Princess Half-Marathon Training Week One

Week 1, Run 1

I was so pumped all weekend, knowing I would officially kick off half-marathon training this week. I love having a plan to follow, knowing exactly what I need to do to reach my goal. That is exactly how I felt about Couch to 5k training when I first did it. I was so dedicated to that plan, and it got me where I needed to be. Being plan oriented is just a part of my personality. 

Wednesday night, I was determined to get my run done first thing in the morning, although it is so hard for me to get up early to work-out. But when my alarm went off that morning, I decided I'd much rather have the satisfaction of being done with my work-out by 6:45 than I would get from sleeping till 6:45. So I dragged my butt out of bed and put on my running gear.

When I stepped outside, it was soo cold and soo foggy. This is not unusual being that I live in the Tennessee Valley, one of the foggiest places around. I knew I would warm up once I got the blood pumping, and the temperature would feel better. I did a short warm-up and took off running. I went around my block 4 times (it is a half-mile loop). I ended up going 2.2 miles in a half hour (Tuesday and Thursdays are just half hour runs). My first mile was 13:25, and my second mile was 14:25. I am still working on maintaining a consistent pace. I'm thinking of doing at least one treadmill run a week to help with consistency.

I was pretty proud and happy to get that first run under my belt, and not to mention to be done working out so early. 

Week 1, Run 2

I knew Thursday would be the real test run (ha pardon the pun) as to whether or not I could do this morning early run on the regular. Thursday is by far my longest day. And let's face it, by Wednesday night I'm gearing up for the weekend. But I did manage to get myself out of bed Thursday morning, and I'm super proud of myself. I know I can make these morning runs a habit now.

My run was pretty similar to the Tuesday run, in terms of splits and pace! The only difference was that instead of listening to podcasts, I crafted a Disney music playlist the night before. Every time a new song came on I would be like, "That's my Favorite!" And then I realized oh they are all my favorites because I picked them!

One funny thing that happen that morning, is while it was still dark, I was running, and went to step on a leaf. That leaf was a frog that dive bombed me! Scared me to death. Close encounters of the wildlife kind! 

Week 1, Run 3

I decided to do my last training run on the treadmill, for the whole consistency of pace thing. I had two miles on the schedule. It is kind of funny, because during training, Saturdays are long run days. But the first long run is just two miles. I typically run a little over 2 miles on my half hour outings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So this will be the only "long" run that isn't longer than my Tuesday/Thursday runs.

I started my run on 4.3 mph on the treadmill. Can I just say that I forgot how much harder the treadmill still feels for me compared to running outside? It was a struggle the whole time, I even had to bump it down to 4.1 a couple of times. But if anything the treadmill helps me learn how to keep on going even when it feels sucky. I am somewhat faster outside.

I'm so happy to have week one of training complete. Just 21 weeks to go!

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The Week that Was-#100 Happy Days

I think this is week 11 of my 100 happy days project! I have to say this week was harder than previous weeks. Many days I almost forgot, but I got them all in regardless, and I am determined to see this through, I'm so close.

Day 71-We are totally living for football Sundays around here. We have our beloved Packers and our Fantasy Football League, that keeps up watching football all day long! Plus, the Packers have won their last two games, so much to celebrate!

Day 72-Last weekend, Adam went to get fitted for some new shoes at fleet feet, and I bought some of the most comfortable moisture-wicking, running socks ever! I love them. They make my feet happy.

Day 73-I started my official half-marathon training! I'm so glad to be starting my training plan. I posted this picture, as I love the sentiment behind it. 

Day 74-Sometimes I get so happy that we actually have a YARD to take care of, even though it is a lot of work. Just a quick shot of Adam mowing!

Day 75- I love the message my October Calender Picture is sending me, "You are exactly where you are supposed to be."

Day 76-I'm so crazy about all the Fall weather and FALLING leaves we are having lately.

Day 77-Sometimes, I feel old. Now Adam and I spend our weekends shopping at Home Improvement stores, and we do activities like hanging up blinds in the master bedroom. But I secretly kind of love it.

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Project Life Update

I am still loving project life. It is so simple and so fun. I can literally sit down and do 5 or 6 pages in the span of an hour. I've started to do a little bit of hybrid projects, where I combine digital aspects on my printed cards. I've also found a lot of freebie project life cards around the web, and I've been using those along with my core kits, etc. Additionally, I signed up for Studio Calico, which will send me beautiful, new Project Life kits every month! (I just got an email that my October kit shipped today, I swear I just about squealed in excitement).

 (You should be able to click on these images to enlarge).

I have decided I will scrapbook all of 2014. This is my first layout of 2014, our snow day! I got the winter PL cards from here.

Of course, weight loss surgery was a huge part of 2014 for me. In this page, I pulled some shots from my surgiversery photos. I also included a picture of my stuffed stomach, Pompeii, because I love him. I used the Project Life Kit, Enjoy Life, for this one.

This is my Valentine's Day Spread. Again, I used the Enjoy Life kit. All my photos from Valentine's Day were instagrams, so I used a instagram frame template before printing (Unfortunately, I can't find where I got the template).

I wanted to document our guest room renovation to look back on in future years!

This is one of my favorite spreads, and it covers the Swing Through 5k. I used my 1st Studio Calico kit, Poet's Society. One of my favorite aspects of this page is that I used the day of the week card to document some songs I listened to on my run.

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Huntsville Trolley Tour

Saturday, I finally got to do an activity on my Local To Do List for a long time, The Huntsville Trolley Tour. I planned on doing it last Summer and never got around to it. I even put it on my Summer To Do List for this year, but the summer just flew by! Luckily, I finally got around to doing it last weekend.

First of all, just let me say I love a trolley. They are so cute! They always grab my attention. I love everything about them, from the detailing on the seats to the old city feel of them. So if an activity allows me to ride around in a trolly for a little while, I'm so game. 

The Huntsville Trolley Tour is put on by a local museum, and it runs every Saturday from June-September. Which if you are paying attention, means I put this activity off till the last possible weekend (I have a knack for that). I invited my mom along because I knew she would be more into this activity than Adam.

When we got to where we were supposed to meet up with the trolley, they gave us a blueberry muffin and coffee (I had a bite or two of the muffin, it was delicious!). Our tour guide was dressed in historical clothes, and she was knowledgeable & wonderful. 

The trolley took us all around town, telling us all about the local Huntsville characters, such as Talluah Bankhead and Clement Caliborne Clay. But I think my most favorite part of the tour was looking at all those BEAUTIFUL, historic homes. I just wanted to go inside them. 

I'm so glad I finally got to do this. Nothing is better than learning a little bit about the history of the place you love calling home.

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Month in Review: September 2014

Books I've read:

I was a really slow reader this month, mostly because I've spent a good deal of the month reading The Animated Man: The Life of Walt Disney by Michael Barrier. It is pretty lengthy, but I am almost done with it!

1. The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber (book club selection).

Movies I've seen:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

2. The Brittany Murphy Story (2014)

3. Dumbo (1941)

4. Mulan (1998)

5. The 100 Foot Journey (2014)

6. As Dreamers Do (2014)

  

Fun Stuff I Did: 

• Visited the lovely Alice and the Garden of Wonders at the Botanical Gardens

• I planned, planned, planned the upcoming Disney Trip

• I celebrated my 8 month surgiversay with a 170 lbs weight loss

• We toured the Carnton Plantation and Hosted Adam's Family

• Ran the Swing Through 5k

• Went on the Huntsville Historic Trolley Tour

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The Week that Was-#100 Happy Days

It took almost all week, but I am finally feeling better! I  feel like myself again, thank goodness. Tonight I even managed to go for a run! My first one in over a week. I get so nervous when I go so long between runs like that. I start to think I will lose all my fitness. I will say I felt a little clumsy out there, and I was about 20 seconds slower than usual, but I got that run behind me, so the next one will be much less nerve-wracking.  Which is good, because I start my official half-marathon training on Tuesday. I can't wait. I'm so pumped!

Now onto my 100 Happy Days for the Week:

Day 64-Sunday, I played fantasy football against Adam. I've always loved my fantasy name, The Therapist is In. I came so close to beating Adam, there was only 1 point difference between us in the end. I had it in the bag (I thought ), because my quarterback just needed to make one more completion. But then they pulled him, and put in the back-up quarter back. Grrrr. Had fun trash talking all weekend with Adam though.

Day 65-Monday, I was pleased to head out to Las Trojas Cantina for trivia night. I am even more pleased that we took 2nd place that night!

Day 66-One of my favorite artists, Lori Mckenna, released her new album, Numbered Doors, and I love it! So far, my favorite songs are Stranger in his Kiss and Good Marriage. I think she is probably the best song writer of all time. 

Day 67-I had a doctor appointment for a check-up after my ER visit last weekend. So I was home by the afternoon. I was able to take an afternoon nap on a weekday. Scandalous!

Day 68-I posted a picture of Adam and I from earlier this summer in celebration of our 8 year dateiversary.  Meaning 8 years since Adam asked me to be his girlfriend. We have been going strong ever since.

Day 69-I spent a little time organizing my Project Life stuff in my craft room. Having a craft room makes me so happy, I can't wait to paint it the colors I am envisioning. 

Day 70-My Disney obsession continues to grow strong. I was able to pick up Mulan at a local used movie store. Total score.

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Our Nautical Guest Room

I am so excited to post a few picture of our guest room in our new home! I have to say I really love how the room turned out, as I have wanted to do a a nautical themed room for quite a while. I will say however I learned that it is hard to photograph a bedroom! I couldn't get the light in the room to work for me, and I just wish I could do a 360 of the entire room instead. That being said, I think the pictures give a nice taste of the room.

The first thing we did with our guest room was paint it Roadster Blue (the color is somewhat brighter than it is in the pictures). I am pleased with the color, and I think it is perfect for the nautical feel. I was also super proud of us because the paint job turned out awesome! 

I had bought the two prints (We Have This Hope as an Anchor for our Soul & Not All Who Wander are Lost) from Etsy a while back.  One of my favorite pieces in the room is this Old World Vintage Map Canvas from Wayfair.  In the corner, I hung a boat painting that I created a few months ago. I decided to display some of my travel guides on the dresser, along with some of the snow globes I've collected over the years. I also picked up that little vase and fake flowers from hobby lobby.

While decorating the guest room, I learned the difference between a comforter and a duvet cover. When I ordered this old world style duvet cover, I was shocked when what seemed like a thin sheet arrived in the mail. I soon learned that a duvet cover is what you can put your comforter in! I love this cover. It is so beautiful.  

I got the idea to blow up a vintage map and crop it into 6 different prints from this blog. I chose to do a map of Amsterdam because that is the first overseas trip that we took together. That city is so special to us. The other canvas is a photograph that I took on that same trip. On the nightstand, there are some model ships that Adam had bought on Catalina Island, and I got the lighthouse at Hobby Lobby.

The massive painting by the closet is a family heirloom that my Great, Great Aunt had in her home. It is nice that it now belongs to us, and that we have a lovely place to display it. I also really liked this Welcome Friends sign with the lighthouse from hobby lobby.  I added some small touches like this pin-up girl light switch cover and light house fan pull. I also love the cheesiness that is the lighthouse hanging off the cord for the LIGHT, not the fan. Get it? 

We are so happy to have a designated room for guests now. We have never had that before. A few weeks ago, my mother-in-law got to be the first person to stay in the room! I just can't wait to host even more loved ones so we can show off our little room.

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