2+1/2 Weeks and Counting

After the break for Good Friday, we had 2 and a half weeks left.  It doesn't seem like long, but there was way too much to do in that little bit of time.  We made it though!

Saturday, May 3rd was our IMAC conference track meet that we hosted at school.  It was a nice sunny day, but not too warm, and pretty windy.  I got some sun, but since the temps were only in the 60s and there was wind, I never really broke a sweat.  The races this season always start out with the 4x800, and I was a part of it sometimes.  I'm not a very good short-distance runner, but I'm trying to get there.  For this meet, we had two regulars from this event then Haylea and me as well.  I did get my best time in this event so far, so that was an improvement.  I love this picture of us as conference champs!  On the right is Emily, one of the best 800 runners in the state, then Haylea who is going to King University in the fall to run cross country and track, then me, and Cherie who has one more year with Emily and me in high school.  Later in the afternoon, I also claimed wins and conference records in the 1600 and 3200.  It was a beautiful day!  This meet was actually done before dinner time, so we had time to relax, eat, and get home at a normal time!

Monday morning was my first AP test for this year in Psychology.  An awesome thing my school does when a student has an AP test is excusing them from any other classes for the day.  So if you have an afternoon test, you can just walk in around lunch time, or if you have a morning test, you can just leave when you're done!  AP Psychology was the afternoon test on this day, so I slept in a little then went on my run for the day.  Then I came home and ate lunch/breakfast before leaving for school.  The test seemed easier than I expected, which is always a good thing to see on test day!

I am a part of a social club at my school called Sub Debs, and each year we have a "hell week" for the new pledges, freshmen.  This year they had to dress up like grandma's for the week-no make up or showers either.  (If you play a sport, you can rinse).  Each day, the girls have 2 people that they have to bring a small gift of their choosing.  The first day, I got a gift from one of my since-preschool best friend's little sister, Gracey, who is a sweetheart.  I asked her the day before for a Luna Smores protein bar and her favorite Bible verse, which you can see is Proverbs 17:17.

Day 2 of hell week was from another girl I have known a long time through basketball and cross country and track with her and her brother, Quintin.  Abby is also super sweet and cheery, so I was excited to have her on my call list!  I asked her for some fresh pineapple and a Bible verse, and she also included a little note with it.  Her verse was Ephesians 4:32.

Wednesday's gift was a box of Honey Nut Cheerios!  Each day, I wanted a gift that I knew I would have bought sometime anyways, so I would just save myself a few bucks.  I love my cereal.

Since I am only a sophomore, my gift-receiving only went through Thursday, but Molly, who I go to church with, brought me 2 of my favorite drinks:  Yumberry Pomegranate Life Water. 

The next Tuesday, I had another AP test in Government and Politics.  This test was in the morning, so I got to leave when I finished.  One of my best friends, Katlyn, and I decided to go ahead and do our speed workout before lunch so we could get done and get home.  It was the hottest, most humid day we had so far in the year, and I could tell!  I got sunburt, too, even only being out there around and hour and a half.  It was a combination in 4 sets of 600s, 400s, and 200s.  The elementary schools also had some of their "top athletes" there competing against each other in their first annual elite fitness day, where they did all kinds of running events.  Katlyn and I got to see many people we know, including parents and kids, even Katlyn's little sister and our beloved cross country coach who has a daughter who was also out there running.  That being said, we had lots of spectators for our workouts.  Katlyn would be racing different events than I would be, so we did our own workouts, but were still there to encourage each other, and got to talk to Coach Farmer in between reps, which helped us feel better going through it.  He was a pleasant surprise!  By the end of that workout, I was exhausted!  After that I went home to grab some lunch, then cleaned up and got ready to go to Regency to have dinner with my grandmother, this beautiful lady in orange.

I have so many great memories with this woman.  She is such a strong lady who has been through so much.  I never got to meet her husband because he died before my mom even got to meet him, and she has been through 3 rounds of cancer.  It has made her much weaker and slower day by day, but I still think she is precious.  I enjoy getting to visit her and see her smile and be so glad to see me.  All her friends there enjoy my company, too.  She always says their food is really bad, but I don't think all of it is!  Hopefully me being there eating it will help her think it isn't so bad.  They provide great care at Regency.  This picture actually came from a visit the week before this, when I went to the annual mother-daughter banquet.

Sweet and simple, we as children of God are called to "live a life of love."

Finding new, yummy, healthy additions to my meals always interests me.  Bolthouse Farms is a great brand I've gotten a lot from over the past year, and anything with honey draws my attention, so I got this yogurt honey mustard dressing to have with my grilled chicken salads!

World Vision, where I sponsor a young girl in Ecuador, did a twitter hashtag #WorldVisionSponsor to get "selfies" of sponsors holding pictures of their children to share on their website on Facebook page.  This is the picture I tweeted holding pictures of Alicia and her family.

I just think my dog is so cute, even though he gets absolutely disgusting rolling in the dirt at home.  However, he does clean up nice after a bath.

Breakfast, Birthday, and a Ski Trip

I got to sleep in for my last time for a while, unfortunately.  I just love to sleep.  I did some exercises, then around an early lunch time, I fixed this hearty healthy "brunch" to power me up for the day ahead and refuel from the night and workout.  I told my mom it was great because I got almost everything in one bowl.  Protein from egg whites and almond butter, fruit goodness from a banana, whole grains from cream of wheat and oatmeal, and healthy fats from the almond butter.  Adding eggs was an idea I got from Carrots 'N' Cake blog. 

Yum!

Saturday, January 4th, was the birthday of a little girl named Alicia who I sponsor through World Vision.  When I was in 8th grade, my parents surprised me with tickets to a Casting Crowns concert as part of my birthday present.  During intermission, this organization was the "entertainment" for a lack of better terms.  It seemed like something I really wanted to do, and it is not too expensive.  All it takes is $35 a month, and you get to help a child learn and grow in life in and in Christ.  My parents and I decided that each month would come from my $20 of allowance and the other $15 from Mom's unlimited car wash pass.  (Who needs that many car washes per month!? haha)  Our letters have been coming back and forth pretty quickly recently.  Above is the translated letter.

Here is the letter Alicia wrote herself back home in Rio Verde, Ecuador.  Since I have been through Spanish I so far in school, I can read almost her entire letters without the translated one!  That makes me so excited!  There are a few words in some sentences that I don't know, but by using context clues, I can figure out the general message of the entire letter.  I can't wait to hopefully one day get to talk to her in person.

Here she is!  12 year old Alicia!

Around 2 in the afternoon, Dad and I left for Cataloochee in North Carolina.  It is fairly close, only around an hour and 15 minutes in traffic with nothing crazy holding it up, so we always get season passes.  Conditions are iffy here, like most places that are mostly man-made snow, but Saturday (and many others) was one of those days when I just don't want to leave!  Snow skiing is my #2 love, behind running.  I've been a skier since I was 4, and I hope to do it the rest of my life!  Going down the mountain on a good snow day is such a rush and another way to experience the beauty of God's nature.

This is a view from the top before we went in for dinner.

Now, this isn't the one I ate, but this picture is for explaining purposes.  This is literally the best protein/granola bar I have ever tasted in my life.  Olympia Granola had several flavors in the gift shop at Cataloochee, but the Turtle Mocha was calling my name...and still is.  I want another one. They are quite pricey though.  One bar is 2 hearty servings, but it is just too yummy to put down.  This flavor had ingreedients like dark chocolate, honey, and espresso to give it amazing taste and health boosts, and also filled with tons of grains and nuts to get you going, too.

On the way home, I broke into some more dark chocolate.  I always go for the dark because it's not too sweet, and it is healthier, too.  Milky Way and Snickers both make wonderful dark chocolate versions that I like to keep on hand!