Risky Business

 This mornings workout: running out the door to make it to work on time. Oh and sliding down the hall in my socks. Hey...it works the calves.

It's amazing how I am still functioning this morning and that I could even roll out of bed. Literally roll.

I've been eating pretty well for the past few weeks besides this lovely specimen of a cake made by Jesus himself:

and last night we went to Buca Di Peppo for my grandfathers birthday. Sadly I didn't have time to take pictures before I inhaled ravioli, manicotti, Italian sausage stuffed shell, and lasagna. OH and Mozzarella Caprice. A few bites of each by the way but talk about carb overload! I could have slept for days.

At least I have Zumba tomorrow morning before our trip to Ikea!

Sunday I am starting my mileage. So I'll be doing 3 miles and the shred. I am so excited to get this going & start the countdown to RNR day!

Since I've met a few new people on this blog (who didn't follow the old one) I'm opening up and asking you to ask away with any questions you have? What do you want to know? 

I've also opened up my blog to accept comments from anyone. So if you plan on being anon please be courteous. Thank You! :)

Question of the day (to go a long with YOUR questions):
What is your favorite running quote or just plain quote?

I think my new favorite one is by Kara Goucher "Among runners, you are golden". 

I can't really put into words how I feel or why it hits home for me so hard but I really do love it!


 Happy Friday Y'all!
 

Seven Ways

Well. I am officially registered for the Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon in Savannah as of last night!

This time? I didn't even think twice about registering, I am just that excited.

I also received my 1/2 marathon training. It looks super easy! I know, you can laugh at me for saying that. Remind me that those were my words when I come to post next week about how horrible my 3 miles were and how I wanted to die on my front porch. Yeah.

Ironically this morning, I opened my email to find one from Active.com. It was titled "7 ways to improve your 1/2 marathon training". Well active.com, thank you because I can only improve from here since I haven't even started yet.

But it did have some good points and tips. Here are a few that really stuck out to me:

1.Personalize it. Meaning mix it up a bit, add things on the in between days like Zumba or Pilates. Make it fun so you will stick to it. I have a hard time sticking with things because it gets boring to me. I will switch up my areas or loops (like it says) because after a few times it gets stale of doing the same thing over and over.

2.Be Social. It says running with a group and talking about things while running will make it more fun and easier for you. I don't agree with this though. I have a hard time talking while running. Period. I've never ran with anyone before especially in a race. I like to focus on whats going on around me and the run itself. So this is something that I need to work on. Especially since I'll be running with two friends. haha

3. Train by effort rather than pace. I only want to complete the RNR 1/2. Just complete it. I am not running for a specific time (even though I put 2:45 on my est. completion time) I just want to be able to finish it. Next time though? I'll be running for time.

To read the full article you can go here.

Question of the day:

Do you run with someone? Or do you like to run alone?

OK. that was two questions. my bad

Happy Thursday y'all!

Sweaty Hair and Pinning!

 Did you see this blog post from Lindsey? ha!! I still have that song stuck in my head. Thanks for telling me how horrendous that face REALLY is y'all. I mean really.

Zumba was so hard last night that my hair was sweating! AND I turned down a piece of birthday cake. The world is ending folks.

It was such an intense class that I came straight home and wanted to lay in an ice bath, but didn't of course. I just stood in a cold shower.

Kinsley's 4 month appointment (at 5 months?) was yesterday. Little miss had her shots. She did SO well and momma didn't cry this time. Later on in the day was a different story though, she was not a happy camper and can barely move her little legs :(
But she is 17 lbs and 25 inches long! She's at a 6 month old level with all of her non supported sitting, head holding, rolling over both ways, and scooting across the floor. You better believe I was a beaming momma at the end of the appointment!

now onto "Oh! How Pinteresting!" from the lovely Michelle at The Vintage Apple!

This week on pinterest I was looking for dining room ideas since I am re-painting it this weekend. I am also trying to convince the hubsters to go to Ikea because this is the first weekend he has off in over two months!
Here are a few ideas that I have gotten so far:

 I just love the last pin. If I could replicate that on a budget I would be so happy! Except that's a foyer sooo that kind of defeated the purpose of looking for dining room inspiration! ha!

How perfect is this for Gator season? Practical? Maybe not. but it sure is hot!

This could not have fitted (fit?) my week last week any better. An old "friend" contacted me and wanted advice. Let me tell you that karma kicked him in the ass and I'd be lying if I said I didn't snicker a little.

Happy Wednesday y'all!

Rock N Roll!

For months I have been going back & forth about doing the Rock & Roll Savannah 1/2 Marathon. I've always wanted the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon to be my first one but I've also wanted to do the RnR series race. This is closest to home and my favorite ladies are running in it as well, So how could I pass up the opportunity to hang out with them? I broke down and I'm committing to it for this November. Am I stupid for doing this? That gives me 3 months to train. AM I STUPID? Holy macaroni. Do you hear me Rachel & Linds?! I am committing to this. lol

 that's my "I'm going to punch running in the face" face, Just for you Rach. Just for you.

& because I'm not posting this until Monday (you are welcome) and I am writing this on Friday. I am currently double fisting a Starbucks and a Rockstar energy drink. I am this.close to nodding off and hitting my head against the wall. Dudes is tired. For the record, the Rockstar is not working and this is how I feel about the taste.

attractive no? I am awesome.

So yeah..that was Friday. I was so ambitious with my blogging then cut it short because I totally forgot where I was going with that post.

The moral of the story is..is that I am running in a 1.2 like a crazy person and I hate the Rockstar drink. You hear that ROCKSTAR? your product SUCKS.

Moving on, this weekend was super productive. & by productive I mean that I didn't get my shutters done but I sure did go swimming and work on my tan. Oh and Kinsley did as well. It was so freaking hot that I'm pretty sure the water was 100 degrees. Yesterday I cleaned the entire day and put all of Kinsley's newborn-3 months clothes into storage bins. Sadz :( But that just means I can stock her closet back up ha!

I really do have a home project that I WILL be doing this Saturday. I think my hubs was going to kill me when I told him that I wanted to re-paint the dining room from the ugly "vintage yellow" that I thought was just great a month ago to a gray color! But what I want I get so I'm going to do it Saturday! Before and After pics will be up.

Question of the day:

What is on your running playlist?

Hope y'all had a great weekend!!

Happy Monday y'all!

"My butt is applauding you!"

Last night's Zumba was amazing!

I had so much fun with my sister and aunt. I thought I would have forgotten most of the moves but they came back to me like I never stopped haha It was such a great workout! I am defiantly feeling it today in my arms.

We had a great time laughing at each other and making comments. The quote of the night was "I feel like my butt cheeks are applauding the people behind me when we booty dance".-yours truly.

 

before we started

No running for me this morning because I woke up at 6:30 and my legs were achy. Zumba and swim is tomorrow morning so I think I will go running Sunday morning instead.

that's how I feel about that. That's also how I feel about being at work today after only getting two hours of sleep. I guess I had too much energy and didn't want to sleep at all during the night.
I've never been so happy to see a Starbucks sign in my life than I was this morning.

This weekend I WILL tackle those stupid shutters. I am making it my mission to get them done. Anyone want an azalea bush? I will ship it to you. I hate these stupid things.Seriously they are the size of my car. There are TWO of them. Bleck.

One day I will get my wish to remove them and add my palm trees back.

Sorry for the lack of interesting post. My double shot latte hasn't kicked in yet!

Question of the Day:
What is your favorite workout?

Happy Friday y'all!

Fish breathing

Did you know that it's really dark at 4:45a? And did you know that it's kind of really nice running alone (packing gangster style and carrying pepper spray for those who want to follow me lol) while everyone else is sleeping?
I slept in my running clothes last night and got out there at 4:45a, I didn't even wash my face or fix my hair. Just threw on my shoes and garmin and hit the pavement.

It was pretty cool(ish). I still did run/walk intervals for 2 miles. I've got to do 3 miles non stop for this running group and get up to 8 non stop eventually so I'm easing myself back into it since I haven't really gotten ANY miles in since having Kinsley. But I'm pumped to be getting back out there.

Before I was pregnant and I was running, I don't think I really mastered the breathing while running. I tend to hold my breath and then breath. then hold.Which is obviously stupid lol

Any ideas on how I can fix this and make it easier for myself?


Zumba is tonight!!

Happy Thursday y'all!

Oh! How Pinteresting!

So this mornings run didn't happen. I had all of my gear laid out and I was so amped to get out there and just do it! It's finally *cool* here in the mornings so I was pretty excited. Then I slept through my alarm. Then I slept through my husbands alarm. I didn't even hear him get up, shower, and get ready. I only woke up when he told me bye. So I guess I needed the sleep but still I was bummed. Tomorrow is a new day! I think I'll sleep in my running clothes thanks to Lindsey! haha!

Now onto "Oh! How Pinteresting!" brought to you by Michelle at The Vintage Apple!

This week is a bit of a Hodge Podge of pins. I wanted to do another fall one since I feel it in the air! haha but I sucked at pinning this week. Here are a few recent favs!

I need this outfit! and I'm adding these Toms to my collection this week!

Oh how fitting.

Chocolate peanut butter surprise cookies! I'll be adding this to the goodies I give out at Christmas!

Now I know exactly what I'll be doing to the mirror that's in the foyer!!! Would that look right with gray??

With all of the party stuff going around in the blog world, I thought this was a really cute, inexpensive idea to do!

& last but not least. Who would have thought to put Christmas bows as a decoration! I wouldn't have! Brilliant!

To join in go to Michelle's blog!!

Happy Wednesday!

Sleep is for the weak

I'm on my 3rd cup of coffee. It's 2:30p. That's a new record. I slept last night and K has been sleeping but no matter what I feel like I will never get my zzzz's back! I will never feel rested. As horrible as it sounds because I love my baby girl with every ounce of me, I can't wait until our Anniversary weekend so I can just SLEEP! lol

That was yesterday, I forgot to upload my pictures so I had to finish this morning. After going to bed last night at 7:30 I feel SO much better. And I'm only on cup of coffee numero uno.

Anywho, this weekend was packed! On Saturday we had a day filled with shopping & dinner at the in-laws (yum!!!!) & Sunday I painted the front door trim finally. We were looking a little ghetto so I finally broke down and painted it myself. If you forgot, here is the before picture. And here it is completely done!

ALWAYS listen to your husband when he says "wait until the caulk dries before you paint over it" because if you don't you will make more work for yourself. Mission de-ghettofy was not accomplished. But I am pretty happy with how everything else came out haha


I think in a few weeks I'll be attempting this project. I love our foyer and I love the wallpaper *gasp* that's in there but we need to modernize it. I think this is pretty simple and inexpensive.

In other news, tonight I'll be getting my Zumba on! AND? I've joined a RUNNING GROUP. Starting Saturday I'll be joining in. I may or may not have signed my life away and I'm pretty nervous since I've never ran (run?) in a group before except in a race and eventually I end up alone ha! Last week I heard they did 8 miles so I'm pretty sure I'll be leaving them after 1/2 HA!

Here are a few fam pics from Sunday! We had a much better time this time with no crankypants Kins. lol

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Happy Tuesday!

*as always these photos are copyrighted as with any other information and links on this blog. Please ask before using any information or pictures on this site. These pictures belong to the photographer and myself. Thank you!*

Hodge Podge

I am losing my mojo here. I've wanted to blog desperately for the past few days and every time I logged into blogger and hit "New Post" nothing would come to mind. NOTHING. So instead of wracking (racking?) my brain of things to type I will give random facts and thoughts going on that probably will make no sense to you but I am jonesing to hit the "publish" button hahaa!!

• the word "pop" skeeves me out. Seriously hate that word.
• I've been fighting with myself to wake up early (before my husband leaves for work) to go running but I love my sleep. K has been waking up around 7am & that gives me an extra two hours of sleep after the hubs leaves. If you even think of going outside after 10am in the Florida heat you'll break a sweat and keel over from heat exhaustion. So after 5 isn't an option until the "fall". Someone make me go run!
• My husband has been staying late at work to work out every night and I'm secretly envious and jealous that he gets to but I have to lose sleep if I want to LOL
• I forgot to make dinner this morning (crockpot) so we will probably have cereal for dinner tonight....again.
• I'm starting my Mary Kay business next month! Who wants to buy some!? You know you want to :)
• I am beyond ready for the fall. 100 weather is obnoxious and I want my bean to be able to wear leggings!
• Right now? I want to go home and deep clean the house while no one is there but as soon as I get home I have no motivation to do that.
• We were supposed to do our shutters last weekend but because of the rain we didn't get to. We planned on doing it this weekend but I'm not sure that will happen either. I'm pretty positive that our neighbors are laughing at us.
• We've done the envelope system for a few weeks now and it is actually working! I had my doubts because I hate change so this is pretty exciting.
• I want to reply to a few bloggers who have left me sweet replies BUT I CAN'T WHEN YOU HAVE NO REPLY BLOGGER! PLEASE fix that!
• yes that  deserved all caps
• I am super excited that Big Brother has started again. Rachel isn't that bad this season and I am still rooting for Jeff & Jordan.

Ok I think that's enough. Whew! Here is a picture to end that.

Such a ham.

Happy Thursday Y'all!

Where is my nap time?

First, I want to say thanks to everyone for the sweet comments and the support on Thursdays post. It IS getting a lot better and I'm so lucky & grateful to have such a wonderful support team. Thank you.

I've been dying to get my hands on a canvas for months and finally gave in when Ashley posted a discount code from Imagine Canvas. They were such an awesome company to work with by the way. When I received the canvas Friday afternoon, I could have cried. It was so beautiful!

It will be going on the back wall in the living room along with the others that I plan on buying.

This weekend was the first weekend that I was actually looking forward to having a day with just myself & K. Not that I never want to be with her but it was the first time I didn't mind not having help. We had such a awesome day! 

I also asked on Twitter, "I have goat cheese. What do I do with it?", to which I got tons of responses!

I ended up making Penne pasta with chicken & goat cheese!

Holy yumminess!

Along with a Mozzarella and Tomato appetizer.

SO good!

Yesterday we did yard work and ran errands which included taking back "black out curtains" from Target (for Kinsley's room). They do NOT work. I don't rec buying them because it just made her room bright green. Horrible.

Another thing, I didn't realize how exhausting being a homeowner is, but oh my goodness I am ready for a lawn man and maid.

Later on we went to Mellow Mushroom because I was starving & Happy Wife Happy Life we went.

Can you believe the hubsters only got a salad? wtf?

& I'll leave you with that because I'm losing my gusto and trying not to nod off.

You are welcome.

Happy Monday!

Link your Ink!

Because I have nothing of importance to write about this morning I thought sharing my ink would be pretty entertaining. Did you know that I still don't have the Internet at my house? My husband does. But me? Nope. AT&T hates the Mac apparently.

Moving on.

Today I'm linking up with AP. If you don't follow her. Shame on you. She's high-larious & I love her. Go Congratulate her on her new ink! She's not an tat virgin anymore!

If you followed me from the old blog then you know that I have 5 tats. If you didn't know, well then now you do. lol

Starting with my first tattoo; my lower back. Aka "The Tramp Stamp". However mine is not classed as that because it's wings with my mom's initials.

I would change all kinds of things about this. but I was 18. So gullible.

The next one that I got was the back of my neck. A hibiscus.

Why? I do not know. I was stupid. and 18.

Then came my right wrist. "Love".

I can honestly say this was the worst pain out of all of them and child birth. There's a meaning behind this but I'd rather not share.
Fast forward to a few years later I get the other wrist done after getting engaged to the hubsters.

I never went back for him to finish the shading. Oh wells. It didn't hurt nearly as bad.

I also have my foot done. 7 stars that match my best friends arm. We got them at the same time. It has no meaning besides matching hers. Again. We were stupid. ha!

Tons of people ask me all the time if this hurt but no. It did not. I think all of my tattoos besides my right wrist hurt in a good way if that makes sense? I think you have to go through it to understand.

In a few months I plan on getting the under side of my left arm done since it's closest to my heart. My grandfather is retired high rank Air Force officer and I have always wanted to get something for him.

It's a P-61 Black Widow night fighter Air Force Plane. (his favorite one) I want it in a scene of some sort and one of his favorite quotes. I might have to steal the idea of his handwriting from AP, because I think that is so special. I'm hoping I get the guts to do this this year to be able to show him!

Sadly, my husband does not have any tattoos. He wants one but has no idea when he will get it. Boooo.



Have ink yourself? Go link up and share!!

Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway! & Thanks to E-Mealz for sponsoring it!

It wouldn't let me do a screen shot but the winner is #8! Meghan from Little Girl in The Big World!

Congrats!

Please email me the plan that you'd like to use! sonja at runninginpearls dot net

xo

Giveaway!!

As a mom who doesn't have tons of time, I look for the easiest ways to do things. Cooking dinner is one of those things.

Before having K, we never ate at home. We were always on the go and eating at different places around town. After having her though, it just wasn't in the budget. A few months ago I came across E-Mealz. A site where you choose the meal plan that best fits your family AND it matches that weeks sales/coupons to it for you! Spells everything out for you. Pretty easy right? Well that's what I like! EASY! Once I started receiving my meal plans it has made cooking and planning so much easier y'all. I don't fret about what's for dinner or what I'm going to make that night. AND? We always have leftovers. I'm not a leftover person at all but a few of these meals I WILL eat the next day for lunch! For example, if you follow me on Twitter, I've made the Cheeseburger Pie a few times. LOVE this meal. Seriously one of our favorites! (I'll post recipe later! sorry!)

So here's a better scoop of things:

E-Mealz relies on a team of experienced meal planners, writers and editors to create new dinner menus every week that are designed around grocery store sales, seasonal specials and diet preferences. For $5.00 per month, subscribers download a recipe plan for the week with a matching aisle-by-aisle grocery list. The easy-to-follow recipes usually contain fewer than seven ingredients to allow for prep times of less than 30 minutes.  It also helps families stay within a predictable budget by being prepared with a detailed list to use at the grocery store.

The E-Mealz program provides a consistent and reliable approach to food budgeting by factoring the weekly cost of ingredients into each menu plan. Menus are created around a budget of $75 per week for families and $35 per week for couples.

E-Mealz was created by sisters Jane DeLaney, mother of four, and Jenny Cochran, mother of three. The sisters were frustrated by the challenge of coming up with healthy, budget-conscious meals for their own families and inspired by their own mother’s frugal ways, they launched the program in 2003.

Check out their blog for recipes, tips on how to simplify your life (we could all use more of that), organize your days (hello? type-a here), and family fun!  

Their goal is to provide

• Delicious family friendly recipes
• Ingredients bought on special and/or at the best price available
• An easy and stress free home-cooked dinner
• Precious moments with the most special people in your life

I would never promote a site or product that I don't love or fully believe in and this product has really made my life easier. So with THAT said I bring to you the giveaway!!

I am pairing up with E-Mealz to give one of you a FREE month subscription! AND if you end up loving it as much as I do, well then I'll throw in another month for you! Hello? TWO free months of meal planning and couponing done for you? It's every busy woman's dream to have her life made simpler.

Here's how to enter:

• Visit E-Mealz blog and "like" your favorite post! 1x entry
• Tweet:  I would love to have the _______meal plan from @E-Mealz. 1x entry
• You MUST be a follower of "Running In Pearls". 1x entry
• Blog about it! 2x entries (make sure you add the link to the post)

Please leave a separate comment for each entry!

Winner will be announced Monday morning!!

(if you want to purchase a plan for yourself please make sure you click on the E-Mealz logo on the side of the blog! It will take you straight to it!)

Happy Meal Planning!!







In no way am I being paid to do this giveaway or to post my opinion. These opinions are solely my own and I would never support a product that I do not like or believe in.

A dash of cray cray-Actually this is serious.

EDIT: As of April 2012 M & I have divorced and have gone our separate ways. We have a good parenting plan for Kinsley and remain friendly. It was the best decision for the both of us. You can read about it more here and here.

-----------------


While talking with a friend this morning I told her I would probably blog about this. That makes me laugh because I think so many people are quick to share everything and run to the blog with issues. But in this case it's been awhile and I just haven't been ready to share or really talk about it.

There's people out there who sugarcoat a lot of things in their lives that go out onto the blog. Sure I'm guilty of that occasionally. While pictures may show you that we are a "beautiful, happy family", that is not always the case. As with any family really.

For the past few months I've been dealing with what I assumed was postpartum depression. Or really, Postpartum cray cray. Until I went to the DR this morning and had it confirmed.

I knew it wasn't an uncommon thing to have & I knew that I was at a higher risk of going through it because of my history with depression after my mom passed away. (I was 17) But I was still hopeful that it wouldn't come back to haunt me. Boy was I wrong.

As a Type A person, the feeling like I'm losing my shit constantly doesn't sit well with me. The feeling of losing control over everything, even the smallest of things. Doesn't sit well with me. I can not tell you how many times Fonz and I have fought over the past 4 months. Most of it, if you asked me, I can't even tell you what we have argued about. But what I do know, is that we were both at our wits ends and we were both headed down a nasty path. We've, mainly me, have said horrible things. Reading this here blog and following me on Twitter or Facebook, if you have my personal account, you probably would have never guessed there was anything going on. That's the beauty of the interwebz. However, this? this is real. and quite frankly if you've never gone through it before it can be really scary. I don't like being angry or getting angry at the smallest things. Lately, if you even looked at me wrong I'd get pissed or take it the wrong way. Pure cray cray. (I used to hate that word you know). Crying? That's not my thing. But recently, its any everyday occurrence. Sure temper is a known trait of a Scotsman (or woman in my case ha!) but it has been so bad that I've scared myself. Please note no violence or throwing things has occurred. I feel I should disclaim that bahah. I just haven't been my happy-go-lucky type of person that I used to be. Friends? Haven't seen them in 2 months. Holding a conversation? I feel like my brain hurts. maybe that's just because I've been speaking baby talk for so long now but still. It hurts. and just doing things that I used to love so much takes so much energy from me now.

So after days,weeks, and months of dealing with this day in and day out not knowing how each day was going to be. I had to take a step back from everything and just ask for help. Something, as a Type A, hates to do.

This post isn't about airing dirty laundry or telling you my woes to get sympathy, it's about putting it out there so maybe I can reach out to someone who won't hit that publish post button. Who is scared to let others know what they are going through. No judgies here remember! (& if there are, don't make me lose my shit!) I want to bring people together because I know it's very real. I'd love to hear your story. I also wanted to let those closest to me who read the blog and who I've grown to love as if we lived right next to each other for years, what was going on as well.

While we're at it, I just want to clearly add that I pretty much have the most amazing husband even though lately that's been the farthest thing from my mind. For someone to sit there and put up with my shit & down right craziness for the past 4 months is a God send. If you've ever posted on a National Board before that has lots of the lovely snark that goes around then you have probably heard someone say "I feel sorry for your husband". Well there were a few times where I would have thought that to myself about my own. That's how bad it's been. lol But no matter what he's put up with it and continued to stick by my side. So really, in those pictures we are happy but with a heaping tablespoon of crazy. ha! 

I know things will get better and I know that this too shall pass. My main goal with this post is to bring out others and basically tell you that you aren't alone. and If I am alone in this well then more Tequila for me. ha! just kidding. I don't drink. lol

So on that note, I'll end before I make you think I'm crazier than I really truly am. ;)

Have you dealt with this before? 

Happy Thursday y'all! I promise a happier post tomorrow :)

Oh! How Pinteresting!

Once again linking up with Michelle at The Vintage Apple for Pinterest Wednesday!

When we moved into the neighborhood one of our neighbors informed me that Halloween (&Christmas;which I already knew) are BIG productions. HUGE productions. So I've been racking up ideas for the fall season to decorate the inside and outside of the house. Here are a few snippets from my "Fall Decor" board.

I am SO ready for the Fall!

To join in click here!

Happy Pinning!

Family Pictures

On June 12th we attempted Family Pictures with Alexis Carter Photography. This lady? Beyond amazing. One of the nicest people I have ever met. Alexis did a few friends pictures and I fell in love with her style. If you're in the area I would def rec her.

Here are a few from that day. We have scheduled more on July 17th since Kins was NOT happy to be taking pictrues that night ha!

It was such a fun time taking these but let me tell you that FAMILY pictures are HARD WORK. I may or may not be planning fall and Christmas pictures already though. ;)



As always, while there is not a watermarke on some of these pictures, that are copyrighted. They belong to me. They also belong to the photographer. Please do not save, copy, or repost these pictures in any way. Please refer to lower section of the blog for more details.