FoCo!

I had the incredible honor of spending the past week in Fort Collins, Colorado with one of my besties (yeah, i used that word), Katers Dannecker. From the moment I got there to the minute I left, I loved every second of it. It was exactly what I needed at this point in my life, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Physically, it was freaking glorious! Everyday was, I'd say, about high 70's, low 80's and little humidity. This coming from Kansas where, by noon, it is 95 degrees and crazy humidity. My lungs could breathe, and it wasn't a struggle to warm up. Coach and his wonderful self had tailored my workouts for my little vacation, and everything went smoothly. Yay change of weather!
Mentally, it was just really good to get out of Kansas for awhile. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my training in Kansas, however, I have much disdain for living there. Since the first day of practice, my training, on a scale from 1-10, has been a 15, so I absolutely love that part. It's the city and my perception (which is accurate a lot of the time) of the people that nags my soul. I have been meeting and spending some quality time with some nice people lately, so that has significantly helped me keep my sanity. Nevertheless, it was really good to have a change of environment and give myself a break from Kansas. Outside of the lack of diversity, Fort Collins reminds me of Ann Arbor, so I simply loved being there. Katers took me all over and showed me all the little hotspots and good food spots unique to FoCo. It was so cool! It was also a really good change of pace to see more eclectic people--I love different cultures!!
Emotionally, it was sooooooo good to see a wonderful friend from back home. Although Katers and I keep quite in touch, it's not the same as being face to face. We had a lot of good hugs and bosom holding! it was really good:) It's also nice to get out of the structured training environment I'm in. I was able to simply relax, take deep breaths, and have some good quality fun. My good friend and spiritual mentor, Dee, also came in halfway through my visit, and words cannot express how great it was to see her too. oh man, simply glorious:)
Spiritually, I am still in awe of God's grace and how His timing is crazy perfect and He will give you rest when you need it most. So, Katers was in week 8, the final week, of Colorado Project. If my info serves me right, this is an AIA (Athletes In Action) leadership camp that helps develop and equip young men and women to be effective spiritual leaders on the college campuses. And since I was with Katers, I was able to do a lot of the Project stuff too--so great! I'm going to blog about it later, but my spiritual well-being prior to this vacation was in the rebuilding stages in the sense that I was really re-figuring out what it meant for me to completely live for God and be obedient to His Word (again, details later). Being at CP (Colorado Project) was seriously God-sent because it was so great to be surrounded by people truly living for God with their entire lives, seeking Him in everything. At Michigan, I was constantly surrounded by these types of people, so it was so much more natural to do it myself. I've learned that this does not come quite as easily when you're somewhat on your own with your faith. Alas, God is great, and being around all those cool, Jesus loving, people was all too good for my hungry soul.
I also had the privilege of spending some time with one of the staff families. OMG. Seeing them and how glorifying their family was to God just reiterated how important it is for me to be patient for the strong Christian man God has for me. I need not settle and be sorry. One example was of their cute 5yr old son, Jack. Jack, Finn (his little brother), and I were playing in the father's study, and Jack asked, "Can you sleepover tonight?". I then responded that I could not because I had a very early morning where I was flying back to my home. He said, "ok", and that was the end of it. Later at dinner, his father asked who wanted to say the prayer, and Jack excitedly volunteered. While being impressed by just how natural his praying skills were, there was one such prayer that almost brought tears to my eyes. Little 5yr old Jack said, "...and thank you for letting me meet Bettie, and I pray that she has a safe flight back home tomorrow, and she has to get up really early, so I pray that You help her rest well tonight..." I was awestruck, like seriously. THAT is what I want for my family, and I need to have a strong Christian man who will be that necessary spiritual leader. Needless to say, this was the perfect ending to my trip.
All in all, I was refreshed on all levels, and am back on track with being on fire for Jesus. Yay friends, yay experiences, yay God!

Freakin New York!!

So, I went to New York last weekend for the Adidas Grand Prix, and it was utter sweetness. As for as the meet went, I wasn't too happy with my performance, but it is what it is. I did the 3-Event challenge which had shot put, long jump, and hurdles. In addition to myself, the field included Kasey Hill, Hyleas Fountain, and Jessica Ennis. My marks were 12.35, 6.28,13.84. The shot was so off that we don't even talk about that. We now know what was up and will not repeat that again. While long jump and hurdles were not too too off my pb's, much better would have been appreciated, but again, it is what it is.
Now on to the good stuff!! I was reunited with some former teammates, Gina Gull! aka G-Baby aka Geena Gall and Tiffany Ofifi aka Triflin Tiff aka Tiffany Ofili. SOOO. MUUUUCH. FUUUUUN. I love these girls, and we hadn't seen each other since we went our separate ways back in September. Much needed reunion. Kasey and I hung with these chicas most of the weekend, and it was great.
The highlight of my weekend was Saturday night by far! I don't think i've laughed as much as I did that night in a looooooong time. J Neezy aka Lil Jenni aka Jenni Neville, the infamous Skylar Andrews, Tiff's cuz, Obi, and Skylar's friend, Sheldon, also joined in the fun. J Neezy is doing an internship in NY and Skylar is working in the city. From utter hotel silliness/craziness to a 2am Coldstone Creamery run in TImes Square to 4am girls talk, this night was great. It was extremely much needed seeing as I live in Kansas where there is not much to do nor any black people (no exaggeration). ::sigh:: so yeah, great weekend:)

Gotzis Heptathlon

This is a bit late, but I went to Gotzis, Austria back in late May for the 2010 Hypo-Meeting. This was by far the best competition I had been in. I think the main thing was that the contested events were strictly multi events, the decathlon and heptathlon, so I could really see the appreciation of the fans for what I do. Since almost all of my multi's have been in the US, I was used to getting up at the crack of dawn and having a scattering of parents and lost fans watching my events. This was far from that case. The fans truly loved you. They understood the hard work that goes into the multi events and loved cheering you on every step of the way.
I arrived in Gotzis on Monday, May 24, and went straight to the track to get my practice done before I ate. When I walked into the stadium, I was quite taken aback by the modest appearance of what was home to the biggest multi meet in the world. While the surface was good, overall, it looked similar to many high school tracks i've run on. Noting this, I was even more excited to compete here because I knew that the meet days were going to looking completely different. Also, with only one grandstand, it made the track extremely intimate. It almost as if the fans were right there competing with you--very cool.
After a short practice, I returned back to my "hotel" to get settled. While the oversee athletes stayed in a hotel a couple of miles away, the US and Canadian athletes had the wonderful pleasure of staying at a quiet bed and breakfast type place hidden away in a nearby neighborhood. Staying at the bed and breakfast made such a difference in my experience. The owners knew everyone in our group by name and jumped at the chance to make our stay pleasurable. The food was AMAZING. I want to say that everything had about a pound of butter in it, and I probably gained a good (mostly bad) 5 pounds which I tried to lose soon after I returned to the states. My roomie in Gotzis was Canadian heptathlete, Jessica Zelinka--real cool girl. So yeah, as the week progressed, the other athletes and myself basically practiced, played some intense games of Phase Ten (if you don't know, now you know!), chilled, and prepared ourselves for the sweetness which was the Gotzis Hypo-Meeting.
As far as sight-seeing goes, I was able to go to a town center type place on my rest day, Thursday. It was pretty cool just walking around as seeing the culture of another country. However, I didn't like how I had to pay 50 cents (euro) to use the bathroom--still a cool experience:)

Finally, the day of the meet came, and I was very excited. My body had been feeling good the entire week, practices had been good, and mentally, I was ALL good. My coach was unable to be with me due to his collegiate coaching responsibilities, but we had gone over all my cues beforehand, and Hyleas Fountain's coach, Lynn Smith was more than willing to assist me. I will not go into super detail about the competition because frankly, I don't feel like it. However, my marks were: 14.00,1.82,13.62,25.07;6.29,37.62, 2:21.17. First day weather was good with sun and high 60's. Second day weather was very rainy with mid 50's. Despite the second day weather, I was having the time of my life because I was at freaking Goetzis. Overall, I ended up with a PB of 6000 which was my first time over 6000, so i was pleased. I also received the 2010 Rookie Award for the heptathlon, so that was pretty cool too. The comp was rather sloppy, but I've learned to take PB's whenever you get them. With these international competitions, in addition to trying to do well, I am just trying to get the experiences under my belt, so I can become more and more comfortable, and in the end, compete better. I am getting a better grip on my bearings with each competition, so that is good. So yeah, this meet was incredible, and i CANNOT wait to have many more extraordinary experiences there:)

Gossip

i will preface this message with the fact that i am in no way perfect, and i do fall victim to gossip at times.

so, this topic is very dear to me because it can do so much harm to other individuals as well as ourselves. why do people gossip and say mean things about others? "because it needs to be said?" but why does it? the age old advice that our parents told us still holds as much weight, if not more, today than it did back when: if you can't say anything nice about somebody, then don't say anything at all.
i feel like we, as a people, need to come together and build one another up instead of breaking each other down. we are all so quick to worry about others and how they aren't living up to life's expectations. who cares?? like seriously! i was in a grocery store a few years back when i overheard a father disciplining one child after that child was saying not nice things to his sibling. the father said "are you building up your brother?" the child's reply was "no". the father responded by encouraging the child to only say things that would build up and exhort his brother. so simple, yet so true.
life is hard, and each of us have our own problems to worry about, so why worry about other people and their problems? and what position are gossipers in that they get to be the judge and critique other people? are these people so insecure that they must put others down in order to lift themselves up? well, i'll tell you right now that it's doesn't work that way. no one wins in gossip.
i invite my readers to try to do one week where they only let encouraging words utter from their lips. if you are compelled to say anything that could be construed as not nice, ask yourself "am i building up the person or putting them down?" and "what position am i in that gives me the right to bring them down?" this is just a thought, but i feel it will help us become better people.

so yeah...gossip is not cute!

mmmhmmmmmmmmm!!! (high pitched squeal at the end)

hey party peoples!! i'm back!!! and ya gurl is goin to Goetzis for the meet i mentioned earlier!!! yay God!!! so, the meet i had in arizona did not go as well as i would have liked, but it is what it is. i had an overall pb but would have liked a lot of the events to have gone better (story of a multi's life...). two events i was pumped about were my shot put and javelin throws. i pb'd in both!! i threw 14.02m (46') in the shot and 40.44m (132'ish) in the jav. so yeah, i went 5937 (13.97,1.78,14.02,24.93;5.93,40.44,2:22) overall, and this was enough to get me into the Goetzis meet.
HYPO-MEETING Goetzis will be on May 29-30, 2010, and is apart of the IAAF WORLD CHALLENGE. this meet will showcase the bests of the bests in the multi events, and i am so thankful and blessed to have been given the opportunity to compete there. i'm finally starting to feel like a professional athlete, and it's pretty cool. i remember being a little kid, watching track and field on tv and looking at those athletes only hoping that i would be in their position one day. now i am, and i'm able to see my dreams slowly unfolding in front of my eyes. everyday i wake up, i'm living my dream, and not a lot of people can say that. my aspirations have come to light only by the grace of God and the hard work ethic i've been blessed with. i thank my family and close friends that have supported me both emotionally and financially along the way. i would not be where i am without them. yay loved ones:)

Spiritual Well-Being

spiritually, i'm doing really well right now. i had a little lull in january where i felt close to God but at the same time, distant. a good quote i heard is "when God feels far away, guess who moved?" so, this is a constant reminder that i need to stay in the Word everyday and not get "caught up" in my secular life and lose sight of my true life. right now, God is teaching me to be patient and not doubt His plan for me. faith is like a muscle, and if you don't use it, it will get weak. with this is mind, i'm trying to live in the rest of God through every moment of my life and not allow myself to worry and become anxious about the things of this world. i gave up doubting for lent, and so far, so good. i have near lapses, but quickly get back on track by reciting some good verses to myself.
a big part of my good spiritual mood would have to be AIA (athletes in action). we meet once a week on sundays at the leader's house. paul scheele is the leader, and he is doing a phenomenal job. i feel convicted and take much away from every meeting. right now, we are looking at the song of soloman and really digging into what God has to say about relationships, sex, and marriage. i've never done a study on these topics, so it has been very eye-opening. mmhmmmm!!

Life is Good, Track is Good

hey!! ohhh!! sorry for the delay party peoples, but i'm back, and i'm not going to be this triflin in the future. to begin, i will summarize the greatness which is my track right now.
so, my indoor season came to its culmination about two weeks ago in bloomington, indiana for the 2010 USA Combined Events Championships. I placed second to my training partner and wonderful person, diana pickler. we were extremely pleased to go 1-2 especially considering how new we are to our training situation. we both had a handful of pb's and had soo much fun! mmmmhmmmmmmmmm!! or uhhhhhhh huuuuuhhhhhhhh (for mr. sellers). my personal highlight of the meet was my effing high jump!!! omg!! i was sooo excited!!!! i went 1.85 (6'0.75") which is about a 1 inch pb and very long coming since i haven't had a hj pb in nearly 3yrs. this was also a meet record, so that was kind cool too. yep, yep;) before every jump, i recited the lyrics of "He's Able" by darwin hobbs. i would say "how many of you know that God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all you could ask or think of Him according to the power that worketh in us". this line (ephesians 3:20) basically told me to not get in the way of what God had for me. whatever fears or doubts i had about the competition needed to leave me, and i needed to trust in and have faith that God had something special for me. best high jump competition ever!! i made all my jumps on the first attempt (except one at 1.76) thru 1.85. so, yeah, sweetness;)
right now, i'm preparing for my next competition in arizona on april 1-2. i will be doing a heptathlon at the jim click multi meet at the university of arizona in tucson, arizona. this meet is my qualifying meet for gotzis, a big multi meet in Austria late May. it would be such a great opportunity and experience to get into this meet, so i am hella excited for the hep in arizona. as far as my outdoor schedule goes, I am planning on jim click multi (arizona), kansas relays (kansas), drake relays (iowa), home meet at kstate (kansas), gotzis (austria), usa's (iowa). so, yeah...yay competing!!

p.s. indoor pb's: 60mH 8.42, HJ 1.85, SP 13.67, 800m 2:17.93, pent 4469. long jump to come in outdoor;)

Mo is mo-tabulous!

New blogs to come but it had to be said that Mortiz Cleve is awesome, and I am happy he did not slash my tires...