That's What Jenni Said

Have you ever crafted a mission or purpose statement for an organization? Have you reflected on the purpose of your life and set about to craft a personal mission statement? I have been keeping a personal goal journal since 1999 (when I was 22), which I call my 'Life Project Book'. I record all my goals in it and track my progress in achieving them. I felt that I had explicitly established a partnership with God at that time whereby I agreed to thoughtfully detail a mission statement that was scripturally based, construct goals following from that statement and then pray over my goals. For his part he would provide guidance, direction, and connection+correction to mold me toward perfection in him for his glory. I know that he is working to do all of these things in me because there are numerous scripture references that state so. Originally when I began the journal in 1999 I thought that developing my character was the single most important accomplishment I could effect in o

Today while meandering with my husband through the Norman Rockwell temporary exhibit at the American Art Museum (works on loan from the private collections of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas) I realized what I don’t like about modern art: it lacks a storyline. Artists such as Rockwell, Monet and many of my favorite Flemish artists are masterful storytellers and through their art they craft amazingly rich tales in a single frame. Modern abstract art instead typically attempts to convey an emotion [or several] or a philosophical/political statement. Frankly, I’d rather be pulled into a story than a statement. Another powerful realization that came to me this afternoon is how much of an impact American art has the world over. One of the visitors to the exhibit signed the guestbook and provided his personal testimony to Norman Rockwell: as a child growing up in poverty in Columbia he glimpsed the bright and beautiful America that Rockwell depicted in the Saturday Morning Post and knew

  Cardio Flexibility Strength Mon Run ------------------- ------------------- Tue Kickboxing or Swim or Power Step ------------------- ------------------- Wed Run Pilates (week A) Weight Machines (week B) Thu --REST-- Yoga (week B) Weight Machines (week A) Fri Run ------------------- ------------------- Sat Zumba or Spin or Bike Ride ------------------- ------------------- Sun Run or Swim ------------------- Weight Machines

Consolidating these here for the many people that have asked my advice for going from couch potato to runner on the C25k program: 1. Make sure you have decent running shoes. Other equipment that I have AND LOVE: wicking socks [asics], running skirts to look good while running and prevent chafing or riding up [skirtsports.com], wicking sports bra and tops [any sports store], garmin fr60 watch with heart rate monitor and shoe pod [the only way to objectively measure gains in cardio fitness- as you move through the program your resting hr should go down, your ability to stay below 170bpm during cardio should increase, your return to resting hr after workout should quicken, etc. also tracks mileage, pace, time, etc. you can buy on amazon.com] 2. Make sure your form is anti-injury: midfoot landing [versus heel strike] and try not to push off with your feet so much as lift them up using your leg muscles for each stride. 3. Make sure you stretch stretch stretch before each run. I do

From Zechariah Chapter 1, verse 4: ‘ Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Return to me,' declares the LORD Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' says the LORD Almighty .’ I read this verse last night (I’m making my way through Zechariah) and it really jumped right off the page at me. After everything God’s people had done to each other and to him he extended this invitation. They murdered, they blasphemed, they lied, they cheated, they worshipped idols and turned their backs on God stubbornly. And yet, God wanted them to know it was as simply as turning back to him and he would respond with love. It’s the most beautiful love story. Aside from reading scripture verses that get me emotional, I’ve been filling my time as of late with work, exercise, and trying to manage my very hectic to-do list. The government contract of my primary employer’s ends at the conclusion of this month, so there is a lot of tasks to be completed related to that, e

This morning my husband and I both ran our first 5k race together. (Technically he ran a race or two as a kid but that was a long time ago). With regard to the c25k program, I am currently on week 6, able to run 2 miles with a 3 minute break in between, or able to run 1.75 miles straight through. We got to the race location and I had a bit of anxiety that I wasn’t expecting. Before arriving, I just assumed it would be like any other run session; I didn’t know I was going to feel jittery and nervous about the race. I hadn’t seen anyone write about that before in the running communities (maybe it’s unique to me then?). The net effect was that my heart rate was up to 125bpm before I ever started running!  (Normal resting hr is 74 for me). My second surprise was the pace at which everyone took off from the starting line. From reviewing previous year’s race results I *knew* I would not be the slowest in the pack, but when I started off with everyone else and saw my Garmin was reporting

As a reminder, W6D3 of the couch to 5k training plan is a 2.25 mile run. I successfully completed W6D2 (1mile run; 3 min walk; 1 mile run) on Friday 8/27. I was scheduled to run next on Tues Aug 31st to attempt day 3, but I let packing for the trip and other last minute errands that day get in my way. Wed was out for running b/c we were traveling all day to Sydney, AU. Thurs disappeared into the vortex of time zone differences, never to be seen again. So I finally ran again a week later in Sydney on 9/3 and only managed to squeeze out 1 mile of running before I had to switch over to walking the rest of the session (did 2.92 miles total). The rest of the days in Sydney  were jam packed with very little sleep and sightseeing and at least 4-6 miles of walking per day (seriously!). Although Jon had the self-discipline to get out and run every morning I did not. I was too busy trying to manage metric to standard conversions, walking on the left instead of right, adjusting to the 14 hour