Quotable Quotes

“Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.”
~ E.L. Doctorow

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.

- Oscar Wilde

Month of November

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

A Love Letter to My Husband...


Img_2027
How do I love you? Let me count the ways...
I love that even though you work 50-70 hours a week, you still come home in the evening and play with our kids - who have been missing you like crazy all day long and loudly proclaim it.
I love that you unload AND load the dishwasher when I ask you out of desperation as I'm frantically trying to finish dinner in time for us to eat BEFORE the kids have to go to bed.
I love that you don't say a word when your work pants haven't been washed for two weeks and you still manage to wear them two or three times before I get to the lingering piles of laundry - that you trip over when you come home late from work.
I love that you have been patient with my mood swings, hormonal changes, and depressive phases - and you still want to have more babies with me even knowing what pregnancy does to said hormones and mood swings.
I love that you experiment with making food - and you don't give up until you actually make me something that's edible.
I love that you decided to shave your face until we got out of debt - even though you know I like you better with the facial hair.
I love that you are okay with me staying home and writing instead of using the degree I got into debt to get - so that some day in the future, I might actually bring in an income from the career of my dreams. Even though said debt is being paid off by your 50-70 hours a week.
I love that you said amen at the end of your speech at our wedding. Regardless of how much it made me laugh, it was SO apropos. So let it be...
I love that you are so desperate to be a good father to your daughter and son that you are willing to bend over backwards for them - even when you are tired and worn out.
I love that you don't care whether the housework is done as long as our kids are taken care of and loved - and my writing gets done...
I love that you read my stories - or force me to read them to you. It's good practice.
I love you for your off the wall humor and your visionary, questing spirit.
I love you.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

It's Official...

296469_585022584750_789713226_n
I am now a Tough Mudder. I completed an 11.5 mile course of obstacles - some built for speed, stamina, endurance, and strength. Others were built JUST for the sake of torture and pain. I did it. I accomplished what I once imagined to be an impossible feat - for me - and I conquered my fears. By God's amazing Grace.

Electric wires harnessing 10,000 volts of pure energy just waiting for an unsuspecting fool to waltz through?

Not a problem...in fact, my lower back hasn't experienced any pain or discomfort since. That was almost three weeks ago.

Running straight up a 20 foot tall half pipe that's been drenched in mud and sweat?

Easy. You just keep running and DON'T - under any circumstance - stop.

15 foot drop into a muddy pool of icy water?

After an initial wig out, you just jump and make sure your eyes are closed when you hit the water - which feels like a cold block of marble.

Miles of slogging through dark, smelly mud, some of it up to your waist? Fording a river whose bottom is either not touchable or so slimy you wonder if you're going to get some sort of disease from the muck - so you don't touch it anyway? Jumping into a literal ice bath and actually having to dunk your head under to get past a wooden board? Running uphill in a zigzag fashion as you bake in the sun or shiver in the cool breeze, hoping that you'll lose the five pounds of mud you gained along the way? Choking and hacking through a field of burning hay when your eyes are stinging and your lungs feel like they're being flame-broiled?

Yup. I CAN and DID do that! :)

And I loved every exhausting, exhilarating minute of it.

The only thing I could come close to describing that sensation of accomplishment and triumph was wrapped up in the emotional high I got right after delivering our two beautiful children into the world.

On top of the world. :-)

The best part about this run though?

I contributed to an amazing and rewarding organization dedicated to ministering to Wounded Warriors. Tough Mudder supports fallen soldiers and veterans whose lives have been forever altered by war. Having MANY family members who've served in our military, I can say that this was deeply personal for me. While I may never fight in the frontlines, I wanted this run to be my memorial to the family and friends who HAVE. I actually wrote a poem in honor of my veterans, though for purposes of publication, I cannot publish it on here until after November. I hope to be able to share it with my readers once the rights have reverted back to me!

To my family and friends who've given their all to fight for my freedoms, I honor your sacrifice.

I hope to run again next year! And every year after that for as long as my body allows.