What I've Been Working On...

I know I have been missing in action. Life has really been overwhelming for me. I'm not going to go into any annoying details, I know we all have a lot on our plates. This blog started out as being a place for Erica and I to share the things we love and I'm pretty sure it will carry on as time, money, and mostly energy permits. :)

So, at the beginning of the year (can you believe we are in December!!!) Erica and I posted our New Years Resolutions for the world to see. In January I'll go more over my part in detail but one of my resolutions was to finish some major scrapbooking projects that really needed to be done. You can check out my full post HERE. I wrote that I needed to get three done. I finished my Project 365 awhile ago and I'm now on the brink of finishing Maggie's first year album. Woohoo! Let me remind you, she's 6 now. *sigh* But I have 3 more pages, 3!! I'm so glad cause I'm seriously running out of time. I'm forecasting being done today! :)

Here are my recent pages...

LivE Designs- Center of Attention Album Templates (Love these!!!), Splendid Fiins- Very Krafty Neutrals, Office Supplies (staples), Jodi Lee- Vintage Papers, Pink Paislee- Happy Now Elements, PortBeach Elements, Nancie Row Janitz- Vintage Blooms

 

Becky Higgins- Project Life Template B, Clementine Title Card, Glitz Designs- Yours Truly Full Kit (Love this gorgeous kit!!), Splendid Fiins- Office Supplies (My go to staples!), Fonts: Traveling Typewriter, CK Ali's Hand, JSHS Font from Motography, Bebas 

Becky Higgins- Project Life Template B, Blank grid journaling card, Clementine journaling card (re-colored), Glitz Designs- Yours Truly Full Kit, Splendid Fiins- Office Supplies, Fonts: Traveling Typewriter, CK Ali's Hand 

Becky Higgins- Project Life Template A, Glitz Designs- Cashmere Dame (papers and elements), Splendid Fiins- Feedsack Washi Tape and Greyed Out Washi Tape, Fonts: Traveling Typewriter, Clementine Sketch

Becky Higgins- Project Life Template A, Glitz Designs- Cashmere Dame (papers and elements), Splendid Fiins- Feedsack Washi Tape and Greyed Out Washi Tape, Fonts: Traveling Typewriter, Clementine Sketch 

Splendid Fiins- Go Big Template #4, Pink Paislee- Happy Now Paper Pack

Photo by Captured by Adrianne

Awesome, right?! If you noticed 4 of the 6 pages I used the Project Life format by Becky Higgins. I used the digital templates and some items from the Clementine kit. I am super excited about this because I was a bit overwhelmed about getting this project done, doing the designing of layouts,picking out a kit, taking the time, etc., you know the "traditional" way of scrapping. The whole Project Life method saved me. Thank goodness. Next year I have some new projects up my sleeve, all dealing with Project Life. I'm excited. :)

Well, here's to keeping resolutions! Even if they are last minute. ;) Anyone else scrambling to get some resolutions done? I doubt it. Tomorrow I start Christmas projects. Gotta love December!

Love, Monica :)

I Did It. :)

I did it! On Saturday I ran the Wickedly Fast Half Marathon in Olathe Kansas. It was so much fun. Seriously, everything about it. I loved the energy, the people, the course, everything. It is something I definitely will do again. I've learned that 13 miles is doable, not easy, but doable.

We got up very early and headed to Garmin Headquarters in Olathe Kansas. I said goodbye to my sleepy family and met up with my group of ladies from K-ville. I had butterflies in my stomach but was excited too. The energy and support of all my friends was amazing.

Here we are pre-race. Everyone was so excited. Six of these gals did the full marathon (Amazing!) and the rest of us did the half. We have trained together and cheered each other on. (Photo by Joe Schurtz)

Photo by Joe Schurtz



After our group photo we split up and lined up at the starting line. There were so many people! My goal was to finish between 2:20 and 2:25, so I lined up around those pacers with two of my friends (Leslie and Melissa). My heart swelled as we listened to the National Anthem. How lucky am I to be able to do this and live in such a great country. At 7:00 the gun went off and we got started.

Miles 1-6 were just exciting. I pretty much stuck with Melissa and Leslie. We chatted and observed. It was fun. About mile six Melissa went ahead and Leslie and I chatted for another mile. At mile seven it was time for me to zone. I put my music in and just ran. The next six miles weren't easy but they weren't terrible either. It went by fast and pretty soon I was at mile 12. I think the last mile was the hardest, my body was tired and it was all mental. It really is a fight. Body says stop, mind says no.

I finished at 2:24. I saw a group of friends at the finish line (thanks for cheering for me) and then I saw my family. I kept looking for them in the crowd and then there they were, Aaron and my kiddos, holding up a sign. Thank you. :)

Looking pretty awesome! :)

This whole time training, I kept saying, I don't love running yet. I made a goal and didn't want to quit. After this race, I love running. I trained this 33 year old, carried three babies in my womb, not so tiny body to run 13.1 miles. I did it. I did it.

Now onto the next thing. I'm 40 lbs. down and 25 to go. Wish me luck. :)

Digi Day and an Update

Hello! I have a few things to tell/show you today. First up, I needed to make a treat and made THESE.


Sugar Cookie Bars

Erica posted these back in February and I'll tell you... YUM! If you like sugar cookies then these are a must in your arsenal of sugar cookie weapons! They give you the taste of sugar cookies without all the work. Try them! Soon. :) Recipe HERE.

Also, I need to give you an update. One of my New Year's Resolutions was to complete 3 big scrapbooking projects. Just so you know, I finished my 2009 Project 365! It's awesome. The kids love looking at it and I love that it's done. :)

Done! :)

Also, my half marathon is in less than one month! Ack! Scary! I've been training hard. Last Saturday I ran 9 miles and didn't hate it. That's a very good thing. I've discovered the magic of Gu. Gu is awesome. :)

It just gave me that little extra umph to finish my run. Thanks Megan!!!

I've done well with the no candy deal, although I really should have given up sugar all together (See above at Sugar Cookie Bars). *sigh* I have lost weight although not as quickly as I'd like. I'll keep working on it.

Okay, and lastly I have a scrappy page to show you.

Love this little girl of mine. This is a mini kit by Echo Park called Hello Spring. Cute stuff. Full Credits Here!

Hope you are having an awesome week! :)



Resolutions -- Part 2

This is my year. For some reason I'm feeling very optimistic about things to come. My father in law is battling cancer right now. We are hoping and praying for a miracle. This shock to our family has put a little fight in me to live. Live each moment and each day as if it could be gone in an instant. Much much easier said than done. But I think it's worth a try. I love Erica's goals and she has inspired me to not be so selfish in my goals and think of others too. There are a hundred saying and quotes on living but this one caught my eye.

 

My main goal this year is to GET HEALTHY. There are so many aspects to that so I have come up with some small goals to hopefully get me to my main goal.

#1 Run a Half Marathon (Physical Health)
I have always wanted to do this but have never been able to get past the mental thing. When I'm at my most painful moment while running my mind easily talks me into the fact that "I can't do this". I've always started this goal only to give up later. That really bothers me, because I try hard to teach my kids to be persistent and to never give up. I hate a quitter yet I keep letting myself down in the running department. Well, this is my year. The stars have aligned to get me to my goal. I'm not prego, I have a kidless chunk of time in the morning to train, and I have a supportive husband and friends. Now it's just me. I have to get past the mental deal.

So, I'm signing up for The Oz Half Marathon in Olathe Kansas. I've been running and training starts January 30th. Scary and exciting! I'll be keeping you updated on my training. Along with this race I plan on running the Ragnar Relay Race in Utah and a 4th of July 10k in Idaho. I'm excited.

#2 Goodbye Candy (Physical Health)
In the meantime with all this running I'm hoping to shed the rest of this baby weight along with my previous two pregnancies. I'm not brave enough to share my starting weight like Erica. Let's just say my goal weight is 145. Ha ha! She has always been the skinny sister. Really though, I have come to a point in my life where I'm past being skinny. I just want to be healthy. That is my goal.



To help me with this endeavor I've given up candy for the year. I'm not one to totally deprive myself. I don't think that is helpful in the long run. I could never give up all sweets. I did want to give up something and I knew candy was doable. So, since midnight January 1st I haven't had candy and I'm not even sad about it. :)

#3 Remember Important Dates (Mental Health)
I'm really bad at this and it makes me feel terrible. I love my family and friends and I really want to be better at letting them know. My mother in law gave me a calendar with all the birthdays on it and I've already bought my first card of the year. At the end of the year, if I've remembered everyone's birthdays I'll feel pretty darn awesome. :)



#4 Daily Prayer (Spiritual Health)
I believe in God and I believe He knows that. I'm just hoping to tell Him a little more often.



#5 Finish 3 big Scrapbooking Projects (Creative Health) <--- I made that up. :)
Ugh. These projects have been weighing me down for awhile. I have two options, let them go or get them done! One being Maggie's 1st year, can't let that go, that could be a relationship changer! :) The other is my Project 365 from 2009. Seriously. It will drive me nuts half done, so I guess it's a mental health thing too!

Well, that's it! I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now but I have a run under my belt today and on I go. I plan on giving you updates through my training and as I complete projects. I love this life we live. Sometimes it really bites but overall it's so worth it. I want to live because I can and I'm here. What an amazing gift we've been given. To create, to love, to be, to live. Lucky us. :)

Resolutions-Part One

This really scares me to post my resolutions.  It means that I have 1,000's of people holding me to them, and I really don't want to fail.  So, maybe that's a good thing!  Maybe for once I can really follow through with them.  So...here...goes!

Number One-Become a healthier me!  This also means I want to lose about 20 lbs.  I don't want to be a twig, but I do want to get rid of my AWESOME muffin top! :o)  I had my husband take a picture of me in the outfit I'd like to fit in, and let's just say, it was very comical.  So here I am posting in front of all of you that my starting weight is 148 lbs.  I will weigh in weekly, and keep you up to date on how things are going.

Number Two-Be more loving and patient with my kiddies.  I hope I'm not the only person who needs to work on this.  Having a chatty, hyper pre-teen and 2 toddler boys just really wears on me and I find myself losing my patience a lot more lately.  I want to be more like Michelle Duggar.  Not the 19 kid thing, but that patient thing.

The sweetest things...most the time.  :o)

Number Three-Train and Run a 10k!  This is the one I think I'm mostly excited for.  I trained for a 5k, and still haven't ran an official 5k marathong  *Tee hee*  I said, "marathong."  You know what I mean. I'm for sure gonna run the 4th of July Fun Run here in my local town.  Monica, and my two cousins, said they would run it too, so I am hoping everyone follows through and we can kick some butt! 

I've downloaded the Bridge to 10k on my iPhone.  I love it!

So so funny!

Number Four-Read the entire Book of Mormon.  I just can't seem to get into it.  I've tried numerous times to do this, but give up after the first couple weeks.  I'm gonna do it this time.  You'll see!

How cute is this?  I want mine to look like this!

So there you have it!  I will keep you up to date with how things are going.  Stay tuned for Monica's list of resolutions.  Exciting!  Have a great Wednesday.