Goals…

So normally, my posts are all about the girls. Occasionally you will find a “family post.” Well folks, this post is going to be all about me. Yep, that’s right. It’s time to be a little selfish.

On December 18th of last year, I turned 27 years old. I decided that it was time for some seriously goal setting. I had become very comfortable in my role as a mother, a little too comfortable even. I had gotten to the point of always putting my children first, and never even putting myself on the list! So my goal was to get back into running. Now at the time, I could only run about a half a mile before I had to stop. It had been years since I had been exercising regularly. By the end of January, I changed the goal from “getting back into running” to “running a half marathon before my 28th birthday.” I am happy to say that yesterday, I accomplished that goal!

As you can see from the pictures, my dad flew out here a few days ago to run the half marathon with me. It was truly one of the greatest days of my life. We had such a fun time together. Well, I had a fun time with him! He kept me (and everyone else in the race) motivated and happy. I think that I spent most of my time complaining about how crazy it was to be running 13.1 miles! My dad is a marathoner, so this was a simple run for him. He spent the whole two hours taking pictures of me, while I spent the whole two hours trying to stay alive!

One of the coolest parts of this marathon is that it was the Air Force Marathon located near Dayton, Ohio on Wright Patterson Air Force Base. My dad is a retired Lt. Colonel of the Air Force, and with every step, I was filled with pride for the great life my father has lived and the wonderful things he has done for our country. It was a very patriotic event. When an Air Force Officer placed the medal around my neck, I seriously got choked up, not just because of this huge thing that I accomplished, but because I got to share it with my dad, a man who dedicated his life to the Air Force and to serving all of us.

I really can’t put into words what a perfect day it was. I love running, I love my dad, and I love this nation. Yesterday encompassed it all.

Elder M. Russell Ballard once said, “I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.” Having set a seemingly impossible goal for myself, and then having accomplished it, has been an incredibly rewarding experience. My birthday gift to myself for the rest of my life will be goal setting.