On a lighter note

SO I was really nervous about posting yesterday... I imagine some of you just skipped it and that's totally fine. 

I just felt like I needed to get my thoughts out somewhere and Facebook was absolutely not an option. 

A day later it's a sigh of relief that so many people have seemed to change their tone (obviously not all but some). The world does keep moving no matter what and I think it forced many to really reflect on who they are and the example they set. Sometimes good comes out of the worst situations and people and that's my biggest hope. 

On that note, I'm done giving anymore attention to it. Especially on this blog.

So back to regular programming :) 

This past weekend I had a 10K race with my dad and Jacob in Wisconsin.

Appleton, Wisconsin is the home (and birth place, I think?) of Houdini. Who knew? So the race is called the Houdini 10k and I imagine we will be signed up for many years to come. My parents call Appleton home now so it was also fun exploring their small downtown. 

Jacob and I found a bar with a shuffle board and stayed there for over three hours. Shuffle boards in bars keep us very entertained.

(On a side note: I was undefeated. Thankyaverymuch!)

But back to the race... 

It went fantastic. The weather was incredible and the route was perfect (Perfect equals a down hill every time you want one).

I have to tell you that Jacob had not trained at all for our 10k (I guess law school is time consuming or something).

He actually has never ran farther than a 5k. He ran a 5k in September and one mile a weekend or so ago. That was his training. 

So anyways I finish the race and I'm waiting with my camera for my dad to come in next. Jacob told me that he would probably walk some and run as much as he could but he wasn't going to kill himself so I wasn't even looking for him yet. I see my dad a ways out and get my camera ready. I'm just focusing on him and trying to see if I can tell how he's doing. All of a sudden I look about three feet in front of me and there is Jacob! Running and SMILING! 

What came out of my mouth next was the least supportive thing I could have yelled..."WHAT ARE YOU DOING??"

It was all I kept saying lol 

I ran with him a few feet and I was just so confused. I suppose I meant more like "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" But I am sure I was beaming. I was so freaking proud of him. He said he didn't walk once and after he got through the first 3.1 miles he just was in a groove. I'm so proud of him! It was the farthest he has ever ran and he was happy! 

My dad did great too and really enjoyed the route. 

We had beers at the end together and sat in the sun. 

Who would have thought in November! in northern Wisconsin! we would be in shorts... Drinking cold beer?? Winter you can stay away as long as you want!

XO 

Jess

Something I had to say before I could move on.

Here's the thing...

I cried this morning. 
I cried this morning. alone. in my kitchen.

I am being completely honest when I tell you that I am not political. I tried to avoid this election for a full year before I paid any close attention. (I for one, think there should be laws in place to set limits on the length of the presidential campaigns but that's a different post for a different day.)

Before yesterday I have had the privilege to vote two previous times in my life. I was pretty much a child both of those times. I just assumed that the "grown ups" would pick two honorable candidates that I could choose between and vote for... and for the most part I wasn't let down. However, making that same assumption this year was a very huge mistake and one that I won't ever make again. 

As I drove to the polls yesterday afternoon, I realized honestly for the first time, how truly affected I will be by my choice this year. I realized the weight of being an adult right now in history and how scary that responsibility is. 

You can tell me how naive and ridiculous that is all you want. I am the first to admit I am ashamed that it took me this long to feel that heaviness. 

I looked over at my husband in the car on our drive and the very real possibility that our babies will be born during this coming presidency washed over me. 

I felt panicked. True panic. 

Somehow though I pulled out of it. I prayed a silent prayer for my candidate as I cast my ballot and believed fully that evil would never prevail. 

Later on in the evening, as the polls were coming in, that panic came back and then some. I couldn't go to sleep. I kept my eyes on the screen until the very last word that Trump spoke. Once it was clear that he had won, I needed, absolutely needed!! to hear what he had to say for himself. I needed to pretend just for an instant that he could be a man deserving of this incredible title. 

However, this morning in my kitchen I felt nothing but sadness. I never ever want my child to look up to this man. I am ashamed that our country could look past his disgusting behavior and turn a blind eye. Never as a country or even as consumers of media and tabloids have we ever given someone so much grace and forgiveness for such disgusting behavior. I never ever want my son or daughter to believe that power allows you to disrespect anyone. I never want them to know someone of such stature could spread so much hate and prejudice and still be honored. 

My stance has nothing to do with whether he will fix our economy or help create more jobs.. I hope he does. I hope he succeeds at all the logistics of the job he just signed up for. My stance and my sadness stems solely from the example we just set for our babies and the trouble we will have explaining it to them when we don't even understand it ourselves.