Day 2 & 3 combo

Since it's my blog, I'm going to do this 30 day challenge my way!  Hee hee, that means that it will take much longer than 30 days :)

The meaning behind my blog name...are you ready?  Are you sure?  Ok, here it is...I live on Dragonfly Lane!  Pretty creative, huh?

Since day 2 is hardly worth it's own posting, I'm combining it with day 3, a picture from my childhood.  Ok, several pictures from my childhood.  I borrowed a box of photos from my mom.  The girls and I were looking through some of them last night and laughing.  Oh, the hairstyles!  Oh, the clothes!  It's funny to look back at pictures and realize some memories aren't accurate.  Some of my memories of childhood are based on my feelings!  In my mind, I've always been overweight and awkward.  But looking back, that's not really true.  The weight came on mostly in my adult life.  Sure, I was never a skinny kid, but I wasn't as huge as I remember either.  The awkward part, yeah, that's always been there.  But I'm ok with it.

Here are the pics:  I was too lazy to scan them in, so I took a picture of the picture.  The first three are my sister and I, and I seem to always be on the left!

What would a childhood be without a John Deere tractor?!

I'm holding Sammy the cat, my sister has the catch of the day, and there's good ol' Jake

We were so YOUNG!  I think this was coming back from skiing??

These are kind of random, but I've got an idea for future blogging to go back and pull out some older photos.  That'll be fun!

Too long since last post!

There's no way I'll catch you up on the goings-on over the last four months!  Needless to say, we've been busy!

So to spice things up, I'm going to do a 30-day blog challenge.  I got the idea here.

Day 1~a recent picture of myself and 15 facts.

This is about as recent as I've got.  We were taking a bike ride on the Eastern Trail with our friend Lisa.

15 "fun" facts...stay awake please :)

1. I am a complete homebody.  If I could stay home 6 out of 7 days of the week, I would.

2. My favorite food is chocolate.  It should be a food group, because I can't imagine living without it.

3. The best part of my life is my husband and girls.  I'm incredibly grateful to take care of them and love them.

4. I'm about as nerdy as one can get.  I like gadgets, electronics, and video games.  

5. I like making to-do lists & crossing things off that are done.

6. I despise shopping of any sort.  I would love a personal shopper.

7. Someday, I'd like to hear "Heather ****, you are Ironman!"

8. Yes, I'm afraid of the dark...still.

9. I'm way to serious.

10. I'm learning to crochet.

11. Diet Pepsi is my favorite drink.

12. I believe a day with a nap is a good day.

13. I will be running a half-marathon this year, yet I can't fathom *how* I'm going to do it.

14. I don't like to cook or bake, but I really like food.

15. Someday, I want to learn to dance.

Here I go, hitting "publish post" before I over-analyze and erase the whole thing.  Tomorrow (or next post) will be the meaning behind my blog name.  Betcha can't wait!

A challenge!

A follow up to a previous post on fear...check out the following blog!

Running Upward: Just Do It: What are you afraid of doing? Are there activities, goals, aspirations that get tucked away because you're too scared to try?

Let me tell a story of my own.  There once was a girl who was afraid of many things and situations.  One day, she felt God prompting her to host a ladies bible study in her home.  She was afraid!  Why, you may wonder, was she afraid?  Pride...that people would see she is a poor time manager and housekeeper.  Fear...that once people got to know her better they would see her many faults and not like her.  Sad, but true.  This girl finally decided to let people know about this bible study idea, sure that no one would be interested.  But, she was proven wrong!  And, now that this particular study is winding down and the group is getting ready for a new study, this girl has realized what a blessing she would have missed if she had given into fear.  Blessings of new friendships and spiritual growth.  The beauty of change and of shared prayers and praises.

My challenge to you...What are you afraid of?  What is it in your life that fear is holding you back?  As the blogger said above...  JUST.  DO.  IT.  And, please share your story with me!  I would love to hear from you!

LIGHTS

31.  LIGHTS-homeschool co-op and it's leaders.

Our first day at the local homeschool co-op was today.  What a great group of kids and moms!  Em is taking a bible class with the youth pastor, PE, and world geography.  Her favorite was PE!  Rach's classes are Spanish, PE, and oceanography/lapbooking.  Her favorite was Spanish class, and her Spanish name is Josephina.  I get to play too!  I'm a helper in Chemistry lab and oceanography/lapbooking.
After classes are done, the kids are able to play games with their friends in "chess club."  There is, of course, chess available to play and a variety of other board games to choose from.
The morning FLEW by, we had so much fun!

Today's science lesson

30.  Moth dissection!

Tri for a Cure 2011

What else can you do on a beautiful, sunny, warm summer day but...

Swim,

Bike,

Run, 

Finish,

Cure!

Ok, I know, it's been almost two months since the tri.  I'm finally to the point of being able to blog it.  There was some mental processing that I needed to work through, not to mention life is busy.  Let me tell you that the whole weekend was just INCREDIBLE!  I cried...alot.  Not only for the cancer survivors, but also for those who are still fighting the fight and their families.  I am just so thankful to have been able to participate and help raise money for this organization.  Thank you to each person and family that donated!

I'm still amazed that God gave me the desire to do this crazy thing called a triathlon.  The night before the race, I prayed earnestly that He would use the experience for His purposes.  I know that He answered that in sending several dear ladies my way to encourage.  Who knows what else He will do with it?

Racing with all women was incredibly inspiring.  There was a wide range of abilities and ages, but everyone was working their hardest.  I loved, loved, loved training with and sharing this experience with Laurie!  Of course, without her suggestion, I wouldn't have even THOUGHT of doing this race!

Although, I am competitive by nature and was incredibly pleased with my time, the bigger thrill and excitement was finishing that race.  Many months of preparation went into what boiled down to one hour and 46 minutes.  Talk about a lesson in perseverance!  I couldn't help but cry at the finish line!

I'm already looking toward the next race...stay tuned!
















Very special thanks go to my husband and children who sacrificed so I could train and race.  I wouldn't have been able to go very far without your love, support and encouragement to work towards this goal.
I also have to shout out to Mom, Sharon, Joanne, Crystal, the "Rob" family and Lisa...thank you all for your support and encouragement!

26.  Filtered rays of sunlight through the trees.
27.  The change of seasons.
28.  A new set of wheels.
29.  School activities and busyness.