Everything but the Kitchen Sink

Ok, I lied. I promised on Saturday that I would have my post-race report on my first half-marathon ready for you today, and ... I don't.

Sunday was a looooooooooong day, the race itself was a BLAST and AMAZING, but the road trip to/from Chicago was a beast. It basically took me 7.5 hrs roundtrip (it would typically take 3 hrs) and involved not one, not two, but five loop de loops including me almost driving to Indiana on the way home. LOL

My ex-husband's parents are also why I haven't written it up yet - they have occupied the rest of my time - and drained the rest of my energy. They've been visiting from Hawaii for the past two weeks and finally left today. It was a great visit, we get along surprisingly well all things considered, and the kids were spoiled rotten as they surely deserve since they see their grandparents but once a year. We squeezed in SO MUCH on Sunday afternoon/evening and all day yesterday. I can't wait to go home and go back to being my normal anti-social self. LOL

So ... stay tuned for my post-race report on Thursday! A few photos are already posted on Facebook, but you gotta befriend me if you wanna see the goods ;)







LOOK WHAT I GOT IN THE MAIL!!!!!!!!!!!



At first I thought it was a wedding invitation because it was in a white invitation sized envelope that was rather shiny and smooth. There was another nice shiny, smooth white envelope inside of it. I pretty much squeaked out my surprise and excitement (causing my son to come running over).

The oh-so-amazing Sarah and Max sent me an Apple gift card for my birthday and in honor of my 100 lb weight loss!! Sarah mentions in the card that it's to help towards my new iPod so I can start using the Nike+ that Jeannie and Carrie gave me for my 100 lb mlestone.

Thank you so much Sarah and Max!!! I am so blessed to have you in my life, and CAN'T WAIT til I finally get to hang out with you - somehow, someway in 2010, we're gonna make it happen! :)




I also received my very first blog award!



Sandy at Moms Fighting Fat has given me the Honest Scrap Award! I googled it, and couldn't quite figure out where it originated from, but the Award is "bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant. This award is about bloggers who post from their heart, who oftentimes put their heart on display as they write from the depths of their soul."

In accepting the Honest Scrap Award, I have a few rules I must complete: (1) Brag about it, (2) select seven blogs you find brilliant and link to them and (3) list 10 honest things about yourself.

As Rule #1 has been completed (via this post), let's move on to Rule #2 (my favorite part!), shall we?

Seven Blogs I Find Brilliant

I'm kinda doing this a little different and am picking seven bloggers vs seven blogs. They are listed below in alphabetical order by blogger's name ...

Betsy at Witness This Fitness and Gluten Free Betsy
Jen at Our P90X Journey
Linda at Linda Gets Fit
Marcelle at South African in Cape Town Now Living In Germany
Melissa at Melissa's Journey to the Pro Stage
Sarah at Washing Away the Gain
Tigerlilly at The Tiger's Pride

These 7 bloggers are simply amazing. Visit their blogs, and you'll see why!

And let's finish up with Rule #3 ...

10 Honest Things About Me
  1. I am of chinese, japanese and german descent. My children are of chinese, japanese, gernam, hawaiian, samoan, korean, filipino and irish descent. I call them ambassadors to the United Nations.

  2. I was born and raised in Hawaii, and moved to the mainland in 2002. I miss Hawaii alot, but have no plans to move back because a) my ex lives there b) the economy and employment situation is horrible there c) the public education system leaves much to be desired compared to where we are now and d) after living away, the island is just so ... small.

  3. I'm extremely stubborn and hard-headed. But I do know how to compromise.

  4. I rarely lose my temper, so people get shocked when I do lose my top. But it takes alot to piss me off.

  5. I was scared out of my mind facing the swim portion of my first triathlon, but I never once thought about giving up or quitting.

  6. I wake up each morning and make myself say 3 good things about the day before I get out of bed. I say 5 things I'm thankful for that happened during the day before I go to bed. It's just something I've learned to do to remind me how blessed I am.

  7. The last time I spoke to my Dad before he passed away - we had a fight, and I wasn't very nice. I held that guilt for many years, and have only recently started to let myself heal - my pastor helped me to see that Dad isn't holding a grudge, that he's forgiven me and the best thing I can do to make it up is to live my very best life and make him proud. Surprisingly, that's when I started losing weight, and here I am, almost a year later, still holding strong with my weight loss, and more confident and at peace than I ever have been.

  8. It's hard for me to "rest". I can't sit still for very long - my mind runs a mile a minute and I'm always thinking of things that need to get done. When I get home fromt work, as soon as I walk through the door, I'm cleaning. I get the kids to pitch in, but I can't even change out of my work clothes until the house is picked up.

  9. I'm hooked on Make It Or Break It and The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

  10. I have two tattoos, and you'll never figure out where they are ;)




One last tidbit for today ... I'm taking part in Meesha's 100 Mile Challenge. I thought it would be an "easy" challenge, one that fits right in with my new passion of running, and goes hand in hand with training for the 3 races I have coming up next month ...

Banco Popular Chicago Half-Marathon on September 13th (I'm about 90% sure on this one - you'll read why in my post-race recap on Thursday)

Chicago Beachathlon on September 19th

MMRF Race for Research: Ann Lander's 5K Fun Run/Walk on September 20th

Yeah ... my first half-marathon went pretty well, can't you tell? :)

xo,

"Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumblebee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to your fullest potential, and fight for your dreams." Ashley Smith

18 comments:

Tigerlilly said...

Awwww, thank you so much for the blogger award. Love it, and you!

I wish I could get to Chicago for that Beachathlon.. it sounds like a blast!! (ok, except for the part of running in a coconut bra and grass skirt! LOL)

I am checking out some races here in Az so I can get a couple in before the PF Chang... I gotta catch up to you and your bibs!!

Melissa Cunningham said...

awwwwww,thank you as well for the blogger award!!!! (sorry tigerlilly,stole your words-lol!)
but really,what else can i say?
AND love this post as well.....cant wait to hear about the recap!

Lucas said...

Congrats on the award! I LOVED your list. Nice to read about how far you've come and the peace you have found. Looking forward to reading about your races. :)

Mesha said...

Hey Michelle, thanks for the dailymile suggestion. I created the challenge. I will also add you on FB - won't be able to get on FB until tonight so if you are on first, you can add me. Demesha Wright.

We now have a site to log our 100 Mile Challenge miles. See details at link below:

http://rebornwright.blogspot.com/2009/08/log-your-miles.html

Thanks again for joining!

Token Fat Friend said...

Here's to hoping we can all do half-marathons soon! :) Or at least get to the 100-pound mark.

Keep on being the encouragement that you are!!!

Corey said...

Michelle, I am sitting here on pins and needles waiting to hear all about the 1/2!! I am SOO proud of you and cannot wait to read all about it.

Loved the blog today as well....so much inspiration over at this site - it's what I need on a daily basis :) Here's to another successful day in the life!

iampalegreen said...

Look at you!

I'm honored to share the Honest Scrap Award with you and everyone else! That is super sweet! Honestly (no pun intended) my blogs would not be anywhere near they are now if it wasn't for you. It was YOU who inspired me to really blog with my heart and the one the keeps me blogging. (Plus the one who turns me on to new sites and resources for my blogs!) I mean, who wouldn't have a kick ass blog when you have the world's best cheerleader (not to mention athlete) on your side? Thanks so much!

I'm so excited to be doing to Beachathlon with you! Did you register yet? I'll email you to figure out all our race(s) details!

WOot Woo!

Brightcetera said...

You lied? Really, Michelle ...
;) can't wait to see the pics.
WoW ... nice gift!
Love your list of bloggers and
also your honesty list ...
I'm of German descent too so we're practically related ... :D

There are alot of exciting things happening in your life.

Melissa Cunningham said...

me again! just a note to let you know your just recieved yet another Honest Scrap award! lol! I just got done posting and yup,your on there as one of the 7 blogs that are "brilliant"!
:)

AzLinda said...

Hey there Wonder Woman! I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the award! What a way to wake up this morning. Gosh, I'm honored!

Ps..
I also named you as one of my favorite brilliant bloggers!

Anonymous said...

Wow!! I almost wish I wasn't doing my sprint tri in September (Devil's Lake) so I could do the Beachathalon with ya!!

Congrats on the award!

Beth @ Kitchen Minions said...

I hate getting lost like that! But I can't wait to read the report!

WriterMarie said...

You are just awesome Michelle, and such an inspiration to me! Keep on being amazing!!! xoxoxo

Mommy Elephant Sarah said...

Oh man too bad I can't convince David to do that beachathon!!
Glad you liked your present! :D I was VERY happy to give you that, and you totally deserved it!

Thanks so much for the award!! :D
Now I wanted to tell you that I'm sucking on the special op! I looked at it tonight, and thought I would try eating vegetarian for 3 days, but since it ends Friday that doesn't leave me a whole lot of time to prepare. I'll try but it's highly doubtful. I will however get more clued in for the next one! :D
xoxo

Sandra Winn said...

Michelle, what an uplifting post! You've encouraged to implement saying at least three good things about myself every morning.

The words you wrote about your father are very touching, I'm glad to see that you've forgiven yourself. We're only human.

You soooo do not look like a tattoo girl! Was your little photo directly below that a hint of a possible tramp stamp, lol, or pure coincidence?

Hugs ~ Sandy...and thanks for the link love. :-)

Marcelle said...

Wow Michelle I'm so touched that you chose my blog for this award...
Thanks so much.
Now need to go over to my blog and carry this on...
I'm so pleased I found your blog as via you I have met so many amazing bloggers.
Hope you having a good sleep now...hehe - hate this time difference between me and the rest of the girls.

Annie, The Amazing Shrinking Girl said...

Hey Michelle,
I've been following your blog for a while but just wanted to say that I only realized that you're from Hawaii now! I was born, raised, and currently still live here! Also, I joined Operation Fat Blaster so thank you for that! Ready to kick some fat with the rest of the group!

Annie, The Amazing Shrinking Girl said...

Hey michelle,

Forgot, but could you add me to the OFB list.

Thanks!

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