Busy Weekend

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  Mine sure was busy...although it was more of the fun, socializing busy instead of the normal crafty building busy.  Yay for me...boo for you guys who tune in to see what I've created over the weekend!

We headed to the Ray's baseball game on Friday night.  Through work vendors, we had box seats with unlimited food and drink.  Combine that with a 3-2 win over the Yankees, and A-Rod going 0-4 (which meant he didn't hit his 600th home run), it all added up to a really fun, but late, night.

Saturday I should have gotten up at 345 a.m. to meet my team down in South St. Pete to do my 10 mile run.  I decided that running 10 miles on a little bit more than 3 hours of sleep wasn't a good idea, and slept in instead.  I had a baby sprinkle to go to that afternoon for Lauren, so I didn't want to be overly tired, sore, or hungry either.  

Ashleigh and I went in on a large thing of diapers for the sprinkle, so I went to Ash's beforehand to try to make a cute diaper cake.  We were so proud of ourselves when we left her house (literally, high fiving each other all around for our cuteness and creativity with all of our bows and ribbons).   When we arrived at the cafe, we couldn't help but laugh at ourselves.  The only part of the diaper cake that stayed together was the top.  After spending a few minutes trying to put it back together, we decided that we'd rather not look like sweaty messes and we'd just go inside and explain our ... um, situation.  We didn't take any pictures of the cake at the house (SO unlike me!) and we forgot our camera's too for the sprinkle, so these pictures are courtesy of Lauren. 

 The sprinkle was so fun and the food was so yummy!!!  Check out these cute mini cupcakes they brought out:

Yes, I ate more than one.  They're mini...that means like three is equivalent to one normal sized one, right?!

After the party, we shoved all of the diapers, with the exception of the topper, into the box, shoved the box closed, put the topper on top and gave it to Lauren. Worst.gift.givers.ever!  Lauren thought it was sweet and funny, and it's definitely a diaper cake that we'll all remember, so I guess that's worth something.  We should have thought to take a picture of the box with the topper, but it was hot in the parking lot, and we were all ready to get into our a/c'd cars.

Saturday night was early to bed so I could get up at 5 a.m. and be off by 6 a.m. to run my 10 miles all by myself.  Chris and Kodi actually joined in after my first mile and hung around until mile 5 before leaving me to run on my own.  It was SUCH a hot and humid day too...even before the sun broke through, the steam was just awful.  Note to self:  Training for a half marathon in August is dumb.  Yes, it's for a good cause, but next time around, I should choose an event with a different date!

I was pretty useless the rest of the day on Sunday, although we did manage to pick out a paver color and come up with a few other fun and creative ideas for our outside pool deck area.  Stay tuned to see what we're going with!  Pretty in pink is FINALLY going to go away!  Woo hoo!

Purple People Eater

For as long as I can remember, I've struggled with shin splints. I like to run, so I generally try to stick to only doing a few miles with once a week or once every two weeks 5 milers built in. I also try to stick to running on the grass instead of the sidewalks.

With all of this running I've been doing lately for my fundraiser, my shins are just going downhill.

My friend Jenny emailed telling me about these compression shin sleeves. I used them on Saturday for my run and loved them. I think I need to wash and re-shrink them though for this Saturday's run. I wore them on Tuesday, and my shins aren't happy with me at all. I think I stretched them out too much.

I do look absolutely ridiculous in them though. They're pretty good at "breathing", so it doesn't make me any hotter than the normal 100 degree weather with 100% humidity does.

For our run on Saturday, Chris couldn't stop laughing at me, and insisted on getting a picture before we headed out at 6 a.m..

Wanna see?

.....

Okay, I have no shame...

So do you like my new fashion statement?

Blog Design Updates

I've made a few changes to my Blog Design. You'll probably barely notice them, but they're there. Now, when you reach the bottom of one page, you'll have the option to go to Home, Older Posts, or Newer Posts if you're not on the main page. Simple upgrade, but long over-due.

The second part might be slightly annoying to some. I've added google ad sense in here on the bottom right corner (I might move it up eventually). For now, this blog is for me and not to make a profit off of, but I thought I'd give ad sense a try. Not for me, but for my race.

Check out this post to see why, but I'm running a half marathon for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. Whatever 'revenue' I generate while I'm training for this half marathon (the race is on October 17th), I will donate back to my efforts through LLS. If you'd like to read more, check out my fundraising / training website here.

And if you see anything of interest over there on the right hand side of my blog, please check it out! I might add the links to the bottom of each post too...but I thought I'd start out subtle and work my way up. I don't want this to seem like some annoying blog that all I care about is money. The money raised here isn't for my personal benefit in any way, it's to stomp out cancer!

Wow...two blog posts in one day!! That's amazing!! Leave me some comment lovin on if you think this is a great idea, dumb, or annoying!!

Another Weekend Recap

Whew...I'm exhausted! I'm not sure if my weekends are a break from my week or if my weeks are a break from my weekends anymore!

So, lets do the weekend recap, with promises of longer posts with pictures later on in the week.

Chris and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. I can't believe we've been married already for four years. We're officially out of the newly wed stage I guess...someone told me the newlywed term is only valid through 3 years of marriage. We're now an old married couple. We actually took an ENTIRE day and did nothing but fun stuff. I'll have pictures later... And I am the luckiest girl in the entire world for landing Chris. He's the best husband anyone could ask for, and he's my very best friend. Maybe that's why time has flown by...

Friday night Chris helped me shove and lick 100 envelopes for my fundraiser. Seriously, he's the best.

Saturday, he got up with me at 5 a.m. to go run. Again, the best. I ran 6 miles at a pace of about 9 mins / mile. It's freaking hot. Really hot. But that's okay, because the reason I'm doing this is bigger than me being uncomfortable for a few hours running. As long as I keep the perspective, mind over matter will win every time!

We ran around and did a ton of errands, enjoyed some yummy Cracker Barrel, and then headed home and passed out. I had a hard time waking up the rest of the day, but did manage to get a few pictures hung and I worked on my annoying project some too.

Sunday we got up, and Chris did school work while I pretty much finished the worst project in the entire world. Pics to come later...I've still got finishing touches to do! In the afternoon, we tackled the yard. I can tell I'm semi sleep deprived. I ran our lawnmower through our fence. Yep, literally, through it. Pics of that later too.

So, to all who called yesterday afternoon / evening (Janelle, Yulander, Jennifer, Ashleigh), I'm sorry I didn't call you back. I was busy re-building my stupid fence from my stupid lawn mower running through it! I'm a mess!

Stay tuned this week for posts on all of the above! Hope everyone had a great weekend! Happy Monday!!

Weekend Recap

As usual, there was very little down time and a lot of craziness going on for the Hart's this weekend. And also as usual, I don't have a whole lot of time to blog this a.m....soo...here's a quick recap!

We ran 5 miles with the TEAM at 630 a.m. on Saturday, did a TON of yard work, went to the rental property and did some work there, worked on the pool, Chris worked a lot and did a bunch of school work, and I FINALLY finished up one of my small projects that I've been working on off and on for the past few weeks. I also managed to make a little bit of progress on my other "small" project that is turning out to be anything but, and will blog about both of those later on this week.

We did mix in sprinkles of fun with all of the work. Saturday at about 5, our neighbor drove by and invited us over for dinner at 7. Saweet!! It was soo good! On Sunday afternoon, we went to our friends Lauren and Greg's for a super fun Memorial Day BBQ.

And for training on Monday, we ran 3 miles after dinner. Not smart. We waited about an hour and a half before running, but that still wasn't enough time for our food to digest! Saturday's 5 miler was easier than yesterday's 3 miler. I don't know that we'll make that mistake again!

Hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day Weekend!!

My Plate Runeth Over

I figured out, finally, what I'm going to do this year to give back. One of my New Years Resolutions was to find somewhere to volunteer. The problem with GOING somewhere to volunteer is that my schedule is always sporadic, so committing to something every weekend is almost impossible.

Almost three years ago, Chris and I ran a marathon together. We did it through The Leukemia and Lymphoma Societies Team in Training, on our one year wedding anniversary. Here's a picture taken right after we crossed the finish line:


I can't even begin to describe the feelings and emotions of not only finishing a marathon TOGETHER on our one year wedding anniversary was like (literally, hand in hand), but moreso the emotions and joy from completing this task FOR a cause. FOR a greater good. FOR those who can't.

One of my girl friends from college joined TNT in 2006. Her Dad died of cancer while we were still in college, in 2004, and I remember how sad that was. Recently, another one of my close girlfriends, Jenny, found out her aunt is in relapse. To feel like she was doing something to help, she joined the TEAM.

I couldn't let her do it by herself. I know how much it meant to have my husband and my friends at that finish line with me, and I want to be there for her. Really, I wish I could single handedly stomp out cancer, just like so many of you do, but I can't. So here's something I can do. I can fund raise and I can run.

I can take time out of my busy and hectic life for something that is for a greater cause. I can be there for those who can't, and I can help make a difference.

I won't post more than this time asking for donations, but I will post updates on how my training is going, along with work, life, home, and crafting balance. I'm a non-stop type of person, it's just who I am.

To donate to my cause, please visit my fundraising website or click on the link at the top right hand side of my page. Every dollar honestly makes a difference!

If you'd prefer to send a check, just post to me and I'll get back to you on the details of it.

So while my plate might runeth over until the race in October, I will be grateful for each day, and will celebrate in knowing that I've made a difference.

Please help me if you're able.

The Adventures of Kara and Chris - Part 1

Theoretically, if you enter a wooded area that has a No Trespassing sign, and get a few miles in to see another No Trespassing sign to go a different direction, does that mean the initial way you entered the area was NOT no trespassing? I mean, if there's a No Trespassing sign in the middle of the woods, does that mean you weren't trespassing before, but you are now if you continue?!

Explanation...

Kodi jumped a fence and chased a deer (wink wink) into a no trespassing area of the woods. Naturally, Chris and I had to hop the fence to go get him. Since we were already there, we just kept going for a few miles. We came upon a 4 way split in the woods that had No Trespassing signs posted on 2 corners of the woods, but the path straight forward was good. Why in the world would you put up No Trespassing signs in a no trespassing area otherwise, right?

In my mind, that made us legit. Sort of.

We kept going and enjoying the outdoors when all of the sudden Chris yells "Truck, RUN, FOLLOW ME". He went running from our path straight into the woods like a bat out of hell. Naturally, Kodi and I followed him. Kodi wasn't on a leash, but he did a great job keeping up. Chris saw the truck on one of the side paths that we had just passed, and took off in the woods FOR that path. Direct bee-line TOWARDS where the truck was coming from.

His logic was that we were never going to out run a truck, but normal people don't run AT what you're trying to get away from, so they'd never suspect to find us there.

We are, obviously, not normal.

We ran for about 10 minutes through the woods as fast as we could and then when we thought we were pretty safe, we stopped to catch our breath. Our conversation went something like this:

Kara: Gasp Gasp "What the hell are we doing back here?!?!"
Chris: Taking deep breaths "I don't know, this is kinda dumb."
Kodi: Pant Pant "This is awesome Mom and Dad, lets play in the woods some more."

Kara: "Why did we run AT the truck?!"
Chris: "He'll never suspect us here!"
Kara: "What are we, 12?!?! Are we playing Fing Manhunt?!"
Chris: Grinning "Yeah, stay low, follow me."

I guess after seeing the truck, my mind decided maybe we weren't so legit after all.

So we got our adventure for the day, ran a little over 3 miles back to the initial fence we weren't supposed to trespass, and went home. Thankfully, we managed to make it home on our own 2 feet without help from any police officers.

One day we'll grow up. Maybe.

<3
Kara

Goof Ball

I almost ruined my exercise goal by being a goof ball.

I love to dance and sing around my house. You can't be in a bad mood while dancing, it has to make you smile! I guess that's how I get to my happy place...that and running to music. Ha...most of the time I do both...I dance a little sometimes while running to music. I'm sure I look like the biggest dork ever, but I'm married and I really don't care!

So, how did I almost ruin my exercise goal?

On Thursday I ran 4 miles -- 2 fast (750 min mile) and 2 slow (10 min mile). My feet / ankles were a little tired. By the time Chris got home from work, it was raining. Chris doesn't do well with motivation for cardio exercise on his own, I'm sort of his cheerleader most of the time. Amazingly, he came home and went into the exercise room and started riding the exercise bike ALL ON HIS OWN. I was still working, so once I finished up and went into the exercise room, I was so impressed to see him riding the bike!

I picked up the 7 lb dumbbells and started dancing around the room, being Chris's cheerleader singing "Come on Chris, you can do it, put a little power to it...". I was never ever a cheerleader, and I definitely don't have the coordination to dance around with weights. Well, my tired ankle decided that was enough and gave out on me and twisted.

I iced my foot that night with the torture treatment (take a big 5 gallon paint bucket, fill it with ice and water, and put your foot in for 15 minutes, then take it out for 15 minutes, and repeat 3 times), which really does work miracles on injuries. I was not happy at the thought of not being able to play beach volleyball (which I've missed since NOVEMBER) because I was a goof. Good thing the torture treatment worked!

Erin told me I needed to come up with a better story on how I twisted it, but I'm a goof ball, and that's what happened! My ankle lasted through 7 games of doubles on the beach before I decided to call it quits. What's odd though is that I have a bruise up above my ankle towards the back of my shin. I showed Chris it and he said nothing surprises him with me anymore...he wouldn't be surprised if my butt started swelling from twisting my ankle. I'd be quiet peeved if my butt started swelling...I don't need any help back there!!

Hope everyone is having a great week!
<3
Kara