OC Half-Marathon

Yeah, I said Surf City was going to be my last half-marathon. But, Chris is so into it! He really really wants to run another one, and if he's going to run it, I might as well too.

I almost signed us up for the Avenue of the Giants Half-Marathon (in Northern California), Jim said it was okay and that we'd make it a mini-vacation. But with all the kids sports, it's not a good time to take a mini-vacation.

I'm actually looking forward to the OC Half-Marathon. It starts in Fashion Island and ends at the Orange County Fair Grounds. The route goes through Corona Del Mar and Newport Back Bay. It should be a very pretty run, and our first one way race (a welcome relief after the monotony of Surf City, LOL!).

The race is on May 3, so plenty of time to train for this one... maybe I can break 2 hours! Hahaha... wishful thinking...

Biggest Loser Week #4

It's week #4 of the Biggest Scrap Loser Challenge over at Scrapbook Deals 4U! This week we had to use This week, use 7 of the following 8 items on a layout:

1. rub-ons
2. flowers
3. 3 patterned papers
4. bling
5. thicker letters
6. brown ink
7. stardust pen
8. buttons
BONUS FEATURE: 5x7 photo with hand journaling

I used everything!

I noticed that a lot of us used photos of little girls this week (must be because of the flowers, hehehe!)... Here's my little girl!
The words on the journal spot came from the family. My son and I each picked a word to describe my daughter, and then I had my daughter pick a word to describe herself. I have three words for my son too... that will be for a layout to come.

Candy Holders

Here are some fun candy holders that I've been working on for Valentine's day.

This one holds 4 peppermint patties. Directions found here.

This one is my favorite! It holds 6 peppermint patties. Direction found here.

Run Surf City!

It was unbelievably crowded! The starting line was CRAZY!!! The finish line was even CRAZIER!!! Nevertheless, we had a great time, and did really well! My last half-marathon was 2:16. I wanted to finish under 2:10. I came in at 2:06... a new PR for me! Chris's last half-marathon time was 1:50. We estimated Chris to finish at 1:45. He finished at 1:40... a new PR for him! Hooray for us!

Here's the starting line... You can see how crowded it was! There wasn't even room to move! My friend Mara came down from the Santa Barbara area to run the race, but we couldn't meet up. We were never in the same place at the same time. It was impossible to find each other!

You can see how cold Cheryl is... it was damp and foggy at the start of the race.
Here are a couple of photos that Cheryl took of our finishing:

Chris's comments about the race: "That's a LOOOOONG street!" LOL! He's referring to Pacific Coast Highway. We ran from Huntington Beach to Seal Beach. I was amazed at how many clothes were being discarded. I knew it would warm up, so I wore a tanktop and shorts. But I guess other runners were getting too hot, taking their clothes off and throwing them off on the side of the road. I passed gloves, hats, long sleeve shirts, and jackets! Lots of them!

When asked if he had fun, Chris said, "Yes! When's the next half-marathon!" I think he's HOOKED!

We're resting up today, and taking stock of injuries... I came away with only a small blister on my toe and a shirt rash on my inner arm. Chris has a bloody heel, and at last count 4 blisters.

Scrapping the Music

This week's song is Home by Marc Broussard.
This layout is a long time in the planning... It's a 4 season layout of our home. Yep, I've been taking photos for a year! We live in Southern CA, so the change is not drastic, but it's there...

Biggest Scrap Loser!

It's another week of the Biggest Scrap Loser Challenge over at Scrapbook Deals 4U! This week we had to use This week, use 6 of the following 8 items on a layout:

• Paper scraps, cardstock AND patterned
• A sticker (NOT an alphabet)
• Embossing (dry or heat)
• A stamp (acrylic or rubber)
• Chalk, paint or colored pencils
• A punch
• At least 3 buttons
• Ribbon
BONUS FEATURE: Stitch somewhere on the layout...Hand, machine, or faux.

I used everything except for the stamps!

Happy Birthday Jim!

Today is Jim's 57th birthday!!!

He started his day surfing with his friends at Trestles. When he got home we had "Birthday Breakfast Burritos" (Chris said that's an alliteration, Uncle Randy, hahaha!).

After that we played Jim's new Wii game, Game Party. I'm so bad at video games... We had a GREAT lunch at my mom and dad's house. My mom always makes so much food. She's such a great cook, and we eat enough for lunch and dinner! We left early today, because Chris needs to study for finals. Finals week is so stressful!


Chris made this cool birthday card in less than 5 minutes. He's the pop-up master!

Scrapping the Music - Colors

This is new for me... it's an all digital layout for the challenge over at Scrapping the Music. The song this week is Colors by Kira Willey. I used the inference "I'm a rainbow today" and created a layout of us each showing off our colors. :oD

The Biggest Loser!

I'm participating in a fun challenge over at Scrapbooks Deals 4 U called The Biggest (Scrap) Loser. The idea is to use supplies from our scrapping stash each week to create a layout... hence trimming/losing our excess scrapping supplies.

This is my week #1 entry. The challenge was to create a 1-page layout and use at least 4 of the following items: brads, buttons, ribbon, ink, number stickers, stickles, or 5 pieces of patterned paper. You also had to use at least 3 photos. And here is my entry! I used 5 pieces of patterned paper, brads, ink, and buttons!!


This is my week #2 entry. The challenge was to create a 1-page layout and use at least 5 of the following items: eyelets, transparencies, fiber, paint, flowers, striped paper, or 3 pieces of cardstock. You also had to doodle on your layout. And here is my entry! I used everything except for the fiber!!

MLK Day

It's MLK Day! No school... and we are just hanging around... Hanging around on Jim's bus! The kids spent Sunday night at our house. We got up early on Monday to drive to Huntington Beach to catch the bus. We waited less than 5 mintues and Jim showed up.

We took a nice ride into Long Beach. In Long Beach, the kids all got to sit in the driver's seat, scan tickets, open/close the doors, and talk on the PA.


Jim also showed them what the bus computer can do. We also saw the bus behind us lower its ramp to load a wheelchair... fun stuff, if you've never seen it before, LOL!
Then it was back to Huntington Beach... We almost missed our stop! It's a good thing that the kids remembered to ring the bell... then we headed home.

What a nice day for a bus ride!

Cheryl's Graduation Layout

Here's half of Cheryl's Graduation layout.
I used the sketch from Scrapbook Deals 4U. As I was trying to decide how to do the circle, I found the song challenge at Scrapping the Music. It mentioned a "clock upon the wall"... And I connected that to "Time Flies"... so the circle is a clock face.

This is only the first page of a double page layout. The title will be on the other page.