Grateful At The End Of April

Small Problems: I'm grateful that I have small problems. I got stuck at the pharmacy for 45 minutes this week-and walked out with nothing. I was furious. As soon as I got angry, I was so thankful that this was the only thing I had to be angry at.

Tim Keller Podcasts: This guy can preach. I'm grateful for challenging content that points me towards a life lived for Christ, but something that I can also understand and unpack in a reasonable amount of time.

My Patients: This makes the list often. One patient in particular tugged at my heartstrings this week. I feel so honored to be a part of this life stage with people. Some days it really really sucks, but I'm honored, and I feel like it's a big part of my life purpose.

Genuine Work Friends: Not everyone loves who they work with. I don't love everyone, but I'm so lucky to have a few. This week, Katie had to hear me be bitter...I was annoying. She listened. I'm so grateful for that. Earlier that week, I was struggling with the low parts of my job AKA having to watch people slowly die. Dani heard me out and encouraged me. So grateful. My friends rock. 

Swimming: I'm so grateful that my parents taught me to swim at a young age. I have no fear of water and I have a solid grip on technique. I recently realized how rare this is. Most of my friends and adults I know don't even know HOW to swim, what?! So grateful that my mom was so insistent on this when we were young!

My Husband: He should be at the top of all of my grateful lists. He's a stud. He's juggling a million things right now, and doing a great job at all of them. Also, I'm hormonal and crazy, and he's handling that like a boss. Love him. 

"You look like you're struggling..."

The Bike Angel: After my first tri of the season, it was time to grow a pair and learn how to clip in and ride my road bike. I decided to go to a park where there would be no one around, and I could have my meltdown in private. For the first 30 minutes I literally wrestled my bike and shoes trying to figure out how to work everything-it was rough. Towards the end of my struggle, an older man who had just finished his run came over to me, "You look like you're struggling...have you ever clipped in before?" I proceeded to have a full-out meltdown. This guy must have daughters because he didn't even flinch when I started crying. He calmed me down, encouraged me, and walked me through the best way to go about clipping in. He was seriously an angel in a USAT visor-not kidding. I eventually got the courage to clip in. I fell once, but it's a start. 

Roka R1 Goggles: I got new goggles. Happy dance. They feel great and I can see all the things. Yay for modern convenience. 

Oils: On Thursday I had a super stiff neck. At the suggestion of a co-worker, I used some oil that helps her with stiff necks. BIG MISTAKE! It literally burnt my neck for a solid 10 hours. Especially after I tried to wash it off and went on a 4 mile run-I was on FIRE. I ended up sitting with a paper towel saturated in milk around my neck at the end of the night. It's funny now-not so much then. Never again capsaicin, never again.

Bob Seger Pandora- I started listening to this after seeing it suggested by someone on Facebook this week. I can't stop listening to it. Every single song makes me feel like I'm 10 years-old in my dad's truck. Love. It. 

"Heidi, I Found A Cat..."

Haley Found A Cat: Haley was nice enough to rescue a cat that she found at our apartment complex. She took a ton of time to find a place to take it. It was really sweet, and I'm proud of her for taking the time to be so sweet to this poor cat. 

Unfortunately...a couple of days later, we found out that the cat belonged to a co-worker of Jordan's that had dumped it because it wouldn't use the litter box. I am still mad. People are ridiculous. Take it to a shelter, people!!!

 Fresh Flowers: I love having fresh flowers at the house. Usually I talk myself out of spending the $10, but with warmer weather, it felt necessary.

Motivation: Real talk-it's hard to give 100% of my energy towards living a healthy lifestyle 24/7. There is a reason why the majority of the world doesn't do triathlon-it's a lot of time and effort. But, quotes like this are encouraging. 

First Races Of 2016: Race season is here! On Saturday, I did the Rock the Block 5k at Center Grove High School. The roads were suuuuper crowded, and due to a nervous bladder, I jumped in at the very end of the pack-that's a lot of strollers and children to dodge. I didn't make my goal of 28 minutes (29:11), but I still ran in a way that I can be proud of myself. It was my personal best-and now the number to beat!

Carmel Sprint Tri: I told myself I wasn't going to be nervous-WRONG! The flu got Brittany down at the last minute, so this was technically the first time that I had compete in a race without a friend there...this was rough for Jordan, he had to take in all of my nervous energy. Per the usual, all the nerves went away the second that I jumped in the pool. The pool swim was a loooot easier than I had anticipated, and it gave me a ton of confidence to finish the race well. The bike was rough-I have to get off of my hybrid-it sucks the energy right out of me. The run was so much easier than in the past races-it's amazing what great training will do for you. Dani has been a great coach and I surprised at how often I referenced her advice during the entire race. I never had to walk, and I was able to finish strong. I finished the race in 1:21:53, my best time yet! Can't wait for the rest of the year, and to keep improving. Big shout out to my husband for tagging along all weekend and being the best helper at races, EVER!

It's Getting Warmer

TPCC: Thankful for a good church and good accountability. Jordan and I were both convicted to be more intentional about prayer and revering its' importance

Big Changes: Community East, the hospital where I work, is under construction. The hospital is getting completely remodeled and changed. It's been a huge topic of conversation with our patients and I have to admit, it's pretty therapeutic to watch the process of tearing down. 

Brittany: Thankful for a friend who is willing to talk about triathlon as much as I do(this is a precious commodity, trust me). Thankful that I can meet up with her, workout, and share life with her. She is literally Super Woman!

Track workout with Brit at the IUPUI campus. I was a little excited about the sunshine. 

 Ft. Ben: I decided that I wanted to go to a new place to ride my bike-Ft. Ben. Long story made short-I. Got. Lost. Lost for a solid hour in a 5 mile radius. It was infuriating. When I finally got to the park, Jordan was tired and hungry...and my bike was locked to the car, and I DIDN'T HAVE THE KEY. The whole situation was awful-BUT we made the best of it. We took a walk, I did a short run, and we came home and ate Chinese food. Our Friday's are wild.

Small Group: Jordan and I couldn't be more thankful for these people. On Saturday, I tagged along with Corey and Brit to go to Will's 4th birthday party. Jordan had to work-boo. The party was awesome, and I'm so glad that Katie found her way to us-via Noel.

Saturday night, we all met at Dave and Buster's to celebrate the engagement of Andrew and Jill. This gathering was a total surprise to Jill, and it was so fun to see her surprised. Yay Jill and Andrew!!!

A serious game of adult wiffle ball...

Big kids at Dave and Buster's

Our tickets bought Jill and Andrew some pretty awesome engagement gifts...

Meat Coma

Baby Ellie-This little one is growing so fast. It makes my heart happy to see Pat and Abby grow into their role as parents...and the fact that she is soooo freaking adorable doesn't hurt anything either!

Family Dinner Night aka Meat Coma-Jordan's parent's treat us to dinner's that we can't afford...a lot. And it's awesome. Jordan and I had never been to Fogo De Chao before...and I'm pretty sure we had the usual experience. We ate way too much...drank way too much..and were in full food coma's by the time we left. We felt so gross that we didn't even go out afterwards with the rest of the family, we just wanted to sleep. We're lame, and I love it.

My Patient's and Their Families-There is something about getting to know patients when they come in for weekly treatments. One patient's son and I bonded over the fact that we gave up diet soda for lent, and that we turned to this as our substitute. From that day forward, he brought me a tea every time he came. Totally un necessary and totally amazing. 

Memes Make Me Happy-That's all really. It's funny how a really stupid picture can make you feel not so alone. 

Honduras Trip- Can't wait. Getting so excited-but also getting really nervous. Wait...we're in charge of this trip? Nobody else is running this? Nope. It's on us.

Battle of Chaaaammmmpppionnnsssssss

This past week was long...I was hormonal...but the weekend was better. Despite having all the feelings, all the time...I have a lot of things to be thankful for.


Sister-in-laws: On Thursday, I met up with Erica and Abby for dinner at Scotty's-in honor of Abby's birthday. I'm so thankful for sil's that are normal, loving, and are great friends to me. And as always, Ellie was adorable.


My Patients: Recently we lost a patient way too young. It was a tragic situation that hit me a lot harder than usual. I randomly ran into the patient's wife when I was at Scotty's on Thursday. His family had come directly from his service, so I was able to meet his sons. It felt like an odd sense of closure to be able to see his family and speak with his wife. I am so thankful for this job because of the opportunities it puts me in to love on the patient's and their families...and hopefully show them a little bit of Jesus along the way.


Body Building: This weekend was hilarious. James had 5 clients competing in the "Midwest Battle of the Champions" downtown at the Murat. It was so fun to get to hang out with James and Jenna at the morning show, and learn all about how this sport is judged, the politics, and the crazy lengths that these athletes go to to look the way they do. Jordan came with me to the night show, and Tori and Issac met us there. The evening show is a lot more fun, and the athletes do a lot more posing and routines. It was great...and hilarious...and crazy. It was a lot of fun for me to see how happy Jenna and James were to see their athletes do so well. Jordan is glad I chose triathlon...



Sunshine: It was so nice to have sunshine on Sunday. It was still pretty windy and too cold just to be outside, but it was perfect to workout in.