Day 123: July 30, 2013- Rain, rain, go away!

Day 123: 6 miles logged, 195.25 miles to go… 4 mile after work run in the rain followed by a 2 mile walk after dinner with Bobby.

Am enjoying our week without the kiddos (although it looks like they are doing just fine without me),

  

but do miss them tremendously. Glad they are having a fun time up at my mom and Steve’s, but can’t wait to see them on FRI! Hard at work on Buddy Walk stuff. Can’t wait to share more details on our SAT, OCT 5th Walk and newly added 5K event!!!

On a different note, this was our little visitor at the State Farm office from this morning. He stunned himself a bit running into our front window, but thankfully he flew off a few minutes later.

Day 122: July 29, 2013- Indescribable saddness

Day 122: 10 miles logged, 201.25 miles to go… 8 mile mid afternoon run. Busy day at the office, so the boss let me go early to run the deposit. Pushed through the 8 miles when I got home, but totally wishing I had drug my butt out of bed in the a.m. to have made it 4 that morning, 4 in the afternoon! Anyway a day of tremendous highs and a heartbreaking low. Up at 4am typing because couldn’t sleep after losing a friend : ( I can feel the migraine setting in as a result (crying will do it every time), so am working on the Buddy Walk brochure to take my mind off of things.

http://www.whatsnewlaporte.com/2013/07/28/suicide-suspected-in-death-of-man-found-off-pine-lake-avenue/ : ( I was the manager of the boys tennis team for three years, and Andy gave me a ride home regularly after practice and games. He was also the person who led me to Fellowship of Christian Athletes (of which I eventually became president). He was a kind soul, and I regret not having the opportunity to tell him how much he meant to me. His death, a suicide, weighs heavily on my heart, and I pray for his family as they seek comfort and solace at this time.

Day 121: July 28, 2013- I love to write!!!

Day 121: 10 miles logged, 211.25 miles to go… 2 mile morning run, 6 mile morning walk with Cate, and then an additional 2 miles logged in the late afternoon//early evening before Bob got home from his trip. Treated myself to a Wendy’s frosty for the hard work, and was happy at how many words I got typed on my manuscript. Pleasant end to an all too short weekend! 12,000+ words over the course of SAT and SUN. Slowly but surely inching towards my 85,000 word goal- Woot! Woot! ‪ WC to date = 72,023

Day 120: July 27, 2013- What I wouldn’t do for frozen yogurt… YUM!

Day 120: 14 miles logged, 221.25 miles to go… 10 mile morning run in the pouring rain

and a more pleasant evening 4 mile run to top off my miles for the day. I have to share, though, my thoughts on the carrot. I live and die by the carrot when it comes to my running and other goals. What is the carrot? It is the thing that motivates you when you are pushing through tough goals. Carrots can be large gifts to yourself for hitting something major, or you can grant yourself smaller carrots as you inch towards a larger overall goal. For me, I pushed through all agonizingly wet 10 miles this morning visualizing a large bowl of fat free frozen yogurt (flavor didn’t matter just as long as it was fat free) topped with black berries, that and some warm scrambled eggs and an apple for breakfast if I could finish all 10 miles of the run. Did I want to quit because I was soaked as well as bored because I couldn’t get into a zone? Hell yes, but every mile that I pushed myself was one mile closer to being done and one mile closer to that treat. So the next time you need to push yourself to do something challenging, think about how you can reward yourself when you accomplish your goal. Hard work is its own reward, but sometimes treating yourself to something a little extra special along the way helps you to hit your goal faster, and it makes the effort that much more worth it!

So… end result?!?! This lovely peach frozen yogurt topped with the blackberries I wanted. Super yummy and worth every mile!

Also, just wanted to share what great encouragement I got from everyone today! Thank you all for your kind words and support!!!

Day 119: July 26, 2013- Getting closer to 800!!!

Day 119: 11 miles logged, 235.25 miles to go… Amazing 5 mile morning run, and wonderful 6 mile evening run in the rain. Some of the most moderate weather all summer is yielding great motivation to get out after it. Excited to be inching closer to 200!!! Quiet day at the office, but was able to get a lot of stuff done. Lotta house cleaning tonight, but when it’s all said and done, I can’t wait to start writing this evening!!! Hope everyone has had a lovely week!

Day 118: July 25, 2013- Event planning and runway photographing

Day 118: 2 miles logged, 246.25 miles to go… So I got a measly little 2 miles in before I had to hit the ATM before my BNI meeting. Not thrilled with it, but at least I got out there. The rest of the day was extremely productive with office work, Buddy Walk planning, Little Lambs fashion show photographing as well as a SMILE calendar shoot. All in all, it was a great day!

Day 117: July 24, 2013- Summer is flying by!

Day 117: 29 miles logged since last FRI, 248.25 miles to go… A lot of four mile morning runs over the last week, but a few evening jaunts as well thanks to this wonderfully cool weather. Successfully turned in all of my 4H Open Class entries over the weekend, and will be taking home a few colorful ribbons when I pick everything up on SUN : ) Great MON night Art Smart Class; got rained on, hailed on, and snake slithered by at Howell Wetlands for our TUE night SMILE calendar photoshoot; and taught my first Hobby Lobby art class and had a fun SMILE dance class on WED. Busy with SMILE Buddy Walk prep. Excited we’ve added a 5K this year. This are coming along smoothly, and I look forward to sharing more information on the event. Extremely grateful for such a productive week! A few fun pics below. Also, BTW, WC= 60,045 ; ) less than 25,000 more words to go!

 Got to help with THUR’s summer fun at the SMILE Center and Wired

  SAT fun with Mia included teaching her to crack eggs one handed while we prepared breakfast for 92 people at the homeless shelter on SAT followed by driftwood collection along the river

 Got to play with powertools with said driftwood

 LOVED THE FINAL RESULTS ON THIS, but truth be told it didn’t even place for open class. Oh well! It’ll look great on my back porch!

 This little labor of love unfortantely did not fare so well. Turned out so pretty, but too fragile! I will also state that at this point I am totally over wood glue! Apparently drilling and wiring is the way to go with these driftwood projects!

  A few more cute open class projects

 Hit the pool with Mia SUN afternoon after our Open Class drop off before Bob and Cooper made their way home from their baseball tourney

   Fun times with stamps at my MON night Art Smart class!

 Funny story behind this pic… two minutes later we had torrential rains and hail for my calendar shoot. Then just as I was starting to post this pic to Facebook, a snake slithered right by my flip-flopped foot- ugh!!!! Heebie jeebies. I high tailed it out of the spot right quick!

At my mixed class, participants can be as creative and carefree as they’d like, but for those wanting structure, this week’s class focused around creating a piece that described the person. This is how mine turned out- media: card stock, acrylic paint watered down, magazine collage, and stamping : )

Day 111: July 18, 2013- Loving the upcycling!

Day 111: 4.02 miles logged, 278.25 miles to go… Four mile morning run. That seems to be the norm this week. Am hoping after I wrap up all of this week’s art projects that I can carve some time out in the evenings starting next week to up the milage with both a.m. and p.m. runs! Great day, though, pre-emptively addressed a potential migraine that started to come on from the storm that passed through and successsfully kept that at bay. Spent the day a the office, and then worked on upcycle projects by myself and eventually with Mia to end my night- pics to follow! Super happy with the results!

 

Day 110: July 16, 2013- Keepin’ on, keepin’ on

Day 110: 4.06 miles logged, 286.27 miles to go… Four mile morning run. Hot week, but glad to be sticking with the early runs. Going to try and build up to 6 mile runs, but will be contingent on how my schedule plays out the next few weeks. More to come!!!

Day 109: July 15, 2013- Playing catch-up for y’all…

Day 109: 37.11 miles logged (MON, JULY 1 through yesterday…yeah, I’m a little behind posting- sorry!), 290.33 miles to go… OK, now that Trucks & Heroes is done, I am back in the saddle with my running- have gotten up at 5:45am yesterday and today to put myself back in the habit of early morning runs. Looking forward to keeping it up to wrap up these last couple of hundred miles!

Here are some of the highlights since I last posted… Trucks & Heroes was super successful, I am trying to better balance my home life, work, and personal endeavors (a.k.a. had to put the blog posting and writing to the back burner for a little bit to make a gesture), I have had some of the most hellacious migraines ever over the past two weeks, and it is now time to put both my Buddy Walk and fall bridal show caps on to move forward with both of those projects… oh, and I got the green light to teach my art class at Hobby Lobby! Super excited!

     Some recent art projects in progress

 Finally dry enough for Debbie’s kitchen wall : )

   A lot of drift wood collection lately for all of my fun projects (thanks Cate and Kat!)

    Razorback fun

 Road tripping with the kids to the old house (Pi Beta Phi at DePauw University)

 Shot my first Indian American event- had so much fun, but was up till 2am : )

    Did the press rounds for Trucks & Heroes including tv interviews, radio interviews, and donut stops, and we even got the Shining Light article in the Courier. I was so excited SAT morning, I cried!

   SMILE Family Fun week antics

 Rocking out Trucks & Heroes on SAT

 Can’t wait for my classes to start!

 And just had to share the pic of this “little” guy who took out Mia’s tomato plant. Love this pic!