Tuesday, NEW day!

Well! So far so good. I realize that it hasn't even been 24 hours since my pledge of doing better. But 16 hours isn't bad. Ya gotta start somewhere, right? Right.

 

This morning... as stated before, I got up at 6am and ran 4 miles with Ginny. Now... I haven't ran in 2 weeks... (slaps hand) but my legs felt great, completely refreshed. It was a little dark when we started... but by mile 1, we had plenty of light to guide our way. So thats 4 miles. 

 

Its always tough for me to get up in the mornings to go to work, much less to run. I love me some sleep, that is for sure. But there's nothing like exercising/running in the morning... showering... and then starting the day. I actually think I am in a better mood and have a better day on the days that I get up early... as opposed to sleeping to the VERY last minute, and being rushed to get ready and be at work on time. So hopefully... I can continue with the morning runs.. and in return have better days.

So. There we have it.. I'm doing better at 2 of the 3 things that I said I would do better at. Now if I just keep myself away from any fun-yuns or rice crispy treats lurking around here.. then I will have completed day one successfully.

I think that once we "spring forward" it will be a lot easier for me to stay active. Something about my body, it interprets darkness as sleepy/lazy time. If I could just get a few more hours of sunshine then I'll be good to go. When the sun goes down at 5:30.. I'm like "ehhhhh, time to sit on the couch." I'm ready for the days when we still have daylight at 7:30!! Bring it on. I just found one more reason to look forward to March 11th this year. Not only will it be my 6th year anniversary with my love, soul mate, best friend,... but it will also mean an extra hour of that sweet, sunny, sun. 

I've fallen off the bandwagon.

We all know.. that it takes several weeks/attempts/times to make something into a habit. And there have been several things in my life that I have made into habits... that were good habits. But it seems like once you break the cycle, stop for even a moment, its so easy to slip back into your previous ways. This applies to a few things in my life currently. I blame most of it on just being extremely busy and having my plate full with non stop to-do lists. It seems like every time I finish something, or take care of something that I was supposed to do, then 2 more things pop up for me to handle. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Alas. 

The first thing that I have let slip to the wayside... is eating right. Gosh.dang.it. Now I'm not saying that I eat horribly at every meal. But fruits and veggies which used to consume most of my plate... have become foreign to me. I've succumbed to the "easy meal" or the "quick meal," which 90% of the time isn't healthy in any way.  Because of this... yep, you guessed it. That scale has climbed. Which completely disgusts me. I have worked so hard to become a healthy weight, I hate to see the numbers increase. Now,.. I'm up about 8 lbs more than I would like to be. So starting now.... NOW!!!... I'm going to start back eating healthy... I'll just feel better overall if I do, and I know that I SHOULD!

The second thing that I have let go of... is running and exercising. Yes, I ran a half marathon two weeks ago... but previous to that race, and since that race.. I have not been active much at all. Which this is directly related to the weight gain... and its something else that I am going to start back doing... IN THE MORNING! 4 miles at 6am, no "buts" about it! I love running so much, I just haven't been able to make it a priority here lately, or I've been sick, or busy doing house errands. 

The third things I have let slowly slip away. Is... blogging. It's something that I enjoy doing... and I have several avid readers... (which makes me smile, thank yall so much) and I have had PLENTY of things to blog about... just haven't taken time to sit down and get it all typed out!!! 

So this is my pledge. From here on out... I, Kayla Shaw, promise to eat better, exercise, and blog regularly. I know it'd make me happier to get back into all 3 of these things... and I shall do just that!!!!

Half Marathon Blog update... COMING SOON! :)

IN THE MEANTIME

NO TO THIS:

And a BIG YESSSSS to this:

Our house has beautiful colors!

I keep saying that I am going to post pictures of our lights and paint colors. So I am finally getting around to doing just that! Here is just a little looksey of how things are coming along!!!

our sink & countertop

close up

bar

living room

kitchen

master bedroom

dining room

extra bedroom

hallway

extra bath

extra bedroom

laundry

 

MS Gulf Coast Half Marathon

MS GULF COAST HALF MARATHON... has been COMPLETED. 

[exhale]

Last night we drove to the Welcome Center to pick up our race packets. Packet not really being the best word to describe it. We "checked in" and picked up our t-shirt. My number being 127 and Ginny's number being 126. They should have swapped our numbers though... cause that would fit our ages! But oh well!!!!

We then scooted on over to Academy sports in Slidell,.. where we found some sweet deals. We didn't realize things were on such *drastic* sale until we checked out. I was able to get a pair of polka dot nike shorts for $3.40, a nike hat for $2.01, a nike shirt for $4.50, and nike compression shorts for $3.41. What a deal, right? I was pretty pumped. If I would have known that things were going to be so cheap, I would've grabbed some more things. But oh well. 

hank getting in some tv time.

Anyways. We stayed at the Days Inn Slidell... where the mattresses were fabulous. It was definitely an older hotel... but we were only staying one night there... and only the mattresses really mattered. I went to bed around 9:30 or 10:00... only to wake up at 1:30am thinking that it was time to get up. haha. We got up around 6 this morning.. and started getting ready for our day. 

Ginny & I had shirts made for our half. The weather was supposed to be low 40's at the start of the race and high 60's at the end of the race. WEELLLL, at least that is what the forecast said when we ordered our LONG sleeve shirts. Little did we know, we were going to wake up this morning to 70 degree weather, in which long sleeve shirts are definitely not appropriate. So we decided to take a quick picture in our new shirts, and then change into more appropriate attire. 

Skip ahead a little bit. I got to meet up with one of my old friends from xray school, Mr. Clint Lambert. I dont believe I have seen him in the last two years, so seeing him was really fun. Of course Mr. Lambert is super fast and finished the half in less than 2 hours! Yep, he's fast!

Clint & me,... wow... I didnt know my hair was trying to fly away. lol.

Of course Hank & Kevin were there to watch Ginny & me run, along with my mom, dad, and sister, Karly. Its really nice to have people on the sidelines to offer support. Especially upon return of the race.. its nice that some of the cheering is coming from people who love you and are proud to see you succeed.

The race was about 20 minutes late getting started, because we had to wait on several cars to make it through the security gate. Once the air horn was blown... a huge mass of runners slowly moved out onto the course.  It took me, Ginny, and our friend Jeremy a good 20-30 seconds to actually get moving with the crowd. But once we got to moving, people slowly started to spread out and made it easier to gain speed to our normal pace.

Throughout the race, Jeremy stayed with me. Even walking with me.. which came way too often. It was nice to have someone to stay paced with me and to talk to throughout the run. It definitely made the time fly by. Some days just aren't meant to be race days, and I believe that today was one of those for me. I had a really hard time warming my legs up and getting my breathing right. I struggled through most of the run. But thats okay, because I finished and set a personal record for the half marathon. The next one that I do, I will have a time to try & beat.

my new $3 shorts!! (our second outfits)

Ginny & I have been looking forward to doing this half marathon since June. I'm glad it has finally come & gone.. and we are both able to say that we DID finish a half. 13.1 miles is no joke... especially on a hot, humid morning with lots of wind. :) My finish time was 2:32:22, I believe. But we will know for sure when they post the official results!

Half Marathon: You don't scare me!

ITS here!!! It's finally here!!! Tomorrow morning at 8am, Ginny and I will run our first half marathon... and it couldn't get here fast enough!!!

Back in May we decided to do this... so its been a long wait. We needed the time though. I had never ran more than 6 miles at a time.. and she had never done more than 4. Boy have we come a long way!!! Her longest distance to date is 10 miles, and mine is 13.1. I just had to see what the full 13 was like... and honestly it wasn't that bad. That mileage used to scare me so bad. I just couldn't fathom me actually running that many miles... AT ONE TIME! But Ginny & I took it easy.. and slowly added mileage every week or two.

everybody runnnnn!

Our hard work has paid off... and after months of training we are both ready! Now it wasn't easy... that is for sure. Blood, sweat & tears went into my training. No literally. With the blood & tears happening just a month and a half ago when I rolled my ankle while running, sending me knee & palms down to the asphalt. It happens though. [stupid uneven road] After 6 weeks.. my ankle and foot still bother me if I turn it the wrong way, and when I first get out of bed. But I will be fine. Of course the sweat is a given. We ran 4 days a week during the summer heat.. so the sweat was inevitable.

I always get really nervous before a run. I don't know why. But I do. I guess its just excitement & nerves together. But once we get started, then I am fine. I can't wait to line up at the start line in the morning... and begin my 13.1 mile run. I've already decided what I am wearing, so thats one less thing to worry about in the morning. Ginny & I had black long sleeved shirts made with "born 2 run" on the front and our names on the back. Very cute, if I might say so myself. I will include pictures of them.. on my post race blog! :)

So I've got to wrap this up,.. because Hank is begging me to go to Huddle House for brunch. I will be sure to blog about the run as soon as I can. And tell you all about it!!!! Several of my other friends are running in it as well... so Good Luck to you all!!!! 

Prayers appreciated at 8am in the morning, please & thank you.

hopefully this guy wont be there... haha. well adrian can be there.. but not the underwear guy!

hopefully my sticker will be as cool as this one, for my car! :)

 

house progressss

I realize I haven't posted any house pictures in about 40 forevers... so I'm gonna put a few up. We don't have any paint on the walls yet, (sigh) but hopefully that will change come Monday. I also didn't take any pictures of my fabulous, beautiful, amazing light fixtures because they are covered up to keep paint off of them. Once the covers come down.. pictures will be posted. *pinky promise*

So in the meantime.. here are a few shots of our cabinet and trim work. :)

just needs a few shutters!

 

lanterns are up!

entertainment center!

wainscoting and shelves... where clawfoot goes.

kitchen

a few of the laundry cabinets

All I want for Christmas

Its that time again. That time where the question is asked, "What do you want for Christmas?" 

Throughout the year.. I am able to find numerous things that I would like to have.. ranging from clothes, jewelry, sunglasses, shoes, housewares, music, etc... but it seems like once November rolls around.. the "finding" stops. Not only the finding of things that I would want, but just the general knowledge of anything that I have recently said... "oh yesss,... I'd love one of those."

So last week while laying around the house.. Hank asked the inevitable.. "what do you want for Christmas?" As every year.. I quickly filtered through my brain trying to think of just ONE thing that I recently coveted... and came up with nothing. My only response I could muster, was the typical one for me.. "ummmm I'm not sure, let me think about it." UGH! Why can't my brain have even the slightest memory of ANY of the items I have thought about purchasing for my self.

Over the last week.. I have kept pondering the idea of what my list should entail. But honestly there still isn't anything that just prevails on my list. Nothing that makes me excited to think about having or using. Maybe with age, maturity, and lots of realizations about life... My true wants have changed. 

I honestly just want to spend time with Hank's and my family. I love family dinners... and yes the act of opening presents. I like to watch people as they open the gifts that I bought for them, with hope & excitement that they will truly like what I chose for them. I know, I know... you're thinking... "nah.. she likes presents too." And you are right. I do. But its not about that... I won't even try to pretend to lie.

I love gifts... and surprises just as much as the next gal... but I'm really excited about family time this Holiday season. None of us are getting any younger.. and none of us are promised our next breath. So I believe my most favorite gift this year... will be the gift of love, laughter & family time well spent. There isn't anything like family (the good & the bad, ha)... and I know that sometimes I take mine for granted. I hope that you will do the same... and take a few moments to cherish your time with your family.

But just incase Hank IS reading this and needs some gift ideas then.... AHHH nope, still nothing comes to mind. hahha!