39 days and a new running spot

There is officially 39 days before the Princess Half Weekend. With the holidays and the weather here in Florida I haven’t been able to run for a few weeks. Finally I was able to squeeze in a run. This morning my hubby watched Addie for me while I ran some quick errands. I stopped by the local park for the first time. I figured I would try it out and see how the running path is.

I got out there and the first thing I noticed was the small lake (okay more like a pond) with Ducks in it. There were two paths to choose from. A paved one that went around the whole perimeter of the park, and a dirt path that twisted and winded through the park. Both paths went around the lake. I chose the paved path to test it out for future use with Addie and the stroller. With the exception of one short area of the path, I think it will work out really good for pushing the stroller.

I ran two laps around the park with equaled about 2 miles. It felt really good, but I was crunched for time to get back to Hubby and Addie. I logged another 2 miles in the books for Jocelyn my running Buddy.

Are you a runner? Have you signed up to be matched with your running buddy through IRun4? If not be sure to check out the website: www.whoirun4.com

Overall my run was really good. My endurance was much better than I thought and I could have done a lot more I think.

There is 39 days until the Disney Princess Half Marathon weekend. A friend of mine from Church will be running it as well. We are going to use it as a girls weekend. Because we have to be at the starting line by 5:30 AM and to park we would have to be there around 4:00 AM we decided to get a hotel for the night. Our Husbands are going to stay home with the kiddos and we are heading down Saturday afternoon.

I am going to start making my costume this week or next for the race. I am thinking I will dress up as Rapunzel. As the days get closer I will post more about my costume and our plans for the weekend

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Addie turned 8 months old on the 9th of this month. She is officially a crawler. Though not very fast, she manages to get going forward and get to whatever her sight is set on. She also has her two bottom teeth already in. I am pretty sure she is cutting her two top teeth, and she is trying to say Da-da already.

Addie Crawling for the first time.

Time sure flies!I have been working on a few sewing projects that will be available on my Facebook page HERE

Be sure to like my Facebook page.

Until next time…

Jenna

Crochet Hook Roll-up

I sewed up this quick little project today. It is a crochet hook roll-up. I got the idea from Pinterest for a Crayon Roll-up. I just got my sewing machine for Christmas and I really wanted to make a project to use. I used material that my mom gave me from when I was a little girl. 

To make this simple project:

Materials:

Cut 2 pieces of color (I used blue) fabric - 8"x14" (Or longer depending on how many hooks you have)

Cut 1 piece of coordinating (polka Dot) fabric - 8"x14" (Or longer depending on how many hooks you have)

Cut 1 piece of interfacing

20" of ribbon 

Sewing machine and tools

1st: Fuse or Baste one of the colored (my blue) pieces with the interfacing. 

2nd: Fold the coordinating (polka dot) piece in half lengthwise. Press with a hot iron to make it easier for sewing together. 

3rd: Pin Polka dot and Blue/Interfacing pieces together with the polka dot fold towards the top. 

4th: Stitch every 3/4"-1" starting at the top of the polka dot piece back stitching at the top and the bottom. 

5th: After stitching in increments all the way across, Place the last blue piece right side to right side with the project and pin around.

6th: Sew 1/2" seam around leaving 1 1/2"-2" at the end to turn.

7th: Turn Project right side out

8th: Top stitch at 1/4" all the way around making sure to tuck in the ends and sew the ribbon on. 

And.... You are done! 

This total project only took 1 hr for me to make and I just started sewing. 

I am going to offer these on sale on my Facebook page HERE as a custom order. 

If you make this hook roll-up please post a picture to my Facebook page or let me know in the comments below.

2014 Goals

I welcome you to the new year with Addie’s first morning smile of the new year…

I am part of the 90% of people who make New Years Resolutions but never stick with them. So instead of making resolutions this year, I am going to make goals. I am making specific goals that are measurable and attainable. I am much more likely to stick with a goal that I can see progress on.

2013 was a really good year for my family and me. I have to admit it will be a tough year to beat for us. We had our sweet Addilyn, and purchased a house along with many other small things. I am really looking forward to 2014 to see what God has planned.

Most people say “I am going to get in shape for the new year”… Well that is not measurable. There is no way to track progress on getting in shape. Instead lets put a number with it.

I am going to lose the last 10 pounds of baby weight and hopefully an extra 5 pounds as well. I plan to eat better and exercise more…

Which brings me to my next goal. I want to run at the very least 2 times a week this year. Preferably 3 times or more. I am running for Jocelyn. and I think 2 times a week is a fair number to strive for. She goes to therapy and I will run.

For the New Year, I really need to return my focus to God. I have really been slacking when it comes to reading scripture and praying. My Goal is to read my bible at least once a day for at least 5 minutes. I think this goal is my top priority this year. God has blessed us tremendously and we should focus our life on Him.

Last but not least, my final goal is to be more financially sound this year. My husband is blessed to have a job that allows me to be a stay at home mom with Addie. If it is God’s will, I hope to start selling my crochet creations and bettering my sewing ability to make a little bit extra cash flow for our family.

What are your goals or Resolutions for 2014? What are you looking forward to most?

I’ll leave you with another picture of my sweet girl:

Year in Review 2013

Wow what a year! This year has been a VERY full one. Let’s get started:

January 2nd, 2013 – We found out what our precious baby was going to be. The technician took all of the measurements and asked if we wanted to know what gender the baby was going to be. Well come to find out our lives were going to be filled to the top with pink and bows! What a wonderful day! I went straight to the store and bought a pink outfit for our little girl.

I also started my final semester as a Junior at the University of Florida in January.

February was relatively relaxing. With the exception of my Best friend having her first born baby boy. I also went down the the State Fair with my Hubby and his showmen for the steer show.

March was a packed month. First off I was as big as a house, and didn’t know how on earth I would make it another 2 months carrying Addie. We had our 2 year anniversary on the 5th of March. March is also the month of Fair for our county and since my Husband is an Agriculture teacher he is at the fair just about every day for 2 weeks. The end of March I had to go to the hospital to be monitored due to my blood pressure rising. I was put on modified bed rest. Which basically meant I was supposed to be on bed rest but I could get up and move around the house and go grocery shopping. I had to finish my last two weeks of the school semester from home.

I had my baby shower on April 6th. I got so much stuff from all of our friends and family. Addie was already getting spoiled. Since my blood pressure was giving me a problem and my swelling was beginning to get bad I was not allowed to drive to Gainesville for my last two weeks of class. My Drs. didn’t want me to have an issue and be an hour away from my hospital. Luckily ,my professors allowed me to attend class via Skype. It was kind of nice not having to get up and get dressed then drive an hour to class.  At the end of April I went to the County Fair banquet with my husband and his students. My HUGE belly was gaining quite a bit of attention. I still had 2 weeks before I was due, and was on “Bed rest” at that point. I was going stir-crazy though and needed to get out of the house.

May was very exciting! The very beginning of the month my husband had to go out of town for the day. I was due less than a week from that day and was kind of worried that since he was over 2 hours away Addie would decided to make her presence. She stayed content though. My Dr. decided to induce labor because of my blood pressure if labor hadn’t started by my due date, May 8th. On May 8th went to the hospital to have a baby. I began the induction process at 7AM… 36 hours later I was in the operating room prepping for a c-section. Read all about her delivery story HERE. The rest of the month was jam packed! We had Drs. appointments for check-ups, and most of all I was learning how to be a mom.

June-July was pretty uneventful with the exception of learning how to be parents to a newborn. I did try to start back running but my incision was still tender. One big thing that happened was we were approved to purchase our first home. The house that we were renting was offered to us to purchase. We went to the bank to get pre-approved and came back to our land lords only to find out they had changed their minds and we had to be out of the house in 30 days. (At the end of the 30 days was the end of out 1 year lease) We now had a 3 month old and were trying to house hunt, and pack up our 3 bedroom home, all the while my husband was still working full time at the school. It was stressful to say the least.

August was rough. We moved 3 different places in 30 days. We had to move out of our big house on the 1st. We moved in with my Grandma in her small 2 bedroom house for a week until we could find a place to rent short term. Finally finding a small house to rent on a month to month basis we packed up again and moved. All the while we were still looking at between 3-5  houses per week trying to find something to purchase. House hunting alone is stressful, then add a 3 month old in tow it makes it even worse. We finally found one and started the process of closing. I am pretty sure we hold the record for the quickest closing for first time buyers ever! The bank and the closing company were so helpful. We closed on our house in 21 days. The day before we had to pay for another months rent we closed on our house…

Which brings us to September 6th. We signed 30 years of our life away on this day with the perfect home for our family. It has plenty of room to grow into. The end of September I learned about IRun4, and officially signed up for a running buddy.

October was spent mostly getting things put in place in our new house.

November 19th I got my match. I was matched with Jocelyn as my official running buddy. I started dedicating my miles to her and learning all about her history.

December is always a busy month for us. My birthday is the 1st, then we spend a lot of time with family and preparing to ring in the new year.

 

This year was a very good one. I can’t wait to see what next year holds for my little family. Addie is growing up so fast, and I have a couple races already planned for the year.

A year in review always puts so much into perspective. Even on a bad day we still have so much to be thankful for.

Do you make resolutions for the new year? Stay tuned for mine.

My Buddy Jocelyn

Back in September I mentioned a group called IRun4. This is a group that matches runners with special needs children and adults. The runner dedicates all of their miles or workouts to their buddy and helps bring awareness to a special cause. When I signed up at the end of September I was informed that the waiting time to be matched was about 6-8 weeks time. At that time the group was just over 4000 members strong. That includes runners and buddies. Everyday I would read through all of the encouragement on the Facebook group page and feel overwhelmed by the love and support that everyone gives to each other. The support doesn’t just stop at running and working out, after the tornadoes hit the town of Washington, Il. this past November there was an outpouring of prayer and love for all of those affected. This group is truly a family that stretches across borders, lakes, oceans, and continents. As of today (December 30th, 2013) there are 11,815 members currently in the group, and it groups exponentially everyday. There are still approximately 1,800 runners waiting to be matched with their very own running buddy. I can’t express the magnitude of love this group holds for everyone.
After enrolling to be matched with a buddy, my wait both flew by and drug on. I felt like the day would never get there to finally be matched. Well my day came. The night before I checked the waiting list and I was about # 12 on the list. I knew if there was a group of matching the next morning I would be on it. The next morning when Addie woke me up to nurse, I quickly grabbed my phone and walked to her room. I checked my notifications and nothing was there. I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed. I felt like a little kid waiting for Santa Claus. As I was sitting there a message from one of the Admins messaged me. That was it! I was matched. I looked through the list of matches and found my name. I was matched with a child named Jocelyn. I thought, how neat is that. My daughters name is Addilyn and we are running for a little girl named Jocelyn. I did a little digging to find out as much as I could about my new running partner. She is 2 days older than Addilyn and just precious. Please go read all about her story at her Facebook Page.
Jocelyn is such a fighter and an unbelievably strong little girl.

Isn’t she a cutie? I am so blessed to be able to dedicate miles and my running to Jocelyn.
If you would like to know more about IRun4 please visit the website: www.whoirun4.com.
If you would like to learn more about Jocelyn please visit her website: www.facebook.com/eighthmiracle.
I will write a post soon introducing you to Jocelyn’s struggles in her young life.

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I am sorry I have been away for so long. I have been testing the waters with another blogging platform, but I decided I like this one much better so with this new year my goal is to write a post at least 2 times a week.
Please like my Facebook page to stay up to date on all of my posts.

Running Partner

Calvary's Isabella

I would like to introduce you to my running partner. Her name is Calvary Isabella or Bella for short. She is a Miniature Australian Shepherd. The breed is just like standard size Australian Shepherd, just a little smaller. I got Bella when she was 8 weeks old. She is now almost 4 years old. Australian Shepherds (Aussies) are known for their intelligence and willingness to please. Bella has just that. She is incredibly smart and loves to be with me at all times.

Bella is about 30 pounds and is a red-tri coat pattern.

She is also very out of shape at the moment. Aussies have a double coat, making the Florida Heat kind of tough on her during the summer months. I plan on getting back in shape along side of my trusty pal.

Bella loves to go for runs, however she thinks it is appropriate to potty every quarter mile or so. On day one of our training run she pooped three times, and peed and uncounted amount of times. I am hoping that she will get better as we run more, because it slows our pacing down.

Obedience is a major factor when taking a dog for a walk or a run on a leash. Bella is really good about listening to me on and off the leash making her controllable around people and other dogs. However, if there is another dog she gets really excited and wants to play most of the time.

Now that the weather is getting cooler I hope to take her with me on most of my runs, so stay tuned to my posts to find out how she is doing with her training runs as well.

Zeus

I couldn't write a post about Bella and not include Zeus. This is Bella's little brother. He loves his picture being taken.

Day 1 of Training

It is official I have started training for the Disney Princess Half in February. My goal is to finish the race in 3 hours or less. There are a lot of training plans out there for half and full marathons to follow. I am going to try and follow Jeff Galloway's training plan. His plans usually include a long run on the weekend then two 30-45 minute runs during the week. I am going to try and do three shorter workouts during the week to get in shape quicker. Or at least that is my plan. Last night I was trying to figure out the best time of day to try and get my runs in. I don't really like running with the jogging stroller, because it slows my pace, and it is kind of hard to push. Well after talking with the hubby I decided that unless I can find a cheap tread mill and run when Addie is sleeping that it is best to just push her in the stroller. With hubby's work schedule we never know when he will be home. One week it could be 5 PM every day, then the next week it might be 8 PM. I could try and run early in the morning, but running in the dark around my neighborhood doesn't sound appetizing to me.

Water Hazard on the Golf Course

So day 1 of training started today. I loaded the stroller, the car seat, the baby, the diaper bag, the dog (i decided she needed to get in shape too), and me in the car to drive to the path I mapped out.

We live relatively close to a retirement community and they have golf cart paths that follow all of the main roads through the community. One of the paths travel like 20 miles or more through the community from one town to the next. The path is nice and paved, plus the landscaping is pretty.I parked at the sheriffs department at the beginning of the path and unloaded all of the above list.

I am the typical first time mom. I packed everything I could possibly need for Addie. Wednesday when I go to run again, I am NOT carrying nearly as much stuff. Is there a reason why I think I would need a fully stocked diaper dag? I don't know, maybe, but I doubt it.

Anyway back to my run today. We started out great! A nice warm-up followed by run/walk intervals. I had planned on running .20 miles then walking 2 minutes. I did that about once then had to start running shorter distances. My running partner Bella (a miniature australian shepherd) is very out of shape as well. At about 3/4 of a mile she started slacking way behind. We were running early this morning, but it was still kind of humid out. I started running less and walking more. The whole 2nd mile we pretty much walked back to the car. It is going to take some time for her to lose some weight and being a productive running partner, but that is what team work is for.

I must of made her bored.

The running path is a golf cart path that is about 12 feet wide and nicely paved. However, the drivers of the golf carts are not so nice. Some of them were really nice and gave me a lot of room when they passed, but some... not so much. Also, the path is mostly straight, but there is some turns. Those turns... how can I say this nicely... some of those drivers think they are in the golf cart version of Nascar! They fly around the turns. I am pretty sure they are pulling an Earnhardt Sr. and throttling through the turns instead of braking! But we didn't have any near death experiences so I think this is my new running path. There is quite a bit of shade along the way as well. Some of the best qualities of this running route is the fact that the paving is smooth, there is shade, most of the people are friendly and wave or say good morning. and it is pretty much unlimited running. The road is called Buena Vista Blvd. It goes from one side of the community to the other, so it is probably 15-20 miles long total.

While on our run Addie must of gotten bored because she passed out in the stroller. Since this was the first actual run with her in the stroller I used the head support from the car seat. I am glad I did, because it supported her head when she fell asleep. She was a great running partner. Once we started going, I didn't hear one peep out of her. Normally she is a very "vocal" baby, but not today on the run. Either she slept the whole time, or she was really enjoying it.

Here we are midway through our run. She of course was sleeping, but I couldn't help getting such a cute picture of her!

The actual run wasn't that bad. I completed 2.06 miles. My pace was really slow because of all the walking. **And my dog thinks she must stop and potty about every quarter mile (Read about her here)** It was actually probably one of my slowest runs ever, but at least we got out there.

I am officially on the waiting list to be matched with a buddy for I Run 4 (IR4). The email says it could take 6-8 weeks before I get a match due to the over abundance of runners requesting matches.

With that said, if you know any one who is a runner and would be interested in being matched send them over to whoIrun4.com. Also, if you know anyone that is physically or mentally handicapped that would love to have a runner, or some one that has a child that is handicapped, please send them to the website as well.

On a side note... I listen to Pastor Mark Driscoll podcasts during my runs. He said some pretty awesome things: One of which was... "When good things become God things, they become bad things." He was preaching on one God and how we worship other things like: sex, money, people, things... It was something that really stuck with me.

The baby is awake now... Time to play. Stay tuned.