Color Run 2013

  I loved running as a kid and into junior high.  I liked when we had to do the mile test during PE.  I always wished I could run a marathon of some sort.  Somewhere along the line, I stopped. I had other priorities to deal with.  Then while taking a scrapbooking class from Stacy Julian, I heard of a non-competitive run called, "The Color Run."  From the time I watched the little video on the website, I knew I wanted to do this!
I even made a Smash Book page about it.

But the problem was, I hadn't ran in YEARS.  I was not 5K ready.  I was not 1 minute of running ready.  I did some research and found the Couch to 5K app for my phone. It's an awesome app for beginners that takes you from walk/running to running, I believe in about 8 weeks.  I followed the program pretty slowly, as time would allow. During that time, I learned that my "running shoes" were in fact not the greatest. I invested in some real Nike running shoes and I was off!  It took several months to complete the program, but I did it.  The first time I ran 2 miles, with B in the jogging stroller, non-stop, I felt invincible!!!

I had to document this milestone!

The days leading up to the race, I was out running around the lake near where we live.  I felt a pop in my knee and pain instantly.  I was crushed!  I stayed off of it and treated it as well as I possibly could.  The day of the race, I taped my self up with K-tape a friend had.  It wasn't pretty, but it helped somewhat.

I was super excited, nervous and in some pain.  But, with all that excitement of finally being at a start line, I somehow managed to do it.  The WHOLE thing!  I didn't even notice the pain when I finished the race. I was so high on accomplishment and adrenaline!  (Yes, it was ridiculously painful later and for a couple weeks after, but I babied it!)

It was such a HUGE deal to me- here I was a mom of 3 boys, able to take this on and complete it.  My third pregnancy was extremely hard with morning sickness for the first 6 months and anemia.  I couldn't even walk to the end of my street!  To be able to run this meant the world to me.  To this day it is one of my proudest accomplishments.

I have since ran another Color Run (my husband's first 5k!) and two other 5Ks.  I love it as a stress reliever and just a great way to be outdoors.  My next goal is to complete a 10k and the completion is part of my 40 Before 40.

To mark my first 5K, I created this quick album using Stacy Julian's "Finish Line Scrapbooking" method (This class is now offered FREE!:  http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/classes/details/finish-line-scrapbooking).
I had bought a plain white 6x6 album years ago at Big Lots.  I used different mists on the cover to recreate the colorful mess we became during the race.  I am very happy with the results and know this album will serve as inspiration for my running years ahead.  Enjoy!

Makeover Monday: Updating an Old Kit

Back in 2005, I attended a Scrapbook Expo crop in San Diego, CA.  I received a kit as part of my admission and it has basically sat in my Unfinished Projects Box all these years.

I really didn't want to follow the design directions for it- they were outdated and I just didn't like it!  I decided to challenge myself to make a couple of layouts using these items and this is what I came up with:

I added a watercolor painting B had created as the background.

I worked on this page at a crop. I had limited supplies and only used what I had on hand.

It was fun to try this self-challenge and I plan on doing it again soon.  It is a good way to use up my overflowing box of UFP and get back to what truly matters:  The Story.