with excitement and asks if she will be able to see those things and meet those particular characters.
We are also going to spend one day in Universal Studios: Island of Adventures so that we can visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Every time she sees the commercial for this place she says "Mommy we are going there to see Harry Potter" She wants to go to the store there to get her very own magic wand. She is a Harry Potter fanatic. I must admit I am not the biggest fan, I love the movies, never read the books (too long and boring for me to get through). Riley on the other hand, is addicted to the movies. She shouts, screams, and laughs out loud at the TV during certain parts of the movies. She is always yelling at Lord Voldemort for trying to hurt Harry Potter.
Anyhow, June is going to be a busy, but very fun filled month. I will try to keep up posting and definitely post while we are in Disney.
On a side note, May was a busy and fun month as well. Riley had her very first dance recital with Dance Destination. She and all of the other girls were absolutely adorable. I look forward to the many more years of my baby girl dancing. She is something else dressed up and dancing on stage.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
I'M BACKKKKKKK
I am sorry for the lack of posts. For some reason this site would not let me log on, I figured out the problem it was a conflict between my two linked email accounts. However, I am back up and running and have a ton of things to get caught back up on. I have also been enjoying my two weeks off from school work, unfortunately yesterday was my first day on my two online classes for the summer. I am taking Sociology and Psychology, we will see how it goes. For now I am trying to figure out when all my assignments are due and the teachers haven't posted a clear cut schedule, which kinda stinks with an upcoming vacation in the middle of summer classes. Well for now I better get back to the school work. I will get back to my groove of posting.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Riley's Story Part 2
Sorry for the lack of posts, last week was a really stressful week
as far as school goes. I only have 2 more weeks left in the Spring semester
(thank goodness). Anyway to continue on with Riley's story.
After everyone
knew that I was pregnant, it was a relief, but I was still scared and worried.
I have worked with children for years; I loved children, but didn't know if I
wanted children of my own. I even thought about having my tubes tied, or some
sort of permanent birth control, after I had Riley, but my doctor said that I
was too young and would probably change my mind. I definitely changed my mind
after having Riley; I definitely want at least one more little one. Anyhow. I
was scared because I didn't know how I was going to raise this child; I knew
that for the most part it would be me taking care of her and not the
"donor". I decided, though I knew the outcome, to give
"donor" a chance to prove that he could be a good dad and take care
of his responsibilities. Well that didn't last long, he said he was going to
pay for my prenatal visits, so we went to the first appointment, and to no
surprise he couldn't pay. After that visit, I didn't hear from him, I did get
some harassing phone calls and emails from him. I let him drift off to the side
in order to have a care free pregnancy.
There are a lot of
things happened during my pregnancy (i.e. a very bad relationship), but I will
leave that for another post. So July 16th was my due date, little Miss Riley
didn't want to make her appearance, so my doctor scheduled me to be induced on
the 18th at 8 in the morning. I could not wait to meet my princess, to hold her
for the first time and to see what she looked like. Throughout my whole
pregnancy I walked with my mom between 3 and 5 miles a night. The last week of
pregnancy, that walk was tough, but I made it. July 17th, the walk was
miserable, I know that I was have real contractions and I would have to stop,
but my mom said keep on trekking your water hasn't broke yet. Of course I did
all the jumping up and down stairs I could that night and mainly because I
could not sleep from excitement. (Side note "donor" was not present
during any of this; I will get back to that in a moment.) About 5 am rolls
around and I am starting to notice my contractions are more consistent, but
there is no reason to go in now, so I waited until it was time (me trying to be
patient, nearly impossible). I got to the hospital and they confirmed I was in
active labor (yay); the doctor came in broke my water and it went pretty quick
from there. After she broke my water, my contractions were more intense, I was
already 3 centimeters dilated and 75% effaced when I got to the hospital (thank
goodness). They decided to give me Pitocin which my body did not like, I fell
asleep and woke up to a nurse standing over top of me jabbing my belly with a
needle. Apparently I was contracting too long with the Pitocin, which causes
the oxygen supply to the baby to be cut off. So they stopped the Pitocin and
just let me do my thing, the nurses and doctor said it would be after dinner
time before Riley was here. They doctor did not check on me but once, she came
at about 12:30, she checked and looked really shocked, she said you are fully
dilated. WHATTTTTT!!! Labor is supposed to last forever right?!?!?! I was
freaking out at that point, but it was time to push. I pushed once; they
thought I would be pushing for hours as well. Well the nurse had to run down
the hall to catch the doctor, so the doctor could catch my baby. Riley
basically came out on her own. Two pushes and she was out. My doctor said next
time I am pregnant at about 36 weeks I have to stay put, she is afraid the baby
will fly out on its own. Okay enough of all the L&D stuff.
So let’s skip ahead
to September, which makes Riley 2 months old. I decided to go ahead and call
Riley's "donor" and let him know she is here. I felt like he should
know that she is here and healthy, and he should be in her life if he so
desires. I called him at about 11 or 12 one night and he drove over that minute
to come see her. He seemed really excited and like he wanted to be in her life.
Over the next few months it was HELL. He was dating this girl who was trying to
be involved in every way of the situation, even if it meant causing unnecessary
drama. And if you know me I absolutely hate drama. We went to mediation and he
gave me legal and physical custody, he just had visitation (at my discretion).
In February he told me he wanted to sign his right over, because he was moving
out of town and wouldn't see Riley again. He didn't want to have to be
responsible to pay child support and all that jazz. We went to mediation, (the
mediator was a joke and sided with him) he asked for every other weekend, I was
in shock. How do you go from wanting to sign your rights away to wanting every
other weekend? At this point Riley was 7 months old, she was breastfeeding
still, and did not take a bottle. There was no way in HELL (I have to emphasize)
I was letting my child stay with him for a weekend, for one I didn't trust him,
and she how was he going to feed her? Last time I checked men still do not
lactate. Needless to say, I walked straight out of that office without signing
a paper. I got court papers in March, he wanted a paternity test. I just
laughed and went to court for the test. In June we had the hearing in court,
and the judge literally laughed in his face when she read the results. Her
exact words were "No surprise here, you are the father". About 2 days
after court he text messaged me asking if my lawyer still had papers drawn up
for him to sign his rights away. I said yes, we meet the next day and he signed
the papers. A week after Riley's birthday in July I got the papers from the
judge with her signature. His rights have been forfeited, and Riley was
mine.
It was definitely
a huge sigh of relief, I didn't have to worry about my child being taking from
me to a home I didn't know what was going on at. I don't have to worry about
going to court over stupid things and child support. Another part of me was sad
and still is sad. Sad for my little Riley. I know that she has more people in
her life that love her so much, that anyone could ask for, but nothing have a
father is hard for me to imagine. I grew up knowing my dad; he took good care
of us kids and still does. It is always weird for me to imagine that she
doesn't know who her real father is, and the fact that she has aunts and
uncles, cousins etc. that she won’t get to know until she is older (if she even
decides to get to know them). So many times I have wanted to reach out to his
family and even him, but I know that will stir up drama and open up a can of
worms I am not willing to deal with right now. I feel like I will know when the
time is right to deal with answering all the questions Riley has. I feel like I
shouldn't do anything until she starts questioning and wants to know certain
things. I kept a journal during the whole time of every interaction I had with
him. And for now as far as Riley knows she has a daddy. She hears us call my
dad, daddy so that’s what she calls him and if you ask her who her daddy is she
will tell ya Scott Guthrow.
So this is more or
less the whole story of little miss Riley. Her first year of life was one of my
roughest years ever. It has only made me a stronger person, I definitely don't
understand why I have been through all that I have right now, but I am sure I
will know one day. For now I will count my blessings and praise God that I have
my child and do not have to worry if she is somewhere not being taken care of,
being abused, or any other unimaginable thing.
I hope you all
take a moment and thank God for your children, family, any and everything you
have. Even though things get tough, you get stressed out, frustrated, angry,
and every other emotion that comes along with being a parent. At the end of the
day, I would not change one single thing in my life. It has all lead me to
where I am and right now I am in a pretty good place in life.
Have a wonderful
night everyone!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Moles, moles, and more moles
You are probably thinking moles?!?! NO I am not talking about the moles that dig holes in the ground. I am talking about moles, as in a unit of measurement. We also use Avogadro's number to count the atoms in a "sample". The name comes from an Italian Scientist name Amedeo Avogadro. The number is also referred to as the "chemist's dozen". The number is used to represent a number that is so large. The number is 6.02 X 10^23.
I know boring stuff right, try doing the math to go along with it. Chemistry is not my strongest subject and trying to grasps the idea of something that I cannot see myself is so difficult. So if there a gaps, like last night, from here on for the next 3 weeks its because I am buckling down to study to pass my chemistry class.
On that note, I am studying now so that I can go take a test today. Ughhhhh...... Hope you guys enjoyed the very brief, mini chemistry lesson. Hey maybe you learned something that you never knew. :-)
Have a wonderful day.
I know boring stuff right, try doing the math to go along with it. Chemistry is not my strongest subject and trying to grasps the idea of something that I cannot see myself is so difficult. So if there a gaps, like last night, from here on for the next 3 weeks its because I am buckling down to study to pass my chemistry class.
On that note, I am studying now so that I can go take a test today. Ughhhhh...... Hope you guys enjoyed the very brief, mini chemistry lesson. Hey maybe you learned something that you never knew. :-)
Have a wonderful day.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Riley's Story Part 1
Where do I begin? I guess where I left off in my "life"
post. Let's start with the Summer of 2007. That particular Summer I decided to
take Summer classes at the community college. I took an English class, which
was very amusing; a lot of debates about women being in the military were had
in that class. Mostly because the teacher and most of the men in that class had
served in the military. Anyhow, that is where I meet Riley's "donor"
(as I refer to him).
We started hanging
out, and talking and for some reason I was stuck on him. I believed every
little thing that came out of his mouth. I think the fact that he was about 5
years older than made me think that he was more responsible and mature (at the
time). Boy was I fooled. As our relationship progressed, I saw that he had no
motivation to succeed in life. He didn't have a job, barely had a car (no money
to put gas in it), and he did not pay for a thing when we went anywhere. I
thought that if I filled out job applications for him and wrote him a resume
that he would be more motivated. He just didn't want to work or go to school. I
was becoming less motivated myself, skipping school to go hang out with him.
Doing things that just weren't me.
At first, for some
reason it didn't bug me that he didn't work, probably because I was "in
love" (NOT) with him. Eventually it started to get to me, though. I had to
drive everywhere; I was working all the time to pay for the gas that was
getting us everywhere. By October, I was just not feeling the relationship, we
went to a concert (which was $5) and he couldn't even pay for that, when he
told me he was taking me to the concert. That week I just started to think, the
lifestyle that I would live with him for one would not be the lifestyle I am
already accustomed to and would not be the life I wanted. I would be the sole
provider for the family and he would do nothing. That's when I decided it
wasn't worth it to waste more time in a relationship going nowhere.
About a week
later, November 2007, my mom was shocked that I just broke up with him and
asked why I had done it. She asked so many questions, but one still sticks with
me. She said "Did you break up because you had a pregnancy scare?"
And I said "No". Not but a minute later I looked at the calendar and
realized I had missed my period. At this point I just knew I was pregnant. I
went to the store that night got a pregnancy test (the digital ones) and within
in 5 seconds it read PREGNANT. I couldn't believe it. I went to school to meet
up with a friend where we went to the store to buy more pregnancy tests to make
sure it was real. For a week, I didn't know what to do. I called
"donor" and told him, he was more than thrilled that I was pregnant,
because if he was going to be miserable so was I. I was so scared to tell my
parents, I just kept thinking, they won’t notice for a while, so I can wait.
Well a few days later after a post I made on MySpace about feeling nauseous
sparked my mom’s interest. If you get nothing from this post but this one bit
of advice, just keep this in mind, Mothers now everything (I mean it) and if
your mother tells you something is not (especially about a person) listen to
her, because something is probably not right. Anyway, my mom called me immediately
and asked if I was pregnant. I thought OMG, how can she even know. All I could
say was I think that I may be.
The next hour of my life was the most awkward hour of my life. Sitting down with my parents and telling them that I was pregnant at 20 years old. It was intense and everyone was upset, but I survived and about an hour later my dad called me to tell me that he still loved me and everything was going to be okay.
Life can change so
drastically in a matter of moments.
Hope this is not
too long. This is the beginning of the Riley story; I guess that's what I will
call it.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Christ has died, Christ is Risen......
I haven't posted in the past 2 days so I wanted to let you guys know I am still blogging. The past two days have been extraordinarily exhausting. Today I just wanted a nap some kinda bad. lol.
I hope that you and your families have a wonderful Easter. The Easter bunny is about to hit this house. Let us also not forget the real meaning of Easter. Crucified under Pontius Polite, Jesus sacrificed his life, so that we can have eternal life. He died, but was resurrected on the third day, in fulfillment of the scriptures.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" John 3:16
Happy Easter!
Love,
Becky and Riley.
I hope that you and your families have a wonderful Easter. The Easter bunny is about to hit this house. Let us also not forget the real meaning of Easter. Crucified under Pontius Polite, Jesus sacrificed his life, so that we can have eternal life. He died, but was resurrected on the third day, in fulfillment of the scriptures.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" John 3:16
Happy Easter!
Love,
Becky and Riley.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
No Time To Stop.....
Well tonight I am not going to be able to blog about what I had
wanted to talk about tonight. I have been running nonstop since this morning. I
am in the middle of baking a cake for my sister Jennie's 17th birthday as I
typed. I am making a 3 tiered, two layer funfetti cake. It
smells delicious. Luckily for me I have the best future (hopefully sooner
than later) sister in law ever. She has been over here helping me cut out
fondant polka dots for this cake. She also went to the store with Riley and me,
which always tends to be an adventure, especially when I am stressed out and
haven't been at home all day.
Spring Break for
work started today, so I don't have work again until the week of the 16th. That
is really great, but I still have to go to class. I really my school Spring
break and work Spring break lined up. That means, that even though I will be up
for several more hours, I still have class at 8:00 tomorrow morning, but I
don't have work so I can come home a rest for maybe one whole minute before I
have to get up and go go go.
I know that I only
have one child, but sometimes she seems like 3 or 4. I have no idea how people
do it more than one child, and close in age at that. I definitely want more
children and I always thought that I would want children back to back. When I
had Riley, I felt sad for her that she is going to be much older than her
siblings, but now I just think its better. She will be so much more help the
older she is, and right now for one I am not dating, seeing anyone, anything
(it takes two to tango). I also want to go about this the right way next time,
I want to be married to the person I cannot live without and where that he is,
I have no clue, but if you see him please send him my way lol. Anyhow, with
going back to school, work, and Riley, I don't really have time for much more.
I just feel like the time is not right for me to meet anyone and I think when
the time is right I will. I hope.
Thanks for
stopping by and reading my blog. I hope each and every one of you has a
wonderful Friday.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
High School Yester Years
As I was driving down the road this morning, on my way to school,
I started to think about how I have ended up where I am at now in my life
journey. A lot of thoughts were spinning around in my head. I was a pretty good
student in high school, I didn't do extraordinarily well and I did not extraordinarily
fail. lol. I managed to make mostly A's and B's, had about a 3.8 GPA. Not too
shabby right? This June it will be 6 years since I graduated, to many that may
seem like just yesterday, but to me it seems like ages ago. I think mostly
because of the turn of events in my life.
High school was a
fun time for me. I enjoyed going to school and I enjoyed the social aspects of
school. I did JROTC in high school, which is probably the only reason I succeeded
as well as I did. We had the best field trips in JROTC as well. Sgt Maj Hartsel
was a big influence in my life, and still is. I still go in to update him on my
life and to let him know when I have accomplished set goals. He is always
advising me in life, finances, and everything else.
Let’s start with
the first major setback in my life. I really wanted to go to Longwood
University after graduation, so I applied and went for a tour to try to get
early acceptance. Well, the woman was impressed with my application and really
wanted to accept me, but I hadn't taken Algebra 2. Ughhhh. My guidance
counselor had informed me the year before that Algebra 2 was not a required
course, and that most colleges were not looking for that. Well needless to say,
I pretty much gave up and started exploring more options.
I read and
researched about Liberty University, went to a weekend session there and
thought it would be a good fit for me. I felt like it was my only option. Oh
and did I mention that at the time I wanted to be an elementary school teacher.
Wow how time and life changes so much in such a short time. I remember being
dropped off at college, at first I couldn't wait for my parents to leave, and
as soon as they left I wanted them to come back. I got very homesick, and did
not enjoy my first semester away from home as much as I hoped that I would. I
decided that after that semester, I would return home and take classes at the
community college. So second set back, my not so great experience going away to
college.
Once I got home
and situated, I had to decide what I was going to do, so I decided to sign up
for classes at the community college. At this point in my life, almost a year
after graduation, I was unsure of what I wanted to be when I "grow
up". I just felt like I was going through the motions of life, taking
classes, but not really progressing. That summer, I decided to take Summer
classes, and at that point I starting thinking about becoming a nurse. That Summer
was also when I meet Riley's "donor" as I tend to call him. (We will
get to that story later, I have to build up the suspense right?!?!?!) At this
point I feel like it was a monumental turning point in my life, and at the time
it was not a good turning point. All of my actions that Summer and Fall,
dictated how my life has ended right here today. While I feel like I am in a
much better place now and would NEVER change anything that has happened in my
life, it is just not the way I "thought" my life would be at this
point in my life.
Stay tuned for
more of my life story.....basically.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
A Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.....
Sounds like a book..... Oh wait it is lol. Although I do wish I
had just slept with gum in my mouth, and got it in my hair. Or even got my
sweater wet, or even tripped on a skateboard. I wish my worries were that of
Alexander. But unfortunately, I am all grown up, and my bad days come from big
stuff.
I try and try to not let things bug me,
but some things/people just get under my skin. Its amazing how one little thing
can make a person (namely me) so angry. All day I have felt like I needed to
scream at the top of my lungs, hit an inanimate object, something to help
relieve some stress. I am the kind of person who sits and thinks and analyzes
things, probably wayyyyy too much. That right there just adds to the stress and
things build up. It has made me realize that the only way to deal with all of
this is to go straight to the source of the problem.
Hopefully things
will get better, but right now I feel like I am in desperate need of a time out
from life. I feel like my wheels are always spinning at 100 plus mph. I feel
like most days I am too busy stressing over this or that, not taking time to
cherish and just live in the moment. I really need to figure out how to let go
of things instead of harboring them and letting them smolder in my mind. There
are things I still can't get over, around, or through, because I don't deal
with them.
I guess I don’t have a lot to say or “blog” about, probably
because I am just so mad at my day and how it ended. BREATH BECKY……….BREATH
BECKY. Just have to remember to breath, deal with it, and let it go.
Monday, April 2, 2012
My Mom is my inspiration..... Who is yours?
So this past weekend was the Monument Avenue 10k. As many of you gathered from my Facebook posts I was down there cheering on my mom and uncle as they came through the finish line. This was a huge accomplishment for my mom and uncle. My mom willed herself to get out of bed early in the mornings on Saturdays to train with a team; she also walked every afternoon about 5.6 miles with my uncle. The both of them have done lots training in the rain, and despite being sick. For my mom the accomplishment was choosing to do this race, to continually train for it, and to follow through with it. My uncle, if anyone knows him, does not like to be around a lot of people. The Monument Avenue 10k brings about 50,000 plus runners/joggers/walkers alone. This number does not even to begin to account for the amount of by standers cheering them on along the way and in spite of his anxiety of large crowds he had the courage to do this race.
When I first heard that my mom was walking in the race, I thought
well that is cool. I didn't think a lot about it being a huge accomplishment at
the time. I thought to myself, well I could walk it, which was a cold kind of
way of thinking. The more and more I have been thinking about it, I have come
to the conclusion, that I could not have done it. I would have complained the
whole time, I would have to make frequent stops for water, etc. I couldn't make
it because I don't have the determination that my mother had to finish this
race. And 6.2 miles is a lot, I probably could not walk more than 2 or 3 miles
without having to stop because I would have spasm in every muscle in my body.
Now I have never been to the Monument Avenue race before and Riley
normally has dance on Saturday mornings, so I told my mom we would be unable to
make it to the race, I wanted her to be surprised when she saw us. There was no
way on earth, even if I had to pay $100 to park, that I would have missed this
race. It took me about an hour and a half to get downtown to Monroe Park. I was
so anxious, getting stuck in all the traffic, but as I was driving down Broad
Street crossing over the Boulevard I could see runners and could hear cheering
and I just started crying. I was so excited and so proud of my mom, and proud
that she was walking in this race, proud to be the daughter of such a strong
and determined woman. I finally found a parking spot about 10 blocks (maybe
more, who knows) away from Monroe Park, packed Riley in the stroller and made
my way up the road, practically running to Monroe Park. Once I got there we
found a perfect spot right at the finish line, and we just watched all the
runners cross over. They were so proud of themselves, I didn't even know them
and I was cheering for them, because I was proud of them too.
I waited about 2 hours, watching the runners cross the finish
line, waving at the few runners I knew. My anticipation was building, I was so
afraid I was going to miss my mom crossing the finish line. Finally I saw her
and my uncle. I was shouting and cheering like a fool. I was tearing up knowing
that she had finished this race. I just couldn't control myself, I wish they
had the video camera on me so I could have seen my own reaction. We all enjoyed
a wonderful afternoon, ate lunch at Carytown Burgers.... Yummmm.
Our topic of conversation at lunch was which race we are ALL going
to do next. It has really inspired me to get out there and walk. I have
realized I don't need to run to feel accomplished or satisfied. Walking is just
as strenuous as running. Next year my mom and uncle plan to jog/walk the
Monument Avenue 10k, and hopefully I will be right there with them.
Thanks for inspiring me Mom. I love you even if I don't always
show it.
This is me with the blue sign looking hard to make sure I don't
miss my mom cross the finish line!
My First Blog EVERRRR!!!
So about a month ago I decided that I would start a blog. I
thought it would be easy, but it has been harder than I thought. Between trying
to find a good free blog site, picking a layout (it’s so tough), and trying to
figure out how to navigate on the site, it took a minute, well maybe more than
a minute. In any case, I am here a part of the blogging society.
Blogging is
something that I really wanted to start doing. I feel that it will be good
"therapy" for me. I have a lot of thoughts spinning around in my head
that I need to get out. My life in the last 4 years has changed tremendously
and is continually changing. I would just like to share my life, my
experiences, my milestones, etc. in hopes that it may help someone in some way,
shape or form.
I am very ADD, so
my posts may vary, and not go in any certain order. One of my goals in this
blog is to talk about my life the past for years, my experiences in general and
my experiences as a single mom. Most likely I will post about the first thing
that pops in my head, but I will go from past to present frequently.
I hope you fellow
bloggers or readers enjoy listening to me ranting and raving about my life.
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