I'm a WINNER!!!

For those of you who follow the running blogger world, you are probably familiar with the infamous Robin and her weekly Wednesday winner post. Well, lucky for me, I am this week's featured winner. You can read my interview here.

If you are new to my blog and are finding me via the Turtle, then WELCOME! Be sure to leave a comment so I can visit your blogs as well. I love meeting new runners from all over the country. I have learned so much about running, fitness, and life in general from so many of you.

Special thanks to Robin for the nice feature as well as the great blog she does every day! I'm dedicating my noon run to her!!!

Today I ran....

If you read my previous post, you saw that one of my "things to be thankful for" was the chance to possibly get a run in while my youngest was in preschool. Par for the course this month, my work schedule, the rain, and lack of time in general were all against me. As the day shaped up, I pretty much gave up the idea AGAIN, and figured eventually I would get back to running someday. But what do you know?!?! The stars must have been aligned just right because things went smoothly at work and when I got back to town, I still had an hour before preschool let out. So I ran. And ran. And ran. I ran an old 5k route from last summer and then I just kept running til my 60 minutes were up. 5.3 miles in all. It felt so good. Stress melted away. Aches and pains were left around mile 2 or 3. I finished soaking wet (part sweat, part rain) but it felt great. I don't know when I will get another in, but for now, I am proud to say "Today I ran."

Foxy Lady...

We had some good lookin' visitors at work this week so I just had to share. Hopefully they like us enough to move into our neighborhood and stay awhile!!!

Yep... you counted right. There are three little fox cubs. Mom is a little camera shy and doesn't come out to play as much as the babies but she makes an appearance every now and again. They are playful and fun to watch in the afternoon sunshine. She has had litters before but they always stayed far away. This year, she moved them right outside our office! It is a fairly rare occurence to see this, but to have them so close is even more amazing.

Today I am thankful for..

1) A reminder of God's amazing creatures

2) Rain on my newly planted potatoes

3) A chance to get in a good run while my son is at preschool... keep your fingers crossed for me!

Horsin' around

Doesn't every little girl dream of riding her own horse? I know I did. And I KNOW my daughter does....

Although I didn't have the opportunity growing up, we are fortunate to be surrounded by hungry hay munchers at our house today. So what happens when a 7 year old beautiful brown eyed girl bats her eyes at daddy and begs to join the local riding club??? You guessed it! Off we go every Tuesday night to the arena in town. Lucky for her, she has inherited her dad's amazing talent and natural horsemanship ability. She rides like a pro on a horse that is not particulary considered a traditional "kid" horse. Maybe it's protective mom instinct or maybe my former horse experience that lead to a broken leg and shattered ankle overseas, but I tend to think worse case scenario when she climbs aboard. However, she is quickly convincing me otherwise. As hubby says, "don't underestimate what she can make that horse do". I'm starting to believe him.... kind of.

Last weekend we had the opportunity to participate in a horse clinic where I got to practice my "pulling the trailer in town" skills and the young kids got to ride all day at the arena with clinicians working on various horse skills. It was a wonderful opportunity for them and they had a great time. We are thankful for those who volunteer their time for these kids to grow and develop not only in their horse ability, but in confidence, maturity, and life skills in general. When I think of all the issues with America today, it's refreshing to see young kids learn to communicate, become passionate and caring for God's creatures, choose activity over television, and learn to give back to their community among other things. Likewise, I cannot end this without mentioning the generosity of a retired rancher from the area who has generously donated the funds to build an amazing arena at the local fairgrounds that is used nearly ever night for all sorts of activities from horse practice to concerts, rodeos to traveling circus shows, expos to church services, etc... No government bailouts here... just hard working American's who are proud to give back to the community and people that they love.

Kind of makes you want to go out and give back, doesn't it?!?!