Week 10

This past week for me has been pretty good as far as everything goes. A lot of things have been stressing me out, and I won't go into detail about everything that has happened, but I have lost sleep over all the different things that have happened. I know that I am not alone though, I have heard from many people that this past week has been really hard for a lot of my friends as well, so seeing how hard of a week it has been on everybody makes me a little sad. But the good news is, this week is a new week, and I can't wait to see what it has in store.

My eating this week has been pretty good, but I am not going to lie, I treated myself to fast food for the first time since August. I got a Mcdouble from Mcdonalds and forgot how delicious it was! But the weird thing is, it made my stomach hurt because I hadn't eaten one in so long. Even though it hurt my stomach, it is encouraging because it means that my body is cleansing itself of all of the bad things I used to put into it. So that means I am doing something right! I also was able to run 4.5 miles last night, and I felt like I could keep going if I wanted. So this means I am more than ready to run a 5K next time one comes around. I have heard of a lot of different 5Ks that will be happening around here and in Tallahassee, so I'm not sure which one I am going to actually run, but I really really really want my first one to be the color run!

I also just want to let everyone know that next week will be my last Ruby Tuesday's post until after finals week, so there won't be any updates the last week of April. I have a lot I need to study for and my grades need to be my number one priority right now. But that just means I will have twice the stories to share with you when I post again!

I got on a scale for the first time the other day, and was a bit discouraged to see that the number hadn't changed. I was beating myself up about it for about a day, but talking to one of my friends made me realize that even though the numbers aren't changing, I still am changing. I am still learning how to take care of myself in a healthy way, and when I look in the mirror, I can see the image changing. The changes that my body is making may be subtle to others, but I can see a change in myself. My clothes fit better, and I look healthier. I know with due time I will start to see even more results. I know last week I posted about pushing myself farther, and I have been doing that this week. So I know if I continue to push myself, I will see results again, and to be quite honest I can't wait.

Everyday I am reminded of how much my UWF family means to me. I have gotten so much encouragement from those around me, and each little gesture means more than anyone understands. I know I always have to put a little cheesey section about how much I love the people at my school but I really really love them!

So this week I want to close with talking about what happened in Boston. For those of you who don't know, yesterday at the Boston Marathon, two bombs went off in what is speculated to be a terrorist attack, although no one is sure what to call it. Three people where killed and many others were wounded. An eight year old boy was among those that were killed. This really hit home to me, because for a while I have been training to run a 5K, and I can't imagine how scary it was for the people who were running, and for the people who were there supporting those who were running.

It is quickly becoming scary to me to think of the presence of tragedies like this occurring in society today. I feel as if they are happening so often that we all have become desensitized to it. I know that for me, I don't remember a time of peace growing up, because most of my childhood was post 9-11. My generation is a generation of people who grew up in a time of war, and a time of terror, and a time when it was common to hear of violent acts towards innocent people, whether it be an attack on our country or attack on people in general. Because of this, I feel that as a society, we should take a moment and reflect when things like this happen. I think that we should all take a moment to acknowledge what happened and try to put ourselves in the shoes of those affected, and understand the impact this has on the people involved so that we don't become desensitized. I care for the people that were lost and the families and friends that have been devastated from events such as these, and sometimes I wonder how people are able to move on after. I can't imagine the heartache that is felt by the people who were affected by these tragedies.

I will never understand what would lead a person to commit a crime such as this, but I think that it is also important to remember to pray for the people who committed the act as well. My heart breaks for the victims and for the perpetrators of these crimes. In Luke 23:34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them because they know not what they do." I do not understand, and never will understand what would drive a person to hurt other people in such a catastrophic manner, but it is so important to remember to pray for them as well. So this week if you are reading, please take a moment to pray for the people affected by this event, and if you don't pray take a moment to keep those involved in your thoughts.

That's all until next week, thank you for reading!

Week 9

This week I have good news! I am now able to run 3.5 miles without stopping! Woohoo! I am so excited about this, because that means that I am ready to run a 5k! Now I just have to save money so that I can sign up for the Color Run that will be here in May. I'm excited, and I am finding myself addicted to running now. I go almost everyday and I feel so great after I'm done. I have never in the course of my almost 19 years of living been able to run that far without stopping, so this is a big achievement in my book.

This last week I have gone running almost everyday and each day I am able to go a little bit farther than before. Sometimes it is harder than others, but I know in the end it will be worth it. The problem now is I am running out of room to run on campus, so I need to find some alternate routes around campus so that I can run farther.

Talking to my Mom this past week really made me push myself a lot harder these past few days. She knows I'm calling her out right now, but my Mom is one of my biggest cheerleaders in this whole thing. A conversation I had with her earlier this week made me realize that I wasn't pushing myself hard enough. It's crazy how much more your parents know about you than you know about yourself sometimes, right? Anyways, because of this I have been pushing myself a lot harder this week and it really has been paying off. So hopefully I will continue to push myself to see how far I can go.

I have been learning a lot in my spiritual life these last few weeks. Finding a church home has been hard because I have never had to find another church family before. I have always had a church to go to and be a part of back at home, I miss it pretty much all of the time. While on this search for a Church family, it has made me see things from a new perspective. I guess I never really knew how uneasy it could be to step into a new environment and not know anyone as far as church is concerned. While yes, I usually go to church college groups with friends, there are times when we are completely ignored. It's crazy how a simple "good morning" can ease the situation. It makes me realize how important it is to welcome others into the church, and how much influence we have on each other. I think sometimes we lose sight of that, and get comfortable with where we are and forget about those around us, especially when we find ourselves comfortable in our church groups. But taking that extra step to reach out to someone you haven't met or seen at church before goes a long way.

So I know that these blogs are becoming increasingly repetitive, but I am trying to find things to talk about that can mix it up a little bit as the weeks go on. I hope that you guys enjoyed reading today, and hopefully I'll have some more exciting things to talk about next week! Until then!

Week 8

So this week I have good news and bad news. Good news; I have broken my one and a half mile record and made it to two miles without stopping this week, so if I can get a little more than one mile under my belt, I can run an entire 5k without stopping, which is really exciting. The bad news is, and I am ashamed to say it, I missed my 5k this past weekend. I slept through my alarm and woke up an hour after the race had actually started. So now, did I not only miss my 5k, I also owe the school 14 dollars for not running, which in college currency, is about a hundred dollars. But, I have some more good news! Coming up in May, there is a color run that will be taking place exactly one hour from here in Orange Beach. If I can get someone to go with me, I am going to sign up and make that one my first 5k.

In a sense I don't think that it is the end of the world that I ended up missing my race, although it is disappointing. When I run my first marathon I want to be able to run the whole thing, and this gives me about another month to get ready for it. And, let's be honest, I think the color run sounds so much fun. So that's my plan for now.

This past week I have gotten out and ran almost every day except maybe 2 or three days, I haven't really been keeping track because now I usually end up running for fun. I never thought I would end up saying I enjoy running, but I do. I have been going around campus mostly, but when it starts to get really hot here in the summer I will have to start running at the gym again, but we will see.

My eating this week has been better, my only problem is eating at night has slowly started to creep back into to my routine. I need to start getting myself to stop eating after dinner, but everything tastes better at midnight! I usually try to keep fruit in my room for nights that I can't help but eat something to take off the edge a little bit. But over all I have been eating pretty healthy with a few exceptions.

I have noticed that lately I am becoming less concerned with my weight and more concerned with how I feel. I haven't gotten on the scale in a while because the closest one is in the gym, but it's almost kind of nice to not have to worry about the numbers on the scale. I need to check in with my weight and I will as soon as possible, but it really shows that I am running and eating healthy to be healthy. The more I continue to exercise, the better I feel about myself, and the better I feel about myself, the more motivated I am to keep exercising.

This week has been good faith wise. I have been to a couple of services around town and I really feel like I'm getting back on the right track. There are certain areas of my life that I know I should be working on, and it's encouraging because the ability to recognize those parts of my life is the first step towards getting my faith right with God again.

So that is it for this week! See ya next week!