Rediscovering Passions Part 2

So no posts in almost a month and then I do 2 in the same night...crazy I know. But as I was writing about falling back in love with reading I realized I also have been reunited with another activity that used to be one of my favorites - running. I have been running for years but, not unlike like my blogging, I tend to experience ups and downs. This isn't really the best time to have a down because I am signed up to run a marathon relay this Sunday with some wonderful ladies I have been running with for years. But for some reason I have just lacked the chutzpah to get out of bed in the morning to run for what seems like a really, really long time.

But then something snapped last week...not physically, thank goodness. But mentally I actually felt a breakthrough. I didn't just wake up and feel like I needed to run or anything. It was more of a back-door attack that got me out for a run Friday afternoon. And then I went again Saturday morning with a friend I ran a marathon with 5 years ago (thank you!). And then I went again Sunday afternoon - in the rain!!! And then I even did a quick treadmill workout at the Y Monday night. Yes, I've run 4 days in a row and I feel awesome!! I did take off today, but I have plans to run again tomorrow and Thursday.

While Fall is my absolute favorite season, Spring is one of my favorite times of the year to run. It reminds me of running track in high school and college. I know this sounds ridiculous, but to me it smells like track season. The scent of spring in the air always brings back memories of running on the cinder track at Greencastle. I love passing fields and seeing new life pushing through the earth. I love seeing the wide array of colors all around me when I am passing the houses with owners who have way better landscaping skills than me. I am just amazed at all of the beautiful things God has put around me to enjoy. I am realizing that even though my life is busy, taking time out of my schedule to exercise my body is crucial - and is also just as valuable for my spirit. This is one way I can worship God and be truly uninhibited.

I feel like I have cleared a really high mental hurdle and I'm excited to wear out some running shoes in the next weeks and months!!

Rediscovering Passions

So it's quite obvious that I am not going to be an every day blogger...or even an every week blogger for that matter. So I'm going to just lower the bar right now and be OK with that.

So in the past few weeks I have recently fallen in love...fallen back in love might be a better way to put it. One of my favorite things to do before I got married and had kids was read. I remember spending hours on end with a book in my hand as a kid. And that didn't stop when I got into high school and college where I read pretty much every Stephen King book along with many, many others. But for some reason once my last name changed, so did my reading habits...until about 2 weeks ago.

Isaiah had been asking to read "The Hunger Games" after hearing about the books from his friends. I was hesitant because of the few things I had heard about the books. So I told him I would read them first. It took a few days too many for his liking for me to finally pick up the first book. But once I did, it was less than a week and I had finished all 3 books. While I became completely wrapped up in the lives of Katniss and Peeta and the rest of the characters in the books, I noticed a change in my mood. I have been pretty busy with work and other commitments and had been a little on edge. But by allowing myself to just sit and read I rediscovered something I really, really like to do and at the same time felt the stress of life melting away. I was sad to reach the final pages of the last book, but I am ready to re-read this series and enjoy some time to myself reading other books as well.

A Bit of a Slacker

Wow, has it really been over a month since I posted anything on this here blog???? Apparently so. Let's go with a month in review!!! So what have the Bells been up to in the past few weeks? You mean besides swimming? Because yes, that is our life :) We have dedicated 3 very long weekend to the sport since the end of February. But it has been AWESOME!!!! Isaiah and Rachel both swam like crazy people at the YSCAP championship meet and qualified for Y Districts. Rachel made it in the 100 free and Isaiah added the 200 free to his list of events. He could only swim 2 individual events so he picked the 200 free and 50 free. He also swam a PR in the 50 free at YSCAPs and earned a spot on the 200 medley relay team. It was really a great weekend. I'm trying to block out the part where we spent 26+ hours at the pool to watch less than 10 minutes of actual Bell kid swimming. So 2 weeks later we headed to Philly for Y Districts. We took Mom with us and headed to King of Prussia to shop on Saturday. Then we were up early for Rachel's session on Sunday. She swam her 2nd-fastest time ever in the 100 and only two 9-year-olds finished ahead of her. Pretty impressive! Then Isaiah's age group swam in the afternoon. He got a PR in the 200 free and his medley relay team finished 4th and qualified for Y States!!! This was a new adventure for us in swimming -- States!! So we headed to Penn State last Sunday to enjoy the experience. The boys were seeded 4th (no teams from the west were faster than the top 4 teams from the East) and were able to hold onto that. They dropped over a second and Isaiah swam his fastest spit of the season. We celebrated by eating ice cream at the Creamery afterward....it was heavenly! That has pretty much been the story of the Bells since I last wrote. Add in some work and Rachel starting softball practice and there was barely anytime to sleep :) We now are enjoying a break from swimming and I am especially glad to have a break from driving the swimming taxi every day after school.

11-12 Boys 200 Medley Relay Team
Devon, Isaiah, Alejandro and Will

I am really going to try to do a better job with updates...I promise!!

So I'm A Little Slow

I am quite the home decorator. OK, that's a complete lie. We built our house in 2005 - and by "we" I mean our friends Doug and another Jeff who actually knows how to build things like houses. We moved in on Oct. 1, 2005. I just checked the calendar and apparently it's now 2012. So it's only been 6 years and some odd months...seems like a pretty reasonable time to get decorations up, right? Now, before you go jumping to conclusions, rest assured that we do have some decorations in the house. But for some reason the dining room just didn't get much attention over the years. So one day a few years ago we had our friends over for dinner. Kristin actually is quite the home decorator and she helped me pick out blinds, picture frames and other stuff to fancify the room and to go with the only thing I had to contribute - a painting I bought on my first trip to Haiti. I'm remembering this whole encounter to have happened in the summer of 2009. I bought everything she suggested, but then it sat in my closet for a little bit. Jeff and I had our most successful home improvement project late in 2011 when we actually installed the blinds. It really was monumental. But the picture from Haiti still sat in my office wrapped in plastic. And the picture frames were still in the Kohl's bag in my closet.....until this past Thursday! It was quite an undertaking, but Kristin returned and we also roped Randie and Jessie into the project as well. And then home-builder Doug even made a guest appearance to get the big daddy picture from Haiti on the wall. So here you have it - just 4 short years after I got the painting in Haiti and almost 3 years after I bought all the other stuff - everything is on the walls!!!

My "red" picture from Haiti and the seahorses sconces Kristin
picked out....but didn't like as much almost 3 years later.

Pictures of other people we now get to look at while we eat. Kristin also decided
this wasn't enough frames so I have to get four more...and then actually put
pictures in the frames of people we know. I believe bets are being placed
on how long it will take for that to happen :)

Swag Dragons

Soooo......it's been a few days since I've written last. I can't disappoint the masses, so I'm back in action! We had a break from school last week and into this week for conferences and President's Day. Isaiah and Rachel had a swim meet on Sunday. Several bribes incentives were offered throughout the meet to encourage good performances. Yes, you read that right people, we are not above bribing our children to try to get the best out of them in sports. If that's a problem for you, go ahead and stop reading now. One of our current swimmers is a little more self-motivated than the other. However, the less self-motivated one really thrives on the outside motivation we are so eager to provide. So who are we to mess with what's working?!?! I was the only parent at the meet so I was the lone deal-maker. Several offers were left on the table for both kids. Lucky for me, everyone is still loading and unloading the dishwasher this week. Only one bribe came to fruition. Anytime we have this many days off school, my kids immediately realize the potential for a sleepover. So I told Isaiah if he qualified for YMCA Districts in the 50 back he could have a sleepover. Of course at the time I had no idea if any of his friends could even come over, but he was pretty pumped about it so we went with it. Sure enough, he dropped some good time and will get to swim the back again at districts in a few weeks! Woo-hoo!!!! This is good stuff! So he was very chipper and couldn't wait to get home to see if his friends could come over. Sure enough it worked out so Caleb, Coby and Nate joined our family for the night. But they didn't remain "Caleb, Coby and Nate" for long. They quickly evolved into the "Swag Dragons" as they rocked out on Lego Rock Bank for the majority of the night and next day. Here's a little taste of the budding rock stars.

Happy February 14th!

So normally I'm a bit of what you would call a Valentine's Day Scrooge. I mean, really, you need a special day to tell me you love me? Come on! I am lovable all year long! I could go on and on about how it is a holiday invented by Hallmark and a variety of other reasons I think the whole concept is half-baked....but today I won't. Because the date actually holds significance for me for other reasons. Fourteen years ago today a whole lot of lies were told by someone in this house who is not me. And since only one other person was alive then, I think we all know who the big fat liar is. But at the end of all those lies was a very sweet guy down on his knee asking me to marry him. Even though I had only known him for 4 months, I somehow knew he was the one. If any of my children ever try to pull a stunt like this, I may have trouble remembering how certain I was that this guy was the one God hand-picked for me. Who knows, I might even freak out a little. But I honestly don't remember my parents freaking out at all. I think they knew too. So 14 years later, I'm just as certain as I was that day - maybe even more certain - that I was meant to see this guy fall on his face and then 4 months later propose to me where he first fell for me. I love you Jeff Bell!!!

One of the 12 roses Jeff got me this Valentine's Day February 14th
(yes, I almost hyperventilated)

Saturday of Swimming

If you notice in the "about me" section I say that one of the things I like is swimming. Funny thing is I'm a horrible swimmer. But for a non-swimmer I have watched an insane amount of swimming in my life. Today was one of those days where we spent a big chunk of our day inhaling chlorine fumes while Isaiah and Rachel swam for the Carlisle Family YMCA swim team. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love watching my kids swim. But when you compare the total amount of time they are actually swimming to the amount of time I spend at the meet, it doesn't take a math genius to figure out that's a huge chunk of my life I'm never getting back. But all that aside, today was a good meet. They both swam some of their best times, which is always the goal. Since I just started this blog, I really planned to take my camera to the meet so I could post some action shots of the swimmers. But I forgot it. Alas there will be no mother of the year award for me again this year. But I DID get a picture of the mountain of laundry they brought home as a post-meet present to me.

Eh, What the Heck?

So I'm brand spanking new at this whole blogging thing....well writing one anyway. I have read many people's blogs over the years. Some of them have been great and others, well.....not so much. So I think I was afraid to give this a shot in case I fell into that second category. But today I decided, what the heck? I might as well give it a try. So today is the beginning of...well, of who knows what. But it's the beginning. I don't really know exactly what form the blog will take - whether it will be a way that I attempt to create lasting memories for my family, or a place where I process the many, rambling thoughts that really need to get out of my head. I'm just going to roll with it and see what happens. Tag along for the journey at your own risk!