Warm Regards,
Maggi
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
My International Pageant journey...the 2013 rewind
It is hard to believe we are mere minutes away from 2014. This last year has flown by and in the most exciting way possible...joining the International Pageant Family. I will be posting a video of the "rewind" and below is the year in review graphic. Happy New Year to you and your family! I am grateful to God for every opportunity to serve others and to have all of you continue to join me on this journey with Soles4Souls. To 2014, Dream Big!
Warm Regards,
Maggi
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
Warm Regards,
Maggi
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Motivational Video - Sacrifice
As 2013 comes to a close and 2014 approaches, this is a time to not only reflect, but project. What is next? What are the 2014 dreams and what sacrifices am I willing to make....is our family willing to make? Do I want to change the world? Yes. You can too. YOU can do ANYTHING....it may take some sacrifice, but all you have to do is take a chance.
Dream Big, give it your all.
Warm Regards,
Maggi Thorne
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Christmas Traditions
Growing up in San Diego, despite the lack of snow and cold weather, Christmas was huge in our home. My mother had boxes and boxes...and boxes of Christmas decorations where it became a week long process to get everything out. The tree always real and a noble fir. The presents spilled out from under the tree and stocking about to bust at the seams. We never went to church, so as a kid, I loved being showered in gifts and put my wishes and hope in a jolly man named Santa, but it always distracted from the real gift.
As fun as these traditions were as a child, our own family is much different. We are simple with the decorations (this year we removed all of the animated singing plush toys for sake of keeping our sanity with puppies barking Merry Christmas and Elf's dancing;p)
We want it to feel like a celebration for our kids, and we have a blast decorating a few areas of the house. We bake cookies for our friends/family and the kids get very hands on with the sprinkles and icing. Our cookies may be messy, but the kids love to contribute.
How about presents? The first few years we did what I knew as a kid...swamped them with gifts. As the years passed, we realized we were taking away from the real celebration and what our kids need more than anything in this world is our love and grace. After traveling to Haiti in 2010 and experiencing one of the poorest cultures in the world, our yearly tradition for the past 3 years is now this: One Want, One Need, One Wear and One Read. This applies for each of our children and works really well. There is a lot more breathing room in the time leading up to it, during and after. We focus on our pajama cuddling, getting out our nativity scene on Christmas night and talking about it and how we can serve others. Since Fred and I have been married, Christmas night we drive around and find a family eating out somewhere and anonymously purchase their meal. Now our kids are old enough, they help us choose the family.
The last tradition in our home is our ornaments. Each of our children has their own mini tree and they get to choose and ornament each year to add to it. We date the ornament and make a special moment of it being added to the tree. My mom also sends one ornament for them each year to celebrate a milestone they had during the year. Fred and I have our own tree that has special ornaments from moments in our lives together, first home, first Christmas together, etc. We have a family picture ornament we add each year as well.
What do I want for Christmas this year? I get it in 9 days! I will be traveling to Haiti to deliver shoes to orphans all over with Soles4Souls.
Blessings to you and your family for a Merry Christmas, I hope your time together is the best gift you get.
Warm Regards,
Maggi Thorne
Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
As fun as these traditions were as a child, our own family is much different. We are simple with the decorations (this year we removed all of the animated singing plush toys for sake of keeping our sanity with puppies barking Merry Christmas and Elf's dancing;p)
We want it to feel like a celebration for our kids, and we have a blast decorating a few areas of the house. We bake cookies for our friends/family and the kids get very hands on with the sprinkles and icing. Our cookies may be messy, but the kids love to contribute.
How about presents? The first few years we did what I knew as a kid...swamped them with gifts. As the years passed, we realized we were taking away from the real celebration and what our kids need more than anything in this world is our love and grace. After traveling to Haiti in 2010 and experiencing one of the poorest cultures in the world, our yearly tradition for the past 3 years is now this: One Want, One Need, One Wear and One Read. This applies for each of our children and works really well. There is a lot more breathing room in the time leading up to it, during and after. We focus on our pajama cuddling, getting out our nativity scene on Christmas night and talking about it and how we can serve others. Since Fred and I have been married, Christmas night we drive around and find a family eating out somewhere and anonymously purchase their meal. Now our kids are old enough, they help us choose the family.
The last tradition in our home is our ornaments. Each of our children has their own mini tree and they get to choose and ornament each year to add to it. We date the ornament and make a special moment of it being added to the tree. My mom also sends one ornament for them each year to celebrate a milestone they had during the year. Fred and I have our own tree that has special ornaments from moments in our lives together, first home, first Christmas together, etc. We have a family picture ornament we add each year as well.
What do I want for Christmas this year? I get it in 9 days! I will be traveling to Haiti to deliver shoes to orphans all over with Soles4Souls.
Blessings to you and your family for a Merry Christmas, I hope your time together is the best gift you get.
Warm Regards,
Maggi Thorne
Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
Friday, December 13, 2013
The Worlds Toughest Mudder Experience
Greetings!
These last couple weeks have certainly been filled with a lot of rest and recovery. I will get it out there and say the number one thing I was not prepared for was post race recovery, it has been a bear!
Before getting in to the experience more, I would like to thank my husband for his tremendous support. He hauled hundreds of pounds of gear all over and stayed up through the night as a spectator to cheer me on for the 25 hours of competition and then carried me by his side as I gimped around post race. He is now my re-hab trainer!
Many of you have seen the results of second place, but the real win is for Soles4Souls. As a result of this race, I will be donating $1,000 to them. That is 1,000 pairs of shoes!
While I was traveling to New Jersey a day ahead of my husband to get acclimated, he sent me this sweet picture of our little ones :)
There were 22 obstacles per lap and each lap was 5 miles. Of those obstacles, my least favorite was the electrical shock and my second least favorite was Devil's beard. My favorite obstacle's were mud mile, leap of faith and Everest.
The mud mile warmed me up and early in the race took a great amount of teamwork to get over the large hedges of mud walls and through the pools of muddy water. Leap of Faith reminded me of one of my first track and field activities I ever did as a child, broad jump. This brought me comfort and I looked forward to this one each lap. It was a 12' leap from a 15' high ledge to land on to a cargo net and then climb the cargo net down another wall. Yes, that was comforting to me :)
Everest is probably not usually anyone's favorite due to the fact of it's difficulty, but it again required great teamwork and when you are trying to sprint up a 20' steep slippery slope at 3am, you need others and they need you.
The beginning of the race was packed at many of the obstacles, but through the night, you were typically a lone runner. Every now and then you would run across another person at the same point in time and have a few minutes of conversation, but the race really requires the ability to overcome extremely adverse conditions solo. This is a specialty for me! Although I was never truly alone during the race, I prayed at nearly every obstacle for strength and the will to carry on, much of my time was singing song's that reminded me of our children, reciting my favorite scripture or thinking about favorite movies in my head that were fun. I was really anticipating I might pull from the movie Rambo, but ended up thinking about movies like Despicable Me, Monsters Inc, Shrek...etc
Here is the video compilation of the obstacles:
The Strategy:
The question of "What is your strategy" was thrown at me numerous times pre-race from friends, family, media, during interviews, but overall strategy was simple....Never Give Up.
I had a few simple mind sets to keep me going and get through the obstacles. Pray. Think about who I was running for, Soles4Souls. Stay fueled and hydrated, even if I didn't feel like eating or drinking and stay out of open water that is nature made. Being in man made water pits/pools is not a big deal and it actually stays pretty warm.Open water was freezing. I fell on one lap in to water on the island hopping and started to get hypothermic, but recognized what was coming and was able to battle through it. It made me realize how important it was to stay out of the lakes..
Strengths:
The strategy played a big part, but with over 20 years as a highly competitive athlete, I know my body's strength's and weakness's pretty well. My lower body has about triple the strength of my upper body and I counted on it alot to get me through. Since I was a little girl flexibility has been key in excelling in sports and I relied alot on that to get me through and over obstacles.
Nutrition:
One of my obstacle racing friends helped me a lot with prep before heading to WTM2013, Lindsey Remmers MS, RD, CSSD, LMNT, CLT showed me how to re-fuel properly before and after workouts while training for the race and then her best piece of advice for during the race: EAT! She noted at that point, your body is just burning calories and will start feeding off of your muscles unless you stay fueled, so eating between every lap was important to me. I drank lots of water, Gatorade recovery mix, chocolate milk (although I would not recommend chocolate milk, put my stomach in knots) and ate primarily peanut butter and jelly sandwich's. I used some artificial energy fueling, but my body started to reject it and I had to go back to regular food's of substance.
Injury List:
As you can imagine, 76 miles and 330 obstacles will take it out of you, so how did my body fare?
-Lost left pinky toenail
-Strained left achilles
-Sprained right ankle
-Strained IT bands in both legs
-Right toe still numb from constantly rubbing on my big toe and it deadened the tissue
-Right calf strain
-Right hip flexor strain
-Bruised legs, back and arms
One week post race, a bursa sack in my knee burst and has set me back a bit more, but my training regardless is picking up again.
Gear/Training:
So how did I train to get ready for the WTM2013? I ran whenever I could, wherever I could, for as long as possible. I tried out 6 different wet suits before finding the one that was right for me and spent over 100 hours researching and purchasing the right gear. my shoes were the very last purchase and I ended up running in Salomon speed cross 3 and that was the absolute best purchase next to my 3m dawn patrol wetsuit by RipCurl . I ended up with 5m gloves after realizing the 3M were not warm enough and a wind/rain coat. The race marked the first time in my life I wore a swim cap and I am extremely happy I did, it kept my head warm and dirt, etc out of my ears.
Thanks for reading about the WTM 2013 Journey and for all of the support and well wishes. On to 2014, my race schedule will be released soon!!
Remember, take a chance, dream a dream and go for it!
Warm Regards,
Maggi Thorne
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
These last couple weeks have certainly been filled with a lot of rest and recovery. I will get it out there and say the number one thing I was not prepared for was post race recovery, it has been a bear!
Before getting in to the experience more, I would like to thank my husband for his tremendous support. He hauled hundreds of pounds of gear all over and stayed up through the night as a spectator to cheer me on for the 25 hours of competition and then carried me by his side as I gimped around post race. He is now my re-hab trainer!
Many of you have seen the results of second place, but the real win is for Soles4Souls. As a result of this race, I will be donating $1,000 to them. That is 1,000 pairs of shoes!
While I was traveling to New Jersey a day ahead of my husband to get acclimated, he sent me this sweet picture of our little ones :)
Below are the maps of the race and the schedule info
The mud mile warmed me up and early in the race took a great amount of teamwork to get over the large hedges of mud walls and through the pools of muddy water. Leap of Faith reminded me of one of my first track and field activities I ever did as a child, broad jump. This brought me comfort and I looked forward to this one each lap. It was a 12' leap from a 15' high ledge to land on to a cargo net and then climb the cargo net down another wall. Yes, that was comforting to me :)
Everest is probably not usually anyone's favorite due to the fact of it's difficulty, but it again required great teamwork and when you are trying to sprint up a 20' steep slippery slope at 3am, you need others and they need you.
The beginning of the race was packed at many of the obstacles, but through the night, you were typically a lone runner. Every now and then you would run across another person at the same point in time and have a few minutes of conversation, but the race really requires the ability to overcome extremely adverse conditions solo. This is a specialty for me! Although I was never truly alone during the race, I prayed at nearly every obstacle for strength and the will to carry on, much of my time was singing song's that reminded me of our children, reciting my favorite scripture or thinking about favorite movies in my head that were fun. I was really anticipating I might pull from the movie Rambo, but ended up thinking about movies like Despicable Me, Monsters Inc, Shrek...etc
Here is the video compilation of the obstacles:
The Strategy:
The question of "What is your strategy" was thrown at me numerous times pre-race from friends, family, media, during interviews, but overall strategy was simple....Never Give Up.
I had a few simple mind sets to keep me going and get through the obstacles. Pray. Think about who I was running for, Soles4Souls. Stay fueled and hydrated, even if I didn't feel like eating or drinking and stay out of open water that is nature made. Being in man made water pits/pools is not a big deal and it actually stays pretty warm.Open water was freezing. I fell on one lap in to water on the island hopping and started to get hypothermic, but recognized what was coming and was able to battle through it. It made me realize how important it was to stay out of the lakes..
Strengths:
The strategy played a big part, but with over 20 years as a highly competitive athlete, I know my body's strength's and weakness's pretty well. My lower body has about triple the strength of my upper body and I counted on it alot to get me through. Since I was a little girl flexibility has been key in excelling in sports and I relied alot on that to get me through and over obstacles.
Nutrition:
One of my obstacle racing friends helped me a lot with prep before heading to WTM2013, Lindsey Remmers MS, RD, CSSD, LMNT, CLT showed me how to re-fuel properly before and after workouts while training for the race and then her best piece of advice for during the race: EAT! She noted at that point, your body is just burning calories and will start feeding off of your muscles unless you stay fueled, so eating between every lap was important to me. I drank lots of water, Gatorade recovery mix, chocolate milk (although I would not recommend chocolate milk, put my stomach in knots) and ate primarily peanut butter and jelly sandwich's. I used some artificial energy fueling, but my body started to reject it and I had to go back to regular food's of substance.
Injury List:
As you can imagine, 76 miles and 330 obstacles will take it out of you, so how did my body fare?
-Lost left pinky toenail
-Strained left achilles
-Sprained right ankle
-Strained IT bands in both legs
-Right toe still numb from constantly rubbing on my big toe and it deadened the tissue
-Right calf strain
-Right hip flexor strain
-Bruised legs, back and arms
One week post race, a bursa sack in my knee burst and has set me back a bit more, but my training regardless is picking up again.
Gear/Training:
So how did I train to get ready for the WTM2013? I ran whenever I could, wherever I could, for as long as possible. I tried out 6 different wet suits before finding the one that was right for me and spent over 100 hours researching and purchasing the right gear. my shoes were the very last purchase and I ended up running in Salomon speed cross 3 and that was the absolute best purchase next to my 3m dawn patrol wetsuit by RipCurl . I ended up with 5m gloves after realizing the 3M were not warm enough and a wind/rain coat. The race marked the first time in my life I wore a swim cap and I am extremely happy I did, it kept my head warm and dirt, etc out of my ears.
Thanks for reading about the WTM 2013 Journey and for all of the support and well wishes. On to 2014, my race schedule will be released soon!!
Remember, take a chance, dream a dream and go for it!
Warm Regards,
Maggi Thorne
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
The Soles4Souls Journey starts here
For this week's blogpost I was able to guest blog for the charity Soles4Souls. Read the blog post here and enjoy!
http://blog.soles4souls.org/2013/11/introducing-maggi-thorne/
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014,
Maggi
http://blog.soles4souls.org/2013/11/introducing-maggi-thorne/
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014,
Maggi
Friday, November 1, 2013
What my parents don't know...
There is something only a handful of people know and not even my parents. It is my earliest childhood memory. Last night as our children wrapped up their trick or treating (which should really be replaced with yelling or running, the actions of choice of our children between houses) it made me think back....waaaaay back in time to my first memory.
I was 3 years old and it was Halloween. My family was carving pumpkins on our back patio and I was dressed in a little light pink carebear costume. I remember fiddling with the strap on my head to get my mask to stay on and anxiously awaiting the moment to comb the neighborhood. I don't remember how many houses we went to that night or how much candy was in my pillowcase (which is what we used instead of buckets to collect treats), but I remember my family....together.
Every moment of the day, I try to remind myself a memory is being created for our children that will shape their future. I think of myself as a kid again and ask"What kind of memory do I want them to walk away with right now?". Are they going to learn what grace is? Will they learn impatience or patience...anger or love? Is this the opportunity for a lesson or on the contrary am I being taught a lesson?
There is a quote on our little' "mom's ultimate planning calendar" that hangs next to our fridge and for October it said "There is no such thing as a perfect mom, but a MILLION ways to be a great one".
This past weekend there are probably all sorts of things we could have worked on around the house, but we put it aside and carved pumpkins, put up slimy sticky Halloween decor and had ice cream in the middle of the day...just because. Later that night our middle daughter looked up at me, grabbed my hand and kissed it, then muttered "Thank you mommy for a fun day, I love you". Rest assured every night doesn't end like this and we have our share of grouchy kiddos, but that night did and I am so grateful.
Here is to a happy Friday and hopefully a weekend full of fun memory making!
Weekend workout:
This is not for the faint at heart, but if you are up for a challenge, enjoy from the Spartan racing team:
Warmup:
Run/walk 400m with weight (sandbag preferred)
Main set: 30 seconds each exercise
Deadlift w/sandbag
Decline pushups
Axe chops (each side w/sandbag)
Squat w/sandbag
Clean w/sandbag
Overhead Press w/sandbag
Side Plank (each side)
V-up
Rest one minute
Cool down with a walk and a good stretch
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014,
Maggi
 |
| Although I don't have the care bear picture, this is me at 3:) |
I was 3 years old and it was Halloween. My family was carving pumpkins on our back patio and I was dressed in a little light pink carebear costume. I remember fiddling with the strap on my head to get my mask to stay on and anxiously awaiting the moment to comb the neighborhood. I don't remember how many houses we went to that night or how much candy was in my pillowcase (which is what we used instead of buckets to collect treats), but I remember my family....together.
Every moment of the day, I try to remind myself a memory is being created for our children that will shape their future. I think of myself as a kid again and ask"What kind of memory do I want them to walk away with right now?". Are they going to learn what grace is? Will they learn impatience or patience...anger or love? Is this the opportunity for a lesson or on the contrary am I being taught a lesson?
There is a quote on our little' "mom's ultimate planning calendar" that hangs next to our fridge and for October it said "There is no such thing as a perfect mom, but a MILLION ways to be a great one".
This past weekend there are probably all sorts of things we could have worked on around the house, but we put it aside and carved pumpkins, put up slimy sticky Halloween decor and had ice cream in the middle of the day...just because. Later that night our middle daughter looked up at me, grabbed my hand and kissed it, then muttered "Thank you mommy for a fun day, I love you". Rest assured every night doesn't end like this and we have our share of grouchy kiddos, but that night did and I am so grateful.
Here is to a happy Friday and hopefully a weekend full of fun memory making!
 | ||||||||||
| The Thorne Halloween Re-cap |
This is not for the faint at heart, but if you are up for a challenge, enjoy from the Spartan racing team:
Warmup:
Run/walk 400m with weight (sandbag preferred)
Main set: 30 seconds each exercise
Deadlift w/sandbag
Decline pushups
Axe chops (each side w/sandbag)
Squat w/sandbag
Clean w/sandbag
Overhead Press w/sandbag
Side Plank (each side)
V-up
Rest one minute
Cool down with a walk and a good stretch
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014,
Maggi
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Walking the Runway for Husker Greats
About a month ago I received a phone call about being in a fashion show to help raise funds for the Husker Greats Foundation. They raise money for former athletes in their time of medical need.
Number one, I was excited to help my Husker family, number two was excited to do another runway show. If anyone knows me well, I am actually a HUGE Project Runway fan!
The runway show featured accomplished former female student-athletes and we had some time to chat beforehand about life, family and the Husker Greats Program. The event was well attended and we even had two Heisman Trophy winners in attendance. That is one of the great things about Nebraska in general, it is a sporty state and people love all things Husker!
As we got ready, our outfits were picked out for us and we donned our garments, prepped with hair and makeup and got ready with a lineup posted backstage. The picture below has a snapshot of the lineup in the top right corner and a few candid shots.
The show was certainly fun, but the funniest part was the amount of
nerves backstage. You would think with all of these female
student-athletes who have competed for national championships, won
national awards, played in the pros, etc....nerves would be a thing of
the wayside....not so! I admittingly got wobbly in my knees to before
hitting the runway as well.
Below is the picture before everyone came to their seats and we were lining up doing final preps (tell each other how fabulous we look, checking teeth for imaginary things we thought were stuck...you know, the normal things ladies do)
At the end of the night, it was great to connect with our Husker Family and help raise much needed medical funds for former athletes. I am always grateful to have made the decision to come from San Diego to be a Husker at Nebraska. GBR
The picture below is of the featured former student-athletes who came from all over the country to participate and the owner of Christian Noble Furs who was the hub of putting the event together. Lovely group for a great cause!
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014,
Maggi
Number one, I was excited to help my Husker family, number two was excited to do another runway show. If anyone knows me well, I am actually a HUGE Project Runway fan!
The runway show featured accomplished former female student-athletes and we had some time to chat beforehand about life, family and the Husker Greats Program. The event was well attended and we even had two Heisman Trophy winners in attendance. That is one of the great things about Nebraska in general, it is a sporty state and people love all things Husker!
As we got ready, our outfits were picked out for us and we donned our garments, prepped with hair and makeup and got ready with a lineup posted backstage. The picture below has a snapshot of the lineup in the top right corner and a few candid shots.
Below is the picture before everyone came to their seats and we were lining up doing final preps (tell each other how fabulous we look, checking teeth for imaginary things we thought were stuck...you know, the normal things ladies do)
 |
| Some of the runway looks from Christian Noble |
The picture below is of the featured former student-athletes who came from all over the country to participate and the owner of Christian Noble Furs who was the hub of putting the event together. Lovely group for a great cause!
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014,
Maggi
Friday, October 18, 2013
How to train for the Worlds Toughest Mudder (and throw on a pair of heels after!)
As the Worlds Toughest Mudder competition approaches, my biggest point of preparation has been my mind. There is only a point that you can take your body before your mental mindset needs to become stronger.
Before getting in to a few tips, I want to share a moment from the weekend that was super exciting for me...I got to meet Juliana Sproles, the very first female Worlds Toughest Mudder Champion! The below picture was taken post race. She was kind enough to share some tips with me for what it takes to last through the Toughest Mudder. She is truly amazing :)
When your body will physically want to give up and you have to be your biggest cheerleader each and every step of the way, your mind better be tough. Toughest Mudder has a rule of no music, etc while running in the 24 hour competition (among many other strict rules) So how am I getting my ready to compete there?
A few highlights from last weekends spartan race:
Have a great weekend and thank you for sharing this journey!
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
Maggi
Before getting in to a few tips, I want to share a moment from the weekend that was super exciting for me...I got to meet Juliana Sproles, the very first female Worlds Toughest Mudder Champion! The below picture was taken post race. She was kind enough to share some tips with me for what it takes to last through the Toughest Mudder. She is truly amazing :)
When your body will physically want to give up and you have to be your biggest cheerleader each and every step of the way, your mind better be tough. Toughest Mudder has a rule of no music, etc while running in the 24 hour competition (among many other strict rules) So how am I getting my ready to compete there?
- Any time I am in a car alone, NO music is playing. You have to have the ability to basically entertain yourself during a repetitive action that can be mind numbing if you allow it. This weekend I traveled to a few states and spent several long hours in the car. I played one CD at one point and that was only because it was a gift from Singer Tiffany Johnson who is donating 100% of her CD sales to soles4souls. It was a great CD!!
- Even though I am fairly used to sleep deprivation (how else can I get so much done :), I have increased it. When traveling I chose to not stay in hotels 2 of the 3 nights to force myself to keep going and be able to perform while physically and mentally exhausted. After landing back in Omaha, I had to go speak right away to a room full of contractors and am pleased to say my mental acuity was in tact (There was lots of good feedback to verify it really was and I am not purely delusional that the presentation was great!)
- Eat right! For our family, this is a given whether it is the worlds toughest mudder or just living life. With Heart Disease as the number one killer for women and heart disease running in my husbands family, we just focus on a balanced meal plan and stay consistent.
- Train with intention. I don't want to wait for race day and the decide to push my hardest, just like when we ran track in college, we laid it on the line daily.
- 4 mile run 8 mile pace in full wet suit
- 800 yards of lake crawls full submerged
- 30 fences hops
- 30 fence ducks
- 10 50 yard hill runs
A few highlights from last weekends spartan race:
 |
| Top 3 finishers make and females Spartan Elite Heat |
 |
| Our son Charlie ran in the Kids Spartan race |
 |
| They even had a sign that said Never Give Up! |
Have a great weekend and thank you for sharing this journey!
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
Maggi
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Every Day Matters...
A few years ago our church started a "Decade on Purpose" effort to focus on intentional living and making each day matter by living out what God has put before you.
This week's blog will vary into our family side of things. You may notice that we do not post much about our children on social media and this is a personal family decision we agreed on a few years ago. We are ok with the occasional post, but it is pretty limited. With this said, we wanted to give you a peek into our family life this week inspired by our Church's sermon on Sunday :)
One of our favorite things to do as a family is simple, just be together. It doesn't need to be anything special or anywhere special, we just love to get cozy and laugh.
Our girls room is FULL of dress up clothes. We have more princess dress's than we know what to do with. This can be crazy for me sometimes as someone who grew up with brothers and was always getting their hand me down toys like matchbox cars and transformers. I still do my best and we play barbie, paint nails, curl hair and wouldn't you believe it I let the girls (and Charlie) even do my makeup. One time I forgot they did my makeup and left the house with it on....oh boy was that day special!
Charlie's room we are usually lucky if we can see the floor. He likes dress up too, but on the end of Ninja's, Darth Vader and Transformers. As he get's more in to sports, shin guards and cleats are capturing some floor space as well.
As we went to the park the other day and we were playing chase (aka Tag) I tried to capture some of the moments of our laughing and smiling.
It would be fair to say Charlie is a total mommy's boy and Fiona is a Daddy's girl. Ellie is at the age where it is whoever is convenient at that time :)
As I think about making each day matter I am motivated to inspire others around the world...but God is very quick to remind me that it starts at home with our family. Do I fail some days...yes. Does Fred fail some days...yes. But number one rule in the Thorne house...show Grace.
For us, making each day matter at home is about showing our kids God's love for them by the way treat them and our intentional family time.
Is our life just plain nuts some times...oh yes. Would we have it any other way? NO WAY! I am grateful for a God who would entrust me to be a parent...now I just need to make EVERY DAY Matter.
To find out more about a Every Day Matters, visit Every Day Matters
From this link, you can also get the 1 second every day app to help capture life's memories :)
Enjoy!
Warmly,
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
Maggi
This week's blog will vary into our family side of things. You may notice that we do not post much about our children on social media and this is a personal family decision we agreed on a few years ago. We are ok with the occasional post, but it is pretty limited. With this said, we wanted to give you a peek into our family life this week inspired by our Church's sermon on Sunday :)
One of our favorite things to do as a family is simple, just be together. It doesn't need to be anything special or anywhere special, we just love to get cozy and laugh.
Our girls room is FULL of dress up clothes. We have more princess dress's than we know what to do with. This can be crazy for me sometimes as someone who grew up with brothers and was always getting their hand me down toys like matchbox cars and transformers. I still do my best and we play barbie, paint nails, curl hair and wouldn't you believe it I let the girls (and Charlie) even do my makeup. One time I forgot they did my makeup and left the house with it on....oh boy was that day special!
Charlie's room we are usually lucky if we can see the floor. He likes dress up too, but on the end of Ninja's, Darth Vader and Transformers. As he get's more in to sports, shin guards and cleats are capturing some floor space as well.
As we went to the park the other day and we were playing chase (aka Tag) I tried to capture some of the moments of our laughing and smiling.
It would be fair to say Charlie is a total mommy's boy and Fiona is a Daddy's girl. Ellie is at the age where it is whoever is convenient at that time :)
As I think about making each day matter I am motivated to inspire others around the world...but God is very quick to remind me that it starts at home with our family. Do I fail some days...yes. Does Fred fail some days...yes. But number one rule in the Thorne house...show Grace.
For us, making each day matter at home is about showing our kids God's love for them by the way treat them and our intentional family time.
Is our life just plain nuts some times...oh yes. Would we have it any other way? NO WAY! I am grateful for a God who would entrust me to be a parent...now I just need to make EVERY DAY Matter.
To find out more about a Every Day Matters, visit Every Day Matters
From this link, you can also get the 1 second every day app to help capture life's memories :)
Enjoy!
Warmly,
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
Maggi
Thursday, October 3, 2013
The Tough Mudder Experience
First and foremost before the tough mudder experience, I want to introduce you to a great organization I am so excited about I feel like getting out there and running right this instant!! If you are anxious, here is the link to their website: http://www.girlsontherun.org/
The other weekend was what started out to be what I thought would be a once (emphasize the "one time") in a lifetime experience competing in the Tough Mudder race. I walked away (slightly limping) from Tough Mudder in Kansas more motivated than ever though to run races that are longer than 5k and challenge myself more than ever thought possible. The dots really connected for me though when going over obstacles on the race course and I think about all of the obstacles in life young women can face. I was fueled with energy thinking about Girls on the Run International and how after all of these years of running, to meet such a wonderful cause was a blessing.
One item of note in case you were ever curious, false eyelashses can survive a 12 mile obstacle course race!
The Tough Mudder went well and I was able to win the UnderArmour #IWILL challenge. In light of this experience, the opportunity arose to compete in the Worlds Toughest Mudder, the world championship race with runners from all over the world. It is a 24 hour race from noon on Saturday to noon on Sunday with each competitor charged with the task of competing as many laps as possible, each "lap" being 10 miles with obstacles. Honestly, I have lots of fears when I think about the race, so I just try not to focus on the race itself, but the preparation leading to it. If I prepare right, the race will take care of itself and a charity will get great visibility. Prayers for my body to stay healthy as I pick up my current training load would be great, thank you!
The other weekend was what started out to be what I thought would be a once (emphasize the "one time") in a lifetime experience competing in the Tough Mudder race. I walked away (slightly limping) from Tough Mudder in Kansas more motivated than ever though to run races that are longer than 5k and challenge myself more than ever thought possible. The dots really connected for me though when going over obstacles on the race course and I think about all of the obstacles in life young women can face. I was fueled with energy thinking about Girls on the Run International and how after all of these years of running, to meet such a wonderful cause was a blessing.
One item of note in case you were ever curious, false eyelashses can survive a 12 mile obstacle course race!
The Tough Mudder went well and I was able to win the UnderArmour #IWILL challenge. In light of this experience, the opportunity arose to compete in the Worlds Toughest Mudder, the world championship race with runners from all over the world. It is a 24 hour race from noon on Saturday to noon on Sunday with each competitor charged with the task of competing as many laps as possible, each "lap" being 10 miles with obstacles. Honestly, I have lots of fears when I think about the race, so I just try not to focus on the race itself, but the preparation leading to it. If I prepare right, the race will take care of itself and a charity will get great visibility. Prayers for my body to stay healthy as I pick up my current training load would be great, thank you!
Pre-race
Our race numbers were written on our foreheads
Post- race
Warm Regards,
Maggi
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Living Your Dreams
Have you ever had a dream that you thought was impossible or far fetched?
I am excited this week to see my college roommate and teammate Jessie Graff being spotlighted in her career of a Hollywood Stunt woman on "CBS This Morning". Since she was little she wanted to be an action hero and she has not only achieved her dream, but is loving every minute. When we were in college, we watched the show Alias constantly and had many action packed adventures.She even talked me in to climbing a 50 feet tree (which she also had a to talk me down because I was scared after hanging out on a limb!)
This week she was featured on CBS this morning about a recent clip she made on YouTube which has now reached over a million views! She wrote and produce the video based on a Family Guy parody.
In college sometimes people thought Jessie was crazy or off the wall for her constant "stunts" whether jumping on moving trains or practicing crashing, but when I think about how focused she always remained and how much effort day and night she put into her dreams, to see her succeeded as a Hollywood Stunt woman is so exciting.
Recently Jessie visited Nebraska and we were able to spend the weekend together. We talked goals and life followed up by a good body whipping workout. She took me through a stunt woman workout and I was aching for days afterwords! I did get to run her through a workout of my own, so I think we ended up even.
The above is our picture from her trip in one of our body balancing poses from way back when. When we were in college we performed all over Lincoln body balancing acts.
Below is our picture from college after a performance. I am just glad after having 3 kids I can still lift another human being up on my shoulders :)
So, we may not all have dreams of jumping through windows from tall buildings and crashing motorcycles on movie sets, but we do all have dreams and goals. We have all heard nothing is impossible, but do we believe it? Maybe it is opening a business, a large community effort, inventing something..or even competing in a pageant to change lives;)
Whatever it is, you CAN achieve it. Will it take time and effort...Yes. Will there he hardship...most likely. Final question....Will it be worth it....Absolutely, every minute of it. If you know you are made to do something and your heart longs to achieve that dream....don't wait. If you listen to Jessie's interview on CBS, there is a key sentence for me...she highlighted that she loves what she does.
I leave you with a quote today from a great athlete that I am sure all will recognize...
Jessie's full Hollywood Stunt Bio can be found here: www.jessiegraff.com
Workout Tip:
Just like you would write down your dreams, write down your workout goals. Make copies of them and keep them in multiple locations. Anytime you want to relax off of them, take them out for a quick reminder of the path you drew out and keep trucking!
Have a great week!
Warm Regards,
Maggi
Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
I am excited this week to see my college roommate and teammate Jessie Graff being spotlighted in her career of a Hollywood Stunt woman on "CBS This Morning". Since she was little she wanted to be an action hero and she has not only achieved her dream, but is loving every minute. When we were in college, we watched the show Alias constantly and had many action packed adventures.She even talked me in to climbing a 50 feet tree (which she also had a to talk me down because I was scared after hanging out on a limb!)
This week she was featured on CBS this morning about a recent clip she made on YouTube which has now reached over a million views! She wrote and produce the video based on a Family Guy parody.
 | |||
| Link to Video and article on video |
 |
| CBS Interview |
In college sometimes people thought Jessie was crazy or off the wall for her constant "stunts" whether jumping on moving trains or practicing crashing, but when I think about how focused she always remained and how much effort day and night she put into her dreams, to see her succeeded as a Hollywood Stunt woman is so exciting.
Recently Jessie visited Nebraska and we were able to spend the weekend together. We talked goals and life followed up by a good body whipping workout. She took me through a stunt woman workout and I was aching for days afterwords! I did get to run her through a workout of my own, so I think we ended up even.
Below is our picture from college after a performance. I am just glad after having 3 kids I can still lift another human being up on my shoulders :)
Whatever it is, you CAN achieve it. Will it take time and effort...Yes. Will there he hardship...most likely. Final question....Will it be worth it....Absolutely, every minute of it. If you know you are made to do something and your heart longs to achieve that dream....don't wait. If you listen to Jessie's interview on CBS, there is a key sentence for me...she highlighted that she loves what she does.
I leave you with a quote today from a great athlete that I am sure all will recognize...
Jessie's full Hollywood Stunt Bio can be found here: www.jessiegraff.com
Workout Tip:
Just like you would write down your dreams, write down your workout goals. Make copies of them and keep them in multiple locations. Anytime you want to relax off of them, take them out for a quick reminder of the path you drew out and keep trucking!
Have a great week!
Warm Regards,
Maggi
Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Meeting a President
First, I an delighted and ecstatic to share some new with you...if you have drums near by, this warrants a drum roll (a desk and two pencils will work as well!) Next year my family and I will be heading to Jacksonville, FL to compete for the title of Mrs. International 2014 as Mrs. Great Plains International 2014!!! Let the happy dance commence. This is possible with everyone who has been so encouraging, the International Pageant Family and Mary Richardson. This is a tremendous opportunity and over the coming weeks I will be sharing Team Thorne's new goals. Our family has recently faced some difficulties and it really shaped my direction in life. I reached a point of sheer mental exhaustion from the overwhelming emotions. I am now rested, the matter resolved and God reminded me that He made me with the will to Never Give Up!
On to the updates friends and I am glad to be writing to you again! I hope the start of your fall is lovely:)
Recently I had the honor of meeting a president. A woman president! Stacey D. Stewart, President of the United Way USA was in Lincoln to speak to a large captive audience and even had a chance to visit a few places in Lincoln and learn about our great city. She spoke about community challenge and the heart of a community can start with one person. We cannot wait for government to bring change, be active and be involved. I am sure everyone in the room walked away motivated to serve and connect with all around us.
On to the updates friends and I am glad to be writing to you again! I hope the start of your fall is lovely:)
Recently I had the honor of meeting a president. A woman president! Stacey D. Stewart, President of the United Way USA was in Lincoln to speak to a large captive audience and even had a chance to visit a few places in Lincoln and learn about our great city. She spoke about community challenge and the heart of a community can start with one person. We cannot wait for government to bring change, be active and be involved. I am sure everyone in the room walked away motivated to serve and connect with all around us.
After she spoke to the audience, we were able to connect and discuss opportunities for partnerships and one of my favorite topics....running! Stacey has a beautiful heart to serve others and it was amazing to get the opportunity to share my background story, and hear her's and what her passion's are. She has two daughters as well and we discussed the importance of being encouraging and re-affirming to not only our girls, but girls all over the country. This piece of information is important as you will see in upcoming blog's. United Way is a great organization and with a woman like Stacey and her excellent leadership, there are many great things to come and lives to be changed.
Husker fans and sports fans all over the Great Plains, enjoy your weekend!
Warm Regards,
Maggi
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Builder of Buildings
This entry is dedicated the builder of buildings side of my life I have been entrusted with for the past 8 years after finishing my athletic career as a Nebraska Husker Trackster. Transitioning from Hurdles on the track to Hurdles on the job site was not an overnight transition. This week in time with all of our facility grand openings represents what has been a culmination of hours, days and years of extremely intense work, sacrifice, focus and the will to Never Give Up.
Starting out as a student worker, my primary role was labor work such as cleaning suites, seats and sod. I did everything from pick weeds on the track, vacuum suites to wiping down every last bleacher in the stadium. Some may not look at that role as an opportunity worth while, but I did due to being able to work in every athletic facility we had, meet most of our staff, learn what worked and didn't work about the buildings and get lots of hands on experience moving tables, chairs, hanging pictures...you name it, day in and day out. As Frank Llyod Wright said, "You learn by Doing".
It offered a completely different perspective on our facilities and I soaked in all of the knowledge possible. One day Boyd Epley (founder of the National Strength and Conditioning Association) asked me if I would ever work in an office job. At the time I told him flat out "No Way" and that "I didn't like dressing up and wanted to live out my days in shorts, sweats and sneakers as a personal trainer and nutritionist". HA... and HA again. I remember this moment in time often when we had that discussion down to where we were standing, what and who was around us...every last detail. Once of those moments that imprints on your mind. I am thankful Boyd saw in me what I was not able to at that time. He believed in me and gave me the one thing I can only ever ask of anyone...He gave me a CHANCE. He would throw projects my way sometimes just to teach me indirectly, and some to see what capabilities I had been given. What he saw was drive and a love for the Huskers.
Since starting as an employee for NU, if I didn't know it, I didn't sleep until I did. That is the grace given to me from God, the ability to outlast and endure. Leading up to the opening of any building you find yourself sleepless and almost pacing making sure you have every last detail covered as much as possible. After all, this will be a team or staff's new home for many years to come. The Student Life Complex we opened in 2009 and Hendricks Training Complex in 2011 seem like a picnic compared to these last couple weeks. Our team has been working literally days at a time focusing on the enormity of projects opening all at once along with the multiple events leading up to it. This is a very unique time in Nebraska History (and I am thankful to be a part of it).
I would like to thank our Capital Planning and Construction Team, Juanita Carstens, Linda Ybarra, Diane Nietfeldt and the crew who left sleep in the dust, Chynna Hardy, Ben Huenemann and Brad Isham. A big thanks to the person who has been my boss for the last 7 years, Associate Athletic Director John Ingram for allowing me the opportunity to have such deep involvement in all of our projects and for his leadership while always working with integrity.
My most important thanks to my husband Fred and kids who after a spring and summer of intense pageant involvement and continuing my work load simultaneously allowed me to continue at 500% to finish out these major construction projects over this last month. He has stood by my side since I started my career in athletics and been more supportive than I could lever pray for in everything I do. I know many may not understand the choices we make and sacrifices we commit to as a family, but we know we are living our calling and until God gives us further notice, it is full steam ahead friends!
Fred has reminded me though calling him "Mr. Mom" is not ideal, so if anyone has a great catch phrase for my awesome husband, let me know. I am sure he would appreciate it!
I could write for eons about building projects, but to close out, Never Give Up on any job dream (or ANY dream) you have and also be willing to live outside of your comfort zone so you don't miss an opportunity. Your dreams are waiting to be built, but no one will help you build them unless you start the project first.
Pictures from the East Stadium Grand Opening:
Additional links from Media :
Fox Sports
Sports Illustrated
NY Times
YAHOO Sports
Sports Business Daily
NBC News
San Francisco Chronicle
Rivals.com
The Independent
WOWT
UNL Today
Omaha World Herald
Big Red Today
Huskers.com Randy York Insider
Devaney Center Improvement Project Remodel:
Two down...last grand opening tonight. If you live in Lincoln, remember this time as it will most likely never occur for many years with such a trifecta of facilities occurring at one time. For Husker Nation, Go Big Red!
Warmly,
Maggi Thorne
This week signing off as the builder of buildings...
Assistant Director of Capital Planning and Construction
Starting out as a student worker, my primary role was labor work such as cleaning suites, seats and sod. I did everything from pick weeds on the track, vacuum suites to wiping down every last bleacher in the stadium. Some may not look at that role as an opportunity worth while, but I did due to being able to work in every athletic facility we had, meet most of our staff, learn what worked and didn't work about the buildings and get lots of hands on experience moving tables, chairs, hanging pictures...you name it, day in and day out. As Frank Llyod Wright said, "You learn by Doing".
It offered a completely different perspective on our facilities and I soaked in all of the knowledge possible. One day Boyd Epley (founder of the National Strength and Conditioning Association) asked me if I would ever work in an office job. At the time I told him flat out "No Way" and that "I didn't like dressing up and wanted to live out my days in shorts, sweats and sneakers as a personal trainer and nutritionist". HA... and HA again. I remember this moment in time often when we had that discussion down to where we were standing, what and who was around us...every last detail. Once of those moments that imprints on your mind. I am thankful Boyd saw in me what I was not able to at that time. He believed in me and gave me the one thing I can only ever ask of anyone...He gave me a CHANCE. He would throw projects my way sometimes just to teach me indirectly, and some to see what capabilities I had been given. What he saw was drive and a love for the Huskers.
 |
| Photo courtesy www.boydepley.com |
Since starting as an employee for NU, if I didn't know it, I didn't sleep until I did. That is the grace given to me from God, the ability to outlast and endure. Leading up to the opening of any building you find yourself sleepless and almost pacing making sure you have every last detail covered as much as possible. After all, this will be a team or staff's new home for many years to come. The Student Life Complex we opened in 2009 and Hendricks Training Complex in 2011 seem like a picnic compared to these last couple weeks. Our team has been working literally days at a time focusing on the enormity of projects opening all at once along with the multiple events leading up to it. This is a very unique time in Nebraska History (and I am thankful to be a part of it).
I would like to thank our Capital Planning and Construction Team, Juanita Carstens, Linda Ybarra, Diane Nietfeldt and the crew who left sleep in the dust, Chynna Hardy, Ben Huenemann and Brad Isham. A big thanks to the person who has been my boss for the last 7 years, Associate Athletic Director John Ingram for allowing me the opportunity to have such deep involvement in all of our projects and for his leadership while always working with integrity.
My most important thanks to my husband Fred and kids who after a spring and summer of intense pageant involvement and continuing my work load simultaneously allowed me to continue at 500% to finish out these major construction projects over this last month. He has stood by my side since I started my career in athletics and been more supportive than I could lever pray for in everything I do. I know many may not understand the choices we make and sacrifices we commit to as a family, but we know we are living our calling and until God gives us further notice, it is full steam ahead friends!
Fred has reminded me though calling him "Mr. Mom" is not ideal, so if anyone has a great catch phrase for my awesome husband, let me know. I am sure he would appreciate it!
I could write for eons about building projects, but to close out, Never Give Up on any job dream (or ANY dream) you have and also be willing to live outside of your comfort zone so you don't miss an opportunity. Your dreams are waiting to be built, but no one will help you build them unless you start the project first.
Pictures from the East Stadium Grand Opening:
 |
| Left to right pictured is John Sampson, Regent Pat Clare, Governer Dave Heinemann, President James B. Milliken, NU Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst, Tom Osborne and Chancellor Harvey Perlman |
 |
| The media and invited guests watching |
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| The ribbon cutting inside for the Nebraska Athletic Performance Laboratory and the Center for Brain Biology and Behavior. Facilities that are the first of their kind in athletics! |
 |
| The Moment After the Ribbon Cutting |
 |
| My husband Fred and I after the ribbon cuttings |
Additional links from Media :
Fox Sports
Sports Illustrated
NY Times
YAHOO Sports
Sports Business Daily
NBC News
San Francisco Chronicle
Rivals.com
The Independent
WOWT
UNL Today
Omaha World Herald
Big Red Today
Huskers.com Randy York Insider
Devaney Center Improvement Project Remodel:
 |
| Panoramic view from concourse level |
 |
| A very special moment when Head Coach John Cook did a surprise introduction in front of the 8,000 + fans |
 |
| The tunnel walk as the team heads out to the court |
 |
| Our "standard" custom locker complete with Microsoft surface tablets |
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| Inside the volleyball girls locker room |
Two down...last grand opening tonight. If you live in Lincoln, remember this time as it will most likely never occur for many years with such a trifecta of facilities occurring at one time. For Husker Nation, Go Big Red!
Warmly,
Maggi Thorne
This week signing off as the builder of buildings...
Assistant Director of Capital Planning and Construction
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