The race of redemption

Redemption...such a great thing! I experienced redemption a couple of weeks ago when my fav sis and I completed a 10K race in Bryan. It's redemption because it's exactly the type of race I was training for when I was sidelined because of the accident. (One of these days I'm going to write a post about all the ways God was preparing me for what was coming before the accident. There are LOTS of them! One of them was all the months I spent training for the race that was scheduled 2 weeks after the accident. I really believe it got my body in shape to be much more able to handle the stress of a collision with a Toyota truck!).

Somewhere in the middle of January I received an email from the Republic of Texas Run (formerly the Armadillo Dash-as favorite half marathon in Bryan/College Station) that they were having a 1/4 marathon this year in addition to the other races. While I knew a 1/2 marathon was well beyond what I could be ready for in 6 weeks' time, I was thinking a 1/4 marathon may be just about right. See, in my MIND, I still was walking 6 miles in a day. In reality, in my BODY, I was walking about 1/4 mile a day, on a good day. But my back was feeling great when I read the email and I knew it was something I wanted to do. So... I called up Julie and asked her if she wanted to join me. What a thrill when she said YES! So, it was on.We knew we wouldn't run the whole thing, or even most of it, but we would aim for walking for 4-5 minutes and running 1-2. So I strapped on my shoes, and started training...a little. In the end, we ran the first couple of minutes (you gotta run to start...endorphins take you that far!) and then walked the rest of the way. In fact, my back ISN'T actually ready to add running. But, no big deal...just that much longer for a convo with one of my all time favorites to have convos with!

The super fun thing about the new race is that it runs through the A&M campus. It was such a blast to walk through the campus with Julie and talk and remember. We passed Milner Hall (where we were both student workers in the math department...think copiers, typists, gophers..NOT math majors! ;-) ), passed old dorms, and old places we used to walk to class, etc. So fun!

 We weren't the only racers either. Josiah, Lauren and Katie all raced in the 5K. They had a great time doing that together as well. Katie even won in her age group!

It was a chilly morning, the coldest for weeks in B/CS, but as the sun came up over Aggieland, the air warmed up a little and the morning was just beautiful!!

It was just so much fun being out moving, talking with Julie and realizing how far the Lord has brought me in the last 5 months. Julie said that I should have worn a sign on my back that said "I was hit by a truck 5 months ago!". Wish I had thought about that! I think I would have done it, just as a testimony to the work and power of God in my life and in my body!

We were shooting for a time of 1:37 based on what we had done in training. We missed it by a couple of minutes, but when we figured in the potty stop and the selfie stop at Milner, we figured we hit it right on.

What's next? More races in the future. We've already signed up for the Republic of Texas run next year and will improve our time. The ultimate redemption: I'm signing up for the Pecan Trail Run, the exact run that I missed because of the accident last September.

The moral of this story: when life knocks you down, don't stay down. Get up. Even if you just have to walk, just keep moving..and be grateful. I am SO grateful!

Here we are after the finish...medals and all!

Here are our times and the kids' times. 

Daddy "dia-yah" to the rescue...also entitled, Josiah is a rockstar!

Part of our February was very out of the ordinary. My dear cousin, Bonnie, contracted a rare, autoimmune disorder that affects the nervous syndrome, called Guillain-Barre' syndrome. Bonnie is young (mid 30s) and has two young boys: Knox (age 4) and Jax (age 2). In short, because of the GBS, she went from hiking with her husband and boys in Palo Duro canyon on Sunday evening to paralyzed and unable to walk on Tuesday to having to be on a ventilator to aid with breathing and having a collapsed lung by the weekend. So scary! Needless, to say, we wanted to do anything we could to help. But they are in Amarillo and we are in Castroville. What to do????

Well, thanks to Bonnie's husband (Jon)'s frequent flier miles, we hopped on a plane early Tuesday morning and flew to Amarillo with our main goal to be to watch Knox and Jax so Jon could spend as much time as possible with Bonnie at the hospital. My aunt, Cathy, was in town also, but she wanted to spend as much time at the hospital as she could as well. 

Here's the sun coming up over the wing of our airplane. THAT'S early people!

 Even though it was early, my rockstar was cheerful. He was truly excited to be on a plane and ready to help out with the boys.

Knox remembers Josiah from a couple of visits together, but I'm not sure Jax did. It didn't take long though for Josiah to become a hit around the house! Jax called him "daddy" for days (because he calls all men daddy, just easier that way to the two year old mind, I guess!). The day before we arrived he FINALLY picked up on what we had been saying and started calling Josiah "dia-yah". It was so cute!!

Diyah, Jax and Knox played together A LOT! There were pillow fights and bed wrestling...

Making valentines for Bonnie while she was in the hospital. Well, mostly it was Knox making the valentines, but Josiah did give him great ideas and helped Knox.

 Knox is big time into Legos right now. Josiah LOVED this! Here they are building a new Lego that Knox got. Josiah did a great job of not "helping" (i.e. building it instead of Knox!) but just helping Knox to understand the directions. Of course, I bought one for Josiah to build as well. 😊 And Josiah wisely used the opportunity to help build it as an incentive for Knox to obey for DAYS. He's learning these tricks very well!

 Josiah, Jax and Knox played ball in the garage. Also another big hit!

 And Josiah watched/corralled Jax while we went to watch Knox's basketball game on Saturday. 

Josiah spent so much time playing with Jax and Knox. It was really such a blessing for me to watch. It also enabled me to have time to do things for Bonnie and Jon like their laundry, clean their bathrooms, cook some food for the freezer, etc.

I think one of my favorite memories I'll take from the trip, though, were the evenings. Once the boys had gone to bed, Josiah and I would sit on the couch and read from the devotional book Jesus Calling and talk about the day. What he'd learned, what he'd enjoyed, what he wanted to do the same or differently the next day. Such precious, precious memories.

How many moms can write this post about their 15 year old sons????!!! I'm so grateful and thankful that I can. Josiah, my man, you ARE a rockstar!!!

All dressed up with somewhere to go...

Here's the great group of young people Josiah got to hang out with for the evening,
Josiah, the girl in the white sweater in front of him and the girl in the flower dress
in front of her are the three students from my class this year.

I  

This past weekend our CC high school group had its annual Protocol Event. This is our seventh protocol event, but the first where it's been just Josiah and me representing the Dagerath clan.  This year, the group went to dinner at Rosario's Mexican Diner and then went to see a play based on the book The Secret Garden. Since that book is part of the curriculum in Challenge A (the 7th grade at CC), all of the students who went were familiar already with the story. That may just be a first for a protocol event (except for the time we went to see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever...but this was a much more formal event). Turns out, the play was actually a musical--and very well done.
A few of the moms were making comments about "I don't remember the uncle having a doctor brother and both being in love with Lily." to which a couple of the students reminded us "Well, that's because it wasn't in the book that way that's why you don't remember it!" Homeschoolers...😉

Here they all are at dinner. 

It's always fun to dress up. Josiah really enjoys the students at our new campus. Huge answer to prayer! All but one of the students who went last night will be in his class next year and he is so excited about that. And that makes me excited!

Glad Josiah doesn't mind going out with me and giving me a hug during a picture. I love my boys!!!

Don't it make my brown walls blue...

 Cue Crystal Gayle...😀 (If you don't know who that is...Google it with this blog title! If you do, then you're probably already singing her song in your head right now anyway. Just wanted to acknowledge that for you!)

So in an unexpected twist, a guy came Saturday to paint our room and bathroom. I honestly didn't know that Michael had told Jesus that we would like his team to paint them. I knew we had talked about it, and how nice it would be to pay someone to do that for us instead of doing it ourselves, but didn't know that was for sure happening. So what a thrill!

I like so many things about this house. But the color of the walls and ceiling in the master bedroom and bathroom haven't been my favorite. Just never been a fan of the rust and peach. Sure it matches the floor tiles, but that's about it. Especially for these maroon loving Aggies! And now it's bye-bye rust, hello blue...

 Here's a peek at the framing for the new tub!! It makes my heart beat faster just to look at it. 😊

The only problem....we didn't order blue paint. Ugh! We actually ordered gray, because it actually MATCHES the tile and the doors, baseboards and doorframes. So, we are gonna have to say "No way, Jose." (because Jose was legitimately the name of the painter! ) The blue is a gorgeous sky blue that looked great at our house in Memphis, but looks pretty bad at this house. And it makes the peach colored ceilings look...um, not so peachy! Not gonna lie, the baby blue and peach felt a little too much like the country home trend circa 1990. Not going back there! I feel a little like Christina from Flip or Flop thinking of telling Michael "That's not going to work, we need to repaint.We absolutely cannot leave it like that." Thankfully, Michael said it first. I just had to wholeheartedly agree. Also, very thankfully, Michael said he'd let Jesus know that the color on the wall doesn't look like the color of the paint sample that we gave him. So grateful to have a husband to take care of all of those things for me!! 

I really do like the lighter walls. It makes the rooms feel even brighter. So, now just to get the RIGHT light color on the walls. And I join Michael's sentiment when he said "Well, at least I didn't just paint it all the wrong color!" Me too, honey!! 

More reno updates to come...

Rub a dub dub, they're building my tub!

It's finally happening...at long long long last! I get to bathe at home.Wait a minute, you may be thinking, she's been at that same home for almost 9 years and you're telling me she's NEVER bathed there?! Crazy isn't? Not once! Hot tub? Yes, but not often. My boys and Michael love the hot tub. It's their "thing".  But I prefer NOT to be freezing my upper body when my lower body is 104 degrees! And then there's the whole "ambiance" of a bath that is lost in a hot tub. Never once have the boys ever taken candles and quiet music out to the hot tub! Never.ever. Country music?  sure. Jeffrey's 70s playlist? yep. But Musical Spa, Rachmoninoff, Moonlight Sonata, Swan Lake? Nope, never. Candles? None of those ever either. I don't at all begrudge them their evenings gabbing, chatting, solving problems and planning strategies in the hot tub. I love it actually! 

But come on, a gal needs her tub time ! Alone, in the dark, with no one talking! Even just the sound of the water running into the tub brings a crazy and instantaneous rush of peace. Add in the smell of s some bath salts and I'm gone.

Here's the thing, our beautiful, amazing, custom built home didn't have a bathtub anywhere. (Michael's offered to bring in the horse trough turned chick incubator in and fill it up with water for me, but surprisingly I declined. It's NOT the wild west out where, though some days it feels like it!) 

Here is just another example of how the Lord is using my accident for His glory. My spinal doctor recommended that I sit often in a whirlpool tub to help with my back. Consequently, my brilliant, ever thoughtful husband, asked him to write a prescription for a whirlpool tub. So now, we will submit the charges for the tub to the accident insurance and see if they cover the charges. They may or may not, but at any rate, it's lit the fire under us to get the tub. 

I could hardly contain myself when Jesus showed up this week to start working. (Yea, our contractor's name is Jesus...coincidence? I think not!  )

Here's our "before" picture of the counter part of our bathroom. This is all changing too! Stay tuned!

Here's the spot that's gonna be filled with a bathtub soon, very soon! The downside to this project is this: where will we put our laundry? Typically we put a basket right under the window for dirty clothes. Answer: in the laundry hamper that we've had build into our cabinets that we've never used. Just gonna have to make new habits, that's all.

This what the spot looks like WITHOUT the fan and with the door closed. It's almost never in this position, so it looks weird to me. But I wanted to document it.

Here's our super huge shower. That's the upside to the no-tub thing. This gigantic shower, but I gotta admit I didn't blink an eye at eating into the shower to make way for a huge tub!

Progress being made...Michael put up a temporary curtain so he can still shower in our bathroom. Jesus and co. are building a frame for the tub to sit in and then will retile the edge of the shower.
 And finally, meet the gal of the hour.....

She's large (6 ft long!!!), she's jetted, she's got a built in heater to keep the water warm (oh yeah!) and she's ours!!