Dolls and Mud Pies

When I was little I was the girliest little girl you have ever seen.  My dolls and I, my favorite being Harrietta Sally, who also dressed just like me, would go everywhere together.  My mom made my dresses back then and she would make an identical dress for Harrietta.  My mom and Grandma would put my hair in those pink foam rollers every single night so the next day I would have perfectly curled hair.  I didn’t like to get dirty but I made the best looking mud pie with my Granny’s dishes you have ever tasted.  My cousin and I would take yards of old quilting fabric and make the most elaborate ballgowns so that we could humbly accept the crown of Miss America, or to dance with the queen, or to find our latest imaginary beau.

A Crowning Moment

Little did I know that all that prancing around and the need for college scholarships would blend together and make me a queen.   A pageant queen, that is.  I was a freshman at Southwest Baptist University at the time.  Who would have ever thought a music major could win a beauty pageant?  Especially a music major with a really squeaky voice?  Certainly not I.  My friends and husband Ryan (boyfriend at the time) would jokingly call me “Sarah the Queen.”  The name stuck around.  I was in the Miss Missouri Pageant in 2000.  And while I didn’t win, my brief stint at absolute queenlyness (I had an official crown and everything) was just enough to keep me going.

These days I’ve pulled a complete 180 degree turn from the pageant days.  I’m more comfortable in tennis shoes over fancy high heels, athletic shorts over elegant ballgowns, and baseball caps over intricate up-dos.  I’ve learned that girls really do sweat not just glisten.  I’ve found out that pedicures are great to cover up missing toenails from the last marathon, hand lotion is a must to fix ripped calluses on your hands from pull ups, and bruises on your collarbone are a badge of honor not a disgrace.  I don’t buy clothes unless they are a wicked fabric.  You won’t hear me ogle over a gal’s new pair of Jimmy Choos but you will see me go gaga over the latest version of Asics athletic wear.  That’s right, dare I say it, I’ve become an athlete.

Just keep running...

What started out as a post-wedding-I’m-getting-fat attempt to lose weight has now turned into marathons.  I love marathons.  The sense of accomplishment you feel when you cross the finish line after running 26.2 miles is like nothing I’ve ever felt.  I have also fallen in love with a form of athletic training called CrossFit.  It turns me inside out day after day but like any relationship you just keep going back for more.  Running and CrossFit has morphed me into Sarah that I dream to be.  Goals really do come true.