After feeling elated after the half marathon yesterday, I woke up this morning feeling like I’d aged thirty years. My joints ached. My back was sore. It took me two minutes to bend down to pick up a lego off the floor. It didn’t help that the Saints gave me more cardio work than the run in their devastating defeat to the Vikings later that day. January 14th was an emotional roller coaster. 

The night before the marathon, I painted at a wedding. I was anxious about all the logistics of the weekend working out– babysitting, traveling, packing the right gear, etc. I was anxious about being too tired to run, about not getting to the starting line on time.

As much as I wished I didn’t have to paint at a wedding the night before the race, once I got there, I knew it was where I was supposed to be. Beautiful, touching, joyful– it was all the things a wedding is supposed to be and the mother of the bride, the one who had hired me, gave me the warmest welcome. It’s easy to forget that what I’m doing is part of something momentous for someone else. 

Running yesterday reminded me to celebrate every mile– every piece of the whole. I’ve been way behind on posting my wedding paintings from the last couple months and have been hesitant to use them towards any of these “31” days. I’m over that. I want to celebrate all of them. Check out the latest ones from November- January below.