It is hard for me to believe that I will be 30 in less than 3 years. As a child, that number always felt so grown up to me. I definitely don't think it's old (especially as I approach it), but it does hold a new decade for me. In honor of the occasion (I know I'm starting early) I'm making a list of 30 things I would like to accomplish from now until my 30th year is complete. This gives me a little more than 3 years to get it all done. A lot of my list has been on my mind for years to do, so I'm anxious to have a celebratory cause and a deadline for myself.
These are listed in no specific order.
RUN a 5K.
Read the whole Bible.
Have another child.
Back-up all of my photos and important documents online and on an external hard drive.
Read at least 10 classical novels.
Go to NYC.
Try yoga..
Try Zumba.
Go on a cruise.
Take a Photoshop and camera/photography class.
Make a wedding scrap book or photo book.
Make a scrap book or photo book of my pregnancy, birth, and growth of Emery.
Make a photo book of all of my Project52s.
Create a recipe book with all of my favorite recipes from my mom, grandmothers, and Jeremiah's family.
What a difference 2 months makes. Running (I call it that, but it's definitely more like jogging) has become a regular part of my life. When I started on May 1, I knew this time was different. This was a grace-filled change in my life. It felt right in my whole being. It's funny to me though how I have such a love-hate relationship with it. From what I can tell, if you're a runner, you know what I mean. It's painful, hard, HOT and humid, but it's also amazing, fulfilling, and motivating.
My husband gave me the best piece of advice ever. He said, "When you don't feel like doing it is exactly when you need to do it." I couldn't agree more. There was a week right around Mother's Day that Emery and I were both so sick. I've never had the flu, but I think that might have been it. I couldn't breathe. My body was sore. And, I just wanted to sleep. But I knew I had to keep running. This was such a pivotal time in my journey (the beginning) that I needed to keep going no matter what. I'm so so so so thankful I kept going.
Currently we are on Week 7 (of 9) in the C25K training. We repeated weeks 1-5. From this point on we are jogging the entire time except for the 5 minute warm up walk and cool down walk.
Just a little progress report...when I first started the C25K training running 1 minute was exhausting and so hard. I remember thinking, "Can I make it? Running for 1 whole minute?" Well, yes I could! And, as of yesterday, I've jogged 25 minutes straight without stopping. AND, an added bonus is I've lost 11 lbs!
I'm really learning that for me, my running ability is 90% mind, 5% hydration, and 5% what I ate that day. (That's my very non-expert breakdown). My body is capable of doing so much more than I ever thought it could. If my heart isn't in it that day it's harder. If I'm 100%, I feel like I could keep going. When I find just the right pace and breathing pattern it feels so good!
I feel so proud and honored to be living my life right now. This journey is wonderful. God is constantly showing me things that have blessed me while running. Just last night, I was wanting to look back to check on some people behind us, but whenever I did I got off and it felt like the energy was zapped from me. I felt like God was telling me, "Let the past be the past. If you keep looking back, you'll loose your focus and energy for the future." It was so fitting and just what I needed to hear. It's amazing how much running relates to life. I love it!
My AWESOME momma helped me make curtains for my dining room! My poor windows have been curtain-less for a year. I knew burlap curtains were the way I wanted to go. My mom had made some for her den, and they were so cute! I had to get some for myself.
Disclaimer (ha!): While my mom and I can sew (she's waaaaaaay better and more knowledgeable than I am), we are by no means professionals. We didn't follow a pattern to make these curtains, and I have no idea if we did them the 'right' way. I also don't know much sewing terminology, so I apologize if I don't describe things correctly. Also, burlap is super messy to work with. It sheds like crazy!
STEP 1: Determine how long you want your curtains to be and add a few inches to the length when you buy it so you account for the hems. (I wanted 8 ft. curtains, so I went ahead and got 3 yards of fabric/panel to work with). I got the burlap and the muslin (for the lining) I needed.
STEP 2: Measure and cut your fabric (burlap and muslin). For 8 ft. panels, we cut the fabric to 100 inches so we would have 4 extra inches to work with for the hems. We used my hardwood floors, measuring tape, a yard stick, a fabric pencil, and good fabric scissors to cut straight lines.
STEP 3: If your fabric is like mine and the long side is frayed, it's good to iron the fray down so hemming the sides is easier and looks nicer. You'll want the fray to fold into the wrong-side of the fabric (the side of the fabric that won't be showing).
STEP 4: Lay your burlap fabric right side down and then lay your muslin fabric centered on top of your burlap. At this point, we pinned the long side of the curtain panel's hems. We measured our hem to be 2 inches. TIP: Keep the pins about 2 inches apart. This helps keep the hem from bubbling when you're sewing it. Now, repeat this on all of the long sides of your curtain panels. (We'll work on the tops and bottoms later.)
STEP 5: Now it's time to sew the hem. Sew as close to the inside of the hem that you can. Keep it straight and use the medium length setting on your sewing machine's stitch width.
STEP 6: Once you've sewn all of the panel's side hems, remove the pins and iron them so they are nice and flat. Ironing always makes things look more finished.
STEP 7: Time to work on the top hem. Repeat step 3. You'll need to iron the fray down so it's easier to create your hem. Then fold your hem over. We also made the hem 2 inches for the top.
STEP 8: Sew the top hem. Make sure you secure as you begin and finish sewing. Like it step 5, keep it as close to the inside as possible. Remove the pins and iron when you're finished. Then enjoy how pretty it looks.
STEP 9: I decided to use the curtain clips to hang the curtain. So clip those on and hang them on your curtain rod. (This is how you'll determine the bottom hem of your curtain.)
STEP 10: Smooth your curtain out and let the fabric fall to the floor. (This part is probably the 'redneck' way to do this (ha!), but momma and I didn't know the official way). Now, lay your yard stick along the bottom of the curtain panel and push it against the wall so it makes an indention. Along the indention is where you need to pin. This will be your guide to know where the bottom of your hem will fall. I wanted my curtains to hit the floor but not pool.
STEP 11: Remove the curtains from the rod and back to your working area. Using a yard stick and your fabric pencil, draw a line on the inside of your fabric to follow where your pinned your guide line.
STEP 12: Using the line you just drew as your guide, mark a 2nd line below the pin-guided line. We wanted our bottom hem to be 1.5 inches. This will be the line you cut along.
STEP 13: Cut along your bottom guide line. Repeat steps 7 and 8 for your bottom hem.
STEP 14: Iron your curtains. Clip the curtain hanger clips back on, then hang them back up. Enjoy your beautiful homemade burlap curtains!
Hi, my name is Kristen, and I'm a wanna-be(coming) runner.
It all started about a year ago. (Not me actually running (ha!), but the idea of possibly, maybe trying it out someday.) I started searching Couch to 5K plans and that's about as far as I got. I now know that God was planting a little seed in my heart that would need some watering before it could grow.
For someone who has never ran a day in her adult life, it seemed so out of reach and overwhelming. God knew I felt that way. And, thankfully, He was prepared to and did help me. I started noticing more local 5Ks that sparked my interest. Some of my friends were participating in 5Ks, and I was always thinking, "maybe someday." And then, my husband announced that a dream of his was to start and host an annual 5K to raise money for the local anti-drug community. At that point I knew it was something I really wanted to do for myself and to be supportive of my man.
Running was something that just kept coming up in my heart and head. At the end of 2011 as I was asking God for direction for 2012, He made it clear to me that my physical fitness life would begin to change in the new year. It was so refreshing to know and felt completely different than anything before. I have been notorious for starting diets and exercise plans and not finishing them. I was to the point I would rather stay overweight than start something new and not finish it. But, when God directed me that 2012 would be different, I really believed it.
January, February, and March came and passed and my heart was still light with the idea that 2012 would be different and that I was a runner deep down inside. Then sweet April came and really watered that little seed that had been budding. In April, my sister Amanda told me about a blog she came across, Eclectic Whatnot. She said, "Kristen, I found this blog about this lady (Ruthanne) who is a busy mom who's lost a lot of weight by doing a Couch to 5K and running! It reminds me so much of you!" I was so excited! This wasn't some crazy fitness lady who had always been a runner, always been a skinny stick, and always ate the most healthy stuff. This was a lady who was a busy mom, who had dealt with issues of being overweight, and had decided that she was going to be a runner. It was absolutely inspiring and freeing to me. It was exactly the motivation I needed to get started on a Couch to 5K plan.
I remember reading this specific blog post of Ruthanne's first, Couch to 1/2 marathon in 7 months, 2 weeks & 2 days, and I was just so emotional and ecstatic. I also remember telling my husband all about this post and crying when I was telling him about Ruthanne's family cheering her on as she ran her half marathon and how her husband stayed with her. I'm not normally a crier, so my husband first asked, "Are you pregnant?" Ha!!! After a big, "NO!" I went on to explain just how precious that was and how much I could relate to her. It just reminded me how important a support system is and would be for me to start and finish this thing.
That was all I needed to get started. I had been sharing with my mom and some girlfriends about doing a C25K and they happily jumped on board. (Thank God!) My friend, Michelle, had a good head start on me and was encouraging and inspiring as well. She signed up for the Susan G. Komen 5K and encouraged us to join her. I downloaded the Couch to 5K (Active.com) app on my husbands Iphone, and our little team got started! My 'team' consists of my momma (Beth), my sister (Rachel), my sister (Amanda -- who is doing it in a different town), my childhood friend Natalie, and my sweet friend Brittany. While Michelle doesn't run with us, we definitely still consider her on our team.
We meet 3 times a week and get our running on! Since we're all either beginners or it's been awhile for us, we have decided to repeat each week so we are comfortable with moving on to the next phase.
Natalie shared a quote that has become our motto, "You can be sore tomorrow or sorry tomorrow." (Or in our case sore today and tomorrow ha!) While there are many days we just don't feel like doing it, we do it anyway. And, we are so glad we did. I'm so thankful for my group of girls and for Ruthanne for being a big encouragement. We've got this!
I'm only referring to a Britney Spears song because I've been watching The Voice, but I did do it again....I burnt one of my favorite pots! Like BAD! Both times I've done this I was steaming veggies, and I didn't notice the water had run out. But, eventually, I smelled that the water ran out and quickly figured out that my pot was ruined. Or, so I thought. The first time I did this I threw the pot away because I didn't know it was salvageable.
Thank God for the internet! I came across an article that was a 'How to" for cleaning burnt pots just a few days before my incident and I knew it was a God thing. The second time around, I decided to try it and IT WORKED!
To clean a burnt pot you need:
Vinegar
Baking Soda
Water
Scrub sponge
First fill the pot with a layer of water (enough to cover the bottom). Add about a cup of vinegar. Bring that to a boil. As this boils you'll see the burnt spots begin to loosen. Once it's a rolling boil, remove the pot from the heat. Add about 2 Tbs. of baking soda to the pot. It will cause an explosion! It's awesome! But, not too messy. It's more of a contained explosion. This step it what really breaks off the burnt spots. Once all of that is done, dump it out and for the tough spots, scrub the pot with a sponge and some dish detergent.
A couple of mornings ago, Emery was watching the Disney Channel while I was getting ready. In between blow drying my hair and refilling Cheerios, I caught the sweetest poem. It's called "Mother's Song." It's a lullaby written by the 19th century folklorist Sabine Baring-Gould. It brought tears to my eyes and describes so perfectly how I feel about my sweet Emery Rose.
I knew I was extra excited about the New Year worship service at church for some reason. I went expecting and I received! During Praise and Worship, the Lord gave me a song, just for me (the best kind). Out with the Old and In with the New; Know who you are, I'll do it for you. Rest in My love and walk in My grace; Everything else will fall into place. It's my anthem for 2012.
I love a fresh start. Love it! The feeling I have about 2012 is so huge it's hard to pinpoint. There are so many emotions I have about what this year will hold. I feel that 2011 was the, "Out with the Old" year for me. And, boy was it hard and painful at times. It didn't feel good releasing what I wanted to be (and thought I was) in control over; only to find out I never was in control of any of it. Apparently, I'm a control freak. :) But, I'm learning!
2012 is my, "In with the New" year. I feel it. I have a living hope about it. I know it.
This year I feel like God is wanting me to focus more on certain areas of my life that have not seemed as important in years past. Probably the last 3 months of 2011, God started really dealing with my heart about areas that are/would be changing in my life. He's been preparing me for 2012 all along. It's so sweet of Him not to spring it on me, but to slowly deal with me.
One of the biggest areas He's been teaching me about is friendships and their importance. This year, I will be purposeful and intentional in my friendships. I will make an effort to make more meaningful friendships and let my guard down. I will ask 'friends' to do things with me even when I would sometimes rather do them by myself so I can be more vulnerable to them. I will be comfortable being uncomfortable.
This year I will study to show myself approved. A sweet minister, Mary, gave Jeremiah and I a word about this a few months before we were married. She told us to study and know the scripture. I read and know a lot of scripture, but this year I'm ready to be obedient to study the word. I've never been much on studying. Even in school I would just read over things once or twice to 'know' them. But, this year, I'm going to actually dig-in to God's word.
Be loved and love back.
I will simplify (me, too Michelle!) -- get rid of the junk, the clutter, the unnecessary crap in my home (and heart).
I will pursue good health. This is one God's really been dealing with me about. He's been preparing my heart for this for a long time. As this one comes in 2012 it will be effortless effort if that makes any sense (it does to me, and that's what matters ha!). I'm excited about the outcome!
Learning how to manage household and money affairs. God's put us in exactly the right spot for this. He's continually teaching us what to do. We're going to listen better. :)
There are a few more near and dear to my heart that will remain there. But, I will say....if I don't accomplish a single thing in 2012, I will not feel condemned or 'less than.' I'm complete in Christ and no amount of goal accomplishing -- or lack of it -- will add to or take away from that.
As I read Edie's blog, Life in Grace, (one of my favorites), my heart was saying 'YES!!!!" That is exactly how I feel about the new year. I was even just talking to God about the hopes and dreams He's placed in me and how even if they're never accomplished, just having them in my heart is enough.
I welcome you, 2012, with open arms and an open heart. The best is coming!
