The Final Countdown--Junior Year Addition

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After Spring Break, mom always makes a countdown calendar to mark off the days left until we are out for summer.  This year, I don't know who was ready for summer more, mom or me.  I've always heard that junior year is the worst, but at first I didn't believe it.  Then second semester came.  Changed my mind.  It was true for me, too.

 

Looking back, yeah it was really rough, but there's always diamonds in the rough.  If not diamonds, maybe a shiny rock or two.

You gotta take the best of what life gives you.

It's always good when a day starts with poop, right?

 

These are some great pictures that I found from a race we ran at Dobyns-Bennett!  The first couple days after a race, I always look forward to going online and looking at all the pictures people have posted.

On my way to a 3200 victory...with an untied shoe.
Chantal, Cherie, and I have come together to create some epic pictures this year in xc and track.

Chemistry got tough at times, but my teacher was what kept me going!  I was so thankful to have Mrs. Heflin to keep us entertained while teaching us what we needed to know, too.  This lab wasn't really that educational, but the rest of them were.  We roasted smores on bunson burners, so that's still a chemical reaction!

 

Timehop makes me happy.
So does my doggie.

This is kinda my usual pumpkin oatmeal stuff, but no pumpkin.  I woke up to find that the pumpkin was moldy. But it was race day, so I had to improvise!  Carrots were close enough.  Not bad either.

Selfie with a fish on shopping trip after a track meet.

Yes, I asked a stranger in the bathroom at Bass Pro Shops if I could take a picture of her shirt.

 

 

It makes me happy to see people I know (and people that I don't know) out running while I'm driving around town.  Here's Michael on the left and Mrs. Bowen on the right.  These were a few days apart, but at the same place!
Have no fear; I was stopped at a red light.

Track buses are too much.

Friday night lights
Late night 3200 at Dobyns-Bennet was worth it.  It was past my bedtime before we even started, but under those lights, running feels like flying.
Getting to do things like this may be stressful, take my sleep, make me sore, and so much more, but moments like this, looking out at an almost empty track because it is so late make me think about how much of a blessing it is to get to do this thing that so few people get to do.  For most, running (especially fast) is a "have to."  For me, it's a "want to" and a "get to."

Between D-B and Morristown, especially at 11:30 at night, there is not much to pick from.  Sonic came to the rescue being open until 2am, so we grabbed sandwiches and me a blast on the way home.  It was late, but I also had an early morning ahead...see below...

After getting in bed after 1:00am, I had to wake up extra early to go to school to take the ACT.  It made it not so bad, though, since I got to see one of my friends from church in my testing room!

Some fancy flapjacks
caramel banana

Sub-deb meeting:  to dress up or nah?
When meetings are in the middle of Sunday afternoons, the few people who come come wearing whatever is convienient.

Excuse my selfie, but I was excited about my hair and stuff.

Munk Packs are an awesome, tasty, healthy, portable snack that I found on The Feed and have tried a couple flavors!  It's like fruit and oatmeal in a squeeze pack.  It may sound weird, but it is delicious!  One of their main things they focus on these products is that they can be taken on any adventure the day may lead you to!

With Chemistry and AP tests studying overload, I was sick of it.  My toenails also hadn't been painted since Christmas, so since it had gotten to be flip flop wearing time, my toenails kinda ruined it.  Mom came to the rescue one night and painted them for me!
Just like the good ole days when I was a little tot.  Only now, my feet are the definition of runner's feet.

Being on the yearbook staff saved my life sometimes this year.  It was a fun addition to each day because I love pictures, and it also gave me time to do other things at the beginning of the year and after the book was submitted.  One day I had a doctor's appointment right after school, so I got to go out to the track and do it during 4th block!  The speed workout actually went by pretty fast out there by myself.  Accept for the construction crew building the freshman academy.  Shoutout to them for letting me use their porta potty. 

20x200.  I had to wear two watches to have a rolling time to know every 2 minutes and the other for a stop and start on the 200 each I ran.

An even bigger blessing came from this opportunity.  The longer I was out there, the windier it got and the darker the sky looked.  On the last few reps, sprinkles began to fall.  By the time I finished my cool down, it had turned into a drizzle.  The team was just coming out to stretch.  Leaving the school parking lot, it started pouring.  Down the road, lightning and thunder.  A few minutes later, sunshine and hail, big hail!  And yes, sunshine and hail are in the same sentence because they occured at the same time.  This crazy weather pattern continued for about an hour.  The team ended up not even getting to do any of the workout!  Not only was I thankful to have gotten the whole thing done--in dry weather--I got done early, too!

One of my friend/teammates Emily took this picture as the sun was setting at one of our home track meets.  Pink skies are just another peaceful picture from the Lord.

 

Hey look, it's another Lord!
One Sunday, Jessica and I did a run from my house to Ingles, just about 3 miles, to give us a chance to recover our legs a bit and our minds.  We had a fun time just talking while we ran!  I'm thankful to have fun friends who are there to just hear me out and I can listen to them, too!  Her sister Emily met us there, and we got some fruit off the salad bar and drinks from Starbucks!

Being common white girls.
Whenever I post something cliche, it's usually mocking it.

I wanted to do a little something to put a bright spot in some other people's day (hopefully), so we decorated some sticky notes with Bible verses and such and stuck them around places in the store!  We also shared stuff and prayed with each other.

Jessica wrote this one, and it was perfect!  There were 3 of us!

The social club I am in, Sub Debs, has a hell week for the pledges (freshmen) each year.  Now as an upperclassman, I look forward to it because one of the parts of hell week is gifts!  Every day, each pledge has a couple upperclassmen girls to call and ask them for something they want.  I got free snacks or a drink every day!  This is Emily in her outfit for the week and the cookies and drink she got me.  She was a real trooper!

The past two years, the cross country team has been invited to the Citizen Tribune Hall of Fame banquet where we get to eat some delicious food, socialize, dress up, and get recognized.  This year, there was a different part of the night that made it so great.  The guest speaker was Nick Reviez who played football at UT and professionally.  His testimony was amazing.  I can't explain how much it related to my life.  God knew that I really needed to hear that from someone else other than just His Word.

During the earlier parts of his football life, he had a thought that filled his mind quite often, "What if I fail?"  He put a lot of pressure on himself.  I did and thought the exact same things.
There were all these things he worried about--college, scholarships, etc--just as I was stressed over, too.  But he said, "I need to stop worrying about all these things that I wasn't created to worry about.  I was made to be faithful with today, to trust Him."  It was like he was telling me to stop worrying about all my worries!  I was given my gifts as a runner to bring Him glory, not to stress over.  I don't need to fear failing or losing running; it's just a race.  When I make it more than that to bring myself glory, God disciples me to get my focus back.
Another thing he hit on was control.  He said, "I've got no control at the end of the day.  God's in control of everything."  I like to make things happen my way, but that's not a good mindset to have.  It's always God's way.
Finally, he ended with how using what we've been given to bring God glory brings us pure joy.  Joy joy joy!  I feel like we were the same person, just two different ages, sports, and genders.  I just hope to be able to share how God has worked in my heart like Nick did.
I was so excited down in my heart that I had to go talk to him and take a picture with him afterwards.
A couple verses he referenced:  Isaiah 40:6-8 and Matthew 6:33
I'm sure you can find all kinds of information on him if you just pop his name in that Google search box, but here is a video of his testimony.

Another pancake:  dark chocolate

The pastel M&Ms were a nice change up to see

 This comic is true in a couple different ways.  Many kids see school as a prison, myself included at times.  The location of my school makes it basically like prison, too, because we are smack-dab in the middle of the projects.  It is a sketchy area.  Morristown West keeps us on our toes.

 

 

So there's what I had saved from spring break to May!
Basically lots of footsteps, faith, food, and school with a little bit of friends and fun in there, too!

The Last Full Week

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If you don't live around where I do, you may not understand the agony of having to start a new school year the first week of August, which is one of the most beautiful-weather months of the year. But around here, we do a lot of things that don't make sense, and school-scheduling is one of them. When I started uploading pictures for this post, it was Saturday, July 27th, when we had one full week of summer left and just a couple days beyond that. I feel like I haven't had any summer yet because I've been so busy!

I finally got to have a weekend that felt like it was actually summer!  After Chantal and Cherie's party and my run home, I fixed a yummy pancake breakfast before heading to the lake. We got out pretty late, but it was a good day to because there wasn't that many friends out. I skied once, but it was pretty bumpy. Later, we drove some more and found a place in German Creek (Bean Station) with amazing water!  There I skied a long run down and back and loved it!  Skiing is such a rush. It's so different from the other activities I do and gives me a chance to sing to the top of my lungs without anyone hearing me. 

I usually have almost every weekend like this, but this year has been a lot different. This day was like a flashback, especially with the sleepover.

Pretty white duck!  Around here, those are uncommon. We usually have the wild, dark-colored ones.

I am the queen of fresh fruit!  Here I was munching on a nectarine from our local farmers' market.

Do you see how full this calendar is?  This isn't all either. Never a dull moment...I try to make it colorful, literally and figuratively (calendar and life)!

I thought this news shot from Knoxville looked intimidating. I recently made a tweet of "50 shades of Morristown's weather." True. All in one day. Sunday night, even had terrible storms with thunder, constant lightning, pouring rain, hail and funnel clouds in some areas.

Dad's spaghetti is the bomb!  It's not very Italian, we say, but more like "American style" with beef, onions, bell peppers, celery, tomatoes, and lots of spices!  It was a beautiful night to eat out on the porch. 

Post-run pumpkin pancake with pumpkin seeds to add a crunch and some sausage to add protien to refuel my muscles. Two-a-days call for yummy, yet fulfilling breakfasts. 

This comic says what always in the back of my mind with being a Christian athlete, especially with the competitive opportunities I have been graciously given. 

During the summer, I love to soak up every last bit of sunshine I can!  I am a summer-lover more than any weather. Most days, I am outside until dinner is served. 

True. 

True times two. 

Fast-Food is nasty. 

My grandparents are so cute!  I love when they come for dinner or when we go see them. 

Doing all this extra running this summer requires extra food. One way I get that in at night after my workouts are done is making protein smoothies and shakes!  My friends and I love to smapchat each other all our flavors and creations!

Sophie is such a funny kitty. We love to watch her climb around crazy places at home!  She has great balance. 

Crazy things...this is at the major intersection in Morristown. He is on top of his car, no shirt, with a huge knife. We won't go into details.

I am in love with my honey vanilla maple protein shakes!  They are especially great after an especially tough day of running or workouts to add extra fuel between dinner and dessert.  The flavor is addicting and the texture perfectly like a milkshake!

These are a new one for me!  I got them for when I need a little something more, but don't have a lot of time to whip up a lot.  They are yummy and fast, but not a lot of calories or fat.  Just a great sweet treat!

Yay for indian runs on one-person-width trails!  Coach Farmer sends us on the most unsmart things (in our opinion) sometimes, like having to pass people where there is obviously no room to pass!  I took a face plant this morning.  My knees are already terribly scarred, so I told him that it just added to the decorations.

As I have mentioned, I have become addicted to coconut.  For a tasty re-and-pre-fuel breakfast, I whipped up cream of wheat, coconut flakes (which add a nice crunch and texture), coconut extract, and dark chocoloate protein shake.

Every once and a while, I get an email from Survey Monkey Contribute informing me that I have a new survey available to take.  I used to love taking surveys when I was younger, and still do, so it is even better when a little bit of my time benefits others!  On this site, you can choose an organization, and money will be donated to them whenever you take one of the surveys.

I have not tried this limited batch flavor, but I think it would be in my grocery cart if it was sold in stores near me.  Peanut Butter & Co makes what I think is one of the best nut butters available. 

They teamed up with Turkey Hill to make a banana peanut butter ice cream with their Smooth Operator peanut butter!

I just love my Sunday school/small group!  My college leader, Jenna, who you can check out her Twitter life now as you see her above, cracks me up every time her presence is around.  She has been dieting and trying to live healthier, and tweeted this at me one afternoon.  Made my day!

Another thing we thought was just crazy for Coach Farmer to tell us to do was, well, hard to explain.  We have a time trial, which I was lucky to miss because of camp, at the beginning of June that goes on our Panther Creek 5k course.  There had been terrible wind and storms lately, which is when Farmer loves to put us on trails.  Why, we do not know.  He says it makes us better, physically and mentally stronger.  You can't even imagine how messed up the trail was.  I wish I had pictures.  Trees down everywhere, mud slick spots, and mud puddles.  It was steeplechase along one point where I hurdled three consecutive trees.  We also had to crawl through/under some others.  It is safe to say that times were not accurate.  We split into two teams to race it.  Another thing to throw us off, we did it entirely backwards.  The way we had to work that also made it almost a quarter mile or so longer.  The winning team, pictured above, got monkeys that link together.  Now we have them to pass around the team when people succeed all season.

One of my running friends from nearby Greeneville recently moved to Florida, and I saw a picture of where they were featured in their town's newspaper!

One of my friend's daddy makes best with me at the big post season race, Footlocker South Region, each year that I run it, that if I beat a certain time, he owes me dessert. Well, after about 8 months, here it is!  Katlyn called me up and they treated me to Sweet CeCe's frozen yogurt!

The store we have in Morristown is not done by weight, but a flat rate cup, although it is still self serve. I got two different sized cups. One doesn't do for me after summer days. 

It's so cute in our Sweet CeCe's store!

Happy friends must have their photo taken!

This is the monkey that I have for being on the winning team!  (By now it has been passed on to several others)

 

 

 

Here are some goofy pictures of the people who were in charge of bringing me my phone down to the pool to play a "game" in the parking lot. #Blackmail

Why waste the beautiful sunshine doing core work inside, when you could be outside soaking up the sun?

A tasty breakfast I whipped up post/rerun this summer: vanilla almond coconut cream of wheat, using the new Blue Diamond Toasted Coconut almonds chopped, almond with coconut, almond coconut blend milk and a tad of flavoring extract. 

I redownloaded my vine account so that I could add a funny team video, and I later went back to look at my old videos. I had totally forgotten many of these memories!  It's so great to go back and have things to look and laugh at!

 

I just love garlic!  Not only the taste, but the smell as well. Call me weird if you want. 

 

New dinner recipe!   Chicken salad, healthy and nutritious, accompanied by another one of my favorites, roasted vegetables.

Each year, our cross country team hosts a race at our state park, Panther Creek, in order to raise money for our booster club. It's a 5k called the Trojan Trek. Team members are allowed to run, but most choose to work it, since we run at the park pretty much every day. 

Azalia is the kitty-cat-finder!  She found one at a track meet in the spring, now a race in the summer!  Jessica was dying to take it home. 

What a beautiful day to spend a little time in, God's creation-the outside and the Bible!

I sent this to my friend because, at this point, we considered that seriously sleeping in!

Sunday was the annual Sub Deb Pledge Tea, where we welcome all the freshmen girls and their mothers who come along into our club. These pictures are of the girls at my table and the group of junior actives. Each year the Morristown Country Club is the location for the occasion, and everyone dresses up all fancy. Truthfully, we are not all that fancy, except for a few of us. 

After the tea, I headed out to the lake where my family had already gone and taken the boat. I wasn't too concerned about making it a long day; I consider a successful lake day one with a great, long waterski!  And that's what I did. 

I have recently signed up for the Spartan Race food and Workout of the Day emails, and I am really enjoying it!  I haven't done any workouts yet, but I plan to in the cross country off season. The foods, however, can go year round!  Each week, they choose a food to be the base for each day's recipe. 

I was not about to lose that key or let it flop around. That would be either tragic or annoying. Luckily, it was neither. 

For some reason, I got on a juice kick, so I bought three flavors at one time!  It took me a while to get them all drank!

I am usually looking forward to the start of school, but not anymore. I love summer life and being free, and school is just not so motivating anymore. 

One thing that got me moving on the first day back was the first XC Bible study at Chick-fil-a for the year!  They have new coffees now, too, straight from Farmers to help them out. 

I agree. I do not want to eat food if it's not for the taste!

Post-long-run-on-the-first-day-of-school pancakes!  I did a little over 14 miles, 9 of which were with two teammates. 

We have a secret sister thing on our team, and today I was super pumped to get a first day of school gift!

School is on the go, and now I have NO FREE TIME. However, I feel led to share my life, so I will do my best to keep posting when I can.