Week 2: Training

Porter and I started our second week of our half marathon training! Well, our couch to 5k training. This week I am doing 90 seconds of jogging and 2 minutes of walking for 20 minutes. To the runners out there, it sounds easy. After 15 minutes it gets really hard! I jog really slowly. I feel a lot more motivated to get outside and jog everyday when I know how worth it the run will be in September. So if there is anyone out there that is thinking of running a long distance "race", I would suggest finding a run sponsored by a cause you feel strongly about.

In other news, I found this awesome stroller cover to keep Porter warm! I also made that little stroller bag that matches his little beanie. I wish we could switch spots. 

Remember, if you want to donate to my run, click on this link. Anything will help!

CureSMA Half Marathon Training

This little muscle man is Lincoln. He passed away in October from Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Click on this link to find more about SMA. Lincoln not only had SMA, but he had an awesome head of hair, a sweet smile, and chubby little arms and legs. He loved spending time with his dad and laughing at his jokes. His mom is an incredible mother that took him on exciting adventures and made wonderful memories.

His mom, Ashleigh, told me that she wanted to run a marathon every year in honor of Lincoln and to raise money for SMA research. In a time of compassion and desire to help, I volunteered to run with her. I don't regret the decision, but it's going to be hard! I haven't worked out seriously in probably 2 years. I had a baby 5 months ago and can't seem to stop laying on the couch and eating homemade bread.

That being said, I am really excited to train for and run the Chicago Half Marathon with Ashleigh! I have to start slow, though. I am doing a couch to 5k training schedule, first. I can't start the real half marathon training until I can run 3 miles comfortably. I can barely walk briskly for 20 minutes without wanting to stop.

Please follow my training progress on my blog and if you feel so inclined, donate to my fundraiser to raise money for CureSMA research! My goal is to raise $750.

Here are some pictures from my first "run" with my training partner. I jogged 60 seconds and walked 90 seconds for 20 minutes. I almost died!

I Quit My Job

So, I quit my job. Parker and I moved out to Lubbock while I was on maternity leave. I had a job lined up in a tiny town 40 minutes outside of Lubbock. I was really excited to go back to teaching, actually. I knew I would miss Porter, but also knew how much I loved to teach.

It was hard in the beginning, but I knew it would get easier to leave him. I fell in love with my students and really enjoyed my new co-workers. I missed my old campus at Carrollton a ton, but was adjusting to a new way of doing things. The only problem was that it never got easier to leave Porter, it only got harder. I found myself crying on the way to work every morning and often crying on my way home thinking about how little time I had with him each day. Saturdays were euphoric, because I had the whole day with him. Sunday nights were horrible as I anticipated another week leaving him.

We were and are lucky to have Heidi, an awesome friend that was/is his exclusive sitter. I definitely trusted her, but couldn't help feeling sad knowing that she spent more time with him than I did. It got to a point where I had to ask Heidi how he liked to be put down in bed. That was NOT ok with me! Parker and I prayed and fasted about the decision for me to leave work. Financially it definitely did not make sense, but we knew it was the right decision. Parker's program was more demanding than we thought it would be and the time he spent caring for Porter was taking a toll on his studies.

My district was so kind and gracious. They released me from my contract without any penalty and bent over backwards to find a replacement for me. I started applying for part time jobs and jobs that I could do from home and continued to pray that something would open up for me. I was selling some furniture on Craigslist and a woman came to buy a coffee table. It turned out she owned her own business and was looking for someone to help with admin/secretarial work. Long story short - I found a part time job that requires I leave Porter only 12 hours a week, rather than 50. I am able to work from home 8+ hours. My new boss is incredibly kind and accommodating. I also was offered a position with BYU-Idaho as online adjunct faculty. I will be teaching an English and Basic Writing course beginning in January.

I LOVE spending so much time at home with Porter. I never thought I would love house-keeping so much. I love taking care of my home, cleaning, cooking, and most of all - caring for my baby boy. I am also a much happier wife, which has been a great thing for Parker, too!

Parker and I are definitely making sacrifices for me to stay home, but they are all worth it. I realized my purpose in this life is to be a great mother and wife. This doesn't mean that someday I won't go back to work and (hopefully) become an administrator. It also doesn't mean that I don't have interests outside of my family and home. I just know that my first priority is my family and at this stage of our lives, I am needed at home more than 3 hours a day!

I think Porter is pretty happy about this, too!

New Classroom

I will be teaching 4th grade Reading in Brownfield, Texas this year. Right now I am on maternity leave for 4 1/2 more weeks (thank goodness!) but will start back at the end of September. Honestly, the last thing I want to do is leave my baby, but I also want to put a roof over my family's head, have food to eat, and have insurance. I am so proud of Parker and the program that he is in, so I am willing to make some sacrifices until he is done with school. Our end goal is for me to stay home with our kids without having accrued mountains of debt. Anyways, I had to set up my classroom and make 5 weeks worth of long term sub plans. It has been a crazy two weeks with a tiny newborn! Here are some pictures of my new classroom:

I am so glad that I was able to reuse all of my classroom furniture and things from my time at Carrollton Elementary! As much as I don't want to leave Porter, I do love to teach and am grateful that I can do what I love while I am away from the little man that I love.

The GREAT news is that we found an incredible woman (girl? She's my age, so I guess that makes her a woman...) to watch Porter while Parker and I are away. Her husband is a student at Tech and our life situations work together perfectly! She will be able to come to our house, which I am so excited about, because Porter will be able to be in his own environment. Ellie will also have some company, which isn't too bad, either! We are so lucky to have been connected with Heidi and her wonderful, sweet spirit and love for babies!

Move to Lubbock

Parker and I moved to Lubbock about two weeks ago. For those of you who aren't familiar with Texas towns, Lubbock is in the middle of West Texas surrounded by nothing. The neighboring towns are Brownfield, Levelland, Ropesville, Meadow, and Shallowater. This is not a joke.

Parker is starting a PhD program in Counseling Psychology at Texas Tech. The program is 5 years with one additional year of externship (which we hope we can do in DFW). So, we will be here for 5 years, at least. Lubbock isn't much to look at, but it's true what people say: What Lubbock doesn't have in looks, it makes up for in people. The people here are so incredibly kind. When we came looking for a house, we were shocked by how kind everyone was.

We bought a house here and we are so in love with it! We figured we better plant our roots, because 5 years is a pretty long time. I'm already getting really excited about decorating for Christmas. I even have a special little tree for Porter's bedroom! Here are some pictures of our new place:

Master Bedroom

Porter's Room

Bathrooms

Kitchen

Living Room: We have gotten some awesome end tables since this picture was taken. I would take another picture, but Ellie is asleep on the couch and I don't want to wake the beast!

Our next job is to fix up the flower garden in the front and work on the backyard. The backyard is basically a dirt pile. Parker is working on growing grass back there, so we probably won't have anything worth looking at until next summer!

Any of our friends and family in DFW are welcome to come visit us!