Finally!

I did say somewhere that this blog was supposed to include my crafting adventures and creative ideas, right?!  FINALLY!! My first craft post! :o)  I have finally found a few moments to work on something unrelated to fixing up the house or working in the yard.  About a week ago I pulled out my arch nemeses: my sewing machine.  Don’t get me wrong, I L.O.V.E my machine, but I’m very much a novice when it comes to sewing.  I’m pretty sure none of my lines are straight and I go about 2 times slower than a turtle.  Being a closet perfectionist doesn’t help matters either.  I realize that homemade isn’t supposed to be perfect, and that’s what I love about it….but I can’t help it.  Anywho, here’s my first attempt at making a piece of clothing.

The skirt is made using Dana’s MADE tutorial found HERE for the Simple Skirt.  I adore every inch of her website and hope to try out her kid’s pants tutorial when I get a little more experience under my belt.  I was very surprised as to how easy her instructions were and they even made perfect sense to me, being such a newbie and all.  The material is something I found on clearance at Walmart, but no idea what it's called.  I really cannot wait to make another one!  I wish my “model” would cooperate and leave the skirt on long enough for me to take her picture….but oh well.  Maybe later. 

So, got any “newbie” projects that you would you recommend?

Thanks for stopping in! :o)

Wanna Be

Yeah, I’m a “wanna be.”  A total wanna-be runner.  I guess that’s what I get for marrying a cross country coach and marathoner.  Back in the day (read: when I was in shape and not overweight) I could play tennis for 3+ hours, play volleyball, softball and basketball with no problems….but I HATED running.  I mean, what fun was it to just go out a run??  What kind of crazy person found doing that torture fun?! Well, now I get it.  As I’ve gotten older, I’ve discovered there’s more to running than just pounding pavement for the heck of it.  It’s a way to de-stress, chill out, find the calm in a hectic world.  I wouldn’t classify myself as an official “runner” just yet, but definitely a jogger. 

When I first met my hubby, I was a tennis player returning from a shoulder injury.  I ended up having to give up tennis – if I couldn’t play all out because of the pain, then I didn’t want to at all…and I needed something.  My hubs (then just boyfriend) started pestering me to join him on one of his runs.  I finally gave in and decided to go.  You’d think a person who could go three sets in a grueling tennis match could run at least for a little bit, right??  WRONG!  It was pitiful!  But I kept at it.  Baby steps.  Tribble Mill Park and Stone Mountain became my favorite places to visit.  I LOVE running (oops…jogging) on a good trail.  There’s nothing like being so close to nature, surrounded by God’s creations, just you and your thoughts.  Yep.  I wanna be a runner.  Four years and two kids later, through lots of ups and downs in my jogging career, I finally made a commitment to run in my very first road race.  Members of my family have run in the Peachtree Road Race for years – my aunt, uncle, cousins, and my hubs ran it for years in high school, so hearing the talk about the race wasn’t anything new to me.  Last year, I told my hubby that I really wanted to do it this year.  So my sister, hubby and I started in the LAST stinking start group, and actually ran all 6.2 miles.    With the other 60,000+ people.  I don’t think I’ve EVER seen that many people.  It was crazy!  But I loved it!  My goal time was to finish in under an hour and a half (I’m slow, I know, gotta start somewhere).  I finished in 1 .23.58!  Not too shabby for having to pass somewhere around 25,000 people.  Will we do it again next year?  Probably.  The one thing I will do differently is try to get into an earlier start group.  What’s next for me?  I want to finish a 5K in under 30 minutes.  Here’s hoping to a long, healthy and injury free next few months of training! :o)