Even though American Idol is going downhill, I still watch it. I think it is the only avenue some people will ever get out there. Without American Idol, we would never have heard of Melinda Doolittle!!It is not only the winner who benefits, it is usually the top 10 or 12. It all depends on what you do after your AI stint. There are many contestants who never won but they are doing awesome, shout out to Chris Daughtry and Clay Aiken! and why am I talking about AI? because of the Jessie J’s song that Angie sang this week: “It’s okay, not to be okay” That is a line in the song, the song is titled “Who you are”. This week was the worst week in my academic life. I have been studying my Masters for the last many years and this is my last semester. I did my comprehensive exams about a month ago and had to repeat two other papers. The professor let me know that I did not pass my statistics paper and I will have to repeat the whole comprehensive exam in October. I just burst out crying because that meant I will not be graduating this May. What scares me is that what if I do not pass it in October? But I have to believe, I have to trust that it will be okay. I have to study hard. I have to believe because God is sovereign and He is in control! I hope you have an awesome weekend! Keep the faith. “It’s okay, not to be okay”
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Butterflies for Maddie is a 5K race in honor of Maddie Morgan who passed away at the age of 6. You can read more about her/the foundation here. I had been thinking about going for this race but was debating about the drive. But after the happenings of last week, I registered for it. I have been running some after the half, but not seriously, and I thought to myself, well, it is only 3.1 miles.
Saturday morning, woke up early because it was going to be a long ride and did not want to get lost and miss the race. I arrived 30 minutes before the start time which was great! Picked up my T-shirt and sat in the car and waited. The race was a small race and it had lots of younger folks which was great. It also felt like a family race, all the folks knew each. Many of the kids had butterfly wings on their backs, didn’t take a picture because I did not want to post pictures of kids. It was pretty neat! Many of the volunteers were young, I suspect that these were Maddie’s friends, classmates etc
The course was pretty challenging, there were many hills (the downhills helped) but it did not help that the race ended up the hill. I was pretty excited to reach the finish line before 30 minutes had elapsed! I think this race is a keeper. I like races that have a great cause and it was awesome to get a technical T-shirt!
Keep looking up friends, God is in control and may His peace be with you always!
Finally, the day of the half-marathon arrived! Let me back up, on Friday I had to sit for a 4 hour comprehensive exam, yes, I am graduating soon! then in the evening, baby girl’s school was having a Chuck-e-cheese night and so we spent a few hours there with all the madness!! it was fun…
Woke up at 6.10 and got read for the race. The day before, husband had taken me to make sure I knew where the race was. My goal was to beat my first half-marathon time which was 2:30:something.. Met up with Shelley and kept warm while we were waiting for the race to start. Asked someone to take us a pic and I guess he was too nervous about his 5K race, he could not stop shaking.
The race started at 8am and off we were. After around one mile, I found my pace which was a slower pace than Shelley’s and so we parted. It was cold and my fingers were freezing. I basically kept at 10.34 pace and was happy with it.
I also found a way to slow down, entertain the people who were behind me
there were several water/gatorade stops on the way and I do appreciate all the volunteers who came out in the cold. On my way back, there was a guy outside his house with bottles of water too!! People are so nice.
During training, I never ran more than 10 miles and so when I reached the 10 mile marker, I kept on telling myself, it is only 5K to go. After 2 hours, 19 minutes and 19 seconds of running, I checked in!
then we took the kids egg hunting
Baby girl @ the 15000 egg hunt
I think Henry got half the egg at his egg hunt (birthday party egg hunt)
I had the opportunity to try for free some Simple Truth products and I must say that I loved them.
I got the frozen mangoes and after it thawed it tasted so fresh. I had some just before I went for a run.
After the run, I had one of the energy bars, the peanut butter chocolate chip kind.
I had never had Almond milk before and after some of my long runs, I would have a glass of Almond Chocolate milk. This carton of milk did not last long in our house.
After dinner, I wanted something caffeine free to drink and tried their Blackberry Pomgranate. This drink was refreshing. I like Simple Truth products because they are free from artificial preservatives and ingredients.
Miss you Mama and Dani!
I’m troubled in mind (old spiritual) sang by Stephen Gordon (our worship leader at Church)
When ladened with troubles
and burdened with grief
To Jesus in secret
I’ll go for relief
I’m troubled
I’m troubled
I’m troubled in mind
If Jesus don’t help me, then surely I will die
In dark days of bondage to Jesus I prayed
To help me to hear it, and He gave me His aid
I’m troubled
I’m troubled
I’m troubled in mind
If Jesus don’t help me, then surely I will die
Oh, Jesus, my Savior,
on Thee I’ll depend
When troubles are near me
you’ll be my true friend
I’m troubled
I’m troubled
I’m troubled in mind
If Jesus don’t help me, then surely I will die
Oh, Jesus, my Savior,
on Thee I’ll depend
When troubles are near me
you’ll be my true friend
I’m troubled
I’m troubled
I’m troubled in mind
If Jesus don’t help me, then surely I will die
When ladened with troubles
and burdened with grief
To Jesus in secret
I’ll go for relief
I’m troubled
I’m troubled
I’m trouble in mind
If Jesus don’t help me, then surely I will die
I was studying for my comprehensive exam next week (yes, pray for me please) and came across an assignment entry I made about anger and hostility. The assigned text for this assignment was:Mind, Body and Health – The effects of attitudes, emotions and relationships. It made for an interesting read.
“I did not know that there was a difference between anger and hostility, and chapter 4 explained the difference. The text describes anger as a temporary emotion which can be a response to an event or a frustration. Thursday night, I was very angry because the battery that I just bought for my car less than two years ago died last night. I was very angry but I did not do anything radical but I did vent on my blog about it. Hostility on the other hand is an attitude and the text explains that hostile people are usually angry. It was interesting to read about expressing versus suppressing anger. I always thought that it was healthier to express anger than keeping it in. I have always believed that if you keep it in, one day it will explode with consequences. I would classify myself as a person who expresses and suppresses anger. It depends on the situation, at times I feel it is better to keep the peace and not saying anything about the situation but I am burning inside. While reading this chapter, I remembered an illustration of a boy and his parents. His dad took him to school every morning and one morning his dad was not able to drop him off, so his mom dropped him off. When they reached school, the boy asked his mom, “Where were all the idiots today?” I could say that one parent was really expressing their anger or frustration at the other drivers while the other either chose to ignore them or to her, the other drivers did not frustrate her. From this chapter, I learned that since anger is a reaction to a provocation, the healthy way for me to deal with anger is to decide how I will react and respond to a provocation.”
Photo credit: bgdailynews.com
