Garland

"Live. And Live Well. BREATHE. Breathe in and Breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now. On a crystal clear, breezy 70 degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun.

If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool Autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE. Get knee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time.
If you bike, pedal HARD… and if you crash then crash well.

Feel the SATISFACTION of a job well done—a paper well-written, a project thoroughly completed, a play well-performed. If you must wipe the snot from your 3-year old’s nose, don’t be disgusted if the Kleenex didn’t catch it all… because soon he’ll be wiping his own.

If you’ve recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And Grieve well. At the table with friends and family, LAUGH. If you’re eating and laughing at the same time, then might as well laugh until you puke. And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground, cookies in the oven. And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of Life. Because-it-is-most-definitely-a-Gift." -Kyle Lake

Garland Obituary                      Garland Carepage

It's been a month since Garland passed away.  He made it to heaven just in time for Easter, which we're sure included an "all you can eat" buffet.  

Still here...

So much has happened since my last post, but I don't know where to start/how to get back into blogging and I find that I just keep putting it off more and more.

updates:

Ran our first half marathon together (DRC Half) in November.

Joined a small group through our church late November.  I very rarely have the feeling of "this is exactly where we're supposed to be in our lives right now..." but it's so nice that BOTH of us feel that way about our group.

Jonna- Job promotion to Fitness Manager in Rockwall, TX on December 6th, 2011.  Mid-December to March(ish) is the craziest time in the gym...hence lack of blogging, social life, etc.


Tomorrow we turn a quarter of a century.  where did the time go? and where will it go the next quarter?  It's weird to say that I don't know the answer to either of those questions and I can't be more excited about not knowing what the future holds.  
 

DRC Half 2011

Yesterday was the Dallas Running Club Half Marathon (35th Anniversary to be exact!)

Bryan and I made it a goal to run this race together.  Since he walks next to me while I run right now, he didn't really have to train much to be at my pace for this race.  And since I didn't run for about 2 weeks prior to the race, we were...a little slow.  Our official time ended up being 3:14.  A PW(personal worst) for both of us.

James

This is James.

He's our first foster pet.  We decided to become foster parents for an organization called Paws in the City. James is a 4 1/2 year old and a boxer/terrier mix.  Overall, he's just a pretty fantastic guy.

He had never been on carpet before...

which he seems to like. 

We've had James for one week and will continue to give him a home until someone else will give him a permanent family.  He is working with a dog trainer and is very quick to learn.  He loves to give kisses and cuddle.  He's not too sure about the ice maker and wasn't sure of the tv at first either.  He loves playing ball (now that he's figured out how to!)  He loves riding in the car and going to Sonic Happy Hour.  He shares in our love for running and stays right next to us while running/walking.        

Everyone has been placing their bets that we will be a "foster failure" and adopt James.  We'll see, but I don't think we'll fail at this.  Caring for him and knowing that our hearts will be broken, has been a selfless act for us, and I know it's exactly what we need to be doing right now.  Yesterday, we were getting ready for our day and had an adoption event to take him to.  The realization hit that we could drop him off at an adoption event and possibly never see him again.  As crazy as it may sound, I hope that happens one day.           

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