i run for.. creepy eyes.

Have you ever seen a picture that seems to “follow you” around the room? You know what I mean- the eyes of the person in the picture seems like they move with you as if they are watching your every move. Of course their eyes aren’t really moving, but it just seems that way.

Well for whatever reason, on my run it seemed like every house that I passed had those same creepy eyes, except they were in porcelain dolls or the fake owls that people use to scare away squirrels, which in my opinion is even worse. At 5:00 in the morning, I was being watched- like their eyes were following me. CREEPY. That definitely motivated me to run- - to run as far away as fast as I could!

It’s my third week of the 5K training and P90 workouts. I can tell differences in my running patterns and my abilities compared to the first week, but I’m definitely in need of staying motivated. I’m still working on an organization to raise money for, as I have gotten some great advice and suggestions from a couple key people. This week has been kinda hectic because we found out that Luke is coming home on Thursday, which means I have to have everything ready for him by Wednesday.

Working full time, having a couple hours of workouts everyday, still working on things for the wedding (I HAVE TO CHOOSE MY INVITATIONS! AHH!), trying to have a social life, and getting ready for Luke has definitely made my life hectic- but for those of you that know me well how is that any different than what I’ve always done?

One of the things I’ve been working on is Luke and I’s scrapbook. I was hoping to have it completely updated by the time he gets home. But after an entire weekend of scrapbooking (literally- I only stopped once- for a friends birthday party!), I’m still not completely finished. As I looked over my work I realized how much we had gone through in our relationship. There had been so many memories that I’m so happy I’ve documented. I think about in 20, 30, 70 years when our scrapbook is found what people would think.

When we were looking for pictures for my dad’s memorial slideshow I looked at his pictures as a child and thought about how much I didn’t even know about him. The experiences he had as a child, what life was like as a college student when he was in college, what it was like to move away from his home town of San Diego. There’s so much that I now wish that I could ask him about.

My mom, Luke and I are traveling to San Diego for a week to see my dad’s side of the family. While it is a vacation, we are also planning to have a small memorial service and spread his ashes over the beach where he grew up. I’m looking forward to having some time off devoted to honoring my dad’s memory and dealing with him being gone. It seems as if I haven’t even had time to breathe since his death- making it almost impossible to grieve. I’m hoping to learn some things from his family that I’ve been wondering and ask them about his life before we knew it.

My encouragement to my readers today would be to ask questions. Get to know the people around you- about their memories, about their pasts, about their hopes, about what their scared of. Laugh, cry, interact with each other. Relationships are some of the only things that matter and memories are the things that we will cherish the most.