Becky at Choose Happy has been running a fun link up party called Currently. I am going to start joining Becky for her Currently link up series once a month. I thought it would be a fun way to update y’all on my life in a light way through photos and a blurb of text.
Currently…
New Fall Link Up – Holiday Craftacular
Next week I am going to be participating in the Holiday Craftacular with four of my blogging friends. Monday-Friday we will be sharing a Fall craft or home tour on each others blogs. AND, we will also have a link up that will run all week and you can link up your fall crafts/home tours/projects. I will be sharing my Fall Porch on Tuesday. I will still have The Creative Corner and Thursday Fashion Files link ups that week, too… so, it is going to be a busy week around here with lots of creativity and fun! We will be doing another week long party in October with a Halloween theme, in November with a Thanksgiving theme AND in December with a Christmas/Holiday theme. It is going to be so much fun!
Taking a Running Break?
I am currently training for my eight half marathon. I am running the Rock N Roll on October 18th and after that I am going to start researching full marathons. I am planning on running the Spring Go! full marathon here in St. Louis. It’ll be my first full EVER and I am nervous. Running a full is on my life-time bucket list, though.
After that, I’ve decided I am giving up long runs for awhile… which… I know… running has been my thing for SO long. I started running after I had Autumn in 2008 and by the time I get done running this full (if I don’t die) it’ll be 8 years of running. I love running, I do… but, I also don’t feel that passion for it like I had when I first started. It has become more of a chore. One reason I have kept running for as long as I have is because I have made a lot of progress on speed. I am so close to breaking a 2:00 hour half marathon goal. If I stop running two half marathons a year I am going to really give up a lot of what I have worked towards. It upsets me to think that… but, I’ve thought long and hard and I need a break from it all. I know I will run a half marathon again someday (preferably a Disney one again! ha!)… but, I’ve ran eight of the suckers, it is time I gave myself a break.
What I am excited about is running some shorter races… 5k’s and 10k’s. I still plan to run 15-17 miles a week… It’ll be interesting to see if my speed will be effected though by giving up the half marathons. Although, I sort of would like to just run and not worry about what speed I’m at. I almost think that would be fun for a change. Maybe that is what would bring the fun back into it, I don’t know. I also want to maybe try out some other workouts, too such as swimming, biking, barre. I’m not sure. But, I want to have fun again.
I am still doing the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred two days a week and I love it! It is such a powerful workout and I can do it in less then 30 minutes. I am still at level one, but I am going to move up to level two on October 1st. I think I could move up now, but I am trying to pace myself. I will be excited if I can move up to level three! How long did you spend on each level? I know some of my readers have done or are doing Jillian! Please share!!!
Trying more curly products.
Fall is the best time of the year for my hair. We have had two cool days with brisk fall weather after a week of temps in the 90’s and humidity and my hair has been looking GOOD! Living Proof was kind enough to send me ANOTHER box of curly hair products to try out in my hair. I tried all of the other products in my last box, except the Curl Leave-In Conditioner is new to me. These products are sold at Sephora, so you know they are going to work wonders on your curls. I was a little worried about the non-lathering part, because I feel like when you lather your hair up you are cleaning it at the same time. However, lather-free is best for your curls and it really does still clean your hair! These products really do make my hair less frizzy… and, it is comforting to style my hair and then to go out in the humidity and it doesn’t puff up right away. I also enjoy using the Leave-In Conditioner on my hair after a day out in the humidity. It really calms my hair down and makes it look refreshed again.
Finished Reading…
If you’ve been following this blog for awhile, you know that I love to read while I run on the treadmill at our home. I am training for a half marathon right now and I am in the most intense weeks of training… as in I ran 31.3 miles last week for training. Two of those runs were 10 milers. So, I’ve gotten a lot of reading done. Also, a first for me… I actually took LOTS of notes while reading the tidying up book. Yes, I ran and did notes on my iPhone. No, I didn’t fall… but, I was very careful. 😉
I gave ALL of these books 5 starts out of 5 on Goodreads. I was starting to wonder if I give out 5 stars too easily… but, no… I really do believe these were ALL great reads!
Girl with a Pearl Earring is a book I have had on my Goodreads list for a LONG time. I took a lot of art history credits in college and I was eager to read this book about Griet, a sixteen year old girl that found herself working in a home of a famous painter after her dad couldn’t earn money for his family anymore. Griet has a quiet and mysterious personality and it is interesting to see how her relationship forms with the painter Vermeer (who is also quiet and even more mysterious) as she works in his study and cleans it. The relationship develops further and she becomes his assistant (mixing paint colors, etc) and even poses for him for a painting with Vermeer’s wife’s pearl earrings.
Wonder is a book about a fifth grade boy named August who was born with a severe face deformity. He was home-schooled his entire life, but his mom encourages him to start fifth grade at a real school. August goes through a lot when he starts school, but makes two very good friends. One of them turns his back on August briefly due to peer pressure and August gets his feelings hurt. However, they make up by the end of the book. August has an older sister that started high school and she is going through her own issues when two of her best friends dump her on the first day of school. This book mainly shows Augusts point of view, but some of the chapters are written in his sisters or friends views. It really gives the book an interesting spin, especially when you read about how his sister feels about his face deformity. It is definitely a tear-jerker, but a book with such a good message behind it. I would love for my son Nathan (he is in fourth grade) to read this before he starts middle school.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up was a book I wanted to read to see what all the hype was about. I did NOT think I would want to do anything in this book: thank my purse for holding my junk, thank my house for providing me shelter, etc. But, WOW. After one chapter in, I was ADDICTED… I even took notes, which I never do. I will definitely be writing about this book on my blog AND I do plan to try out a lot of her techniques. This book has made be giddy about cleaning up, what is wrong with me? The only part of the book that I didn’t care for was when she went into her religion, lucky charms, shrines, etc. It just didn’t speak to me. I HIGHLY recommend this book.
Researching Blogging Conferences
I REALLY want to go to a blogging conference and a blog friend and I are trying to decide if Haven will work out for us. It is usually in July (or it was last year) and I was a little bummed to see it is in August this year, so close to when the kids will return to school. It is in Atlanta, GA, which would be a pretty convenient flight from St. Louis. There is another big one (SNAP!) in Utah, but it would be a little harder for me to get there. Plus, it is in April… which is smack in the middle of school. Is anyone else planning on going to Haven this year? Does any know of any that are in NYC?
Wondering What I Can Use the Hubs Building Skills for…
What is this you may ask? Well, Nathan’s old scout leader had to step down this year due to other obligations and Brian (who is an Eagle scout, I’ll add) was asked to take charge. Brian is VERY excited about this… and… well, I found THIS in our backyard this weekend. Yeah… Brian built this and they are going to use it as a ‘dining’ tent when they go camp for two nights in a few weeks. I’m thinking Brian is a lot more handy with wood and building then I thought and perhaps I should make force him to help me with more of my DIY projects. He could build a new TV stand in the family room to start! ha!
Dreaming…
I’ve decided to sign up for the fall Mondo Beyondo class! I know… what a name! I have taken this class a couple of other times and it has helped to to figure out my dreams. Also, Andrea who teaches it is AWESOME, because she is a major list writer like me. SO, yes… lots of list writing in this class and a lot of dreaming BIG! I have made some major life changes in the past that this class helped nudge me towards. It is also great, because you get to meet and converse with the other people taking the class, there are videos to watch, etc. I have also taken her Superhero Photo class and Dream Lab class. She also teaches an E-Course Bootcamp class, which I haven’t taken. It has been a few years since I’ve done a class, so I am excited to start this fall Mondo Beyondo’ing!
Well, that is all I have today. Be sure to join Becky in this link up series sometime, it is a lot of fun!
