Resolution Results

Way back near the beginning of the year, I posted my resolutions for 2012. I haven't looked at them in awhile, to be honest. Let's see how I did.

1. Run a marathon - Check!
2. Read 12 books (one a month) - Check and Check! I did read 12 books this year, although not quite one a month. I got busy during my clinical and didn't read any books in October or November, but I made up for it by reading a lot of books in the summer.
3. Become a member of my church - Fail. I've been in and out of Richmond so much this year, it was hard to go to church consistently. I want to join my church as soon as I'm back in Richmond more permanently.
4. Eat more fruits and veggies - I was really good about this in the beginning of the year. I ate a lot of the Steamfresh vegetables and tried to include veggies with more of my meals. Then I got into bad eating habits again for a few months. Recently I've been eating a lot of salad and loving it! The secret for me was to add a few toppings (like cheese and cranberries) and now I find I actually look forward to a salad for lunch!
5. Run a sub-2 hour half marathon - Check!
6. Drink more water - I love my Camelback water bottle and having it around has helped me with my resolution to drink more water. However, I still find that I forget to drink water throughout the day unless I have my water bottle right next to me.
7. Read through the New Testament - Fail. I haven't read my Bible at all in the past few months.
8. Memorize James 1 - Fail.
9. Do outdoor activities at every opportunity - I'm counting this as a check, but I didn't do all that I wanted to do. This year I want to go on more hikes!
10. Discover more of what Richmond has to offer - I saw the Botannical Gardens, went to Bryan Park a couple times, and went on runs through different parts of Richmond with the MTT, but next year I would love to do even more around Richmond. I missed out on some cool special exhibits at the VMFA and next year I really want to do the Tacky Lights Tour!

It's sad that I failed at all of my spiritual/religious goals for the year. I haven't been reading my Bible at all lately. I really want to read my Bible more, but sometimes I can't find the motivation to do it. I'm going to try to pick up where I left off and continue reading through the New Testament.

As for my other goals, most were partially met, although I think I was hoping for more when I wrote them. It's no surprise that the two goals I'm most proud of are related to running. This has been an awesome year of running for me! The crowning achievement was running my first marathon. It was such an amazing experience!

All in all, this last year of being a student has been pretty great. Stay tuned for 2013 Resolutions!

A year of running

2012 was a great year of running for me.

I ran 3 half marathons.

I PR'ed in the half marathon (and broke 2 hours!)

I ran two 10-mile races and loved them.

I ran my first marathon!

Hooray for a year full of fun races, PR's, and running firsts. May 2013 be just as wonderful!

The greatest gift

Merry Christmas! As we celebrate today, don't forget the real reason for the season.

I was thinking today about how stressful it is trying to buy everyone the right gift. I always want to find gifts that each person will like and use and enjoy. But sometimes it's hard to come up with that perfect gift. I was thinking about how God gave us the greatest gift, Jesus, and how he fills the greatest desires of our hearts. Jesus was what we truly needed the most, even though we didn't realize it yet. God knew how to give the best gift.

 

God still knows how to give good gifts to his children. He wants the best for us, and he knows us better than we know ourselves! He made us. He sees our deepest desires and knows what will make us truly happy. Thank you Lord for your wonderful gifts and blessings!

Dropping off...

...the face of the earth. That's what I feel like sometimes when I come home! It's incredibly wonderful being around my family, but sometimes I feel so disconnected from the rest of the world. In the past five days, this is the first time I've turned on my computer! I've enjoyed the break from social media, but I miss all my friends in Virginia too, and I feel so far away from everyone when I'm up here in Massachusetts.

Still, I wouldn't trade this time with my family for anything! I feel like the days are going by soooo fast. It feels like I just got home even though it's really been almost a week. I wish I could make it slow down because I want to spend as much time with my family as possible before I have to go back to school.

Things we've been doing this break:

• Settlers of Catan - got this board game for Christmas and love it!
• Working out - been to some fun group classes at the gym and I'm sore because of it!
• Nancy Drew - we get the computer games every year and play them together.
• Cooking - we've been trying some new recipes that have been really good.
• Impractical Jokers - most hilarious show on TV. I die laughing every time I watch it.

Yesterday my aunt and uncle and cousin came over for lunch and we had a make-your-own-salad bar. We had a bunch of toppings, including avocados, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, onions, apples, croutons, chicken, carrots, cucumbers, and 3 kinds of cheese. The toppings looked so colorful and pretty! We put everything out on the island counter and people served themselves. It ended up being one of the best salads I've ever eaten!

Tristan's Graduation

Congratulations to my friend Tristan on graduating from JMU's occupational therapy program with her Master's of Occupational Therapy!

I was able to go to Tristan's graduation last Saturday before I drove home for Christmas break. Here are some pictures from the weekend. So glad I got to be a part of it!

Can't believe she's done. Congrats Tristy!

Clinical comes to a close

Tomorrow is the last day of my clinical!

It's been a fun but exhausting few weeks in clinical. Like I said before, I really love transitional care! However, for the past few weeks we've been under-staffed and had a huge patient caseload. Also, a bunch of my patients are overweight and need maximum assistance. I've been working hard and at the end of each day, I'm tired.

Overall, it's been a great experience and I'll be sad to leave some of my patients. But I can't wait to go home and see my family! I've missed my family more than usual, because I've been living in Charlottesville and it doen't feel like home. I can't wait to go home for Christmas!!

My last day in scrubs!

My Radical Ideas

It's past my usual bedtime, but I'm not tired yet. I have the day off tomorrow, so I can afford to stay up later than usual, which means I've been surfing the web. After reading some interesting articles, I'm kind of saddened by the ideas that are valued in the news today. I'm going to take a minute to blog about some of my radical thoughts. I say "radical" because my ideas are very different from what I hear in the mainstream media, but these ideas are not extreme; actually they are traditional, conservative, and just plain common sense.

1. Socialism doesn't work as well as free market capitalism. I wish people would understand this. Sharing the wealth inevitably means taking hard-earned money from someone and giving it to someone else. Every man for himself may seem self-centered, but it promotes independence and responsibility.

2. Nothing is free. The problem with "free" health care is that it's not free. Someone has to pay for it! (And it's the people who work hard, are successful, and have higher taxes)

3. Not everyone should go to college. College should be for people who want to pursue a higher education necessary for a specific career. People who choose other career paths shouldn't have to go to college. There are plenty of jobs where a high school education would be sufficient. Nowadays there is a tendency to expect every student to go to college, even though going to a four-year college does not guarantee higher income or success. 

4. Sex before marriage is wrong. Sex was created to be enjoyed in a marriage. That is God's plan and his plan is always the best. Relationships are better, stronger, and healthier when sex is saved for marriage. God designed sex to be a bond between two people and it shouldn't be done casually.

5. Homosexuality is wrong. In this era of tolerance, homosexuality is viewed as normal, just another lifestyle. But according to God's word, it is a perversion of the relationships he designed. I'm almost afraid to ever say anything against homosexuality for fear I'll be blasted, but I do believe it is a wrong lifestyle. I have a few friends who are gay. Just because I disagree with their lifestyle doesn't mean we can't be friends or that I can't like them as a person. I think that's an important distinction.

6. Moms should stay at home to take care of their kids. I think this is the best option for families, if at all possible. I know some moms aren't able to do so. Some have to work to make ends meet. Some are single parents. But whatever your situation, I believe that kids need their mothers. Moms should spend as much time with their children as possible. My mom quit her job to be a stay-at-home mom and I am forever grateful for her decision!

That's it for now. I wrote this post awhile ago, but haven't posted it until now. I'm not ashamed of my values, but it's a little intimidating to put these thoughts out into the blogosphere. Sometimes people who preach "tolerance" are the MOST intolerant of people who have views different from their own. In the past year I've learned a lot about being friends with people who don't necessarily share my values and morals, but we still get along because we respect each other's differences.

Running Schedule 2013

I'm really excited about running some cool new races in 2013, including a few more marathons! I think it'll be really cool to say I ran 26 miles when I was 26. :)

As promised, here's a tenative list of all the races I want to do in 2013.

Spring Races
March 17. Shamrock Marathon.
April 4. Charlottesville Marathon.
April 28. Nike Women's Half Marathon. (CONFIRMED)
May 17-18. Reach the Beach Relay.

Fall Races
September 20-21. Colonial 200 Relay.
October 27. Marine Corps Marathon. (Registration opens March 27)
November 16. Anthem Richmond Marathon (again!) (CONFIRMED)

The big question marks are the Shamrock marathon and Charlottesville marathon. If I want to run them, I need to sign up soon and commit to training... but right now I'm really enjoying a little break from running. Plus, I always have trouble maintaining a running schedule during winter break when I'm home. It's always really cold in Massachusetts and it gets dark really fast, which interferes with me getting in my long runs! I want to make my decision by the end of December because race prices increase after that. I'm torn as to whether or not I really want to do two marathons in the spring and train all winter.

Below, just for fun, is a list of the big-deal marathons that I want to do someday:

Bucket List Marathons
Marine Corps Marathon
Big Sur
Eugene
New York City