Goodbye 31

At the bottom of this post is a link for a song.

Do yourself a favor and click on it so it can play while you read this post about how grateful I am for my life.  I'm not sure if it has anything to do with this post, but it's a picker-upper and it will surely make you smile!

Today is my 32nd birthday.

And what do I have to show for it?

Everything.

Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that this would be the life I would be living at 32 years old.

I am married to a man who is my perfect match.  Who encourages and supports me while I dream crazy big dreams and register for "goofy" and spectacular races.  Who thinks I'm beautiful at all the different sizes I've been during our time together.  Who is the most incredible Daddy to two of the coolest broads I've ever known.  And who I know loves me.  Unconditionally.

Even when I'm not-so-lovable.

I have a billion dollar family.

By traditional standards, we don't have the "million dollar family", but we do have a billion dollar family.

What does that mean?

It means that we are perfect just as we are.  Our girls are perfect (mostly).  Our family is perfect (generally). And our life is as close to perfect as can be.

And we could live forever with nothing but the clothes on our backs and each other and be the happiest people on the planet.

Not only do we have a pretty perfect (did I mention that before?) family, but our extended family is pretty phenomenal as well.

We have two sets of parents who support us and want to spend as much time as possible with our girls and we've got siblings who are nearly as cool as us.  ;)

We also have Aunts and Uncles who are like second sets of parents to us and we have grandparents who have always tried to give us the world.

We really are a lucky bunch.

My Dad and I competed in our first triathlon on Father's Day.

It was a sprint distance which included a 750m open water swim, a double loop 20km bike and another double loop 5km run.

It was one of the best racing experiences of my life.

I was shocked at how I was able to endure and how I felt like a real athlete in my tri wetsuit.

(I finished 16th overall in the swim and I am so proud of that!)

Isn't it cool that I get to share in so many race experiences with my Dad?

We're done!
And we're still wearing our ever-forgiving tri suits!  (NOTE:sarcasm)

So, on this day, my 32nd birthday, that I am treating as a Thanksgiving day, I am grateful.
I have great family, friends and a very hard fought, but battle won, for my health.
This has been the best year of my life and to everyone who was involved in all of my victories and challenges overcome, thank you.
This entire year would not have been possible without you and although many of my 32 years have come and gone with not much to show, this year will always be close to my heart and a memorable one.

These girls are so friggin' cool!
So glad we get to be roomies!

Gone gone gone

The Big Relay

Today, I have not eaten clean.
Like, if there were an opposite of clean eating, today would be the picture beside it in the dictionary.
I say this as I lick the fake cheese-like-substance that coats a deep fried corn flavoured chip that I am repeatedly reaching for out of a yellow label bag.
Yes, folks, these are no name brand chips, at that.

I'm sure you're wondering what else I had for lunch.
Fret not.
It was balanced.
With a handful of m&m's.

I will not feel guilty about this day though, because it was most definitely a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day and there is always food at a good pity party.

I also went to crossfit this morning and sweated my ass off.
So if you're wondering where the calories went that I burned off between the hours of 7 and 8am this morning?
I ate them.
Already.

Now, for the purpose of this post.
Last weekend, I participated in a relay race that started in Banff,AB and ended in Jasper,AB.
There were 15 runners total, running legs anywhere from 14 to 19+km.
This is not a race for the faint of heart.
It's a road race and it never leaves the boundaries of a mountainous National Park, so you can imagine, there's a hill or two.
We ran this race to raise funds for Brain Cancer research.  We also ran to celebrate a relative who was taken far too young as a result of this disease.
I think we succeeded in both.
Our team consisted of brand-newbies, one of which was informed on Thursday before the Saturday race that he would be running 16km,  (thanks Tyler!) as well as long-time veteran runners, (thanks John!), and everything in between.

It was a beautiful day and the energy surrounding the race was palpable.
Our team ran, that is, travelled from Banff to Jasper, every single step, on foot.
I'm pretty damn proud of us!

It was probably my best run, ever, and also a personal best as I ran 19.2km in 1:57.
And I am JONES-ING to do a half so I can prove to myself that I can do a sub 2 hour race!!

Now, I'm not going to let this entire day be a bust as far as my nutrition goes, so I'd better go eat a banana or something to help soak up the cheese coloured flavoured snack...

Not every day can be squeaky clean.  I'm human and I cave.
Some days are like that.
Even in Australia.

I really am  happiest when I'm running.
And when I'm with my family.  Yeah.

The Value of Beauty

Are you like me?

Do you really have no idea how your beauty compares to others?

I have absolutely no problem, whatsoever praising my children and seeing their stunning beauty, but when it comes to myself, I'm my own, personal, #1, hardcore critic.

I think most people are their own worst critic, and although we can recognize that, we are unable to change it.

Maybe for a day or two we can consciously see our own beauty, both inside and out, but it doesn't take long for the old, negative self doubts to creep into our innocent minds.

I realize that physical beauty isn't anywhere near as important or valuable as our spiritual and emotional beauty, but there is no denying the fact that our appearance has grips on so many aspects of our lives.

The biggest, and most important decision of our lives, choosing our partner, is initially based solely upon one another's outward appearance.

Don't even try to deny it!

We are first attracted to our significant other's beauty, and then we are able to fall in love with all the other bits.

Now that we've got two little girls, I feel it's important that I not only take careful steps to reign in my own lousy self-esteem in regards to my weight, but also to my appearance.

Do they need to see me scrutinizing every wrinkle?  Is my nose too fat?  Does this shirt hide my muffin top?  Am I pretty?

Who frickin' cares!

They certainly don't, and I've got much better things to do than teach them how to hate themselves.

For a very long time (at least I hope!), my girls will think that I'm the most beautiful person in the world.

I may not believe this to be true, and, of course, it's not, but fake it til you make it, right?

My older gal likes to play with my hair, and I've held off cutting the whole lot of it off, because I adore this.

Our children will look at our faces, and have nothing but an innocent, confident smile.  A genuine, all-knowing, smile.

They love us, and they don't know any better.

We.  Are.  Beautiful.

I will never tire of looking at these
two gorgeous faces!

Is it good for them to hear us criticize ourselves?
No.
Is it good for their hearts to know that their mother or father thinks that they're ugly?
No.  Because one day, they will learn that they are created in their parents likeness, and they will let those same mental recordings start to happen in their own beautiful little brains.
I cannot let this happen.

So, what is the value of beauty?
In my opinion, it's whatever you make of it.
Do you think you're beautiful?
Like I said earlier, I have no idea how I compare to the rest of the world, but comparing myself to others is about as effective as, well, it's just not.  And I'm far too lazy to spend time on that anyways!
Is it important?
Yes.
How important?
Well, that's up to you and I.

She loves to hang out in the carrier.
Who needs a double stroller anyhow?!