New Year, New Goal

I was recalling to a Mommy friend of mine this past weekend about a sort of fitness resolution I set for myself a handful of years ago. It was the year 2005, and I was 26 years old. I didn't call it a New Year's Resolution because I've always heard that the majority of people who set them never stick with them longer than a few months. So I think that's why I called it a fitness resolution. I clued my hubby in on my "New Year, New Goal" idea by informing him that I wanted to do something exciting and fun all year long. So it began with a proclamation - I told myself - I'm going to do some kind of athletic event/race at least once a month, all year long. And that was it. I said it, and I did it. There was never anything that got in the way of it.

So the year 2005 started off with a mountain bike race in Columbia, SC and ended with a mountain bike duathlon in Charlotte, NC. The end result was a happier, fitter, more experienced version of myself. And at the time, my identity was very much grounded in fitness and sports. So it made sense to have that as a New Year, New Goal.

The following year (2006), the only resolution I made was that I was going to do a triathlon. And I did. In fact, I did 2 of them. And they were fun.

Now I'm going to skip forward from this look back in time - ahead to now - January 30th, 2012. That's about 5.5 years since I finished that 2nd triathlon in 2006. So much has changed in my life since then! Hmmm, let's see if I can sum it up in as few words as possible, a chronological list of life since then:

ran away
came back home
injured my back and hip
couldn't ride my bike
could barely walk some days
wanted to run away again, but stayed home
didn't like myself for a while
ran away again
but came back home forever
wanted to reinvent myself
wanted to be a mommy
stepped down as head coach of the masters team I coached
entered the world of being a supportive wife to a husband with kidney disease
became a full time nanny to 2 kids
told people I liked my life and was happy, but really I wasn't
tried keeping everything together when everything was really falling apart
pulled needles out of my husbands arm 5-6 days/week
cleaned up the blood spatters and dust bunnies around the machine that kept him alive
tried to have fun despite the daily dialysis madness and sadness
wine and beer and laughter with my friends was how I coped
felt numb, wanted to feel what happy was
God came knocking and I answered the door
He changed my life
He made me new
for the first time in a long time, I was happy
completely quit swim coaching
slept alone 3 nights/week while hubby dialyzed in-center nocturnal hemo
wanted to be a mommy
was still just a nanny
kept supporting my husband through the daily struggles of kidney disease and dialysis
did something dumb, got fired from nanny job
wanted to be a mommy
became a swim club manager instead
took a mini vacation to VA Beach, VA
quit horrible swim club manager job
found out we were pregnant!
stared at a toilet bowl for 8 weeks
feared my hubby was on his death bed with a staph blood infection
God calmed me when my fear felt like it was swallowing me whole
sat around a lot, ate a lot of food, gained a lot of weight
baby was developing healthily
in shock one night, kidney transplant for my hubby!
recovery from hubby's life-saving surgery
waddled around
went back to coaching again
got PUPPP rash, itched and scratched like crazy
waddled around some more
gave birth to a beautiful baby girl via cesarean section
watched her grow like crazy
wonder how 10 months has passed by so quickly already...

...and that last point brings me to my New Year, New Goal for 2012.

I'm going to take my baby on at least one hike and one bike ride every month. And blog about it.

So that's it. Baby on a hike, baby on a bike. I hope you will enjoy reading about our adventures on hiking trails and bike paths as much as I will enjoy writing them.