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. 
 

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

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

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

Scandalous Grace

For years our pastor Bryan Clark at Lincoln Berean Church has been talking about Scandalous Grace. Whenever I heard it a few years ago for the first time, I chuckled to be honest and did not grasp the concept, nor did I care too.
   When I heard him say it, I was almost like a teenager hearing her teacher in middle school making all of the kids cringe in their seat with some uncomfortable lesson. At one point I even had a short visual picture of Beyonce dancing in a leotard about scandalous grace like it should be some song. At any rate, besides my poking fun at it I did not care to try and understand it.
   The year was 2010 when I heard Bryan Clark address Scandalous Grace and this was the year my husband and I started becoming roommates instead of husband and wife and drifted off into a sea of selfishness. I was focused on designing new stadium expansions, basketball facilities, and volleyball arena renovations. Spending alot of time raveling to Haiti, working late, traveling to see friends and we did not make the effort to have specific time for each other.

                                      The children of the orphanage we brought supplies to

After months of standing in what felt like the funnel of a tornado knowing that at some point it was going to hit, but not taking any precaution to protect our marriage from the destruction, life shifted through a series of events and we were finally carried away in a moment of chaos, disorder and then  spun off into separate directions with hurting hearts. Just as our emotions separated from each other, we physically separated as well with my husband moving out of our home. Amidst the anger and after the months of separation, we made a joint effort to work on our emotions and issues that we had just been stuffing and stuffing.

                                                                  Ellie's sonogram

   A month after my husband moving back in we found ourselves pregnant and to be perfectly honest I was angry. Succumbed by the guilt of feeling that anger, I did not understand God's good and perfect timing. I was so focused on work success with construction projects, and my husband was focused on football and lifting programs...same song, new day.
  Instead of processing our emotions, we isolated from each other like strangers (this is called emotional anorexia...starving each other of feelings and emotions to create predicted responses in the other). I am fairly positive I had more open conversations with a stranger on an airplane than we did with each other. Funny how the person you are supposed to be closest to becomes the hardest to talk to. My pregnancy was miserable with nausea, extreme tiredness (yes, I fell asleep with utensils in my hands at dinner) and I was so exhausted, for the first time in over a decade I stopped working out. Everything in life was draining and I was letting it.
  After an effort for repair, we just broke open the wound and split yet again in May of 2011 me being 7 months pregnant.

 Fools...yes. Childish...yes. Selfish...like a 2 year old crying over a toy. The funny part was, being so sick, I was in the position to have to call on Fred for help. Overwhelmed with the nausea and tiredness, he was reluctantly on speed dial.
  After returning from some counseling I  found out that an old track coach had passed away and then the next morning found out my best friend had died also.
  A sea of emotions and sadness, but that little baby kept me afloat like a life preserver in life preserver in the storm of the century. Not only did I feel like I was on the Titanic and it was sinking...I looked like the Titanic! :)
  Where does this bring us to Scandalous grace? Why such a back story? Fred and I through many tools of very intentional living, consistent prayer with each other, getting over ourselves and finally...God's grace, our marriage was restored. Ok, you have the grace part. What about the scandalous? The juicy part...
   After Ellie was born she was the most peaceful baby I have ever known. She slept through the night, never cried and for pete's sake, she even only has a "BM" once a week!

                                                Ellie a few hours after being born
 
 I did nothing to deserve her, I held my prayers at times for our future child when I was pregnant. I lived in anger of being pregnant and even at one point of deep sadness and verge of hopelessness thought about giving her up for adoption after she would be born. I didn't think I could handle anything, nor anyone else. And I was right...."I" couldn't, but HE could. My husband and I were absolute idiots to be blunt. Prior to being pregnant with Ellie, we were not making an effort at out marriage, parenting, our health. Financially we did not honor God, nor many areas of our life.
  Scandalous Grace is when you absolutely do not deserve anything, not even the dirt beneath your feet and God blesses you anyways. Her birth was a complete gut check and God showed me why I had been sick so I could not live in pride and independence of my spouse, why He had me pregnant during this time of the multiple deaths and what it meant to pursue someone who may not have been  pursuing you. What it means to love even when you are not loved back because that is what every second of the day He does for us.

Grace is free sovereign favor to the ill-deserving. - B.B. Warfield

 

Ellie's announcement

This topic seemed fitting this week as this coming Thursday will be Ellie's second birthday and 2 years my husband and I have been able to live intentionally pursuing each other to our fullest. 

For more resources on marriage and struggles, visit Family Life Marriage Resources and for resources on emotional anorexia here are some fast facts Emotional Anorexia 

 To our sweet, sweet Ellie Marie...you are more than we deserve and love you! Happy 2nd Birthday :)

   Here is a fun workout that mix's aerobic and anaerobic  that is sure to give you a full body jilt! This is a intermediate level training session. Enjoy and a reminder one of the most important things you can ever do to help your body is get sleep...Rest Up friends!

•  Warm-up (1 mile slow jog/2 minutes stretch)
• Max out push-ups, sit-ups
• 25-50 burpees
• Active rest for no more than 2 minutes (walk around)
• 1 mile run at race pace
• 30-20-10 Hand Release push-ups
• 30-20-10 Air Squats
• 1 mile run race pace

Recovery run for cool down, half mile to one mile.
Stretch, hydrate and get some food in your body within 15 minutes of completing you workout (I usually have one granola bar and some water)

Your Mrs. Nebraska International 2013,
  Maggi 

Where is your ladder?

After coming back from competing for Mrs. International 2013 I have found myself in a deep period of evaluation. In my career whenever we build a facility, we look back and :

#1 Celebrate the accomplishment because there is no perfect building, nor a perfect person on earth, but there is much to give thanks for and point out the 98 things right instead of the couple things that just weren't exactly right.

#2 Start working on the "Next" and moving out of the "Now". In football as a receiver when you drop a pass, when you line back up for the next play, you move out of that moment and into the next. That can be your touchdown, but mentally you have to be ready for it. (Here I am talking like I have played football! As a coaches wife, trust me sometimes I get the urge to throw on some pads and get out on the field!!)

#3 Dream Big. REALLY BIG! The only limits set are what you set them to be.

My athletic pursuits and career have certainly helped shape me to be able to compete in pageants. The life lessons I continue to learn through construction and continued opportunities to lead have helped me to set and implement high reaching goals.

Just for a fun flash back, below is a picture from my last competitive track race in a collegiate setting when we ran an Alumni 4x400 Relay Race:)

We called ourselves the oldies, but goodies!

As I was reading the weekly newsletter tonight from the People City Mission, this was posted in it:

"What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 2:22
 Did you know that winning can sometimes be losing? Especially when you come to the top of your ladder of success only to discover it was leaning against the wrong wall. I have done this once and can testify it is a very discouraging experience. So I encourage you to make sure the goals to which you aspire are the ones that really matter in life. Because climbing ladders can be exciting, but you only get a couple of tries at them!"

What timing this note crawls it's way into my inbox! It is no joke that pageants can wear you out if you are not ready for it and if you do not have the right people around you. The friends and family who not only offer 100% support, but understand the bigger mission and give you grace for the time it takes. I am grateful every second of the day to have a support system of that kind that exists, specifically my husband Fred who has been more supportive than I could ever dream of. As we near mid-august and before we know it 2014 will be here I have found myself daily asking what is next? What will be that lasting impact that I am meant to fulfill? Much of our time has been in prayer and planning as our family soaked in the last few days of summer.

This week's focused part of the blog will wrap up here. Below are some added bits for fun, because who doesn't like having fun right? :)

And in case you are curious about what exactly is next? Well....stay posted friends...................

In case you and your family did not get in all the fun things you wanted to do this summer, here are some activities you can do this weekend to celebrate after the first week of school is over :)
50 Things to Do this Summer


Last upon Last. I get so many questions on writing workout plans and healthful meal plans that I will be including a active lifestyle short piece related to these topics.  In the Mrs. International Pageant system we support the Go Red for Women. Heart Disease is the #1 Killer for Women and physical inactivity increases your risks.

Here is a fun workout for anyone who loves a variety of activity and is already currently physically active. Go get em!

Warm-up:

75 jumping jacks
Dynamic warm-up

Main Set:

75 burpees
30 squat tosses with sandbag
10-30 pistol squats each leg
10-30 pull-ups


Repeat x3


Cool-down:

Stretch


Enjoy your week!
Maggi
Your Mrs. Nebraska International 2013

The inaugural Blog

Welcome to my very first blog post (and thank you for viewing!).
 Although I am no stranger to social media, blogging has been saved until a certain goal was reached...and that goal happened last Thursday August 1st, 2013.

Last Thursday I completed twelve steps in a recovery book from Dr. Doug Weiss that is for helping you heal from a hurtful past and difficulty in marriage. I celebrated completing the step book and companion exercise book with ladies who have been with me every step of this journey via some delicious cupcakes, many hugs and a necklace that is a circle each women receives upon completing the steps.

Above is the picture of the pendant the group gave me, it is called the "journey" pendant. It is very fitting as the path that was chosen for me although a wee bit bumpy at times, has been an amazing journey. There have been many turns (maybe a few flat tires), but none the lone, one I am committed to. One that my husband is committed to as well. If you have been to my website and visited  The Long Haul you have an idea of our story. Although life might have been "easier" if at many points in time I had made the decision to give up, but "We are Stronger as a team than we would be on our own (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12) and I made the specific decision to lay down my selfishness and choose not only God, but "us"....our marriage. Even through difficulty, I made (and still make) the conscious choice to Never Give Up! Our basic freedom in life is choice. What will you choose today?

Over the upcoming weeks I will be sharing what I learned from these books and the additional resources that have helped us from the International organization Family Life. Family Life offers Help for Today and Hope for tomorrow. In a world thirsty for Hope, Family Life stretches over 70 countries through radio, blogs, webcasts, seminars, DVD, MP3...you name it, they have it! I deeply appreciate an organization that is dedicated to having comprehensive resources for individuals in need of help and hope.

Weekly Re-Cap:

Last week the beginning of the week started with doing a  live TV Interview with the Omaha Morning Blend and hosts Mike and Mary. I was able to share about International Pageants and Family Life.

Pictured above with my son Charlie and hosts Mary Nelson and Mike DiGiacomo

Later in the week, I teamed up with the Salvation Army to help kids shop for much needed back to school items. Full pictures of the visit to Target. Click here to learn more about the Salvation Army program.

Thank you for taking the time to join our journey and I am grateful to be a part of yours!

Your Mrs. Nebraska International 2013, Maggi