5K

I ran my first 5K two weekends ago. I am very proud of myself and need to take a moment to brag a little. I only started running in July of 2008. Before that I couldn't run to get the mail or I would get shin splints, my side would ache, and I would get pains in my chest. But sometime in 2008 DH started running on the treadmill. Well, I couldn't let him be the only one in the family who was running. So I started running, minute by minute. At first I could only go 2 minutes, then 5, then 15. Then I plateaued. I needed something more to finally get rid of that twin baby belly I had been carrying around since my boys were born. On the advice of a friend I started going to Barry's Bootcamp. This is a program of 1 hour classes where they essentially work your but and make you feel like you want to vomit. I started this on December 30, 2010. I tried to go three times a week. But that didn't always happen. I never lost any weight but my body started to change. My arms got leaner. My waist got smaller. And I started to see my hip bones again. Then we got an opportunity to run a 5K through our temple. I practiced a couple of time on the treadmill. It was hard but I was determined to at least finish the run. I was not concerned with time. I told my trainer at the Bootcamp and he said he wanted to know what my time was. Hmm, another challenge ws set. Now I wanted to get a good time. On the day of the race I told DH let's not try and stay together. Let's just concentrate on finishing. Ok, Ok, whatever he said. The race started and I took off. It was so much fun to run outside and with people cheering you on. I kept a good pace and never got winded. I sprinted the end (mostly because I was neck and neck with a 12/13 year old boy, no way was I going to be bested by a boy!!!) I crossed the finish line at 28:20. I couldn't believe it. That was better then my best time on the treadmill. DH came in right behind me. He kept saying where did you go, I never saw you after we took off ;). I was so proud of both of us. I felt great after the race. I have the bug now. I can't wait to run another race. My next goal will be a 10K. In case anyone cares to know I am 39. It is never too late to start. You just need to find your motivation. And in case you need to know this also, the boy came in 1 second ahead of me. I couldn't run him over now could I!!!!

Party Favors

I love planning parties. If you follow this blog or just know me well then you already know this. These are the party favors for our 10th Anniversary Wedding Vow Renewal. Each bag has little goodies including some Vegas related items. The bags I got at the local party store. The bells I made using my Cricut and the Sweethearts cartridge. I wanted to do something for the friends who are going all the way to Las Vegas to share in this special event with us. I love my Cricut and every time I take it out I realize that all over again. You can do so many fun things with it.

A special thank you to Jan for lending me the cartridge and dropping it off at my house. :)

Displaying Quilts

It is always hard to figure out ways to display my quilts. They don't really match the rest of my house and I try to keep them in my sewing room. This ladder piece is a great way to display them. This is actually a piece from Crate and Barrel that has shelves. My sister-in-law offered it to me when she decided she didn't need it anymore. I packed the shelves away and pulled out all my quilts. I was actually looking for a piece like this so this worked out perfect.

10 Year Wedding Anniversary

DH and I are about to hit the 10 year anniversary. To celebrate we are renewing our vows in Las Vegas. Our wedding was very traditional. The vow renewal will be anything but traditional. No family are coming, just friends. We will be in a Law Vegas Wedding Chapel instead of under a chuppah. Elvis will be officiating instead of a Rabbi. My dress will be shorter and DH won't be wearing a tux. And these crazy black and white stripped shoes will be walking me down the aisle instead of my father. Hey, this is Vegas baby, Vegas!!!! More details to come regarding this fun event.

Top Secret Update

This is all I can show you of the top secret quilt I am working on. It is a daunting project that I have taken on and I hope I can pull it off. The biggest problem is finding time to work on it. I am trying to teach my children water conservation and so I am timing them in the shower. Each boy gets a 7 minute shower (give or take). I sometimes inflate the time if I think they need an extra minute. They are doing really great and are learning to take quicker showers. The challenge for me is to see how many quilt squares I can make in 14 minutes since this in the only amount of time I get each night to sew. Last night I turned out 4 squares. At this rate I should finish by, say, 2014!! Yikes!

Homemade Granola

We eat granola by the truckload. The granola that comes in the blue box at Trader Joe's is our favorite. I have been wanting to make my own granola for a while. So we finally tried it. With D as my little helper we mixed rolled oats, butter, and honey together. We then scavenged the pantry for leftover nuts and mini chocolate chips and threw those in. I added some candied ginger for taste. After baking and stirring for 30 minutes we had a nice batch of granola. I would not say it is as good as the blue box variety but it still tastes pretty good.

Granola

We love granola. I buy boxes of it a time. If you are familiar with Trader Joe's then it is the blue box. My kids were able to identify this blue box from the time they were very young. Last night we tried making our own granola. We used rolled oats, honey, butter, and some leftover nuts we had. We cooked, stirred, and cooled. It tastes pretty okay. It doesn't have all the sugar that the store bought ones have so it is not as sweet. But the honey gave it a nice taste.