Sewin' and Plannin'

I have spent the last few weeks planning a few projects to undertake:

Here is the list:

1. Sew Fleece Vest similar to that of North Face vest
2. Sew Dress
3. Build Craft Table seen here
4. Build Coffe Table seen here
5. Refinish my cedar chest family heirloom
6. Matt's running t-shirt quilt

I am addicted to the idea of building my own furniture and making it look exactly how I want it to look, out of actual wood, at non-ridiculous prices.

I am going to start on the craft table. I think that it is a great place to begin. When I get my craft table complete, I can begin sewing projects.

I am hoping that I can get this project completed in a timely manner and for a reasonable amount of money. I just need to scale my crazy ideas back.... Granite and Butcher Block tops are not necessary ( I will repeat this until I believe it).

All of this will hopefully culminate in an awesome new coffee table, a funtional craft room, and a beautiful t-shirt quilt for Matt.

Check out the links to the furniture projects. Ana White has a lot of projects that you can do at any skill level.

I mean, who doesn't love this????

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Raisin' Funds

I received my information to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. I am committed to running 13.1 miles for the best cause I can think of..... kids.

I will be out there, bright and early on April 26, 2014.

Fundraising Goal: $500

Run Goal: Sub 2:00 hour half marathon

I hope that you all are interested in donating to a great cause.

How to donate: Visit my St. Jude's profile page and click on the donate now button

I am excited to see how this goes. I am hoping that I have some supportive friends and co-workers.

If you are interested in running with me, just hit me up!

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Pimpin' Joy

Bobby Bones and Amy of the "Bobby Bones Show" are encouraging us to start Pimpin' Joy, however we can. I have decided that my method of pimpin' joy is to raise money doing something that I love for a cause I believe in. This race season, I will be raising money for St. Judes Children's Research Hospital by running several races and asking for my family, friends, acquaintances, and frenemies to donate money to St Judes for the races that I run. I will be starting here at home with the Country Music Half.

I registered for the 2014 County Music Half Marathon, the race that is closest to my heart, as it is the race that started me on this crazy weight loss/running journey. In years past, I have run this race with the sole intention (pun intended) of completion. This year, I am running it with a few different goals in mind:

1. Finish with a sub 2:00 time
2. Finish with no injuries
3. Raise at least $500 for St Judes Childrens Research Hospital

I registered to be a St. Jude's Hero. I have seen the jerseys at all the races, and I have always wanted to get involved, but have never been able to have advance planning time to get sponsors and donors. This year, I am getting it done.

The information on the race:

When: 26 April 2014
Time: 7:00 am
Location: In front of the Ryman Auditorium
Website: http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/nashville/register

Course map: http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/nashville/course

Donate to St. Judes Today!

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Lookin' for a Venue

Matt and I are in the unenviable position of locating a place and setting a date for the wedding. I am leaning toward 4 July 2015 at the Middle Tennessee Iris Society Garden. According to Ms. Cheap, this is an ideal location. 

Check out her blog: http://blogs.tennessean.com/cheap/faqs/

More to follow. I'm off to read some Kim Harrison and get my run on!

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Fixin' to get Hitched

Matt and I lined up to run the hot chocolate 15k at 7:45 am on Saturday, the 15th of February. It was a blustery 18 degrees with slush and rain pellets smacking us in the face. Matt and I met up with our friend Robin and tried our best not to completely freeze while waiting for 7:55, the official start time. 

Matt and I, pre-race, most definitely freezing.

Robin and I freezing our butts off waiting for the race to start was the low point of the morning. 

Note, the prolific use of hats, gloves, and multiple layers. These were not shed as the race continued, as impossible as it seems, it only got colder as the morning progressed.

The race was challenging, because, hey, this is Nashville and that is how we race. We like to find every hill between downtown and Vanderbilt and run up it during the course of the race, sometimes twice.

Around mile 6, the wheels started to fall off. It was a mix of walk/run and cursing my stupid ambition for signing us up for a 9 mile run in the dead of winter. Needless to say, my legs were tight, my lungs were burning from the cold, and my right knee was on fire....

Blissfully we closed in on the finish line. Not a moment too soon, as I wanted this travesty to be complete. My all time worst time was just put up. I consider it a feat of hard headedness that I even finished this race.

Note that abysmal time above my head!

After that finish, I needed to get my stretch on. I parked it by a tree while Matt headed to the finish tent to collect up our collectors mugs of hot chocolate and fondue, really the only saving grace of this run.

He headed back over to me and handed me a mug with a warning. Matt says, " the race ladies were putting prizes and trinkets in the mugs, I think I saw them slip something in yours near the bottom." As I love surprises and annoying trinkets like you get out of a Cracker Jack box, I started digging.

What I found looked like a lego boulder, in fact it was a lego boulder. 

  

A lego boulder with a sweet rock inside.

Matt set his stuff down and said, "you gonna marry me or what"?

He nailed it. He included what we love....

Running: check

Legos: check

Country song: check

The answer was of course yes.

We got a little sloppy and had some quasi-inappropriate PDA. 

So there you have it. Now I'm fixin' to get hitched.

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Fixin' to Change

Ok. Here I am, 1 year later and 15 pounds heavier than I want to be.

My food habits stink.

I run, but it is hard staying motivated in 14 degree weather.

I drink entirely too much Diet Coke or Coke Zero.

My favorite clothes no longer fit, my uniform is snug, and I feel heart palpatations.

Enough is enough.

Today's weight is yesterday's bad memory. Time for a change.

I start tonight with a 3 mile run, followed up by a low cal dinner and a purge of all things unnecessary from my diet, starting with Diet Coke.

This will not be easy. I did this before and it kind of sucked....

Alas, I want to make this work and put less stress on my knees so that I can run longer distances.

I will be thin again. I will lose this extra weight. I will be fit and healthy.

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Fixin' to Blog

Just checking to see if the slider uses the images in my blog, or just pulls them from out of nowhere.

First blogs are always the hardest. You always ask yourself the following questions:

Where do I begin?

What do I say?

Who is going to read this?

For me, it is always, why do my picures always look terrible? Maybe I am hyper critical, or maybe my photography skills are lacking. Either way, I always hate the pictures I take.

However, as I am trying to master this silly template that I downloaded, this is my blog; the good the bad, and the ugly.

To keep myself honest, I have decided to make a list of the things that I wish to accomplish in 2014:

1. Design and begin building my forever home

2. Run a Disney half-marathon, as an aside... break the 2:00 hour threshold

3. Sew my own wedding dress (assuming that he proposes, I say yes, and we set a date).... hmm, more to follow on that one.

4. Finally make that t-shirt quilt with all the random t-shirts hanging around the place

5. Post all of the "major" DIY, Running, and Craft things I do... because I am forgetful and always need a reminder.

6. Actually maintain a steady diet and add items to my digital cook-book. I would like to delete items that were yucky, but I can't figure out how to do that yet.

6a. Figure out how to remove items from my digital cook book.

I am sure that I will add to this list and cross things out (hopefully).

Until then...

Jenna

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