What do jewelry and children in Honduras have in common?

So excited! This excitement came out of nowhere after I stressed for so long, so I thought I'd blog it. Because I have a feeling that the stress (and freaking out) will return at some point.

As you probably very well know, I love going to Honduras on mission trips! I've gone six times but the last time I went was in 2010. Quite a bit has changed since then. The church in Honduras that we visit has a new pastor (and a different congregation from what I understand), the ministry we travel with (Heart to Honduras) has changed quite a bit, and Jason and I attend a different church now. (We're at Crossroads Vineyard, a church plant of the Dayton Vineyard.) So I wasn't sure if I would go back to El Quebracho, this year or ever.

I prayed about it and decided to go to Honduras with Compassion International this year. It was a difficult decision but after I put my deposit down I felt a peace about it. Compassion International works with Heart to Honduras, so I'll still be part of that ministry. However, my focus this time is visiting my sponsor child (Ana Melissa) and assisting with the programs in Honduras that reach out to the children.

I'm traveling in October, though the exact dates seem to change with each email I get. And the remaining amount of money is due in June. My usual means of funding my mission trips is through income tax return (already spent) or savings (needed for other things this year). I've also decorated cakes, done clowning, and odd jobs for friends to raise the money. It's all a bit sporadic but God never fails to surprise me with how the money will come in.

And this year is no different. I've decided this year that I'm going to raise money to go to Honduras by selling Premier Jewelry. I've tried other multi-level-marketing companies and so I'm very aware of what I'm getting into. (Honestly I never thought I'd do another one. Especially with my busy schedule.) However, I love playing with jewelry. I've had several very successful parties, and therefore quite a bit of jewelry. And it really seems low risk (after doing Mary Kay anyway).

I had a jewelry party in January and did really well. (I think I got $400+ in free jewelry.) Several work friends ordered items from the catalog and when I brought in their orders I asked to see what they got. We all stood in the hallway while each woman opened their boxes and showed off their pieces of jewelry. Each box held something beautiful and we all oooh'd and aaaah'd over what was inside. It was like Christmas. Quite fun! (Even for those who didn't order any jewelry.)

(I think from now on I'm having a jewelry pick-up party so everyone can see what the other ladies ordered. Seeing the pieces in real life is always so much more impressive than seeing a flat photo in a catalog.)

Anyway, all of this is falling into place. I feel like I'm a couple steps ahead of where I should be because I'm so ready to do this. (My upline, Stephanie, has been answering questions from me on almost a daily basis. I know I'm not driving her crazy, yet, but I'm sure I will soon.) My goal is to hold 10 parties by the end of June. At that point I'll reassess if I want to continue doing this or if I want to take a break until my next mission trip.

Any encouragement is greatly appreciated, whether it's through praise, prayer, parties, or purchases. (Oooh, I like that.)

What do jewelry and children in Honduras have in common? The love of one will allow me to love on the other. :)

Getting over "religion"

Have you seen this video yet? If not, take a moment to watch it. I'll wait... (to read the poem, click this link: http://www.box.com/s/z3k53ec3ssbo800ppeld)

Every time I watch it I get something else out of it. But the part that always hits me the hardest is where he says about church "it's not a museum for good people, it's a hospital for the broken."

I grew up going to church every Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday night. I wasn't allowed to wear jeans to church except maybe once in awhile on a Wednesday night. My mom let us dress up for Halloween but we weren't allowed to talk about it at church. The teens in youth group would pass around "smuggle tapes." You know, the ones we weren't supposed to listen to. (Mine were Wilson Phillips and Nelson. Scandalous!!)

I liked pushing limits back then. The church frowned on jeans skirts and black clothing. (Guess what I bought as soon as I went to college.) One time I wore two different socks and two different earrings to a church picnic. (Hey, it was the 80's.) My mom was called and told not to let me wear such things because I was a bad influence on the younger kids. She didn't care, but she tried to explain to me that it was viewed as rebellious and the elders at church didn't appreciate it.

I could go on and on, but you get it. I learned how to be a good Christian by being conscious of how I portrayed myself. Good Christians wear conservative clothes, have conservative haircuts, listen to conservative music, read conservative books, and watch conservative TV shows. We didn't seem to make any decisions ourselves but let the church decide for us what was good and bad, right and wrong.

What slowly happened to me is that I started to judge others by their clothes, their haircuts, their music, their books, and their TV shows. I started to judge people if they didn't act like a good Christian.

Then something horrible happened to me. I ended up divorced at age 23. I was ruined. I was told that God couldn't use me anymore, my testimony was tainted. I was worthless to God. And amazingly, I believed this for a long time.

One day I found a church where people wore jeans (and shorts!) to church. They had mohawks and dreads. They listened to alternative music (this was the 90's) and some of the were even Democrats. I wasn't sure about this church but I had a feeling they wouldn't judge me for being divorced.

I have been attending this church (and now a church plant from this church) for 14 years and I'm definitely not judging people by their looks or their backgrounds anymore. However I've recently realized that I'm still trying to appear as the "good Christian." Seriously, anyone who's been around me for any length of time will hear about all my trips to Honduras. Or how long I've been going to church. Or something along those lines.

Lately I feel like God is stripping away those things I hide behind to appear like I'm a good Christian. I'm not. I try to pray every day, but I sometimes forget. And I definitely don't pray for more than a few minutes. I try to read my Bible a few times a week but honestly, when I pull out my ipad to do my daily reading, I end up going to cnn.com or facebook. But boy I can pretend like I pray and read my Bible every day.

But I think where it's most obvious is that I don't have the right attitude about people. (And if I do, wow do I pat myself on the back.) I gossip, I point out faults, and I laugh. I withhold compassion and understanding because somewhere in my heart I feel like they deserve what they're getting. (But I don't.)

Like I said, lately God has broke me down about these things. I guess that's why my blog has turned into a confessional.

Bottom line, I'm trying to be a good Christian in my own efforts. I'm trying to tell God what it takes for him to love me (and others). I'm trying to lean on my past achievements to keep a spiritual high going (that's honestly long faded). I want to be what God wants me to be but I'm trying to take the easy way out. I keep thinking I've found a short cut, but I'm just going in circles and getting more and more frustrated.

I turn everything over to God time and time again and then within a few days I take it back from him because he's not moving fast enough. I tell him I want to be closer to him, but then don't take the time to get to know him - to talk to him or sit and just listen.

And I wonder why he has the patience for me. I think of Paul and how he said he was the worst of all sinners. That's hard for me to believe, but I didn't know him personally. But I think if I was honest with myself (and you) then I'd claim to be the worst of all sinners (or one of the worst). I may not be a murderer, but I'm a liar. I've been lying to myself and lying to the people around me - trying to appear to be something I'm not.

I'm not a good Christian. I'm a pretty horrible Christian. And yet he still loves me. He's still patient with me. He's still waiting for me to get my priorities straight. And he'll give me chance after chance after chance to keep trying. Just keep trying.

There was a song on the radio that just hit me. "Busted Heart (Hold on to Me)" by For King and Country. It's not the type of song I'd usually like but the lyrics got to me.  (Video with lyrics...)

"Winter has come back again, 

feels like the season won't end

My faith is tired tonight 

and I won't try to pretend

I've got it all figured out

That I don't have any doubts

I've got a busted heart

I need you now."

The next song on the radio was something about God making you beautiful. I love these songs because I think people (women AND men) need the reminder that what God considers them as beautiful creations. And God's beauty is not the same as the world's beauty. 

This woman is beautiful to me, Mama Maggie Gobran.

I want that kind of beauty. 

Then the next song on the radio was "Your Grace is Enough" by Chris Tomlin. This song has always bugged me because it's such a simple song (and you sing it over and over and over....) But these songs all together started to show me something. 

Trying to be a good Christian by doing it myself, or by using a short cut, is like trying to have God's beauty by applying makeup. (I have a visual of one of those women who's had too much plastic surgery and too much makeup.) 

It's like trying to get to heaven by following a check list. By doing all those "good" things and not doing all the "bad" things. (Funny, when I was little I was told Catholics believed this way but it was the Baptists who showed me how to do it.) 

Getting into heaven isn't about saying a prayer and you're done. It's not about getting my ticket punched and that's it. (Our pastor, Eric Wright, says this a lot.) So many people say it's about relationship, not religion, but then they don't want to allow a relationship to develop and they push what to do and not to do. I consider that "religion."

When you have a relationship with God, he'll tell you what to do, and what not to do. And it might be completely different than what he tells someone else. Because each relationship is different, and relationships change over time.

I'm putting all this out there because I'm trying to make a change. I'm trying to alter my thinking. That it's not about making sure I appear like I have it all together, but that I'm just me. That I let go of my ego and how great I think I am. (Like the mouse and the elephant crossing the bridge and the mouse says to the elephant "boy I really made that bridge shake!")

I wonder how transparent I am to my friends. I wonder if they've seen all the make-up I've been putting on trying to show God's beauty. (I cringe at the thought.) But I wonder if they're as tired and frustrated as I am, trying to live up to expectations God didn't set for us. 

These expectations are so ingrained in my brain, I wonder when I'll ever be able to lay them all down. I wonder why I keep trying to carry them around. They're too heavy, too much of a burden. I don't want them anymore.

The church isn't a museum for good people, it's a hospital for the broken.

I've got a busted heart, I need you now. 

Hold on to me. 

God made me beautiful.

His grace is enough. His grace is enough for me.

Getting into 2012

This is the continuation of the Christmas letter that never got sent out. My family is used to getting a hand-made card or a photo card from us, but this year I decided we would send out a Christmas letter. However, I dropped off my laptop in Olive Hill, Kentucky on Thanksgiving weekend to get fixed and didn't get it back until a couple days before Christmas. My Christmas card list and all my addresses were on this laptop. The letter never got sent, so I thought I'd blog it.

At a Japanese restaurant in Florida around Thanksgiving.

2011 started with a lot of hope for things we were unsure about. It ended with decisions and direction. First, after 15 months of unemployment Jason found a job with Homefull, a non-profit that helps the homeless of Dayton. It can sometimes be stressful and frustrating, but he’s had a few clients come back to thank him - which makes it all worth it. We no longer have his cabin in Kentucky, so we’re finally down to one mortgage payment. We've invested in our little house in Dayton and did a complete remodel of the kitchen. And we love it!

Our new kitchen.

Jason has also decided to get his BSN (Nursing) and then get his masters in Clinical Psychology and become a Nurse Practitioner. It’s a long road, but he’s getting A’s at Sinclair College and should start the Beacon program (for those with a degree) at Wright State in 2013.

Jason trying on his nursing uniform.

After eight years of being an Intellectual Property Docket Clerk I looked into taking the patent bar exam. With being an engineering major for 3 years before finishing my math degree I have almost enough classes to apply to take the patent bar. However, I'm short one Chemistry class and one Physics class. Both are the third in a series of three, and the last time I took the first two classes was over 15 years ago. So I'm now looking into getting a B.A. in Physics and then taking the patent bar. After I pass the bar I'll be a Patent Agent and assist our attorneys in writing patent applications. I have the full support of my supervisors and the attorneys I work with. I'm in the process of reapplying to Wright State to see how long this process will take. 

We’ve also decided that we’re happy with just the two of us. (Translation: we’re not trying to get pregnant any more.) We may look into adoption in the future, but for now it's just not on our hearts.

Meet Rocky!

We did, however, get another dog a few weeks ago. We now have two cats and two dogs, and we're done with collecting pets. The new dog is Rocky, a year old dachshund mix. He's about 11 pounds, about the size of the cats, but shorter. He makes Izzy look big. They love playing together but Izzy does get jealous of the attention sometimes.

Izzy and Rocky enjoying a sunny warm day in January.

The biggest thing we're looking forward to in 2012 is our first anniversary. Yes, we got married almost 4 years ago but when you get married on leap day, you have to wait longer than others to celebrate. One disadvantage is that we can't agree when to celebrate on the off years. But one advantage is that we get to have a big celebration every 4 years! (And the 7 year itch won't hit for 28 years.) This year our anniversary is on a Wednesday so we're taking the day off and planning some leap day fun and festivities.

Christmas in Olive Hill, Kentucky

There's another event coming in 2012, one I'm trying to avoid but time won't let me. It's got me checking for gray hairs, wondering about botox, and slathering on the moisturizers. But I won't discuss the number I'm turning this because it makes my parents feel old. No matter the math though, I'll always feel 34. :)

Dad says I'm going through my mid-life crisis a bit early. I think he's right.

Finished Kitchen Pictures!

Previous blog posts on the kitchen...

• Frustrated with the old kitchen (and planned layout)
• In process - part 1
• In process - part 2

I'm finally posting pictures of our kitchen! I was trying to find some "before" photos for comparison and came across pictures I took when our house was being inspected. The changes are amazing. (Click on the photos to see them larger.)

View from the living room. The wall between the kitchen and dining room is gone. (The one with the door frame, not the one with the arch.) And the carpet in the kitchen and the other rooms is gone.

This is the dining room window.

And this is after - kitchen & dining room are now one big room.

A view of the dining room from the other direction, with the living room (and Jason & Izzy) in the background.

This corner cabinet was removed. The doorway to the back door was also widened.

You can't see the doorway but the new range is in the same location as the old one.

You can see the doorway a little here.

Here's another photo of the wall that was removed. The new fridge is about in the same position as the old one. (In the background is my realtor, Tom Andrew, and Tony Burk, who did the inspection.)

Fridge, tall cabinets and what I call the "china cabinet."

This is the old sink. (Finally removed the thermometer from the window this summer.)

And the new sink.

And another shot of the sink. (Please ignore cat in window, he's never allowed up there.)

I want to thank my mom and step-dad for spending their summer helping us with the kitchen. By helping I mean rewiring the entire kitchen, installing lights and outlets everywhere, assembling and installing the cabinets, trouble-shooting all the issues that came up with a 70-year-old house, doing plumbing and duct-work, and being there for the granite and flooring installation. Thank you so much for all your hard work!! Even though it took weeks longer than we expected, I'm so glad to spend the time with you. It was a great summer of grilled dinners on the patio and watching Wipe Out - every time it was on. We love you!! And Izzy misses you! See you soon! :)

Updating the site

The link to our blog used to contain our last name. In an attempt to increase our security online, I've changed the link to cyndidee.blogspot.com. If you have this bookmarked, please update it.

I'm also planning on going through all our posts and removing any reference to our last name and where we live. I have a new twitter account and have quite a few followers that I don't know. I'd like to tweet about my blog posts but want to make sure I stay "Cyndi Dee" to the online community.

Next blog post - pictures of the new kitchen. (Yes, finally.)

Trashing the Dress - Photos!!

Kerrie posted her blog tonight! Boy that was fast.

So here's the sneak peek of the Trash the Dress session...

http://kerriecelaphotography.com/

Trashing the Dress

Why in the world would I buy a wedding dress from Good Will and then wade into Caesar's Creek Lake while wearing it? Let me start at the beginning...

I have a friend who is a professional photographer. A few weeks ago she posted on facebook that she was looking for models to increase her portfolio. The models would get one shot (photographer's choice) to keep. I volunteered, but wasn't sure what I would do with that one shot. I don't need any head shots for work or business cards. I offered to dress up in my clown costume but she declined - I guess clown photos don't increase a portfolio. ;)


Then I got this crazy idea. I've always wanted to do a "Trash the Dress" (aka TTD) - you wear your wedding dress in situations where most would never wear it. If you google "trash the dress" you'll find images of women in gorgeous dresses with paint on them, in the woods, on train tracks, and (the most popular) in a body of water. As fun as this sounds, I could never take my beautiful wedding dress and ruin it. For the record, I plan on wearing my wedding dress every Leap Day - our anniversary.

So what if I found an old wedding dress at a Good Will store? I could definitely trash that dress and not worry about it. Also, a trashed wedding dress can double as a zombie costume (for Fairborn's zombie walk), or some other Halloween costume. So the search for a fancy dress at second-hand stores began.

I hit the jackpot at the 2nd Good Will store I went to (on 725 in Centerville). I actually tried on three different dresses and found on a dress that was very similar to my wedding dress, but in ivory. They seemed to be try-on dresses from a bridal store - there were no sizes inside and they had never been bustled. These dresses were originally marked $79, but were marked down to $39. After thinking about it a couple of days I went back and bought the dress I picked.

We then picked last Saturday to go out into the woods. It was going to be a beautiful, warm, fall day. We ran into the problem of where to go. All the Five-River metro parks in Dayton prohibit getting into the water. Also, Kerrie would have to get a permit to take photos in the parks. We teased that a good TTD usually ends with running from the police (or so I've heard), but we decided to look elsewhere. Caesar's Creek Lake turned out to be the perfect place. No permits are needed to get in the water or to take photographs.

Kerrie met at my house at 9:00 am (original plans were for 8:00 but I ended up having a late night). It took longer than I thought to get ready but we finally left the house at 9:30. I had the cheap wedding dress, blue-with-pink-hearts clown socks, old running shoes, and false eye lashes on. I had done some glamour makeup (courtesy of my days with Mary Kay) and I straightened my hair - the better to get messed up.

We got to Caesar's Creek close to 10:30 am. We drove around Waynesville for a bit trying to get a good idea of what we wanted to do and when. Lighting was very important and it was late in the day to get good shots at the beach. So we found some trails, a field, a couple of wooden bridges, and some rocks to do the photography against. I sat against some trees, in the roots, and across a fallen log. I had the best time doing some model poses and trying not to laugh. (I actually got better at it as we went along.)

(If you're familiar with planking, I saw a picnic table and had to plank on it. Completely ridiculous but somehow necessary with a wedding dress, clown socks, and running shoes on. Google "planking" if you don't know what it is.)

The last thing we did was head out to the beach. It was time to (finally) get in the water and ruin the dress. There were seagulls along the water's edge and no one else was on the beach. So of course the first thing I did was run along the beach to scare off all the seagulls. (I did this again at the end of our shoot.) I have no idea if the pictures turned out since this was my crazy idea and not really part of TTD.

So in I went. It took forever to wade into the cold, disgusting water. I don't think it was dirty, people swim in that water all the time. However, even in 4 inches of water, you couldn't see the bottom. Yuck. Perfect I guess for a TTD.

Most of the people at the beach were watching us. I'm sure I wasn't the first person to do a TTD at this location, but it was probably the first time people have seen something like that. A group of little girls came over to watch and I think they were actually upset that I was ruining the dress like I was. I waved at them and they half-heartedly waved back and then walked to the other end of the beach.

Kerrie had me stick my head in the water and flip my hair a few times, I can't wait to see if those show up. I then floated on the water for awhile which was actually quite relaxing and the easiest part of the whole day. Then I was up on the sand with Kerrie putting more sand on my arms, neck, back and all over the dress. The dress was already covered with algae, mud, and who knows what else. I ended up getting back in the water to try to wash most of the sand off. (And then there was that one last run at the seagulls.)

People wouldn't ask what we were doing, but you could definitely tell they thought we were crazy. So we'd try to explain it was a "Trash the Dress" session and we were doing it for Kerrie's portfolio. I was already (happily) married and it was a dress I got at Good Will. Sometimes when I was passing people I'd just say "I'm not getting married today" and they'd laugh.

Thankfully the bathrooms were still open, though the only shower was outside of this. I rinsed off as much as possible while still wearing the wedding dress (and Kerrie got a few more shots). I finally changed into some normal clothes and took everything I was wearing in the lake and stuffed it into large bag. (The bag the Good Will people stuffed the dress into after I bought it - basically a large blue trash bag.)

I got home and took a long hot shower. I think I still have sand in my hair though. I ended up washing the dress outside in a storage tote with Tide and it's almost clean again. At least it won't stink for the next time I wear it. I had to take a few photos of the dress when I took it out of the bag. They don't do the mess justice, but you'll at least get an idea of what the poor dress went through. (Click on each photo to see it larger.)

This is the front of the dress (the dress is folded in half)

This is the back of the dress with the train.

The end of the train. You wouldn't believe the muddy water pouring out of this when I put it on the patio table.

Some final thoughts of my TTD... definitely a lot of fun! There's something about tromping around in a wedding dress and running shoes and not caring about staying nice. I also think that if someone has never been married that they should not do this. A girl's first experience in a wedding dress shouldn't be trashing it. (Which if you know me, not my first time, or second time, or third time... yeah, never mind.) I also think that no matter how bad you trash a dress that it can most likely be salvaged, unless you rip it or burn it. I think I could have gotten mine completely clean if I had tried and I've heard other people say that their dress turned out fine. Though I can't imagine the cleaning bill.

Kerrie is currently working on editing the photos from two weddings. Once those are done, I believe she'll start working on the TTD photos. She took over 500 pictures (!!!) so it'll take her awhile to sort through them. She'll most likely blog her favorites, which I'll definitely share with you. And dear parents, you probably know what you're getting from me for Christmas. Can you stand another goofy picture of me? ;)

Update... here's the link to Kerrie's blog: http://kerriecelaphotography.com/

Izzy the Love Bug

I've witnessed something so adorable a few times now and every time I've missed the opportunity to take a picture. (Though a mom out there did, but I didn't think to ask her to send me the photo.) The only way to capture these moments is through telling the story, so I'll blog it.

If any of you know Izzy, she's quite energetic and when she's wound up, watch your pant legs. (She'll try to pull you using the one thing my shorty dog can get ahold of - your pants. If you're wearing shorts, watch out! She'll go for those too!) But sometimes she can be a cuddly little dog. We experienced this at the rescue home where we got her.

I ran a 5k downtown with a friend a few weeks ago. Jason and Izzy waited for us, cheering us on at the end. Afterwards we were resting when I noticed a little girl stood near us watching Izzy. Izzy noticed her (or something she was eating) and started to walk towards her. We told the little girl and her mom that Izzy was friendly but might jump on her.

Izzy walked up to the little girl and then sat down next to her. The girl seemed apprehensive, but started to pet Izzy. I think Izzy understood this and slowly cozied up to her, and ended up leaning on her. It was the most precious thing! The mom took a couple of pictures before Izzy leaned too much and ended up on her back. Of course then she had exposed tummy but I don't think the little girl understood she was supposed to rub it. She ended up going back to her mom and Izzy came back to us.

She's done this a few times and each time we're just amazed at how precious she is. Our little ball of energy is also full of love.

Warrior Dash - After

If you missed the "Before" post,  you can find it here... http://jc-parsons.blogspot.com/2011/09/warrior-dash-before-and-after-and.html

So it's been over a week since the Warrior Dash and my knees are still scabby and there's still bruises all over my legs. But I'm feeling accomplished and amazed that I did it again. And yes, I'm already plotting on how I can do even better next time!

To sum it all up - I tried every obstacle this time! I didn't go over the wall, but I got about half way up. I think I might be able to do it next time if there was just some way I could practice it. My time was 1:32, which is horrible, but I got stuck on a couple of obstacles and next time should easily be able to shave 30 minutes off.

First obstacle I got stuck on were the dumpsters. I got in the first one, but couldn't get out! I ended up throwing my leg over the side and wow, do I have a bruise on the inside of my leg! There were two other dumpsters but I was in enough pain and just went around them. The other obstacle was what I call the spider crawl. This one was so frustrating to me, I'm still fuming that I got stuck. I ended up having to crawl like a crab backwards because my knees hurt so bad. I have a better strategy for next time. Basically - I started in the middle and I should have been at the side. (Hey, last time I didn't even try it, so it's progress that I tried and finished - even though it probably took me 10-15 minutes.)

Parking was horrible, it took almost two hours to get from the town of Carrollton to our parking location. Thankfully the Warrior Dash aren't picky about when you run. I wish I had friends running with me but I had a great time goofing around with the people I ran with. The trail was mostly mud and it felt like we were ice skating most of the time. There wasn't a lot of running this time even though there were a lot less hills than the previous one. (My legs didn't hurt nearly as much the few days afterwards.)

Btw, around 2pm we heard someone announce that of the 6,000 people who had run the course, over 4,000 had take more than an hour. I'm blaming the mud. And probably having too much fun. :)

Since pictures are worth 1,000 words, I thought I'd post some pictures I've found of the obstacles we went through. (Click on the picture to enlarge.)

I did this one!!

The dumpster I got stuck in.

The wall I didn't do (but I tried).

I did this one! You use a rope to go up the other side and then down the side you see here.

An easy obstacle!

This is the spider web one I got stuck on.

There were many other obstacles that I'm not finding photos of, but I guess that's part of the intrigue - not knowing what they'll throw at you next. Of course there was the fire to jump over the mud to crawl through at the end. (Photos of that are on my previous blog.) And after we finished we got to go down to the lake and wash off. Kinda missed the freezing cold fire hoses from the Logan dash.

When it's over I feel exhausted, ridiculous, and thinking I'm just too old to ever do this again. But then after a few days I start dreaming of doing it all again. What is wrong with me??? :)

Anyway, I'll end this with some photos Jason and I took of the excitement and craziness....

View from the parking area

Walkway to the craziness

Getting ready to start

The starting line

After I was done

After jumping in the lake

Lots of costumes!

Our awesome people-watching spot

Check out the guy belly-flopping into the mud

A team jumping over the flames

Mario & Luigi

At the very end where we got our medals

Warrior Dash - Before (and After and Before)

I was going to post my "before" feelings about this Warrior Dash and then next week post the "after." However, I'm just realizing that I never posted about the first Warrior Dash that I did on June 4th, so I'll start there. (If you remember, the kitchen remodel started just days after.)

First, what is the Warrior Dash? Here's the link: http://warriordash.com/ It's about 3 miles on trails with obstacles like going through tires, crawling over cars (or boats), climbing a wall, jumping fire, and crawling through mud under barbed wire. Sounds like fun, huh? :)

I'm in there somewhere

Before Warrior Dash 1 in Logan, Ohio - I had never run a 5k and the furthest I'd ever run was 2 miles. And here I was planning on running 3 miles with obstacles. I knew that a lot of people end up walking some of it and that if the obstacles are too much, you can go around them. (I was definitely NOT going to be able to climb the wall.) I was optimistic and incorrectly assumed that there wouldn't be that many hills.

Coming down the last hill towards the last 6 obstacles

I was running with Jason's coworker, Molly, and her fiance, Matt, and their friend, Sniper. (I think his name is John, but we call him Sniper.) They were all athletic types and were incredibly encouraging and helpful. However, after the first half mile uphill I told them to stop waiting for me and just go!

Sniper, Molly, Matt and me - before

After Warrior Dash 1 - My stomach hurt, my legs hurt, my shoulders hurt! I heard that the first part was over a mile uphill - seriously uphill! I tried running uphill but ended up having to walk when I couldn't breathe. I did run quite a bit of it though. My arms hurt from trying to pull myself up on the difference obstacles. At one point I fell in the creek and couldn't get up! So frustrating, but my legs were rubbery and I shoved so hard to push myself up that I hurt my shoulder. Ugh.

Going over the balance beams

I skipped almost half the obstacles, but I tried most of them. I didn't jump the fire because I didn't think my legs would hold up. I did crawl through the mud, which was like thick pudding, and found out the barbed wire doesn't have points. (Btw, there's people all over the trail making sure you're okay and encouraging you to skip an obstacle if they don't think you're up to it.)

"Can you believe this???"

When I crossed the finish line I got a medal, a banana, and a cup of water. The biggest thing I gained was a sense of accomplishment that compares to finishing your college degree. The adrenaline rush lasted for at least a week or two and I felt invincible! (And definitely not 38 years old and overweight.) It's addicting. The proof? I signed up to do it again three months later.

Molly and me with our medals & mud

I did it!!!

So here we are, two days until the next one.

Before Warrior Dash 2 - Carrollton, Ohio - I haven't trained anywhere near as much as I wanted to. I need to practice jumping over fire (well, maybe not fire), and climbing things. I did some training at a playground (with an 11 year old), but I should have done more. I have done two 5k's and I can easily run 3 miles now. I've been running hills to get my legs ready, so I hope the hills don't wipe me out this time.

Molly and me after we've been hosed off (literally)

I'm still a little worried about the obstacles. I probably still won't do the wall, but I definitely want to finish the rope ladder this time. And I want to jump the fire! (Those are always the best pictures and I don't have one yet!)

The rope ladder I hope to get over this time

I had a dream last night that I went through the Warrior Dash and I went through all the obstacles like a breeze. Of course I think I was in my 20's and 30 pounds lighter in my dream, but I did it. I woke up not freaking out about the obstacles. Hopefully that "not freaking out" thing stays with me for awhile.

Jason with the viking hat

And this time I'm running by myself. (Not that that's any different from last time.) On the facebook event page for this Dash I've found some other slow runners that also start at 10:30 am. I'm hoping I run into them and can get their help going through the obstacles.

I'm running out to Target tonight to find some running shorts. The ones I ran in last time got bogged down with mud. And some crazy socks. Just because. :)

Wish me luck and say a prayer I survive another one!

(Btw, I'm already planning on doing the 2012 Warrior Dash in Logan.)