Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman

Getting Ready+ More Outside + Friday Favorites

This is our last week of really staying at home with online school ending and in person starting next Monday. I am so proud of Cannon and how well he did but I also know he will get so much more in class, with his teachers and friends.

Cannon dancing to their warm up song

I will miss the lazy mornings for sure but also getting outside to walk to school and more of a schedule will probably do us all some good.

We’ve been playing outside a lot and I really hope that continues once school starts because 1000 hours outside . My biggest worry is Emmy missing Cannon, although I know she will be fine.

These two are really close and act like twins most of the time.

It’s been a while so I thought I would share some Friday Favorites:

This insulated stainless steel tumbler makes outside time more enjoyable. It does surprisingly well at keeping my coffee hot. They come in lots of colors and have lids.

These CUTE wool socks that I got for Emmy for playing outside will do great for our trip to Utah.

A Lolë Foam Roller that I got from Costco for less than $20, you can also get it online for a little more.

The kiddos are loving their chairs from Create & Kids

And this post from @yourbestrunningfriend

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What are some of your favorites from the week?

Do You Have a Growth Mindset?

One of the things that has been very impactful in my life has been learning about growth mindset.

I read the book Mindset by Carol Dweck and it was very enlightening. I highly recommend reading it if you haven’t already. Thinking of things in terms of the growth mindset impacts my teaching, parenting and hopefully it will impact my training as well.

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When I am teaching I fully believe that all of my students can master the content I am teaching. I know to the depths of my soul that with the right effort they can all do it. Even though some of them will tell me that they are not good at math and have never been able to do it (fixed mindset).

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In parenting when thinking of my children it’s easy for me to keep a growth mindset (for them). When they were learning to walk I never once thought they would never learn how, I just knew they would keep trying and some day it would just click. And they clearly felt the same, they didn’t seem bothered when they fell down they just kept trying.

It also didn’t bother them that Sally down the street started walking at 10 month and they didn’t start until 14 months. It seems that a growth mindset is our natural way of being and somehow we learn to sometimes have a fixed mindset.

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Where I struggle with overcoming a fixed mindset is for myself and lately with my training. I am trying to shift the voice in my head from things being hard, that I am not naturally good at certain things and getting discouraged to growth mindset of taking responsibility and focusing on hard work and improving.

So now I am working on shifting into a growth mindset for myself.

25 Ways to Develop a Growth Mindset

reading, researching and putting in the work. It happens to be one of the things I would really like to help my kids remember also for the rest of their lives!

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What is the last book you read that had a profound impact on your life?

Peace, Love and Mini Adventures

It’s been a quiet week around here and I am looking forward to getting back to a routine and getting out a bit more.

We have enjoyed playing in our backyard now that it isn’t covered in snow and we are feeling better. Emmy was explaining why she should be able to go over and play with the Huskies next door.

Cannon has been practicing his letters.

Cannon had gotten back into online learning but we are excited for him to go back in person next week!

Cannon had an emergency dental visit. He bashed his tooth on the ledge of his window over a month ago and one of his front teeth started to turn dark. I was pretty freaked out but Google actually helped me calm down. It’s like the tooth has a bruise and because it’s a baby tooth it will most likely just heal on it’s own.

Emerald is growing up way too fast, she looks six to me in this picture. She has also started to give up her nap.

With Cannon going back to school next week and getting back to a more normal routine I want to start Adventure Wednesdays. Cannon doesn’t have school and I don’t work on Wednesdays so I want to start planning little outings for just the three of us, Cory still has to work. Normally I would do things like museums or zoos, etc but with Covid we are still trying not to have too much exposure. So it’s my job to find little adventure that I can handle both kids doing and be covid safe.

We are enjoying some very mild weather so we want to get out and enjoy it!

Today I was blown away by all the hope, class and dignity. I was mostly in awe of Amanda Gorman, what an amazing soul.

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Any suggestions for mini adventures?

I hope you find peace and an abundance of happiness today!

Some Good Treadmill Time

I am stuck on the treadmill on the advice of my PT for who knows how long. I don’t mind the treadmill too much as long as I have some good entertainment. Below are some fun videos I have found on YouTube lately:

Great look at the Leadville 100

Beautiful scenery at the Bighorn 100

This makes me want to do UTMB REALLY bad….

Can we just hold our breath and cross our fingers that Wester States is safe to run this year?

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Found anything great to watch lately?

Easy Like Sunday Morning

It was a nice easy weekend, just trying to rest and get a few things done. Cannon started feeling sick last Monday, we quickly got a Covid test and luckily found out in about 24 hours that it was negative. While we are thrilled that we don’t have Covid, we all came down with this cold so we are trying to lay low, recover and not spread our germs. Here is our weekend in pictures:

Cannon looking cute, he needs a haircut before he goes back to school next week. When it’s long he touches it all day long meaning he is always touching his face.

Going on a hike and searching for Prairie Dogs, my kids are happiest out in nature.

Making homemade butterscotch coffee creamer.

It turned out so good, I used THIS recipe.

We went and picked up Kermit (our camper) from the storage lot, we are considering going winter camping….not sure if it will be amazing or an awful idea!

Sunday morning Cory took the kiddos for a bike ride and to play on some trails.

Give them sticks and dirt and they are happy.

I spent my morning running on the treadmill, doing PT and letting this new roller cause me pain.

I googled how many days until my race in July (fingers very crossed that we have vaccines and the world is safer by then) and it is 175 days…..doesn’t really seem like that many!

AND last but not least we met Stella, a 90 pound Bernedoodle. My brother has a Bernedoodle puppy and he is just the sweetest. I think Stella stole my heart.

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How was your weekend?

What is your favorite dog breed?

Bucket List – Just a Start

I was looking through my old pages and found a bucket list I had started a few years ago. I am happy to say some of the items have been checked off but it also inspired me to think about more things I wanted to add to our bucket list. The idea is that this will always be a living document, adding things as they come up and taking some things off if they no longer make sense.

Travel

Races/Endurance

Family + Etc.

I need to add more to the family list and some professional/education goals but I think right now I am just dreaming of all of the travel and adventures we haven’t been able to do in the last year.

What is on your bucket list? What am I missing? Would love to hear about yours!

More Good News + Looking Back

Cannon finished another week of distance learning, Emmy was there for moral support as well.

We got good news this week that our school district thinks it’s safe enough to go back to school in person. I am a little nervous about exposure to Covid but I know that Cannon thrives when he gets to go to school.

So next week will be our last week online. We have some work to do to get back to a routine that include school! We have been getting up later than usual (closer to 7am) and having lazy mornings. Cannon’s Zoom class doesn’t start until 9:30 AM and we have to leave for school at 7:35 AM. Next week I am going to try to ease us into 7:30 AM walks and getting ready earlier so we will be more prepared.

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I was looking through pictures from this time last year and missing how full life was then. Looking forward to hopefully life returning to look more like this:

Going Swimming, gymnastics, attending birthday parties, indoor play areas, seeing our friends most days and shopping inside stores….just to name a few.

Dillion Ice Castles – 2021

We were so happy to get to go to the Ice Castles in Dillion again this year. It was hard to get tickets this year so we were lucky to snag some.

Dillion is about an hour and half from home for us and it worked out that Emmy napped for most of the drive and Cannon was happy to hang out with us and then play on his tablet while Emmy slept.

They suggest that you wear full snow gear and require masks this year.

When we arrived, it was pretty cold (19 degrees) and windy, inside the castles it was a little more protected.

There are lots of fun things for kids of all ages but strollers do not work here. Cannon and Emmy are big enough to walk or be carried but some people with very little ones were pulling them in sleds and that was very cute.

The kids favorite was the multiple ice slides that are in the castles and the ice caves you can walk through.

The castles are beautiful and just fun to see. Emmy kept asking where Elsa was.

We spent a little over an hour at the castles before deciding we were cold enough and decided to head home.

We would have loved to have visited one of the many cool breweries or restaurants in the area but with Covid we haven’t been eating inside restaurants. So we grabbed take-out and ate in the car on the way home.

We had a wonderful time and suggest going to the Ice Castles to anyone, kids of all ages seemed to love it and young couples would enjoy this as a romantic outing.

We went last year with my parents when the kids were one and three and had the best time!

It Was a Good Day

After a string of meh days……today was a good day. We got good news, we went on a family adventure and kept the kids out past their bedtime. I think I was feeling pandemic fatigue and today really helped to lift my spirits. We got home late so I will share more tomorrow about our adventure.

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Are you feeling some pandemic fatigue?

When was your last really good day?

A Few Bright Spots

Things are not exactly bright in our world or country lately but there have been a few things that have been little bright lights for me lately and I thought I would share.

The Pistachio Latte from Starbucks is a nice change up from the usual.

Our trampoline that the kids use almost everyday to get some energy out.

A rocket launcher that our cousins got Cannon, he LOVES it!

Kara and Nate’s travel channel. We can’t travel much right now so watching someone else travel feels like a little bit of freedom. Plus it can help inspire future trips.

Lastly these clogs have been my favorite addition this winter. They are lined and keep my feet warm and happy. Easy to throw on when running out on an errand or just around the house.

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While these are just things I have been trying to look for the good as much as possible lately. I believe if you look for the good in life, you are sure to find it.

What is something that has made you smile lately?