Funky Flashback: What Were We Thinking?

Welcome to the first installment of Funky Flashbacks! Here, I will play for you some of the most memorable songs from the 80's! For this first post, I would like to present songs that I now look back on and ask myself, "What were we thinking?!" I've chosen Milli Vanilli's "Girl You Know It's True" for one of the first tunes because it's simply just too funny! I used to love the song, but now that I look back at the video, it's hard to deny how unbelievably cheesy it is! The acting at the beginning is truly superb and the dancing? Well, it just speaks for itself! I love it!



Next, I present another, "What the hell was that?" song..."Whip It," by Devo. I liken it to a horrible train wreck -- It's completely disturbing, yet you can't look away...



And finally, a video in which I think I can only understand 2 words -- Nena's 99 Luftballoons. What in the world is she saying?!?! And why did we love it again?

New Projects!

So I've been a BAD blogger! It's been over a week I think since my last post! I have been so busy though. We had parent-teacher conferences this past week which lasted until 9:30 at night (!) and then we had a science fair later that week which kept me at work until 9:00! I was SO tired. I got today off though and got some much needed rest! While I should have been washing dishes and folding clothes, I decided to make some Christmas gifts instead! I found instructions online for how to make these cool "Exploding Boxes". While yes, I know, it sounds totally disgusting, I promise you it's not! (Get your mind out of the gutter!) It's a scrapbook photo album in a box. When you take the lid off of the box, there are layers of scrapbook pages inside with photos that fall open. I haven't put the photos inside yet since I'm going to give them to my friends for them to put their own photos in. I'm just making and decorating the boxes. Here are my first few...

Here's the outside of one...

And here's the inside...

Here is another one...

And the inside...

Here is the inside of one I'm making for myself. I've put a couple of pics from this summer in it. Still have a lot to do.

I want to do a couple more for a few friends. I also have to finish up my Christmas cards so I can get those mailed out soon! So much to do! I was hoping to do some of that this Friday, but my husband wants to be one of those crazy people who gets up at the crack of dawn to go shopping. I am so NOT a morning person, so this should be interesting! I decided to save some sleep time, maybe I should just sleep in my clothes. Then my husband said, "Yeah! That'll be great. Then all you have to do is wake up and find your way to the car!" So then I decided, hey -- that's another step I can skip. I'll just sleep in the car! Then my husband suggested skipping the whole morning drive and just getting their the night before and sleeping in the car. Then I can just wake up and be there! ...Or maybe not! :-) Wish me luck!

Adventures in Baking

After checking out a few foodies blogs, I've gotten the itch to do some baking. Trouble is... I am terrible at baking! Well... I guess I shouldn't say terrible. I can bake some pretty decent cookies, cupcakes, and muffins, but anything dough related -- LOOK OUT! I voiced my interest in learning to bake more on the Nest's What's Cooking forum and a lot of girls recommended this book Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. (I ended up getting the book on Amazon for a crazy-good deal. The cover price is $40.00, but I bought through the Amazon Marketplace from some bookstore in PA -- brand new for under $9.00! Woo hoo!) Anyhow, I just received the book today and am already excited! Although, I think I gained about 7 pounds just reading about all the baked goodies! LOL!

So anyway, I also learned through the Nest forums about this blogging group called Tuesdays with Dorie. Every Tuesday, someone from the group chooses a recipe from the book for everyone to try and post about by the following Tuesday. I think this will be an awesome way for me to try different recipes that I may not ordinarily try AND get help from more experienced bakers while I'm doing it! (There is a Problems & Questions post each week for all participants to post about how it's going.) So anyway, all you have to do is a minimum of two of the four chosen recipes a month. You are supposed to blog about your experience too. I think it'll be fun! I emailed about joining the group, but the person who heads it all up is on vacation this week, so I won't officially be part of the group just yet, but that won't stop me from jumping right in! I already have a Tuesdays with Dorie (AKA TWD) avatar on my blog! And tomorrow I will start shopping for my first TWD adventure: blueberry pie! Wish me luck -- I've never baked a pie in my life and in case you forgot, this involves DOUGH! Dun, dun, DUUUUUUN!

3.1 in "The Big One"!

The weather forecasters keep calling this storm, "The Big One"! I do have to say, this is easily the worst storm we've had all winter. The snow has been nonstop and the snow plows are nowhere to be seen. Doesn't matter too much anyway since our city, much like many others around here, are out of roadsalt. I heard one plow go by this morning, but since then, we've gotten 4 more inches and it just keeps coming. We are basically snowed in! That didn't stop me from trying to get some miles in though. I wanted to run 6.2, but with 4+ inches of snow on the roads, my ankles were starting to hurt just trying to keep from turning sideways, so I stopped halfways. It still took me almost 36 minutes! Oh well. Here is just a little sample of my little snow world!

Here are the roads I just finished running 3.1 on...

Here is a pic of our back deck covered in snow. Check out how much is on our table! (I took this pic through the window!)
It was a bitterly cold run at times, and those shoveling their driveways as I attempted to shuffle along surely thought I was insane. Once the wind stopped blowing though, it was truly serene. The snow gently falling on my warm cheeks, the silence in the air except for a few birds chirping and the snow crunching under my feet, the smell of burning wood in the fireplaces of the homes nearby...all worth it. Just wish I could've gone longer!

Lemon Blossoms 38, Me 10

I am getting together with some friends tomorrow and everytime we get together, we each bring a dish to share. Well after watching a Paula Dean show on Food Network the other day, I've been looking for an excuse to try these little lemon glazed cupcakes called Lemon Blossoms. She made it look super easy and when I read the reviews online, everyone wrote about how yummy and easy they were. I thought, SWEET! Every now and then though, I saw a review that said the recipe was terrible or that their cupcakes didn't work. I thought, "Wow, that person really must not know what they're doing. If everyone else is saying there super easy and you can't get to work, it must be you!" So anyway, I decided to get a jump start and make my Lemon Blossoms tonight so that I wouldn't have to worry about rushing to get them done tomorrow morning. Well, to make a long story short, you know that person I was thinking who must have no clue what they're doing if they couldn't get this to work? Yeah...that person is ME! What went wrong? Let me count the ways...

1. I bought new silicone mini muffin pans today. I wanted to use the silicone ones because I've had success with things coming out fairly easy and the reviews said that these muffins can easily stick to the pan. Well then when I got home, I read the inside of the package and it said that the muffins pans still need to be sprayed with vegetable oil spray. UGH. So much for skipping that step. It also said that the pans should be set on a cookie sheet for increased stability. Okay, I can handle that. So anyway, I spoon the batter into my new muffin pans, set them on the tray and put into the oven. I check the oven after the directed 12 minutes and they don't quite look done. I give them a few more minutes until they look golden brown on the top. Then I take them out of the oven and attemp to turn the muffins out onto a towel (as directed in the recipe.) They were totally raw in the middle! So after a little thinking, I guessed that placing the pans on the cookie sheet was not a good idea. As has happened in the past for me, the cookie sheet prevents the muffin pans from getting the heat they need, hence the undercooked muffins. Solution -- lose the cookie sheet! So far though, Lemon Blossoms 24, Me 0.
2. I then placed just one muffin pan in the oven, sans cookie sheet. After 12 minutes, they looked good so I pulled them out. The recipe says that after baking for 12 minutes to turn onto a towel. So as soon as I pulled them out, I attempted to turn them out. Yeah...they didn't move...anywhere. GRRR! It said in the recipe to go ahead and turn onto a towel after baking for 12 minutes. In my experience, I've always let them cool first, but the recipe didn't say that. I guess they just assume you have that basic knowledge. Yeah, I didn't. I'm a rule follower! You tell me to turn them out after baking for 12 minutes, and that's what I'm going to do! Oh well. My solution: Allow them to cool a little. Unfortunately, at this point, Lemon Blossoms 36, Me 0.
3. My final try. I put the muffin pan in sans cookie sheet, baked for 12 minutes and then let them cool for 10 minutes. I turned the pan over and while they still didn't fall out, with some coaxing, I did get 10 whole cupcakes. WHOA! At least I had SOME success. I dunked the cupcakes into the glaze and will let my DH determine whether these thing are worth trying again. (They better be flippin' AWESOME!) At least I know what to do instead next time.

So anyway, instead of eating Lemon Blossoms tonight, I am eating my words! It turns out I'm the dummy who couldn't figure out this "easy" recipe! ;-p

Aside from my monumental baking failure, I've been feeling really good about my running...at least mentally good! I went out for an 8 mile run on Sunday. I felt pretty good during the run. I had a little discomfort in my left knee, but nothing bad at all. I hardly noticed it during the run. It was all I could notice the next day though! It hurt a lot while I was trying to sleep that night and by the time I woke up in the morning, I could barely move it! The whole rest of the day, all I could do was hobble around! I decided running or working out at all was definitely out of the question. I iced before bed and took some ibuprofen also. I woke up this morning and actually felt pretty good! I took two more ibuprofen before my run to help minimize any potential inflammation and it totally worked! I felt great during my run today -- no pain and super energized, both physically and mentally! Instead of running the planned 3, I went 4.3 miles and it was a breeze. I iced when I came home and continue to feel pretty good! I hope to go out for 3.6 more tomorrow morning before my get together with friends. I'll run again Friday for hopefully 3 or 4 and then I plan to do 9 miles Sunday. I'm excited for Sunday too because that is when my local Fleet Feet is having their informational meeting about the training group for the half mary I want to do. I can't wait to hear about it! I really feel like I'm getting back on track with my running and I think this group will help me even more. Thank goodness my running is progressing more than my baking!

Got Some Good News!

I went back to see Dr. Craig (the chiropractor) on Saturday and I got some good news! First, after looking at my x-rays, Dr. Craig found NO problems with my knees at all! It turns out, the reason I am experiencing pain, is because of a problem in my lower back! You know those two little dimples you probably have on either side of your spine on your way lower back? Well, that is where your sacroiliac (SI) joints are. Apparently, one of mine is higher than the other. This imbalance kind of throws everything off and my knees are paying the price. (At least, I think that's what he said!) Anyhow, Dr. Craig said it should only take 6 weeks to totally correct! I will need 2 weeks of frequent adjustments to "teach" my joints where they are supposed to be, 2 weeks of a few more adjustments to keep the joints stabalized, and then 2 weeks of strengthening. What's better is that: 1) I can start back up with running today, as long as I start off this week with short mileage (2-3 miles) and 2) Dr. Craig worked out a plan with me to get me ready to run my 10 miler race in two weeks! He got me in for a few more adjustments over the next two weeks to speed up the process a tad. He says I should be good to go by April 26th for my big race! What a relief! And to top all that off, it looks like my insurance ROCKS! Because I was referred, Dr. Craig didn't charge me at all for my first visit, but he did charge my insurance. With the extra money the insurance sent him, my next 13 visits are totally covered! So about 4 out of my 6 weeks at the chiro will be FREE for me! Then, after that, each visit (including any massages I may want) are only $5! WHOA -- I should've done this a long time ago! Pretty cool!

Well, needless to say, I am very relieved! I just hope this all works.

Exploding Box #5

Here is the latest one I made. I'm trying to make a lot of different ones since I don't know which ones my friends might like. I figure I'll just let them pick and then whichever ones they don't want, I'll just keep for myself. Here is the latest one made with K&Company PP.

Here are the inside layers.

And here is a cute embellishment idea I'm trying. (This is on the blue/cream box I made awhile ago.) The charm I actually got in the jewelry section.

Whoa! I've Been BOSed!

Say what? Okay, I'll explain! I go on this one scrapbooking website a lot -- Two Peas in a Bucket. They have message boards where I get tons of advice and questions answered, and they also have a gallery where I can post my own work to get feedback or check out other people's work. Anyhow, there is a feature which used to be called the "Book of Scraps" -- anytime you liked someone's work and wanted to save it for future reference/inspiration, you could save it to your Book of Scraps or BOS. (It's now called Bookmarking, but everyone still refers to it as BOS.) Anyhow, I've recently started posting some of my work and for the first time, someone BOSed one of my projects! Woot woot! (It was the red, pink, and silver Valentine card below.) Wow, someone actually liked something made by little 'ole me? Cool beans! :-)

I Won, I Won!

Woo Hoo! I have never won ANY contest before, but things are about to change! In case you didn't read my post below, I entered a contest on Sheetload of Cards to win a set of Studio G clear stamps. To enter, you had to do certain things to promote their Ezine which is posted monthly on their blog. You could do a blog post, put up a blinkie, post on a message board, etc, and every time you did that, your name was entered. Well, after the deadline, it turned out that 50 people promoted the blog with 324 entries. From those 324 entries, five names were drawn. My name was one of the five! Woo hoo! Then, of the five, one was chosen for the main prize (which were the stamps) and that name was...(drum roll)...ME! I am so excited!

One thing that I think is interesting is that right now, I have been focusing more on positive thinking! I'm reading a book now about the Law of Attraction (kind of like The Secret) which basically says, you get what you ask for. If you put out a negative vibe and all you do is think about things or say things in a negative way, you are bringing more negativity in your life. If you put out a positive vibe and think and speak of yourself and your situation in more positive ways, more positive things will come your way. So normally for contests I've entered, I think, "Oh, I'm never going to win. I never win anything. Why'd I bother entering?" But instead, for the past two weeks, I've been thinking, "Lots of people win contests and I can too! This is my time!" Well it looks like it may have helped because I did win. :-)

While I've been thinking positively these past weeks about winning, I am still totally shocked to win and SO excited! WOO HOO! I can't wait to receive the stamps and do all sorts of fun things with them! ***Doing the happy dance!***

Oh, and by the way, even though I don't get any more entries into any contests for Sheetload, you should check them out. They just put up their new Ezine for the month of January. In case you haven't checked them out yet, every month they put out an Ezine with a card sketch and directions for how to make 6-12 cards at once. It's great way to get a lot of cards done in a short amount of time. And just think too, with all of the cards you can make in the short time, you can have more to donate to Cards for Heroes if you want! That's what I'll be doing. In fact, I better get going on getting that package together!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all are having a fantastic day. We had a very nice Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve at my husband's family's house and had a huge gift exchange. Today, my husband and I exchanged gifts and just spent the rest of the day relaxing and playing with our new "toys"! My DH was excited to get some new computer games (which he actually bought online for himself and I just wrapped!) and a back massager. I got some super comfy clothes, fuzzy socks, a player for my iPod and scrapbook supplies! One scrapbook item I was really hoping for was a crop-o-dile. Check this thing out! It looks like a tool I'd find in my husband's tool box, except of course for the glaring pink handles! It's supposed to be for setting eyelets and snaps and is supposed to be super awesome! Anyhow, while my husband spent a good part of the day playing his new computer games, I played with my new Crop-o-dile and finished some cards I was making. Check them out!

The pink and green cards I made using the October sketch from Sheetload.

These next two I made using the November Sheetload sketch.

When I showed the cards to my husband, he said they were really nice. I asked him if he thought they were too "girly" though. I was concerned because I want to make some cards that can be sent to my uncles, brother, brother-in-laws, etc. He said that he thought they may be too girly so I started looking through my PP for some "man" paper. I asked him what I should look for and he said "Hmmm, man paper huh? ...Anything with beer, butts, or boobs." Yeah, I'm pretty I have none of that!

Next I want to start working on cards for Valentine's Day, but after going through all of my pictures from today and yesterday, I may not be able to get to them in awhile!

Tomorrow my husband and I will hit the "after Christmas" sales. I want to go to Joanns to get some holiday decorating stuff, and now more eyelets! We'll also hit Target just to see what they have. (Rumor has it that they have a ton of Valentine scrapbooking stuff in the Dollar Spot!) Who knows where else!

Well, I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday! Next, New Years!

Funky Flashback: Love Songs from the Movies

Well, it's time for my weekly 80s rewind. This week, the theme is "love songs from the movies". One of THE most memorable movie themes (at least for me) has to be "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin from of course, Top Gun. This was back before Tom Cruise got all weird.



The next movie theme comes from one of my favorite 80's movies, Dirty Dancing. I think I watched that movies at least 100 times! "Nobody put's baby in a corner!" Here's "She's Like the Wind" by Patrick Swayze. Who knew he could sing?



And to finish off this week, we have "St. Elmo's Fire" from the movie of the same name. Can you believe I have never seen this movie? Judging from the video, it looks like there were a lot of big names from that flick. Pretty funny. I may have to rent it! Either way, I do love the song -- it was almost our song at our wedding.



Now don't you just want to watch these movies all over again?!

Okay, any ideas for 80s song themes next week?

The Power of Positivity #2

So today I got this email from my mother-in-law. Normally I HATE forwards and I get so many of these all the time, but this one I actually really liked! I SO needed it at the time too! So I pass it on to in hopes that you too will have a day full or "ordinary miracles"!

Today...I wish you a day of ordinary miracles-

A fresh pot of coffee you didn't have to make yourself.

An unexpected phone call from an old friend.

Green stoplights on your way to work or shop.

I wish you a day of little things to rejoice in.

The fastest line at the grocery store.

A good sing along song on the radio.

Your keys right where you look.

I wish you a day of happiness and perfection-little bite-size pieces of perfection that give you the funny feeling that the Lord is smiling on you, holding you so gently because you are someone special and rare. I wish You a day of Peace, Happiness and Joy.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.

Oh, and hey, while I reread that I DID have a couple of ordinary miracles the past few days. I got my fave Mexican food for lunch yesterday which was a surprise AND a got a Christmas card from a friend I haven't talked to in a long time. Cool!

Cool Word Game!

I wanted to stick with spooky, Halloweenish posts for the next few days, but I had to share this site I came across!

Would you like to play word games AND help end world hunger at the same time? If so, (or even if no!) check out this cool, but slightly addictive word game! (Click HERE for game.) For every question you get right, they will donate 10 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program. (I donated 2000 grains in just a couple of minutes!) Pretty cool! You can test your verbose while helping to feed people on the other side of the planet! Love it! (And thanks to the Nestie on the Nest Book Board for posting this site!)

Happy Halloween!

To celebrate Halloween today, check out some of these spooky ghost pictures and video! You decide -- fact or fiction?

To more Halloween fun, check our the videos and spooky stories below! :-)

Books You Must Read Before You Die

So while cruising the net, I ran across this article which lists the top 30 books that all people should read before they die. I've included the list here for your viewing ease!

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. The Bible
3. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien
4. 1984 by George Orwell
5. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
6. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
7. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
8. All Quite on the Western Front by E M Remarque
9. His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman
10. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
11. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
12. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
13. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
14. Tess of the D'urbevilles by Thomas Hardy
15. Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
16. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
17. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham
18. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
19. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
20. The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
21. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
22. The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
23. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
24. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
25. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
26. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
27. Middlemarch by George Eliot
28. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
29. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
30. A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzenhitsyn

My thoughts...

Hmmm, The Bible is #2?! Okay... So anyhow, I think I should change the title of this list to, "Books I'm Ashamed to Say I've NEVER Read!" Some of those books in fact (like #13,) I've never even heard of! Yikes! Actually, I have read parts of the Bible (all of the New Testament and part of the Old,) and I've read Jane Eyre, Lord of the Flies, and Great Expectations in their entirety. The last three I read all in high school. Jane Eyre was indeed one of the best books remember reading. What's funny is that I found my old copy a couple of months ago and tried to read it again and put it back down after just 5 minutes! The story itself was still wonderful, but you have to totally change your mindset to prepare for the langauge and writing style used in books of that time. I wasn't ready to exert that much mental energy that day! Maybe I'll try again sometime. Lord of the Flies I remember quite well and agree it is a great book. Great Expectations...hmm, I'm sure it's great, but honestly, can't remember a darn thing about it! Anyhow, I guess I have a lot of other books to start reading!

There are some books I was surprised to not see on the list. How about the Adventures of Huckelberry Finn? Is that not one of the greatest works of American literature? Hmmm. Oh well. I know this next book is a pretty current book, but it's one that I think should make the list -- The Kite Runner by Khalled Hosseini. What books do you think should make the list?

Swamp Monsters and Such

My husband bought my a Nike+iPod for my birthday last year. Overall, it's pretty cool because you can just hook it up to your iPod and it tracks your distance, time, and pace while you run using a footpod you attach to your shoe. Well, as great as it is for road running and asphalt paths, I've discovered my Nike+iPod is completely inaccurate on any soft surface. On any run I've had in the snow, (which is inevitable in Ohio,) it is completely off! I've run some courses that I know are 3 miles and looked at my iPod only to have it say 4.99. Yeah right! Then once I went running on a track that had some snow on it. After 3 1/2 laps, it said I completed a mile! Uh...last time I checked, 4 laps = 1 mile. Grrrr. Well, I've had it today. I needed to run an LSD run of 7 miles and decided to try a new trail. The trail wasn't marked, but as long as there wasn't any snow on it, I figured I'd be fine. Well, after a mile or so into the run, I found the trail to be very wet and soggy, extremely soft in spots. I didn't think much of it. I decided to run until my iPod said 7.4 miles just to be safe. Well, I just got home and checked on some trail maps only to find out that I only ran 6.6 miles! WTH! That's almost a full mile off and I did NOT reach my goal today because of it! I am fighting mad. I have my 10-mile race in a few weeks -- I can not afford to be wasting my once a week LSD run on just 6.6 miles. That's not enough! (Yes -- you've probably figured it out by now -- I am insanely anal about numbers. 6.6 is NOT close enough. As far as I am concerned, 6.99999999 is not close enough! I wanted to do 7 miles!) GRRR.

And to top that off, my run was not fun. I tried the Towpath since so many people I know seem to like it. Well, I'm not one of them. First, the trail was so soggy, I felt like it was going to suck my shoe off in spots. Then I ran about 3/4 mile past this marsh like swamp thing. It was scary! I kept imagining some swamp like creature straight out of some Scooby Doo episode jumping out and chasing after me. Then once I got past that, the trail led under a highway overpass that they were doing some heavy construction on. I felt like I should be wearing a hard hat! After that, the trail led into some pretty open land. I thought, "I haven't seen a person or any living thing in miles. Where AM I? Wait...what are those things? OMG, there are vultures circling over me. This place must be where animals come to die!" That thought alternated with, "OMG, if someone were hiding out, just waiting for an innocent, unsuspecting little person like me, I'd be a goner. Nobody would even hear my screams!" I couldn't wait to reach the safety of my car. But now I find out that all that terror was for not! Oh, I am so mad. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to try to redeem myself next weekend as I attempt 8 miles...on my normal, asphalt path! No swamp monsters for me, thank you!

It's a New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Did you do anything fun to celebrate? I wish I could say that we did something amazingly fun to celebrate the new year, but I'd be lying. All we did was hang out at home. My husband played his new computer game that he got for Christmas and I worked on altering those mailboxes I got. (BTW, I finished one, but I'm giving that one as a gift. I'll post pics after I give it away.) We turned on the tv around 11:30, watched the ball drop, screamed and carried on, then went to bed. woo hoo. party animals. What can I say?!

Anyhow, as the new year is upon us, many of us start thinking about..."resolutions"! I don't know if I want to make any resolutions only because the word itself = failure to me. I like "goals/wishes/hopes" better. So, here goes:

Every year, I go through phases of different hobbies but never really staying consistent on any one thing. (For example, spring and summer I spend working out and reading. Fall and winter, scrapbooking and crafting.) This year, I hope to change that by setting some personal goals...

1. I am going to complete a half-marathon by the end of the year: I used to run all the time. I'm usually pretty good about it during spring and summer. Once school starts though, I hit a wall and don't find/make the time for it. That'll have to change if I expect to meet my goal. I've never run a half marathon though. A 5K is the most I've done. A few if my friends have done it though, so if they can, than I can!
2. I am going to keep up with scrapping and card making by completing at least 2 layouts and 1 set of cards a month. Some people do that much in a day. I'm a slow poke though. (One wish I have connected to this is to sell some of my stuff. I'm looking into starting an Etsy account. Anyone have tips on this? We also have a local store that sells nothing but crafted items. I'm looking into selling there.)

Now here are the things I hope to do this year...

1. Go on a vacation!
2. Get an actual job: Right now I'm a long term sub, which is fine because I still advance on the pay scale and still get benefits, but the past two springs and summers I spent wondering if I'm going to have a job the following year. I look forward to that stress being over.
3. Get the basement finished.
4. Spend more time with friends.

Hmm, that's all I can think of for now. For me, that's plenty! :-)

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown -- a Movie!

Well, as I said earlier, I finished reading The Davinci Code by Dan Brown. This book was easily one of the most thought provoking books I've ever read. Aside from that, it was just plain fun! Every chapter ended with a cliffhanger, begging me to continue on! I read that book any spare moment I could find. After setting it down, I knew that I wanted to read more of Dan Brown if any of his other book were anything like Davinci Code. Well, after a little research, I decided to add Brown's Angels and Demons (which I've just learned is actually the prequel to Davinci Code) to my TBR list. I have a few other books I want to get to first, but that one is a for sure future read!

Well today, my husband and I finally decide to rent The Davinci Code movie. He had wanted to see it for a long time, but I had always been against it. I remember when it first came out, the church I was going to did a whole series on how it was wrong. It said the movie was based on complete misinformation and was simply blasphemy. As a "good Christian," I wanted no part of that. After much reading, soul searching, and some deep conversations with friends, I decided to finally pick a copy of the book. As I said, I LOVED it and it really opened up my eyes to so many things.

So anyway, long story short, we put in the DVD and right before the movie starts, they show a preview for the movie Angels and Demons! I did a little research on the net and it turns out that the movie is slated for release December 19th, 2008. Ron Howard is directing this film (as he did The Davinci Code) and Tom Hanks will again play the role of Langdon. Pretty cool! Well, while December of next year is a long ways away, at least it gives me plenty of time to finish the book first!

My Miraculous Shoes

I decided that since I am serious about training for some races, I should have the right shoes! So I stopped at Vertical Runner in Hudson and received AWESOME customer service. They checked my feet and my walking pattern to determine which shoes were best for me. The person who helped me was able to answer any questions I had and gave me extra tips not just on shoes, but training for my 5K and half marathon in general. They were so nice and SUPER helpful! Well I couldn't just let those new babies sit in the box. I braved 5 degree temps with a -10 degree windchill and went for a 2-mile run. Just to let you know about my running so far, here is the info logged with my new Nike + iPod: First run: 2.6 miles/9:42 per mile....Second run: 3.6 miles/9:22 per mile....Today with my new awesome shoes: 2.0 miles/7:14 per mile! Can you believe that split time! And that was even running in crazy cold temps WITH 2 inches of snow on the pavement! I'm so psyched! I have a 5k (3.1 miles) in a few weeks and I was hoping to just finished it in under 30 minutes, but if I can run 2 miles in about 15 minutes, I should run well under 30! I will still keep my goal modest and shoot for around 27, but still -- 7:14 per mile? Those are some miraculous shoes! :-) Oh, in case you are wondering (I'm sure you're all dying to know! ***she says sarcastically!***) here they are! I present to you, my new Mizuno Wave Rider 11s!

Wow, they match my blog colors...COOL!

A Few Milestones

I've got a combo post coming up -- so consider yourself warned. No matter what the topic though, it appears that I've reached a few milestones...

Run Report: My knees are still bothering me, but I haven't let that stop me. This week, I ran the most number of miles/week at 28.3 miles! Monday and Friday were easy days and I just ran 5.1 around my neighborhood. Wednesday was my return to speedwork. I was really worried because my last speedwork session, a 4 mile tempo run was dreadful! I did a 1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down and the the 4 mile tempo was supposed to be at an 8:47 to 9:10 pace (according to the McMillan Calculator.) I hit my tempo time with an average pace of 8:45 m/m but it was torturous! As soon as I hit the 4 mile mark, I had to stop and walk for the first minute of my cool down. Not cool! Anyhow, I was worried that with 2 weeks away from speedwork, I would have a repeat performance but I didn't! I didn't even look back to see what my target time was supposed to be. I figured I'd just go out and base the run on perceived effort and how erratic my breathing got! And guess what -- I did my 1 mile warm and 1 mile cool down and my 4 mile tempo run at an 8:25 m/m pace! AND, while I was glad to be done, it didn't feel nearly as bad as before! Yeah!

To finish off the week, I had my long run on Saturday. I was shooting for 11 miles, which would be a new distance PR for me. I plotted out my run via MapMyRun.com and headed out to the bike path. Miles 1-5 felt pretty good. As soon as I hit mile 5, which is where I turned around last week, I started to keep my eyes open for the 5.5 mile mark -- my turn around for this week. The trail isn't marked at all for distance -- I was just using landmarks, a big pond in this instance. Well, the trees had really grown on the path, so I couldn't see a pond at all! I just kept going until I felt I had gone past .5 miles and until I could find a different landmark so that I could least map the run once I got home. I turned at a sign on the path and hoped I had gone far enough. The remaining miles felt decent. I had some muscle strain occasionally, but nothing that lasted long. In fact, I only had pain on the downhills. Good thing this wasn't a hilly course. Oh yeah, I only had one other dilemma -- I was dying of thirst! I've been lucky so far in that I have never had to carry water with me on a run. I don't really get too thirsty, and as long as I have a good drink of water before my run, I'm generally pretty good to go. Well, not this time! Apparently, 10 miles is my limit! It didn't help that it was probably 80 degrees outside and the sun was beating down! I didn't have anything with me and I was dying the last few miles! Daydreaming about reaching my water bottle in the car is what got me to really move the last 30 minutes!

Well, anyway, once I got home, I went back on MapMyRun to see how far I had actually gone. And guess what -- I definitely had a new distance PR: 11.9 miles! Whoa! If I knew I was that close to 12, I would have totally gone .1 more! Oh well. So then I went to total my miles for the week and saw that I had a new record (but I already said that,) but then when I totaled the miles up from when I started running again back in February, I see that I am SO close to another record! I'm at 298.5! As of tomorrow, I'll be over 300 which means, time for new shoes! Thank you Mizunos for carrying me this far!

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Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD): As you may have read, I am starting a new baking adventure this week. I have joined a group of baking bloggers who choose one recipe a week from this book called, Baking: From My Home to Yours. The blog name is Tuesdays with Dorie, from now on only referred to as TWD. Anyway, as I mentioned below, this week's recipe is a double crusted blueberry pie. Okay... I have never, and I repeat never baked a pie in my life! Working with dough (and let me clarify -- dough that needs to be rolled) is NOT my forte! In fact, it is the bane of my baking existence... the constant downfall in my quest of dessert domination! Okay... you get the point. So anyhow, tonight I will start my attempt at beating my nemesis into submission. I will start with the dough tonight and try to bake this thing tomorrow. Wish me luck!

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I've Been Tagged! Well Jen from Jen's Birthday Challenge AND Kai from See Kai Run, See Kai Eat have thrown down a double team tag! They have both challenged me to list 6 random facts about myself. So... here goes:

1. I'm very particular about how I eat certain candy. Now, this only applies to candy that has different flavors in one package like Skittles or gummy bears. Here's the thing -- I can NOT mix flavors of candy in one bite. Whenever I get a bag of these candies, let's use Skittles as our example, I first sort all of the candies by color/taste. Then I will only eat one color at a time. For example, I'll eat a red Skittle with another red Skittle -- NEVER a red with a green. This becomes very challenging when trying to eat Skittles in dark places such as the movie theater, but what can I say?!

2. Going along with #1 -- I can only eat candies in even numbers. This is to prevent a disequilibrium in my mouth -- you see, if I eat in even numbers, I can have the same number of candies on the left side of my mouth as the right. That way, each side is equally happy! Now if I have an odd number of candies -- 3 red Skittles we'll say -- I'll simply bite the third Skittle in half so that I can chew 1.5 Skittles on the right and 1.5 on the left. Odd, but true!

3. Totally off the candy subject now... I have a weird foot thing. I only like looking at pretty/cute feet -- unattractive feet totally gross me out! I'm really crazy about that too! I almost didn't go out with my DH because of his feet. When I first met him, we were at the beach. He was wearing sandals and I was thinking, "Oh no, those won't do! I know socks and sandals are a no-no, but this guy needs an exemption!"

4. The first concert I ever went to was New Kids on the Block! I was totally in love with Joey McIntyre at the time and just couldn't believe I was in the same room with him! I am slightly stoked that NKOTB has reunited and yes, I do jam out to their new song "Summertime" when I hear it on the radio.

5. My mom is from the Philippines and while she didn't make a huge effort to impart her culture onto me, I miss even the little things. I miss hearing the language, I miss the food (which I make myself sometimes), I miss having that culture in my life. Every year I feel like it fades a little more and that makes me sad.

6. When I am sad, I cheer myself up by going to super cute websites like LOLcats. Or sometimes I'll go on YouTube and watch those videos of cats doing silly stuff. Here's one now!



Okay, that's it for me! Now here are the rest of the rules to the challenge:

1. link to the person who tagged you.
2. post the rules on your blog.
3. write six random things about yourself.
4. tag six people at the end of your post.
5. let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog
6. let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Okay, I accomplished rules 1-3. Now here is where I get totally lame. Both of the people who tagged ME and the ones who I would have tagged! I really don't follow too many blogs, so I don't know who else to tag SO, if you are reading this and you have a blog, consider yourself TAGGED! Can that count for rules 4-6... pretty please? :-)

Vacay Report: Mantas and Waterfalls

Last night, DH and I took part in an amazing experience -- we got to snorkel at night with manta rays! I wasn't sure what to expect. I imagined the rays to be pretty small, maybe 4-5 feet across. Once we got to the dock though, our guide started talking about what to expect for our experience and he said that we might likely see mantas that could be 10-14 feet across! Yikes! He told us how they like to swim in circles to eat the plankton and how since we are snorkeling with them, they may very well circle up close to us. He said, "If you see this giant mouth coming up from the depths below right at you, don't be afraid! Just when it looks like they're going to gobble you, they'll turn over and maybe even graze you, belly to belly." I told my DH, I don't care what that guy says, if a creature that big comes at me with it's mouth wide open, I am definitely going to freak out!

We took a short 5 minute boat ride out into the bay and then they turned on the lights to attract the plankton. As soon as we jumped into the water, I put my face into the water and immediately saw a gigantic manta! It was easily 14 feet across and it moved so gracefully through the water. It was magical! It seemed to just float along the water like a hawk gliding on an air current. And just like the guide said, the manta started circling over itself. It was so majestic. I thought I would be frightened, but I was more in awe of the manta's grace and beauty! I started snapping some pics and soon a few more mantas came over. They started circling up towards us and came really close to touching me! It was amazing! We ended up seeing 4 mantas that night. The guide said that's unusual -- he mostly just sees 1 or 2 so we got really lucky! Hopefully my underwater pics will come out pretty nicely and I'll be able to post them once I get them developed.

Today, we went on a hike through a rain forest to look at some waterfalls. It was another awesome experience. We started off in a valley overlooking some cliffs. Our guide Matt, told us that those cliffs formed when part of the island actually fell into the ocean after a big earthquake! He said there is proof of that in (a) the cliffs and (b) the fact that they found rock debris hundreds of miles out into the ocean from those cliffs! If you look closely at the pic below, you can see waterfalls going down the cliffs. Cool!


The first stop along the trail was at an old taro farming field. In the pic below, you can see the taro growing on the left. The guide said that the old farmers would move some of the water from the stream into the growing field and then back into the stream. On the right, you can see some banana trees. The guide told us a cool fact about them -- Did you know that banana trees fruit only once? As soon as they are finished, they die! New banana trees are also sprouting to replace the older ones though as they die off. I never knew that!


Soon, we hit the trail again and found some amazing waterfalls.



We had to traverse some pretty crazy/interesting terrain to get to them.



While hiking though, our guide showed us some of the wild fruit growing there. We got to sample strawberry guavas and regular guavas. The strawberry ones (the small red ones in first pic) were a little tart, but still sweet. The larger, yellow regular guavas (second pic) were so yummy! I never had one before so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was awesome!



After sampling some wild eats, and checking out some raging falls, we had a light snack and headed back home. I learned so much about the island and had a lot of fun. It was an awesome experience!

Cards for Heroes on Their Way!

I sent out my first shipment of cards for Cards for Heroes! If you are not familiar with who they are, check them out HERE. Here are the cards I sent today. It's a small batch, but I'm hoping to send more in the future now that I know about this awesome program! (BTW, all cards were made by yours truly! I can't wait to make more with the cool stamps I'll be getting!)

Edited Update: Just wanted to clarify that most of the cards I made were used using the sketches of Sheetload.

My Favorite Christmas Show!

I was channel surfing last night and ran across my favorite Christmas movie -- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer! It doesn't matter how many times I have seen it -- I still love to watch it every year!



What's your favorite Christmas flick?

Trying Out a New Look!

I got bored of the standard blogger template and thought I'd try something new! I was looking for something happy and bright! Hope you like it!

Magic is All Around!

Wow, it's been awhile since I've blogged! It's back to school for me, so I haven't had as much time to craft and blog. I had today off (for MLK day) and decided to try a project from the SplitCoast Stampers Resource page. I decided to try their "Magic Card". It's really cool because it has this card that you slide out and when you pull it, the stamped image goes from boring black and white to color! I'm still trying to make my card slide better, but here is one of my first attempts.

What do you think? Pretty cute?! Like I said, I'm still working on making it better. Have you ever done a card like this? Ideas/tips on how to make it slide easier. Hmmmm.

And here is another one I made with a little owl stamp. He's a Studio G $1 stamp. I haven't stamped on a sentiment yet. I'll do that whenever I decide to use it.

I mainly wanted to learn how to make these cards because I thought they were super cute. I also wanted to make them though because I thought they would be cool to sell. You don't see cards like "magic cards" a lot -- at least I don't! (Do you think people would buy a card like this? How much would you be willing to pay, if anything?)

So as you may remember, I have a goal this year to start selling my crafts, so I stopped at this local store that rents space to crafters. YIKES -- It costs way more than I thought! Just to rent a space is $38-200 per month based on the size and location of the booth. Then they get a 12% commission. EEEK! I could never sell enough cards or paper crafted items to even cover my rent cost! Looks like I'll be looking into Etsy more. Anyone have tips?!