Wear Blue: Run To Remember

This weekend was all about “Wear Blue: Run To Remember.”  It’s a group my sister, Lisa, started when her husband died while serving in Afghanistan in 2009.  Friday night was a golf tournament to raise money for her group.  We had a great time trying to win the raffle and auction prizes, listening to her talk about Wear Blue and seeing the kids running around having fun.



Saturday we headed to San Francisco to get ready for the SF Marathon.  We had our pre-race dinner at the hotel.



After dinner I went up to my room to get some sleep before my half marathon while Lisa headed out to San Bruno to start her ultra marathon, 52. 4 miles.  Her and four other runners from Wear Blue: Run To Remember and Team Red White and Blue started at midnight and ran the first 26.2 miles to the start of the San Francisco Marathon.

Before they started they called out the name of the fallen soldier they were running for.

(photo by Joe Dannels)

They took turns carrying the flag throughout the entire race.


(photo by Joe Dannels)

2:18 a.m.  Running past the Cliff House in San Francisco.


(photo by Joe Dannels)

They got to our hotel around 4:30 and met up with all the other runners.



We walked to the start line and waited for the race to start.



We ran over the Golden Gate Bridge and up some brutal hills.



We were all relaxing, drinking our coffee when Lisa and the rest of the ultra runners crossed the finish line.  I don’t know how they did it, but it was amazing watching them step across the finish line holding the flag.



My favorite picture of the entire weekend.  Lisa (on the right) has the craziest happy face I’ve ever seen.  I just love it and laugh every time I look at it.

Julie (on the left) signed up to run the half marathon and then decided she couldn’t leave Lisa at a particularly difficult point in the race and decided to just finish with her.  Who does that?  She signs up for 13 miles, which is hard enough, and then just runs a full 26.  Crazy.



It was a great weekend, and I can’t wait until next year when we do it all again.

New File Cabinet

Can you believe it?  My first post in almost two months!  I have been working on a few things, but most are sitting half finished in the garage. 

When I first saw Miss Mustard Seed's chalkboard cabinet, I knew I had to have one.  I've been searching for a cheap two drawer file cabinet for all my paperwork and scrapbook paper.  I finally found one a couple weeks ago.  Who knew it would be so hard to find.

Here it is before.  Not too bad, just a few chips.  I lightly sanded the entire cabinet and then wiped it down to remove any dust.

After a coat of primer and two coats of chalkboard paint I ended up with this:

I'm still trying to find just the right spot for it, and something cute to put on top, but I like it.  And once I actually file all my paperwork, my office will look so much more organized!

Linking To:
Embellishing Life, The Girl Creative, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Somewhat Simple
Fireflies and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Romantic Home,
Tidy Mom, Sassy Sites, Simply Sweet Home, Dittle Dattle

Our Disneyland Trip

We had a great trip to Disneyland and I wish I could go back right now.  I had prepared myself for the worst - long bathroom lines, cranky girls, Madison being too scared to go on the rides - but it ended up being so easy! 

We started out slow on It's a Small World, then worked our way up to the bigger rides.

Once Madison got used to it, she wanted to go on everything.   She wanted to ride "Faster than the wind" on the teacups.



While waiting in line to see Tinkerbell, we saw a little area of water filled with coins.  Madison wanted to know why there was money in the water.  I told her you throw a penny in the water and make a wish.  I gave her a penny and asked her what shew as going to wish for.  She said "True Love."  ( in that Duh Mommy voice)

We had lunch with the Princesses.

And took lots of pictures.

We're still working on our house and I'm all up to date on my Project Life album so I'll have some updates soon!

Hello

We have settled into our new place, we're mostly unpacked and we're starting to get some kind of routine.  I am also completely unmotivated to do anything.  I haven't quite figured out how to set up my new craft space, and everytime I try to work on anything I sit at my desk for a few minutes and then just leave.  I hate that feeling.  But I know that everytime I move, it takes a few months for me to get going again. 

We did have a great Easter, the girls got a ton of candy, saw lots of family and we're having fun in our new place. 

We've got a lot of things coming up soon.  We leave for Disneyland in 10 days.  Yay!  And as soon as we get back, we're starting our first big project.  The backyard.  Not totally sure what we're going to do with it yet, but we've got lots of ideas floating around.  Here's a little sneak peak at what we're getting rid of.

Rocks, rocks and more rocks.  We've already had 6 or 7 truckloads taken out and it's hardly made a dent. 

It's Moving Day

It's finally here.  Today is officially moving day and I'm already tired.  I've been at the house every night this week cleaning so we won't have to do much after we bring in the furniture. 

Here are a few pictures of the new place:

I'll be without internet for the next few days but I'll be back with some better pictures later in the week.

7 More Days

This month has been full of ups and downs for us.  We've definitely had more "excitement" than I care to have in one month.  But now that it's starting to calm down we can get excited about moving.  We only have seven more days to wait!  This will be my 12th move in 13 years!  I can't believe I have moved that many times.  But I swear, this is it. 

We've started packing up the things we won't be using for the next few weeks . Here's a tiny portion of my Rite Aid stash:

My mom came to visit for the weekend so Mike and I could have some uninterrupted cleaning time in the garage.

And in between packing, we've been taking trips out to Roseville for lunch and shoe shopping.

I am going to update the last two weeks of my Project Life tonight before I pack up the rest of my craft supplies and then I'll be back with pictures of the new house.

Project Life Weeks 8 and 9

I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything, but I have a good reason.  We've been house hunting!  We did make an offer and it was accepted, so now we're in the middle of home inspections and appraisals.  I am in love with this house even though it's stuck in the 80's.  But that just means I'll have lots of before and after pictures to show you.  In the meantime, here are my Project Life pages for weeks 8 and 9.

Week 8:

Week 9:

Project Life Week 7

Still not a lot going on around here.  One cold turned into three colds and we just hung out for most of the week.  I was able to finish Project Life week 7: 

Make one scrapbook layout:

And do my Rite Aid shopping on Sunday.  Yep, didn't cost me anything.  $-.04 and I got back $6.00 for next week. 



One of these days I'll actually have something good to share with you.  I've got a hutch in the garage just waiting for a good sanding and a fresh coat of paint.  Until then, I hope you don't get sick of my Project LIfe pages and my Rite Aid shopping.

Linking to:
The Mom Creative

Project Life Week 6

I've been a very lazy crafter/blogger lately.  We had a crazy week that started with 4 hours in the urgent care for an ear infection, and ended with lots of colds in our house.  But we made it through, and hopefully this week will be better.  Here is a look at my Project Life week 6:

I ended up ordering a second Project Life kit for all my 2010 pictures.  I spent most nights this week editing and uploading all our pictures from last year.  I can't wait to put it all together, finish a couple layouts for 2009 (yes, totally behind on my scrapbooking) and then I will finally be caught up!  I didn't think I would ever be able to say that, but I think by the end of March, I will be!

Linking to:
The Mom Creative

Project Life Week 5

My Project Life is still going strong.  I'm completely up to date, but can't get pictures of my most recent pages until this weekend when I've got some light.  So until then, here is a look at week 5.



I had so many pictures this week I couldn't narrow it down enough, so I added a 6x12 sheet in the middle.

I am still loving this project.  It is one of the best projects I've done.  I love how I will remember little details that usually slip by because I'm not thinking about documenting the little things, and because I usually scrapbook it a year later.  I love the daily pictures of the girls' clothes and hairstyles.  I love that I am up to date, still having fun, and still looking foward to Monday nights when I get to put the week together.

Linking to:
The Mom Creative

Rite Aid Coupon Shopping

I LOVE coupon shopping and my favorite store is Rite Aid.  It's been a couple months since I've done any coupon shopping and my stockpile is getting low, so I started it up again today.  Here's what I got:

2 Colgate Sensitive toothpastes ($3.50 each)
2 Dove Invisible Solid deoderants ($2.00 each)
1 Secret Clinical Strength ($7.99)
Total: $18.99 plus tax

Here are the coupons I used:
$4.00 off $20.00 purchase (Rite Aid video values coupon)
$2.00 off non-prescription purchase (Rite Aid video values coupon)
$1.00 off non-prescription purchase (Rite Aid video values coupon)
(2) $1.00 off Colgate Sensitive Toothpaste
(2) $2.00 off Dove deoderant
$1.00 off Secret Deoderant

Total after coupons (with tax): $4.16 and I got back $12 in +Up Rewards

I didn't have any +Up Rewards to use this time since I haven't done any coupon shopping lately, so my out of pocket was a little "expensive" for me, but I've got two more great transactions for next weekend that should be almost free.  I'll let you know my plan later in the week if you are interested in doing some Rite Aid shopping.

Holiday Decoration

I love decorating for holidays from Halloween through Sidney's birthday in January.  Once February hits, I kind of run out of steam and have no desire to put up anything for Valentine's Day.  This is a problem since Madison is all about decorating.  Everything.  She wants her room decorated, windows, doors, everything.  So the other day I found this tree thing at a thrift store.  I knew it would be perfect for Madison to decorate for all the holidays, but I wasn't crazy about the color.

After a little steel wool and some primer, I painted it with a pewter color and hung some paper hearts.  Madison loves it and I can easily hang something on it for all the upcoming holidays.

Linking to:

Just a Girl, The Shabby Nest, My Romantic Home, Finding Fabulous

Fingerprints on the Fridge, The Girl Creative, Kojo Designs