Why Tuesday August 13th was AWESOME!

Some of you may have seen my post on FB saying what an awesome day it was last Tuesday. Well, I'm here to spill the beans...

I'm.... pre...

pretty excited to get matched through the I run 4 Michael group!

Yeah, you thought I was pregnant didn't you? no? ok.

Anyway, I run 4 Michael is a group I found through another blog, Skinny Runner. I checked out the website and was so touched by what they were doing, that I wanted to be a part of it. Plus, I was going to sign up for a 1/2 marathon in November and what better motivation than to dedicate my runs to someone who can't run themselves?

So, who did I get matched with??

Sweet little Miss Emma from Milwaukee Wisconsin!

 Emma has CdLS. CdLS a genetic disorder present from birth, but not always diagnosed at birth. It causes a range of physical, cognitive and medical challenges and affects both genders equally. CdLS does not discriminate—it’s seen in all races and ethnic backgrounds. The occurrence of CdLS is estimated to be 1 in 10,000 live births.

Emma loves pink, is in love with Disney princesses, likes to do arts and crafts projects (perfect for me right?!) and is starting school soon! She sounds like such a fun little girl.. I can't wait to get to know her more along this journey!

If you are a runner (or someone looking for their child/cousin/nephew/granddaughter.. whatever, to have a runner) and are interested in being matched with someone, check out the I run 4 Michael FB page or website and sign up! I'm so glad I did :)


I map quested, then photo shopped how far away we lived from each other! My goal is to run 403 miles by this time next year! Only 401 to go!

I'm off to run a few miles this afternoon... day 3 of 1/2 marathon training is today! wish me luck!

The one where I visited Shannon & started the Whole30

To start August off right, I headed to Huntsville Alabama to visit my friend Shannon! We hadn't seen each other since my wedding!!  I'm so glad we put it on the calendar & nothing got in our way! Our plan was to craft, shop, catch up on life and start The Whole 30!

I only took a few photos but we had lots of fun!

Little Digby was there to supervise all of it. He is so cute!!

We got up on Saturday and headed to an Antique place where I bought a ceramic boot. Yes, you did read that correctly haha! I have a plan for it but for now, it's staying green with nothing in it. 

After lunch at Chipolte, we headed back to the apartment for some crafting! We both worked on our pinterest-y projects while watching fun movies like Hairspray and Legally Blonde. Shannon sewed a instagram pillow for her honey which turned out so neat! I decided on a star burst mirror. I've always wanted one and this was the perfect time to do it! 

I just bought a Hobby Lobby mirror and 3 packs of skewers. I evenly spaced the skewers around the mirror where I wanted the longest ones to be.

I did 6 on each side next to the first one I laid down. I just eye balled how far back to place them. Digby made sure I didn't miss any and occasionally played with a stick :)

And this is the semi finished product! I need to spray paint it but not sure what color yet since I don't know where it's going in the house.

What do you think?

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During my trip, Shannon, her boy  Justin and I decided to take on the Whole 30 together. Lots of you have asked about it and I will tell you... its hard but worth it (so far). Basically, it's rethinking the foods you are putting in your body.

Yes, that's a ton to cut out (bread, cheese, chocolate, DIET COKE!?!) but if you read on their website, many great things can come from changing your habits. There is a huge science behind it all. Check out their website and order the book if you are serious about trying it!

I'm on day 13/30 and I am sleeping SO much better, I can see a difference in the bloat I had in my belly, I feel full faster and my mind is more focused while I'm at work. Plus, Tyler and I have cooked pretty much every night which makes us feel much better than just ordering a pizza! I know what's going in my body and I'm learning to try new foods like dates & plantains. I've even made healthy mayo and ranch!!

I measured and weighed before I started and I can't wait to see the results in 30 days. They don't want you to measure or weigh during because it isn't about that; its about how you feel.

The first few days were hard for me because I had to cut diet coke out, but I made it through. Look how yummy my first day  was!

 So that's pretty much it! I will try to post the rest of my meals as soon as I get them all organized!

My trip ended with church on Sunday and eating Panera salads with our Whole30 approved ranch!

Thank you Shannon for such a fun weekend! I'm so thankful for your friendship! We will have to do it again soon!

Do you think you could do the Whole 30?
What is your favorite food you would miss for 30 days?
Have you ever made a star burst mirror?

Until next time...

July Round Up

First of all, I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! I feel very blessed to live in the land of the free! And after watching the movie Purge with the hubs, I'm even more thankful for the 2nd amendment.

Some of you might know how we started our 4th celebration via facebook. Yes, thats right folks, we had some fleas taking up residence on our little June bug. So, thats the cleanest the house has been since we've moved! I vacuumed, sprayed anit-flea stuff on all our furniture  chair, gave June two flea baths, one in the flea shampoo, the other in Dawn (thanks for the advice FB friends!) Here is her before, during and after photos ;)

After, she was all soft and fluffy!

The holiday went on to include some not so good tasting cupcakes but hey they looked pretty (icing was the bomb)

Followed by a steak and potato dinner made by my main man.yum!

What else did we do?

We crossed some things off our to- do list this month! HOORAY! However, we still have a long way to go.

What we did accomplish:

1. Put up closets in the masterbedroom closet/laundryroom

2. Made a welcome mat

Want to make one too? Here's how I did it..

You will need:

And a mat! Found mine at Home Depot for about $10.

I just printed the letter off  as big as I could get it in Word. Cut it out and then placed it on my mat

Traced around the letter and then added some free hand dots on the sides... it was too boring to me without something else.

Then I used black outdoor paint from Wally World and just simply painted the inside. I did have to make sure I pushed/wiggled some paint into the mat to make sure it was all covered.

Simple as that! New mat for the hizzouse!

We then celebrated another marriage! Our good friends Kristina and Sam tied the knot :)

We then headed to Perdido key for vacation with the Harts mid July! We left on Tylers birthday so there was no cake to show but hey, vacation for your bday is pretty awesome.

A few highlights of our trip:

Our view! 

When we returned home,  our couch got delivered!

Just in time for the Harts to visit that next weekend!!

 Sunday after our guests left, we unfortunately had to bug bomb the house because those pesky fleas would NOT go away.

So, June traveled to Mt. Washington to stay with her granny for 4 hrs while the bomb did its thing...

 We just hung out on the deck and listened to grandpa talk :)

I don't want to jinx anything, but we haven't seen a live flea in about a week or so. Cross your fingers we don't have to deal with that mess again! June really likes zero bugs...

Oh, and then I bought a cabinet that will probably be refinished at some point. But for now, this is what it looks like!

 Happy end of July!

It was a busy month for all but a good one! August now brings bigger challenges as me and Shannon take on the Whole 30 to really reshape how we eat/think about food. Even though we are 4.5 hrs apart, we are keeping eachother accountable!

New post on my trip to Shannons and the start of Whole 30 soon!