Plateau:TFTP

9 Weeks until the Half Marathon
Distance: 9.99 miles
Time: 1 Hour 40 minutes
Avg Pace Per Mile:10:03

Plateau... that's my positive spin.  I'm letting you know that running has totally sucked for the last week and a half.  It all started with a short run to pick Patrick up from school.  Three miles seemed like 20 miles pushing Keith and Lauren in the double jogging stroller.  Then there was the run that can only be described with two words: Robin Quivers.  Most of you don't know what I'm talking about but those of you who do, please note that her story is a cautionary tale and I know when to turn back.  There have been other runs in between that have been less dramatic but still not so great.

Reasons not to run:
Kevin has been working a lot of overtime and I want to see him
It's too dang cold
I'm too busy with the kids and the house
I ate too much
I'm dehydrated
I have to grade papers
I have Pinning to do
I have nothing to wear

Reasons to run:
...............

Sunday after church, Kevin gave me a pep talk and I set out to run.  I ran farther than I have ever run in my life.  It was a beautiful day and a really hard run.  I don't know what is going on with me but that run convinced me that I have to kick it.  Sometime after Mile 6 I realized that I could kick IT, hard, right in IT's you know what.  Could I have run 3.11 more miles?  I'm going to go with quite possibly yes.

A Grateful Heart- Day 20, 21,22, 23

Oops.  Running behind.

Day 20: Today we took pictures and the rainy weather that we woke up to tapered off in time.  The world after rain always seems so nice and fresh.

Day 21: A whole week at home with the kids started with all three kids playing in Patrick's room.  I could hear screams and giggles all the way in the kitchen.  We never have time for these shenanigans after breakfast and Lauren is never allowed in Patrick's room (Legos etc.). 

Day 22:  Anticipation.  My kids are so excited for the holidays.  I think the days leading up to the holidays are so fun.  Advent calendars, school Christmas programs, holiday parties, baking.... it is like a month of Christmas.

Day 23: A warm bed and time to sleep in.  My kids slept in, I played around on Pinterest and ate crock pot oatmeal in the quiet of the morning. 

A Grateful Heart- Day 17, 18, and 19

Day 17: WOW Fresno isn't known for Fall weather but this day is absolutely perfect.  So perfect that I forced myself to take a break from my agenda and get the kids outside to play.  Gorgeous days, loud music, warm cookies and a big glass of wine....the good life.

Day 18: Opportunities to give a little and take a lot.  My membership to the Junior League of Fresno buys a lot of things.  One of the most cherished is connecting and giving back to the people in the community.  One of our projects is called Girl Power.  We work with a group of foster girls throughout the year.  Once a month there is a special theme that focuses on empowerment, self-esteem, health/nutrition, etc.  I finally got the chance to participate and it was really such a great event. 

Day 19: Positive and encouraging women.  I will tell you more about the party itself when I get my pictures uploaded.  Until then, today was a reminder that I am blessed to have sweet, smart, and talented women in my life.  Women who aren't afraid to laugh out loud and can actually make me laugh on a regular basis.

A Grateful Heart- Day 15 and 16

Yesterday was a weird day.  Sort of a Mr. Bean day only Mommy Style.  I won't go on and on about my antics but I will share this: I almost burned the house down.  Remember how much I love to multitask?  Well, I was trying to make dinner and shower..... cut to me (naked) trying to deal with the burning pot, crying baby, and screaming smoke detector all at once.
I'm grateful for smoke detectors.  Go check your batteries people.

Today is a better day.  And today I am grateful for Bar Keepers Friend for saving my cherished Calphalon pot.  From my husband, in reference to the burned pot, "I've never seen anything like it.  You are lucky you didn't burn down the whole house."

A Grateful Heart- Day 13 and 14

Doubling down seems appropriate for these thanks.  I am thankful for multitasking and my Crock Pot.  See how they are coordinated like that?  Now I have to get back to stirring my beans and doing 4 other things at once.

A Grateful Heart- Day 12 AND Tales from the Pavement

11 Weeks until the Half Marathon
Distance: 5.40 miles
Time: 53:07 minutes
Avg Pace Per Mile: 9:50

Today you get a two-fer *gratitude and running.  I am grateful for the pebble in my running shoe.   On the final half of my run today I picked up a pebble in my shoe.  I was running to my parents house and there aren't any sidewalks out there!  This meant running on the pavement and dodging cars in the gravel.  It was fun, until the pebble. 
Here is today's submission in the running as a metaphor for life files.  The pebble is an annoying distraction that can completely mess with your focus.  I've heard that running is a mental sport and I believe it.  I was pacing at under 9:00 minutes before the pebble and suddenly I was running an 11:00 minute mile. 
Last night at Bible study we talked at length about doing all things for the Lord.  We discussed how we can get distracted by our own agendas and forget that we are supposed to first be serving the Lord. Our worries are like the pebbles, tiny bits in the grand scheme of God's glory.  However, it is almost impossible to not focus on the pebble.  Only with God's help can we overcome the tiny pebbles that distract us from the bigger picture.
For me today, focusing on the run and not the pebble in my shoe was so hard.  The same way that mean and lame people, financial worries, annoying politicians and other daily pebbles are so distracting.  I didn't stop and take my shoe off.  I said a prayer and kept going.  I ran faster and prayed harder and soon the pebble lodged itself behind my pinky toe. 
Thanks Pebble.

Lauren's First Birthday Party part 3 of 3

All the goodies!  If you want to see my inspiration board you can click here.  I couldn't get everything I was dreaming of done on time with a limited budget but here is what I was able to pull off....

First things first, the theme.  Real talk. I've been planning this party for a year.  I picked this theme to coordinate with the pettiskirt Santa found for Lauren on Zulily last Christmas.

 

Amy Durham at Morgan James Photography took Lauren's pictures.  She's done lots for us, including the maternity pics.  Michelle Lowe at Exclusive Creations created the bright and beautiful cards.  Two of my favorite people to work with, very talented!  On a side note, Amy and I went to Dry Creek together and Michelle and I went to Clark!  

All of the party day photos are the artwork of Alice Addington.    Everything turned out so bright and beautiful.  ** Alice and I were the best of friends in elementary school.  :)

Every little girl needs a pink car.  Lauren loves her Cozy Coupe!  Thanks Grandpa and Grandma!

The outfit!  Kelley Menzes (my niece's Kindergarten Teacher)- Obnoxiously Cute made the shirt.  She also made a cute bow that Lauren didn't want to wear.  The custom skirt I found on etsy.  Unfortunately it looks like the shop isn't open any longer: Bella Creations if you want to try.  I just wanted something a bit different.  I absolutely love this skirt.  She's already worn it again.  The shoes (not pictured here) are from Old Navy.

My outfit (I have to brag): The jeans and the pink flats were from my closet.  The flowers on the necklace were recycled from Lauren's first birthday photo shoot (see above).  And she was none too happy about me borrowing her flower clips.  The tank top I found at Old Navy for $2.18 (lipstick stain meet OxyClean!).  Hair by David Carona.

Now the decorations:

Cute and simple gift bags from brown paper bags.  Scalloped by Martha Stewart

 Pink Manzanita branches with pictures of Lauren.  I love the Manzanitas.  I'm painting them to use every season!  Find them here at Blooms and Branches.  I should have trusted my instincts and bought a sturdier base for the trees.  Lesson learned.

 Pink Velvet Cupcakes by DADDY.  Except I helped with the icing and totally messed it up!  Kevin saved it and I went about my business.

 Smash Cake by Daddy of course.    I made the monogrammed sun cupcake toppers  and the smash cake "L" with the Silhouette.

 

Favors: I went back and forth and around again about favors.  I finally settled on Sunshine Wands (more on that in a minute).  I figured that the boys wouldn't want wands so I put together gift bags for the boys...Mistake.  The boys all wanted a wand.  They are so cute and easy to make if I had known that I would have made enough for the boys!  The Ribbon Wand Tutorial is at the Ribbon Wand Shop.  She uses real ribbon, I used the curling ribbon I already had for the balloons.  Everything else was the same.  Also, I found all of the supplies at OSH.

 The poem is a Lindsay Original:
Sunshine Wands

Take a wand and you will see

Just one wave will bring you glee

Wave it here and wave it there

Now you can spread some birthday cheer

Thank you for making my birthday bright

You are a sweet friend and that is right

 In the process of designing all of this stuff I was trying to figure out how to move my plain stuff to pretty on Publisher, with no patience.  I came across a post from Ink Spot Workshop and I didn't even read the entire thing before I was able to churn out these puppies.  CD Favors for the adults!

Then I was on a role and made food signs, the Sunshine Wand poem and these cute wishes.  Even the kids filled them out!  The notes were really sweet and I'm going to make her a little book with the pictures of her guests and their wishes.

But really I was most proud of my sign....

It's yours!  You can take it and print it.  Just don't do color correction if you have it printed at Costco, the pink turns brown.  If you want me to email it to you I will, or any of the other designs for that matter. 

 Most of the remaining decorations were pictures from around the house!

The food I kept simple and yummy.  BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, Coleslaw, Fruit Salad and Sun Chips.  It's not a party without the crock pot!

Thank you to everyone who helped us make Lauren's party so fantastic.  Especially my dad and my mom, my brother Robby and his girlfriend Destiny, my sisters Rachel and Katie, and my Costco partner Jonathon... and everyone else who pitched in to help. 

We have a VERY happy one year old!

XOXO