Monday, February 25, 2013

Valentine's Day Dance Party

Each year for Valentine's Day we try to come up with something fun to do as a family.  Last year we had an oldies night where Kylee and I had on poodle skirts, the boys were in jeans and t-shirts.  We danced, had root beer floats and just enjoyed our time together.  We were in the midst of a remodel project so the kids also enjoyed 'sliding' on the new wood floor.

Here's a few pictures from our party last year.

Mommy with her little man.

Daddy with his little girl.

 My crew sitting on paint cans as we were all sick of painting!

Mommy & Kylee in our poodle skirts that I made.


This year we got the kids Just Dance 4 for the wii.  Since Valentine's Day was on a school night we couldn't keep our kindergartener up very late, so it was a quick supper and then time to hit the dance floor!  It was so much fun and a great way to keep our family active when it's too cold to be outside.



Blessings,

Krystal

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Remodel = A Strengthened Marriage

This post is not about my running journey but a little about a journey with my dear husband. 

The journey to this one little corner of our home.

Deciding to remodel parts of your home can be such a challenge.  Through this challenge a marriage can be strengthened so much (and strained a bit at times as well)!  And remodeling with two little people in the house can add some additional challenges!  A year ago my dear husband was busy working on some remodel work on the inside of our home.  We replaced carpet with wood floors and tile, we painted the walls, changed the trim, changed the doors, etc. It was a long and stressful process but I am so incredibly grateful for the hard work he did and the way it strengthened our marriage.

We are currently getting ready to put a porch on our house.  We're excited and a little anxious all at the same time to dive into another big project!  This time I'm excited to be more involved in helping my man!

Here's a picture of Joshua working hard to install the wood floor in our dining room last January.


Here is a picture of Joshua and his baby girl dancing on Valentine's Day last year. You can see an awkward corner in the background during mid-construction.  I've struggled with how to decorate it since the very day we moved into this house. 



After some of the remodel was done, I felt like I had a blank canvas to decorate.  It's still a work in progress, but isn't having a home ALWAYS a work in progress?  I was so excited to finally come up with an idea for this awkward corner.  I contacted Trista with Heritage Design to design and make a sign for my family.  I was absolutely amazed and loved what she came up with.  Here's the sign she wrote (photo also by Heritage Design), designed and put together (I've blurred out the years for privacy purposes).  The sign says 'God Blessed One Day.  He made me for you and you for me.  We made a vow and sealed it with a kiss, a baby came and brought us bliss.  Another came and made us whole.  Praise God for those ONE DAYS that blessed our soul!'



After hanging the sign on one side of the corner, I decided to gather pictures of each of us at 1 year old and our wedding picture and hung them in a variety of frames to represent each of these special dates that God has truly blessed!  It's so fun to look and see who our kids look like and a constant reminder to
 'Praise God for those ONE DAYS that blessed our soul!'

Here's the baby pictures!






I just love walking by this corner multiple times a day and being reminded of how God blessed so many days (actually every day) leading up to today! 
When decorating I continue to look for ways to be encouraged and blessed. 

Blessings,

Krystal


Thursday, February 21, 2013

Throw Back Thursday 2/21/13

Showing steers in 4-H was such a huge part of my childhood and it was definitely the beginning of my passion for agriculture!  I always enjoyed the 4-H and FFA programs.  Although today I'm not directly involved with Agriculture, I still enjoy working in it indirectly every day!  There's something very special about this industry and the people in it!



Blessings,

Krystal
Sunday, February 17, 2013

Hear encouragement while you workout!

Do you ever feel like you need just a little encouragement from a loved one while you're running or working out?  I certainly do and the best encouragement comes from those two special little people who call me mommy!  Quite some time ago I began a project of recording my little people saying various encouraging messages and just finally took the time to get them integrated into my running playlist.  

Who wouldn't be encouraged by this sweet voice?



It took me a decent amount of time to figure out how to convert a voice memo (on my iphone) to an mp3 so that I could add it to my running playlist.  Keep in mind I decided to get it all figured out while my husband (aka my IT guy) was out of town this weekend.  I wanted to take a few minutes to share the process with you for two reasons.  One to maybe save someone the amount of time it took me to figure it out and the second reason is so that I have a reference point because I'm sure I won't remember the next time I want to add some more!  The steps below were used with an iPhone and Mac computer.

1.  The first step is to record the voice memo on your iphone.
2.  Next sync your phone with iTunes
3.  Click on the iTunes tab and then preferences
4.  Under the option that states 'When you insert a CD: Import CD', click on Import Settings
5.  Click on the drop down next to 'Import Using:' and change it to 'MP3 Encoder.'  Click OK.
6.  Locate the voice memo in your list of 'Music,' right click and click 'Create MP3 Version.'
7.  Then go to 'Recently Added' to locate the new MP3 and then you can drag it to your playlist
8.  Sync new playlist to you iphone and 'Ta Da'... you now have the encouragement you need at your fingertips!!!

I CANNOT wait to have these little voices as part of my playlist tomorrow morning!

Blessings,

Krystal




Thursday, February 14, 2013

Throw Back Thursday 2/14/13

Happy Valentines Day!  We are enjoying a dance party as a family tonight and planning on having a wonderful time!  Being it's the day of love, I thought it fitting to share a picture of my very first date with my husband.  This picture was taken 16 years ago.  It's hard to believe how much we've both changed and grown together!  Our precious daughter looked at this picture and giggled!  God is SO good!  I love you Joshua!


Our First Date ~ 16 Years Ago

Blessings,

Krystal

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Scheduling Your Workouts

Now that I'm officially training for my first half marathon I've had to become more diligent about my workouts, while still carefully balancing all of the other areas of my life.  Over the past several months I didn't have a specific training plan.  I would simply run or cross train 3-4 days a week and try to increase my distance each week.

My first obstacle was to identify which training plan I would follow.  There are so many incredible plans and resources out there.  Through reading several different blogs, I came across Another Mother Runner, which has a great blog and a couple books.  I recently read 'Train Like a Mother' which is a great book of resources, encouragement and an occasionally funny story about a mom on the run.  There's something about relating to other moms on this same journey that is so encouraging and motivating to know that this IS possible.  As I read the book, I came across their half marathon training plan and it seems like a reasonable plan to follow and the fact that it was created by a couple moms, helps reassure me that I should be able to follow it while balancing all of the other areas of my life.   

Although this new passion of mine is important, it's definitely not more important than my relationship with God, my husband and my precious children.  Therefore, as I develop my training schedule, I have to keep in mind that it needs to have the ability to be flexible.

Over the weekend I input every single workout between now and my half marathon on June 22, 2013 into my digital calendar.  My hope is that this will help keep me on schedule and also help rearrange my schedule when necessary.


I've adjusted my schedule to include a long run on Saturdays, but there are some Saturday's that this won't work due to other family obligations.  For example, next Saturday my dear husband and his buddies are going to the mountains to snowmobile and therefore I'll need to be at home with our babies.  By having everything on my digital calendar it makes it so easy to click and drag workouts around to adjust for our schedule.  There's definitely a level of accountability to yourself (and your family) by putting your workouts on a calendar!  

A little pre-planning and support from your loved one's will go a long ways!  I would love to hear how you balance your daily obligations!

Blessings,

Krystal

Saturday, February 9, 2013

My Ultimate Trainer

I'm currently reading Reshaping it All by Candace Cameron Bure.  In this book she shares such wonderful wisdom regarding the connection between our physical and spiritual fitness.  I've really enjoyed relating to Candace as a Christian, a wife, a mom and a women trying to reach my fitness potential (which will ALWAYS be a work in progress).  Plus I was always a fan of Full House when I was a kid.  What a reflection this has been on my journey.  She shares that Jesus understands our struggles and various demands in our daily lives, which is what makes Him the ultimate trainer.  Although I've reached out to Jesus through many workouts as I wasn't sure I was going to make it, I've never really reflected on the concept of Him being my ultimate trainer.




Wow, the absolute perfect trainer.  He's the perfect companion, His service is free, available 24 hours a day, loving, encouraging, available in EVERY aspect of our lives, and the list goes on and on!  Just this morning, I found myself smiling while I was running as I was picturing Jesus on the treadmill beside me.  All I can say is I've never experienced such encouragement during a run as I did this morning!  This was such an incredible week for me as I have never thought about Jesus being my ultimate trainer!  Thank you Jesus!

Blessings,

Krystal



Thursday, February 7, 2013

Throw Back Thursday 2/7/13

It's 'Throw Back Thursday' again!  Here's a picture of me at age 4.  Have a wonderful day!


Blessings,

Krystal

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