Ever Regret A Resolution? January - The Longest Month of the Year

January 1, 2017.  A new year.

New goals.
Resolutions to change old habits.
Papers hanging on the fridge with goals written down for all to see.
We all make them.
We all break them.
And then we try again.

This year I made a resolution for our entire family.  I didn't ask them if they wanted to participate.  I just told them it was happening.  The resolution was ONLY going to last for one month:  the month of JANUARY.  We could do anything for 31 days, right?!  Resolution:  The Heber family would not eat out at ANY RESTAURANT for 31 days.  Could we do it?  I'm going to keep the suspense going until the end of this super long post.

January was a month filled with snow, ice, and days off of school.  I tried to run through the snow.  It worked some days, and other days I was forced inside to the treadmill.  Snow in Oregon is a whole different beast than snow in Utah.  Days upon days of not leaving the house made us all a little bit stir crazy.

Carson went outside to measure the snow one morning in his bare feet and without a shirt on.  He couldn't stand still for long because of his frozen feet, but his best guess was that we had received 8 inches of snow in one night.

I tried multiple times to "run" on the snowy ice covered roads.  It was rough and slow going.

One day I hid in a porta potty for a few minutes to stay warm.

I turned 43 years old on one of our snow days.  I had a blast guessing which child/husband made each sign.  The kids and I went sledding that morning.  I screamed bloody murder the whole way down our icy hill.  I am old and not very fun.  After we came inside to warm up, we sang "Happy Birthday" and ate delicious gluten free blueberry muffins made by Nyah.

Aaron gave me a beautiful card and money to go shopping with after the snow melted!

We had homemade Cafe Rio salads for dinner, put chains on the Hyundai's tires, and headed off to the movie, Hidden Figures.  5 out of 5 stars!  We all loved the movie.

The mail was backed up for days because of road conditions.  My birthday celebration continued as gifts arrived in the mail.  I am so grateful for such wonderful, thoughtful friends and family that make me feel special!

One Sunday after the snow melted, we drove to Oregon City to check out the Oregon City Elevator. It is rated as the #1 thing to do in the city.  When I told the kids we were off to see an elevator, there was a bit of complaining.  They ended up LOVING it and had a great time walking through the shops in town afterwards.  Put this on your "to do" list when you come to visit!

Other big news in January: 

Ian finally grew his hair long enough to fit in a man bun, and then . . . he cut it all off! (In this picture he is getting ready to smoke some pork with his new spices.)

Carson is still 13 years old, and he is still super cool.  He went to his first school dance in Oregon. What are the chances that he and his buddy, Aidan, wore the same t-shirt to the dance?! Carson is currently reading the book, Maximum Ride.  He is often found in very strange locations reading.

Nyah is working her tail off in school studying for finals, practicing piano, and training for her first half marathon.  She just completed her first 9 mile run on Friday.  I am so proud of her dedication. She went to Winter Formal on Saturday with some of her sweet friends.  They ate at the Spaghetti Factory beforehand and had a blast dancing the night away.  

This month we got rid of Aaron's favorite piece of furniture:  the giant leather chair.  I have been wanting to get rid of it for YEARS, but I had to wait for Aaron to agree.  One day, after being cooped up inside for days because of bad roads, Aaron finally agreed to let me put it on Craig's List!  Three minutes after posting the chair, I had ten people interested in this free beauty.  One man said he would be by that evening to pick it up, even though the roads were slick.  

When he arrived at the door, I greeted the man, and then he quickly asked, "Do you have bed bugs?"  

"What?  No!" I said defensively.

"Well, would you tell me if you did have bed bugs?" he repeated.

"Sir, you don't have to take the chair!" I was speechless.  After a few awkward moments, Aaron and Ian loaded the chair into his van, and he drove away with it.  We sat around the living room that evening staring at the giant gaping hole left by the missing chair wondering what had just happened. The next day, I quickly got over the loss by redecorating. 

Running news:

I ran my first 20 miler of the year last weekend.  I ran most of it alone.  It was tough mentally, but I survived.

I had my first race of the season yesterday.  It was the Roaring Run 1/2 marathon.  I was really nervous about running on Saturday.  It had been raining ALOT the days previous, and I had never driven to Scio, Oregon, the site of the race.  Aaron volunteered to wake up early on Saturday morning to drive me down and wait for me at the finish line.  Saturday is his only day to sleep in, so this meant a lot to me!  I am so grateful for his support.

The race was very well organized.  The course was beautiful, wet, windy, and mostly flat (with ever so slight uphill the last few miles).  I felt really strong the first six miles and was able to hold a 7:15 pace.  I started getting tummy trouble at Mile 6 1/2, and my legs felt like they lost all of their oomph. Mile 6 seems to be the limit for me at this speed.  I slowed down each mile after that, but I pushed my body as hard as I could.  I finished the race in 1:41:16 (7:44/mile average).  I was the fourth woman, and got 1st place in my age group.  

Running is a great outlet for me.  It is sometimes a painful space.  It is often a therapeutic space.  It is "me time" space.  It is a "figure out my life" space. For me, running is never about competing against anyone but myself.  My favorite part of racing is cheering other runners on.  Everyone is running towards a new goal, away from the past, or through a current rough patch.  I can't quite explain it, but I love the running community because everyone supports each other whether they are strangers or long time friends.  Nine years ago, my neighbor and friend, Amy, told me I should run a marathon. She inspired me and trained with me.  I will never be able to thank her enough for teaching me how to run.

January has 31 days in it.  I don't know if it has been the snow and yucky weather, or if it was my resolution to not eat out all month, but this January has lasted FOREVER!  If you are still reading this ridiculously long post, here are the results of my FAMILY RESOLUTION TO NOT EAT OUT DURING THE ENTIRE MONTH OF JANUARY . . .

1 person cheated twice.

1 person cheated once.

1 person cheated because they were forced to by friends.

1 person didn't cheat because he is a cheapskate and won't buy his own food.

1 person didn't cheat, could have cheated, but didn't cheat NOT EVEN ONCE!

We celebrated our "mostly successful" NO EATING OUT RESOLUTION last night by . . .

EATING OUT AT PIEOLOGY!  Now I have to think of a new goal for February! Hope you all had a fabulous January.