First 10K

Well, I ran my first 10K this weekend. I've run two before, but never the whole thing without stopping. I didn't do as well as I hoped, but I met my goals, so I should be happy with that. My goals were to run the whole thing and do it in less than 1:12…I JUST beat that at 1:10:40 (according to official time…but my stop watch said under 1:09). I got a calf cramp at mile 2-1/2 and the toes in my right foot fell asleep at mile 5-1/2 (I have a neuroma, so I think that was the problem). My body was willing me to stop the last 1/4 mile because it was a STEEP INCLINE. But I kept telling myself I had to stay with Tracee...and we were almost there. We even managed to sprint the last 50 meters. What kept me going was that nobody passed us the whole run (after everyone spread out at the start) and toward the end we started passing people that went too fast for their true pace…that feels good to me, for some reason.

Anyway, here's the link to the run and results: http://www.peakperformerstc.org/10kClassic/results.html

And two weeks ago I ran my first 5 mile run. I finished at 55:50 (pretty close to my stop watch time of 55:45): http://www.ustooak.com/mensrun/index.html
Looking at the age group standings, I'm not last, but I'm toward the bottom.

I start my "formal training" today, so we'll see what happens. Just over five months to the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Phoenix...that's the end goal (at least for now).

Mt. Baldy

Jeff has been training for his elk hunt this fall. He has been running and hiking up Mt Baldy in Eagle River. Soon, he'll start his trek back to Icicle Creek (several miles into the Chugach National Park). Erica has really wanted to run with both of us. We had her ride her bike as we ran thru the neighborhood and she kept up really well. One day she asked if she could RUN with us. We said OK and Jeff stayed with her as I continued to run. She did pretty well. Then Jeff asked her if she wanted to join him on a hike up Mt Baldy...she jumped at the opportunity. So one beautiful weekend in July we went as a family. Erica really surprised us on that trip. I was taking it slow for her, but she wanted to go, go go. We made it to "the flat spot" just before it got really steep, but it was a success. They've been up several more times on their own. I'm sure one of these days (soon), she'll make it all the way to the top.

So this is a layout I made of the first trip up. I used the ACBailey July KOTM again. Originally I was going to try and use this layout for the monochromatic challenge, but I don't think it qualifies since I added white letters, journaling, and flowers. Oh, well. And as I look at the uploaded pix, it's a bit faded out due to the flash...sorry. I modified a layout from Scrapbook Trends again.This is layout #4 using the KOTM. And while the July KOTM was a summer themed kit, I used it for a cold theme, an animal theme, a sports theme, and now a general outdoor theme. I just love how versatile these kits are. Stay tuned next month for layouts using the Aug kit. The papers are a little more masculine and I think they also have a family/vintage look. Hopefully I'll get some time to scrap so I can showcase the kit.

ACBailey Free Shipping Reminder...and Drawing

Last month I started a drawing for a free crop or a $15 gift certificate to the ACBailey Store. All you do is place an order on the first of the month and your name goes in the hat for the drawing. Remember, all orders over $35 get free shipping on the first of every month! July's winner was Nicole...and she says she never wins anything, ha!!!

So what do you have to do? The following:
1. Place an order on the first of the month (tomorrow, Aug 1) at this address
2. Put my name in the consultant box
3. Email me a copy of your receipt

So take a look around the ACBailey website and enter the drawing. Here are a few of my favorites

• The Kit of the Month (KOTM) - these kits have lots of papers and coordinating embellishments and they are sure to fit into whatever theme you scrap. I got 8 pages plus left overs from the July kit. If you sign up for a subscription, the kits will ship automatically and shipping is always free. Subscribers also get exclusive offers for kit add-ons with extra papers, embellishments, and stamps.
• What's New - there are lots of new products in this section...and look at the coordinating packs of Bazzill cardstock to go with many of the paper packs, it take the guess work out of everything!
• Templates - put in the word " XL" or "scraps" into the search box and you'll find acrylic templates perfect for paper templates. They can also be altered for project use.

Brave

As you can tell from the layouts I post, I rarely scrap my loving husband, Jeff. Every time I come home from a crop with new pages, he looks at them and asks, "Where are MY pages?" I hate to say it out loud, but Erica is more fun to scrap. So I'm trying to be better...I took lots of pictures at the ATA Alaska State Trap Shoot and did a layout of Jeff the other night (Yeah!). So here's my loving, BRAVE, husband...

This layout uses Jenni Bowlin Large Patriotic Bingo Cards....and is lifted from ACBaiely Design Team Member, Dee. I inadvertently bought two PACKAGES OF SIX cards rather than two individual cards (yes, I'm a dork). So what did I do? I made this layout the monthly calendar layout!

Screaming Eagles

Erica's last day of soccer was last week (July 20). I'm not sure what we're going to do with ourselves now that there's no soccer and no gymnastics. I guess we'll just have to keep climbing Mt Baldy (a nice layout coming on that in the next few days!). Erica's team was undefeated...thanks to a tie on the last day and the other team scoring on themselves a few weeks ago (but I should've keep that part to myself, right?).

This layout also, uses the ACBailey July KOTM. I love how many layouts and projects you can make from one kit. I finished the kit this past weekend and I think I ended up with 8 pages (some are double page spreads). I didn't use any of the tropical papers (palm tree and flip flops) cuz I have nothing to scrap since I've already done my Spring Break pages. I did add cardstock to the kit for the layouts as I usually scrap on solid background...one of these days I'll try patterned paper for the background. Anyway, here it is...TFL

My Friend Moose

More layouts from the Fairbanks trip last month...Did I mention that I was a terrible trap wife during that trip? We went to Fairbanks for Jeff to shoot in the PITA Alaska State Shoot. Erica and I spent most of the time sight seeing. You would think that since I'm a scrapper, I'd take pictures of everything, right? WRONG! Oh, so wrong...and that makes me a bad trap wife! While at the gun club, I took a whopping four pictures, and all four of them are of Erica and Moose (Bailey's dog). So I made up for it at the ATA State Trap Shoot last week...more to come on that another time.

Back to Moose...Erica fell in love with Moose! She knows I'm allergic to dogs, so asked if I could go live with Bailey so Moose could live with her...NICE!!! My own daughter is willing to trade me for a dog! I haven't yet journaled on this layout, but I think I'll be putting something on it about Erica wanting to trade me for Moose. Once again, this layout uses the ACBailey July KOTM. The little ticket said "Brothers Friends" and I covered up the Brothers to add the little "Me and My" stickers. Then I covered up the "S" on Friends with the flower...sneaky, huh? Gotta make what you have work! And the layout is lifted from Scrapbook Trends.
And I finally got some layouts scanned rather than taking bad pictures...and this scan turned out terrible! The bottom left corner is cut off. No matter what I tried it wouldn't scan nice...I almost took a picture. One of these days I'll get it right...

40 below

I think I mentioned that when we went to Fairbanks last month we went into a 40 below room. Yes, I paid $10 to experience what 40 degrees below zero was like...but it was soooo cool (ha...cold!). We went into a giant freezer and the guy thru up a glass a water that evaporated in less than a second. Then he hammered a nail with a banana. He also showed us a jar of motor oil...all the vehicles have to be plugged in so they don't freeze. I remember watching a special about the fire engines in Fairbanks. But I digress...

So here's the layout I made. Check out the thermostat...it really says 40 below! Thank goodness they had parkas we could wear. After just a minute in the room Erica was ready to leave. I used the AC Bailey July KOTM (summer papers) on this layout, and I think it works. I also used some Thickers for the title.