waves.

Something that I'm reflecting on tonight is the inevitable fact that people weave in and out of our lives.

I have very amazing friends that I wouldn't ever trade for anything.  

Two years ago, a lot was going on in my life.  I graduated college on May 3rd, and finished student teaching my kindergartners on May 16th.  That was a Friday.   

With the help of several friends, when I got done teaching that Friday, I packed my life into a storage unit, and packed my clothes into a suitcase, and I drove 11 hours to Montana the very next day... I have been here ever since. (Don't worry, my stuff is now in my apartment and not in a storage unit.)

I knew I had to come home to Montana.  On top of all that I had going on, my dad told me that my grandma would probably not make it more than a month into summer.  With her being like a second mother to me, I wanted to be here to see her as much as I could.  Miraculously, she's still alive at the age of 95.  That's another story though, I don't want to get too far off of what I'm here to write about...

I am not a superficial person, and have gotten even more real with myself and others over the last two years.  I am friends with people because I want to be, and am drawn to all the people I'm friends with because they are wonderful people, and I enjoy being around them.

With that said, I hate how far I had to come to leave a lot of the close friends I made in college.  I call them friends, but really they were my family.  They took me in like a sister; I think we all took each other in.  We don't see each other hardly ever now, and I just miss them a lot, and feel like slowly, we are seeing each other less and less, which I absolutely hate.  I wish I could change that.

There was something wonderful to look forward to when I moved back to Montana, however.  That was all the friends that I left back here to move over to Portland when I originally left for college.  That summer that I moved back after my college graduation, a lot of my friends were living in Helena.... and then slowly wandered elsewhere (not all of them, but most of them.)  

The weaving in and out that I started talking about, is the fact that people never stay in one place.  Change is inevitable, and I don't know how much I always like it.  I think there's been some good and some not so good that has happened from large changes in my life... I hope this post is clear, I'm just thinking about how distant I'm feeling from everyone (in the physical sense.)

I love that all my friends and I always pick up where we last left off when we see each other, I just miss them.

I am also mad because my dad decided to let me know "everything two years ago was really hard for HIM and he hopes I understand how hard it was for HIM." (HIM, meaning, how hard things were for my dad.) I don't know if I should post that, but I am mad, he said it, and there it is, I just posted it.  It just got me thinking about everything that's gone on.  I feel like a very strong person, but when things like that are said, I guess I'm just really good at taking on his feelings, because it definitely got to me.  I want to go more into "what happened two years ago" sometime, but still not ready to publicize that whole story yet...  It will come someday though.  I am just thinking about absolutely everything that sucked about it tonight, and it makes me .... lots of thoughts and feelings, I don't know how to say it yet...

10K.

Good morning!


Yesterday, I took part in the Governor's Cup 10K.  This is an annual race in Helena, so it was nice to not have to travel anywhere but down the street this time :)


Right before, literally, a few minutes before the race, my friend Liz and I decided to trample down a tiny little hill on to a less busy area to stretch.  PROBLEM- I rolled my ankle on my way down the tiny little hill.


Regardless of all the pain in my ankle, I knew I still had to run this race.  


It had to be between mile 3 and 4 that I stopped and walked a hill.  Not really because of my ankle, but I just felt that I needed a walk break.  


I improved my time from my most recent 12K by 28 seconds per mile, which I was happy with!  However, the minute I crossed the finish line and began walking, my ankle throbbed with pain. I rested and iced it last night, but it's very kankle-like today :(


I'm training for a half-marathon in one month and I'm really hoping my ankle feels better VERY SOON so I can train hard ASAP!


I'll keep you all posted as to if I have a perma-kankle or if it goes away :)  Other than the swollen ankle, yesterday went well!


I hope you're all enjoying your weekends.... 


I'm hoping to add more pictures soon- my camera is hiding out in Josh's car :)  

reach.

First, let's start off with the fact that I absolutely LOVE the elderly.  I think grandmas and grandpas are really cute, and I sometimes want to walk up to the ones I see around town and start talking with them and be friends... They are so smart and have so much life experience that I honestly find them very intriguing. 


Do any of you ever go to restaurants or coffee shops (or anywhere) and see an elderly man or woman sitting by themselves, eating dinner, or drinking their coffee?  By themselves is the key part to that sentence.  When I see them looking lonely, it makes me really sad.


Last night, Josh and I were with his grandparents at a restaurant, and in the booth next to us, there was a man, probably in his 70's or 80's, who sat by himself and ate alone, and kept trying to hear our conversation.  Not in a creepy way, but more like he was just really lonely and wanted to hear some sort of adult conversation, and wanted to make some sort of connection with someone.  


I guess the reason for this post is that I wish I could gather the guts to walk into a restaurant and go sit with one of these people.  I think a lot of these people look and feel really lonely, and I don't want that when I am their age.  I want to do this someday.  


I wish we didn't see age, and could reach out more as a generation...