Because it's the best therapy money can buy...

and it doesn't cost a single dime.

I am a runner. I am not a fast runner. I am not a competitive runner. I am not a group runner. I am not the kind of runner that spends time planning routes. I do not run long enough distances to warrant wearing a water backpack. I do not own a sporty watch that beeps at me to tell me how fast my pace is because I do not care. I run to enjoy the feeling of being completely alone, to mentally work through the days successes and failures, and because I have more than a just casual affinity for ice-cream.

And it feels so good to be back pounding the pavement again after almost 11 months off. Here are some of the songs I am loving sweating to this summer:

Barton Hollow-The Civil Wars
Free Me-Joss Stone
What Makes You Beautiful- One Direction
Stronger-Kelly Clarkson
Princess of China- Coldplay and Rihanna
Love you Like a Lovesong- Selena Gomez
Faster- Matt Nathanson
Free- Graffiti6
Somethin' 'Bout a Truck- Kip Moore
Part of Me- Katy Perry

and then the cool down....

New York-Snowpatrol
I Wont Give Up-Jason Mraz
Poison and Wine-The Civil Wars

Siblings Camping Trip

Over the weekend we went to Delaware State Park for the 3rd annual Costello sibling's camping trip. We were thankful for a break in the unbearably hot weather and for temperatures topping out at 85, instead of 104. The kids were so excited and couldn't wait to spend the night in our miniature tent (that we've yet to upgrade despite it having a max capacity of 2).

We got to enjoy an evening boat ride where Eli took his first ride on a tube with Uncle Sam and Max. Norah entertained herself by getting drenched at the campground water fountain for a loooong time and both kids thoroughly took advantage of the opportunity to shovel Cheetos in their mouths whenever we turned our backs. There were a total of 15 cousin kids this year, 7 girls and 8 boys. The girls rode bikes, played at the water fountain, and filled up water balloons so sweetly. The boys, rowdy and fired up mostly thanks to Eli (what a shocker), ran from tent to tent where they wrestled and shouted and shook the walls.

I didn't get any pictures of my favorite part about camping-making S'mores, because Gavin and I headed home after dinner. Now don't get me wrong, I am usually a pretty good sport when it comes to roughing it in a tent overnight. However, the thought of waking up several times during the night to feed Gavin while being 1 of 5 people crammed into a 2 man tent on a hot night was enough to send me running for my king-sized bed. John got to stay and have the delightful "bonding" experience of getting Eli, Norah, and himself to sleep on a single twin air-mattress. What a good daddy! And seeing as he called me at 6:40am the next morning to say the tent was down, car packed, and they were heading to Bob Evans....I think I made the right choice.

And next year, it looks like we'll be ready to upgrade that tent. And yes I said the same thing last year, but this time I really mean it.

Jesus Calling

I couldn't have needed to hear this more this morning....

"Stop worrying long enough to hear MY voice. I speak softly to you, in the depths of your being. Your mind shuttles back and forth, hither and yon, weaving webs of anxious confusion. As MY thoughts rise up within you, they become entangled in those sticky webs of worry. Thus, MY voice is muffled, and you hear only "white noise."

Ask MY spirit to quiet your mind so that you can think MY thoughts. This ability is an awesome benefit of being MY child, patterned after MY own image. Do not be deafened by the noise of the world of that of your own thinking. Instead, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Sit quietly in MY presence, letting MY thoughts reprogram your thinking."

Deuteronomy 30:20; Genesis 1:27; Romans 12:2

-Jesus Calling