2 Years...And We are Still Having Fun

We have been married for two quick years and a couple of months, I love you more now than I did then. You are my best friend and we have so much fun together. Thank you Louis for making life wonderful!

We ALMOST Experienced a Death Today...

A few weeks back a friend of mine sent an email with one question, "If you saw me in the back of a police car what would you think I was arrested for?" This was sent to our "inner circle" and we were supposed to answer and ask each other the same question about ourselves. 98% of my friends told me that I would be arrested for assault. And there is my foundation for this quick blog/thought...

Yes, I do my best to be friendly and I love to laugh, but there is just a part of me that can handle business if I need to. This brave soul at my office today said to me,

"Erika, did you get new clothes? You have been dressing nice lately..."
"No, Will, I can now fit back into the clothes I had before I got pregnant, thanks for noticing"

Now everyone, let us rejoice for what God has done, because without Him, Living Waters would be missing a graphic designer right about now!! LOL

In his defense I started working here when I was 6 or 7 months pregnant, so his earliest memories of me are all third trimester Erika. But it flows with something I have been battling with. I don't have to wear my maternity clothes anymore, I have chosen to. Lately, I have noticed that it has been really really hard for me to stop wearing them, it's some kind of security blanket for me. I don't know if it is because I was a teenager in the 90's and I got so used to wearing super baggy clothes all the time or what. I put on a pair of regular jeans the other day and I said "these are too tight" and my husband said "No they aren't, they fit, your perception is distorted because you have been wearing baggy maternity clothes for so long."

Isn't that crazy? Am I the only mom out there who found it hard to let go of the maternity gear? It's just so comfy, like wearing sweats!

I did it AGAIN!

View Larger Map

What is this map about? This map shows the route that Lori and I ran this past Saturday!!!! It is not exact to the route we took but it was as close as I could get to it. Google's goal is to get you the quickest way from point A to point B and we took the scenic route. So this is 11 miles on the map, but we did 15. YES....This 80lb overweight, 9 months post partum, never been on a sports team her entire life woman ran/walked 15 miles this past Saturday!

What a time, this was such a great experience and I recommend it to anyone who can do it. This was the practice run for the race I am participating in on October 10th this year. We had SUCH a fun time. First, I must say that I loved Baltimore before but this has made me truly LOVE the city of Baltimore. Even the not so nice parts of it.

When we began I was a little intimidated by all the athletes I was surrounded by. But I kept focus that my goal was to finish and have fun and I let that go. I can't let intimidation keep me from what I want to accomplish in life. And it paid to be the underdog, the bums and many people along the way were cheering me on, which was funny. I got a lot of "go girl! You doin better than me!" that day lol.

A couple blocks away from Lake Montebello we approached a pit bull that was guarding an alley. We thought he was on a leash but as we got closer we noticed that he was not. We definitely picked up our pace and crossed the street at that time! We took a wrong turn and went about 7 miles in the wrong direction which was funny to us at the time. The actual route that we were supposed to take was supposed to loop us back to our starting point. You can see where by looking on the above map, right after point C where the purple line is going up and up we were supposed to be running south towards the harbor and back to Little Italy instead we were going north towards Towson. Not cool, but it was a great memory.

So NO excuses!!! If I can do it, SO CAN YOU! Train your body and sign up for a half marathon, it is one of the best experiences you can have!

I will post pictures of the actual race day after October 10th. Till then, keep moving!

-E

I did it!

I did something that I did not think I could do although I have been faithful to my exercise. I RAN 6.9 miles! Yes, I still keep looking at the pedometer in disbelief...but I did it and I plan on doing more.

We went on a usual family jog and just went a different route, through another neighborhood and kept going and going. I purposed in my mind to do something different that day. I'm so glad I did and it makes me wonder "what else can I do that I didn't know that I am capable of?"

The last time I asked myself this question I quit a very stable job and went to college full time in another state about a thousand miles away from where I lived my entire life. In six months I completely changed my life for the better and five years later I am still glad that I took that risk. So if you are bored with your life, find something that you always thought about doing and work towards making it happen. Surprise yourself, it's worth it!


Update: This is an incredibly busy week for me, meetings, Revival at church, my husband starting a new job, and on top of that it is supposed to rain all week! This may be one of my "survival mode" weeks where I don't get as many workouts in and I have to just watch my calories a lot closer. PRAY FOR ME! :o)

Here is a new picture of me and my baby girl, taken yesterday. I promise to have a new family pic soon...hubby and I are usually taking turns with the camera.

Planning Ahead

So I just finished working on the Hendricks Family 2010 Calendar. I know, it may sound corny or anal to do...but I have to give it a try. Why? There are things I want to do with my child that I thought would just "naturally" happen...and they are not! I imagined great trips and time at the park, blah, blah, blah. But life has gone by so quickly that I have not been able to do what I said that I wanted to do.

So as any other thing in my life that I realize is not working the way I want it to...I set out for change. I sat down and wrote out family activities that I wanted to accomplish, then I got out the 2010 calendar and scheduled them in, along with dates that I knew where already established through family and church. Now at least there is a plan in place to go to the zoo instead of saying "I want to go to the zoo, but I just don't have the time right now."

What things do you find yourself saying "someday I'm going to..."? Set a date and Just Do It!!!

Exercise Fun Tip: I'm loving running more and more and I'm getting better at it. Goals tend to move you so while running yesterday I thought about the amount of miles I have done this week. I could have ran to the Inner Harbor of Baltimore from my house by now! So, find a place you want to go to...do a google map from your house and put the print out somewhere where you can see it. Whenever you get in from a run or a walk, color in a "route" from your house to your goal place. So whenever you are a little bored with your neighborhood just think..."I'm halfway to the beach by now!"

Time

Today is the first day of school here in Anne Arundel county. How did I know being that I do not have a school aged child? My family and I attempted to do our weekly grocery shopping at the Super Walmart in Severn last night. :o( It looked like Black Friday in there, but we managed to get what we needed for the week and get out in decent time.

Time...I was thinking about that today as I was driving behind a school bus. It seemed like yesterday school was in session, this summer flew by so fast. Today my daughter is 8 months old, and it seemed like it was two weeks ago that I was 24 years old and boarding a plane to Florida to get my degree and become a full time staff member at Teen Challenge in Brooklyn. I blinked and now I am a wife, a mother, and living in Maryland instead. I have no regrets, I am enjoying this blessing so much more than what I had expected my life was going to be at that time.

Time passes so quickly, and I am reminded that if I don't take each day and purposefully live according to what I believe in and want to accomplish that life will sweep in like a wave and drag me out to a sea of apathy, where I am disconnected to those I love and no where near achieving the legacy I want to leave behind.

It's not always easy. I fought with allergies all weekend and fell off the wagon with my eating, but I'm back on, moving forward again. I don't want to waste time.

I had shied away from taking full body pictures with my daughter because I hate the way I look only to realize that one day when she is looking for pictures with her mom that she may not find any. I'm losing now, but I can't get that time back. I have a picture of us on a swing at her first time at the park that I cannot stand to look at. I can't get that moment back. I have to be prepared for the moments to come, and I have to continue to change my normal on a daily basis because time is not going to wait for me to get it together.

Don't let time slip away from you, whether it's getting your health together, your finances together, your emotional health together, your relationship with God or your relationship with people. Start getting it right today!

Keep Pace

Just got in from my run and I had a good thought to share. While running, I told my friend about the blog and said "I don't really know what to write about next", and we kept on going.

In the course we run through my neighborhood there are three hills. I always manage the first two well, but that last one is always tough for me. The funny thing about it is that it isn't really a hill, it's just an slight incline that seems to go up and on forever. I found myself muttering through pants "this one always crushes me". In which she replied "Come on, keep pace, this is what you are going to blog about today." (Thanks Lori)

Right now in my church we are going through a series on offenses and we are having a "fast from speaking negatively." At the moment I muttered those words I reminded myself, "this is not going to crush me, I'm going to crush it." (my swag kicked in, lol) I remembered something, when the enemy comes in to steal, kill and destroy...he will do it in subtle ways. He isn't going to get Ice Cube to my church, let him get saved and make him my new boss. Why? Even though he's a cutie...that's not me. I realize the gift that I have in my husband and the bond that we have and I won't mess that up. I love my husband and my marriage. That's not my incline to crush.

No, he is going to try to crush me with an incline of negative thoughts. Lines like, "you can't do that", "no matter how much of your heart you put into this, it's not good enough", or "they don't like you, they just tolerate you" or "God's busy right now with the abused or starving kids in the world, take a number." Those are the lies that try to take me out on a daily basis. I have allowed them to crush me or set me back before...but I won't anymore.

Through the incline, my friend kept reminding me "keep pace, or you won't make it to our goal". It's the same in life, no matter what terrain you are navigating through remember to keep pace. Be relaxed, confident in who you are and you will crush whatever hill/incline you are trying to get over, it will not crush you! You will go even farther than you thought you could!