Neverland Fun Run

Yesterday was our big Neverland Family Fun Run (my 5k)!! After 8 weeks of training and following a training plan, I was ready! Never in my life did I ever think I'd even remotely enjoy running...and yet, there I was, training for a 5k and running 3 times a week. A friend from work signed up with me and we decided to be pirates as we figured there would be LOTS of fairies...

We picked up our race numbers and headed to the Expo where we saw lots of really fun running gear. Saw a few shirts I liked, but didn't feel like I was qualified to wear them as most were for serious runners and many said stuff about 13.1 miles....someday. I did find 1 thing that I had read about and was quite excited to find "Sweatybands"...they're no-slip headbands that people swear by. I am not a fan of hair in my face when running and all the headbands I have slip off and I get annoyed at having to constantly fix them. I am now the proud owner of a sweatyband!

After the Expo we still had 4 hours to kill as our run wasn't until 10:30PM. We took a few pictures at Disneyland and then headed over to CA Adventure for dinner. After dinner we still had time to kill so we walked through Downtown Disney and found fun surprises for our kids!

By race-time we were pretty excited! It was a beautiful night and we were ready to run! As we waited to start we got to enjoy the Disney DJ and people-watch...so many fun costumes and ideas for future runs!

My goal was to run the whole 3.1 miles and I am VERY proud to say that I ran the whole thing. I didn't really have a goal as far as time goes, but I did the 5k in 32 minutes. It was great to run inside the park and to get a glimpse of life behind the scenes as much of our run was through the back lots. Our run started in Disneyland and then ended in CA Adventure. I was a little tired at about mile 2.5(ish) but was able to keep going. I loved that I was familiar with the course and knew that the finish line wasn't much further. I discovered that I don't love running downhill, but don't mind the uphill too much. It is definitely fun to run with a friend and I am so thankful to have had a buddy to run with!

The finisher "medals" are actually rubber, but oh well. I did it! I finished and enjoyed my 1st 5k and for the first time in my whole life, I ran 3.1 miles straight. I enjoyed every aspect of it and now find myself looking for my next race. I have signed up for a 10k in March and definitely think it is do-able! Can't wait for future runs and adventures!!

I can't forget to say THANK YOU to my amazing friends and family members who encouraged me daily and cheered me on as I endeavored on this new journey. I had the best cheer-leaders ever and am so grateful for their support!

726. new friends over for lunch
727. our brown table group...turned out to be a good bunch
728. her constant "I love you" and "I missed you" as she snuggles in close
729. 30 minutes ran and a race just 3 days away
730. Superhero Tuesdays at work
731. hubby who does a little bit of everything...I'm so lucky!
732. sweet new babies born healthy and well
733. facetime with dear friends
734. getting organized little by little
735. going through the closet...so much money wasted on clothes never worn
736. Disneyland with friends
737. Star Wars day with my favorites
738. Disney days with my favorites
739. wonderful cousin
740. supportive/encouraging friends...so grateful

Star Wars Day!

Last weekend we were able to enjoy a fun new adventure together as a family. One of our local museums has a Star Wars exhibit running and last Saturday happened to be Clone Wars Day. Since Hope (and Jaye) love all things Star Wars, we decided it'd be fun to go check it out! Hope and Jaye sported their Star Wars shirts and were ready for fun!

The Discovery Science Center has exhibits and interactive activities that run year round and then periodically they bring in something special...like Star Wars!

Inside the exhibit there were costumes from the movies, scaled models of the various ships, interactive activities and much more. Hope wasn't so sure about the characters, but we toured it all anyway. I think she had fun with the building areas but mostly just enjoyed running around the rest of the museum.

Her favorite "guys" are still R2D2 and C3PO so I love that we got this picture at the end of the day! It matched her shirt too!

Single Focus

I've discovered recently that I am not good at multi-tasking/prioritizing.

In October I blogged about how I committed to reading the Word daily for the next 24 months. I did an amazing job at it, making sure to read and sometimes getting up out of bed when I realized I had forgot. I did really great until about Dec. 22nd...Jaye was off of work, naptime became a daily battle, and routine went out the window.

In November I decided to sign up for a 5K. This was yet another thing that would take commitment and discipline. I found a great app that would walk me through the process/training and here I am on week 6, day 2 and I am not able to run for 10 minutes while still feeling great, walk for 5 and then run another 10...never in my life did I think I'd be able to do that! In the next 3 weeks my run time will increase and by the 26th I should be able to run 35 minutes straight and then finish my 5k on the 27th.

I found that I have done really well with training for my run because I have scheduled into my week, just like we have Hope's classes scheduled each week. Each week I know that come Mon,Tues,Thurs I will be at the gym at 8:45am to do whatever my app tells me to do! (o: Why is it soo much easier to schedule the gym into my life than to schedule in 15 minutes to read the Word?

Quiet time used to fit great during naptime, but naptime is now later and I don't have that time alone at least 3 days out of the week. I used to read during my dinner break and at work but lately I have filled that time with many other pointless activities. So, here I am...quite behind at reading, but trying to figure out how to have a dual-focus and get back to doing both things well...I know it is possible if I carve out time!

Family Fun!

Since Jaye was home for a week we decided to make the most of some time together. We headed down to Sea World for the day. It was SUPER crowded, but we had fun anyway! We told Hope to pick her 2 favorite shows...she chose the silly dolphin show (which is more about people doing acrobatics than the dolphins) and the pet show. We made it to our shows and then enjoyed exploring and playing together. We saw the sharks, the penguins, played in the sand, climbed the cargo nets and discovered turtle reef (my favorite part of the day).

Jaye and Hope both love the penguins. I love listening to Jaye teach Hope about the penguins and point out various things he sees or observes!

Another fun thing we got to do was go on a boat tour to see all the Christmas lights in the harbor. I had found cheap tickets on a deal-a-day sight and it was pretty fun. It was something new and different and made for a fun adventure! Here we are all bundled up!

We also managed to make it to Disneyland for a few hours since we hadn't been yet to see it decked out for Christmas. It was unbelievably crowded that day so we went on the Pooh ride, watched the parade, and saw 2 shows. Despite the crowds (for which they stopped admitted people into the park) we still had fun and enjoyed a beautiful day outside!

I am so grateful for that week between Christmas and New Years as it has become a tradition to fill it with fun family days! I loved waking up each morning to Jaye being home with us and Hope loved her "Hope and Daddy days" when I went to work! I am so thankful for this family God given me!

Christmas Highlights!

Christmas has come and gone and boy was it fun!! I love that Hope was old enough to really enjoy all things Christmas and I love that we could teach her what Christmas is really about! Jaye was off for 10 days and we treasured time together as a family!

We thought Hope would love decorating a gingerbread house, but she was more interested in eating M&Ms. She did help a bit, but would not part with any M&Ms to put on the house!

We'd been collecting things here and there for Hope, things we'd see on sale or things we knew she'd enjoy. She had fun with all of it, but I think her favorite things are her tea-set, her blocks, and her Star Wars guys...those are the things that get played with daily! Don't mind her crazy bed-head!

We baked a birthday cake for baby Jesus and Hope helped Jaye's Mom and I by telling us what colors she wanted and told us where to put things. I love that we can start this tradition with her! I bought funfetti cake and frosting (my favorite), but we discovered that funfetti frosting doesn't work very well when trying to use a frosting bag to write letters...it clogs. Oops!

Thanks to friends of my folks, Hope got the singing hippopotamus she wanted. (it was the 1 thing she asked for). My mom and I had both posted on facebook, asking everyone to keep their eyes open for a singing hippo as we couldn't find one anywhere. Their friend found this one on Chrsitmas Eve out in Long Beach. She was so excited about it!

Christmas day both sides of our family come to our house...even Great Grandma! I am so thankful to have family so close and I love that we can all be together to celebrate!! We feel so fortunate to not have to juggle family and split the day...we get the best of both sides all at once!

#716. an accident free week...GO HOPE!
#717. proper running clothes/shoes
#718. the ability to run 8 minutes straight...I think I may just be able to do my 5k after all!
#719. favorite friends at Gymboree...she was sooo happy to see her sweet friend
#720. playday with friends...it had been way too long
#721. learning new games to play together
#722. resilient kids at work
#723. great playlist...thanks hubby
#724. reclaimed space thanks to Christmas decorations being gone
#725. new roommate...