THANKFUL Sunday Seven 11/27/11

Hey there bloggees!! (not sure if that is word but it sounds more cool than 'readers').
Did you have a fabulous Turkey Day?

I enjoyed spending a day just eating myself silly with my family, laughing, chatting about life and getting serious about some domino competitions.

My craptastic hand in Turkey foot.

Pops dancing with Lucy in the kitchen.

But first...

1. I ran my very first Turkey Trot.

It was the 47th annual race held at the Iowa Fairgrounds. It started out a little chilly in the AM, but I felt pretty good through the race and finished my 5 miles in 43:30. I was pretty stoked! 10th for my age group- so no pie (those go to top 3 finishers) but I did get a t-shirt:

Okay...everyone got a tshirt. And yes-I realize this is backwards.

2. I've also been on a cooking frenzy. When my boyfriend is out of town I get bored a lot done and end up eating cooking a lot. Here's a little preview of the meatless munches to come:

3. And all this eating is okay because I've been running like a fool. I'm on track to run everyday until Christmas. I started a little early and this is what I did this week:

Monday 4.01 miles 36:01
Tuesday 2.01 miles 18:03 (short quick run with Roxy)
Wednesday ~1 miles (took Rox and didn't wear Garmin)
Thursday 5.07 miles 43:30 (Turkey Trot!!)
Friday 1.92 miles 23:19 (ran 1st mile 9:24, then jogged/walked 2nd mile with Roxy)
Saturday 5.01 miles 45:38 (group run with the girls!)
Sunday ~3.4 miles ~33 minutes (my Garmin was charging and this is what Katrisha's Garmin had). Then we walked a half mile to cool down.

Total Mileage: ~22.42

So far, so good. I don't feel sore or exhausted. I think keeping a 'normal' run schedule with really short runs on the off days is helping.

4.  Along with Thanksgiving also comes Black Friday. I ended up sleeping until almost 10 (food hangover- thanks Grandma!!) and STILL got some killer deals at Target. Nothing I really needed but I did score a bunch of PJs for a work fundraiser we are doing for the victims of the Joplin, MO tornadoes.

5. And with Thanksgiving behind us, Christmas is right around the corner!! It really is the 'most wonderful time of the year.' I'm seriously a junkie for Christmas music. My friend sent this out right before Thanksgiving and I was almost in tears listening to it. HILARIOUS.

6. This time of year also leads me to reflect a lot....(I feel like I say that about a lot of stuff?) Anyway, the year is ending and everyone is gearing up for the new year, etc. My friend Holly sent this article to me last week and it was an EYE-OPENER. I think I often do many things in this article. So I'm making a resolution here and now that going forward, I am going to not be afraid to OWN my feelings. Even if that means someone might be upset with me. I'm definitely guilty of saying 'I'm sorry' even when I didn't do anything wrong and allowing people to disrespect me or my time just to avoid confrontation. It's not healthy and since this is real life here on EvenMe I'm not going to do it anymore. Let's take a stand ladies. Our voices matter.

7. My aunt mentioned this book she's reading called Simple Abundance. It lists some daily things you can do so 'your daily life can be an expression of your authentic self.' One of the things my aunt mentioned was a Grateful Journal. Each day you list 5 things you are grateful for. They can be big- like 'I'm grateful that I'm healthy' or small 'I'm grateful for this fabulous cup of morning joe.' It's just to get you into the attitude of reflecting on everything you have to be appreciative and thankful for. I like this idea of taking a few minutes to reflect on that and I definitely think it's something I'm going to add as part of my daily prayers.
So, as an homage to beginning my Grateful Journal and in the tradition of Thanksgiving, I'm sharing what I'm thankful for....

But, where to start? I have been blessed in a million unexpected, surprising and pleasant ways that it would be hard to name them all.

I'm thankful to be a child of a forgiving and just God.
I'm thankful to have wonderful family and friends in my life.
I'm thankful for T and all the ways he makes my everyday special.
I'm thankful that I have a job that enables me to live freely.
I'm thankful to live in wonderful old house all my own.
I'm thankful that everyday I can eat nutritious food.
I'm thankful for coffee.
I'm thankful that I can run.
I''m thankful for this blog and all the ways it has helped me really examine myself and grow.
I am thankful to be ALIVE.

What are you thankful for? What things could you list daily in your 'grateful journal'?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!