Ode to Pinterest

I must start this post by confessing the misleading nature of the title seeing that I have no desire to turn this into a "lyric poem that expresses a noble feeling with dignity" (taken from my dictionary), nor do I possess any poetic aspirations at all. I plainly want to express my love for a little website called Pinterest.

I am amazed at how often Pinterest comes up in my converstaions. It may be on the verge of being a little pathetic, but so far I'm not ashamed. I am making good use of my findings, after all. I think the Pinterest People (that's what I call them) should think about paying me for all the advertising I do for them. I honestly promote that website multiple times a day.

One thing I truly love about Pinterest is its ability to make me appear more creative than I am in actuality. The first few ideas I pinned and used were highly complimented (who doesn't love an owl cupcake?). For fear of being accused of plagiarism, though, I decided to cite my findings - after all people deserve credit for their ideas. This integrity has slightly backfired for me, however, as my husband now says "Wow! What a great idea. How did you come up with it?" and immediately and knowingly snickers. He knows I no longer have to think for myself. I have decided to stop worrying about plagiarism to protect my ego and appear brilliant. (Side note - my husband is incredibly kind and only teases me lovingly.)

Pinterest is a great tool for getting to know and love people on a different level. For example, I can always go to "J's" pinboards for a good laugh. When I need a good recipe, I know I will find a real food connection with my friend "B." "C" always has fantastic, not to mention darling crafty ideas stored on her boards. I know "H" can hook me up with all sorts of fun educational ideas for my children. Oh, how I love and appreciate all the support I receive from my fellow pinners.

Really, who can blame me for loving Pinterest? Look at everything I gain! Great ideas - a given, but much more. I get "totally meaningful" friendships, pride boosts, and hopefully a little cash in the future if they catch on to the ingenius idea of me being on their "word of mouth" marketing team. :) So, if you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend it.

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Oh my dear Pinterest,

How I do love you!

(Maybe I should be a poet after all. You can't beat material like that.)

A Big Fat Check

Yeah, I wish I could say this check could be cashed, but it's not that kind of check. It is however exciting to me that I get to check off what may have been the most difficult item on my big to-do list. On Memorial Day 2011 I ran 13.1 miles! Woohoo!!! (That's not what I was saying right after however - that sound was more of a groan.) I am really glad and proud that I did it! The training definitely came with more than a few challenges which makes me even happier to say I did it.

Let's start from the beginning though, shall we?

I have never been much of a runner. I remember cheerleading and tennis practices when they would make us run and I'd be huffing and puffing after 2 minutes. I HATED it. I never thought I would run over one mile let alone 13.1.

However, a few years ago I was sick and tired of not getting enough exercise, but couldn't bring myself to cough up so much money for a gym membership. Gone were the college days when I could go the the university gym for free. I had to think of something I could do for basically free and that was running.

So, as much as I hated it, I started to run. My husband and I even got a treadmill - nothing fancy, but it did the job. At first it was hard to run for more than 4 of 5 consecutive minutes, so it was more of a walk, jog, walk, jog workout. I was eventually able to do a mile, then 2. At this point in my progress my husband decided to run a 5K, so I decided to run it too. I trained hard for it and was so excited when I finally accomplished it (not without a little walking, I admit).

My husband and his sister, who ran the 5K with us, got such a high out of the race that they wanted even more. I sat back, proud of the 3 miles I'd just run, and said, "Good for you!" I in no way wanted to do more than I just had. Did I mention I'd never been much of a runner?

So I kept doing my 3 (sometimes even 4) mile runs, while my husband and his sister worked hard to do a half marathon. My husband would keep coming back from his long runs feeling so excited about the new milestones he was reaching. I was way proud of him, but still had the "good for you" mentality. He worked hard all summer and ended it by running the Park City Half Marathon! He and his sis did a great job! It was so exciting watching them at different points in the race and especially crossing the finish line, knowing the whole time how hard they had worked at this. I was definitely emotional watching them do something so difficult so well. That's when the seed was planted for me - it was pretty cool after all. Still, I let a whole other year of my "shorter" (3 miles is still not short in my mind) runs and another of my husband's half marathons pass by without signing myself up for such a commitment.

Meanwhile, my sister-in-law decided to train for a full marathon - crazy girl! She worked hard for months and would come to family events saying things like "I ran 18 miles earlier today." I told you - crazy girl! When marathon day came, we went to watch and I was overwhelmed by the number of people that had worked so hard to accomplish this. It was impressive. As I sat watching I said, "I want to do this!" I covered my mouth, shocked at the words that had just escaped. "No I don't," I corrected myself, but there was no denying it. I did want to do this.

It still took a few months before I actually did anything about the words that had accidentally escaped my mouth. I was scared to death! My husband, after much convincing, told me that we could do one together, so we signed up! That submit button was the hardest click of the mouse I've ever experienced.

I trained and trained over the next few months, increasing by about a half a mile to a mile a week on my long run days. I ran hills that I never thought I could. I passed distances I had once thought impossible for a short-legged creature like me. I became emotionally attached to the routes I would run. I worked HARD! I did it. On Memorial Day 2011, I ran a half marathon. I developed tendinitis in both of my achilles tendons and IT band syndrome but I DID IT! Later I'll tell you more about the actual race day, because it was a great day for me, but for now, I just want to say...CHECK!

Garden Lessons

After working in the garden this afternoon with Bug I have learned a few new things.

1. She will have absolutely NO problem with throwing rocks into the lake that we will be visiting in a few weeks as she so perfectly demonstrated by the number of rocks she threw into our garden.

2. She does not appear to be afraid of those she is nicknamed after.

3. There is no need to spread a blanket out on the grass beside the garden next time. She will not sit and play on it. It will only get pulled into the dirt (right next to the nice little rock pile she created) adding a bit more laundry to the to-do list.

4. She is definitely no exception to the "kids like to play in the dirt" concept, but is just as loveable caked in it as she is after bathtime.

I don't believe this will be our last time gardening together. We both quite enjoyed it! Besides, look at the wealth of knowledge I've obtained in just an hour or less.

We're Not All That Different

The other day I was driving on busy Riverdale Road, a place I try to avoid if possible, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Now, I'm not in the habit of looking into other people's cars. I usually don't even notice if someone is waving to me, but there was quite a lot of hand movement happening to my left. I peered over, doing my best to appear not to be looking and noticed that the girl was signing. I looked in the passenger seat and in the back to see who she was signing to - no one. "Hmmm, strange...why is she signing to herself?" I said...out loud...to MYSELF.

I guess we're not all that different are we?

I'm a Thief

In honor of the wonderful book I finished last night, The Book Thief, I decided to admit that I too am a thief. That's right - I steal things. Not books like the character in the story though. No, I'm not a book thief. I'm an Idea Thief. Notice the italics. Do you think Markus Zusak will want to write his next novel about me. I bet you he does!

Let me explain. Some of my very best ideas are borrowed (sounds so much nicer than stolen) from other brilliant people. You see, I'm not always great at creating ideas from scratch. I think my brain feels too much pressure that way or something. But I am pretty good at carrying out other people's ideas.

For example, I steal most of my crafty project ideas from my friend's craft blog. It's great. You should visit Shenanigans sometime. You'll feel inspired. I know I sure do. So far from that website I have stolen 4 ideas and there are 3 more potential thefts. I am working on the quiet book, I've made a felt rosette, I made a felt flower for my hair, and I bought all the materials for the Modern 3D Wreath. I'm saving a formula can for Bug's future headbands, you better believe that I will be making creepy crawly candy containers for Halloween, and the only reason I don't currently own the Luscious Wreath is because JoAnn was fresh out of heart-shaped wreath forms.

I also steal my recipes - forget making up my own (remember the brain pressure previously mentioned). I like to use (a word that also sounds better than steal) Food For Thought for my recipe ideas. So far this month I have made Better-Than-Olive-Garden Alfredo Sauce, meatballs, and Becky's Chicken Roll-ups. If I wasn't trying to cut back on desserts I would be making her Mint Truffle Cookies instead of blogging right now. They look delectable!

When I taught Second Grade for three years I had a lot of fun lesson plans. I've gotta say, there was some really fun learning taking place. Can I take all the credit? No (although I will claim some credit because teaching is a HARD job). I must turn myself in because the two teachers on my team were full of fabulous ideas as were uen.org and many other great teachers that shared their ideas on the internet. Thank goodness for google is all I have to say!

This is just a portion of the stealing I've done in my life. I love other people's ideas and who can blame me? People come up with some pretty great stuff! Thank you to all of you out there who are willing to share your ideas so that I can take them! I am sending you some of the credit you deserve at this very moment!

What a Good Helper

I would just like to take a moment to publicly thank Bug, my one year old, for always being so willing to help with the laundry!

*If she wasn't so happy and innocent when doing it, there might be room for frustration, but it's hard to get mad when she's just having so much fun!

The Training Has Commenced

Yes, that's right. My half marathon training officially began yesterday! Yikes! I'm a little intimidated at the task ahead. I will be running a half marathon on Memorial Day. That means I only have 97 days to get myself ready - AHHHH!!! I'm officially nervous.

Now, when I say I'll be running the half marathon I use the term running very, and I mean very loosely. I've never been much of a runner. I had to work very hard to be able to even run a mile at first. Besides that I am very SLOW! Some people don't realize the truth of that last statement until they see me in action. It's true, I'm a slow runner. I probably jog at most people's walking pace and that's okay with me.

Last year we had a 5K as a church activity. One of my friends and I decided to run it together. She was nervous because she didn't think she'd be able to run the whole time. I told her not to worry - that we could stop and walk whenever she needed to. As soon as we started to "run" however, she looked at me, smiled and said, "I'm not worried anymore. I can run the whole time with you." Yep, that's right! Wasn't that sweet?! :)

You'll never hear me claim to be good at this. I'm one of those runners that puts the competition at ease. As nervous as I am, though, I'm also excited. I know it will feel so incredibly awesome to cross that finish line on May 30, even if I am coming in at 3 mph. So, wish me luck because I will be running this race in 96 days, 20 hours, 30 minutes, and 49 seconds, 48, 47, 46, 45...

Never Compare Yourself to Itzhak Perlman

I got my violin fixed. One thing crossed of my list of things to do this year! Awesome! It's been so fun to remember the joy this kind of music gave me!

Well, I've been practicing and I'm a little rusty to say the least, but getting better with each practice session. I have a goal that I mentioned in a previous post (also on my list at the side of this blog) to relearn my favorite song I used to play on the violin: Concerto No. 1 in A minor by J. B. Accolay. I decided to go to youtube for a little inspiration and found a beautiful recording of it (click here to listen) performed by one of the most amazing violinists to ever live! It makes my goal to relearn it seem a lot cooler, but also a little unreachable.

What I have learned: Never Compare Yourself to Itzhak Perlman.

Word of the Day

I have a love of the English language. Knowing this, you might think that if words brought me that much joy, I might know a few more of them. But, alas, I have a very small vocabulary! In hopes to broaden my vocabulary one year, I asked for a word of the day calendar for Christmas. I had visions of eloquent speeches (given by me of course), not sitting beside my dictionary as I read books for people my own age, and understanding one of my parents' conversations (they have good vocabularies - how did I not inherit this?) without needing to ask them what a word meant. A word of the day calendar would deliver my hopes and dreams, right?

I knew, the very moment I opened my gift from a loving Santa, that I would sound much more intelligent within weeks, if not days. I opened the page: utmost - 1: situated at the farthest or most distant point: extreme. Other definitions followed. This won't be too bad. I can use this word to gain the utmost respect from the brilliant people of the world - NO PROB!

The next day: gadarene: headlong or precipitate. Ummm...should I admit that I don't actually understand this definition. Should you need a dictionary to look up the words you don't understand in your word of the day calendar? Precipitate??? Isn't that when rain or snow falls from clouds in the sky? How will I ever use this word???

After I got over the initial shock of a daunting word, I thought, "If all the words were as common and easy to use as utmost, there wouldn't really be a point to this calendar, right?" I can give this a shot.

I've decided that tonight is the night I'm going to use this new word. I will ask my husband to pass the gadarene salt while at the dinner table. See, I'm using new words! Already my vocabulary is expanding!!!

Think anyone will notice that I still don't know how to use this word in context? Hope not.

Lost in LOST

My husband and I started watching Lost on Netflix a couple months ago and were immediately hooked. Anyone who's ever watched this show knows how easily this can happen. Watching Lost was fun at first, and I guess still sort of is, but now it's more of an addiction or I might go as far to even call it a "responsibility" than something we do for fun because that's how it's starting to feel.

We've gotten so far into this series that I HAVE to make it to the end. In it's first 3 seasons it was quite enjoyable trying to figure out what was going on, but now that I'm almost through Season 5 with just one more to go I've "lost" all hope of ever figuring it out on my own. All my free time is now devoted to getting through this TV series. I've had to sacrifice a lot to make time to watch this show. This responsibility has taken over my life! I no longer have time to read, craft, sing, cook dinner, or clean the house (okay, I do the last two) anymore because I have a responsibilty to see this through to the end and I am determined to do so if it kills me.

Okay, so maybe this post is a little exaggerated. I do actually enjoy watching this show even though I'm sure I've dedicated way too many hours to it. I may however "lose" my mind if they introduce another character! I'm hoping to finish this series soon, so I can get back to the normal things in life like eating, sleeping, and showering! ;)

To Be Completed in a Year

Hello all you super-ambitious overachievers! Have you ever made a gigantic to do list that was quite obviously optimistic and hardly achievable? Yep, me too. I make them daily. They usually look like this (a little OCD):

6:00 - Wake up/get ready to work out
6:10 - Run on treadmill
6:55 - Strength training (legs and arms)
7:10 - Shower/get ready (Yes, I only get 15 minutes to do this. Do I ever achieve this? Rarely)
7:25 - Read with my husband
7:40 - Get my daughter (we'll call her Bug)
7:45 - Feed Bug
8:00 - Have my own breakfast, kiss hubby goodbye
8:05 - Clean up breakfast/wipe kitchen counters, sweep, mop, and sanitize (all in 10 minutes)
8:15 - Clean family room and vacuum while entertaining Bug
8:23- Complete a grocery list comprised of only great deals and healthy food. Find the best coupons for every planned purchase - not just any coupon - the BEST!!!
8:30 - Do the grocery shopping, come home, put it away - all with Bug in arms or cart
8:55 - Save the world
9:00 - I think you get the idea...

I am one of those people that wants to accomplish everything in one day, heck, in one hour. Sound familiar??? Probably - we're a common group of people dwelling here on the earth. Sound possible? Nope!

I've been working on calming down, not being such a perfectionist. It will help my sanity, not to mention my husband's. However, I do not want to make that an excuse to get lazy. I still need things to work toward, things to get excited about, things to accomplish. I think we all do. So...I've come up with a list of 25 things to do in a year!!! 25 in a year? That's possible, right?I started this list on January 31, 2011 and the deadline is January 31, 2012. I'm excited! Should be fun. I'll make sure to update my progress. Obviously, being the super-overachiever I am by nature, I didn't make it too easy. It's ambitious, but...doable.

My List
1. Try 10 new recipes
2. Learn 10 songs on the piano
3. Get my violin fixed
4. Relearn my favorite song on the violin
5. Run a half marathon - I've already signed up and am scared out of my mind
6. Write a creative story - HUGE stretch for me
7. Memorize 10 poems/quotes/scriptures
8. Update my family blog 30 or more times
9. Read 20 books, two of which have to be nonfiction (or more)
10. Learn the Queen of the Night aria from The Magic Flute
11. Build up my food storage
12. Clean out and organize my bedroom closet
13. Organize my computer room
14. Decorate the computer room
15. Plant flowers in the front and backyard
16. Record a CD - my dad has really been wanting me to do this. It will just be for my family and friends. I'm not trying to become Taylor Swift or anything.
17. Crochet a hat for my nephew
18. Do something for someone else daily - needs to be outside of my family at least twice a week
19. Complete 5 sewing/crafty projects - cannot include other items on this list such as hat for nephew. This one will be tricky due to the fact that I'm a master at starting project, but horrible at finishing them.
20. Set up my sewing/crafty corner
21. Get family pictures taken
22. Make a quiet book - I'll be doing this with a group of girls and I'm way excited about it!
23. Go on a vacation with my husband - just for fun!
24. Work on learning Portuguese - my husband is fluent
25. Write 10 letters or cards to people and actually MAIL them

So...too ambitious? It think it will be tricky, but possible! Ready...set...here I go!!!

Reality

This is how it is. I'm a wife, a (mostly) stay at home mom, a perfectionist trying her best to calm down, a girl who likes to try new things, and someone who doesn't like pretending to be something I'm not.

As I mentioned, I like trying new things. In fact, I would consider starting new hobbies my favorite hobby - very productive, I know. Anyway, my newest hobby (hopefully one that will stick) is to write a blog about the reality of my life: the things I'm doing, the funny stories, the successes, the failures, my sometimes not so firm grip on reality (despite my blog's title), the joys, the sorrows, the highs, the lows...you get it!

If you are at all like me and like to know how other people see and experience life, feel free to read!