In the last few weeks . . .

In case you are wondering what I've been up to lately . . .

A few weeks ago I wrote about running my first 5K.  I have to tell you that I loved writing that post!   The 5K was a huge accomplishment for me and I hope to do many more.  Aaron didn't think I could do it so I was super stoked that I proved him wrong.  He was shocked that I stuck with the whole new runners program.  What confidence he had in me, huh?  You may remember from that post that my ankle was hurting pretty bad after I finished.  Well, I walked on it for days and the pain just got worse and worse.  Finally by Wednesday I decided to see a doctor about it and was lucky enough to be able to be seen that day.

I was happy to learn that it wasn't actually my ankle that was hurt and very disappointed to find out that it is in fact a Tibial Stress Fracture.  Which means I am wearing an air cast and have to wear it for 8-12 weeks.  Which meant no running at all for the first 2 weeks.  I'm just at the point where I can run 400 meters and walk 400 meters alternating on a soft track for a total of 2 miles.  I actually started back today.  I ran/walked for 1.5 miles on a soft track and I had to keep the air cast on - which wasn't that bad.  I was nervous about it because I didn't want to aggravate my injury but so far no pain!  I am excited to be able to run again because not running has been torture!

So . . . what else has been happening?

Adrianna has had her last few soccer games . . .

Photo op :)

Go #4!!

 I took this picture because her hair looks like a halo :)

And she goes for the goal . . .

She shoots . . .

She scores!!!  Look at how high she jumped.  Maybe she should be playing basketball . . .

Aaron took Ava to see The Hunger Games so I took Adrianna to Burlington City Park for a little bit.  Ava enjoyed the movie and Adrianna had a good time at the park.  I let her wear "dangly" earrings, ride the carousel by herself and get some Dippin Dots.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I got Dippin Dots, too.

Ava joined the Girl Scouts (no pics, sorry).  My Mom went with her to an all day badge blitz which included hiking, canoeing, and rock wall climbing.  All things I couldn't do so my awesome Mom went in my place.  She had more fun than I would've anyway.  I'm not a fan of lake water and woods.  Ick!  My Mom took pictures but alas, they are on her camera, not mine.  While Ava and Mom were having their adventures, Aaron, Adrianna and I hung out at the pool with my Step dad.  It was a pretty day but the water was too cold for me to get in.  Adrianna was determined so she and Opa would swim a little then jump in the hot tub.  Again and again.

 I went to a Mother's Day brunch with a friend . . .

We spent Mother's Day at my Mom's with my sister and her family and my Mother-in-law.  We hung out at the pool a little bit, played badminton, the kids rode the gator and scooter, played a little air hockey and Mom and Ava played the violin and mandolin for us.  It was a rainy day but we all enjoyed hanging out together and had a great lunch.  The girls even braved the pool for a little bit.  I'll have more pics of our Mother's Day fun and pics of what I made Mom this year up soon.

Two crazy girls in the pool!

Ava playing the violin

Well, that's all for now . . . 

Natalie

Get your running shoes on . . .

Well, I ran my first 5K yesterday!  The Dogwood 5K in Mebane.  I was so nervous before the race began.  A few days before, I had read that there were around 500 people preregistered for the race.  The day of the race of the race, around 600.  When the times were posted there were 531 names on the list!

My sister and one of her boys were able to come spend the afternoon with me and go to the race with us.  She was our personal photographer :)  I think she really enjoyed getting horrible pictures of me because there sure were a lot!  She is my little sister.  Really, she got some great pics of all of us!  They were also able to stay afterwards for dinner which was great.

Our biggest fan, Noah!

 OK, if you don't know me then I have to tell you that I don't like to sweat and I used to agree with my Mom that the only time you would see me running would be if someone was chasing me.  If you know me, I'm SURE you already knew that!  (I also don't like to be outside or get dirty).  And why would anyone want to bring self-inflicted pain on themselves by running?  About 10 weeks ago I joined the New Runners Program in my town.  They promised to take you from not running at all, to running a 5K in 10 weeks.  Couch to 5K.  So for these past 10 weeks I have been running with my new runners group and another friend who has been so encouraging (thank you Faith!!!!).  After huffing and puffing at least 3 days a week for 10 weeks, sore muscles and several running related "injuries" later, I am able to run 3.1 miles without stopping.  People, this is HUGE for me!  Our running club had run this 5K course 2 previous times with so we would know the route and know what to expect.  See, most of us had never run a race at all before.  I have been to several races to cheer my husband on and Ava did her first 5K last year, but I had never experienced the adrenalin rush and excitement of actually being in the race.

I knew what to expect from a spectators point of view, where to stand to watch, when to expect the first runners back and the ones you are supporting, and the excitement of your friends or family crossing the finish line.  I didn't know what to expect as the herd of hundreds of people "line" up (it's more like a crowd) at the starting line.  What was even more nerve racking was that I knew how many people were running and I knew that there was only about half that amount entered in the race last year (somebody please correct me if I'm wrong on those numbers but if I remember correctly, I looked at the race results last year and there were around 288 people).  What happens if the people in front of you are slower as the gun goes off?  What happens if the people behind you are faster than you and you get knocked down?  Will trying to get around people slow me down and cause me to exert more energy than I'm used to?  Will my time be better or worse than practice time?  Will I really get that last burst of energy at the end when I hear the crowd cheering for us at the finish?  I'm glad to answer a big "YES" to that last question.  Will I be able to keep a steady pace?  The mentors from running club had gone over all this stuff with us a few weeks before but you really have to experience it to "get it".

All these questions on top of worrying where my 9 year old, Ava, was in this massive crowd of people.  Will she get trampled?  Fall down?  Get hurt?  I scanned the crowd in front of me for about the first mile before I saw her and I am relieved to say that she did awesome!  She did not get trampled or fall down (nor did I) and she finished about 4 minutes ahead of me.

I started off great!  I dodged people here and there and had a good pace going.  It was completely different than running with my running club where there was usually around 20-30 people running.  I did get slowed down a little and had to dodge around people and maybe it did take more energy.  I also had to look out for all those kids who were running.  You know, a shoe comes untied - just stop and tie it, right in front of me :)  They did great though!  I am so thankful to live in a town that is truly passionate about health and fitness and getting our kids and their families active.  All of the elementary schools in our town now have running clubs for the kids.  A big shout out to all of the teachers who coach these kids and take time to get them ready for the race!!!  One of these people just happens to be my friend, Erin, who is an awesome runner (triathlete) and a huge inspiration!  Another one of these is Ava's 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Gibbs.  I was thrilled to see all the running club coaches from our school running with their kids.  There was also the PE coach, Adrianna's 1st grade assistant, 2nd and 3rd grade teachers, and more coaching the kids and running.  I was happy to see so many of the coaches come back and run with kids after they had finished with their first groups.  Yes, that means that they finished, ran back to find more running club kids - passing me along the way - and running back to the finish again! 

Like I said, I was doing great for the first two miles.  At the 2 mile mark, there was a lady calling out your time as you passed by and at 2 miles I was at 21:15.  I was thinking, heck yeah!  Keep this pace up!  But, with only one mile to go, I started pooping out.  There were hills.  And inclines.  And did I say hills?  I slowed way down but saw some fellow new runners and decided I needed to keep up.  I'm happy to say that I ran the whole time and gave it my all at the end.  Even though I felt like my lungs were going to explode and my left ankle was going to detach from my leg.

Aaron crossing the finish line!

Ava getting ready to cross the finish line!  She got some encouragement form Dad :)

 What excitement when I was coming around the bend towards the finish line!  I saw my hubby and Ava waiting for me at the corner.  Ava jumped back in and ran with me through the finish.  What an awesome girl I have!!  I had tunnel vision and my sight set on that finish line.  I had no idea where my sister was or my friends.  The only other person I did "see" was Tammy, an awesome running club mentor, holding her hand out for a high five as I ran by.  That was great!  People were clapping and yelling and it really did make me speed up.  But crossing that finish line was the best feeling.  A feeling of relief, elation and accomplishment.  By "the best feeling" I mean emotionally because I was in some pain!

Getting my high five from Tammy!

My girl helping me out at the end!

Almost there!  I'm sparing you the back view of me actually crossing the finish line.  You're welcome.

Cheering on the rest of the runners!

After cheering on the rest of the runners, we mingled with friends and took pictures.  I just have to say that this was so much fun and it was even better because Aaron, Ava and I all did it together.  Of course we had a post race celebration at a Mexican restaurant with friends!

So, you are probably wondering what my time was . . . Well, I will proudly post that my time for my FIRST 5K was 34:38.  A little better than I did on our practice runs.  I guess that's not so bad for my first ever race and the fact that I've only been running seriously for about 10 weeks.  Ava on the other hand did awesome and came in 3rd in her age group!  Her time was 31:43.  Go Ava!!!  Aaron's time was 24:15.  A full 10 minutes before me!

One tired family!

She's done and feeling good!

Before I even ran this race, Ava and I have already planned our next 2.  But first I'm going to rest this ankle!  Hopefully I will be better in a week or so and be able to keep up my running.  I'm looking forward to running more races with my family and hopefully catching up with them in the future :)

While we were running our race, my Mom took Adrianna to her soccer game.  Guess what I missed?  My baby girl scoring 4 points in her game!!!  What!?!?!

This is not a picture from that game but I imagine this is what her face looked like after scoring all her goals :)

I think we may have a new advertisement for Brooks running shoes :)

Here's to future races (and better paces)!

Natalie

Soccer, bubbles and paint

We have had some beautiful weather here the past few days!  My kids LOVE playing outside!  Me? Not so much.  I really don't like to get sweaty or dirty.  However, I have really enjoyed getting outside with the kids lately.  The time change has been nice also.  A little extra daylight means more time to play outside.  I also have been running with the New Runners Club and am loving it.  I actually look forward to running and feel a little lost on my off days.  To curb that "lost" feeling and keep me on my path to getting in shape, I have been doing some quick workouts that the hubby has helped me with on my off days.  

 

We've had a lot going on lately.  Adrianna started her first season of soccer!  She had one practice then the next day had a game.  We loved watching her play.  She did really well for not having played before and was the biggest cheerleader for her team.  I just loved watching her jump up and down while she cheered her team on from the sidelines.  It was cold and rainy for her first game and we were miserable but she loved it!   

Looking like a pro already ;)

We got some things done around the house this weekend.  One of those thing was replacing the flowers in the flower boxes on the front porch and potting a few other flowers.  

 

The past few weekends Aaron had been helping me get my sewing room ready.  A lot of the things I am using in my sewing room I have had for a long time.  Just waiting to put it all together!  There were several things that needed to be painted and one big item got an overhaul!  

A few weeks ago we got a new TV and had to replace the entertainment center.  The new TV wouldn't fit in it.  Before we got the new TV stand Aaron suggested that he do some cosmetic surgery on our ginormous one that we had and try to use it instead of buying new.  After a few measurements he decided it wouldn't work.  This entertainment center is the one that had been in my house as I was growing up for as long as I can remember.  It was passed down to me and Aaron and we have used it ever since.  I wanted to sell it but Aaron wanted me to keep it to use in my craft room.  Well, this thing is really big.  And really tall.  I argued that it would be too big and over power the room.  He argued all the storage potential it had.  It didn't go with my room.   He again mentioned he could cut the top off.  I was kinda coming around to the idea then my friend Erin came over and said, "You should cut the top off and just have the drawers.  Paint it!"  So guess what . . . you ready to see the before and after pics?

BEFORE

 Here is the monstrocity of an entertainment center before.  (Please ignore all the junk, we were moving things around)

AFTER

 And after a facelift, here we are!

With plenty of drawer space for fabric and other things!  My Mom came over and helped me move all my fabric from the hall closet to the drawers.  It was a two person job.  There are 4 drawers of fabric.  I think I have a problem . . .

A nice little cubby.  This is probably my favorite thing about this piece of furniture.  My sister and I used to hide in this hole when we were little. (the shelf is removable)

 A place for my thread on top!

 I have been so excited to have a place for my thread.  You just don't understand!  I bought this spool rack about a year ago and painted it a pretty shade of blue and it has been sitting in the garage ever since!  Every time I need a different color of thread I had to go in the garage to get it.  

 My sewing desk.  Obviously I haven't used it to sew on because my sewing machine is in it's case on the floor to the right of the table!  I bought this table at a yard sale a few years ago.  I wanted it really bad but got it for Ava.  I painted it the color the I wanted to paint it and it has been in her room until we repainted a desk that was my Grandmother's and switched them out.  Actually, my Grandmother's desk would have been more suitable for sewing but I love the lines of this one!

This little corner isn't quite finished.  I really need to find some type of shelving to go to the left of my desk.  I have a pretty yellow lamp that needs a home and I think it would work perfectly there if I can find the right type of shelf . . . may just have to make one . . . The three pieces of art hanging on the wall there are all painted by Adrianna.  I'll  have a place for Ava's as well.  She just needs to paint some pictures for me!

 Here we have a reclaimed piece of trash!  Sometime last year my friend Erin and I went walking while the kids had choir practice.  She got to church before me and spotted this piece of trash.  Of course it was minus the blue paint and chicken wire but she saw potential and new I was looking for stuff for my room.  So I loaded it in my car and hauled it home.  I wish I had taken a before picture but it was just some kind of particle board used for packaging.  Now it's a place to clip fabric swatches and yarn for color stories and ideas and pictures my kids draw!

 I have had this shelf for about 2 years.  Just sitting in the garage.  So not too long ago Aaron took it to Goodwill without asking me.  When I noticed it was gone I was so upset.  He thought since it had been sitting in the garage for 2 years I wasn't going to use it.  So, he went to GW to see if it was still there.  He was so lucky it was still there.  He had to buy it back for $3.99.  What a bargain!

So, my room is getting there.  Slowly but surely!  I'll post more pictures as I get more of it finished.

Today we enjoyed more beautiful weather and the girls played outside with chalk, bubbles and basketball.

Love this face!

Now I am going to get the girls ready for bed!  I won't be too far behind them.  I'm tired!

Natalie