Near, Far, Wherever You Are

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While I was away on business, spring disappeared.  It’s summer now in Charlotte! GREEN everywhere!

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Where was I?  I was in Northwest Arkansas for the last two days.  Well, actually, I spent Thursday night stuck in my layover city – my second flight was delayed until the next morning due to weather.  I was just thankful that I managed to secure a hotel room near the Atlanta airport for a glorious stretch of sleep between 2:00 AM and 6:00 AM…  And then I finally made it to Arkansas with just an hour to spare.

 

A large quantity of caffeine later, I was ready to rumble!

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I was in Northwest Arkansas to speak at the local chapter’s Girls on the Run fundraiser luncheon.  GOTR is this incredible after-school character development program for elementary and middle school girls.  After 12 weeks, the season culminates in a community-wide 5K experience.  The Husband and I used to coach (but stopped when we had the baby), and I miss it terribly.  It was wonderful to be surrounded by the GOTR spirit again (and do a few enthusiastic cheers).

 

My speech focused on the power of positive words.  I said that we often think action is the most important thing, but there is no positive action without positive thought.  If we want our children to grow up to be strong, healthy, confident men and women, we must work on being positive role models – not just in our actions, but in our words.  That doesn’t mean we have to pretend to be perfect or always happy, but we should try to always treat ourselves as we would a friend.   It’s a simple but powerful concept.  Treat yourself as you would a friend.

 

Afterwards, I met up with some of the local GOTR girls and we wrote Operation Beautiful notes!  3M (the maker of Post-It) donated a lot of product.

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(One of the GOTR lessons focuses on running your own pace – not trying to keep up with your friends if that’s not the right speed for you.  I thought this misspelling was the cutest thing ever.)

 

One short night of sleep later (I can’t wait to go to bed super early tonight!), I was back in Charlotte.  Kristien and Henry took me immediately to the park so we could enjoy the fabulous summer weather.

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And the swings, but of course.

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And now… I present to you – the healthiest meal I’ve had in 48 hours.  So over the stress of traveling!

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Grilled tempeh, spinach salad, onions, carrots, strawberries, and honey mustard dressing.

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It hit every single tastebud spot, but the very best part was that I ate it with my two favorite guys.

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It’s good to be home!

 

How was your week?

{ 34 comments }

 

  • Michelle @ A Healthy Mrs April 13, 2013, 4:14 pm

    I’m so jealous of your summer weather! We had a few nice-ish days, and then a freak snow storm hit us yesterday — yuck! I’m ready for sunshine!!

  • Elisabeth April 13, 2013, 4:36 pm

    Man, it’s beautiful there right now! I need to move to NC – Ohio’s been rainy & gloomy for days 😉

  • Stephanie @ Steph's Miles April 13, 2013, 4:39 pm

    Your healthy meal looks delicious! Welcome home and enjoy the weather! It’s gloomy and rainy in South Florida today. I spotted your new Operation Beautiful book in B&N today!

  • Emily @ The Swallow Flies April 13, 2013, 5:09 pm

    I’m also jealous of the weather. My apartment is currently 60 degrees, as my landlord decided it was supposed to be spring already and shut off the heat. The next week of 30- and 40-degree temps should be fun. 🙂

    Also (and more importantly!), I just tried tempeh for the first time last week and LOVED it. I’m excited to have it again this week and think I just might recreate your salad. Yum!

  • mary @ minutes per mile April 13, 2013, 5:36 pm

    I’ve never really experimented with tempeh, but it looks delicious in these photos! GOTR is such a great organization. That’s awesome that you work with them.

  • Ash Bear April 13, 2013, 5:55 pm

    That salad looks wonderful! I need to combine those flavors in this week’s salad in a bag!

  • Katie @ Talk Less, Say More April 13, 2013, 6:25 pm

    That dinner looks incredible and I seriously love that hat on Henry – so cute! Now, if you wouldn’t mind SHARING a bit of that weather, we’d appreciate it over here. We had flurries again this morning!

  • Debbie April 13, 2013, 6:47 pm

    I’m glad you decided not to take a break from the blog! Happy Summer!

    • Caitlin April 13, 2013, 7:15 pm

      Oh 🙂 this Is a break! But I can’t stay away too long. I start to miss everyone.

  • Chelsea April 13, 2013, 6:56 pm

    This makes me want to look in to GOTR in my area! Glad to hear you’re home safe from all your travels!

  • Lisa April 13, 2013, 7:23 pm

    Your salad looks delicious and I am so jealous of your weather. I’m up in WI and I really am over this whole winter thing.

  • Amber K April 13, 2013, 9:12 pm

    It’s super cold and even more than that it’s super windy! Longing for your beautiful weather.

  • Jane @ Not Plain So Jane April 13, 2013, 9:44 pm

    I’ve thought about volunteering for a nutrition chat with a GOTR chapter. I need to look into that again!

  • Kim April 13, 2013, 10:01 pm

    I have never thought of using strawberries in a salad. Must give that a go!

  • Katie @ peacebeme April 13, 2013, 11:17 pm

    Wow Caitlin you are such as inspiration. Such a GREAT message you gave in your speech!

  • Sally April 13, 2013, 11:26 pm

    Beautiful looking salad!

  • Rebecca @ Blueberry Smiles April 13, 2013, 11:49 pm

    It feels like summer here too! Loving it.

  • Hattie April 14, 2013, 12:26 am

    “Treat yourself as you would a friend.”

    Except some people are really horrible to their friends!

    • Caitlin April 14, 2013, 6:43 am

      Hah well… I suppose that can be true. :-/

  • Gina G April 14, 2013, 7:37 am

    “I said that we often think action is the most important thing, but there is no positive action without positive thought.” Amen. Love that!

    Glad you had a great time and now are home to be with your boys! 🙂

  • Joy April 14, 2013, 8:20 am

    I wish we had summer weather here in New York. It’s still pretty much winter. Spring hasn’t even really made an appearance.

    I love the idea behind Girls on the Run. I’m going to look to see if there’s a local chapter near me. Thanks for being an inspiration!

  • Courtney Leigh April 14, 2013, 11:52 am

    We need a close-up picture of Henry in that hat, stat!

    That didn’t rhyme so much in my head.

  • Hayley @ Running on Pumpkin April 14, 2013, 2:40 pm

    I am a GOTR coach for the first time this spring and I LOVE IT. I am planning on talking about Operation Beautiful at one of the practices. 🙂

  • Kelly April 15, 2013, 6:41 am

    Oh I am so not ready for summer. It is supposed to be 90 today! 90! In April. Just shoot me now.

    I love the idea of treating yourself as a friend. Some of the things I think to myself about myself would never be something I would say to a friend. Yet, somehow it is okay to say them to myself. I love this! This is going to be my goal for the week. I am going to try to talk to myself as a friend and if I have something negative to say, I am going to try to think about how I would say it to a friend first.

  • Karen @ Runner Girl Eats April 15, 2013, 8:26 am

    Glad you are home and enjoying the weather! Summer has definitely arrived in Florida too. It’s going to be 90 degrees tomorrow and just last week I was waking up in the 40s. geesh.

  • Naomi Bostrom April 15, 2013, 8:56 am

    OMG. This meal looks very healthy and yummy!! It really feels good to be back home, no one can ever compare to the feeling that you have when you’re at home! I also agree on what you’ve said, we cannot just be positive minded at all times, we also have to make an action in order for these thoughts to happen. Thank you for inspiring us to be a good parent or a person. 🙂

  • Courtney April 15, 2013, 10:16 am

    What a delicious looking salad! It’s definitely feeling summery here as well (in central Florida). We’ve had the summer storms and the high temp/high humidity come out to play.

  • Catherine @ A Two Storey Home April 15, 2013, 11:57 am

    That note is hysterical! I’m getting lots of funny mental images of running and paste 🙂
    That salad looks awesome!

  • Carolina John April 15, 2013, 1:46 pm

    yea we got no spring this year. Stinks! Oh well, welcome to summer. Allergies, sunburn, and heat are running things in Raleigh already. What a fun trip!

  • Amy April 15, 2013, 4:19 pm

    Caitlin – I was at the GOTR meeting in AR. You did a great job and have motivated me to not only start talking positive to myself but leaving notes for others in our office. I have also re-looked at my goals set in Jan and I’m getting re-focused on them too!! I used to travel for a living and I understand the toll it takes, but thank you for making this trip!

    • Caitlin April 15, 2013, 4:37 pm

      Thanks Amy!

  • Kowa April 15, 2013, 4:35 pm

    That dinner looks incredible! I just got hungry. You should look into Okinawa Life, its ingredients are based off the Okinawa diet.

  • Deryn @ runningonrealfood.com April 18, 2013, 12:55 am

    There’s nothing like coming home to a healthy meal after travelling! And that looks like an awesome one to return to 🙂

    Love the topic of your speech…What a great thing for young girls to hear!

  • Kristen April 23, 2013, 2:10 pm

    Beautiful weather! Your beautiful baby is getting so big! Always good to be back home 🙂 It’s so tough to find healthy eats when travelling.

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