New Year

Happy 2012!!! 


When I woke up this morning, I grabbed my Jesus Calling devotional and turned to the first page. January 1. What a crisp, fresh feeling that brings. I read the passage with excitement, and was offered this encouragement:


"Do not cling to old ways as you step into a new year."


I am extremely motivated by this because there are plenty of old ways I'd love to leave in 2011. Control is a constant struggle for me. Every time I try to demonstrate my knowledge of what is best, I get knocked down. I end up fighting an even bigger battle than I started with, and uncover the common theme of control issues. 


When I was on my mission trip I experienced 8 WHOLE DAYS of letting go. God was in control. I have never felt so peaceful and protected in my life. Humbled, I came home longing for that again. But with the hustle and bustle of life, that peace slowly dissipated. 
Recently, I have been craving that peace and protection. 
I have never wanted anything more.


So, for 2012, I am letting go. 
I am trusting God.
And I am going to live happier.

For I know the plans I have for you, 

declares the LORD, 

plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 

plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

SwitchUp

Yes, I changed the name of my blog. Back to what it originally was when created it. The only thing that comes to mind as I am writing this is the Black Eyed Peas song, 
when they say "switchup" really fast. 

Switchup.

Back to running on grace. Allow me to explain. 

When I decided to start a blog, I had a hard time deciding on a title. I wanted it to wrap up my faith and something that I loved into a sweet, little, "tied-with-a-bow" blog title. 
I wanted it to represent me. So, I decided on running on grace. I wanted it to represent my love for running but also illustrate the fact that my life is, in fact, "running" or being fueled by the grace of the God (need I mention the fact that I am able to run by the 
grace of God? No? I figured y'all caught that one). 


About a month into blogging, I began struggling with old behaviors and listening to lies I knew weren't true. I was spending more time worrying about what a looked like from the outside than focusing on the inside--my heart and spending time with the Lord.


The truth is, I was enjoying running more than I was anything else. I spent more time thinking about it and would get frustrated with myself when I didn't try my hardest or do my best. So, what should one do with they find themselves in a spiritual warfare, you ask? 
Change the name of their blog.

Right? Wrong.


Why is it so easy to be proactive about changing the way I workout when I feel like I am slacking, but so easily brush off the fact that I haven't cracked my Bible in a good 2 weeks? 
Because I am a sinner. I became tired of hating myself and I began relying 
on the Lord for direction, patience, and provision. 


Then, last night, it hit me. I want to be running on grace again. I want to do exactly what my original blog title represented -- my faith, something that I love, and ME! 
Isn't that what living is about?

Thanksgiving

With my family celebrating Thanksgiving in Ohio, Frank and I spent the entire day with his family.

I started my day by running the Gobble Jog 10K, then met up with Frank and his parents to walk the 5K.  (I obviously didn't take any pictures because I didn't bring my camera because I didn't want anything else to slow me down. Because it was cold and I wanted to run as fast as I could. Because I had turkey to eat later.)


After rehydrating and getting ready, we went to Frank's parent's house for an afternoon of hanging out and preparing dinner. Some of the guys hung out in the back, by the fire, while the rest of us were in the front. We had to be outside--it was such a gorgeous day!

family friends: Ann, Max, and Lee

my sister-in-law, Jessie

Not much happened after this picture, just the usually Thanksgiving day decline -- change to PJs, turn on the TV, and slowly fall into a coma. No big deal that it was 6:30...

On Friday, Frank and I decided to take advantage of some of our best friends being in town, so we hosted a small house-warming/get-together. We watched football, snacked on non-Thanksgiving food, and had great conversation. We never seem to have a problem picking up right where we left off, even if we haven't seen each other in months. 
That's a sign of real friendships.

bestfriend.

husband.

Even though this weekend was packed and we felt like we were going non-stop, we got to catch up with some of our best friends, spend time with family, and watch the Dawgs stomp Georgia Tech! 


Today will consist of church and....nothing. Ahhhh.....

Mr. Fitz

Meet Fitz.

He is another CCI dog-in-training that lives nearby.

And starting tomorrow, he is staying with us for 5 whole days!!

Dressers

Remember the furniture in the junk room I told you about? 

Well, look who made it out to the garage!

(Please excuse my trash cans. They didn't get a makeover.)

I was inspired to paint these a "Pottery Barn" black after seeing a DIY tutorial on Pinterest. 

I followed the pin to the blog and got moving.

Since the lady in the blog used Benjamin Moore products, I made a stop to 

my local Benjamin Moore store to grab my supplies.

Foam roller, brush, primer, paint tray, gloves and the paint.

             

This isn't the exact paint the blog used but after talking to the guy at the Benjamin Moore store, he recommended I go with a satin, oil based paint (make sure you wear gloves and have plenty of mineral spirits on hand or this paint will NOT come off of you!)

The furniture didn't have a strong finish on it, so just some light sanding did the trick. Then I added one coat of primer so the paint would really have something to grab on to.

I allowed these to dry overnight, and started painting the next day. With the help of my mom (this wasn't her first rodeo), we cranked these babies out in a few days.

We applied 2 coats of the black paint, allowing 24 hours for each coat to dry. 

As the last coat was drying, I made my way to Hobby Lobby to pick out some knobs. Are you ready for the best part? I got 16 knobs (10 for the dresser, 6 for the desk) for $24!! 

Thank you for your generous bargains, Hobby Lobby. 

I chose small, clear, glass knobs for the desk.

And broze colored ones for the dresser. 

I used 2 fancier ones on the top drawer,

and on the bottom 4 drawers, I used simpler detailed ones.

The final product? 

This is in our sitting room, which is an area on the other side of the kitchen from the living room. I have the intent of it being a cozy, reading nook.

The dresser is in our upstairs guest bedroom.

While shop was set up, I decided to do our dresser in the master bedroom. 

I followed the same process. It looks really good...in our garage. 

It seems to be taking longer than expected to get that one finished, for whatever reason. 

But I don't mind. 

Laundry is so much easier to put away when you don't actually. put. it. away.

the GRACE project

Please visit my friend, Laura's blog

twirl [lbr]

She is one of my dearest, sweetest friends.

She has such a pure heart.

(And an amazing blog!)

Scroll down

See that cool icon labeled

The Grace Project?

Click on it.

It's pretty cool.

Burlap Wreath

I've been on a DIY kick lately and I'm LOVING it! I would like to thank (or blame) Pinterest. I found a burlap wreath tutorial from this blog and decided to give it a shot. I wanted a cute wreath for my front door but wasn't willing to break the bank. This wreath seemed to be just perfect!

I went to JoAnn's fabric store and picked up a big ol' pile of burlap. It was about $2 a yard. So I got 10 yards. You can always find a use for burlap, right Lindsay?

I grabbed a hanger from my closet and formed it into a circle. Easier said than done.

I rolled out the burlap and practiced my catwalk got to cutting my strips.

In order for my strips to be straight, I needed some guidance. I grabbed one strand of the burlap and pulled. This provided me an open space for my scissors to follow.

I cut away, cutting strips about 4 inches wide.

Now it was time to get scrunching and poking. The blog suggested poking the hanger through the burlap in 3 inch folds, but I found this technique to be easier:

Fold the burlap like an accordion,

Squeeze it together like an accordion-burlap sandwich (yummy),

Poke the hanger through the entire bunch, 

And feed it down the hanger.

I continued this until the hanger was full, probably about 5 yards of burlap. As far as connecting the ends of the hanger goes...I pretty much man-handled it with a pair of pliers and called it a day. 

I wanted to spruce up my wreath a little, so I bought some brown ribbon, and a wooden "E" from Hobby Lobby. Since I have a paint shop set up in my garage and plenty of black paint (are you feeling the suspense? Stay tuned for the post this week!), I painted my "E" black and wired it onto the wreath.

The finished product...

I like how the burlap is stringy and messy. I also like that my front door is decorated :)

 

Garage Floor

The first thing on our "to-do" list was the garage floor. We knew if we waited too long and got settled in we'd be less motivated to do it.

Frank and I moved within walking distance of a Home Depot. I hate Home Depot. Hate it. It smells funny, has nothing exciting to offer -- except maybe the doorbell section -- and you always end up forgetting only one item, which forces you to go back in order to finish your project. Ugh.

Luckily, we only needed this sweet little kit. My dad helped us do this, since my parents had done this to their garage floor a few years ago. 

Not to discourage you, but it's quite a tedious process and requires a lot of patience. We began by clearing out the garage (translation: back the cars out and move them to the front of the house). Check.

Next we had to scrape excess "gunk" off the floor. I'll spare you the gory pictures of us scraping the floor clean. Kidding, it wasn't gory, I just didn't have my camera. And it really wasn't gross at all, quite boring, on hands and knees with a scraper-like-tool. Check.

Then we applied the acid wash, called an "etcher". The directions said to dilute it with water, and use a watering can to sprinkle the solution on the floor. We sprinkled each quadrant, scrubbed it with a giant scrubbing brush, rinsed it with the hose, and squeegeed it. After we finished, we had to wait until it was completely dry. 

                                         

LUNCH BREAK.

When we got back, we were ready to rock. We painted each quadrant, a 4x4 square at a time. Frank and my dad painted, I decorated with the "sprinkles/fairy dust". (You can see the detail of the floor on the box. I thought I got a picture but I guess not. I suppose I could go downstairs and take a picture now, but that would require a lot.)

We finished in about an hour and a half, slowly painting ourselves out of the garage. Check out the finished product:

So clean you can eat off of it. And we did...that night. Kidding, we had to wait for it to dry which required us staying off of it for about 3 days. But it looks great! And it's a nice touch to a boring, dirty looking garage floor.

We're Moving!

Appliances have been installed. 

 Carpet is brand new. 

Blinds are up. 

Movers come this morning.

I'm exhausted.

But totally excited!

Proposal

Geno and Gina are getting MARRIED!!

9.17.11

Last weekend, we flew up to Ohio to celebrate Geno and Gina's engagement. We had known about this for a while and we were excited that the weekend had finally arrived!

Geno met us at our hotel on Friday evening and gave us a tour of his sweet, little town, Hudson, Ohio. We dined on fine, fine Mexican food and chatted about our excitement for the next day. We left Geno on Friday night with lots of hugs and words of encouragement. Anticipation was pouring out of the guy! 

Frank and I, my sister and my parents went to Gina's parents' house early on Saturday afternoon. We walked around their gorgeous property -- played with the ducks, fed the goats. We all ate lunch together, giddy to receive a phone call.

Geno and Gina arrived around 3:30. As if you couldn't tell by her shock/excitement/surprise, Gina didn't know we were there! She even called my parents and my mom had to make up a "story" about whatever she was doing in Atlanta at the time. Oh the love and joy in lying in order for an engagement to run smoothly.

surprise!

My brother. He did such a great job planning this out. Gina loved every second of it -- it was so sweet to see how Geno's planning was perfect for her!

Gina with her parents

We screamed and hugged, hugged and screamed. We regained our vision after being blinded by the sparkly friend on Gina's hand. Geno popped champagne and we toasted to the bride and groom to be!

happy happy girl.

Group photographs were taken. Normal and silly. I'll let you decided which is which. 

Geno had one more surprise up his sleeve. We headed to dinner and as we arrived, Geno and Gina's sweet, friends were there, holding "CONGRATS Geno & Gina" signs. I got chills when we pulled into the parking lot and they were all lined up -- talk about a welcoming/congratulatory committee. (congratulatory committee?)

yayy! friends

The rest of the evening was full of laughs, picture taking, and great conversation. I am so excited for Geno & Gina as they begin this new journey in their lives. They will be in the Lord's hands, with tremendous support and love around them.

You have to wait for your bling, brother :)

Game Days

There is one thing that I love more than anything about Fall -- a crisp, cool morning that smells of a long run followed by college football. I've come to love watching college football even more since graduating because it allows me an excuse to see friends every weekend. It's like an extension of wedding season. Perfect.

*Another reason I know it's fall is because the Pumpkin Spice Latte is back. Confession: I have yet to be able to fall in love with it. I know half of you are reading this with your jaw on your keyboard. Pick it back up. I promise to give it another chance.

Back on topic.

Frank and I headed to Athens last weekend for the UGA vs. South Carolina game. Frank's birthday always falls within a few days of the South Carolina game, so we made a point to sing happy birthday! Our bestcouplefriends, Lindsay and Travis have season tickets and go to every game, so we decided to hop in their car and ride with them. Road trips, not matter the length, are always fun! It gave us an opportunity to catch-up on each other's lives and get filled in on their wedding planning!! They are getting married next June. Frank and I couldn't be more excited to be beside both of them, celebrating their special day as they become husband and wife :)

bestfriend.

We stopped by the Beta Theta Pi house, Frank and Travis's fraternity, to see some new renovations. We mingled for a little bit then got the heck outta dodge. We're too old for frats.

We didn't plan the outfits. Coupletwins.

girlfriends

Frank and I didn't have tickets to the game, so we watched the game in a bar/restaurant with our friends, Mallory and Barrett. Despite an upsetting loss, we had a awesome time spending time with friends and cheering on the Bulldogs.

Pelotonia

I made my way up to Columbus last Thursday for Pelotonia, a cycling event that my brother, Geno and I were riding in that weekend. Pelotonia is a grass roots bike tour that expands from Columbus to Athens, Ohio. Anyone can ride in it and you can select the distance of your choice: 23, 43, 102, or 180 miles. Geno and I rode 43 miles, from Columbus to Amanda. In order to participate in Pelotonia you must reach a fundraising goal – the distance you ride, determines how much you need to raise. All of the money raised goes directly to the Arthur B. James Comprehensive Cancer Center at Ohio State for the purpose of one goal -- to end cancer! (I can assure you none of the money will benefit the OSU Football program…too soon?) 

Opening Ceremonies stage

On Friday afternoon, Geno and I arrived at the Pelotonia grounds for check-in and the Opening Ceremonies. Pelotonia doesn’t mess around – there were 2 giant tents packed with tables and a catered dinner, beer trucks, and an expo with tons of vendors and sponsors. We even ran into this guy.

Brutus!

The weekend was packed with great snacks, meals and drinks, bands and music. We were lucky to have Chuck Wicks serenade us as we carb-loaded for the next morning.

Checking-in the night before was convenient because we were able to leave our bikes over night, which made setting our alarms for 4:45 a bit easier. 

Bike corral...thousands of bikes!

On Saturday morning, Geno and I arrived at 6:15 and made our way to the bike corral to find our bikes waiting for us. The official kick-off time was 7:00 and the first to leave were the ones riding 102 and 180 miles. Once they left, the 43 and 23-milers made their way to the chute. Geno and I crept along, getting closer and closer, anxiously awaiting to start. We crossed the start line about 7:30 and we were so excited to get going! As we rode out of Columbus, people were cheering and ringing their cowbells as they lined the sidewalks to send us off.

We had our game/riding faces on.

We stopped about 13 miles into the ride because I had to use the "little girls room" and he wanted to see what the rest stop had to offer…

Worth the stop.

With 30 more miles ahead of us, we pedaled on. Check out that fog! It was cool outside, which made for perfect riding weather. The route took us through the country roads of central Ohio. It was gorgeous (who would have thought?!). At every stop sign or intersection we approached, we were greeted by a police officer. Although the roads were "open", the surrounding communities were aware of us, so they made an effort to stay off the roads. I felt extremely safe throughout the entire ride.

We didn’t expect to continue all the way through to Amanda, but we did. There was another rest stop for the 23-mile finish but we didn’t feel the need to stop, thinking (hoping) there would be another one around mile 30ish. We just kept riding, experiencing rolling hills, until Ms. Amanda, Ohio, greeted us! We crossed the finish line just before 10:30 where we found yet another giant tent with lots of tables and food. We gave our bikes to the Pelotonia volunteers where they loaded them on a semi-truck to be taken back to Columbus. Geno and I made a few phone calls to family (letting them know we were safe and sound) then made our way to get some lunch/breakfast/replenishment. After we re-fueled, we hopped on a bus that drove us comfortably (with AC) back to Columbus.

Pelotonia was such an awesome experience! Cancer is a terrible disease that can affect anyone's life. My heart goes out to everyone who has had to deal with the life changes and struggles associated with cancer. It was an honor to have been apart of this incredible movement! Here's to ending cancer, ONEGOAL.

If you want more information on Pelotonia or the Arthur B. James Cancer Center,
check out Pelotonia's website.

Here is a link to the Opening Ceremonies video they played to motivate and remind us why we were there.