This is a note BigZabba left on LittleZabba’s bed for her to find when she woke up. LittleZabba wasn’t feeling very well and BZ wanted to cheer her up.

Wake up sleepy head! Today is my birthday! I am doing my chores. Please don’t be sad today. Put a smile on your face. Today is my birthday so I order you to have fun. Sadly we have school but when we get home we will party! I am so crazy! Smile in my room no frowns allowed! Have a great time at school. Talk with your friends and have fun! I will play with you when you are home. (When I finish my homework!) E might come before we play but that’s okay! Maybe you can start your chores when you wake up. Then, I can throw a party! Oh ya! oh ya!!! I am so happy that today is my birthday! Smily power is the best power! (I am so glad you are feeling better!) Have the best day!

After our move this summer, the first day of school was a big hurdle for the girls. BigZabba had attended the same school, with her very best friend, since kindergarten, so this was going to be a big change. She was nervous to start over with a new school and new friends, but she maintained a very good attitude about it. LittleZabba was excited to go to school. She was thrilled to finally have her own backpack and lunchbox. She loved that she was going to be able to eat lunch at school, just like her sister.

Over the summer BZ met a little girl at the park. She was going to the same school and entering the same grade. BZ really liked her and hoped that they would be in the same class. With 3 classes it didn’t seem likely that the one person she met would be with her, but it didn’t hurt to pray about it. The night before school started both of the girls had nervous energy. BZ had a bunch of questions about what she should do to meet people, what could she say, how should she act..etc.

School morning came and everyone was up early. Breakfast was eaten, chores done, phone calls made to the Grandparents, and there was still extra time. So we took lots of school photos to kill some time.

Soon it was time to walk to school. As soon as we got to BZ’s classroom she was thrilled to see the girl from the park. They were in the same class! She was so excited. She told me that at that moment all her nervousness left. (I love this photo. I can see the happiness in her eyes. She doesn’t look worried or scared at all.)

With her anxiety behind her she walked into her class and 4th grade officially began. She had a great day and couldn’t stop talking about her teacher (she is so funny, she is very nice…) and she told us all about the advice and help her park friend gave her. We are so thankful that the first day was such a success and that the initial transition was so positive.

LittleZabba is so independent that we weren’t too concerned about her journey to kindergarten. She breezed through the first day and was super excited to go back. Her teacher is very friendly and seems like she has a lot of energy for a room full of 5 year olds.

To wrap up the first day the girls came home and made calls to the Grandparents to let them know how the day went. Everyone was very glad to hear that it went so well. However, the day couldn’t be complete without a session with the best friend. We were unable to get together, so we improvised.

Being able to see her best friend was like water to her thirsty soul. The love each other so much and it warms my heart to hear them talk through their days together. I pray that even though they are apart their friendship will remain strong. They are sweet friends.

Here’s to an amazing year!

LittleZabba has shown us her pool time ninja skills.

Thanks Mr. Ken for the photo!

Summer is on it’s way out. We have had a full few months. It has been full of change, fun and good times. We spent time at Disneyland, we moved, had fun with some very dear friends, hung our with some Smurfs, visited with Grandparents near and far, went to the mountains, sat by a fire and ate many s’mores. Enjoy our summer in photos.

Last year BigZabba wrote an essay about something that scared her and what she could do to overcome that fear.

This week, after many weeks of practice and rehearsals, she performed in her school’s variety show, in front of a sold out crowd of 435 people, to overcome her fear of being in front of people. She did such a fantastic job. We are so proud of her, but even better she was proud of herself.

It took a while, but I realized that Target fooled me. A while ago I bought a pair of shoes that I thought were Converse. I was surprised that I didn’t like them. They felt really heavy and I didn’t like how they felt. So, they have been sitting in my closet. I should have returned them, but by the time I realized that I didn’t like them it was too late. Fast forward many months. I walked past a shoe store and saw Converse in the window. The back of the shoe says “all star”. My Target shoes say “one star”. Ah-ha! They aren’t Converse shoes at all. They are Targetfakeverse. I got the real Converse shoes and I love them. That is much better.

I run much faster when I run alone. I think that is because I don’t have to use my energy to run, breathe, and talk. When I am alone I can focus on breathing and running and nothing else. Also I run with music when I am alone and that makes me go faster. I unintentionally end up running to the beat of the music.

The other day I was cleaning windows. Why can’t the screen makers make screens that are easy to take in and out of the window? My windows may be clean, but the screens aren’t as straight as they once were.

I started doing some spring cleaning. I washed a few windows (as mentioned earlier), & washed all the drapes. What other “spring cleaning” should I do?

I have been reading through the Bible with my neighbor. It has been so fun just sitting down and reading straight through and talking about the things we find interesting. My neighbor mentioned something I hadn’t ever thought about. Adam lived 930 years. Think about the people that he could have known. Adam could have known Noah. (**i was wrong. adam could not have know noah. it was noah who could have known abraham.) I never thought about the people in the old testament whose lives overlapped. Also, during all of Adam’s 930 years I am sure that people told stories about his time walking with God in the Garden of Eden. Wouldn’t it have been amazing to be able to go straight to Adam if you had a question about God?! It would have been so fascinating to be able to hear from Adam what it was like to live in perfect harmony with God. Here is a very interesting timeline that shows various people in the old testament and how their lives overlapped.

I’d love to hear some of your random thoughts about my random thoughts.

I am still here. Just finding a new groove, a new balance in life.
How much do I run? How far? How fast?
How much training do I need to do for the next race?
Does laundry really need to get done on Monday?

So, I am here. Lurking on other people’s blogs. Finding my groove. I’ll let you know when I find it.

This morning I set a PR! I am so excited. With my friend’s help we kept an 8:41 pace and I finished 6.2 miles in 53:48.

Here is the breakdown:
3.1 miles – 27:15, 8:48 pace
mile 4 – 8:08 pace
mile 5 – 8:56 pace
mile 6 – 8:43 pace
.2 mile – 7:52 pace

That is 2 minutes faster than my best 10k. Thanks Lola!

Today I finished reading an amazing book. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. It is the story of Louie Zamperini, an amazing runner, Olympian, WWII hero and POW survivor. His story is amazing, heart breaking, unbelievable, & full of hope. The horrific things that he and the other soldiers had to endure are unfathomable. It is amazing the even in the midst of war and being a prisoner Louis and his friends were able to find joy in even the smallest things.

The will to live is incredible. Louis was officially listed as missing at sea, and since they didn’t find him & assumed he had died when his plane went down at sea, May 27, 1943, he was officially listed as dead on May 28, 1944. It wasn’t until October 1945 that he was reunited with his family. More than 2 years had passed and his family never gave up hope that he was alive.

While he survived the war Louis still had to endure the aftermath of the war. His physical body healed, but spiritually and emotionally he was a mess. God had his hand on Louis Zamperini throughout his time as an Olympic runner, a soldier and after he returned home. A tent revival meeting with Billy Graham changed the course of Louis life.

While some of the details are hard to read, it is a very well written book. There were times that I cried reading about how he and the other soldiers were treated. It is an eye opening book about a part of WWII that I knew very little about. Simply put, Unbroken is an amazing story that is worth reading.

I finished reading Water for Elephants. Overall I thought it was a great book. It was very entertaining, well written and a fun story. There are several parts that I think could have been left out, or significantly toned down, and the story would have remained the same. But, it was a fun, quick read.

50/50 was a crazy amazing book. I still can’t believe that he ran 50 marathons in 50 days. That is such a crazy endeavor. However, the craziest part of the book, in my opinion, is the last few pages. He tells what happened in the days following the end of the Endurance 50. Telling you doesn’t ruin anything, I don’t think, it just adds to how crazy this man is. But if you don’t want to know, stop reading now.
After all the marathons were over and everyone had gone back to their homes, somehow someone had neglected to get Dean an airline ticket from NYC back home to San Francisco. What did he do? Anyone I know would have gone to the airport and bought a ticket. No, he decided to run home. From New York to San Fran! What?! Didn’t he just run 50 marathons!? Don’t you think his wife was like, “Honey, I think it is time for you to come home now. You have been gone 7 weeks. Time to come home.” I have no idea what she said, but the book says that he ran for one month, sleeping in parks and getting food on the run, traveled 1300 miles to Missouri. Then he decided he missed his family and decided to go home. So he ran to the airport, got a ticket and flew home. After running just over 1300 miles in the 50 marathons, he ran an additional 1300 miles in his quest to get home. That is dedication.

I am still working on When Helping Hurts, a book we are reading through with our small group.

I think my next book will be Devil at my Heels, the story of Louis Zamperini, a runner & WW2 hero.