I am a wife and mother of four, who loves organization but is dealt a new hand of chaos each day. I love Jesus, my husband, and each of my unique children. I strive to foster these relationships and bring a little organization to our chaotic home.
My sweet cousin introduced me to Closet Candy Boutique a couple years ago, and I loved my new clothes so much that I joined as an independent stylist nearly a year ago. I have had so much fun as a stylist, and I have enjoyed sharing these fabulous boutique items with my friends, but I have not mentioned this on my blog before now. I promise not to overwhelm you with CCB, but I do want to share one item tonight.
I posted this photo in my Facebook group, and they loved the dress, so I thought I should share it here as well. This dress is really cute and comfortable, perfect for spring, summer, and fall! I have worn it with sandals and with booties. The fit is relaxed and allows room for my hips. This See You Again Button Dress is available in olive and navy in sizes small to 1XL here. Let me know if you have questions about sizing.
Well, it has been a hot minute since my last blog post. I started to just make a Facebook post about today’s run, but I did not like the way the photos were cropped. The sun is shining brightly, and the sky is so blue. I want it all to show in the photos. I have run outside quite a bit lately, so I will add photos from those runs as well. Treadmill photos are not as blog worthy. Lol. Today’s run marks 596 days straight of running at least one mile a day.
I usually run on the treadmill because it is convenient, but I have a 10k coming up in two weeks, and I know I will be sore if I do not run outside before the race, so I mentioned to my girls that I was thinking about running outside today. Two of them decided to go with me. Since I needed four miles, I urged them to take their bicycles. My sweet girl in the photo above parked her bike about a half mile before our turn-around point and ran with me for close to a mile. I have a feeling she will be running circles around me by junior high.
This silly girl refused to take any photos, but I snagged this one after she ran into the fence and fell over laughing. I tried to snap it while she was on the ground, but she was too fast.
I was afraid this action shot would be blurry, but it turned out perfectly! I need to get my girls some bottle holders for their bicycles and some running/cycling gear because they stole my shirt and jacket.
I had a different combination of two daughters on Thursday’s training run. They each ran about a mile before heading home, leaving me to run another mile alone, but I will take a mile with them over nothing at all.
My husband and I recently spent some time with family in Illinois, and I had no choice but to run outside. I could not let my run streak end just because it was cold and I did not have access to a treadmill. My running gear was a bit different for those runs than my runs back home.
I enjoy seeing snow and frozen ponds while running up north. It is so different than Texas running.
The only problem with running in colder weather while out of town is how much I have to try to fit in my suitcase!
The photo above was from last Sunday during a wind advisory. It was cold and reminded me of our crazy weather the day we ran Hot Chocolate Dallas.
I ran the 15k for the fourth year in a row and actually saw a few snowflakes falling intermittently.
My daughter and her bestie ran the 5k. I felt terrible that their first Hot Chocolate experience was so miserably cold and windy, but they had fun and want to run it again next year.
If you know me, you know I love numbers, math, patterns in numbers, etc. Yesterday’s date was fun, unique, and special to me. It was my 44th birthday, and if you play around with all those twos, you can make 44 out of them. My son recently turned 16 on the 16th. I turned two on the second so long ago that I have no recollection of it, so this was the next best thing.
If you have been following my blog or Facebook posts for the last 18 months, you will know that I have been running every day since July 26, 2020. I like to do fun things when I reach certain numbers of days run. For example, on RSD (run streak day) 500, I ran 5 miles and spent 50 minutes on the elliptical. I decided to do the same with yesterday’s date, so I started out with a quick 2-mile run outside.
Then I jumped on the elliptical for 22 minutes. I have been having issues with my right hip after running, and the elliptical helps to loosen it up and keeps me from getting sore after a run.
I had to take a break from working out to take my daughter to the chiropractor for some knee issues she has been having. I was listening in on a work call while chauffeuring her around.
I ran another two miles on the treadmill after lunch. That Surf Shelf attached to my treadmill keeps my work laptop in view, so I can answer questions or stop and work on something as needed.
I spent another 22 minutes on the elliptical after my run. By this point, my body was realizing that I had spent about 80 minutes working out, but I wasn’t finished. I did two sets of 22 pushups, one set of 44 crunches, and two sets of 44 squats.
I guess you could say I celebrated my birthday by celebrating what my body can do. This body has done a lot in 44 years—carried four children, ran three marathons and several half marathons, built French drains, moved rocks and stones to build pathways, flower beds, and a fire pit, and so much more!—but my body is still strong and able, and I will continue to push myself to be fit and active because I enjoy the challenge and the activity.
Yesterday afternoon, I went outside to water the plants on our front porch and noticed blue butterflies. I have not seen these often, so I grabbed my camera to try to photograph them. They move very quickly! It is difficult to see the blue on the Pipevine Swallowtail from this angle, but there is a better shot further down.
Pipevine Swallowtail
I took over 70 photos and ended up with about 7 that were clear. It was extremely difficult to take a shot when a butterfly was still because they were constantly fluttering their wings and flitting from plant to plant.
Giant Swallowtail
The butterflies love this lantana. I have heard that lantana can be considered an invasive species, but we have three plants—one each of three varieties. We keep them trimmed and have not had problems with them propagating elsewhere.
Gulf Frittilary
The Gulf Frittilary does not move nearly as much or as quickly as the swallowtails, so it was easier to photograph.
Gulf Frittilary
Butterfly wings fascinate me. They are so thin that they are almost translucent, yet the top has a completely different pattern and coloring than the underside.
Pipevine Swallowtail
You can finally see the amazing blue color on the wings and tail of this butterfly. I hope to see more of these beautiful Pipevine Swallowtails.
Two Giant Swallowtails
Today, I just looked out the window and noticed several butterflies all over the lantana, so I took my good camera out again. There were at least five Giant Swallowtails at one point.
Giant Swallowtail
Again, I am amazed by the different colors and patterns on the opposite sides of their wings. These have some blue markings as well.
Three Giant Swallowtails
The butterfly in the foreground is a female. The black spot on the third yellow oval from the wingtip is an identifying characteristic.
Giant Swallowtail
Can we also appreciate the variety in these lantana blooms? This is all one plant, but some of the flowers are only red while others are red and yellow-orange.
Female Giant Swallowtail
Another black spot on the third yellow oval from the wingtip means this is another female, or it could be the same one. They were moving around so quickly that I have no way of knowing which ones I photographed multiple times.
Giant Swallowtail
This is probably my favorite shot. It is one of the clearest and shows so much detail.
Female Giant Swallowtail
See the orange and black eyespots on the inner edges of the hindwings? I wonder if they scare away predators. These butterflies move so quickly that I have a hard time believing anything could catch them.
Yesterday, I hit 1300 miles for this year. I ran 1.7 miles with my twins and then hit the elliptical for another 4.3 miles to make it an even 6 for the day. I need to average just under 6 miles per day to reach my goal of 2021 for the year. Since I have always been an overachiever, I try to get a minimum of 6 miles each day. This ensures that I will reach my goal even when I have a crazy day and do not complete more than a couple miles or when I decide to take a rest day and just run one slow mile.
Yesterday was also run streak day 400 for me. I have run a minimum of one mile a day every day for 401 days now because I already ran this morning. This might sound impressive, but I saw a post from a lady over the weekend who was on day 2,000-something of her run streak. Now that is impressive! I hope I stay healthy enough to keep my run streak going that long.
My goal was just to be consistent, so I challenged myself to run every day for a year. I ran a full marathon in December 2018 and another in January 2020, but my times were not what I would have liked, and I knew most of that was due to my inconsistency in running. I have no plans to run another marathon anytime soon, but I do run several races throughout the year, and I want to be prepared and not to be sore the few days after each race. I tend to be a bit competitive in races and push myself to keep up with or stay ahead of other women, especially if they look like they are in my age group. I have been doing this since my very first 10k eleven years ago. You would think I would have learned by now to just enjoy the race.
I was watering the plants on our front porch this morning when I noticed an orange butterfly fluttering around the flower beds.
I usually snap photos with my phone, but this particular butterfly was moving around too quickly to get a clear photo, so I grabbed my Canon. I really should use it more often.
At first, I thought this was a monarch, but then I realized the markings were different.
A little research online led me to the correct identification of this Gulf Fritillary.
I love all the details—the white dots on the underside of the wings, the white stripes on the underside of the body, the black outlines on the wings.
It amazes me how so many Gulf Fritillaries can look so much alike, but I suppose most insects look like all the others of their species.
I am thankful that God did not choose to make all humans look the same. Even within families, we are each unique.
I am sure if I looked closely enough, I could find differences between two butterflies in the same species. Even so, I am grateful that God created many different species of butterflies.
I started a run streak on July 25, 2020, after struggling with consistency for months. I committed last July to run a minimum of one mile a day every day for as long as I could. I did not always feel like running. I did not always have time to run. I sometimes dozed off after putting kids to bed only to wake up in a panic around 11 pm to run a mile before going back to bed. But I did it.
I have now completed run streak day 374, which means I have run every day for over a year. I did not have a chance to post on the 25th, but I celebrated RSD 365 by running 3.65 miles and then spending 36.5 minutes on the elliptical. I take that headband seriously these days. There is no question as to whether I will run or not. The only question is how far.
July was my best month for miles, averaging just over 6.2 per day. It would have been higher, but I had a busy week and only ran a mile or two on three different days last week. I am still a little behind where I should be for Run the Year (2021 miles in 2021), but I am catching up and should be able to complete the miles as long as I continue averaging six miles per day. I earned my 1100 mile badge last week, and I have now completed 1138 miles, so I have less than 1000 to go!
Back in January, I posted about my running goals and mentioned that my goal is to “run the year” (run 2021 miles). I am happy to report that I hit 1,000 miles today! I know I am a couple of weeks behind, but I feel confident that I will reach my goal by the end of the year. If you are interested in joining me in running the year, visit Run the Year and save $3 on RTY 2021 Registration by using my link.
I started off the year doing well, but I fell short of averaging 5.54 miles per day in February and March. As you can see from the graph below, I got back on track in April and have averaged 5.6 to 6.1 miles per day over the last three months. So far, I have averaged 6.67 miles per day for July. I need to average 5.9 miles per day for the rest of the year to reach 2021 by December 31st.
I have continued my run streak and just reached day 352 today. In less than two weeks, I will complete an entire year of running a minimum of one mile a day. I recently challenged myself to run at least three miles a day instead of getting by with one or two running and then completing the other miles on the elliptical. I am proud to say I have run three miles each day on five of the last seven days, and I ran two miles each day on the other two days. When I complete those three-mile runs, I wonder why I felt like I needed to stop at one or two miles. It is all a mind game. I have a 10k (6.2 miles) race coming up in a few weeks, so I need to run that distance several times between now and race day.
I am celebrating 300 consecutive days of running today. Before I started this run streak, I doubt I ever ran more than seven days in a row. Now I am approaching one year. There have been many days when I did not feel like running, but I did it anyway, and I felt better after I ran.
To commemorate this day, I spent 30 minutes (approximately 3 miles) on the elliptical, walked 3 miles and then ran 3 miles on the treadmill, and completed 3 sets of 100 squats. I may be a bit sore tomorrow from all those squats, but it will be worth it. On these milestone days, I enjoy challenging myself to push further and work harder than usual.
Chronicling Chaos 