Long time no see, sweet pea!

WOW! I can't believe I haven't posted since last August. Well, I can believe it because that's what I usually do. Post regularly for a bit and then take a really long break. That's OK though!

Here's a little rundown of the past 6 months.

I got a job. Headband business settled down and I started looking for something before Christmas so we could actually buy presents for the kids (LOL). My sweet friend's parents are elderly and have been needing help for some time. We had been throwing around the idea of me helping them for about 10 months or so and I finally called her and told her that if they wanted me, it would have to be pretty soon because I needed a job. Two days later, after discussing with her sisters and parents, I got the call and started the following week. My duties are basic at this point. Drive the Mr to his rehab appointments and run errands for the Mrs. Easy peasy. Three days a week. This leaves plenty of time for me to spend alone or doing things I really want to do. The love life has picked up because Daddio and I get to enjoy each other the other 2 days a week before he goes to work. It's been nice to be with him and not be stressed, exhausted and totally fed up with interaction. :)

I reconnected with an old friend. We have known each other for 15 years and hung out a lot for about 5 of those years, then our lives took us in separate directions. Last summer Katy facebooked me to see if I wanted to run with her one day. We made the plans to meet on a Sunday morning and we've only missed 2-3 Sundays since then! We turned our fun runs into training runs, which led to....

I ran my first half marathon on October 27th! Fun, fun day. The Chosen for Adoption half marathon from Gruene TX through some back roads and down River Rd and back. I killed it, ran in about a 10:20 pace. It felt great and I was hooked.

So after your first half marathon, what is the natural next thing to tackle? Why, yes, a FULL marathon! Of COURSE!! We decided to train for the Austin Livestrong Marathon on February 17th, 2013. Katy ran it in 2012 and she was really a source of inspiration and motivation for me. :) The training was awesome. It takes an awful lot of time, patience and dedication if you really want to be ready for something like this. Somehow our training schedule was off by a week, so we did our last long training run a week ahead of schedule, and our taper ended up being a week longer. We still made it! The fun part of our training runs (here in TX) is we sat in either the Guadalupe River or the Comal River after the run to refresh our legs - that was really helpful. During the training, we ran the River Road Half Marathon on Feb 2, 2013. This one was run at a 9:20 pace!!! YIKES!!!!
We finished the Austin Marathon in 4:41:14 - not bad - it was 15 minutes better than Katy's first time and my only marathon time - we are both happy with it! For my race report, go to http://www.dailymile.com/people/Mellie_runs/entries/20986888 - I wrote it up on DailyMile.

On November 28, 2012, I re-entered the world of vegetarianism. I had done it last spring, during the Lenten season, but went back to meat after about 2 months. This time, I watched the documentary Forks Over Knives and it impacted me quite a bit. I won't be making my way to veganism - and here's why - the milk I drink is raw, local, and produced by happy grass fed cows from a farmer that i know. The eggs I eat are from these beautiful feather babies that are a part of my family and I collect them in my own backyard. I'm OK with that. :) I guess the new buzzword out there is "plant-based" so I eat a plant based diet.

Since the switch to being vege again, I've also gotten really serious about gluten containing foods. August of 2011, I discovered (by process of elimination) that I have gluten insensitivity. I knew that but chose to eat small amounts of it anyway. Especially if I had been "good" for a while, I'd splurge a bit, usually resulting in unfavorable symptoms. In November, when I went back to vege, I also made the leap to giving up gluten all together. I feel so much better for it! Luckily I am a good cook and although I do prepare meat and wheat for them on occasion, they really enjoy the WFMF stuff I make for them!

There's probably a lot of other things to update, but those are the most important ones. I'll get back in the groove. Most definitely want to start writing again.

:)

The New Chapter

Just a quickie little note here -

So, I am only 4 days into the new chapter of my life, and it just happens to be amazing! This is the first time in 14 years that I have time to myself that I don't have to ask or compromise for. (YEAH!) I am no longer full time employed. Rather, I am a substitute, which means if I want to work, I can. My new headband business has been keeping me busy! Actually, very busy! There may be even more new things on the horizon, but I'll post about that if it happens.

The most prominent change in my life, though, is I am no longer in a rush. There is a calm in my heart that can't be expressed. My heart (like always) is full of gratitude. I know it'll be a challenge to make up for the money that I was making working full time, but somehow, I feel peace about it.

So...have a magnificent day, everyone! I will!

A bit of Shameless Self-Promotion

Well hello, there! Since my last entry, I have taken a different turn, one that I wasn't expecting! I love when new things fall into my field of vision that I can put my effort into.

The most recent recipient of my time and talent is non-slip headbands.

Here is how it began.

I have been running for a couple of years now, and it has been such an integral part of my life. I've recently reunited with a long time friend who is also into running. We didn't drift apart for any other reason than our lives going in different directions. Our friendship never skipped a beat and since we have been seeing each other more regularly, it's like we never were apart. So we were running on Sunday and talking about anything, nothing, and everything (y'all know just what I mean!). The topic came onto these non-slip headbands that she had come across and purchased from a local lady that makes them. I immediately contacted that girl, ordering a couple. But then I thought...why pay for this (sorry that I withdrew my business from her) when I can learn how to make them myself? I went into Pinterest and searched non-slip headbands.I soon found a pattern that I used as a loose guide and adapted to my own likes. The supplies were readily available and the pattern is simple, making it easy to provide many different designs.

This led me to make about 10 in the first 24 hours. They don't take terribly long to make, and if I set up an assembly line type work area, I can get a lot done. I gave a couple away as gifts to my running buddies, and my daughter gave a couple to her closest friends. Then I brought a handful to sell at my Couch to 5K running group. Out of the 5 girls there, three bought one (it was raining, so few people showed up).

I got the wild idea that if I start a page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/#!/MEHeadbands and advertise to my friends there, I'd get some people interested in the headbands. It worked!  I got a few more orders, and so far have sold about a dozen of them! This is since Tuesday.! So, I set up and Etsy account at http://www.etsy.com/shop/MelEsqDesigns. This is pretty exciting! It's something I love to do and it'll hopefully provide me with a part-time income while I do other things like farmer's markets, subbing, and studying real estate.

Here are a couple of pictures of me sporting these fantastically non-slip headbands (which stay on until YOU decide it's time to take them off):

This one is after a fast 5K run...see, not a hair in my eyes!

This one is after an entire day running around - housework, sewing, waterpark, hanging out at home, etc.

This was right before we left the waterpark. Hair up, it never fell out.

 

 

I have several colors and will be adding more every week. I am pretty sure that there is at least one or two that match each one of your running/workout outfits! Please stop by my FB page or Etsy Page and give me a try! Thank you!!!!

 

(PS - if you are out of country, please contact me outside of Etsy. Thank you!)

Winding Down

I simply cannot believe that the end of summer vacation is right around the corner. I remember the countdown to the end of the school year, how the time flies so fast the closer we get to the end. Now here we are, the summer almost to a close, and it feels like I just blinked.

We didn't get a whole lot done this summer. Not a lot of travel, no deep cleaning the cabinets, you know, the usual stuff you do when there is suddenly a bunch of time on your hands.

That being said, I can only count on one hand the days where I felt like we truly did nothing. That's OK, though, because the kids and I were together. Unfortunately, all those weekly get togethers my friends and I loosely planned at the beginning of the summer fell through, and at best I saw each of my friends only a handful of times. Sigh. Lucky for me, I am blessed with the best friends in the entire universe and we never skip a beat even after long absences.

There are exactly 9 days left of vacation and I am determined to make the very best of it. It will mean putting down my iPhone, changing computer passwords, confiscating electronics, and dragging everyone out of the house. To get out of our cool a/c and brave the Texas heat will be a challenge, but we'll do it. And with a smile on our faces. :)

Have a great weekend!

The Ultimate Inspiration

Oscar Pistorius

Yes.

Who's got balls?

I do, I do!

**OK, so I believe that I need to practice my food photography skills. This might be a new thing to challenge myself with (I'm always looking for new stuff to get awesome at).

Along with the rest of the woman I know (and millions more), I have found Pinterest to be a fantastic source of inspiration in all things. My favorite categories are food, fitness, and gardening. My daughter has taken over the roll of Pinterest Zombie in my house, so when I get my hands on the computer, I usually try to find one or two Pinteresting things I am actually going to try.

I love to eat, I love food, I love making it, I love serving it. However, I am so daggum close to 40 (I am a year away from tasting it), that the food I love so much loves me back enough to take up permanent residence. That being said, I have really stepped up my fitness and work hard to send my food packing.

I try to spend time finding like minded individuals on Pinterest who either create or re-pin recipes that are not only delicious but fit into the active lifestyle. It also helps when the person is also a mom and has tested the recipes out on her kids with great success. I discovered this one blog called Marathon Mom where I found this recipe. If you are intrigued and click on the link, you'll find a whole list of awesome snack foods. I also make her chocolate granola bars, but they are such an indulgence that I don't make them as often (not that they are exceedingly rich or anything, just that they are addictive! I lose all self control around them). The granola energy balls, which is the recipe that I linked you to, are quite delicious! One ball is filling and actually provides me with the same amount of pick me up as any other mid morning or mid afternoon snack. They especially go great with a cup of coffee (I take mine with a splash of raw milk, no sweetener).

Of course, in all things I make, I modify a bit here and there to make it mine. I was gifted with an enormous bag of milled golden flax meal, so I used that instead of the standard dark brown flaxmeal. I also add 3T chia (which adds a little crunch to the texture). I have made them with and without vanilla, never with cinnamon, sometimes add a 1-2T coconut oil for the health benefit, organic or not PB, dessicated coconut or regular. The recipe is a super guideline for you to adapt to your likes. I'd stick with the same proportions of wet vs dry ingredients, though. Today as I made mine, I was thinking some nice finely chopped dates would be awesome!