What a whirlwind summer!!

Hard to believe it is already almost mid July already...this summer is going by way too fast!! Hard to believe that in about 6 weeks my boys will be back to school!! Where is this summer going?!?! 

So this week I sent off my hubby and youngest to Scout Camp...and the poor things have pretty much been rained on almost every day except today. Yesterday they had a tornado warning which cancelled our usual family night...bummer! But I was able to go out and check on them...what a muddy mess scout camp is! I swear every time our boys go camping they get the worst weather imaginable!! There should be an "Extreme Weather" merit badge, because name an extreme weather event and my boys have been through it...below zero weather...done it...flooding conditions and torrential downpours ..been there...windstorms...yep that too...tornado warnings...mark that one down...extreme heat...uh huh...been there done that...did I miss anything??? And I am not joking! It's kind of the inside joke with us...when we plan a camping outing people know NOT to plan anything because they know the weather is going to be bad. I was scared when I went to West Virginia with these boys because I didn't know what kind of weather I'd run into...luckily all we got while I was there was a little rain. 

So this month is and will be a total blur...between scout camp, and then my middle son leaves for National Scout Jamboree on Monday for 10 days of high adventure...so excited for him! Then me and a few of my girlies are doing this next Saturday:  The Color Run 

This is going to be such a blast...I can already tell...girls weekend here we come!

Then as soon as I get back from the Color Run I am leaving to go do this:

I'm honored and humbled to be going on this trip...I know God is going to do great things on this mission trip and I can't wait to see what God does while I'm there!

Then when I get back from Oklahoma our family is going to be taking a much needed vacation together....not sure what yet and not sure where....but we are getting away to just unplug and relax together for a while....it is so much needed after all the whirlwind of July.

Then the first full week of August my middle son goes for Boy Scout leadership training for a week. Boy has that boy had an adventurous year as well!! Phew...quite the jet setter indeed!!

Then I'm hoping to do a few 5K/10Ks in August. The first one, depending what we do for vacation, will be this one on August 3rd: Coshocton Firefighters IAFF Local 216 MDA 5K.  I am kind of partial to this particular 5K as this was the first 5K race I ever did 2 years ago...hard to believe that it's been that long already. Then on August 17th I will be doing my first 10K race for Feed The Need with New Life Ministries. Our church did the 5K race together as a team last year which was fun...looking forward to that one. Then possibly if my sister wants to...hint hint sissy...we may do this 5K together on the 24th: Lady Tutu 5K...we shall see....would so love to do a race...even if we walk most of it...with my sissy...and who knows, maybe there will be a Mellow Mushroom pizza waiting at the end :)

So busy busy busy....oh, and I forgot to mention....I have to fit a birthday in there somewhere...my youngest will be turning 11...wahhh!! Why do they have to grow up?!?!? So wish they would stay little longer!

Well I hope you are enjoying your summer!

What a year so far!!

I've been wanting to do this post for the last few weeks, and I'm finally finding a few minutes in my busy schedule to do so. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my year so far...and I must say I think I have had a great and adventurous year so far...and my word for 2013 has definitely served me well (see post here for more on my Word for 2013). I began the year of course with my half marathon training for the Capital City Half Marathon in Columbus...I ran that in May and what a huge accomplishment that was!! In fact, I went ahead and signed up last week for the 2014 Capital City Half...so excited! Then on Memorial Day I was able to run a 5K race with my aunt which is something we had talked about for over a year...another accomplishment off the bucket list. Then a couple weeks ago I did my first obstacle race with the Indian Mud Run...what a blast that was!! Here are a few pictures from that day..

I was then able to go on a weekend excursion with our Boy Scout Troop to West Virginia and hike the Rail Trail...23 miles over 2 days. What a blast that was...I so love camping and the boys treated me like a queen...it was truly an awesome weekend!





So right now I'm getting ready to send my youngest and the hubby to Scout Summer Camp for the week and then the following week my middle son has the amazing opportunity to go to the Boy Scout Jamboree in West Virginia...50,000 scouts from all over the country and beyond in one place...10 days of adventure...I feel so happy for him that he's able to go....and I'll be honest, I kind of wish I was going with him. :)

I will then be doing The Color Run 5K on the 20th with some great friends and then I have the wonderful opportunity to go with some of my church family to Oklahoma for a mission trip to help those devastated by the tornadoes...I've never been on a mission trip and thanks to my amazing father in law who is keeping an eye on my boys while I'm away I am able to go on this trip. I'm kind of excited, not only because I'll be helping people but I've never been to that part of the country before. It's an amazing rare opportunity for me and I'm excited to be going.

Also starting the end of this month I will begin training for my next half marathon in Cleveland in October for the Rock n Roll Half. Hard to believe that that's coming up so soon. I have a few 5Ks and a 10K coming up in August too..phew makes me tired typing about it!

So so far this year has been quite the adventure and I feel very blessed and incredibly happy. God has opened so many doors and so many great opportunities for me and I am grateful. I am enjoying just taking it all in...it's by far the most exciting year of my 46 years on this planet...and I am so excited to see what else God has in store for me for the rest of 2013.

So how is your year going so far??