Will Finished!

Running a Half Marathon is no easy feat, and on Sunday, my husband finally ran his! I am so proud of him!

 

My friend, Mina, went with me and the kids to the race course and prepared to cheer on all of the runners around Mile 6. I didn't really know when Will had started his race so, after waiting for about 15 minutes, I decided he had already passed that part and went to get some real estate along the finish line fence. Little did I know that I'd be waiting for about 2 hours for him to pass by.

At first, I put my camera up for every man wearing a red shirt that had black hair...then I relaxed a little and cheered on the runners as they finished, then the kids could stand it no more and started making rock angels in the rock pile behind me. Mina watched them so I could keep my eye on the racers. I owe her big time. If you actually click on the photo of Lynnea, you'll see exactly how dirty her hands got. Those same hands held a granola bar only a short time later (before I realized she was really eating it) and now she is throwing up at home. I really needed that "mommy punishment." Thanks, Lynnea.

Anyway, my friend Michelle (a part of the Up & Running Again ministry that we met up with), stood by me and started taking photos of all of their runners who had overcome adversity and trained hard to finish a half marathon. It is such an inspiring ministry!! After standing for quite some time, and saying, "he's got to be here any minute now," I started experimenting with fitting my camera through the chain link to get a better shot. I took sample photos, tested out the continuous frame photo setting and was ready to go. No sooner had I turned my head for a moment (with my hand still through the chain link), Will ran by in his red shirt. My finger desperately clicked away and I got a few shots. He had no idea we were there until Michelle called his name. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed after 2 hours of waiting to get the best shot possible. 

 

Here are the ones I did get...

Will & Steve after the race.

The family shot. Gotta have one!

Long Beach Fun Run

This weekend was the weekend Will had been training for - the Long Beach Half Marathon (& Marathon for those brave souls). I'll post about his race next but this post is about Mikayla's run. The day before the event, on Saturday, they had a kid's fun run which Mikayla has wanting to do since I ran my half marathon.

I knew she ran at school but I kept telling her that running a mile is no "walk in the park" at her age. With a confidence that I admire in her, she just knew she could do it...and when she sets her mind to something, she does it. I think the thing that motivated her more than anything was that medal she'd get at the end. So, here she is pre-race.

She ran with our friend's kids and did the entire race in a little over 10 minutes. A 10 minute mile is pretty good!

Will said she pretty much sprinted across the finish line. I'm so proud of her for trying something new and succeeding with flying colors. Look at her run!

And she has the medal to show for her accomplishments.

Of course, Tyler wants to run it next year...it's all about that medal (and the fact that it was an octopus this year wasn't lost on him either.)

Dresser Dress-up

I like to look at blogs of people who take old, outdated pieces of furniture and make them full of life again. It goes from truly shabby to chic in a matter of only a few pictures and the person always makes the process look so smooth and effortless. This post is to let you know...it's not.

I was given this 80's dresser from a dear friend of the family who wanted to give it to a good home. It was real wood, not that fake stuff, and she couldn't imagine it sitting in some Goodwill store waiting for someone to want it bad enough to buy it. So I took it. And I had grand visions of what I wanted it to be. I just wasn't positive I could pull it off. I tried anyway.

In answer to your question before you ask it, no, I won't be doing many of these projects. I love seeing the finished product but the process itself? I'm still picking the sawdust from the sander out of my hair. Not my passion.

So, on to the transformation. I sanded the whole thing. It took a long time. That varnish should be outlawed, that's all I can say. Then I painted it a white I already had in my paint arsenal, sanded the edges and then envisioned how I wanted the front of the drawers to look. I finally decided I wanted to find some old glass pulls and handles, preferably pink.

I hopped on ebay and watched bids for a while...until I came across a killer deal. A man was going through an estate and found 8 knobs and 4 pulls (just what I wanted) and he wanted to get rid of them ASAP. They were brand new. Some even had tags! With the tag placing each one at around $7 for each knob and $10 for each pull, I knew I had a deal on my hands when I saw that he was selling all of them for the "buy it now" price of $25 (plus $10 shipping).

So, for $35 dollars total, this is the finished result. I love it and it will go perfectly in my daughter's "fairy-inspired" bedroom. We're still working on the rest of it but I'm excited at how it's going to turn out. Mikayla really wants to help design it (think canopies and flowers) and I know it's going to be a fun process. Stay tuned for more remodeling!

Now, on to the nightstand I found for $12 at Savers. Gotta start all over again...