Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

Today I am doubly blessed. First of all, two of my sisters are here visiting. (One of these days we are going to get our east coast sister EL here so the four of us can all go out together!) I love when my sisters visit but I always feel sorry for Brian. After awhile all the loudness and laughing takes a toll on his introverted quiet ways. Poor guy.

The second big blessing is that since Brian works at Pebble Beach, once a year he is able to “test the product” and we’re given a complimentary dinner and stay at one of the hotels and then we rate how the service/experience was. This year we are staying at The Inn at Spanish Bay, which I actually prefer over the famous Lodge. I am not the least bit interested in golf but Pebble Beach is breathtakingly gorgeous. Besides that, I am just excited to have a whole night out with my husband. Since my sisters are here they offered to take care of the kids for us. I gladly accepted! The following day we’ll take them to the 17 Mile Drive. I’m so excited. 🙂

It’s funny because my sister EL was just mentioning in her post yesterday that one of her goals this year is to have more dates with her husband. Brian and I were just talking about this the other day. We get so busy with the day to day business of running a family that it’s hard to stop and take time out for our relationship, but we must! So far we’ve done a lot of “at home” dates after the kids go to sleep but sometimes it’s nice to actually get out of the house and still know my four “babies” are safe in someone else’s care.

Usually when my sisters come we’ll go out to dinner or go to one of the local bakeries for coffee and a treat but that is off limits this time. Next week the girls are running their first half marathon and right now they are in training. I’m so proud of them! Since I was a little girl I always dreamed of being able to run and run like one of those marathoners. These days I’m lucky to get out and walk around but I seriously need to make a greater effort to get moving (I mean other than chasing kids around) and now that the weather is getting warmer I can get back to walking again…and maybe one day, running.

Okay, speaking of needing motivation to walk/run/exercise, my brother posted this on Facebook. The video is about a man who is really overweight but who wants to fulfill his life long dream of running a marathon. He also wants to get healthy for his family and to raise money for his ill niece who has cystic fibrosis. His transformation, and his niece’s fight, is beautiful and inspiring.

One of the people who commented on facebook about this video said, “…that’s the two edged blade of manhood. We get so focused on everyone else’s needs and lives that we can give everything and have nothing left for ourselves. Our own needs (like staying healthy) can be easily forgotten for righteous reasons. But I will tell you that to be our best at providing and trying to be men of and for God we have to take care of ourselves too so we can do that providing according to His will right into eternity…”
Words to live by for dads and moms!

Well, the baby just woke up so that’s it for today. Have a great weekend!
Love,
B