Three Days in a Row!

One more card and a hat. I have not done a lot of crocheting before but since I don't knit at all, when Katie asked if I could make a sock monkey hat it seemed like the way to go. I was really happy with how it turned out (especially since I made it up as I went along with no pattern). She loves it and the rest of the kids want one too.

For the card: Cheeky Glamour stamp from the Greeting Farm, Naughty and Nice words from Inque Boutique and inside it says "If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun"-Katherine Hepburn from Stamping Bella. Papoers are old ones from Bo Bunny and Scenic Route. TFL

Products of Christmas Past

After a year of not doing much by way of paper crafts I've had to put a few stipulations on my present renewed interest in all things crafty. I need to use up a lot of my stash that has sat lonely and ignored for 12 months or so. In an effort to do this I've been making lots and lots of cards. I even broke out the copics-they are quite addicting and I can see myself getting completely obsessed with them. Here are a few of the cards, hope you enjoy.

Catching Up

I have had this strange idea in my head that I can't post any new stuff to my blog unless I update my friends and family on the past (blogless) year. Specifically a post about Ironman. so here goes.


Most of you know that I spent most of Nov-June training for Ironman Couer D'Alene. In fact the reason IM stands out as the one blog worthy thing of the past year is that is about all I had time to do. :) At the peak of my training I was up to 22hrs a week. I also got a job teaching group fitness classes at the YMCA (which I love!).


Well all of those 4+hour bike rides paid off and by the end of June I was feeling fit and confident (mostly confident-I am really grateful for the encouragement of my Team Blaze team mates and my husband David). Race day dawned (and I do mean dawn-up at 4:30) clear with minimal wind-Perfect! The water was chilly but bearable thanks to my wetsuit and neoprene cap. I had tried out neoprene booties at Onionman and found that they filled with water and slowed me down considerably so no booties for CDA.

The swim itself went smoothly. No more black eyes like I recieved at Boise 70.3. I was near people the whole time and got bumped plenty but I took coach Tristin's advice and swam inside the bouys just going around the corners. I only went off course once when I turned the first corner and suddenly the sun was in my eyes and I realized that my goggle were slightly fogged. That combo made it impossible to see but I fixed the goggles when I got out to cross the mat for the first lap and the second time was fine. I came out of the water in 1:26:30 well ahead of 1:40 goal.

On the bike conditions were great, just a very slight headwind heading back into town. I had recieved multiple warnings to go easy on the hills in the first lap so didn't push very hard at the begining. I was glad for that by half way through the second 56 mile lap. 112miles is a loooong way on a bike. My shoulders and back and ...well you know, were really sore but I knew I could finish it. Coming back into town was one of my best moments of the day. My bike split was 6:24:05, respectable but not blazing fast which was my race plan.

I started out on the run and I felt great. I used the run 4 min, walk 1 minute that I had trained with and it seemed to be working. As I came back into town at the end of the first loop I knew that I could not only make my 14 hour time goal but that I would probably beat David's time from the previous year. He thought that that was what was making my grin as I ran through the park but really it was all the people, my friends and family that had come out to cheer for my as well as the perfect strangers who were calling my name and wishing me luck. Only 13.1 miles to go! That last lap was definitely very physically hard but knowing that I would finish in a little more than 2 hours made the time fly by. The only parts I remember were passing people I knew that I didn't expect to pass. My run time was, again, not super fast but it was under 5 hours at 4:54:39-ahead of my 5 hour goal.

I wanted to savor my finish shoot run through but as the clock came into view I could see that not only would I break my 14hr goal but that I could break 13. So I high fived a couple of people then ran in as strong as I could to finish in 12:55:37. I AM AN IRONMAN!

Overall it was an amazing day. Much better even than I expected. I had no mechanical difficulties (though I did drop my chain going up a hill on the second bike lap but that was due to user error and easily fixed). I am so gratefull to my family and friends for their support and I'm still amazed that I could do this! Thank you to all who helped especially Katie for her babysitting and David for....well everything!