I finally did it! I finished my first half marathon. On Sunday morning, I ran the Lady Speed Stick Half Marathon. I have been training for it for the past twelve weeks. My training went "okay". I never felt really, super ready. I followed a training plan, but I always felt defeated after my long runs. I never ran as much as I really wanted to, and I just didn't feel like my heart was in it. I kept pushing none-the-less, and this past Sunday, I woke up at 4:30 to compete in my first half marathon race.
I was nervous, to say the least. I think I did pretty well for my first half. I definitely did better than I thought I was going to ... but I didn't do as well as I know I could do. It was fun, though. It was fun being there with my friends and running with a bunch of women. That morning, I hurt pretty badly, and I was achy. My legs felt like dead weight, but this morning, I feel pretty good. My legs aren't sore, and my feet don't hurt anymore. All in all, I am happy about my results.
My good, dear friend, Gina, ran it with me. She is a runner. She has completed so many marathons, I can't remember the actual number she has done. I do know she has qualified for and completed the Boston Marathon. She has done a ton of half marathons, too. I knew she would be the best person for me to run with for my first time. Plus, she is 27 weeks pregnant, so she needed to take it easy on this run ... especially since she ran another half marathon just over a week ago! She is nuts! (I guess this one was her last until after the baby arrives.) I am so thankful she ran it with me. She has so much running knowledge, and she knows me so well (we've known each other since elementary school). She was a great help to me! She kept pushing me, but never made me feel badly or like I was holding her back. She was a great encouragement for me as a first time marathoner.
Throughout the entire race, I decided I probably wouldn't do this again. My IT band in my right leg was cramping and my ankles hurt (which had never happened to me before) ... I was getting blisters on my left toes ... my legs felt so heavy ... yet, I kept pushing and I finished strong. Directly after the race, I kept thinking about what I would do different, and I almost wanted to do that one again just to change some of the things I wasn't too proud of. So ... a day has past, and I keep thinking about those things I want to improve and a new goal that I want to achieve. I'm pretty sure I never wanted to do this again ... but maybe I just want to go out on a better note. I want to improve my time just a little bit ... and I want my head in my training a little bit more. I have a little time to think about it, but I think I want to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February. I don't know if I will do it ... I don't know if I want to pay the money to do it. But I am, at least, thinking about it ... and that is saying a lot!
Getting ready to run ... we were there an hour and a half early!
Me and Gwendy at the starting line ... almost ready to start.
Crystal and Gina at the starting line.
Me and G ready to run together.
All done! 13.1 miles finished!
Me and Gwendy
Me with my lifelong friend, G! Couldn't have done it without her!
The medal.
kind of funky!
The pendant.
Engraved is the state of florida with a lady runner running through it.
The back ... it says Lady Speed Stick Women's Half Marathon, St. Petersburg, FL 2012
At the finish line ... ready to get something to eat!
I can't say that I'm going to be an avid racer, but I do like to run fun races. I'm definitely more of a 5K fun-run racer, but I did enjoy this half marathon ... and I know I will enjoy another fun half, like the Disney Princess. I guess time will tell if I do another one!
I have done it! I hung the sign that I made. I went to Ace Hardware, and I asked some guys what I needed to hang a wood sign. I showed them a picture, and I thought I explained very well what I was hanging. They looked at me like I was nuts and tried to give me some flimsy j-hooks on nails. I told them again and again ... "It's pretty heavy ... like, I will definitely need drywall anchors and possibly eye-hooks and wire." Finally, they seemed to get the idea, and they got me what I needed. So, this afternoon, I hung the sign in the living room. Now, what you will see will still need your imagination. I will hang pictures all around it in different frames with photos of our families (and our personal family). Also, we will eventually have a sofa and other furniture in this room ... for now, dedicated as the "Toy Room".
Hung on the wall!
I've been feeling very crafty and accomplished lately. It feels good!
I, also, took a picture of the frame I repurposed for a picture of Colton. It used to house a poster of artwork but not anymore! I hung it above the guest bedroom with these other fine pieces. A mirror that hung in my grandparents' home and other pictures of our family. I like how it helps to frame a bed with no headboard.
The frame used to be blue. I spray painted it white and then I sanded it down.
The collection of things hanging above the bed that has no head board. I like how it looks. At least something is hanging in that room now!
Another framing project I have been working on is something that I have wanted to do for a long time, and I just never got around to it. I finally decided to try it ... anything could be better than what I was working with to begin with. When Dad H was in Myanmar (Burma), he would get pictures done for us of our family in gems and precious stones. He did our wedding photo, a picture of Colton, and a picture of Billy and I on the top of Mt. Fuji. It doesn't matter what picture you give them, you always get the same frame ... brown or gold with a red velvet mat. I decided to spray paint the frame black and latex paint the velvet mat a creamy color. It took me three coats of latex paint on the mat, but I think it turned out pretty good! Now, I notice the picture a lot more and the frame a lot less. I just have to do it one more time for Colton's picture (since I reframed our wedding photo already).
This is the typical frame and mat. Gold (the one I painted was brown wood but the same style) and a red velvet mat.
This is how the picture would have looked in the original frame.
This is the new and improved frame!
I spray painted the frame glossy black, and I brush painted the mat a creamy color.
So, I wrote yesterday that today I was going to blog about my projects that I have been working on recently. I'm pretty excited, because as I sit here typing about my projects, I am watching KU play basketball against Michigan State. I love college basketball season! I'm not sure how our team will fare this year ... we don't have the "dream team" of years past, but you never know. I do know that I am missing Thomas Robinson. But still ... I am happy to have KU on the TV as I write this ... it makes for a better evening overall.
My biggest project of late has been painting half of our house. I painted the small hallway into the guest room, the dining room, and the living room ... I, also, tore down all of the wall paper in the entry way, and I cleaned the walls and painted them. It has been a big project that took me about 2 months to complete ... not that I worked on it every day or every week, but I started it in mid-September, and I just finished it last Friday. Phew! I do not want to paint for a long time ... at least until after Christmas! Here are some before and after pictures of our rooms and the painting that was completed.
BEFORE ... Wall Paper & Gold Paint
AFTER ... New Paint & No Wall Paper!
Today, I finished a project I started yesterday--I suppose technically, I started it last spring when I power washed and tore a part a palate that we bought for $5 that had sod on it when we needed to replace some grass in our front yard. I could have returned it for $5. But I told Billy that I had an idea, and I wanted to keep it, instead. For over six months and to Billy's chagrin, I have had pieces of wood sitting in our garage. Yesterday, I pieced them all together, and I began the painting process. Today I finished the painting part. For the most part, it is complete, I just need to attach the hangers, so I can mount it on our living room wall. I am very pleased with how it turned out. And it cost me less than $10 for this piece of art. It's about 4 feet wide and 2 feet tall (give or take). I love it! I am very happy with it! I can't wait to see it on the wall.
Put together ... I took a part the original palate. And I used the circular saw for the first time in my life to cut the three 2x4s on the back down to size. I was pretty impressed with how much fun it was to use the circular saw! Then I nailed it together.
I added a rough/vintage/old coat of paint in "Baked Brie" Behr test paint.
I finished by cutting our name out of paper that I drew letters on. I taped it to the boards, and I rolled paint over the top ... I can't remember the color, but it's a dark gray color by Behr in their test size. Then I removed the stencils and voila! I can't wait to hang it!
I, also, refurbished a frame I already own, and I put Cole's picture into it. It's in our guest room. I didn't take any pictures yet, so I'll get that up in another blog. I've been pretty busy, I guess!
Next up ... I have a baby blanket to make ... and two (of my own kids') more to finish. I, also, need to get Khloe's "map table" chair completed. She keeps trying to climb up into Colton's chair. He gets annoyed by that ... so I just need to finish hers. I just have to detail her name on it. I have other projects, as well. But those are top on my priority list.
Today, we went to the zoo for MOMs Club. It ended up being just Gwendy and me. We had a lot of fun, and the kids really enjoyed seeing all of the animals and riding the train and feeding the goats. Colton said his favorite part was seeing the giraffes. I think he really liked riding the train, too!
I was in a hurry when I left the house this morning. I usually grab Khloe's shoes, but I don't necessarily put them on her until we get where we are going. She is infamous for taking her shoes off in the car ... maybe she's a hippy at heart! Anyway, I didn't want her not to have shoes all day, because we were going to be gone for a while. She wouldn't be able to get down to walk at all. So, I stopped at Target, and I found these cute shoes! I love them! They remind me of Korea. I think they are my favorite pair she owns!
Khloe and Colton watching the rhinos.
It was Koki's first time on the carousel. She wasn't too sure about it. She didn't exactly cry, but she wasn't exactly excited, either! I don't think it helped that Cole cried the whole time. Then when it stopped and he got down, he said, "That was fun! Let's do it again!" Really!?!
Don't let Cole's "Cheese" face fool you ... he didn't like it at all. (As per usual.) Yet, he wanted to ride it again!
On a ride more his speed ... the train. He was munching a cracker when I took this picture!
Riding the train with Koki.
Cole loves to feed the goats!
Petting the goats.
Cole's new pal.
With his buddy, Mason.
Tonight, my neighbor lady (Judy) called me and asked me if I could sub for a player in her monthly Bunco game. I had never played Bunco before, but I thought "why not"? So, I went. It was pretty fun. For a once a month thing, I could do this more often. Plus, I could stand to make some money. I lost $8 tonight, but it was enjoyable. It's a room full of older ladies, but it was nice to get out and play games. I love to play games! Bunco doesn't take much thinking or skill. It's all about luck! We'll see how lucky I am next month. The ladies asked me if I would like to come again. Why not!?! So, I'm now a part of a Bunco group. How old does that make me?
Khloe's off to the races! About a week and a half ago, Khloe decided she was ready to walk everywhere she wanted to go. She's off to the races! I have a video here of her walking ... but this is actually before she decided that walking was better than crawling. This is a painstaking video of us getting her to walk to us ... it wasn't but a day or two later, she was racing around walking much more confidently. But enjoy this video for now... I'll post a better one later. This video was taken November 1st.
I've been thinking of what I should do for Colton's 3rd birthday. It sort of snuck up on me! I wasn't thinking about it at all when my friend asked me what the theme was going to be. Hmmmm ... I hadn't thought about it. Colton has been loving Mario Kart. He loves to play a couple of races with Dad before bed time. He's gotten pretty good at it, too. He's even finished first a few times by himself! So, I thought a Mario theme would be fun. We'll have some family and friends over for his birthday, and hopefully, I can figure out how to make a cute Mario cake.
For Cole's Birthday, I took some 3rd Birthday pictures. A little photo shoot for him ... and of course, some of him and Koki. I think it went fairly well. Much better than last year! I guess the older he gets the easier it will get ... I hope. :)
This is one of my favorites!
I like this one a lot, too!
With his sissy ... I love it!
I love these kiddos! They are so cute!
Giggles
I love Cole's face here.
a pinecone
so cute!
Such a big boy now!
Jump, jump!
Jumping and running!
Walking along ...
Sweet face ...
Me with my boy.
Me with my dolly.
Loving Cole's Mater.
Cutie.
So ... a little over a week ago, we were at the park for one of my MOMs Club board meetings. The kids were playing in the field next to the park. Soon, I see Colton crying, and I wonder what could possibly be wrong in an empty field. I get up to the boy he is playing with (who is walking toward me), and he says, "Colton fell in a mud puddle." Ay! I did not bring him a change of clothing. Luckily, the moms pulled together for me, and we found a change of dry clothes (that said "Little Brother" on the shirt), and a pair of shoes (that were pink ... they were girl's shoes). Nice. At least he was dry! He did not like being soaking wet and muddy! It was pretty funny.
Before: He was drenched! Soaking wet shoes and socks ... and pants and undies and shirt.
After: Dry and happy. Even in pink shoes!
When we went to vote last week, I took the kiddos out for breakfast before we went to run a few errands that morning. Billy and I voted before he headed to work, so that I didn't have to take the kids into the polling site with me. Colton was excited to have tator tots! We had breakfast with the King ... and the kids got crowns. Cole was super excited that he got Mario and Koki got Luigi. It was perfect! What great breakfast buddies I had that morning.
Mario and Luigi
Nut bucket.
BIG giggles ... a little blurry but cute.
My little Luigi.
Later that morning ... at JoAnns ... a little reindeer appeared.
This past weekend, we went to Brenda and Gerson's house for Sabbath. Mom H came down last weekend and has been there for about a week. She was helping B with Ethan. He has been struggling to sleep, eat, be healthy, etc. Mom was there to help solve at least one issue. By the end of one week, she had his sleeping schedule better. So, I hope he starts to allow Brenda to have some rest. Babies can be tough sometimes. It was a nice visit overall, so I'm glad we got to see them. The kids always love to see family. We went on a walk after naps on Sabbath, and we stopped to play at the park a little bit. Colton was loving going down the big, twisty slide. And as per usual, Khloe had to go down the big slide, too ... because as her motto goes: "anything you can do, I can do better."
Headed to the big, twisty slide.
Going down with Mommy ... and I had to force her to go with me. She was wanting to go down by herself ... which she did the very next time after this picture.
Cole and Mommy head down the slide. He actually slid down after me. We made a train down the slide.
This past Sunday was the best weather ever! I started out with a 10-mile run. It was great ... except that I was SO thirsty the last three miles. I should've put water along my route. Oh, well. At least there will be water stops during my half marathon this coming Sunday. The weather was perfect, at least. Then we took the kids to the park to play soccer and to play on the playground. It was a lot of fun! Khloe is such a daredevil ... at least compared to Colton. Cole never really cared to climb anything. Koki wants to climb it all and go down the slides by herself! She went to the rock climbing part of the playground and said, "Up, peas!" (She NEVER says please. That's a big deal!) She climbed up that wall with my help, climbed up the slides, climbed up the stairs ... she was on the go. Then she was chasing after the soccer ball with Colton out in the field. It was fun to see the kids enjoying a little soccer time.
On her way down by herself.
On her way up ... her favorite pastime at the park ... climbing up the slide. The teacher in me wants to tell her that we don't go up the slide and to use it properly ... but then I remember that it's not a rule outside of school! Climb away, little one!
Soccer time!
Sunday night, I found that this shampoo bottle (which I bought before Colton was born) is finally out of shampoo. No, despite what it seems like, this isn't the only bottle of shampoo we've ever used! We have gone through several bottles of shampoo and soap ... sometimes this one wasn't used for a long time ... plus, I only need a tiny bit to wash my kids' hair. Anyway, we've gone through lots of bottles, but this one seemed to last and last ... and it's finally done now. I'm sad ... it's the very first bottle of shampoo I had ever bought for my baby(ies). And now it's gone.
Today, the kids and I ran a couple of errands. I am working on another project. I will post a picture tomorrow of a couple of projects I have been working on. I haven't gotten around to posting pictures of my painting. I will blog about that tomorrow. Anyway, I needed to get some things for my latest project. While we were at the grocery store, Colton saw the Christmas Little Debbies, and since we NEVER buy them ... he's probably only had one or two oatmeal creme pies in his life (and that's it) ... I thought it would be a nice holiday treat. He's never had the joy of a Little Debbie brownie. I bought one box of Christmas tree brownies. He loved it, and so did Koki! (She got half of a brownie.)
Yummy!
Later that same day .... Colton showed me this toy and said, "Is this a sea urchin?" Very good deducing, Colton. No, but it sure does look like one!
Earlier that same day, Koki is too adventurous! She wants to climb up on everything in the house. Apparently, she was trying to climb up on the footstool in the bathroom. She fell and hit her head on the corner. Do you see the bruise and swelling above her left eye? This kid is going to kill me! I'm going to need an entire tube of Arnica just for her!
Well, I better get back to watching the Chiefs actually make a game out of Monday Night Football. Despite all of the craziness, bad calls, turnovers, and missed field goals ... we are tied at 10 all.
