Wednesday, June 12, 2013

No Turning Back

Registration opened up last night for the Disney Princess Half Marathon and I debated whether or not to actually sign up. I went back and forth and couldn't decide if I wanted to wait or if I should just do it. It probably doesn't help that I went to the Rheumatologist the day before and he told me to stop running. Obviously running is not the best thing for your body, but I guess its even worse for the lucky people with RA like me. So I had to decide, do I listen to my doctor or do I go with my gut and prove to myself I can do this race?

Well folks....there is no turning back now. I have officially registered for the Disney Princess Half Marathon. What did I get myself into? I guess committing will really force me to get my act together and do this. I think this is something I need to do for myself. I need to prove to myself that I can commit to this and complete it. I am; however, a little worried about not completing under 3 hours and 30 minutes. I would hate to be that girl that gets pulled off cause she is too slow. If I did the math correctly (which is possible, but I am not very good at math) I should finish just under at about 3 hours and 25 minutes based on my 8K time. My biggest concern with that is I did a lot of running in the beginning of that 8K and wasn't following my 3 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking routine. So.....maybe I won't make it. I guess as I get closer in my training I will figure it out.

So, that is that. Training needs to get kicked in to gear....oh wait I leave for Ireland in oh....4 days. Yea, maybe training will get kicked into gear when I get back (I hope!).

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

The Dreaded Before Picture

Alright everyone (well no one right now cause I have yet to get the guts to share this blog with anyone) I have finally decided to take before pictures. Today is Transformation Tuesday over at Mama Laughlin Fit Camp Facebook Page and it kind of hit a nerve with me today. Every week I see so many amazing women and how they have come so far and it is always inspiring, but I still have that "I will never look like that" mentality. Well today I saw a girl who was about 160 and looked like I look and then she showed her after picture at 135. That is what I want to do! I can be that girl! One day I will post pictures to Transformation Tuesday and maybe one day (before that) I will use this blog as accountability and motivation for others. 

As much as it scares, frightens, terrifies (anything of the sorts) me, here goes nothing. With the ups and downs I have had lately, just seeing these for myself was a bit of a kick in the butt, but maybe knowing they are out there will be even more. Enough avoiding....here it goes. This is me now at 166 pounds. 

  
Here is to less ups and downs...No more excuses...Making it work...and getting down to my goal weight of 140 by the time I get my braces off (February/March of next year).

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Wheel out the DIY

Along with getting my butt in gear with working out (which I did...3.5 miles and some pilates yesterday) I decided to stop sitting around on Pinterest all day and get to work! I went to town on my apartment and cleaned everything! I mean scrubbing, spraying, everything. The inside of the microwave even got cleaned...ohhhhh...ahhhh.

Since the school year is wrapping up and I have less to do with lesson plans, I figured this weekend would be the perfect time to start working on a DIY project that I have wanted to do for a while. Plus, Tal wasn't home and I wanted to surprise him with fixing up our patio. A while ago I was on Pinterest (surprise surprise) and saw this beauty from Country Living Magazine.


Aaaaaa-mazing! I wanted one and when I went home to visit and saw my neighbor had one in his driveway I wanted one even more! I asked my mom if we could ask for it, but she said that her boyfriend could just get one from his work....YES! Thank goodness for working with the power company and having a whole bunch of those electrical spindle things laying around at work. I had to wait because one of those puppies would not fit in my little Honda Civic. Luckily my mom came down for a visit about a month later and I got my beauty. 

Zeus couldn't help but make an appearance :) 
As impatient as I was to get this beauty, it sat looking like this on my patio for about 2 months. I guess school and life just got the best of me. I was determined that it would be my first project once summer started. On Thursday I decided to go to Lowe's after work and get everything I needed to put my table together. Well, I didn't really plan much out, except that I knew I wanted to use rope around the middle part. So with a little wandering and looking like a lost puppy I stumbled across the vinyl flooring section. Hmmmm...this could work. I remembered watching a Bath Crashers episode where they used cork flooring and said it was easy to cut. I couldn't find any cork tiles, but figured the vinyl wouldn't be much different. So I laid out 4 different colors on the floor and picked the one that was the darkest to kind of get close to our dark kitchen cabinets. 

After about two days of work and a sore thumb from cutting all my pieces with scissors (I know scissors weren't the best and most accurate choice but they were all I had and I am a bit impatient with getting projects done) I ended up with a beautiful table! 


I was so happy with it. I was worried that the vinyl flooring would look stupid or wouldn't piece together well, but I think it's great. I might still go back and add something around the edges to smooth it out, but I haven't decided yet. Since I had a beautiful table I figured I needed to spice up the patio a little more. I found a nice outdoor rug from Garden Ridge for $50 and went to Wal-Mart to get a pretty plant and some hanging lights. With a little TLC my patio looks like a place I want to be now. 


I think my flower and gnomes are perfect for the table. I've had those gnomes since Christmas (part of my obsession with white ceramic figurines) and they finally have a home now! I can't wait to show Tal and to start working on more DIY projects over the summer!