Hills, thrills, and spills

Yesterday I pulled out my rollerblades and went for a quick spin around the block. While I was on my rollerblades, I began to think about all the experiences my rollerblades have taken me through. While some of you reading this (the whole 3 or 4 of you) may mock the fact that I still own rollerblades AND use them, I know I'm cool. Anyhow, I decided to write about one particular summer where rollerblading was THE COOOOOLEST thing to do. I mean, everybody who was anybody was rollerblading.

Let me take you back...almost 4 years ago. It was the summer of 2004. I had just completed my first year of college and had been offered the opportunity to stay at school over the summer as an intern at the Student Activities Office to help prepare for the upcoming school year. I'm not gonna lie. It was a pretty sweet gig. Sure, I made barely any money, but I got to live on campus for free, got to eat in the dining hall for free (Our cafeteria food was edible most days), given money to eat out when the cafeteria wasn't open, worked about 4 or 5 hours a day (I usually rolled into the office around 10, took lunch at noon for an hour, and worked back in the office until 4ish or so), and the best part....worked with my 3 best friends for the summer. The summers at our school were pretty low key. We were among maybe 10 students who lived on campus and there were only a few classes going on throughout the summer. We basically had full reign of the campus. All the staff knew us and loved us. At one point during the summer we even began our own radio show, as part of our internship of course (our university had a radio station) and played fantastic music, told great jokes, and got most of the staff to listen and call in.

The evenings on campus could get a little slow, though. Luckily, we went to school in a most FABULOUS city (I'll write more about my love for Columbus in another post), so most evenings we found stuff around the city to do, but there were the occasional nights when we would just hang out on campus. We soon discovered that 3 of the 4 of us owned rollerblades. Katie, Katie, and myself would skate around campus in the evenings for fun. Most nights, it was fun but rather uneventful. And then one evening, we decided to get adventurous...

Sitting behind the main hall to our university was right in front of a giant Hill. For some reason, one night we decided it would be a good idea to rollerblade down The Hill. We had no helmets, no wrist pads, no knee pads, etc. Basically we were a public service announcement waiting to happen--"Lookie kiddies, this is what happens when you don't wear a helmet" cut frame to 3 girls sprawled on the asphalt. I'll save the suspense now, luckily it didn't end quite that bad. Anyhow, we stood at the top of The Hill for quite some time contemplating if we were really going to attempt this feat. I think at this point we had also forgotten a pretty important fact--earlier in the year the Katies had been in a car accident and one of the Katies had broken her neck and was told by doctors to avoid all contact sports, rollercoasters, anything that could potentially hurt her neck again. Finally, I looked at the two Katies and announced that I would make the sacrifice and be the brave one to go first. I'm sure they could see the fear of death in my eyes. As I started down the hill, I quickly gained speed and quickly realized I had no idea how I was going to stop. I tried to turn around to tell them both not to follow (Heck, I needed someone uninjured who was going to help me when I took a huge splat), but it was too late. They had already begun their descents down The Hill. I made a split-second decision to jump into the grass at the end of the hill and safely wiped out in the grass. Katie (broken-neck Katie) made the same decision. When we both got up we turned around to see the other Katie standing perfectly fine at the bottom of The Hill. We started to laugh because she was the cautious one out of all of us and she made it down The Hill with no problems at all.

Okay, so I'll admit. Typing this out, it's not nearly as exhilarating or hilarious as the real experience. But you have to see how ginormous The Hill was to understand. Our Cross Country team later utilized The Hill for workouts because it was so steep and so long.

So that's my rollerblading story of the night. It was awesome. We were cool. Oh, and PS--one night we were rebels and rollerbladed through the main university hall...without getting caught. You can go really fast on newly waxed floors. Now you think I'm cool. Admit it! :)

Refuse Mediocracy

I'll admit it. I'm a critic of sermons. I think this comes from being a Communication Studies major. I'm not saying that I'm a great speaker, but I have studied the art of public speaking and communication, so I notice when a person is being irrelevant, not communicating clearly, dragging on, stuttering, etc. And unfortunately, I'm often a cynic when people say things along the lines of "the Holy Spirit is moving in this place" or "God convincted me" or "X amount of people were saved on such and such night." I credit a lot of the cynicism to the fact that I know that music (which is often present in the above mentioned moments) can overwhelm us at times and make us emotional individuals. Don't get me wrong, I love music. Oh boy do I love music. I think if I had to choose between music and television, I'd choose music. But I also know that music transform a situation into something it's not...which can be good and bad.

Anyhow..with this being said-- Tonight was absolutely incredible. Tonight, all my criticism and cyncism was thrown out the window. Tonight, I can say with sure confidence that the Holy Spirit was moving, God convicted me, and I was reminded of the Grace that is mine because of my Saviors death on the Cross. I don't think God could have spoken to me any louder unless He was literally standing next to me yelling through a bullhorn into my ear. I felt so convicted of doubting God's plan, of doubting God's ability, of doubting God in general. Before worship tonight, our pastor met with us (the leadership team) and mentioned that in the past hour he had thrown out everything that he had planned for the evening because God had laid something on his heart to talk about tonight. He said that tonight had the potetional to be very powerful. I thought to myself "Yep. Okay. Maybe for everybody else, but not for me. Tonight's going to be just like every other night." At that exact moment, I'm pretty sure that God was having a good laugh at me.

About 2 minutes into the sermon, I found myself much more alert than usual. And about 5 minutes after that, our Pastor said something that hit me like a brick wall, as though God reached down and shook me awake. It made me realize that I can't live looking backwards, but I have to trust that what the Lord has planned is far more perfect, better, and fulfilling than I can ever imagine for myself. As our pastor closed out the evening he asked us something that I think will resonate with me for a while..."Do you really want to live a life of mediocracy or a life fulfilling God's will for you?" I refuse to be mediocre anymore...I refuse to be mediocre in my faith, my ministry, my relationships, my job and my life.

So what's your decision? Your way or God's way? Mediocracy or Fulfillment?

"I'm not going back.
I'm moving ahead.
I'm here to declare to you my past is over.
In you, all things are made new.
Surrendered my life to Christ
I'm moving, moving forward.

You make all things new.
I will follow you forward!"

--Moving Forward, Free Chapel

CNLBank Winter Park 10k

I ran a 10k race in Winter Park this weekend. I've always known Winter Park was a very cool little part of Central Florida, but I love it even more now. The town has so much charm and character. The downtown area is filled with boutiques, antique stores, and cafes. There's an artsy/trendy feel that you can't really find anywhere else in Central Florida. Every weekend they have a farmer's market that seems to be the happening place. In the middle of the downtown area is a huge park/grassy area. They have a stage set up where I assume they do concerts or the like occasionally. Right now, they're hosting the Central Florida Film Festival and at least one of the movies is being shown on an outdoor screen in the park.

On to the run...

It was an absolutely beautiful day for a race. It was somewhere around 65 or 70 degrees when we started out at 7:30. Park was somewhat hectic, so that was probably one of the few downfalls of the race. We left to get there in plenty of time, but because of lack of parking only got to the race start about 5 minutes before it started (in between parking and race start we had to get our chips...for all you non-runners, chips are attached to our shoelaces to record your official time). The race start was especially crowded as well. We started on the sidewalk, actually, because there was no room in the street for us to stand. Luckily, with the race chip, your time doesn't officially start until you cross the start line, so I wasn't concerned with being on the sidewalk. I love the starts of road races. I feel so good at the start when I'm weaving in an out of people. It makes me feel fast and unstoppable. The course was absolutely beautiful as well. Winter Park is a very upscale area, so the homes we ran by were truly stunning. There were several mansions as well that cost well into the millions, for certain. One downfall when it comes to running is that the streets are coblestone/brick so that's a little bit rough on the legs/joints when running. Overall, I didn't mind it too much. There were a few rolling hills which was a nice change for once (if you're not from Florida or familiar with Florida, it's helpful to know that Florida is flat. Extremely flat. We consider on ramps to be about the biggest hills we're going to come in contact with). Winter Park is also apparently known for it's trees. Seriously though, they are really pretty...they line the streets and just bring a warmth to the town.

By race finish, the weather was still very pleasant and I was feeling really good. Granted, I've been having a lot of pain in my hip and knee lately (opposite legs too, unfortunately!), so that made the last 2 miles a little rough, but I was not about to drop out of the race. I've never dropped out of a race, and I wasn't about to start today. I love the finish of a race too. It's such an amazing feeling of accomplishment. Certainly one that I'll never grow tire of. It's so cool to see all the family and friend of people running lining the finish area. And that moment when I cross the finish line and get to take my first step of just walking is such a joy. The feelig of exhausation is so different from any other feelig of exhausation. It's knowing that I've accomplished something. That I've finished something. That I didn't give up. And when I get a new best time, it's so rewarding to think I've reached another goal. And yes, today I did another Personal Record!! With knee and hip injuries and all.

After the race, our whole group went to breakfast at one of my favorite restaurants--Mimi's Cafe. Seriously, if you haven't eaten there, you are totally missing out. I'm no food critic so I'm unable to fully describe the amazingness that is Mimi's. All I can say is that I've never ordered anything there that I didn't like. And their muffins are to-die-for. Seriously.

So that's my review of the CNLBank Winter Park 10k. I highly recommend it. I also believe that it was a fairly inexpensive race. On the medal that they gave us at the finish (also another reason I like the finish line!!), it had this really great saying on the back that fully summarizes why I race and run. Not to win--but for me:

"Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months, and years they spend preparing for it."

Happy Running :)

A Roommate Conversation...

And this is how it went:

H: It's true, I went to school with a kid named Rusty Pitts. People called him Hairy Pitts, Smelly Pitts...
K: Did he smell?
H: Eh...He was heavy.

Uhhh what?!? Hahahahaha. I have a great roommate.

I wish I had a camera...

This evening, God painted the sky with strokes of pink and orange and gold. I love when I'm struggling to work through things, God reminds me of his Grace and Power through his creation. As I was taking a walk tonight, He was speaking to my senses. Everything was magnified. The air was filled with the scent of blooming flowers and fresh cut grass. It seemed as though every creature was singing their praises to God. And at the very end of the walk, I looked down at the water and noticed that the sky was reflecting beautifully in the water. When I looked up at the sky, it stopped me in my tracks. Literally. This evening, God used the sky as his canvas for a breathtaking work of art.

It's in these times that I know that everything will work out alright...more than alright! It's in these times that I know God's got everything under control. It's in these times that I know that everything God creates is good and for His will. And it's in these times that I'm reminded that I'm here for His will and not my own.

I know God is smiling down on me know that when it's in His time, it'll be far better than I can ever imagine.

Wall of Heads

There are heads. A wall of heads to be exact. A wall of mannequin heads in my neighbors condo. I don't know my neighbors, I rarely see them out, and I rarely see lights on in their condo. Now, I'm beginning to think this may be a good thing. Tonight, I returned home from Easter Dinner with some friends. I was walking to my door when I noticed lights on in the condo. Now, I'm not a particularly nosey, but if you leave your blinds open with the lights on at night, I'm going to be able to see in your condo just by glancing in. As it turns out, my glancing in revealed a wall of mannequin heads. Who knows. Maybe my neighbor is a hair stylist and particularly fond of the styles he/she has created on these heads. Maybe it's some new, trendy form of artwork. Or maybe it's just flat out creepy. Whatever the case, I laughed a lot to myself as I fumbled for my keys and then proceeded to make sure that the door locked securely behind me. I'm not taking any chances that the neighbor may just be flat out creepy.

P.S.--HAPPY EASTER!!

A Girl's Gotta Have Her Shoes

I went on a bit of a shopping spree today. It's true. It didn't start out that way. In fact, this Saturday started out like most every other Saturday. I went to the Boardwalk and ran 6 miles with my friend. Afterwards, we decided we were going to go to the local running store to get new running shoes. Neither one of us had purchased new ones since December and since then we've run 1 marathon and 1 1/2 marathon along with countless long training runs. While my joint pains my very well be due to old age, I'm still holding out hope that news shoes will cure the problem. So, I meet back up with my friend about an hour and half later and we head out to the running store. On the way we stopped at the Sock Outlet. Yes. The sock outlet. I bought a new pair of running socks for 1/2 price...this was the start of my shopping spree. At the running store, I made the fastest decision I've ever made on running shoes and fell in love with my new shoes in less than 10 minutes. Not only are the super comfortable, but they're pretty too! Pink and Blue! I rarely have running shoes that are pretty, so I was stoked. After purchasing new running shoes, I purchased a race entry for a 10k for next weekend. At this point, I'm up to 3 purchases for the day. After getting back to my friends apartment, I get in my car to head home and decide that the Outlet mall is on the way home, so I should stop and buy some flip flops. Well, a trip into The Gap is never quick for me. I came out of The Gap with 2 new pairs of shorts, a tank top and a new pair of flip flops. It would have been much more, but I talked myself out of several other purchases. All-in-all, I was pleased seeing as though I had spent less than $50 on all of my purchases from The Gap. Not bad. Not bad at all. Next, I headed over to Old Navy where I couldn't pass up the 2 for $5 flip flops and purchased 2 more pairs. After my "quick trip" to the outlets, I proceeded to Blockbuster where I picked out 2 movie rentals (okay, not purchases, per say, but still a transaction). From there, I went to Target to pick up a few items..once again, my trips to Target are never quick nor cheap. After locating items for my lunches/dinners for the week, I sauntered past the Shoe isle where my eyes quickly fell upon the cutest pair of ballet flats--for only $15! How could I pass that up? And now we have 5 pairs of shoes in one day. I refused to allow myself to look towards the clothes as I knew that my ability to say "no" was very weak at this point.

Shopping can be tiring, too! To recharge my energy, I made a pit stop for take-out at Panda Express for my last purchase of the day. I'm saving up energy to check my bank account another day. I don't think I want to see what it looks like right now.

Maybe I'll just call my purchases today "Easter Gifts" Hey, I can't rely on the Easter Bunny anymore. I think he's lost somewhere in Ohio. :)