I’ve decided to keep Currently active again for 2017! It is just such a fun post to do each month and I love updating all of you on what I’ve been up to besides the usual DIY/outfit posts!
Currently…
Beyond Thrilled to see SO many #ShowYourMug Photos!
Recently I worked with Community Coffee on a Giveaway, where you would have a chance to win a year’s worth of free coffee in exchange for showing your mug and tagging me and Community Coffee on Instagram.
I was really surprised by how many of you shared your mugs! Below you’ll see some of you that played along:
Again, thanks ladies for sharing your lovely mugs! I was so excited every time one of you tagged me and I got to read about your favorite mug!
Running Goal
I started training for my 10th (that’s crazy!) half marathon yesterday! I haven’t really set any specific goals for myself with half marathons, except to try to PR. However, I haven’t PR’ed my 2:06 time in a couple years! After training for a marathon at a specific pace and finishing a little above that pace, I’ve decided I am going to do the same for the half marathon. Usually I try to run fast at the beginning and then I run out of steam at the end. This time I am going to run a fairly even pace of 8:55-9:10, so that I can comfortably meet my sub 2:00 PR. So far I’ve been trying to run my long run of the week at this pace, which has only been 6 miles so far and then for my other runs, I’ll run that pace for 1/3 of each mile. It has been working out great so far!
I can honestly say that when I looked at my half marathon training plan, it looked SO easy compared to the marathon training I did just last season. I think this marathon has prepared me mentally to tackle this sub 2:00 goal for this spring!! My plan is to try to sub 2:00 at my spring half, or at least PR from 2:06. Then, if I don’t meet that PR I am going to try again at the Rock ‘n Roll race this fall. I always seem to do better at fall races, so I figure I am going to really try my hardest at these two races and HOPEFULLY (fingers crossed) I can finally achieve this goal.
Fruit-Full Kids 
Recently I received this adorable plate from Fruit-Full Kids, which I have been using for meals with my kids. These plates are wonderful, because they include a Bible verse and start Christian conversation while we eat! The images on the plates are colorful and fun, too! The plates are BPA-free, dishwasher safe and non-breakable! You can visit their website to see all 16 of their adorable designs, which include birthday, Thanksgiving and even Christmas designs! Visit Fruit-Full kids by clicking HERE.
Mondo Beyondo Again!
There is an online ‘dreaming’ class that I have taken several times called Mondo Beyondo. The photo above is taken from the class. It seems lately I have taken Mondo Beyondo about every other year (2013, 2015 and now in 2017) and I’ve taken it even before those years. My favorite part of the class is creating my ‘Mondo Beyondo List’, which is a list of dreams that may be completely unrealistic or perhaps even something that surprises you. I’ve enjoyed writing down my Mondo Beyondo lists each time I’ve done this online class and I also enjoy looking back at them and crossing off dreams that I’ve fulfilled. The class is five weeks and you get a prompt each morning Monday-Friday. I’ve really been enjoying it!
Reading
This month I finished The Fringe Hours by Jessica N. Turner.
This book is about turning ‘fringe’ hours into useful and productive time for YOURSELF. A ‘fringe hour’ is a little slot of time you find throughout the day that would otherwise be wasted. Such as time spent waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting for your doctor to see you, 15 minutes before you need to pick your kids up from school, etc. There were a lot of suggestions hinted in this book that I already do, such as getting up early in the morning before the rest of the family is awake to gain some ME time.
I did like the chapter where it says you really shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help. Something I have always struggled with is asking for help… part of this is because I am a little selfish and think that only I can make the bed without X amount of wrinkles or run a load of laundry without accidentally putting X garment in the dryer without shrinking it. The list goes on… I’m a perfectionist and only *I* can do it right. Have you ever said that to yourself? BUT, I also feel as the ‘woman’ in the household, I should be doing these things and if I ask for help I am just being a nag. I recently watched a video of a mom where she was making fun of life and she said she asked her husband to do something around the house and then asked him again (after it wasn’t done) 6 months later and she felt like a ‘nag’. Ok, this is an EXTEME example, but still… I shouldn’t feel like asking for help is making me a nagging wife. Also, just to add a note here that my husband isn’t afraid to help out AND does if I ask… so, I’m not in any means putting him down. I’m just saying that I shouldn’t just assume he will help me with something I need help with, I shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help. If I need help darnit, I need to just ask for it. 🙂 Ok, I hope this wasn’t a ramble and it made sense. 🙂
I also liked where she talked about taking care of yourself and stepping up to get that 7-8 hours of sleep. She said that getting enough sleep daily is important and that she even makes it a priority over exercise, cleaning and me time. Wow! She also sets the thermostat to 68 degrees, which I found interesting. I never knew that a cooler house helps your body sleep better, but after researching it online, it seems it is true!
I’ve really written a lot about this book! Ok, I think I’m done… 🙂 I only gave the book 4 stars, because some of it I’ve been doing for years… but, I did take away some good ideas from it!
Lauren from Mom Home Guide is also sharing her Currently post today!
