Last night I went to dinner with my running friends to celebrate my friend Christine’s birthday. I hadn’t seen most of these friends since before my husband left back on my birthday. In January. Sigh.
When you’re not running, training and/or racing it’s hard to keep in touch. Of course I’m thankful for social media and texting etc. but it’s not the same as physical interaction. So to sit with these awesome people for two hours made my day. It also made the fire for running burn again in my belly. They are all doing a 10k next weekend and encouraged me to sign up.
And you know what? I couldn’t sign up fast enough. I’ve not run a single race this year. And that sucks. Of course my priorities are elsewhere right now. But I need to make time for me too before I internally combust.
So first thing this morning I signed up.
Yay!! This fueled me to run tonight. I ran FOUR miles after work today with my mini. She scootered along with me!!
We finished the day with a yummy salad. And what makes this even better is that it was my mini’s idea. Kale, romaine hearts, red onions and grilled steak topped with blue cheese crumbles and a little oil and vinegar.
How was your day? Ever bite the bullet and sign up for a last minute race?
Well. Only two miles on the treadmill. But yesterday I ran. And it was glorious to blow off a little steam. I think seeing all the Chicago and TC marathoners last weekend tugged at my heart and I realized I need to somehow carve out 30 minutes 3-4 times a week for a little running/working out.
Because someday I’d like to do another marathon. I’ve got some redemption to obtain. So this winter I plan on sticking with the ‘mill and my free weights to work on speed and getting leaner. I’ve got a few lbs left to lose which I am sure is the extra wine I’ve had to calm my nerves these last almost 8 months. Wow. Did I just say 8 months? Hard to believe that much time has passed already!!! We’re still planking every day to honor my hubby and his troops. Feel free to join in! I post every night on my FB/IG pages.
Ok time to get back to stalking my daughter’s ballet class. Lol!! This makes being on the go since 6 am a little easier to tolerate.
Did you watch the marathons last weekend or know of anyone who ran?
How do you keep your motivation when life crazies get in the way?
209 days ago my husband left for his deployment. 209. That’s a long. Freaking. Time.
We’ve had a lot of heart ache. A lot of growth. A lot of struggle. Many steps forward lead to even more steps taken backward. But always deciding to move forward regardless.
But every day we started anew. Sometimes with hard feelings from the argument the night before. Sometimes with such a heavy sadness that the physical ache in my chest started to concern me. But almost always we started with a hug, a kind word or just the presence of each other as we started our day. Together. Me and my girls.
My girls are my tribe. I see that so very clearly now. Looking back on wasted energy and jealousy of those who had these amazing groups of friends and social life makes me a little sad. Why would I not just look right in front of me? Despite all of our conflict these girls are my constant. My reason for being at least for now. They won’t always need me but they do now. And I’m thankful for that. Because together we keep moving forward.
30 weeks. Broken toilets, house repairs, teenage drama, work stress, heart breaks, missed holidays and birthdays, missed life events and everything that could go wrong that went wrong. And we’re still movin’ my friends.
Take that deployment curse.
And yes. I fixed my power washer all by myself and washed the deck and windows tonight to celebrate.
Because I can do hard things. Even when I think I can’t.
This morning my eldest daughter and I had a fight. This is no real shocker to those that have been following my blog for a while, or for those that parent teenage daughters. As most know, the teenager is ALWAYS right and the Mom NEVER understands. The simplest question to said teen, sets off the immediate defense mode and suddenly all the progress I thought we’d made suddenly feels light years away. Sigh.
LOL!!!
Yup. That was my morning. By 0730 hrs. and not near enough coffee all I really wanted to do was go home and crawl back into my nice warm bed so I could listen to the rain and make the world go away. But, that isn’t how real life works now, is it…so when I got the email just an hour later from my husband that he had gotten promoted to Captain I did my best to put on my game face and email him back huge congrats while I was still fighting back emotions from the fight earlier with my teen. But my initial thoughts weren’t so pretty…cuz I suck like that sometimes.
My initial thoughts were “of course you got promoted, you go off and do everything required and then some for the Army while I am at home with the kids managing on my own, dealing with mornings like this so you can progress in your career and I am tired of being last, tired of being alone, tired of raising this family by myself, I miss running, I miss my friends, I miss US.” And then I sat in my office and cried. Happy tears for him, sad tears for me that I think so selfishly sometimes. But I’ve always done what’s required of me. First for 20 years for my country, and now, the last 5 1/2 years I’ve put any career aspirations on hold for my family. And every now and then, those thoughts come up and the resentment creeps up, and I wonder…will my time every come, or is my destiny to sit in the back seat? Cuz I really don’t enjoy it back here most days.
So, to turn my mood around I texted my teen trying to reconcile our argument with less than successful results but we are at least talking. I also made sure to go and tell ALL my coworkers of my husband’s promotion to celebrate the occasion which always makes me feel better. I really AM so happy and excited for him despite my little moment. My emotions have just been out of whack due to very little communication with him, so when you add on a fight with my teen I suppose I deserve a little break. At least I recognized it quick, and have moved on from it.
But in all honestly, deployment hardships are very real. This isn’t a business trip to Tahoe, or a conference in San Diego for a few days. This is a year long deployment and I think we’ve experienced every emotion possible. I say this, to remind myself I deserve a little slack to, ya know?
Yup.
So here’s a shout out to all my fellow Army wives, keeping it real and getting it done-every darn day, and a shout out to my hubby for never giving up on his dreams and getting his well deserved promotion.
How do you turn a bad moment around? Ever have to put on your happy face for someone else despite being in a horrible mood yourself?
Holidays, birthdays, special days in general are tough for us. There’s no “stop time” button when it comes to deployment. So we keep on keeping on. Jordyn had piano lessons tonight and Sophia had ballet. (oh and the dog decided to roll in skunk pooh! Lol) I have to juggle all this with a full time job. So when Jordyn said let’s just grab Buona beef for dinner I was all about it. As we ate our meal, I noticed the couple at the table next to us. The man had a Vietnam veteran cap and veteran tee shirt on and I couldn’t help but to get tears in my eyes. I thought of my dad, Bob and my husband, Brian who selflessly serve our country. After our meal I walked over and put my hand on this man’s shoulder and outstretched my hand in thanks. He and his wife smiled from ear to ear as I thanked him for his service and explained that my Dad and husband have served. While our world is in a current state of crazy it felt so good to focus on thanks and giving back. So thank someone, remind people they make a difference and be the change you want to see in this world. #mytwocents
Sorry for my absence. This deployment thing is no joke so thought I’d share my last FB post because it sums it up to a T.
28 weeks…people ask how I do it…what it feels like to have your husband deployed for a year. I equate it to being on the beginning of a roller coaster as you start your incline…but you are facing backwards. You are going up…up..up…up…but you have no idea what is in front of you. The anxiety is at an all time high, but you have no idea how the ride will turn out. Every day, is that ride. My advice? Raise your hands up, take a deep breath, and screaaaaammmmm and laugh and embrace all that life gives you. #icandohardthings
With that, I’m still here. I’m just juggling a lot and doing what I can to keep it together for my kids. I’ve added a couple pics for fun!! We’re still Movin’ forward!!
I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t eat the greatest food last weekend. There were lots of burgers (which meant BUNS), chips, and other BBQ fare that left me a little heavier on the scale this morning. So I decided to keep dinner light, tonight.
Heat a medium sauté pan to medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and let heat for a minute or two. Next, add 1/4 cup of diced pancetta, 1 clove of garlic that’s been minced, and a cup of Brussels sprouts that have been cleaned and cut in half. Lastly, add some red pepper flakes for some heat, if you like. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 20 minutes or until the Brussels sprouts have lightly carmelized. In a separate pan, fry an egg lightly keeping the yolk runny, about 5-6 minutes.
Dinner is served!
Because everything is better with an egg on top, right?
What’s your favorite way to prepare Brussles sprouts? Do you like your eggs runny or fried hard?
Have you ever made a radical decision? Done something you never thought you’d do? Well, I have, and although it was a couple years ago I still think of the experience quite often.
If you are new to this blog, you may not know it but I LOVE to cook. It’s truly one of my biggest passions in life. To bring joy to someone through my food is something I just can’t explain. Hearing my husband sigh and moan after taking a bite of my pork roast makes me grin from ear to ear and fills my heart with such warmth.
In fact, I love it so much that someday I hope to be in the restaurant business, more so I’d love to OWN my own place.
So 2 years ago, I tried out for Master Chef. Yup, the TV show on Fox…and it was the scariest and most exciting thing that ever has happened to me minus child birth. You can read about my experience HERE. https://movinitwithmichelle.com/2014/10/13/my-masterchef-open-call-experience/ You can see my audition dish as my new cover photo!
My favorite picture from the audition! LOL
I think it was such a big deal, because I hadn’t ever stepped outside of my comfort zone like that before and just WENT FOR IT. As I was watching it last night on TV, I couldn’t help and smile through my tears. While of course I didn’t make it to the show, I knew truly how these contestants were feeling.
I hope to make that jump again one day, in regards to a career move. I am waiting until my husband returns from his deployment, but let me tell you…when he does, it’s ON!
In trying to keep with my “lower” carb diet, I’ve been playing around with my “zoodler” more often. Here’s the one I have, click here. Tonight’s dish was a hit!
Recipe:
1 large zucchini, zoodled
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bag of pre-cooked large shrimp, thawed (remove tails)
1 jar of red sauce, use your favorite!
Basil, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper
1/3 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
Here’s what you’ll do:
Heat 2 tablespoons of EVOO in a non stick skillet, add your garlic, onions and red pepper flakes and sauté until the onions are translucent, being careful not to burn the garlic; 3-4 minutes. Add in the jar of sauce, herbs and salt and pepper and let simmer for 25 minutes. In the last five minutes add in your shrimp to heat through, and get a second sauté pan heated on medium high heat with 1 tablespoon of EVOO. Next, add in your zucchini, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese and sauté for 3-4 minutes or until al dente, making sure the zoodles aren’t mushy!
Enjoy!
Have you tried a zoodler yet? What’s your favorite low carb meal!
Have a great night everyone! If you try any of my recipes, please share your feedback!
Tonight’s Sunday supper was cooked as more of a therapy session for me than anything. The two things I love to do most when I am feeling stressed are run, and cook. Since I had just gone grocery shopping after work today, I decided cooking a nice Sunday supper would be a good idea since my goal was to cook something new each week!
There’s no real “recipe” for this dish, but here goes. Season your ribs with your favorite BBQ seasoning, salt, pepper and a touch of lime juice. Heat your cast iron skillet with a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to a high heat and sear the ribs on each side. Reduce heat and cook through until done.
For the cucumber salad, use your peeler and make long strips of cucumber (discard the outer green part) that will look almost like a wide fettuccini noodle. Place in a bowl. Season with salt, pepper, 1 tablespoon of yogurt and lime zest. Let chill for 30 minutes.
The asparagus I simply sautéed in extra virgin olive oil in a pan with salt, pepper, and minced garlic. YUM!
Dinner is served!
My sous chef!
The rest of my week was pretty blah. My workouts were minimal besides my daily plank due to work stress, school starting, and my little one catching strep on her second day of school. I’m hoping next week is better! I’m linking up with Holly and Tricia for their weekly wrap. Please run over and give their amazing pages some support!
Movin' it with Michelle 