Tag: story

author moments, celebrations

102, a big THANKS to you!

2chicksandapen

Screen Shot 2019-07-16 at 5.39.43 PM

Chick 2 chiming in with my own “thank you!” to celebrate our 100-plus-posts milestone.

Gratitude is one of my favorite things, but simply saying thank you doesn’t capture what I want to share.

What has blogging here meant to me?

When I started this journey, I had no idea if people would take the time to read what I had to say.  (I’m not even sure I knew I had much to say in the first place!) Little by little, I see opportunities to write and discover and share all around me. And then, what an amazing experience when one of you…

-shares a quote or snippet from one of our posts,

-tells us that you read our blog and it made you think or giggle,

-asks us a question about what we wrote,

-takes a moment to comment on or like a post,

-gives your time to share in our story,

-or shares how you journaled your story privately…this might be one of my most celebrated accomplishments! See one of our recent favorite journals pictured above…(you can grab your own at the Mincing Mockingbird!)

102 posts later, we are still just getting started.  It’s already been a wild ride of fitness, nutrition, adventures, family trials and tribulations, parenting ins / outs, triumphs, challenges, friendship, business minutiae and all the day-to-day ups and downs that make the 2 Chicks tick.  Who knows what the next hundred posts will bring?

Deepest thanks to everyone reading this for your time and encouragement.  Sharing stories, daydreams, adventures and insights with you motivates me to keep going!

author moments, celebrations

101 Ways to Say…

2chicksandapen

IMG_1831 2

There are 101 ways to say thank you! And this is my global thank you to all the readers worldwide who invest time reading the 2 chicks blog on the daily, on the weekly or even monthly.

Your time is valued. You inspire me to keep writing and sharing. With every new country who hits our blog, we celebrate. We wonder about the people reading our content. We get inspired.

My words are mine yet they impact others near and far. How incredibly lucky am I to have this platform?

Pretty lucky, I am. Cheers to another 100 blog posts and thousands of new readers. As I sign off on this post, I attach a picture of me. A symbol of my strength, my beauty, and my confidence. All of which I have the power to control each day. I also have the power to share those same things with others.

We all have good days and bad days but we can also all make a choice of how we carry ourselves each day. I choose to be strong. I choose to embrace my beauty my way…all the way to what my shirt says. Anyone can have pretty eyes, tattoos and thick thighs, but one has to be strong, to be honest and proud to show it to the world. I am doing that for you now. You can do the same your way. Be strong. Have courage. Show your inner beauty to others.

Hugs and kisses to all! Embrace your inner badass today. You can do it.

More posts to come from Chick 1 in a hop, skip and a jump.

fitness and nutrition

It’s a 1/2 but it’s a start

2chicksandapen

ktend5

Today I registered for my first 1/2 marathon. I might be crazy but in about 4 months I will walk, jog, or crawl over that finish line.

I will blog about my training along the way and of course the emotions that will go along with the whole process as well.

I have 5k’s, 10k’s and one 15k in my past, but never a half marathon. My running spans over 20 years but I’ve never been a runner, if that makes sense. I am more of a 50-yard-dash kind of girl. Quick and easy and over before you know it. I also never really ran any of those races start to finish…they all had a mix of breaks built in.

Why a 1/2 marathon? I got a push from my oldest son to sign up and guess what? I took the bait. Now it’s time to see if I can get some friends in the mix.

My most recent 10k time was 1 hour 16 minutes in the July heat. I am aiming for 2 hours 30 minutes for the half marathon. Can I do it? Let me know what you think my finishing time will be. An online bet of sorts. Send us a message with your best guess!

Wish me luck! And don’t forget to send me tips if you are an avid runner.

fitness and nutrition

Your Feet Stink

2chicksandapen

Stinky feet is no laughing matter when it comes to teens who play sports.

Let’s take my daughter. She plays lacrosse and on a tournament weekend she can play 3-5 games outside in the elements. Her shoes will be sweaty, wet and dirty at any given time or pretty much all the time. We change her socks multiple times. We rest her feet in Crocs between games to sit them out. We go to extremes in my mind to prevent the foot funk!

Add in the eeew factor of being a teen and the chronic stench of shoes with no socks or socks that haven’t been washed in what seems like months you get the most awful smell in the world. Limit the airflow (like in a car) and you are doomed.

Carpool with three teammates and that funky smell just multiplied to an epic level. Add in the gear bags and their bodies after a day at the ball field in extreme heat and let me just tell you it’s enough to burn your eyes, throat and turn your stomach upside down.

And that is just feet and perspiration. I didn’t even mention the car farts that come because they can’t use the darn porto-potty!!!

What got me to write about this was a recent car ride to the field with an SUV full of three girls. We were running late so they all went to put on their cleats in the car and boom! The driver and I almost passed out. I hung my head out the window, gasping for air. The girls said “you’re crazy, it doesn’t smell,” and proceeded to pass a shoe to the front of the vehicle.

That was it. The window was down so the shoe is immediately held out the window. We approach a red light and the car next to us is laughing uncontrollably. I make eye contact. They say “please roll up your window, the stink is reaching our vehicle now.” My jaw dropped.

I was horrified. The smell was validated. The kids were in shock as well but found it funny. If only I had a picture of my face in that moment.

The light turned green. The guy in the neighboring car says, “good luck today. We have the same smell over here in our carload. That’s why we laughed when we saw your arm and head out the window!”

So why do feet stink so bad? Those shoe balls don’t work. Neither do the oils you spray in the shoes. And washing is no help either. Does anyone have any suggestions to cure stinky feet syndrome?

I am pretty sure the nail salon hates me when I bring this child in for a pedicure because they have to work so close to and actually touch those nasty things she calls feet.

I really don’t remember my feet stinking like that as a kid.

I hope my stinky feet blog made you giggle not hurl.

adventure, family

Passport, Please

2chicksandapen

Screen Shot 2019-06-25 at 2.58.35 PM

12 years it sat in a strong box. Waiting to be reissued. Waiting for a glorious stamp or two. How did I let it get so dusty and neglected?

Work, kids, commitments, and so much more all stood in my way. They all halted my adventures on an international scale.  Although I didn’t really have a need to travel internationally, I could have, and maybe should have, but it was going to be such a pain to update my passport because I had a name change since the passport was originally issued (thanks, marriage). I made excuses and I let time slip away.

Well, the passport expired in 2007. That means I have been procrastinating a bit and my life of adventure was limited to stateside sights. I won’t complain as I visited a lot of places in the U. S., but adventure awaits me over the border.

Today I just did it. I dusted off the old book, gathered my documents and got photo ready. I looked up my location list to do the deed. This time, I took my youngest along to get hers with me.

I thought back to my teen years and thought of the adventures I had with my parents when I went to Europe a couple of times. Germany, Austria, Switzerland, among others. The food, the culture, the shopping, the language, each was an experience in itself. I need to show my youngest the world.

She is an adventurer just like her mom. So why not? Why wait? A plan is in motion. A new destination each year for the next five years. Some travels alone. Some with friends. Some with family. Maybe even a school trip will be on the horizon. She will be ready. I will be ready. Memories are on the horizon.

No need to cram for documents and rush to travel. We are both ready to go-go-go. On a whim or with a plan. We will get going when we want to.

We have a five year plan. A plan to travel and explore and hopefully stamp those passports. Where will we go? Who will we meet? When do we leave?

No answers to those questions yet but we are one step closer to adventure. We are planning: The time of year. The possible destinations. The gift of travel. The experiences to share.

As I write I think of all the countries that read this blog. I think who I might see on a train, on a plane, etc. You may know me, but I don’t know you. If by chance we meet, please say hello.

Passport adventure blogs to follow as the future becomes the present. Send me ideas of must-see places to put in my 5-year travel plan.