Just a minute of my time...

One little word - Captured

Week 4

Wow these weeks are flying by! We are heading into February which leaves me one more day to reach my goal of 100 miles for January.  I didn't plan on 100 each month, but it seemed I was so close I had to at least try to get there.

But this weeks challenge for me was about friendship. Not that having a friend is challenging, but it is challenging to keep them a part of your life.  You know the old saying "you have to be a friend to have a friend"  Well I've been friends with these girls since 9th grade in high school, over 30 years now, as Lisa reminded me the other day.  And you may know the story of how Lisa and I met. Although I must say I've never been known for my great memory for details...

The other day we met for lunch, to catch up and to offer one another moral support for the challenges we are each facing in our lives. It's nice to know there is someone who always has a supportive word or has been there and gets what you are going through.

To find more great stories of One little word Captured go to Jills blog

The month of Love...

February is the month of love...  

And when I got the Work in Progress project kit I was tickled pink!  Since I love mini books I of course couldn't wait to play with all the fun stuff included in this kit.

I made two mini books with this kit.  The first one was all about the envelopes, I covered the flaps with patterned paper, cut journaling squares to size and then added my pictures and embellishments.

I added the completed album to my Work in Progress album here on my blog and I also did a post about the second one on the Work in Progress blog here

Be sure to check out Alissa's 28 days of love prompts which start on February 1st

 

A typical workout morning

• Some mornings the last thing I want to do is head out the door into the freezing cold and go work out. 
• Some mornings with as much planning as I do, I still forget my shoes or my ipod isn't charged, but I do it anyway.

• Some mornings I go to run but find out I should take the day off running and decide to take a spin class instead.  Being able to change up your routine is good for you and keeps things interesting.

• Finding a gym where the trainer makes working out fun is a bonus!! Even if he takes your camera, hands you a chicken and snaps pictures of you while working out...

• Finding a gym you can enjoy with your whole family is great!
• and finally coming home to a nice hot bowl of oatmeal is an awesome bonus!

So as the saying goes.... JUST DO IT

 

One little word Captured

Week 4 - Challenge    

As I go along another week finding ways to apply my word to my life it somehow seems to do it on its own.  When I chose the word it was for me to challenge myself in my running and in other parts of life, but it seems life has a way of challenging us even when we aren't looking for a challenge.

And in between all those challenges you have to pursue your goal with the same attitude, because the time is going to go by whether you do something or not, right?

This week my challenge wasn't as much about running, although believe me I am counting down the days of January and noticing I only have a few days to run 27 miles if I want to reach 100 miles for the month of January (another challenge)

 For me this week was about challenging myself creatively.  Finding time to go into my scraproom and create.  It's all a part of the balance and walking away from the computer.

And so working with my WORK IN PROGRESS kit was exactly what I needed to challenge myself to get back into my scraproom and create!

Check out more One little word captured here on Jill's blog

Blog awards

What a sweet surprise to get a Stylish Blogger award from Laura.  Not only is it flattering to receive such awards, but its always fun to find new blogs that your will be inspired by.  As a part of this award you are to tell 8 things about yourself and then pass the award onto 8 other blogs.

About me:

1. I'm always working at ways to improve my running by doing interval runs or hill runs
2. I can't wait until Chelsea and I get to run the Disney Princess Marathon
3. My father passed away on the same day as his brother and my husband birthdays (tough day)
4. I usually read more than one book at a time.  Currently I am reading Brene Browns The gifts of imperfection, George W Bush, Decision points and A tale of two cities - all on my kindle
5. Nobody in our house is a big sports fan of any professional sport yet I dislike the Steelers?  Go figure???
6. I think Dr. Drew of celebrity rehab is gorgeous... my daughter doesn't see it? lol
7. I am a huge fan of dark chocolate, and dark chocolate M & M's are my favorite!
8. My favorite television show is hands down Modern Family!

and now to pass the award on to other stylish blogs...

Always inspired by the look and the posts of the following blogs

• Jill  -         Life as I see it
• Lee -         Embrace Life
• Brandy -   This ones for me
• Sarah -      2 Paws Designs
• Debbie -   Scraps of me
• Sharyn -   Living artfully
• Laura -     Here's whats new
• Linda -    Linda's Paperie

 

 

Call off the search party I found it...

my mojo that is!

In the past I have always looked forward to January. When most people hated the fact that the holidays were over, I relished in the fact that I would have some down time (cold, winter weather) which caused me to stay in and scrap. But this January things were different.  I didn't have that same energy and excitement to scrap.

It seemed a lot of family issues were holding me down mentally and creatively and the only thing that kept me going at all was my running. But as much as I love running and I do love running, I love my creative adventures too.

Last weekend I went to scrap with girlfriends and I think that was where it all began.  When I came home with the February Work in Progress project kit and finally felt a surge of creativity... 

As with any kit I have to spread out all the contents, turn the papers to reveal my favorite sides (sometimes that's a tough one), and start getting ideas with the product. With this kit I was first drawn to the 7 gypsies book shapes and the thoughts are still brewing with that one, but what really grabbed my attention was the envelopes...

I know you already know what I was thinking.  It's like an addiction I tell ya... how can I make this a mini book...

Well here's a little peak of what's bringing my mojo back!

Using the envelopes from the kit and my bind it all...

Training, planning and running

I've been training for our upcoming half marathon, tho at this point in my running its more a matter of staying fit.  For me 3 miles used to feel like an accomplishment, now it's a minimum of 5 or more. And to think when I first started running, one mile was a major accomplishment.  So see, you have to start somewhere.

My running began in November 2009 and in 2010 I ran 2 half marathons. This year I plan to run my first full marathon and I'm just as nervous as I am excited for it.  We already had to book our hotel and thank goodness we thought of that now!

Our first fitness challenge is the TACKLE THE TOWER which is February 5th downtown, so I've been trying to spend more time on the stairmaster.  The last time at Milts when I forgot my shoes I ended up going 175 floors in 40 minutes.

After that will be the Disney Princess half marathon!  Counting down to that one!  So exciting! Chelsea's costume arrived the other day, we just need to find the top and bottoms to go under it.

Now to figure out what I'm going to wear?

Friendship

Its funny how I spent the first part of this morning editing pictures and putting together a post about friendship and what it means to me, to find out that a dear friend passed away. . .

My friend Joyce was one of those one in a million people.  Those people you aspire to be like, even if in the tiniest of ways.  Their attitude you want to emulate in your life everyday because it is one of always looking on the bright side of things, finding the positive in life, in each other.  She always did it...

 She spent month after month scrapbooking with us, laughing and joking as she put her memories into scrapbooks for her kids. All along as we shared in this hobby we all loved not knowing she was struggling through her own battle with cancer.  She didn't want to burden others with her disease, she didn't want people to treat her with sympathy or any different once they found out she was sick, so she just never told anyone. Years later she told us that we saved her... that our laughter and friendship helped her without us even knowing.

We went away on weekend scrapbook retreats, hung out at high school sporting events and attended the parties as the kids graduated high school.

She was a dear friend who unknowingly taught many lessons to those around her.  She is survived by her loving husband and two sweet and caring boys and I am forever blessed for sharing in her life.

 

Friendship

Value that is found in friendships is often the result of a friend demonstrating the following on a consistent basis:

• The tendency to desire what is best for the other
• Sympathy and empathy
• Honesty, perhaps in situations where it may be difficult for others to speak the truth, especially in terms of pointing out the perceived faults of one's counterpart
• Mutual understanding and compassion
• Trust in one another (able to express feelings - including in relation to the other's actions - without the fear of being judged); able to go to each other for emotional support
• Positive reciprocity - a relationship is based on equal give and take between the two parties.

I cannot begin to express how blessed I feel with the friendships in my life.  From my childhood friends, scrapbooking friends, running friends and my friends I've met through work they are all such an important part of my life and make me who I am.

I set the timer then ran over to get in the pic

This weekend I got to spend one of the days with my scrapping friends.  Being creative and productive while having fun with girlfriends, what more could you ask for.  But it didn't stop there, then on Monday and Tuesday I got to spend some time with my "Treasured Friends". Debbie and Brenda came in from Michigan and we celebrated our girlfriend Christmas and birthdays, including dinner, drinks, gifts and a sleep over and then some shopping the next day! Which included some hysterical and serious conversations that can only be shared with girlfriends!

 

OLW captured - week 3

Ahhh here I am again, documenting my word and how I am striving at making it a part of my year. It seems that not everything goes according to plan and even the littlest things can become a challenge.

Usually on the days I plan to run I have a number in my head before I leave the house,  a minimum I want to achieve.  If I'm feeling really good the number may be higher.  If I'm itching to try out a new playlist or if I ran recently the run might include hills or speed.

For Saturday's run I forgot my Nike tracker and ran 8 miles, I had 10 miles in my head but not enough time so I decided on Sunday I would run my long run... thinking at least 10 miles!  

So before leaving the house I go through my checklist... water, yes, ipod, yes, NIKE tracker, yep, towel, phone, yep, yep....

get to the gym wearing my Uggs only to realize that I had forgotten my shoes!

I could have wasted the morning and not done anything, but I decided since I had run the day before this was just a reminder to do something different.

So for 40 minutes I climbed on the stairmaster in my socks and went 175 floors... phew now that was a challenge!

You can find more One little word captured over at Jills blog