Climbing Mountains and Saying Goodbye... again.

If you are a faithful follower and/or commenter, please except these flowers as a token of the gratitude I feel that you are still here and reading even though I have been MIA for longer than normal. A lot has gone down this week and I have been too overwhelmed to write anything lately. I'll start off on a very light note and show you some of our beautiful, "deserty" hikes we've been on.

Katie {on my right in the picture below} has become one of my new friends while I've been out here and she took me on a beautiful hike with two of her good friends.

I always look forward to meeting other girls especially now that I'm all alone out here with a bunch of boys {more on that later}. Even though our hike was days ago, my achilles are still reminding me about it. Needless to say, it was a legit workout.

Speaking of working out, I have signed up to compete in a Half-Ironman in October.  This race will consist of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike, and a 13.1 mile run. You can call me crazy, it's ok. I, of all people, totally understand. I mainly understand because completing my workouts every morning and still having enough stamina and energy to take on the rest of the day is very tough somedays. I have always hated napping, but now I've come to rely on them. I've decided that though this will be a major feat {the training and the race}, I have absolutely no excuse not to challenge myself. At this time in my life, I have all the time in the world to train- no "real" job, no babies, no excuses. If I can complete triathlons, half marathons, and a marathon, I can at least attempt to complete this. My Dad, Jessica, and my bff Courtney are also training for it and we've all decided we're gonna "do it or die trying".  Now that I've told all you blog-stalkers, I really can't back out now!

In other news, we've been celebrating and saying goodbye around here... Celebrating our friendship and special memories with Brad and Emily and also telling them goodbye. After many years of baseball, both successful and injury-filled, Brad has decided to move on with life and "be normal" as we all call it. It's been a very bittersweet time for all of us... We're so thankful for their friendship and we are so proud of Brad.

I really don't know what Aaron would've done without Brad this past year. Rehabbing from injury/surgery is one of the most mentally taxing parts of this baseball life and God knew they would need each other. God also knows that it is just as mentally taxing on their other half as well and He gave me Emily.

... and how could I forget Belle? {or Bellie Minelli as I call her}

Since they've left, I find myself opening the door and automatically looking to the left where she's always standing on the ottoman to greet me. Every time I walk out of my room, I find myself glancing over at her little spot on the couch to see if she's sleeping or rummaging through the garbage or on top of the kitchen counters. Even though there wasn't a "person" with me in the mornings, I wasn't alone. I will miss my little lady.

So this is life... change is not easy, but it's always happening. But I am confident that "...all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose." {Romans 8:28} All I can say is how thankful I am for the friendship and the memories we have made.  

Emily's dad put it best in his text message to Brad the day he called it quits... He said, "Welcome to the rest of your life." And that just really struck a chord with me... The end of this "life as we know it" is also the beginning of something so different and "normal" but great.

I am so excited for Brad and Emily's new beginning and I know we will be lifelong friends.