When life gives you Lemons.......

Yes, you know it.......make lemonade.  My friend Darcy commented not to long ago about how things happen for a reason in life and when given lemons, make lemonade.  I have always tried to embrace that philosophy of life but its always helpful when friends give us that supportive reminder.

So, these past two weeks,  numerous lemons have been thrown my way..... 

A major lemon that I have been dealing with have been chronic migraines.  Now, taking my own advice.......I know that these are things I can not control so "dealing" with them is what I must do.  My neurologist often says, "julie, you  have a migrainese brain and you will have migraines that are out of your control".  The bummer came when I was all packed up and ready to go to Pigman(see last post) with my girlfriends when a MAJOR migraine attacked saturday morning.

I was not able to function as a human being and therefore had to wave good bye as Jen and Cathy pulled away from my driveway without me.  We all knew it was the best decision but hard to take as I was ready to see what I had in me at the Half Ironman. 

After taking the max amount of abortive relief  drugs(for migraines) allowed for this 24 hour period and accepting that I was NOT going to Pigman, I cancelled our overnight babysitter and figured out a new weekend plan.  

The Lemonade was made when I was able to attend Trevor's Football Jamboree.  I had earlier dropped him off and he was expecting Megan(niece and babysitter) to pick him up.  I showed up, found a spot to sit down and just watch.  I enjoyed taking photos of Trev and watching him hang with his team. Trevor absolutely loves this sport, it was so exciting to be a part of that for him. 

 


Trevor's team is the Cowboys.  He is #82.  Trev's last name is LaPoint(on his jersey).

Trevor played offensive linesman and some at defensive tackle.  He told me his favorite part of the day is when he was able to tackle the quarterback.  

Staying home allowed me some extra time with my kids for sure.  After football and after sleeping for the rest of the afternoon, I was feeling about 60% by 6:00pm.  Just feeling good enough to spend some alone time with Lexi, took her to her favorite store at MOA, "Justice, for girls" for some back to school shopping.

Other than shopping, Lexi's new favorite thing has become our neighbor's dog, "marley". She loves this dog and sometimes I think she believes it is hers. She took Marley to Trev's football game and was upset with me that I was telling people it wasn't our dog. "mom, they just don't need to know that!" 

So, as my head is clearing and this migraine is going away......i am thankful for the extra time i spent with my kids this weekend.  For my friends that went down to Pigman, I hope you had a wonderful time and a great race.  I look forward to the next race we can do together.....

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;  courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. 

"so far"

"Today I stop, I breathe deep and rest.  With grateful tears I weep because I have come so far."

Kristen Jongen

I found this on a print while out shopping the other day and it was one those prints I just kept reading over and over.   I decided to buy it so I could look at it everyday to remind myself that yes......in life there are good times and hard times and in those times, you are  always making   choices and sacrifices to get to that place that you want to be......

There are times when I really need to stop and reflect on how far I really have come and how it is that I have gotten to this place.  When  I find myself saying, "oh, why is this happening?"  it is then that I must think hard and I soon come to the realization  that it is each of these life lessons that shape me into the person I am, the athlete that I am, the friend I am , the mother I am.   And I know it is the wisdom that I gain from these life experiences that will help guide me through life and be the best person  I can be.  

A few recent life experiences:

Have you ever built a house-

I recently  had the opportunity to be part of  Habitat for Humanity.   I went up north to the beautiful area of Ely, MN and joined a volunteer crew to build a house for a family in one day.

It was a long one day but an incredible experience.  To be part of a giving project to help a family in need,  to be involved in the manual labor it takes in working with others to complete a project, to connect and meet others........reaching out of one's own comfort zone.......all valuable experiences.

A visit to Green Bay

I had the chance to go home to where I grew up and where my mom, 3 sisters and 1 brother live.  I love going home and I love taking Trev and Lexi there and showing them the house I grew up in, the neighborhoods  I hung out in and where I went to school.  

We went home because my niece Sarah is getting married over Labor Day Weekend and was having a Wedding Shower over the weekend.  It was so nice to be able to share that special time with my sister Cathy( Sarah's Mom) and the rest of my family.  
My niece Sarah and her Mom Cathy (my sister).

We all had the chance to take a day trip to the "Dunes" in Door County.  This was a hang out spot for me as a high schooler so I was excited to make the trip back to the beach with the kids and my family.  It was a beautiful day in the sun, lots of swimming, castle making, and beach games.  Louise even made a great picnic lunch.  While home in DePere, Lexi and Trev got very attached to Allissa's new Dog, Bailey.  A beautiful  Labradoodle.

Having my sister and her family back in town from Belgium

My sister Amy(2 years younger), her husband Ted and three kids moved to Belgium 2 years ago.  They make it back to the states two times a year, summer and christmas.  We had the opportunity to spend lots of time together while they were here for their summer visit and it was great.  There is nothing better than watching 8 plus cousins playing together, swimming, laughing and just being kids.  It was also a nice chance to hang out with my sisters and catch up.  There is just nothing more special than spending time with family.  We look forward to the Browne Family returning to the States for good.  Lexi asked today.  "Mom, how many days is 4 months (until their christmas visit), I wish it was 2 months."

Healing from an injury and preparing for Pigman

I have stopped counting how many days it has been since I have last run......I don't even remember?? I have been doing lots of swimming and have had bike trainer sessions without pain.  So, I am healing.  I have added many strength exercises 2 x day per Physical Therapist at Tria.  I feel good about my progress and my plan for Pigman.  

Here it is:  Swim as hard as I can, bike as hard as i can (given that i haven't bike hard or done hills in about 3 weeks)  and then cross my fingers as I head out onto the run course.  Hope that I have given my leg enough time to heal.  This is where it gets a little tricky.  I am saying this openly.......I will be smart.  IF I feel any sort of pain, I  will stop running.  I will walk, try again one time.  If the pain continues and persists, I am done.  I will pull myself out of the race.  My SMARTER plan is to allow the leg to heal so I can STILL train for Ironman Florida.  IT is the only A race I have left!!  

BUT, there is always the very very good chance that I may step onto that run course and have the best Half IM, maybe not the fastest but a solid pain free run, that would be the BEST.

Lesson learned-  I am reminded daily about the things that we DO have control with in our lives(which for me now is staying positive, eating healthy, doing the healing exercises i can, staying positive) and the things that we just don't have control over........and that is just life.  And really, it comes down to how you deal and the choices you make.

I love the line in Freaky Friday when the Mom yells to her teenage daughter, 

"make good choices".  I am always going to yell that out to my kids!!  I love it.

Peace and Happiness to all.

I CAN do this

I haven't run in ELEVEN days. Life changes every day and one must go with the flow. I remind myself, I can do this.
I haven't raced since Timberman and as I reported earlier it was a great race for me. So, I thought......ok......if this is a season ending injury, at least I went out on a good race.

To recap, after Timberman, I decided not to do Racine for logistical reasons and who knows maybe that was the best plan. Perhaps I would have injured myself worse by racing that Half IM. The kids and I still went to the Dells and had an awesome time. We stayed at a fabulous water park that had both outdoor and indoor slides. We also had to do at least one touristy dells visit and we chose the Reptile House and OH was it a True Dells experience. No where else would you pay to watch a HUGE Boa eat a very cute and large white easter bunny. I am not kidding you. Luckily this boa was not hungry so we did not have to witness the feeding. A good time in the dells.





So, after coming back from the dells, I was ready to hit the training hard.  Excited to start training long for IM and have an A race at Pigman.  Ready to get going.  Merilee and I set out on Saturday and joined the MN Tri Club for the Century ride.  It was a beautiful day and the ride felt great.  We both felt strong.  We did a short transition run after and I kept saying, "my calf is really tight".  Didn't think much of it.  Well to make a long story short, I went for an hour trail run the next day(ran for about 4 miles in pain) and walked home in severe pain.  And that is the last day I have run.  Coach John said, "uhh, I think that sounds more than a tight calf, you better stay off that.....maybe a strained muscle??"

 I visited TRIA today and the word is my leg(lower left leg) needs to heal and recover some more but there should be time to heal and strengthen and still time to train for IM Florida.

 I CAN do this.
I will stay positive, I will continue to train by swimming and light biking. I will follow the strengthening exercises. I will stay healthy and strong, eating right.

Every now and then I get pulled into the dark side.......I start to go down the woe is me and what if's.  I notice when I am going into the dark side, every thing looks bleak and I start losing motivation and hope.  That is not right and not where I want to be.

I want to be in a place where I can control staying fit, following my rehab exercises, following my coaches plan, eating right, staying positive.  I believe these things will get me to the start line of IM Florida.  Whatever happens from there on race day........that will be ok.  Because I will know that I  did all I could to get me there.  I can do this.  I will do this.  I will not let this injury take me down.  I will not go to the dark side.

I will be at Turtleman taking pictures with Paul and Competitive Image so SMILE and I will cheer as loud as I can.

And I will definitely be GOING to Pigman(cuz its a girls road trip).......doing the best that I can(run or no run).

Life is good.  I think I'll enjoy it!

Picture taken in Ely, MN

More to come on that in a later post.

website is up and running

I recently took a iweb class for school. And I am pleased to say that I love it and am learning a lot!
This website gives us a place to show some of our favorite pictures.
I hope you enjoy it.
check out the new website!

Summer = Birthday Parties

And boy have we had some FUN!!

Trevor turned 11 on June 18th and had 6 boys over for some water fun and a sleepover.








Lexi turned 9 on July 18th and took 6 girls to Build-a-Bear and then home for a sleepover.

What's your passion???

Photos taken by Paul Phillips of Competitive Image

I find myself asking this question a lot lately......daily, hourly perhaps.

Summer is a perfect time for me to take some time to reflect, to dig down deep and ask myself.....what is MY passion?? I mean what moves me, what makes me excited to get out of bed,  what drives me.....something I can call my own.   And really, what makes me a better person.  How can I strive to be the best person I know how to be.   Besides the obvious of my kids......because they truly are the REASON in my life.  In fact, just upon waking Trev today, I said to him....."you just make me smile".  

But, sometimes, I look for something else, something of my own that drives 

me.........next to my kids I have triathlons and there is certainly passion there......a simple passion that has grown to provide me with a base of friends, connections, life skills, a healthy lifestyle and opportunities to challenge myself on all different levels.

This past weekend was one of my favorite races, Timberman Triathlon, nestled way up Northwest in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.  The best part about this race is that its far enough away that you almost have to make a weekend out of it.  The last couple years, a bunch of friends have gathered  to race and then to simply hang out, relax and enjoy the post race

 environment together as friends.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh............

As far as a quick race report, I am pleased to say that this is the first race of the season that I felt confident.  I felt like (if there was an elite wave), I would have belonged.  The last two seasons have been difficult.......I think ever since I broke my wrist two months before going to Kona.........a string of events took me down emotionally, physically, mentally and perhaps took a bit of my passion too.

  This year (in a real effort to get that passion back), I needed to take some pressure off myself.  I needed to train and race to my best ability while keeping my kids in priority- a tough balance.  I always know that I will give my best performance that I have in me on race day.  As important, when I cross that finish line and after I look at results.......I will SMILE, I will be happy for ME.  I will know that I gave it my all and that is ENOUGH.  Because training and racing have become so much more than results..........

When I get home, I know that Trev and Lexi will love me no matter what.....they always ask me if  I "win" but they love  me just the same.  I was excited to tell them about my race this weekend, I was excited to tell them that I got 6th place overall (5th place shy by 3 seconds) and a first place age group(remember no elite wave) but they wanted to know what the cabin was like that I stayed in??

Anyway.......I am excited to feel the PASSION for racing to come back.  My big goal is Ironman Florida and to  qualify again for Kona.  Someday, I will. I believe. I will.  I have many more Ironmans in me......

And when I do qualify, I will take my kids with me.  And I will take my camera with me.  Because I love to take photos.........my newest passion.  

More on that later.

summer FUN and friendship

Hands down, summer is my favorite season.

Summer is a time for outdoor play, sunshine, water fun, camping, road trips, and hanging out with friends.

When Fourth of July comes and goes, I always feel a bit of sadness that summer is once again flying by...........soon Target will have their shelves packed with 'back to school" items.

I am certainly NOT ready to go back to school and will boycott Target once they start the Back to School marketing.  

We recently took a day trip to Chisago City to visit my friend Susan and her husband Tom's family who has a cabin on a Lake.  Every 4th of July they come to visit from Colorodo.  Susan and I met in 6th grade and were best friends thru high school.  Susan is one of my closest friends and yet sometimes it is just this one visit per year that reconnects us.  During our visit, Susan and I had the chance to talk, laugh, visit while the kids played.  Susan has two boys, Zach and Cole who are Trev and Lexi's ages.  

Every year, this visit reminds me of how special these connections are, how valuable our relationships with friends from our childhood, high school and college are to the person we are today.   It reminds me that every person has such an impact and reason for being in our lives.

I want to reach out and thank everyone who I haven't called or visited in many years........

"True friends are never apart, maybe in distance, but not in heart" 

"A friend's hand is always there...you just have to reach out for it."