Budget Board

Ready for the new year?
Every year (month *cough cough) my husband and I do the "dew" in meaning we sit down and "manage" the budget and create goals for the new year.
Since most of our goals are triathlons, marathons, and new bike gear, it only leads us to budgeting our world so nothing is taking away from kids or my stomach *THE WOMEN NEEDS HER FOOD!
But there is one thing that I suffer from : Memory Loss. Ok, Im not really diagnosed with it, but its hard for me to remember much. Always truly working on it but I need BIG reminders.
So we went BIG and made a MASSIVE Budget board that is the size of one of our UGLY (military homes) cabinets.

 Items Needed:

2 pieces WOOD .5"x23"x11" (cant buy them that size, but the Dude at HOME DEPOT will cut it for you)

Gorilla Wood Glue

Rustoleum Chalkboard Spray Paint

White Vinyl

Silhouette Cutting Machine (or cricut)

White chalk

*If you dont have a cutting machine, you can use freezer paper, or stencil on words and paint in.

We at first used press board. Total no-no, we couldnt stick the vinyl to the board, then couldnt smoothly use chalk on it.
So ditched that idea.
Had some scraps of wood left over from doing Flamingo Toes Candy Cane Kitchen Sign, so we glued the 2 together.

Sorry, no photos of the actually glueing and painting. Put the hubby to work.

We used chalkboard paint because the budget always changes :)

VIOLA! Sorry, I know totally tacky post it notes. But I dont think the blogging world needed to know our budget. Since we used chalkboard paint, we can have a constant know of how much we have used within our Budgets!

If there is any cash let over at the end of the month it goes into the SAVINGS POT. If we happen to not do a race, or have any cash left in that budget it goes into the race shoe. Giving us a little savings to maybe sign up for more expensive races and or get new racing gear :)

This is a QUICK project. Though it did take us a couple days to repaint the wood we end up using.

What do you use for your budget?

The ULTIMATE Pottery Barn NOEL Knockoff

So did I you know I have an itch of a creative side?
Just an itch.
Ok, maybe a big itch, but its one of those itches in the middle of your back that you can never seem to get to, and when you ask your husband to scratch your back he just lightly paws at you, which leaves you wanting to knock him upside the head.
With that said I'm a learning crafter/seamstress/super mom.
While I'm not getting my workouts in I'm slowly driving the hubby crazy with all the projects I have going on.
What is great is that I find one of my other navy wives buddy, to a crafter as well. YAY! That means I can now share the crazy tutorials I find on blogs with her, and try to con her into doing them with me :)
So moving on to the POTTERY BARN knockoff.

Have you seen this bad boy in the Pottery Barn catalog? Gorgeous huh? Just perfect for your mantle, or massive blank. Or if you are definitely trying to make a statement. If you havent had the chance to drool all over PB's catalog I'm sure you've seen EVERYONE elses attempt (here and here) to make their own version. You see so many attempts, because at $140  from Pottery Barn... well Pottery Barn is a "LOOK but no TOUCH".

So for a grand total of $8.58.

My buddy Denice and I pulled off our OWN version.

Materials:

1. MDF board (found at Home Depot, however big you want) $2.97
2. RUST-OLEUM HAMMERED BROWN spray paint $5.61
3. LARGE ART PAPER (already had, but you can find at your local craft store, or ask you childs teacher)
4. JIGSAW (husbands garage)

In the process of wanting to make the NOEL sign large enough, printing it on computer paper wasnt giving us what we wanted. So our SMART ass husbands decided it would "smart" to use a projector to make the sign as large as want. Like we have a projector up our bums, but they did have one at their school. So if you have access to a PROJECTOR, you can trace the sign as large as you want on to some PAPER.

Next step was to cut of the stencil. As seen in other blogs they pieced together the letters, but with PB it was on large piece of wood. So we kept the letters together.

Tape & Trace.

Now the next part can be a little hard if a.) you dont own a jigsaw and b.) if you have never used one before. 

Before going to Denice's house to work on this I had asked her if she ever used a jigsaw, she said "No, but I've seen Frank (DH) use it". 

GREAT.

Even better, is she lets ME do it. We all gotta learn somewhere right?

It wasnt hard, but it did take some patience, and taking our time. 

Using a drill, drill holes into the center pieces, so you dont cut through you project.

I did mess up .... a couple of times. Nobody is perfect. For placing that were looking extra "weird", we sanded it down. Cutting the "O" was NOT fun.

Viola! Gorgeous huh? After finishing we hustled into Denice's house to admire it on her mantle. Of course not painted yet.

Once I got home, whipped out my large cardboard. As you can see I have done many a project on this.

Had seen Craftily Ever After use the hammered Rust-Oleum and was in love, but wanted something dark like PB had used. 

 And DONE! Wonderful huh?

Now I just need to decide WHERE to put it!

What do YOU think?

Big thank you to Denice for giving me the board, and letting me using my sawing skills on her husbands power tools!


Linking Up To:

Size 2: Old Navy Mirror and The People that Hate You for It

Today while shopping for flannel tops for a Christmas shoot tonight with Margaret Jacobsen Photography I had a defining moment.
Well I don't know about defining, but it left me laughing at the Old Navy dressing room mirrors face as if it was a real person and I just threw in his face that nobody likes him.
The Old Navy mirror has been a bully of mine. I avoid him like the plague.
The last time we encountered I was trying on a pair of size 14 jeans and couldnt button up the jeans without pouring out the top. I was weak and cried. The mirror laughed at me as if to say "Old Navy clothes are for skinny little white girls, not lumpy depressed mommies."
I remember my husband asking me if  I wanted him to grab me a bigger size, I said "HELL NO, I refuse to buy a size 16 pair of pants, I'll continue to live in my workout pants".
Wiping away tears and giving the mirror one last look, it smiled at me showing my round face, cellulite thighs, short stocky legs and boobs so big I coundnt fit into any top normally.
Though its only a mirror, I stormed out of Old Navy in shame. What had I become? What was I going to do about it?
So today in Old Navy I came across the clearance section. To many cute pairs of pants for under $10, but I was scared to go into the dressing rooms. Not even knowing where to start with size I grabbed a size 4. A lot has changed since the last time I was here. I knew I was smaller, lost almost 60 lbs from the last time I was in there. But the size 4 looked a little big .... so I grabbed a size 2 just in case.
Pushing the stroller loaded with my 2 kids, we wheeled into the handicapped dressing room. I actually kept my back to the mirror. Scared. All I needed to do was try the pants on, not look at myself. To get the worst out of the way, I tried the size 2 first, of course I second guessed myself and though "egh, its not worth the aggravation of not being the stupid pants up my thighs", but I did it I was somewhat confident.
Then they slipped on.
Buttoned up and I wasnt pouring over the top, I actually had a little room.
HA HA!
I spun around so fast to stare at myself in the mirror.
"SUCK IT, damn mirror, hahahaha HAHAHAHA hahaha size 2 baby!" - literally saying this out loud.
The mirror was pissed still informing my my legs are short, but all I said "Your just jealous".
I wanted to dance around Old Navy, I wanted to scream at someone working there to come over and look that I fit into a size 2. My kids werent that impressed, but I was glowing with pride.
At that moment when you are so proud you want to share with the world, but sharing a thing like weightloss and a size 2 can upset/piss people off.
I was so hesitant on posting my "HA HA" moment on Facebook. Not wanting the backlash of messages, or instant messages of boasting my weightloss when Im already so "skinny".
I posted anyways, and thank you all for your encouraging words. Though when I get my negative comments they are always sent via message, or snide comment in conversation it leaves me "irked".
I'm one person to let the comments roll, I dont hold on to things to long because I dont have the time and or dont care what other people think.
But I'm stating this now for all to see. Just because YOU dont consider me "fat" doesnt me that I havent felt that way.
I know some people will read this blog and think "well I think fitting a size 14 is great", and I agree. But we are all different body shapes and types. There are people that have not ever considered me "over weight" and when I bring it up they look at me as if to say " who the hell are you to say anything? You dont know what being overweight feels like, you have always been skinny". Um no.
Does this makes sense to you?

OCT '09 to OCT '10 

60 lbs before and after

Hahahaha, I laugh because I think those people are crazy, jealous and are just plain MEAN sometimes.
Sorry.
No, I dont starve myself. I actually eat like a horse.
No, my weight did not fall off after having 2 kids, I actually gained 15 plus pounds and had to work it off.
No, I DONT have a fast metabolism. Though I eat like a horse, if Im not working as hard as a horse I looked like a chubby little hamster.
I DO try and make healthy choices, and it in proper portions... sometimes.
I HAVE and DO (sometimes) work out multiple times a day with running/biking/swimming in high mileage.
I  have sweat my ARSE off in my living room with INSANITY & P90X workouts.
In the beginning I went without A LOT of yummy food.
I HAVE given up time with my FAMILY to be where I am now.
Ive gone through injuries.
I've cried while running.
Fallen off my bike.
Limped around my house with a sore body many of days.
I drink only water.
I have my 2 littles ones sit in a stroller for 2 hours as I get a run in.
Got a awesome personal trainer in the beginning that "enlightened" me to the shit I need to do.
I for go date nights to pay for a coach.

So you see. As I said, it didnt "magically" fall off. I literally worked my ASS off. Sacrificed time with my family.
To those of you who hate me for being not just "thin" but FIT , I say the same to do you as I did that mirror today.

SUCK IT!

Big Sur River Run 2010

Now is the time to start posting all the posts that have been sitting in my dashboard because I thought my blog was ugly :)

So did ya know I ran the Big Sur River Run? No worries, for a short time I forgot as well.

Teamed up with my wonderful friend Lindsey to run the beautiful route along the Big Sur River.

We prepared for a FREEZING run, if I remember correctly there was supposed to be a 100% chance of rain .... ummm... CLEAR SKIES baby!

Lindsey here is a speed demon. Qualified for Boston, more times than I can count , didnt know I had friends like that huh? LOL, I dont. In our minds we are speed demons, but no Boston qualifiers.

Who do I think I am here? SuperMan?

People have their priorities.

The "river"

Gorgeous right? 

"What up Smokey!"

I think mid-stride we are both looking good :)

I remember looking at this before the race. Though staring at it there was a time during the race I thought to myself "Where in the hell are we going? I thought this was a loop!"

This dude kept hollering at us "WILL WALK FOR WINE"! Lindsey and I always pick up the hot guys :)

Change is Good

There are times that we need change.
New haircut.
Trying a different perfume.
Running a new route.
Sports car ... hehehehe.

For me, it was a blog makeover.
Having lost inspiration to post anything due to the fact I thought my blog was UGLY. And I seem to not be able to post certain pictures without distorting the look of the blog.
I went on the search for someone to give me a Blog Makeover.
I really didnt have the money to be doing it. So I searched and searched for someone with cute work, and reasonable.
After digging through my craft blogs I stumbled upon Courtneys blog over at Not So Homemade



After seeing that she did a number of craft blogs that I follow I knew she would give my blog some good lovin.The process was almost to simple. Knowing what I wanted helped.  But Courtney was really able to see exactly what I wanted and created that here!So a big thanks to Courtney, for snazzing things up and giving me inspiration to actually gets some posts done. Make sure to drop by her blog for some YUMMY recipes and great crafts!Now that means I need to stay on the ball with my workouts & races to have something to post about!

LAS VEGAS Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon

Have you run a Rock & Roll event yet?
Well I lost my RnR virginity this weekend.
Wasnt THAT impressed. Guess it gets better over time?

Well lets start at the EXPO.
MASSIVE. OH MAH GAH MASSIVE.
I've been spoiled with my mini Big Sur expos, thinking that those were big.
Sign in was rather easy. But the shirt .... Only unisex fits. Ive recently become a women's fit snob. I used to be THRILLED over the cotton shirts. Now I dont sign up unless its a TECH-TEE, and now I must make sure that have a women's cut.
Such a runner brat I have become, and I admit it.

While walking through all the RnR gear for sale we saw Scott Jurek! He was recently featured in Runners World magazine. As we were walking by him I was like "Is that the dude from Runners World?" The filled me in, and all I could think of "I thought he was WAY older".

So we got the autograph, picture, and I informed him that Runners World lead me to believe he was 50 years old. Not the 37 years young .... but he looks 24 in person. I guess winning 100 Mile Western States 7 times can leave you looking this good :)

Fast forward to RACE TIME.
Whats great about this race is that you run the ENTIRE Las Vegas strip. They close down the whole thing, just for the runners. The race fee in itself just covers THAT experience!
The weather was PERFECT, clear blue skies, and not THAT cold, probably around 40 degrees.
This was my first MASSIVE co-ed race. My other 1/2 Marathons have been the Nike Womens Marathon, so I was a little in WOW of ALL the people.
The hubby was my running partner for this race. I had only run 30 minutes in the 2 weeks prior to this race, so I wasnt expecting much, but figured we could still get a sub 2 hour.
We were corral 5, so we didnt have to wait long to take off. It was kind of exciting to start the race runner under a stage with the Blues Brothers impersonators.

Sticking with the 1:52 pace group things started off O.K. I remember turning to the hubby and letting him know my chest was heavy. Meaning it was a little on the harder side to breathe.
Then things went down hill from there. My breathing became extremely shallow.
Now if you dont have asthma it can be very hard to explain this. But do this: Go to a track , do 4x400 meters sprints with a 2 second break. Then after the last sprint, lay down, and put 100 pounds on your chest and try to catch your breathe. Thats how I felt.
Only into my second mile I was feeling like this.
I was scared, and didnt want to complain to my hubby. So I kept pushing. Then the tears started coming into my eyes, then I realized I was couldnt breathe AT ALL. Started to get light headed, and pulled over.    Gosh, I wanted to run. But could NOT breathe. Scary. Havent had an attack like this in a long time. Hubby tried calming me down, and it got to the point I could get gasps in.
My body was becoming exhausted with working so hard to breathe. Then hubby realized that we just passed a walgreens. THANK GOD. So we ran in and bought a rescue inhaler (PRIMITINE MIST, which will only be OTC till next year). Loved how we had to wait in line, and people asking us questions about the race, and giving us an odd look.
Whats great about that inhaler is that it works instantly. Amazing, but it leaves me with the shakes. So I took 2 puffs, and we were able to shuffle on. Then it came to a point that I was breathing in to much, and it burned my throat. So we kept an easy pace. Didnt push it, and just took in the sights.
This was all within the first 2 miles.
Got great views of sketchy places. Imagined myself in CSI tv shows. Ran with Show girls and Elvis impersonators.
All in all it was a great race. Final time 2:26:35.
Vegas is interesting.

Had a great trip. Would do it again.

As for the low down on the rest of the trip.... well you know the saying "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas