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. :)

Welcome...Again!

If you are looking for The Giant Blog of Cooking, Crafting, and Other Fun Activities, you have come to the right place. Erica and I have been tossing around the idea to change the name of our blog for awhile. The last one was, well, just plain long. We were often referred to as "The Giant Blog". Who wants to be referred to as Giant? :)

Deciding a name was more a humorous adventure, we both would occasionally throw out a name and usually laugh. They varied from cheesy, to dumb, to just plain funny. One day I was thinking of something that means something to both of us and House 344 came to me. I told Erica and she loved it. Erica and I moved around a lot as children. There was only one place in our life that provided complete stability and that was House 344. That was our Grandma's house. When we walked into that home whether we were small or grown, we were always greeted with a warm hug and a "How's my girl?"

Cheesy? Maybe. But meaningful to us. Every child needs that place, and House 344 was that place for us. We learned many valuable lessons in that home and between Grandma and Auntie learned all the basics of cooking and keeping a home. So welcome to House 344. From the beginning we wanted this blog to be a way for Erica and I to share what we love and that will continue.

We have started taking sponsors and will give more detail about that later. The blog design was done by Candis Schow of CandC Paperie. We love it! I've been digging grey and yellow, oh and chevrons! I told her what I wanted and we got it. Love it! Thanks Candis. We'll be doing a more indepth feature soon.

Anyway, we just wanted to give you a heads up on the all the changes. We love doing this little blog and appreciate all of our followers and all of the positive feedback. Have a very Happy Monday!

Love, Monica

Be Prepared and a little Digi

Hi! Wow what a week we've had. We had a huge storm come through our town on early Monday morning. We had just laid down at midnight when it really hit. At about 12:30 we heard a loud noise. We both jumped out of bed and looked out the windows. I had never seen wind blow that hard or rain come down so hard. The sky was flickering with lightning and we had no power. It was eerie and kinda scary. After the worst past we shined our flashlights outside and noticed some branches down. We could hear other neighbors yelling down the road and sirens in the distance. The next morning we still had no power and went out to assess the damage. We had a huge branch on top of our roof. Thank goodness it didn't cause any damage. Other houses weren't as lucky. There were trees down all over the city and lots of damaged property. Crazy what a strong wind will do.

I had just finished our tornado emergency kits. We did learn that even with that we're not as ready as I thought we might be. There is a lot to think about in an emergency. Who is going to grab which kid? What about our phones? Our storm cellar had 2 feet of water in it and since the power was out the sump pump didn't work. Great. Do we want to sit in 2 feet of nasty water during a tornado? And what if we were trapped down there? Lots to think about. We definitely need more flashlights and a generator would be handy too. We were without power for about 32 hours and were able to salvage most of our food. I did end up throwing a lot away.

Anyway, I just wanted to share our experience with you so you can think about your situation at home. Are you prepared? If something happened, whether it be a huge storm that knocks out power for a couple of days or a devastating emergency, would you and your family be okay? We are so grateful we had Aaron's parents here to help with the clean up. I am 9 months pregnant now and not a ton of help. We survived. I'm in an air conditioned house with Internet. We take for granted all our blessings in a blink of an eye we could lose it all. Just something to think about.

Okay, I do have a page for you this week. This template comes out on Monday the 4th. It is by Linda Roos of In the Making Designs. I love her clean lines and beautiful kits. I used her Valpolicella kit for this. I'm just digging grey lately. Find her stuff here and pick up these templates on Monday. Super handy and very versatile.

Full Credits Here.

Have an awesome Thursday!!!! :)