She Runs By Faith

W wore a "man bun" while reading about Mr. Hamilton (must have been the style back then!). Besides being the face of the $10 bill, I knew very little about Alexander Hamilton until reviewing Jeff Wilser's book, Alexander Hamilton's Guide to Life . This book is a comedic biography that gives the reader a look into the personality, personal life, and attitudes of our first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Each chapter is broken into topics from self-improvement and career advancement to romance and leisure. Alexander Hamilton's Guide to Life paints a picture of this arrogant, assertive, and brilliant man's life and puts the fun back into biography reading. He sounds like a pompous jerk but he knew his stuff. And, no, he wasn't one of our Presidents ;) Learn more about Alexander Hamilton's Guide to Life . I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. All opinions are my own. 

Our first snow finally showed up! I made the first footprints down the sidewalk on an early morning rainy and snowy run. The roads were slick and slushy but it was a refreshing change of season. I like snow in November and am quite sick of it by March. Christmas lights are here and there around town and I'm definitely listening to Christmas music every day. Our lights and mini tree are going up this week, too! The kids and I made a snowman and enjoyed the fresh snow "crunch" under our boots but soon after... Our snow was gone. The happy little snowman is now a lonely single snowball surrounded by green grass. The time with my family was wonderful and my mom even managed to herd our entire group for family pictures. My husband and I took a rare picture together as just the two of us. It was like engagement pictures all over again. We're just 5 years older, that's all ;) I ate too many slices of pumpkin pie but 'tis the season. I snuck in a

Parts of Minnesota were nailed by snow last Friday (2 feet in some areas!) but we ended up with nothing. Not even an inch! I'm thankful we missed the big stuff and didn't lose power — I feel for those who are still without — but secretly I am excited for our first snow of the winter. Looks like it's coming tonight and just in time for Thanksgiving. A non-training routine has formed in my running/cross training and finding a rhythm again feels awesome. That first month after the marathons made me feel like a chicken with my head cut off. Do I want to workout (Um, no)? How far should I run? What pace? An easy run again? AHHH Where is the training plan?! Transitioning from the training plan to "free running" feels awkward. It's a process. For the sake of fitness, and without anything of the competitive sort in the near future, here's the rhythm I'm sticking to: Easy Run (30 to 60 minutes) Yoga/XT Speed or Hill Intervals (30 minutes) Yog

We were on the hunt for Maple leaves and their helicopter seeds (or "samaras") for this week's Outdoor Hour Challenge . Maple by Lori Nichols was our book of the week. This is one of our favorites about a little girl named Maple and her baby sister, Willow. We collected leaves of many different colors on our Fall walk two weeks ago: When we went out on another walk last week to check our leaves, the soft and colorful leaves are now mostly brown and very crunchy. And it was quite cold and windy! Finally it feels like November. We had a great time searching for these leafy treasures and will be on the lookout for Oaks and Acorns  in the upcoming week. The kids love going "hunting" for the perfect leaves! This week I also reviewed three learning resources for Academics' Choice. Here are my thoughts on these products by Rock N' Learn, Heidi Songs and Oceanhouse Media: Rock N' Learn Letter Sounds Silly Sentences Learning the alpha

Running and the journey of life have so many parallels. Life is full of uphills and downhills, depressing rainy days and perfect sunshiny ones, painful chafing and runner's highs, walls and second winds, agonizing disappointments and surprising victories. It really is a marathon! Lisa Preuette is a follower of Jesus, wife and mom of two and she shares her insight into running and faith in her book, "Embracing the Race: 40 Devotions for the Runner's Soul" . An avid runner, she’s completed multiple races from 5K to full marathon. Actively involved in women’s ministry at Southeast Christian Church, she thrives on encouraging others in their faith. She resides in Taylorsville, KY. Lisa sent me a copy of her book and it has been such an encouraging read. Even better — Embracing the Race  was released TODAY! Each day in this devotional book starts with a key Scripture followed by insight into the life of a runner and the relation to our walk with Jesus Christ.

First off, happy Veteran's Day and THANK YOU to all those who serve or have served our country! It's important to remember that this freedom came with a price. On a much lighter note than all of the election buzz, let me share our latest bug with you: E found this little bugger and had him crawling all over his coat. We did our research (or wikipedia'd it) and found that it was a brown marmorated stink bug . Bugs of his kind are not well received as they accidentally arrived in the US and are considered to be an agricultural pest - and they like soybeans! They survive the winter by entering homes in the Fall and living there... Not in our house, please. ( source ) Later we wrote on the sidewalk in "cattail fuzz" after a cattail sword fight with his brother (of course). There is so much life to explore outside this Fall. The kids and I are trying to take it all in before everything freezes solid. Coming up next week we are going to hunt for Map

November is here. Dare I even type this.... Where is the SNOW?! We are enjoying a glorious Indian Summer in the northern parts and it has been in the 50°F for most of last week and today as well. The extra sunshine has been a blessing and I'm sure many deer hunters are overheating in their usual hunting gear. Deer hunting, THE ELECTION tomorrow, more pumpkin spice coffee. Yep, definitely November. The cold bug has been working it's way through our family but being outside seems to even help with that. The littlest is getting his first molars and teething has been rough for that poor boy! And mom, too... the fussing and lack of sleep is really wearing me out. Teething probs aside, this 3.5 and almost 1.5 age combination is really fun (minus the bickering). The boys look so grown up walking down the sidewalk together! These two little ones are such a joy. On Saturday, Daddy was out hunting all day so we went to a craft show and had friends over. The boys skipped thei

Five-Minute Friday , it's been a loooong time! (Though it's technically Sunday) I'm back for this week and the word is  "Journey" . What's a "free write"? No editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write! 00:00 START the timer! ______________________ Life is a journey that is meant to be enjoyed at times and endured at others. It's a process, a time of preparation and sanctification for each life season and for eternity. I feel tempted to speed up this journey at times or to skip steps but I'm trying to slow down and savor each season, each step and each day. Imagine trying to run a marathon after only one week of training. Jumping from the birth of your first child to potty training them the next day. Skipping from preschool to 12th grade Calculus. Life's journey is a very necessary process as each part is preparing for the next. Today I'm thankful for my journey and I

This book was written for me. Okay, maybe not for just me, but for all wives and mothers who are navigating this life season. With little ones running around the house, endless tasks needing to be done, lack of sleep and life pulling in all directions, marriage will fall by the wayside if we allow it to. Love Unending is a 21-day challenge to rediscover your marriage by looking back to the very beginning. Back to how you first treated your husband and treasured each second you had together. Author Becky Thompson shares her father's secret to living in that new love every day... but I won't share it with you in this post! You will have to read this book for yourself and I assure you it is totally worth it. I enjoyed reading Thompson's Hope Unfolding   and I have loved this book even more. Her writing is so relatable and each daily challenge is encouraging, not condemning, and a baby step to intentionally treasuring my relationship with my husband. Becky get

The Fall weather has been beautiful this week! Isn't it funny that everyone is in a better mood when we are outside? When I think of the preschool years (or pre-preschool in our case), Charlotte Mason's teaching on "quiet growing time" and the value of spending time outdoors always comes to mind. There is so much pressure to send kids to school sooner, do more worksheets, compare to others, learn this or that and so on. That  "growing time" can easily become anything but quiet. "In this time of extraordinary pressure, educational and social, perhaps a mother's first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet growing time, a full six years of passive receptive life, the waking part of it spent for the most part out in the fresh air. And this, not for the gain in bodily health alone - body and soul, heart and mind, are nourished with food convenient for them when the children are let alone, let to live without friction and without stimu