Never Changing

"I feel like a sea captain learning for the first time to chart his course by the stars. Until now, I've tried to find my way by watching the clouds. But they came and went, changed directions on me, led me nowhere. It's good to finally have reference points that don't keep changing." A quote from Deadline by Randy Alcorn.


Why is it that we who know that God's Word is never changing and will always lead us in the direction we need to go will still look to the world for direction?

I loved Deadline! This is a great book and very thought provoking!

Blog Envy

I'm having a little blog envy. I LOVE to follow various blogs. It appears that they lead such interesting lives.

I especially enjoy running bloggers and the photo bloggers. My favorite photo blogger is 365 to 42. He has some incredible pictures! And then I like to sneek and see how Absolut(ly) Fit is doing with the job hunting and also her running progress. I also enjoy reading Between the Miles running progress. I'm so envious of those that really are true runners. They run half-marathons and marathons and travel to all kinds of places to run. It's just so exciting.

I guess you've noticed I have runner's envy too. I run at a snails pace, although its getting a little better (and I do mean little). On Monday I finally, FINALLY, ran 3.27 miles nonstop and then yesteday ran 3.29 miles nonstop. I was SO excited. It's been really hard running this year. I've tried to start running on actually pavement and I have had some extreme leg pain. It's getting better but I usually have to take a couple of days off between runs.

Oh and I absolutely LUV Fit Bottom Girls! They have so many great fitness tips, giveaways, reviews and just some great humor.

Now it's confession time. I am a Cupcake freak!!! I love to eat cupcakes, read about cupcakes and especially love Cupcakes Take the Cake's blog it is such a delight!!

Now for all you out there that are thinking I'm a little shallow my favorite blog that I have been using lately as my devotional is Vince Antonucci's blog. He has some very thought provoking blogs which are currently about the book of Acts. Some great stuff so please check it out!!

Oh yeah the newest additions to my blog stalking are Run For Life and Run to Finish and I think I'm gonna enjoy reading their running adventures!

So here is a shout out to all you great bloggers. Job well done!!!!!

Nuggets of Gold Found in Strange Places

"If you intend to quit running and you plan to somehow make the quitting stick, you have to be determined about it. You have to be focused and extremely consistent. You have to quit every single day for the rest of your life. That's actually a very tough thing to do."

This was from an article written by Mar Parent in the April 2009 Runner's World Magazine titled "Couch Bound"

It's one of those rare times when something oddly smacks you in the face and you have that ah ha moment. It's Saturday morning and my usual time for reading, doing a little house work and contemplating what's going on in my life or what's not going on in my life.

This quote was a real eye opener and got me to thinking about some things I've kinda neglected lately and it made me realize that it was an act of quitting. That each day that I didn't do "the thing" I was making a choice to quit.

Now I realize that there are all kinds of things each one of us needs to quit doing. But for this moment lets focus on those things that we have neglected, the good things, the vital things and lets stop and realize that each day we choose to neglecate those things we have made a choice, even a conscious choice, to quite those things. WHOA...that's a real eye-opener, well for me anyway.

So I guess the question to you and to myself is what have you consciously chose to quit doing that you should have never quit doing, something that is vital to your life. Are you couch bound?

Sometimes we can find nuggets of gold, even in runner's magazines.

Bloggers Block

I've tried several times over the last week to blog about something but somehow I just draw a blank. I would say I have writer's block but that would mean I actually have some writing skills, which I don't. Although I think it would be the greatest thing to write a book. If I could just come up with a title and words to put in it. Hmmmm....

This month has been good. I had a great birthday and got to spend time with family and friends and even got some neat gifts. Like this. To say I'm excited about it is an understatement. You would think I'm some ultra-marathoner but I'm just an average runner, might even say below average. Anyway I'm pumped and trying to up the running miles and the speed.

Well I'm all blocked up again so for now that's all I have.

Great Weather, Great Run

It was such a beautiful afternoon and I was SO glad that I had enough time to run outside before dark. Running has been a real struggle lately but today was absolutely perfect. I got about 3 miles in and feel great. Only in the South can it be extremely cold one day and the next be in the 70's!

OMGosh I LUV These Shoes!!!

These are my new running shoes and I'm SO excited!! Now before you think I'm some ultra-marathoner guess again. I'm mostly a treadmill runner, but I do enjoy it. I'm hoping to hit the road this year and become a better runner.

So back to my new shoes. Nike has come out with this Nike+ sensor (Check it out http://www.apple.com/ipod/nike/) that fits into the bottom of the shoe and it will monitor your running and then will sync with your ipod or itouch to log your progress. I don't have the Nike+ sensor yet cause I'm still hurting from the purchase of the shoes but I CAN'T wait to have this little gadget so it will keep up with my miles.

Who knows with the help of Nike I could become at least 5k runner.

How Bout a Cup of Coffee?

I enjoy drinking coffee. I also love the idea of setting down with friends and enjoing a great cup of coffee, which is probably what ignited my love for coffee. In a time when most people only want to txt or email as a way to fellowship it just isn't the same nor does it make for meaningful friendships. So share a cup of coffee with someone and just enjoy the fellowship!

I'll leave you with a few coffee facts.

COFFEE FACTOIDS

Germany is the world's second largest consumer of coffee in terms of volume at 16 pounds per person.

Over 53 countries grow coffee worldwide, but all of them lie along the equator between the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn.

An acre of coffee trees can produce up to 10,000 pounds of coffee cherries. That amounts to approximately 2,000 pounds of beans after hulling or milling.

The percolator was invented in 1827 by a French man. It would boil the coffee producing a bitter tasting brew. Today most people use the drip or filtered method to brew their coffee.

With the exception of Hawaii and Puerto Rico, no coffee is grown in the United States or its territories.

Up until the 1870's most coffee was roasted at home in a frying pan over a charcoal fire. It wasn't until recent times that batch roasting became popular.

Each year some 7 million tons of green beans are produced world wide. Most of which is hand picked.