15…

November 7, 2018 By 6 Comments · Affiliate Disclaimer

She’s turning 15.  It hit me hard the other day… my baby is turning 15!

The memories have taken me by surprise in the last week or so and then it dawned on me that 15 is the 1st age one of my kids has turned that I remember. I remember 15! It’s like it was yesterday and more than likely I remember it so well because it was the year we moved from Eugene, Oregon to Coronado, California.

I was heading into my sophomore year of high school and the decision was made to move away and begin again. It was both brutal and amazing at the same time. Brutal because Eugene was all I had ever known and due to my propensity towards over emotion my parents decided the best plan was to have family friends pick me up from Summer Camp in northern CA. The camp was great. Getting the call that I would not be going home to say goodbye to all my friends… not so much. My parents picked me up on their way down and away we went. I had to say goodbye to 15 years worth of friends via the telephone.

Tiffany - Age 15 1985 / TiffanyAOlson.com

1985 – 15 years old

The amazing part? We moved to Coronado, CA. For those of you who don’t know, Coronado is a peninsula across the bay from downtown San Diego. 73 degrees and mostly sunny year round. Coming from rainy Oregon, this did not take me long to get used to. It took a while but about 8 months in I had found my people. It’s been 33 years since I was 15. My people? Still with me. We live all over the country now but we walk through this life together, births, deaths, illness, laughter, love, and memories. Some of our lives were already hard in high school, the rest of us caught up later.

15! How can she be 15? I am not ready! Fortunately, our personalities are polar opposite and she is not desperately insecure like I was. She does not feel the need to go to extremes to fit in as I did. She can stand alone and hold her ground for what she believes where I wavered so I would feel accepted.

Back then I was excessively extroverted. The thought of spending even two seconds alone was horrifying. With time and age, I have mellowed and have learned to enjoy and sometimes even crave time alone. But only for a few hours or so, any more than that and I begin to get restless. Natalie, (my baby girl) on the other hand is an introvert. Alone time is what she craves most. In social settings, she’s quiet, observant and misses almost nothing. She sees and hears more than I do because I rarely hear anything above the sound of my own voice chit chattering away. I’m not worried about her getting older as she is so much more level-headed than I was. It just feels weird that she is at an age that I have so many memories of.

Heading to SD / TifffanyAOlson.com

 

We watched The Breakfast Club together the other night. The Breakfast Club! 1985 – I was 15 when this movie came out. I did find myself singing Jingle Bells very loudly during a few scenes as there was some content I had forgotten about in the last 33 years and I was not quite ready to have her hear that stuff in my presence. The truth though? I still loved it. I still related to it. It took me back all those years ago to the jock, the princess, the crazy, the nerd and the criminal. Natalie is just beginning her freshman year so I am not sure the movie resonated with her now as much as it will in a year or so. The characters haven’t changed all that much over the years. The biggest difference is that the illegal marijuana they are all smoking in the movie is now legal (at least in Oregon) and readily available on almost every street corner in our little town. But I digress.

When I look ahead I realize that I am excited to watch how her life unfolds. We are so different and it will be interesting to see how she handles the difficulties that come her way. I am hoping that since she tends to operate from a foundation of security that her decisions will reflect her stability. When she does fail, my prayer is that she kicks the dust off quickly and moves on. At 15 a whole new world is beginning to open up for her and she doesn’t even realize it yet. In a few weeks, she will get her drivers permit. It’s all going so fast. I feel that same brutal but amazing feeling I had back then. It’s brutal to allow her to spread her wings a bit but oh so amazing to begin to watch her fly.

The only thing I didn’t do before I got married was travel abroad. Nat and I have been dreaming about ways to get her out into the world and experience some stuff. I want her to see it all, the beauty and the pain. I want her to know that the world is so much bigger than what she has seen up to this point. None of it will be easy but it’s guaranteed to be amazing. On a completely selfish note, I hope she eventually settles in a place where I can live near because as much as I want her to fly, I desperately want to be there when she comes home. 15. She’s not a little girl anymore but she will always be my baby.

Nat 2 Weeks Old / TiffanyAOlson.com

2003 – 2 Weeks Old

 

Have a Beautiful Day My Friends!

Tiffany

 

Filed Under: Musings

Notice The Good…

October 18, 2018 By 11 Comments · Affiliate Disclaimer

 

Highschool Friends

Friends for 30 years. All Different, All Strong… All In.

 

It’s only been three months and I am back in San Diego. This was not a planned trip but one that was necessitated by the passing of one of the many father figures who has made their mark on my life over the years. In a world where men seem to be villanized most of the time its great to come home to honor a man whose life is marked with hard work and love of family. It makes you look around at all the people in your life and take notice of the good. I sometimes have a hard time doing this, noticing the good. The bad and the hard are much easier to focus on. Living in fear of the “What if’s” is much easier than taking the time to look around and be thankful for what is.

How sad is this realization? Why does it take such effort to be thankful? Why is it easier to take a section of people in our society and view all of them as bad because a few have made a huge mess of things? When I take a step back and I begin to focus on the individual relationships in my life I am overwhelmed by how much the good outweighs the bad and yet the bad still stands there like a neon sign.

As I write this another father figure of mine is in ICU with double pneumonia and a weak heart. He and his wife took me in when I moved back to Oregon at 24. I lived with them while I finished up college. He helped me get a job as well as helped me purchase and fix up a car. Mr. Wonderful and I had our rehearsal dinner for our wedding in their home and they were at the hospital when both our kids were born. I am not their daughter by blood but they have loved me as one of their own. This is good. This is love. This is life.

wartenbees /TiffanyAOlson.com

My Other Parents…

I don’t know what is happening in your life today. But in the midst of it all set aside some time to focus on the good. Take stock of your relationships and note of how much the healthy ones outweigh the toxic ones. Let go of all the emotion and anxiety that threaten your sanity and keep you from seeing the beauty all around you. There are some amazing people in this world. People who have laid down seasons of their life to make your life better. Don’t forget this, don’t forget to notice the good.

Have a Beautiful Day My Friends!

Tiffany

Filed Under: Musings

Becoming Love

September 10, 2018 By 4 Comments · Affiliate Disclaimer

I just finished a book by Bob Goff called Everybody Always. It took me a while to read because, well, I didn’t want it to end.  I have been recommending this book to everyone I know. He wrote a book a few years back called, Love Does. Keeping with the Love theme, this book is about, Loving Everybody, Always.

Think about this for a moment, Everybody, Always. When was the last time you were frustrated or annoyed with someone or encountered a creepy homeless person? How loving did you act? I add in the creepy homeless person qualifier because I run at 4:00 am, 3 days a week. Just this past week I ran past one guy with his pants around his ankles, skateboard in hand dancing wildly in the middle of the street. A few days later another gentleman watched us run by and started singing, very loudly, “Yummy, yummy, I’ve got love in my tummy and I’ve got something for you.” He proceeded to yell that he is better than Mick Jagger and that he lives for cocaine. We debated about how he can afford cocaine amongst ourselves but were impressed with his enthusiasm.

Maybe another reason it took me so long to finish the book is that I felt convicted. The stories are great and engaging and I kept telling myself, “you would have sooo not handled this situation in the same way.” In the end, I decided I probably shouldn’t compare myself to Bob, but rather take each person that crosses my path and handle them more graciously than I would have in the past. It has been quite a Summer and I have been given many opportunities to fly or fail in the love category and I have done both.

The book clearly addressed the fact that we are not going to get it right all the time. Not even close. But if we could all do better at loving those who are hard to love, how much better could this world be? I’m not gonna lie, I really suck at this. I fall squarely in the loving those who are easy to love category. No, it’s not biblical or right or very Jesus like and as much as I hate to admit it, it’s the truth. 

B Baseball 2018 / TiffanyAOlson.com

The summer began with little league baseball up and down the coast every weekend. In the midst of the baseball my daughter, Natalie and I went to San Diego for my 30th High School Reunion and Papa Freddie’s 80th birthday. We arrived back home just in time to head off to the Coos County Fair to show and auction off our kids’ sheep. We squeezed in a camping trip and then Natalie and I zipped up the highway a few hours away for a two-week dance intensive. No, I did not dance, I shuttled teenagers back and forth to rehearsals, did laundry, cooked a few meals, played referee a few times… well you get the drift.

Fair 2018 / TiffanyAOlson.com

We squeezed in one final camping trip last weekend and for the record, I am sooo ready to be home for a while. It was a great summer, jam-packed with fun and friends but I am ready for routine, evenings at home and cozy fires in the wood stove. I need to take a breath and survey the scene around me. I’m not a fan of being overly busy and although some seasons require a faster pace I crave having space in my schedule. 

Nat Dance Intensive 2018 / TiffanyAOlson.com

With all of the things that went right this Summer there was plenty that went wrong. One of our best friends lost his brother unexpectedly, another lifelong friends brother in law was diaognosed with ALS (he’s in his 40’s with young children) and a board that I serve on had all of our vision and plans for a community arts facility in our community completely blow up in our faces. 

River Fun 2018 / TiffanyAOlson.com

When I look back at it all I can clearly see where and when I was acting loving and when I wasn’t. If I could do some of it again I would stay more physically and emotionally present in some settings and in others I would shut my emotions off completely and just listen. I’m pretty sure there were several times this summer when one could have looked at how I was treating others and had no clue as to where I stood on the whole faith issue.

John 35:15 says:

By this everone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

In the end its all about love. I need to do it better and not just when it’s easy. I am not going to buddy up with the homeless gentlemen on my 4:00am runs, but I can be a lot more aware of how I am treating those that God has placed in my life because on some level we need each other. Even if I never learn why.

Go get the book. You’ll LOVE it!

Have A Beautiful Day My Friends!

Tiffany

Filed Under: Musings

The Man Inside The Boy…

June 18, 2018 By 5 Comments · Affiliate Disclaimer

B Baseball 2018 / TiffanyAOlson.com

 

A few weeks back we were at our son, Bridger’s baseball game and I received a glimpse of who he is becoming. He’s 12 and his personality is exactly like his mother’s. She turned out pretty good so I know with a ton of patience and perseverance he will prevail and become a functioning adult. For now, though, that larger than life personality, the desire to make people laugh and be the center of attention mixed in with the inability to stop talking can at times make others want to cringe. I know this because he’s my mini-me and people felt the same way about me when I was growing up. He’s also all boy. So as much as we are alike we are very different. I was never prone to wrestle at any given moment or belch and fart on command and these things, much to my dismay make him happy.

As Bridger has gotten older the boys on the other teams have become friends, it’s a small community so these kids in the offseason participate in 4H or attend summer camps together. Bridger is the kid who’s up to bat and making silly faces to his buddy who is pitching. At times he is the pitcher and he’s joking around with the runner on 1st base about how he’s going to get them out. He’s having a ball while the rest of us are wishing he’d focus a little harder on the job at hand.

A few weeks ago we played a really good team. It was not going well for us and the tension on the sidelines was pretty intense. The other team brought in a new pitcher. He’s one of those kids who is 12 but looks 18. My kid is 12 and looks 8. It was this pitcher’s 1st year playing ball. He pitched harder than any kid we have seen thus far but because of his inexperience, the accuracy was off. Don’t get me wrong, we are dealing with 11 and 12-year-olds here, so nobody is super accurate but he stood out because of his size and how fast he could throw. Our guys were a touch rattled because all of them know what it feels like to be hit with the ball and they wanted to avoid it at all costs.

Bridger came up to bat, we were down by two runs and there were two outs. The ball was coming at him faster than he’s ever seen and the plate is the place where he’s challenged the most. He keeps stepping out of the box and taking deep breaths. When he’s nervous he gets these little ticks like shaking his head, spitting excessively, snapping his fingers or opening and closing his mouth. The ticks were in full force. Then it happened, he took one right in the shin. There was no ability for toughness at this moment. He went down. Mr. Wonderful, who was coaching third base, casually (much to casually for this mama) walked up to the plate to check on the situation. I not wanting to make a scene and be totally lame by running on to the field to check on my baby, ran to the car for the 1st aid kit and some ice. I could hear him crying from the car and I was trying not to freak out. But by the time I raced back to the field, he was on his feet and trotting down to 1st base.

The next batter got up and struck out. All for nothing. He got nailed with the ball and it didn’t move the needle for us at all. As he’s limping back into the dugout it dawns on me that it’s his turn to pitch. I thought to myself, this cannot end well. He still had tear stains on his face, he couldn’t walk without limping, we are down by 2 runs and there were two innings left. He looked at the coach, (Mr. Wonderful), and said, “I’m in, I’m doing  this.” He limped out to the pitcher’s mound, struck one out, caught a pop fly, and his buddy, JR. caught a line drive to shortstop.

6th grade / TiffanyAOlson.com

We didn’t win the game. But I walked away that evening with my heart swelled with pride. My kid, my silly, funny, chatty guy turned it all off for a few moments and got the job done. He chose not to sit on the sidelines and take it easy when there was important work to be done. The outcome of the game didn’t change but God gave me a special gift that evening. It was a moment in time, a glimpse into the man my son will one day become. He has the capacity in him to keep fighting no matter how much it hurts and how far behind you are. He will stay to the end even when limping back up to the mound after every single pitch.

He’s strong, tough, silly, funny,  and chatty… he’s my son.

Baseball 10 yrs old / Tiffanyaolson.com

Have A Beautiful Day My Friends!!

 

Filed Under: Musings

And She Ran…

May 8, 2018 By 3 Comments · Affiliate Disclaimer

26.2 .1 /TiffanyAOlson.com

It is finished!!! Saturday, April 28, 2018, I ran the Revel MT Charleston Marathon (26.2 Miles) and added the title finisher to my growing repertoire of accomplishments. It wasn’t pretty or easy but I set out to cross that finish line and cross it I did. How I thought it would go and how it actually went were two very different things. This is how life goes though, there’s the expectation and then there’s the reality. The test comes not in whether or not you are going to run the race but how you are going to deal with the curveballs thrown in along the way.

Over the weekend I finished reading Chrystal Evans Hurst’s book She’s Still There. While there are many things to love about this book, it was great to read about her marathon experience right before I ran my race. One of the things she mentions in the book is that her headphones quit working at mile 10. When I read this I was thinking to myself, “oh no, not me I have a plan for those babies all the way through! There are podcasts to listen to, books to be read to me and when I get super tired, the music will start and it will propel me to that finish line!” Broken headphones? Um no… Well, my friends guess who’s headphones decided to short out at the starting line? I couldn’t figure out why they were cutting out so I took a deep breath and told myself, “It’s okay, just enjoy the scenery, when you get further down the mountain I am sure they will work better. It took me until mile 17 to realize that I was going to run this entire race with only the voices inside my head to keep me company.

Debbie, my fearless friend, ran Boston a week and a half before the Revel. The coldest and wettest weather for a Boston run in 30 years. 30 degrees at the starting line 48 MPH wind gusts … 38 degrees at the finish line… and then there was the rain. A torrential downpour the whole way through. But because she’s Debbie and she’s awesome, she finished her race and made her mark in yet another memorable year in Boston.

Charleston was a week and a half after Boston. The end result of accomplishing something so amazing was a horrendous chest cold for my friend and yet she found the strength to saddle up fly to Vegas and line up on that starting line.

I caught up with her around mile 10 and we both realized that due to all she had been through in the last several weeks that this race was not going to be her race. I, however, get the privilege of saying that I ran part of a race with Debbie Stemmerman and there are not many in our small town who can lay claim to such an honor. ♥ Her.

Amy, my other fearless comrade in arms battled through injury, travel with her job and not as many miles on the road as she would have liked. But in true athletic fashion, she found the strength, energy and sheer willpower to pull off 13.1 miles in the desert heat.

At mile 13 I tried to make up for some lost time and at mile 17 realized that I was going to need a miracle to make it to the end. When you do something for the first time you have no idea what to expect so you create something in your mind to help you get through. All of the lead-up material to the race kept saying that at mile 21 there would be spectators lining the streets all the way to the end. So in my mind, I’m thinking of all those marathons I have seen on tv where there are people watching for miles. I kept telling myself just make it to mile 21 and the crowds will carry you home. Ummm … no. Mile 21 went by not one single soul, mile 22, nada, mile 23 I began walk-jogging. By mile 25 I knew I needed to buck up and just finish er out. And finish I did.

Finish line 2018 / TiffanyAOlson.com

I Am A Finisher!!!

 

I told myself going in that I was going to enjoy every single moment of that weekend and that’s exactly what I did…

 

18 hours till start time / TiffanyAOlson.com

Ready To Run! 18 hours till it all begins…

 

Ceasar's Palace / TiffanyAOlson.com

It has been a week since the race. It took about four days but I finally stopped being sore.  It took 20 years but I finally did it. I finished a marathon and my biggest feeling? Gratitude. I am thankful that God allowed my body to take on something this difficult and succeed. I am thankful that with each change in circumstance that day he kept reminding me that HE was in control and that I just need to trust him to carry me through. I am thankful to all my friends and family for the texts, cards, gifts, and flowers that have poured in reminding me how much I am loved and supported by so many.

I am ready for a new goal. Not quite sure what it will be, I know I would like to get stronger and a bit faster. I ran this morning for the 1st time since the race. My mind is ready but my legs are still a bit sluggish. I’ll take er easy for a bit and then move on to the next adventure.

Get out there my friends, do something big. Dream a dream and then make it happen. It won’t be easy or pretty or perfect but neither is life. Get off the sidelines and run your race, there is nothing like crossing that finish line receiving your bling and knowing that you have accomplished something that can never be taken away…

My Bling / TiffanyAOlson.com

Have a beautiful day my friends!

Filed Under: Musings, Running

Learning To Run…

April 6, 2018 By 6 Comments · Affiliate Disclaimer

Last Chemo Roadtrip! / TiffanyAOlson.com

Last Chemo Roadtrip! June 2015

June 6, 2015 was my last chemo treatment. It has been almost 3 years. Three years ago Mr. Wonderful and I went for a walk. We lived in an area surrounded by hills. I was thrilled to be done and out in the fresh air with the person I love most in this world. As we walked we marveled at all we had been through so far that year and all that was yet to come, (I still had 6.5 weeks of radiation to go). I remember getting to a certain part on the hill, the steep part. Mr. Wonderful started pulling ahead because I was weak and tired. He reached back for my hand and began to pull me along. He reminded me that all I needed to do was put one foot in front of the other and to keep moving. We were not in a hurry but each step I took would help me to grow stronger.

This morning as we got ready for the day, Mr. Wonderful leaned in, gave me a kiss and told me how proud he was of me. Why? Because in 3 weeks I will run my 1st Marathon. He’s still encouraging me, cheering me on and providing a shoulder to cry on when the days get rough. And friends? I’m not going to lie. Some days have been rough.

Like I said we (my friend Debbie and I) are three weeks out. Okay, I’m 3 weeks out. Debbie is flying out next week to run The Boston Marathon (for the 5th time) and then she will come home and fly with me a week and a half later to run the Mt. Charleston Marathon. Leading up to all of this we have run 20 miles twice and 22 miles once. 4 days a week I arise at 3:15 am and hit the road by 4:00. We’ve run through freezing temperatures, dumping rain and howling wind. A few occasions its been all three at the same time! My 5th run of the week is usually on a Saturday when I allow myself the luxury of sleeping in until 7:00.

Tiff n Deb 1st 20 miler

1st 20 miler… I was a hurtin unit…

I have paid close attention to my body, my gear and my coach. A few weeks back I discovered there was one area I had completely overlooked… fuel. The world of pre-workout drinks and midrun pick-me-ups was completely foreign to me. 14 miles into our 1st 20 miler, I was exhausted. My legs were sore and hard to pick up. By mile 17.5 I was in tears and when we finally hit mile 20 I was relieved and discouraged at the same time. It’s hard to be proud of yourself when you can barely move. Each step was a monumental effort. All I kept thinking was … “I have no idea how I am going to add 6.2 miles to this in a few weeks.”

I couldn’t figure it out, all this training, all this time. I expected it to be hard, but not like this. My legs fully recovered within 48 hours so I knew there must be something else going on. After lots of questions and a little research, I armed myself with gu, water, sports drinks and tabs that taste like Sweettarts. We ran another 20 the following week and I ate before the run as well as used all of my new found treasures. What a world of difference it made! It was a completely different run. I didn’t cry, I just ran. I smiled while I ran and marveled at the grace of God for allowing my body to do this.

Fuel. Nothing runs without it. Not you, your car, your favorite motorized vehicle or your life. All of this fueling reminds me to take stock of what I am filling my life with. What am I eating, reading, watching and listening to? Are these things propelling me forward or holding me back? I am learning that running is a lot more than just getting out the door.

I have come a long way in 3 years. I still have a long way to go but I am open and willing to learn the lessons as they come. As I write this we are in the final two weeks of tax season. I don’t prepare the taxes but I fill in all the gaps at home so Mr. Wonderful can do all that needs to be done for our staff and our clients. Because of this my posts have been a bit thin as of late so I can be where I need to be for my family.

I have much to fill you in on… next up… the other people I could not run this race without.

Have a beautiful day my friends!

Filed Under: Musings, Running

Who Are You Trying To Be?

March 2, 2018 By Leave a Comment · Affiliate Disclaimer

Who are you trying to be? Somebody else or more of who you already are?

I heard this quote today on a podcast. The topic of discussion was writing and the speaker was talking about comparison and social media. Her point was this… if you spend so much time scrolling and looking at other people’s lives how are you making your life better? Are we looking at the snapshots of other people’s lives and wishing we were like them?

If this is the case, then who is going to be you?

But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. Galations 6:4

 

… let each one test his own work…

Be more of who we already are … test our own work. The truth is that although we have different numbers in our bank accounts and different levels of success, one thing remains. Not one single person has an easy life. No one is spared. Illness, death, destroyed relationships … to name a few, touch us all. Those shiny photos and cute little quotes on  Instagram are just that… photos and quotes. It’s not real. They are two-second snapshots into a life that is filled with the good, the bad and the ugly. Just. Like. Yours.

Go out and do all of those things you are seeing on Instagram. Quit looking at the pictures of the runners and go out and run. Quit looking up recipes and get into the kitchen and cook. Write the proposal, close the deal, whatever it is for you. Make it happen.

You become more of who you already are by getting out and doing what you love doing. Me? Writing, Reading, Running and Cooking. These are the things I love doing. So, I’m doing them. Is it making me money? No. Is it filling my soul so I can get out there every day and do what I need to do? Yes.

We have but one life my friends. Go Live It.

18 Miles / TiffanyAOlson.com

This is what 18 Miles looks like… This week we go for 20!

Have a Beautiful Day!

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

What IF?

February 12, 2018 By 4 Comments · Affiliate Disclaimer

IF:Gathering 2018 / TiffanyAOlson.com

IF 2018 … umm I think my hair has finally reached … too blonde

Hello Friends! This past weekend was an event called IF:Gathering. The live conference for the past 5 years has been held in Austin, Texas in a venue that holds about 2500 people. They keep it small on purpose and then do a live feed via the internet so women all over the world can gather in their spaces. The smaller venues are called IF:Locals and the purpose is to Gather with the people you are already doing life with. To grow closer to Jesus together rather than leave the area to go have your own experience and then come home.

This year’s Gathering was based on the book of 2 Timothy and the focus was discipleship. 50 women from our church got together. We stepped out of our comfort zones a wee bit, made new friends while we were also reminded to continue to invest in the lives of those we already know.

Discipleship is a very “Christiany” word. It feels lofty and sacred and not much like something I can do. But when I break it down, it means to hang with people. Walk through life with them. Show up. Pray. Answer questions or find the answers together. For me, during this season of my life, the people I am “hanging” with are my kids and their friends. We are in the thick of the teen/tween phase of life and what better people to show up for than the ones that live under my roof and their buddies who eat out of my fridge?

My girlfriends and I have been bemoaning lately how little time there is to get away together. There are 16 children between us ranging in ages from 21 down to 11. Finding a weekend where everyone is open is proving to be an impossible task. We have begun to get creative at staying in touch with each other and are excited for the day when it will actually come together. The truth is though I am loving this season of life with my kids. I love driving them around in the afternoons and hearing about their day and what happened at school. I love dance recitals and baseball games. I have a captive audience in the car for several hours each and every day. We laugh and cry and talk about God, friends, hopes, dreams, and disappointments. We sing to the songs on the radio and we pray as we drive to school. I have added some extra kiddos to my driving routine in the last year and now I am getting to learn about their lives and aspirations as well.

Discipleship isn’t lofty and weird, it’s taking the time to invest in another person’s life for a very long time. My kids and their friends are going to grow up and move on in several years. My hope is that the time I have intentionally spent with them will impact them forever. I hope they will not be afraid to ask hard questions of themselves and others because they had a safe place to ask them when they were young. I hope they step out and love others because they know how much they are loved.

I have wrestled for a while now about the direction of my life and if I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. I struggle with feeling like I should be doing more or be more. What I am realizing is that I am right where I want to be. I have 7 years left of kids at home and I don’t want to miss it. I don’t need to be at every class party or field trip but I want to be at the games and recitals. I want to drive them around and help them process the events of their day. I want to grow and learn together so they know that they always have a soft place to land.

What IF, you showed up for the people in your life who are already there? I stepped out this weekend, I showed up in the middle of the church I have been attending for the last 10 years. It wasn’t glamorous. It was food prep. In the midst of stepping out, I was reminded that the best people for me to “disciple” in this season are the people under my roof. It’s not fancy or flashy but my prayer is that this life we are living together will one day change the world.

Have A Beautiful Day My Friends!

 

Filed Under: Musings

Do You Have A Plan?

January 30, 2018 By 1 Comment · Affiliate Disclaimer

Rod n me 2014 / TiffanyAOlson.com

I ♥ Him!

I  just finished up a book by author, Kat Lee, called hello mornings I was intrigued by the title because I am a morning person. I love mornings but I do go through seasons when I wonder why if I am getting up so early is more not getting accomplished? It can be frustrating if find at the end of the day the extra hours you were up before anyone else didn’t make any difference at all.

Sometimes its perspective and reminding myself what is and what is not important and sometimes I need a little kick in the hiney to best use the time I have carved out.  The book is mainly for those who do not get up early and the author has come up with 3 simple things one can do every day to begin to make early a habit and something to build upon.

  1. God
  2. Plan
  3. Move

That’s it. Those three things. The best part it only takes 3 minutes.

  1. Read/Memorize/Write out and or Pray Psalm 143:8
  2. Look at your calendar for today – 1 minute
  3. Drink a glass of water – 1 minute

The author lays out these three things in the 1st chapter of the book so she can then elaborate on how each item works and how to take these small steps and add on to them later. Her main idea is to start somewhere and to not beat yourself up when life gets in the way. What I liked about it is that it removes the guilt for those days when kids are sick or something else important that needs my immediate attention. If I can only get those three things in, well… its something.

I upped my running game last September. I began getting up even earlier than normal and running with friends who have some of the same goals as I do. It has been a game changer for me and I am loving it. I am running faster and farther than I ever thought possible.

On The Run 2017 / TiffanyAOlson.com

 

While the running is going great it has left little time for time in The Word and writing because by the time I get home there are but a few minutes before the kids are up and the day has begun. After reading this book I think where I am falling short is in the planning part. If I know there is a very short window to get stuff done before the kids get up then I need to set that time aside and get it done. No Instagram, no chatting with Mr. Wonderful nothing but the task at hand. Because once that time is gone it’s gone.

I would love to say that I will read and write in the evenings but that is a no can do. I have very few mental faculties left in the late afternoons and evenings. A 3:15 am wake up time means there is also a 3:15 pm shut down time. Obviously, I still function after 3:00 pm but ask me to do much more than make dinner, fold a bit of laundry or curl up with a good book and we will have some serious issues.

A plan. I need a better plan. There needs to be a bit more structure to my days so that I can know what to expect and how to adjust when it gets off kilter. My life makes more sense to me when I can see (on a schedule) what the end goal is for the day. What did I find so important that I took the time to write it down? If its important to me then why haven’t I carved out time to do it? Why did I schedule something over the top of it and not find space elsewhere?

Side note: I began writing this yesterday, this morning was one of those mornings where you have to tell yourself over and over again… “if you do not get out of bed right now you will hate yourself forever.” I got up, checked the weather app on my phone to determine if I needed a raincoat. It said clouds but I did note the big red bar at the top of the screen that said, TSUNAMI ALERT. (I live on the Oregon Coast) I didn’t take my raincoat and noted halfway down the block as I was driving to our running spot that it was indeed raining. I went back for the coat.

1.76 miles into our run, the goal for the day was 4/5 miles, we stopped at the top of a large hill to catch our breath. For 4:15 am there seemed to be an awful lot of traffic bombing down the hill. A guy pulled up in his pickup truck and told us he had been given credible information from his firefighter buddy that indeed the Oregon Coast was on high alert for a potential tsunami because of an 8.2 earthquake that happened off the coast of Alaska. To make a long story short we  hightailed it back to our cars and headed home (we all live up high on a hill and well out of tsunami danger.)

I get home and while I’m debating whether or not it’s a good idea to wake up Mr. Wonderful at 4:30 am because there may or may not be a tsunami headed our way in a half hour, I get an alert on my phone that all is well. Our town has thankfully been spared. Well as happy as I am about this news, I still have some running to do and because of my schedule 4:00 am is my only time to do it. The whole rest of the day seemed as if it was spent putting out one fire after another, aside from my two-hour reprieve where I was able to meet with some ladies from church to plan an upcoming event. I didn’t have a plan and I never quite got my feet back underneath me.

So all this to say, I NEED A PLAN. Any suggestions? How do you organize your days? Do you have a fail-proof system you want to share? I’m in.

Have a Beautiful Day My Friends!

Christmas Run / TiffanyAOlson.com

A Run On “The Rock” – Always A Favorite Morning

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
    for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
    for to you I entrust my life. Psalm:143:8

 

Filed Under: Musings, Running

How Do You See Yourself?

January 15, 2018 By 7 Comments · Affiliate Disclaimer

If I could give you one thing in life, I would give you the ability to see yourself through my eyes, only then you would realize how special you are to me.

My friend Taryn posted this quote beneath a photo of her four kids on Instagram. Her kids aren’t little anymore, two are in college, and the other two are in middle school. They are well past the “everything you do is adorable,” stage. They have lives and opinions and dreams of their own now. They are old enough to have experienced things that have begun to form opinions about who they think they are and what they might possibly become. Taryn see’s the innocence and childlike qualities, she always will, they are her babies.

Kirks / TiffanyAOlson.com

Somewhere along the way in life we begin to see ourselves in a certain way. We either label ourselves based on past experience or we get labeled by others and right or wrong we take those words and let them form who we become. When I was young people told me I was personable and friendly. I liked this label and it has propelled me to be a person who enjoys being around others and has given me the confidence to be open and outgoing which has fostered a multitude of lifelong friendships.

Another label spoken over me that I held onto for years and years is that I wasn’t pretty. I hit that Jr High awkward stage right about the same time my sister hit the senior in high school beauty stage. My mom was in her 40’s and well, they got a lot of attention. At one point someone said to me, “If you ever want to be a head turner you will need to dye your hair, get a nose job and a boob job.” I was 15. It wasn’t true but it sure shaped how I viewed myself for the next 10 years.

Sedberry's 1983 / TiffanyAOIson.com

…”Wow! You look so much like your dad!”

I became the family historian and have spent the last several years pouring over family photos. I ran across my freshmen year school picture the other day and other than the frosted hair and blue eyeshadow, I liked what I saw. I was pretty. I wished I could go back to the awkward 15-year-old me and tell her it was a lie and that she had so much to look forward to as she would grow up to be a college graduate, wife, mom, small business owner, runner, breast cancer survivor and a writer.  Her beauty is different than that of her sister and mother but she is still pretty. The confidence that knowledge would have given me would have saved me from years of poor decisions trying to make up for what I thought I lacked.

 

Tiffany 1987 / TiffanyAOlson.com

I loved Taryn’s quote because it reminds me of what God sees when He looks at her, her children and all of us. He sees the whole picture. And he likes what he sees. What if we lived  life seeing ourselves through our Father’s eyes? How much different would our lives look? How much more confident would we be? I’m guessing we would spend a whole lot less time thinking about ourselves and get on with the business of living.

Have A Beautiful Day!

 

Filed Under: Breast Cancer, Musings
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