Running to My Husband

I never really understood why, but I always wanted to be a wife. Not in the “I want to be June Cleaver” sense, but more in the “I need a permanent audience for my daily musings on laundry and the existential crisis of mismatched socks” way. So, after seven years of dating—a period in which we both became experts in the fine art of waiting for the other to propose—my now-husband finally popped the question. I suspect, if I’m honest, that after seven years he simply ran out of plausible alternatives. It’s either get married or start a competitive stamp-collecting hobby, and he’s never been good with glue.

The early years of our marriage were, in retrospect, a bit like the opening act of a play where the actors haven’t quite memorized their lines. I knew he loved me—he did, after all, tolerate my penchant for keeping the tv on while dead asleep every night—but I wasn’t entirely sure he liked me. I was there, keeping small humans alive, contributing to the family bank account, and occasionally reminding him where we keep the can opener. It took another seven years (because apparently, we do everything in seven-year increments) before we rediscovered the spark that brought us together in the first place, and realized we actually wanted the same things out of life—namely, a working dishwasher and children who don’t use the curtains as napkins.

Now, nearly eleven years into this grand experiment called marriage, I can honestly say we’re growing together. We have shared goals, synchronized hopes, and—most importantly—a mutual understanding that whoever steps on the stray LEGO has earned the right to pick the next family movie. We’re strolling through life with a sense of purpose, trailed by three small boys who operate with the energy and coordination of caffeinated ducklings.

I never imagined being a boy mom would be so entertaining. My sons are perpetually grubby, constantly ricocheting off furniture, and have turned minor household accidents into a competitive sport. Every day is a blend of slapstick comedy and impromptu science experiments involving mud, gravity, and whatever was once clean. It’s the best kind of chaos, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. My life is overflowing with more love (and laundry) than I ever thought possible, and for that, I am endlessly, comically, and profoundly grateful.

Why the events of 2014 are making my 2015 even better

I am usually a very sentimental person around this time of year. I like to reflect on the past year, but I love looking forward to what the next year will hold for me. This year has been a little bit different than normal. I haven’t really felt that way this year, for multiple reasons of which I thought I would share with you.

dsc_8518 (1)Reason #1: I got married!
That was of course a major life changing event, and something that I had been hoping for for a very long time. There is a level of satisfaction that comes with marking that milestone off you list of things to accomplish in the future. The fear of being alone is long gone, and I think that is the void that was filled more than the need to have a diamond ring and a fancy wedding dress. I couldn’t be happier about the path my love life has taken. Having a witness to all the good and bad that we have to wade through year after year is totally worth the heartbreak and pain you go through in your dating life.

Reason #2: I have a home!
This is hard to explain, but every place that I have lived (Cleveland, Parsons, San Jose) has never felt like where I was going to stay. Something inside of me always said that it was just a temporary stop on my way to my final location. Because I always had that in the back of my head, I also was extremely reluctant to completely unpack. I put stuff away, but I never made it my own. When I moved into Chas’ house back in May, there was a sense of relaxation in placing everything where it needed to go. I finally felt like the space was mine, and not just a stepping stone. I am sure this isn’t where we will live for the rest of our lives together, but for now, it is perfect for a newly married couple, 2 English bulldogs and a tuxedo cat.

Reason #3: I’m having a baby!
First comes love, then comes marriage. Well we have almost completed the final step of this school yard rhyme. So many people have said something to the affect of, “Man, you guys didn’t wait long!” We have been together for 7 years and were smart enough and responsible enough to wait until we were married to get pregnant, and now they are hassling us because we got pregnant three months after we got married! Suck it people! At least this baby will have two unbelievably committed parents in a loving relationship… I tell you. You just can’t win.

Reason #4: I don’t have to worry about my weight for the first 8 months of the year!
This has actually been a tough thing for me to comprehend. I am a fairly fit person, as can be deduced from the name of this blog, and telling yourself that it is ok to see extra pounds show up on the scale is not a easy mind switch. Of course I want to stay healthy and fit for my baby, but knowing that most of this year will be spent at a higher weight than I am used to is sort of a relief! My fitness goals are complete different from every other year of my life, and that is comforting, relaxing, and almost a bit satisfying.

Reason #5: I have new family members!
Friends that started the year as just my friends have quickly become family to both Chas and me. In January, I ran one of the toughest series races of my life, the Dopey Challenge (see previous posts for more information). My friends Darren, Bruce and Julie ran with me. Not only was that another life changing experience that happened in 2014, but it brought us extremely close together. They are now my family, and I have been lucky enough to get to spend quite a bit of time with Julie and her daughters in San Diego this year. I am so excited to be part of Darren and Bruce’s wedding in February, along with running the Glass Slipper Challenge with them and Julie at Walt Disney World that same weekend. As always, it will be epic!

My new extended family! Love them all!

Combine all 5 of these things into a person’s new year, and you have almost a perfect year on the horizon. I am sure there will be bumps in the road, but remembering all the good things about 2014 and the special things that are coming are sure to keep me focused on making 2015 the best year of my life… and my husband’s life… and my little lemon sized fetus’ life!

On to the next one! Cheers!

Life begins now

dsc_8521It seems like life has finally slowed down a bit. Since summer began, so many things have happened that weren’t just little. They were life changing. Back on Memorial Day weekend, I moved halfway across the United States to my new home in Hays, Kansas. Shortly there after, my boyfriend of seven years and I got married… at a Cincinnati Reds game (Best Day of My Life, by the way). Over the course of the next two months after that, I spend about seven weeks in California for work, which basically resulted in nothing getting done. Long story, but I met some great people and it showed me how ready I was to finally be with my family.

My Grandma Elsie at 91. She smile was infectious.

Once I got back to Kansas, there wasn’t much resting going on. About two weeks later, my grandmother, Elsie Mae Glassner, died at age 93. She lived a wonderful life, and even when we knew it was close to time for her to pass, she couldn’t figure out why nobody could make her feel better. She was convinced she would live forever. She was an amazing woman and tougher than nails. My grandfather died 19 years ago, and since then, she lived through 2 knee replacements, a hip replacement, a hole in her bowels which caused her to have to get a colostomy, breast cancer, chemotherapy and a mastectomy, multiple falls and congestive heart failure. Grandma was the sweetest woman you ever met, and her smile is something I will never forget.

The best part about grandma is that my mom is a lot like her: smiles like her, and is the toughest woman I’ve ever met. To know that I have that in my blood line is something that I don’t take lightly. I am sure that my grandpa was happy to finally have her back. They loved each other very much, and they are both missed.

We finally arrived back home to Kansas last Tuesday for what seems like it could be an extended period of time. I found myself saying, “Ok, what now?” Everything has been so busy the last few month. It’s hard to finally take a breath, look around and say, “Ok. I can get back to normal.” I haven’t had time to get into a routine, but that is definitely my goal over the next few weeks. I have been shuffling my time between work work and house work. It’s actually a really tough thing to do, because my office is on Pacific Time. I like working first thing in the morning, but then I find myself working till 8-9pm because they are still in the office until then! It seems like the balance is to switch back and forth between work stuff and home stuff. If someone has a better way, I would love to hear it!

Anyway, it’s nice to finally feel like our life can begin now. There will always be things popping up that knock us out of our “normal”, but a few weeks of calm are exciting to have in front of us.

When one door closes

mapWell, here I sit on my last night in my apartment in California. On my last night alone as a single person. Wow, what a weird thing to say. My last night living alone, hopefully forever.

I have this weird urge to cry, not because I’m sad, but because I sort of have graduation goggles. You know, like when you were finishing up high school, getting ready to graduate and you completely forget that you were picked on, beat up, or ignored completely every day for four straight years. My California experience has made me a richer, more well-rounded person. The naive little Midwestern girl has now be exposed to the real world, and I have made it through to the other side.

I moved out here for a lot of reasons, and I can’t help but think it was absolutely the right decision. I am coming out of this a better employee in a job that I enjoy so much. I have found so many strengths and turn weaknesses into things of the past. I have become  a reality show producer, an event planner, a photo editor. I have been involved in so many wonderful things over the past two years with Prep2Prep. I have dedicated my life to the brand. I love this company, I just know that something great is going to happen for us.

For years now I have worked like a dog. My career has always been number one. I am so excited to finally have a reason to make work number 2. Prep2Prep is allowing me the opportunity to do what I love, what I am good at, and take care of my family at the same time. I have sacrificed two years with my puppy dogs, and now, I get to work from home and stay with them all day long.

There is a lot going on, and I still have to make it through three days of work and a 24 hour road trip halfway across the United State, but moving out of my apartment is taking one step closer to my dream. The days to come will be so special, and I can’t wait for new challenges both personally and professionally.

Keep Moving Forward…

Hind Sight is 20/20

Happy New Year everyone!

I just spent a few minutes reading my last post of 2012, the challenges I had listed for myself in 2013 and the struggles of the previous year. I don’t necessarily think that I became a better person in 2013, in fact, probably the opposite. It sounds awful to say that I feel like I have more hate in my heart that ever before. I am cynical and abrasive. I complain, and am often selfish.

And it feels like everyone around me is quite the opposite. This morning I started thinking about why 2014 will be a happier year for me. I figured if I posted my thoughts here, next year on this day, I will be able to reflect again on what they year has brought me.

My fiance is the most easy going, loving guy I’ve ever known. He is so happy and willing to take care of me, even when I am mean and in a bad mood. Sometimes I question why he would pick me. We have been through so much together over the past 7 years: deaths, births, sickness, financial issues, moves, controversy and baby puppies. We have made it through so much, and we finally get to be married in 2014. I couldn’t be happier and more excited for such a big life change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I definitely don’t give my family the amount of time they deserve. We are spread out all over the country, so we never get to spend enough time together, but with the wedding fast approaching, everyone will get to be together in the same place for a few days, and besides the actual marriage part, I am so excited about this.

This sounds funny, but my life is my work most of the time. It’s really all I have in California. So over the next year, I think work deserves less of my time. I have devoted that last 2 years of my life to it, and I feel like it is finally time that other things become the priority.

I love running so much, but I know that my fitness can be better. With the wedding just 7 months away, I definitely have some work to do to make myself happy.  But don’t worry, running more is definitely on that list.

If I do nothing else, but complete the Dopey Challenge, get married, and make family more a priority in my life, I will consider it a successful 2014.  So Peace and Love to you all in 2014. I hope you take what life gives you and turn it into something amazing!

No Strings

The last few months of my life have been a struggle. Not in the sense that I had no food, or was stranded on a desert island or anything. But it was a struggle none-the-less. Work has been crazy, wedding planning is overwhelming, and the freaks outs that came along with accepting the union of marriage were painful at times. But I am finally ready! I want to be married. I am excited about being married, and at this point, I just want to get it over with, mainly because I miss Chas so much.

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We are currently in the longest stretch of ever being apart that we have gone through. When all is said and done, it will have been 3 full months. That’s a long time!

Bulletproof_Exec_003Anyway, I have come to the point where I am just sick of feeling awful all the time. For about the last 2 months, I have been trying to eat cleaner. I can tell a difference in my body, which is great, plus I feel like I am recovering faster from my long runs. I have been sipping some bulletproof coffee lately, and while I have to carefully watch my MCT oli intake due to what it does to my stomach (holy nausea), I really love it! I have started lifting again too, which I truly think is a runner’s friend. It’s very easy to end up looking like you are wasting away when you are running as much as I am at this point.

My mood has been so sour lately, mostly because I felt overwhelmed by all there was to do. Last weekend, on a run of course, I decided that I wasn’t taking enough time for myself, and I was bitter about it. Work, run, sleep, repeat has been my cycle over the past few months. So every morning, I am taking about an hour to do something that I want to do. Sometimes I read, watch tv or watch YouTube videos, but just that one hour makes my mood totally different for the day.

I have also vowed to start writing more. Most of it has been done on our wedding website (jenandchas.com) to this point, but I am working to ramp up this site as well, as I have found great inspiration in other’s blogs lately.

I am happy to feel happy finally. I am happy to feel in love again. I am happy to be excited about what 2014 will bring. And I am excited to put it into words for you all to read.