Surprise, surprise, surprise!

Greetings from Emma!

Its my senior year... It feels so different being the oldest. But fun! I love being that kinda mentor person. Well this years has definitely been unique! I am currently in four clubs! Clubs have become my new favorite things. They ARE SO MUCH FUN! I suggest finding clubs as soon as you can. Friends, fun, and random activities to make your life not so dreary.

This morning I convinced to wake myself up at seven. Even though I had stayed up so very late to celebrate the first snow fall by watching Elf! Traditions are splendid. Back to my point.... I woke up and made myself get out of my perfectly warm and comfy bed. I got ready to go help with Jog for Joplin. I wasn't sure if they needed my help for sure because I was assigned to send thank you notes. But I wanted to be a part of the experience and I'm sure there must have been some job for me to do. My wonderful sissy Amy was going to run. She try to talk me into doing the 5k but I refused. Well that is until I some how signed up! So my friend Shanda and I without any planning before hand entered ourselves into the 5k!

I take you back to when I was 12. Or 11.... Hmm... Well anyways the county fair was having their annual 5k walk. 5k is equivalent to 3.1 miles, you know. Well 3.1 miles should not be a problem for a youngster. Unless if you are wimpy like... well... like I was. Haha. I think I made it 3/5 of the way. Sat down. Cried. Refused to go on. Yep. Haha. My mom who was 50 at the time was able to do it. My cousin my age did it with out a problem. But I was throwing a fit saying life was just too hard. So I carried this experience with me. I hadn't tried to participate in another 5k since then.

My sister is awesome! Just last year she began running. I never understood why people even ran. To me running=pain and pain=no fun. So I kinda thought runners were crazy people who liked not having fun... haha. But my sister had me start running. Some days were very hard. I would come home very exhausted and not happy with how I did. I was seeing the running=pain=no fun side. But as the weeks continued I started seeing more of the puzzle. Running makes you see the world differently. The sky becomes more noticeable, your usual thoughts seem to disappear, new ideas start tossing and turning in your head. The grass is greener and the ground isn't just a place that you place your feet. The ground is so much more. It is made of steps you are about to take. It is made of goals you are going to reach. It is made of all the destinations you are going to pass that you never thought you would see. The road is the destination and the reward is being there. I could now see why people run.

Then school started. Yep that can explain it if you know me. I stopped running, I conveniently forgot that I had a 7th class I needed to do... Fit for Life. I let myself forget I was preparing to run a 5k in October. School became my days. My sister would try to remind me of my 5k goal. I would pretend she was just joking even though she was serious. Running just wasn't my focus at that time.

Okay this story is becoming way too long. SO I will try to make it short storied. I join Key Club this year! Yay another club. Key Club had this awesome plan to host a 5k to raise money for Joplin Missouri to help with those who recently lost homes to a tornado. I thought it was such a great movement to be participating with. I wanted my sister to run but I in no way thought I could do it myself. The tought of wimpy 12 year old Emma who thought that past 5k was so hard kept on reminding me of my doubts. Plus I hadn't given running more than a moment of thought this whole school year. My sister pushed and pushed. I denied and denied. I used the lame excuse but sorta legitimate reason that my recent knee injury just kept me from participating. This is still rather long, sorry!

Well in the end I did it! Some people ahead of us took a short cut but I was determined to finish. To show myself I am not the 12 year old Emma. I'm the prove myself awesome Emma! :) I'm excited now! I feel like I can do so much more. That's another thing running does. It gives you clearer perspective and proves yourself so much stronger than you thought.

Spelling.... This will be scary! Such a huge post.... 10 errors wait make that 11

Best part? I really hadn't planned on participating so I was wearing my purple sparkly converse!