#33 "point out to people what makes them amazing"

I went into this year wanting to be different. Wanting to do more for, and say more things to, the people that meant the most to me. Maybe I won't change the world by curing cancer (I never even passed a normal biology class so I just think curing cancer is a little out of my league), but I do know a thing or two about saying too much. Normally, I am on the lame end of "saying too much" with my foot constantly in my mouth. So this post is about crossing off number 33 on the list and I am going to try and say too much (in a good way) about the people that mean the most to me. So to those of you out there, and you know who you are, that mean the world to me...here are just a few of the amazing things I think about you: 

* I love that you are not judgemental 

* You have this incredible talent for creativity. It is amazing the way your mind works. You see this world in such a wonderful and refreshing way that it changes me. 

* You are so practical in the way that you think and I find great comfort in that reliability. I always know you will be there. Always. 

* You are the one truly funny person left in this world. Your comedic timing could not be better and you know just how to lighten a tough situation. 

*You are incredibly intelligent. It blows me away 

*You are wonderfully thoughtful and selfless. Not many people can say that about themselves 

*You are fiercely independent and I love that you stand up for yourself all the time 

*You are kind 

*You have no idea how beautiful you are 

*You have been given so much talent that I think you could do whatever you wanted in this world

*You have a flare for the dramatic and that keeps life very interesting 

*You are a wonderful friend, never putting yourself first, and always there right at the moment where I need to be saved

*You say it just like it is. I love that you don't play games and you say JUST what you are thinking 

I hope as each of you read this blog that you know which ones apply to you. I hope I have done enough to where you would know the things I like about you and that make you amazing. If not consider this a start to making sure you do. I have been blessed in my life with wonderful people and I don't ever want to take that for granted. 

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I added a few pictures to this posting but it is clear that MANY of you are escaping my camera and so more pics of YOU might be on the list in 2009 

#7-THE Marathon

Here we are at mile 11. Can you see the man in flannel pants? We had an epic battle with him all race, but he ate our dust eventually.

My mom is wearing a trash bag hat that she made. I love that woman. And my butt looks big because I am wearing a fanny pack. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

Mile 11. I am almost certain the man behind us in the pic is peeing.

It was much easier to simply write down on a piece of paper that I wanted to complete a marathon than it actually was to DO. But isn't that always the case, that things on paper come easy but living is hard? To understand my Marathon experience you have to be familiar with a few important numbers: 3. 35. 1. 5,000. 97. 300.

3=The time in the morning Jessi and I woke up to load school buses full of gullible people who all paid for a chance at death on the roads of St. George.

35=The degrees of Fahrenheit it was at the start line. It was pouring rain, cold and miserable.

1=The number of trash bags we were able to steal from an old lady at the start line. 1 trash bag and two very cold and wet woman. Jess let me have the trash bag. Now THAT is love.

5,000=The total number of people who managed to drag themselves across the finish line before Jess and I. An entire small city of people beat us to the finish line. Yup, an entire cities worth.

97=The age of a man who SPRINTED past us at the finish line to narrowly beat us to the end. But he only looked 80 so we don't feel that bad about it. Plus, if we really wanted to, we could have annihilated him. (easy to say after the fact)

300=The amount of people who ate OUR dust on the road. TAKE THAT! It might not be a cities worth but it is more people than who are going to vote for Mcain in the upcoming election so I feel accomplished.

But really, our marathon experience cannot be broken down into a series of numbers. It was one of those life changing moments that you never see coming and so who cares how many people beat you. There we were, two sisters, fighting our way through miserable weather, knee pains, and uncomfortable bathroom moments. But along the way we managed to stop at every mile to take a picture and enjoy the moment, e-mail a dear friend along the way, and cross the finish line together. And as I crossed the finish line all I could think about was that I hoped life ends this way for me. I hope I meet the end with my sister by my side, my parents waiting at the finish, and having shared important moments with wonderful friends along the way. So SAYONARA number 7 on the list. You were WONDERFUL.

THE List

So what happened in November you ask? What could have been SO important that after 27 years of living my life a certain way and as a certain version of myself, that I would just suddenly decide to change. To live it differently. Well, I guess it really isn't about living differently, it has just been about living it richer, happier, fuller and with my heart in mind. It was like I had been seeing in black and white and now I saw in color. I realized I wasn't doing enough, being enough, and just simply wasn't quite the person God intended me to be yet. I was taking for granted talents, gifts and blessings that have always been there for me and I wasn't making enough out of them. I just wanted to be more. So this blog is simply a place to hold myself accountable to that day where I promised that I could do more. Where I hoped that maybe if I did, this world could be a little bit better because I decided to be ME. Nothing more, nothing less, just ME. 

So in true "Kim" fashion, I made a list. A list of 50 things to jump start my efforts. Here it is, in all its glory and never seen before until today...drum roll please....I PRESENT TO YOU....

"The List":

1. Write a letter to my daughter for the November that she will be 27 

2. Try 2 foods I never would have tried before 

3. Go a whole week without using an alarm 

4. Weigh my high school weight (why not?) 

5. Get butterflies when Kissing 

6. Dance with my daughter like no one is watching 

7. Run a marathon

8. Eat at a restaurant alone and be OKAY

9. Read a book this year (see what I mean? I wasn't doing enough) 

10. Love my body 

11. Go to a concert 

12. Pick one person and do your best to be COMPLETELY honest with them. See where it takes you. (No, that doesn't mean I have been lying to everyone, simmer) 

13. Be awake for the sunrise on purpose

14. Spend a whole prayer praying for someone else 

15. Say how you feel. Just do it. 

16. Take more pictures and stop deleting the ones where you look bad. Who cares?. 

17. Call in sick to work and spend the day with a friend 

18. Go on more walks 

19. Sing more (I can hear my family sighing)

20. Start to say NO to people 

21. Watch 5 movies that don't seem like "my type" 

22. Wink at a stranger in the elevator (people should try it. It's cool. I do it all the time now). 

23. Miss a deadline at work from time to time 

24. Take my daughter to work with me more, even if it affects "productivity"

25. Forgive people

26. Let go of a grudge 

27. Let go of some insecurity 

28. Make friends with someone you never noticed before 

29. Write a letter to someone who means the world to you 

30. Start a journal (crossed off #30 today) 

31. Go on a hike 

32. Give away more of your money. It's just money.

33. Point out to other people what makes them amazing

34. Try new music 

35. Plant a garden 

36. Do something for the environment (I stopped brushing my teeth with the water on about 6 months ago. Can anyone tell our planet has more water? I hope so) 

37. Take a LONG lunch on company time (sorry Progressive, but I think you owe it to me)

38. Delete 5 shows from my TIVO list (RIP: Flip this house, Real housewives or Orange county, DR 90210, CSI Miami and CSI New York...you know?...I don't even miss you)

39. Bake Bread from scratch for someone else 

40. Give more gifts

41. Call my mom more 

42. Take a girls only trip (Boston sure was fun wasn't it?)

43. Be less hard on a dear friend. (still a work in progress)

44. Write a poem and give it away (you know in Jr. High I won a writing award and my teacher said that someday she hoped to see some published work from me? I hope so too Ms. Knudson. I hope so too.)

45. Trying playing an instrument 

46. Finally make my daughters baby book 

47. Wash my whites and colors together just BECAUSE (nothing happened. My whites are still white. Tell the world it is a hoax!) 

48. Tell someone sorry and that I am wrong (not an easy thing for me)

49. Give up Diet Coke. (I have NOT done this yet. It will likely be my very last effort)

50. Un-complicate...

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"By small and simple things are great things brought to past."

I just want to be great.