On Your Mark, Get Set, GO!

I have a bucket list that I am writing everyday.  

Every new day brings new opportunities and challenges.  I am always up for a new adventure because I want to be the best-version-of-myself and I do this by succeeding and failing.

With that being said, the current bucket list item I am working on checking off...

Run a mini-marathon!

miles?

This might not seem like a big deal but, let me just say I HATE RUNNING.  Running is dumb.  I want to love it. I imagine myself gracefully flying through the miles without a worry in the world, but it is NEVER that easy.  Never.

I ask myself the following questions every time I run: 

Why are you doing this again? 

Why do you like feeling like you can't breathe?

Have I completed a mile yet?

How am I EVER going to get to mile 13?

Needless to say, I signed myself up for a min-marathon and I WILL cross that finish line!

Once I make it to about mile 2 I remember I can do hard things and I can push past my limits and become stronger (or my body is just numb and I don't know the difference). Training for the mini has allowed some time for self-refection (what else am I suppose to do for hours?) 

Here are some things I have learned in my few short weeks of training:

• I get to see my best friend at the end of all the training
• Andrew and I are doing something new together
• It is expensive if you want to do it right (shoes, socks, clothes, running fanny-pack, goos, etc.)
•  It is easy to feel defeated 
• The treadmill is the worst even with Netflix
• I push myself more than I give myself credit for
• Setting small goals and rewarding myself help 
• A slow jog gets me to the next mile faster than walking
• I am determined 
• I can do this!

This past weekend on my long run, I tripped and fell right to my knees.  People saw me.  I wanted to give-up.  I wanted to hide.  But I didn't, I got up and I continued running until I finished the distance I needed, 1.5 more miles to be exact.  

Sometimes we have to be our biggest cheerleaders.  We have to believe in ourselves first because otherwise we won't understand why we have cheerleaders on the sidelines.  We have to start somewhere and sometimes that means stepping out of our comfort zones.  We might not be the first across the finish line but winning looks different for everyone and we will celebrate all victories. 

Adventuring together is my favorite

 

My People

Family |fam - i - ly|

A person or group of people that love and support you unconditionally.    

Family can be biological or a group of people that you choose.

I have been blessed with an amazing family, framily {chosen family}, and in-laws! 

LaFree Family (Dad's side)

Ganser Family (Mom's side)

My mom and mam (aren't I lucky to have both?)

Framily (aren't we adorable in our ugly Christmas sweaters?)

Having these (and many more) people as our support system means everything to us.  These are the people Andrew and I leaned on the most when we had an ocean between us.  These are the people that makes us smile and laugh when all we want to do is cry.  These are the people that we would drop everything and anything so we could be there when they called.   

So...when mom sent a group text saying the family was getting together for an early birthday party, we packed our bags and hit the road. Did someone say, ROAD TRIP?

I love that we celebrate everything from birthdays, to promotions, to a simple "hey family is in from out of town, party at my house." We show up with a dish to pass and stories to tell and leave with full hearts, bellies and most importantly lasting memories. 

Pictures.  Pictures help capture those memories, and when we share them a month or years later we will smile and laugh all over again.

  Here are some pictures from our little sibling photo-shoot from last weekend.

The LaFree Three

LaFree meets Williams 

Young love

Sometimes family members even have fur and four-legs, but the love is the same.

No matter where you call home I hope you always have those special people you can call family.  There are a thousand-and-one ways to be a family, but there is no wrong way, because if it works for you then it is perfect.  How awesome is that?