Allen Eagle 5K

On Saturday, I ran the Allen Eagle 5K with my cousin, aunt, brother, and Josh. I didn't really have a time goal to finish in, but I was sure I could finish in 45 minutes or less. My main goal was to run the entire race and not stop to walk, which I am proud to say I accomplished! I finished in 40:58, which I'm very happy with and, honestly, is about where I thought I'd be. It's nice to see my running and training paying off. Two months ago, there's no way I would have been able to run 3.1 miles. I'll definitely be keeping up my training and we're already looking to see what our next race is going to be. I'm also very proud of my family for how well all of them did! It was a lot of fun running with everyone and thanks to Emily and Art for being such great cheerleaders (and photographers)! I'm excited for the next race!!

Before the race

Cindy, Jonathan, Josh, me, Joey

Goals Update - February

February has been a crazy month for us filled with many unexpected things. Josh’s mom had an unexpected surgery and was in the hospital for about a week, so his youngest brother stayed with us for about a week and a half. That was an adventure in itself! All he wanted to do was play xbox 24 hours a day and he wasn’t too happy when I commandeered the TV for The Bachelor one night. :)

Anyway, here's the update for February:

1.   Blog – I haven’t done as well blogging in February as I did in January. I'm hoping to do better in March.

2.   Marathon Training – Unfortunately I didn’t do as well with my running in February as I did in January. I got sick and had to sit out for about a week since when it’s hard to breath sitting, you don’t really want to try running. Then, with Zach staying with us and trying to get him where he needed to be, fed, and in bed at a decent hour, running was pushed to the back burner. I've picked it back up now and just in time to run our first 5K on Saturday.

3.   CPA –  I’ve sent in my information to change my name to the board so hopefully that should be done soon. As soon as that gets done, I’ll register for my first exam and start studying!

4.   Books – I’m not doing so well on this one. I still haven’t finished my first book. I’m hoping to finish it in the next few days and get started on book #2. I’ve got to pick up the pace if I’m going to finish 11+ books in 10 months!

5.   Clean out the clutter – This month we cleaned out and organized our den/study. My parents gave us 3 bookcases and it really helped to have a place to put everything. We also rearranged the room so we would have more space in there.

Overall, I slid backwards a little bit in February, but here's to getting back on track in March!

Pinterest-Inspired: Wedding Cards Book

All of the cards from our wedding have been sitting in a box since our shower and wedding. When I saw this idea on Pinterest, I knew it was the perfect thing to do with our cards. I changed it up a bit to use things I already had (plus we had LOTS of cards that would definitely not fit in rings). I'm very happy with the way it turned out and it gives us a great way to display our wedding cards.

Pinterest-Inspired: Established Sign

This is one of my first Pinterest-inspired projects. I found this established sign and thought I could make a similar version pretty easily. I'm very happy with the way it turned out and it is now proudly displayed in our living room! :)

In the works...

Happy birthday, Baylor!

On February 1, 1845, Republic of Texas President Anson Jones signed the Act of Congress officially establishing Baylor University. Happy 167th birthday, Baylor!!

Happy birthday, Baylor!

Goals Update - January

I'll be doing a monthly goals update on the last day of every month. It will give me a time to reflect on the month and see my progress toward acheiving my goals.

Here's the January update:

1.   Blog – I’d say I’ve done pretty well at posting on the blog regularly. It’s definitely been all sorts of random things, but hey I told you it would be. Stay tuned for more blog posts.

2.   Marathon Training – I am happy to say I am on track with my training. I've been very consistent in my running, going 3-4 times a week. I am actually enjoying the running (surprising, I know!). I just hope I don’t get tired of it in a few months. I think scheduling races and having short term goals will definitely help me achieve the long term goal of running the marathon in December. I’ve got the first 5K of the year on the calendar for March 3^rd. I’ll be running the Allen Eagle 5K with Josh, my aunt, cousin, and brother…more on that to come.

3.   CPA –  I took step 1 and installed the study software on my computer and made a study plan. I was hoping to be able to take AUD at the end of February, but unfortunately won't be able to. I've got to get my name changed with the Board and on my 2nd id, so that all my paperwork matches. One day I'll finally finish changing my name on everything!

4.   Books – I'm about halfway through my first book. It was slow starting out, but it's picking up now. I'll have to read faster during the other 11 months of the year to make my goal. :)

5.   Clean out the clutter – In January, we focused on cleaning out our closets, getting rid of clothes, shoes, and accessories that don’t fit or that we just don’t wear anymore (read more here). As a bonus, we also cleaned out our den/study some. It could definitely still use some more work, but we got a good start on it. Not sure where we’ll focus in February...I’ll let you know what we decide.

Bonus: We were able to pay off $8,450 of our debt paying off my car and some of Josh's student loans. (No, we're not rolling in the dough around here, we've just made smart financial decisions.) We still have a ways to go (yay student loans!), but we're definitely happy to have this chunk out of the way!

Homemade Pizza

We've been trying new recipes around here. Yesterday, we made homemade pizza. It was delicious and so much easier than I thought it would be.

In the making...

Ready to eat!