Focus on What You CAN Do

Erica2 Comments

Back in April, I wrote a post about how I had been consistently running for an entire year.

Today, I’m sharing a post explaining why I may not be running anymore at all.

First, a little history. If you read my blog, you know that my husband and I recently got to go to Japan for 11 days to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We left May 11 and returned May 21. Among the many other things we did there, we also did a ton of walking! I don’t remember a specific instance of injuring my foot, but about halfway through our trip my left foot was hurting pretty badly. So much so, that I opted out of doing some of the things we had originally planned to do on our trip.

I hadn’t been running or exercising on our trip, so after we got back I decided I’d wait a few days and then try going for a run. My foot still hurt, but I pushed through the pain (being stubborn comes in handy sometimes.) I ran two more times that week, and then decided that the pain was getting worse. I told myself I’d take a week off of running to let my foot heal. I wasn’t too happy about this, but I had done this before in the past for injuries, and figured this was just another one of those times. No big deal, I’d just wait a week or so and then get back into it.

I actually ended up waiting a week and a half before I got back out to go running one morning. I had not been having any pain for 4 or 5 days, so I was optimistic as I headed out on my 2.7 mile route. I think about halfway through my run was when I could tell that left foot was beginning to hurt again. By the time I made it home, the pain was bad. And this time, my ankle was swollen too.

Some people might have chosen that day to make an appointment to go to the doctor, but not me (remember, stubborn!) I thought I’d rest it, ice it, etc. and see if it got better. After an entire week of having a swollen ankle, I made the appointment.

“If I had your feet, I think I’d cry every day I had to walk on them.” 

Not exactly what you want to hear from your doctor, or anyone for that matter. He told me that I had most likely sprained a muscle or ligament and wanted me to wear a boot for a few weeks. He told me that I should never wear flip-flops or cute shoes again – I needed to go for the “ugly old lady shoes.” He also told me, that because of the way my feet are designed, my left foot bends too far to one side, which means I overcompensate and put all my weight on one spot on the other side of my foot – which is what caused my injury. He told me I was not built (literally, my feet were not designed) to be a runner, and that I should look for a new sport.

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“Growing Up In the Lord” – My Youth Group Memories

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*cue “Growing Up In the Lord” by Acappella – ca. 1987

A few Sundays ago was “Senior Sunday” at my church. All of the graduating seniors at our church were presented with a bible during morning worship, and a slideshow was shown featuring pictures of their lives from back when they were little babies to now – 18 years of life.

The theme for worship was “Family” – our youth minister spoke about how this class of graduating seniors had really come together and created a family amongst themselves, demonstrated by the love they had for each another.

It made me think back to my years of being in my church’s youth group, and how I was really blessed to have an amazing youth group family from middle school until my senior year of high school. Those were some of the best years of my life – I wouldn’t trade them for anything. I thought I would take some time to reflect back on those years and write out some of my most memorable moments – I’m sure I’ve missed some, but I picked my top 10 moments, which are written about in more detail below. My memory has failed me on many of the specifics, and I wish I had more pictures to share (I used disposable cameras back then!)

I also really wanted to thank each of you who were a part of my Camelback Church youth group family – (you know who you are!) – you meant a lot to me, and I honestly miss you all! Thanks for some amazing memories!

Favorite and Memorable Moments of the Camelback Youth Group         (1998 – 2005)

1. Christmas Parties at the Robert’s House – this was a special memory for me, not only because it was a fun Christmas tradition, but because it took place at my Grandma’s house. My grandma died when she was only 75, that was during my senior year in high school. When I think of my grandma, I think of her giant front yard with the horseshoe driveway – I think of chicken enchiladas, which were the main course for any and every event – and I think of the big Lazy Susan table in their dining room where we used to eat. Each year she would host the youth group Christmas parties, which would always include a gift exchange – one of those where you steal gifts from other people and eventually they get “frozen.” YG Pic 4

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Unexpected Lessons From Japan

Erica1 Comment

My husband Dean and I have been back in the States for about 2 weeks now after taking an 11-day trip to Japan. This trip was an early 10-year anniversary celebration for Dean and myself (actual anniversary June 5).

One of the most common questions we’ve gotten about our trip was simply, “How did you decide on Japan?” Dean and I are very different, but we have known for a long time that if we ever got the chance to internationally travel, we would go to Japan. For starters, I went to Japan 19 years ago when I was in 8th grade.

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Me in my host family’s home (April 2000)

 I had the opportunity to participate in a “Junior Ambassador” program with my school, and we had the chance to meet and connect with a Japanese student of the same age. We got to meet their families and stay in their homes – a pretty awesome experience to have as a 13-year-old. As happens when you travel somewhere new, you usually want to go back someday. This trip was my “going back” opportunity. Besides that, over the past 3 years we have really gotten more interested in Japanese culture – manga, anime, sushi, etc. We have a sushi night once a week (local Abilene sushi, although it’s actually pretty good!) and normally watch an anime film or show while we have dinner. It was pretty cool to see and experience in person some of the things we had seen in the shows we watched.

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Tomoe, on the left, and her sister on the far right were my host family

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you know from our pictures that we did a lot – we went to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka – this included visiting places like Akihabara, Disney Sea, Studio Ghibli Museum, Fushimi-Inari… through the social media lens, where I have strategically chosen the best of the best pictures (and filtered them beyond belief), it looked like the trip of a lifetime. That’s always how it is on the other end of the screen, isn’t it? Perhaps there’s a twinge of jealousy or longing as you scroll through a friend’s travel pictures.

Well, it was an awesome experience, and I am super grateful that we had the chance to go – however, there is always more to the story.

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