healthy living.

laughter is by definition healthy.
~doris lessing, nobel prize in literature recipient.

good to remember in the midst of a stressful season in life.
and good to remember that crying is also healthy…and a healthy expression of emotion–just like laughing.

also need to remember that rest, exercise, time with others, solitude, healthy eating, and quietness are vital to my survival in the midst of busyness, noise, and stress.

vacation.

a vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking.
~earl wilson, columnist and author.

a vacation, just what i’ve needed…i have rusty to thank for this.
i have enjoyed the three days off from everything–from work, from class, from reading for class, from daily exercise, and just from routine. and the rest and relaxation i have felt from the release of all that is going on in my daily life.

for the past few weeks, i have felt overwhelmed…
felt like life was almost more than i could handle…
felt like i could not take it much longer.
but then, there was a respite…a place to sit down along the journey and a companion with whom to sit.

so, rusty, thank you.
thank you for sharing my journey.
thank you for interrupting my journey.
thank you for giving me the energy to continue on in my journey and resume taking on all that i am undertaking.

medals.

i believe people run marathons every day of their lives in one way or another, and we need to remember to give ourselves the finishers’ medals we deserve.
~zoe koplowitz, author and marathon competitor

i thought about this after my run with margit this morning. we all face difficult and demanding circumstances. we all endure tough experiences.

and you just never know what someone else is going through. you just never know what another must persevere in his or her own life. and these others never know what is going on in your life.

so, it is up to us to give ourselves the grace we deserve…or the grace we would give another if we knew their story.
it is up to us to acknowledge our own victories…learning from them and gaining strength in the process.
it is up to award our own medals…celebrating who we are.

preparations.

these photos remind me of being prepared.

of being prepared for the big game, even while sitting on an airplane anticipating of THE game of the season.
of being prepared for the home game…
of being prepared for the city’s biggest moneymaker, a good six weeks before the actual day.

guess it is never too early to make preparations.

oh brother.

i had a great time just hanging out with rusty.
it was fun just spending time together.
it was relaxing just being with someone who knows you, loves you, and accepts you as you are…
someone you don’t have to impress,
someone you don’t have to work at making conversation,
someone you don’t have to plan every waking moment of time together.

we ventured into unknown territory, we spent time as family, we watched football, we ate, we went to target, we saw wicked, we relaxed, we slept, we ran, we got sick, we rode in my new car, we hung out with my friends, we just lived life together.

i am so grateful to have a brother who can so easily fit into my life,
a brother i love and look forward to spending time with,
a brother who i look up to in so many ways,
a brother i respect and admire,
a brother who willingly shares life with me and wants me to do the same.

rusty, thanks for being this kind of brother…
i love you!

the hat.

i felt the need to take rusty to a local pasadena favorite for lunch…the hat. the neon sign flanked the front of this landmark boasts of “world famous pastrami” and the menu inside claims to have been in business for 55 years.

even though rusty had never had pastrami before, he ordered a pastrami dip, while i ordered a grilled cheese. and of course we had an order of chili cheese fries…think we could have just split the fries.

when we had completely demolished our food, only then did we realize how sick we felt…but i am sure our fullness won’t hamper our dinner plans.

black friday.

for some reason rusty wanted to go out with the 10 million other shoppers on this black friday–not at 4am, of course. we only went to a few shops and we had enough. rei was our first stop and the only place where we actually made a purchase–some socks and clif bars.

getting into the parking lot and finding a parking space at best buy took no less than 15 minutes and i almost had to pull a “Towanda” on some lady who tried to nab my parking place. i got a little nervous approaching the store when i noticed the ambulance parked outside, then the police car.

this place was definitely packed with all sorts of shoppers…all intent on getting the perfect deal for the day…none that rusty and i saw we needed.

on the way back to the car, we stopped into chick’s sporting goods to see if they had any auburn paraphernalia…but to no avail. of course they had the better team gear…an alabama hat.

hollywood.

hooray for hollywood…

rusty and i ventured to hollywood–despite his lack of interest–only to see wicked. we got ready quick and raced to the pantages box office to see if we could get tickets to the 2pm matinee.
and boy did we get tickets…3rd row center.

we had 90 minutes to spare so we walked down hollywood boulevard to see the sites (or the absence of such).

walking along the star walk to see who we recognized.
gaa-lee…

thanksgiving.

time spent with family over a shared meal…a traditional one, that is.
precisely what i experienced today.

time with rusty, stephen, and alicia.

turkey, cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, sister shubert rolls, homemade pies (chocolate pecan and apple cranberry).

and thoughts of thankfulness that flood my mind today.
thankfulness for family (both here with me today and those back in alabama)…
thankfulness for their unconditional love and constant support.

thankfulness for friends here in pasadena (those within the fuller community and those with whom i work)…
thankfulness for them embracing who i am, for accepting me, for challenging me and encouraging me.

thankfulness for opportunities that have been afforded to me the past few years…
thankfulness for the privilege of them, for what i have learned through them, and for the trials that have pushed me further than i would have chosen to go.

and thankfulness for the god who provided all of this…
thankfulness that even though i am so undeserving, god lavishly pours out blessings on my life.

i have much for which to be grateful.

in training.

rusty claims i made him sick by waking him up early this morning to go run around the rose bowl in the cold. wednesday, he told me he would like to go run around the bowl at least once, asking me how far it was around the bowl…then changing his mind altogether when i answered with 3.1 miles.

after 11 hours of sleep i woke rusty up, informing him we were going running. it was cold, overcast, and foggy but we went anyway. rusty complained the whole way there about being cold…but i told him it wouldn’t last long.

so we started running…

rusty’s choice of shirts was quite apropos i would have to say…
and that’s how rusty ran…enduring even when he wanted to give up. we ran, walked, ran, walked, ran, walked, then finished strong running back to the rock that served as our finish line.

the before/after shots…doesn’t seem like it was all that bad, eh rusty?
think we’ll go back for more tomorrow a.m….the training has begun.

in rusty’s words: “you’ve got to walk before you can run.”