As an update to my last post, I did succeed in running six days in two weeks. I took a break this week because of an infection, but hope to be "up and running" next week!


As some of you may know, there has been a TON of drama surrounding our apartment situation here in Tehachapi. We finally signed a year lease on a newer, nicer apartment in a safer neighborhood, so we were through the roof about that! I went today to clean it before we moved in, and horror of horrors: SPIDERS EVERYWHERE. Oh my goodness, what the heck. I was alone, and therefore screamed at every new crawling revelation. I used about a half a can of bug spray on anything and everything that looked like a bug. The concentration seemed to be in our kitchen. Once I sprayed nearly every surface, I climbed onto the kitchen counter to start cleaning above the cupboards. Hello, mouse droppings. I looked up... and nearly fell off the counter. A dead mouse stuck in the air vent in the kitchen.


I completely fell apart. I can't do this. I already thought I was being brave by killing the spiders. But a dead mouse? I'm out.


I cried on the way back to our current apartment. Not because I was so terrified by the critters, but because that was my plan for the day. Clean the apartment. Normally cleaning isn't so important to me, but I had designated that as my distraction. I haven't seen Joe since Saturday. He's in Florida on a business trip and will be home tomorrow. One of my best friends, Amanda, came and stayed with my for a couple days and she was a wonderful distraction! Of course, she had to return to her life eventually.

Strange as it sounds, I depended on cleaning the apartment as a way to get through the day. If I succeeded and achieved my goal, I knew I would be okay. Since I failed, despair set in. Joe and I haven't been apart like this since we've been married. It's not even that he's out of town- he is across the country. Not only have we not seen each other, we haven't really been able to talk either. A two-minute phone conversation here, a five-minute text conversation there.


I know this post probably sounds like the crazy rantings of a clingy wife, and it probably is. I just miss my husband! I didn't marry him to be alone in TEHACHAPI.


After having a nice little pity-party, I read one of my favorite blogs: Pray for Ian. This blog always has a knack for putting my life into perspective and pointing me towards Christ. I realized that I was putting my faith and my comfort and my hope in myself and my tasks. Because I failed at my tasks, I became comfortless and hopeless. Instead of asking God to surround me with His joy and peace and comfort, I pursued my own strength. No wonder I'm miserable, right? Only my Savior can restore my soul and drive away the deepest loneliness.

"Good morning Starshine! The earth says 'Hello!'" That's how I feel this morning. Cheerful and slightly awkward. I just got back from a 2-mile run and had a couple interactions that were interesting:

1.) Got honked at by a strange vehicle. Not sure if it was a "Yay, good for you!" honk or an "I'd kidnap you if I could!" honk.

2.) Got crowed at. Literally. By a large rooster. Nice rooster...just stay on your side of the fence and we can be friends.

3.)  A middle-aged construction worker told me "Yer lookin' pretty today." I'm wearing a baggy church t-shirt and shorts. Again, not sure if that was a kind word or a creepy word. I feel like he could be genuinely nice because it's a small town and maybe people talk like that here?

Anyway, this was the second run I've been on in the last two weeks. The first run didn't go so well. I think I had high expectations for myself, since I'd been able to run longer distances in hilly SLO. By the 1.5 mile mark, I was huffing and puffing and cursing myself for falling out of shape. I walked the last .5 mile, pretty discouraged.

My husband comforted me by telling me the elevation change probably impacted my breathing more than I realized. According to Wikipedia, the elevation in San Luis Obispo is 234 ft. and the elevation in Tehachapi is 3,970 ft. Okay, maybe it's not ALL due to the fact that I haven't run in weeks.

Today, I didn't put as much pressure on myself. Slow and steady wins the race. I decided not to try to improve my time, but instead decided to do whatever it takes to not stop running. Praise God, I didn't stop running till I got home. Hopefully the more I run, the better my body will adjust to the mountain air. My goal is to run 2 miles at least three times a week, hopefully four. C'mon self-control, we can do this!