30 Days of Thankfulness- Catch up

I obviously suck at blogging daily. Today I am thankful for so much! I am so thankful for my children. They are the most amazing things in my life next to my husband. Jimmy is so smart. He reads and spells well above grade level. He is great at math. He is so logical. I am constantly amazed by the things  he says. Bianca is the sweetest girl ever. She loves to cuddle and hug us. She also loves to draw pictures and is always making me new artwork. She loves to smile and make people laugh.

I am also thankful for my extended family. My MIL is wonderful. She loves me and treats me as her own daughter. After hearing some horror stories I consider myself extremely lucky to have her. I am thankful for my aunt. She is always there to support me and give me encouragement. I can turn to her with any problem and she will understand. I am also thankful for my cousin. Growing up we were more like sisters than cousins and we still are. I don't talk to her as much as I used to but when we talk it is for hours and it is like we never missed a day of talking.

I am thankful for my amazing friends Taryn and Jessica. We met through the school and it is great to have close friends with kids close in age to my own. Taryn has helped kick my butt into better shape. Her encouragement is a lot of the reason why I was able to run the 5k in just over 33 minutes. Jessica has been amazing when it comes to helping out with events. I can volunteer her for anything and she steps up to the plate in an amazing way. Both Taryn and Jessica are great listeners and are always there when I need to vent.

30 Days of Thankfulness- Day Two

I am thankful for my husband. I may no always express it the best way but I am amazingly thankful for my husband. We have had some difficult times and have come very close to divorce more than once. I am so thankful we decided to work on our marriage instead of throwing it out. He is my rock and is always there when I need him. We fight and have our issues but he has my back and I have his! I cannot imagine my life without him. I love you so much honey! You are the center of my world and I don't tell you that enough.

30 Days of Thankfulness- Day One

I am going to commit to one blog a day for the month of November to express my thankfulness. I, like many others, often get distracted by what I don't have or what is going wrong. I am going to try to take a few minutes to focus on all the things going right.

So for day one I am thankful for God's grace. Without it I would be lost and floundering. God has shown me grace when I have been at my lowest points. Whenever I start to doubt or wallow in self-pity I look at all the blessings God has given me and the grace he has extended to me. I am trying to practice extending that grace to others.

Lots of pretty sparkles.

First off, the results are in on the 5k. I ran it in 33:33 with a pace of 10:52. My running partner ran it in 24:21 with a pace of 7:52. She is seriously a rock star and took first for her age division. Another friend of mine ran it in just over 22 minutes and took 2nd for our division.

In more fun news my nails look like disco balls. I painted them with Sinful Colors Smokin' which is an amazing dark gray. I love that color but I just was not feeling it today. I decided to go for fun and layer several coats of Sally Hansen Ice Queen on top and the results are amazing. Ice Queen is a great holographic glitter polish with medium blue and silver hexagonal glitter mixed in. The pictures don't even do the polish justice. It is impossible to get all the amazing colors in the holo. I will try to get a picture outside tomorrow to see if that helps.

It is 5k time!

I have been having one of those weeks so far. The head gasket went in my Jeep, I ran out of propane when I went to cook dinner, I am PMS'ing, etc. But today none of that matters. Today is 5k day. I will be taking J's big beast of a truck, forgetting my PMS, and not worry about dinner. I have more important things to worry about like the big hill at the start of the race and whether my running partner will make it. This is the day I have been looking forward to and dreading since I ran it last year. The goal is to run it faster this year than I did last year. Last year it took me almost 45 minutes but I did jog the whole thing. This year my goal is somewhere around 35 minutes. Shaving 10 minutes off my speed would be an amazing accomplishment and I have been working hard to get there all summer.

Yes, that is the beast of a truck in the background. I am wearing my "I run like a girl" headband from Bondibands. They are seriously amazing. If you are an exerciser I would recommend one. Not having to wipe sweat from your eyes while running is such a treat.

Lots of pretty colors

Lately I have become a bit obsessed with painting my nails. I noticed they were getting longer so I decided to paint them. I usually bite my nails so this was a nice change. I have found keeping them painted helps keep me from biting them. Plus they look pretty.

Here is the color of the day: Ocean Side by Sinful Colors

The color from a few days ago: Pink Cream by Sinful Colors

A few more of my favorites:

Rise and Shine by Sinful Colors

Zara by Zoya:

If you look you can actually see how my nails are growing. I am going to get a stamping kit soon so I can put some neat designs on them.

Running Away

I have found out that I want to run away more now as an adult than I ever did as a kid. I have found the solution for this. The solution is running away. When I get upset with my husband, I run. The kids annoy me, I run. I am stressed from work, I run. I need to get away, I run. I run at least 3 times a week. Sometimes I run 2 miles, sometimes 3 or 4. Once I even ran 5 miles.

I have signed up to run in the Lt. Dooley Remembrance 5k on Sept 15 again. My goal this year is to beat my time from last year. It shouldn't be hard because I was very slow last year. I am not super fast now but I am quite a bit faster.

I find that I run more now that I run with Taryn. She is a great running partner and has helped my up my speed. I also found a great pair of running shoes that make me feel like I am running on air. The other must haves are my Bondiband and my Frog Togg. The Bondiband is a sweat wicking headband. It is so much nicer to run without sweat dripping into your eyes and stinging. The Frog Togg is a towel that you wet and it stays cool for hours. It is a must have on a hot day after a long run.

I cannot not recommend a better way to destress than to run. I pop the kids in the car and go to my local school. Each lap around is .25 miles and the kids play on the playground while I run my worries away.

A New School Year Resolution

I am going to try to blog at least once a week. And yes, I know that this has nothing to do with the school year. I am hoping I will have a bit more time since work will be slowing down and the kids will be at school.  Summers are tough. I have been working a ton and trying to spend some of my time off outside. I have also been running again. I have worked up to running at least three miles each run. I even did a 5 mile run once. Thanks to my friend, Taryn, I can now run a 9.5 minute mile. She is super fast and very supportive of my slow self.

The kids are doing great. Jimmy is starting 2nd grade and Bianca is starting kindergarten. They are both excited to go back to school. They have been having a lazy summer. We did sign Jimmy up for golf lessons. He loved them and is a natural. That made Jay very proud. He will be taking golf lessons again next summer. Poor Bianca won't be old enough until the summer after. Sometimes having a winter b-day sucks.

In other news I have become Pinterested! I have been posting all kinds of crafts, recipes, fitness stuff, cute pictures, funny pictures. I have been obsessed with pinning. Feel free to click on the link below to follow me.

Let's play ball!!!

Baseball season has officially started. Little league baseball to be exact. Jimmy will be playing this year. He already had his first practice and he loved it. I love that it is at the school so Bianca can play on the playground and I can run during his practice. Talk about a great way to multitask. He is going to have 3 practices a week and each practice is 90 minutes long so I should be in great shape by the end of the season. Jimmy needs a bit of work on his throwing and catching but he has a good bat.

The low carb adventure has been going well. I am down about 12lbs since starting it last month. I cannot believe the change. I have more energy and I don't feel crappy all the time. I still have the occasional treat (like pizza night) but I really limit it so I don't feel sick the next day.

The kids are on school vacation this week, I have the next three days off, and the weather is crappy. At least my house is mostly clean so we will be able to go do fun stuff. Plus Jay is off work too so he will be able to join in. Jimmy has baseball practice on Wednesday and Thursday morning unless they cancel it. It is supposed to be cold and rainy so I hope they do. I am also going to try and work on some sewing projects. I really need to get material to make baby pants for my cousin's baby. I also want to make Bianca some more doll clothes.

Saying goodbye to carbs

I need to get into shape for summer and I have decided that means saying goodbye to carbs. Not all carbs, just bread, pasta, potatoes, rice. The ones that taste good. I have basically gone primal. So far it has been working other than the fact I really miss Jalapeno Cheddar Combos. Those things are addicting. I have also been running again now that it is getting warmer. Spring is finally coming to VT. We had one week that was beautiful then two weeks of cold and now it is warming up again. 

Now that spring is here I need to start my garden. I have a bunch of seeds and a starter tray so we will see how this goes. I do not have a green thumb. Both of my grandparents were great gardeners but I cannot keep plants alive to save my life. If there is ever a zombie apocalypse and we have to rely on my growing food and Jay's hunting our family will starve. 

Sadly, I have stalled on the craftiness. I need to start some projects for my cousin's baby but I just haven't yet. I am making him an adorable teddy bear sweater, a taggie toy, and a snugglely toy. I may also make her a diaper bag. I love making baby stuff. I can finish it fast enough that I don't lose interest.

Clutter

I hate clutter. It makes me anxious. I like everything put neatly in its place. Yet, since we have moved in to our new house I have a bunch of clutter. It is driving me nuts. Part of the issue is a lack of storage areas. This house has few closets. Another part of the issue is having an extra person in the house. I need to start going through this clutter and start getting rid of it but it seems to paralyze me. Having all this stuff around just overwhelms me.

Unfortunately, most of the clutter is not mine so I am very limited in what I can do with the clutter. I have also found since I started my housekeeping job I have an issue cleaning at home. I am so sick of scrubbing, washing, vacuuming, and folding by the time I get home that I just don't want to do it. Then it piles up and makes me want to just ignore it even more.

I think I need to get back into a routine like Flylady again. I will start by decluttering one area each day until everything has a place. Once I get that done I will just have to keep up with it. I am hoping that Jay will help me with this. I will also have Jimmy and Bianca start doing chores to keep their stuff cleaned up.

Some completed sewing projects

I have decided that Bianca's AG dolls have a better wardrobe than I do or at least they are going to. My sewing machine has been humming the last few days. I finished a skirt for Bianca, a skirt for her doll, and I fixed her precious pink blanket. Pictures will be posted some time tomorrow. Next is a pair of hot pink corduroy pants for Bianca's doll, some jeans for her doll, and a couple of t-shirts. Then I need to go get some new fabric.

I think I may buy some cute baby boy fabric. My cousin is pregnant and just found out she is having a baby boy. I am so excited to welcome a new baby to the family. This way I can love and snuggle on him but not have to change diapers. I already have a plan to make a blanket, bibs, burp cloths, and a diaper bag. The best thing about new babies is the chance to do a bunch of sewing and knitting.

Getting creative

This post is about what happens when McCalls emails you telling you that they are having a huge pattern sale. It was a great sale. All their patterns were $1.99. So I decided to browse the American Girl sized patterns and I bought them. Not all of them but quite a few.

A few of my goodies

 

More of them plus a Simplicity pattern I got somewhere

Unfortunately, my fabric stash is sorely lacking. I do have some nice hot pink corduroy I just picked up. I also picked up some teal knit and denim. I have a small stash of other fabrics mostly woven cotton and some flannel. Now I just need to figure out where to start. I want to start with all of it. I know that I will have to make most of the outfits for Bianca's three dolls. She thinks that they need lots of choices. I am thinking that some pjs, a pair or two of jeans, and some tops will be a good start. Of course, I also have to make Bianca a few summer skirts and may make them matching skirts.

I suck at blogging

I have come to the realization that I suck at blogging. The problem is I never remember to blog and when I do think about it, I never have anything interesting to write. I am going to work on this issue. I am also bad a tweeting for the same reason. I have had so much happen in the last several months. I started a new job, Jay started a new job, we moved, the kids started school again, Hurricane Irene took out our town, the transmission went in my van, and the holidays happened. That is the brief news cast. Now for more details...

Hurricane Irene, that is the big one. Luckily, the house we were living in was fine. Our driveway and part of the road but that was it. I ended up at the local emergency shelter with Jimmy and Bianca because I was trying to get to Dover to wait the storm out. We left about 30 minutes too late and were almost trapped. Luckily, God was with us and we were safe. We spent a day and a half at the shelter. I helped in the kitchen and then Jay came for us. He was at work during the storm and his hotel was used as an emergency shelter so he was working for most of the night. Downtown Wilmington was completely underwater. Many businesses and homes were destroyed. However, there was only one fatality. A young woman who could not swim got swept away and drowned. It has been months since the flood and the town is slowly being rebuilt. Many of the businesses have reopened. FEMA and the VT National Guard were amazing, as were the thousands of volunteers from all over.

Jay is working in bell/valet at a hotel at the local ski mountain. He likes it. He is a people person so this is great for him plus he got to meet Chris Rock. He is a huge Chris Rock fan. According to him Mr. Rock is very nice, down to earth, his wife is friendly, and his kids are adorable and well behaved. My new job is housekeeping at a local inn. It is remarkably similar to my old job of stay at home mom except I can clean without kids underfoot and I get paid. I love getting paid.

Now for the move. We moved about 1.5 miles up the road from our old house. We are the only house on an old dirt road. I love it.  The house has 3 bedrooms and is very old. It needs some work but luckily, Jay is handy. I am hoping we can eventually buy the house from our landlord. I could easily see us living here forever. Right now Jay's brother is living here too. He is moving out in a few months though so we are debating what to do with his room.

The kids are in school. Jimmy started 1st grade and Bianca started preschool. School is going fairly well. Jimmy has had some major behavior issues this year but has started to get better. Academically he is well advanced and I think boredom is part of the issue. His temper and impulse control are the rest of the issue. Bianca is doing very well in preschool. She has many friends and received a Shining Star award from the school. Her teacher nominated her because she always does what is asked with a smile and makes the classroom a positive place. I am very proud of her but wonder if they confused my kid with another.

As for my van and the holidays, it was hectic. Just a few days before Christmas the transmission went in my '04 Ford Freestar. Apparently, this is an extremely common problem. So common they recalled it about a week after we sold the van for $1000. Jay got me a Jeep Grand Cherokee though and I love it. I just wish it seated more than 5. It is a tight squeeze when my BIL rides with us which is often since he flipped his car. Jay got a Jeep Wrangler to replace his gas hog of a truck. For Christmas, the kids were completely spoiled. They got several ZhuZhu pet sets, Jimmy got a remote control helicopter, Bianca got a few American Girl dolls (one for her birthday and one for Christmas), and we got them a bunch of board games. I am in the process of creating an entire wardrobe for Bianca's dolls because they need to change clothes several times a day. Good thing I like to sew and knit, have a decent fabric and yarn stash, and there are tons of free patterns online or this could be expensive.