Month: August 2018

August 25, 2018

I already posted about my run and how I’m so thankful I can stay active, but I didn’t really share what was on my heart during my beautiful early morning run today.

I only listen to music while running if it’s light out; I just don’t feel safe doing so in the dark. It seems like 80% of my runs are in the dark, early mornings, so it’s rare that I listen to music. When I do, my playlist is a mix of things, probably 70% Christian music.

Today, one of the first songs that came on was a favorite of mine…my all-time favorite this time last year. Tauren Well’s Hills and Valleys . If you’ve never heard it, I suggest you take a quick listen (and if you’ve never heard this acoustic version, it’s worth your time too)! Love this song.

But I realized while running this morning…as different words spoke to me…or maybe I should say as God opened my ears to different parts of the song and struck a cord in my heart differently from all the other times I listened to it, it took on a whole new meaning.

I’m not one to really replay songs while I run, I just let the random list play…but I must have listened to this song over and over for at least 2/3 of my run this morning.

Here are the lyrics and I’ve highlighted the words that kept jumping out at me, replaying in head, as if God was saying…let this sink in.

I’ve walked among the shadows
You wiped my tears away
And I’ve felt the pain of heartbreak
And I’ve seen the brighter days
And I’ve prayed prayers to heaven from my lowestplace
And I have held the blessings
God, you give and take away

No matter what I have, Your grace is enough
No matter where I am, I’m standing in Your love

On the mountains, I will bow my life
To the one who set me there
In the valley, I will lift my eyes to the one who sees me there
When I’m standing on the mountain aft, didn’t get there on my own
When I’m walking through the valley end, no I am not alone!
You’re God of the hills and valleys!
Hills and Valleys!
God of the hills and valleys
And I am not alone!

I’ve watched my dreams get broken
In you I hope again!
No matter what I know
Know I’m safe inside Your hand

(Chorus)

Father, you give and take away
Every joy and every pain
Through it all you will remain
Over it all!

Father, you give and take away
Every joy and every pain
Through it all you will remain
Over it all!

On the mountains, I will bow my life
To the one who set me there (to the one who set me there)
In the valley, I will lift my eyes to the one who sees me there
When I’m standing on the mountain aft, didn’t get there on my own
When I’m walking through the valley end, no I am not alone!
You’re God of the hills and valleys!
Hills and Valleys!
God of the hills and valleys
And I am not alone!
You’re God of the hills and valleys!
Hills and Valleys!
God of the hills and valleys
And I am not alone!

And I will choose to say “Blessed be Your name, yeah, yeah”

And I am not alone

Maybe this means nothing to you and that’s ok, God was speaking to my heart, not yours. But I hope you enjoyed the song!

I’m thankful anytime God speaks to my heart. I also feel a nudging to re-read Soul Care, which I’d highly recommend. (Link if interested.)

I’ve read it and ‘worked through junk in my soul’ once or twice before, but it’s funny how ‘new junk’ seems to acquire. (Just like all the junk I’ve been hoeing out of my house!) We all have our own junk, I guess it’s just a matter of how we deal with it. Some of my junk is really weighing me down and I know I’m not the light that God wants me to be when I’m being weighed down by ‘stuff.’

Ok I’ve shared a good song and a great book, food for thought, now I really do have to continue on with laundry and all that fun stuff! 😎 ✌

August 25, 2018

It was a beautiful morning for a run! I know I missed a beautiful sunrise because I saw it from the window while I was getting ready. It made me wish I had gotten my but out of bed 20 minutes earlier, but after a full week back to work, first week of school, I had no desire to get up before 6am. (I had two 4:30am mornings to get runs in before work, so 6 am was sleeping in!)

Because I’m a bit slower, I’ve only had time to do 3-3.5 miles the last couple weeks so I was thankful that I was able (capable and had time) to get 4 miles in today. And it felt good! If I could give one piece of advice, based on one thing I’ve taken away from this (third) pregnancy, is to stay active! If you’re able of course. I thank God every time I’m out running (or even mowing the lawn) that I’ve been able to remain active and healthy this pregnancy. I know some women are just not able to or are put on restrictions to maintain the health of the pregnancy, and I feel terrible for them…that would kill me!

This is the first pregnancy I’ve ran through and I’ve definitely seen the benefits. I mentioned last time the drastically awesome effect it had on my glucose scores and it’s also helped me maintain a healthy weight/not gain too much weight this pregnancy. I was actually a little paranoid before my appointment this past week as I hadn’t gained any weight in nearly 3 weeks. I was worried if I wasn’t gaining, maybe the baby wasn’t growing like it should. But a routine ultrasound confirmed baby is growing healthy and measuring right on target. So I’ll take it! August was a busy month of mowing, running, home projects, lots of activities, so I think all in all it contributed to my lack of weight gain; but baby is growing healthy.

I was so worried that I was going to gain a bunch of weight this pregnancy (I was a whale with #2) and not be able to lose it now that I’m at the ‘advanced maternal age’ of 35. 🙄 (I feel old everytime I go to the doctor.) Anyway I share this with you, in case you are in the same boat or curious about staying active in your pregnancy! Always check with your doctor first though! You also shouldn’t start anything new at this point; my body was very used to running so it was approved by my doctor to continue as tolerated.

Well, on to piles of laundry and more home projects that need done before the baby comes. 😉 I miss my free time all week to get this stuff done! Back to the real world, I know! Enjoy your day…

August 15, 2018

Well I’ve been baking/cooking and still running, I just haven’t made time to blog about it! Sorry!

I’m still running, more so a run/walk now, as my pelvis gets achy and feels like I’m supporting a bowling ball. (In case you wondered what it felt like running 30 weeks pregnant! 😉) I’m thankful I’ve stayed so active this pregnancy.

I’m also thankful to have passed my glucose test a couple weeks ago. I barely passed with my last pregnancy so I felt kind of doomed this time, assuming my summer ice cream cones were numbered. When in fact my numbers were the best they’ve ever been! I was thrilled! And the doctor confirmed that yes, it is probably very much related to the fact that I am running through this pregnancy. Yay! We definitely celebrated with an ice cream cone. 😁🍦

I’ve also been content with my weight gain this pregnancy. Being my third I was so worried I was going to gain even more weight and at the age of 35, would have a harder time losing it. So far running and staying active have helped and I am so thankful for the ability to continue running and being active; bedrest or restrictions would killlllll me. So praise for that!

Not a great picture but saw these babies bedded down in a yard in town on one of my early runs last week:

And I didn’t get a picture of my fluffy black and white friends I ran into on my early run on Monday this week. You all know how much I hate skunks!? Ran into a pair of them, with one of them running directly AT me! You want to see this fat girl run…it was definitely the fastest (block) I’ve ran in a while! 😂

Last but not least, I promised to share another squash recipe with you. One of my favorite summer side dishes and thankfully even the kids love it too!

Calabacitas
Serves 4
(Slight alterations from Cook’s Country’s original recipe)
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 onion
1 yellow Hungarian pepper & 1 small jalopeno pepper (both stemmed, seeded, and diced)
1 chopped red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt & pepper
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash, both cut into small 1/2″ pieces
3 ears fresh corn cut from cob
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 oz feta cheese

Melt butter in a large skillet; add onion, peppers, garlic, salt & pepper and cook until vegetables are softened (about 5 min).
Stir in zucchini and squash and cook until tender (approximately another 6-10 min).
Stir in corn and cream, let simmer without stirring until the liquid evaporates and vegetables are slightly browned. (Approximately 7-10 min)
Season with salt and pepper to desired taste and sprinkle with feta cheese before serving.

The original recipe called for a few things that weren’t available in our small town grocery store so I used what I had/wanted and like how it turned out! But if you wish, you could make with a poblano pepper in place of the jalopeno/Hungarian peppers I used. And it also called for cotija cheese, which is similar to feta anyway. The original recipe also stated you could serve with lime wedges if you wish, but I never have.

This really is not a difficult dish and so very yummy and fresh! Enjoy!