Florida has been good to me. I don't mean this cross-country move, uproot, flip-it-all-around has been easy, but Florida has been good to me. Sometimes I spend too much time thinking about times ahead and times behind, sometimes. Florida has given me the gift of getting to know myself and those times of thinking too much are giving me the freedom to be me. The older I get, the more I like myself. :) I think growing older is nice (Can you hear me preparing myself for #30?!?!?). Oh, these past few weeks I've pounded on these keys a lot, and I'd love to share that with you, sometime...maybe sometime soon.

Flashback

Caterine, Alex, y Yo!

Okay, just one. You have to allow me just one flashback to a year ago. My flight left on the 21st of January. I still remember what I was wearing and the last minute stop at REI with Sara where I was so thankful to pick up a fleece blanket for the trip. Oh my, how this last year has been remarkable. I've been reading through my journal entries from this time last year and it's beautiful to see the the work God has done. I continue to fumble with the curious things of the future, but have become more and more used to being. The all too familiar saying, "Bloom where you are planted." As hard as it is sometimes to be open to this and embrace it knowing that this may well be only a step to another place, isn't that how life happens. Whether we physically move, or emotionally grow, or spiritually change, aren't we always maturing through processes of life. Passing through and allowing others to pass through. Embracing for a time, freeing when such is necessary.

A line from "Ordinary Miracle" off of Charlotte's Web soundtrack:

"It seems so exceptional, that things just work out after all,

it's just another ordinary miracle today."

Start and Finish

Life is Short! Running makes it seem longer!!!

A 13 year old boy was holding this sign at mile 25.8 and we just laughed! Oh it is so true! We are alive and finished. My two running buddies had some knee issues, but this race was a great one for me. The mental part always seems to be the toughest. Yeah, the aches and pains of pounding feet and hip joints burning and sunny weather are very real elements, but my mentality today was, "This is going to be fun and we will finish!" Thank you Lord, I had a great time and am moving slowly this evening! Disney puts on a good race...music everywhere, high school bands, cheerleaders, water stations nearly every mile, running through parts of the parks and along some beautiful back roads I would have never known existed, fireworks at the start (over 12,000 runners today), and characters out all over the place. Many people carried cameras durning the race and would pull off and stand in line to get a picture with Cinderella or Goofy etc. Disney really did a good job, but then that's what they know best! The last mile we ran around the world (through EPCOT) along the lake and the entire race was jammed with people. Usually after mile 4 things slim down, but not this one. It was packed, which made for great distractions. With so many people, the miles kept sneaking up, "Oh, WOW! We're at 19 already!" :) Another really cool thing they do, if you noticed my bib has my name on it. People everywhere along the side of the race were so encouraging. Good jobs, you got this, looking strong, way to go ladies! Suddenly I heard, "Great job Stephanie." What? Me? How'd you know.....it was so cool to have strangers screaming your name and cheering you on!

We are off to have some Sushi to celebrate. I'll post pics when I get them. Thanks for all the support and prayers...they really pulled me through a great race, injury free and open to another 26.2!!

26.2

Marathon in 8 hours and counting. For some reason, I'm not as nervous about this one though the weather has me concerned. We are having summer weather, humidity and all. I am hoping it won't be so bad in the morning and overcast to keep things cooler. It is nearly 10PM and I have to get up at 3AM! We have to get through the gates at Disney before 4:30AM and start running at 6. I'll probably be almost finished by the time you roll out of bed!:) Hopefully, I should say! The goal tomorrow is to enjoy it and finish!

These shoes will be taking a beating!

This is my 100th Post

Whoa! And it has been nearly a year since I started this and began making my way to Costa Rica. New Year's Eve I went to dinner with the parents and Alisa, Thai food. Oh it was good and such a cute little family run restaurant. I miss those down here in Orlando. We have good restaurants, but there is just something about Portland and Mom and Pop places that I am finding is hard to beat! Nearly a year, as we left the restaurant I turned to mom and said, "Can you believe it was a year ago that I was getting ready to leave?" Time flies and this blog has been such a great place to dump my thoughts and pics and the happenings of life.



I started reading a book on my plane trip home, "Let Your Life Speak" by Parker Palmer. Hhhmmm...it has me in tears. It is all about vocation about letting your life and the way you were designed, giftedness, personality etc., tell you who you are! I'm still at the beginning of it and enjoying the process through.

Gramp has been moved from the hospital to a care facility. I extended my stay a few extra days and was able to go visit him nearly every day for short periods of time. He was much more engaging when I left, but for obvious reasons he doesn't want to be there. I know that being in Orlando was a choice I had, I don't have to be here, but I'm learning that living with this choice is something that will be both easy and difficult. Driving across the country didn't seem like I was that far away (I'm not sure why...maybe we had too much fun seeing all the sights!), but getting on a plane and traveling much of the day made me realize, I've gone through a few time zones!

Ahh, but we are having summer here right now and things are still green, which makes me smile. It's supposed to be 84 tomorrow. Gonna hit the pool here soon!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! This is gonna be good!