My Family is Crafty

So, several months ago, my sister made this fabulous Spa Bench for her entry and it turned out so cute (and she claimed it was SUPER easy). She reads this blog called "Knock Off Wood" which is a DIY furniture blog and has some fun designer knock off furniture plans - I fell in love! Leigh linked to a Farmhouse Bed plan and I decided to persuade her to coordinate it with all our siblings for our parents for Christmas.

A little back story...my parents have only had one "real" bed that I can remember. It was a water bed that we had when I was a kid. When we moved to Utah, the bed didn't come with us and they just got a bed frame and mattress/box spring. I think my mom has secretly wished for a headboard for ages, and I thought this Farmhouse Bed would be the perfect resolution.

Leigh got both my parents on board (as much as we wanted it to be a surprise, there was no way we were going to all that time and effort only for them to say they didn't want it) and we got to work (I say "we," but really it was just Leigh...I just went along for the ride). The 5 of us spent some quality sibling bonding time and hammered (well, really screwed, NOT hammered) it out. From start to finish, I think it took us the better portion of about 3 days, but it was well worth the effort. We were able to give this bed to our parents for only $35 a piece ($35 x 5 children = $175 TOTAL! And that includes paint). It really was a labor of love :)

It totally transformed the look of their room! Here are a couple alternate views...the lighting isn't the best, but you can get the picture...


Next step...finally hanging the iron bar and frames that we got my mom for Mother's Day 2009...

A huge thanks to Ana at Knock Off Wood for this awesome plan!

SLC Half Marathon

Last year when I was training for the Bear Lake Half, I ran the SLC Marathon 5K as part of my prep (albeit, that day I should have run 8 miles, but still...). As I stood at the finish line watching as the half marathoners came in, I felt a pang of emotion - sadness that it wasn't me finishing my own half, and extreme pride for those that were finishing. I even watched the amazingly talented em-cat cross the finish line - before she was my friend. I SO wanted it to be me - so this year, I made it happen.

The forecast for the weekend was gorgeous - the temperature wasn't going to break 60 degrees until after 10 am, and by that time I would be done and gone. I picked up my packet on Friday and left work a few hours early, ready to mentally prep for Saturday. Saturday, April 17th dawned bright and early - I left the house around 5:50am (an ungodly hour my body only sees on Walk Day) and booked it to the Gateway. I chomped down my banana on the way and made my way to TRAX to head up to the U. I met up with Mya (a gal from my parents neighborhood) and some of her friends to ride the train to the starting line and we chatted a bit, trying really hard to not let the anxiety get to me. I chugged a Vitamin Water on the way up the hill (and it took FOREVER, mainly because of the sheer number of riders), so naturally when we got to the starting line (15 minutes before the shotgun start), I had to pee like crazy. Consequently, so did everyone else.

We stood in line - listened to the sponsors of the race, Mayor Corroon encouraging the racers, the National Anthem, and yup....the shotgun start. I still had my gear bag that I needed to stash with the gear truck for careful transport back to the Gateway - and, you guessed it, we heard the announcement that the gear truck was leaving as well. I wouldn't have cared about my sweatshirt, but my car keys were also in the bag. I made an executive decision to kindly ask a gal in jeans (i.e. a marked non-runner) if she would take my gear bag back to the Gateway and get it with the rest of them. She said she would and I had serious doubts about ever seeing my keys again. But nevermind that, I had a race to run!

I finally started the race (unsure of how late I started, and really hoping I would still be able to cross the finish line relatively close to when I asked my family to arrive) and I knew it would be a great race as I was running down Mario Capecchi and Heartbreak Warfare came up on the 'ole iPod. Love it! The trending for the first stretch was an easy downhill grade and actually quite pleasant.

I got down to about Sugarhouse Park (6 or so miles in) and started to feel it in my hips. I was making sure to adequately hydrate at each aid station, with both water and Powerade, but it wasn't helping matters much. One of the houses along the route was even handing out bacon (why, I'll never know). I kept plugging along, knowing it would all be done soon enough.

I found myself at mile 9 around Liberty Park, and I remembered the few miserable training runs I did there last year. As I made my way out of the park, I realized I was so close to being done, but I was starting the State Street climb - one of the only stretches of road that was pretty moderately uphill. It was at this point that I started seeing an aura in my left field of vision. This has never happened to me before and I was a little freaked out. That hill, and the vision issues all but killed my motivation, and the self-talk got really intense. People were passing me, and I felt like a snail creeping up the road. Perseverance and a few good tunes and I was on South Temple. I saw a guy mouth to the woman in front of me "Only one more mile!" I was so motivated by that!


Working my way along South Temple, I noticed the crowds of spectators becoming more and more prevalent, and I remembered with a swell of pride that my parents would be waiting for me at the finish line. Last year Krista was at the finish line cheering for me, but there's something about having someone who shares your DNA that makes that moment all the more enjoyable. I started watching for them, but never found them in the crowd. I was overcome with such intense emotion and accomplishment as I turned the corner into the Gateway and the finish chute. I remembered the emotions I felt the year before and almost teared up as I started sprinting to the finish. I almost felt defeated as I crossed the finish line with the official time clock reading 2:22:54, and I had to remind myself that I had gotten a late start. I couldn't worry about that - I needed replenishment!


They herded me through the chute and I was bombarded with food and beverage. I wanted to find my parents, and was seriously upset at the length of the lines to pick up your gear bag. I wandered out from the tents and immediately found my parents just outside the menagerie - what a coincidence! We snapped a few pictures, my mom so kindly offered to stand in the ginormous line to get my bag (after I explained what happened, we all started praying that my keys actually ended up at the finish line), and we headed off for breakfast. My second half marathon experience was officially over.


I got home and anxiously pulled up the site to check my official "chip" time. 2:09:31 (overall pace of 9:53). All the emotions of the day again washed over me and my heart swelled with pride. I finished 6 minutes faster than last year, shaving nearly 30 seconds off my pace. It wasn't as fast as I had hoped, but the improvement over last year was enough to make me happy about what I had accomplished. Perhaps I shall entertain thoughts of a third.

Battle Studies, Round 3

It's not Wednesday - but I have no words. I will be sitting (or, rather, standing and cheering vigorously) on that star on August 31st to see the Mayer for a third time this year. That makes for a gooooood year.

p.s. I haven't forgotten that I still need to blog about that race I did on Saturday. Patience - it is forthcoming.

Sissy's New Shoppe

Wow...it's been a whole month since I posted. Holy cow.

Well, now it's time for some shameless marketing for my favorite sissy's new little shoppe. She is the proud owner of Feathered Whimsy, a place for fancy, feminine accessories (namely darling little headbands). I'm BEYOND proud of her. She's always been a crafty and domestic diva and she's finally been able to put her creative wiles to work for her!

Her Etsy shoppe has only been live a little over a week, and already she's being featured on another blog with a giveaway! Check it out and enter to win the Hayzl headband.


Feel free to spread the word. She's in the growth phase and would love new customers!

So You Think You Can Dance

I have a new best friend. Her name is Kathi Strong. Kathi was blessed with an exceptionally talented niece, Randi, whom I have never met, but admired from afar, in television never-never land. So You Think You Can Dance has been my favorite reality show for a couple of years (really, since Benji was crowned victor in season 2), and Randi was a Top-10 finalist last season. Kathi, being the wonderfully fabulous person that she is, decided to share the wealth of her "friends and family" tickets, and my wonderfully fabulous mom (who works with Kathi) put her neck out to get me two of them!

Needless to say, our seats were amazing. We were 5th row. I was seriously happy to be alive on Saturday night. Tiburon wrote a fantastic recap of the whole night. We had such a fab time, and I'm convinced she needs to be my permanent concert buddy. Rest assured, I was a little starstruck. I don't think I need to talk about every.single.contestant in great detail. There was no rhyme or reason to their placement in the room. I'm sure they were coached to take up residence at a given position and stay put.


While I wanted to "meet" them all, I decided I would be happy with just one: Phillip. I've had a baby crush on him since his first audition. He has these voluptuous lips, and can move like he has no bones in his body. It's pretty freaking amazing. We finally found him towards one end of the room, with a much smaller crowd around him. Tib told him we had a $50 bet with one of our friends that I couldn't get him to kiss me. I was beyond embarrassed, but more than willing to play along. He said that they weren't allowed to kiss anyone (I'm sure it had something to do with that DAMN H1N1 crap), but that I could kiss him. I was shaking like the last leaf on a tree in a windstorm, but not about to let the opportunity pass me by. Tib snapped a quick shot, and just like that it was over. That was the highlight of my week...maybe the highlight of my month.

Here's one of my favorite dances from the season, Phillip and Jeanine. Mad skills!



But seriously...check out Tib's recaps for more detail. What a great night!!

p.s. My Mayer leaked his new album on Rhapsody and I think I'm in love (in case you were doubting my allegiance to the Mayer these days). Can't wait to go to the show in March!

The BEST news of the month

In April, 2006 I graduated from UVSC with a BS degree in Health Promotion. I was ecstatic to be done, and even more ecstatic at the prospect of moving out of Utah Valley for good. Upon graduation, I faced a mound of debt, larger than any balance I have ever had to pay off. I immediately set a goal to have it paid off as fast as I could (shows how good of a goal-maker I am - not putting any time parameters on it). I got to work and started making payments. Nick and I brainstormed ways I could have the balance paid off by December, 2008. I went to Seattle in October, and kind of lost momentum after that. I got back on track and kept on trucking - promising myself that if I paid it off, I would reward myself with a new car. With one payment left, I got the car (with a good window of time before the first payment). I was going to pay the last payment of the Student Loan at the first of August and the first payment of the Car Loan at the end of August.

On Tuesday, I got the best news of the month. Welcome to the good news minute portion of the program:


"Dear Stacey McAllister:

We are pleased to inform you that the remaining balance of your student loan(s) listed in the table below has been forgiven as a way of thanking you for taking care of your loan obligation in a diligent manner. Within 2-3 weeks UHEAA will send a document indicating the paid in full status of the loan(s).

Sincerely,
Borrower Services"

It was only the last $250 of the balance (which I'm sure I paid, several times, in interest throughout the course of carrying the balance), but still, what a thrill, and a teriffic surprise from "The Man." It's official - I'm out of the student loan tunnel!

13.1...Been There, Run That!

The anxiety started to set in when I first checked the forecasts. It was bleak - high of 65 with a 40% chance of rain. I kept a vigilant watch on weather.com, desperately hoping for a turnaround, but the prognosis kept getting worse and worse. I watched as the high temp dropped from 65 to 57, with the 40% chance of rain holding strong. I braced myself for a long run in a Bear Lake downpour.

Krista and I set off for Garden City around 3pm on Friday, with her 3-year-old daughter in tow. The drive was lengthy and my anxiety was deepening. All the preparation I had put into this weekend, and I felt as though I had done nothing.

We pulled into the Bear Lake KOA just before dinner time and set up our digs in cabin 18. I counted myself lucky I wouldn't be sleeping in a tent in the rain that night. Krista was the most fabulous travel agent making all the travel arrangements. She developed a stress fracture late in her training and was unable to run the race with me, but was bound and determined to come and support me (for which I was extremely grateful)! We did some carbo-loading at the Bear Lake Motor Lodge (a fancy meal of fettucini alfredo, garlic bread, and cheese sticks) and went back to our humble abode for the night. After attempting to watch He's Just Not That Into You, we realized we were far too tired and were able to turn in around 10:30.

I reported to the shuttle bright and early around 6am and hopped on, trying to mentally prepare myself for the challenge that lay ahead of me. I shoveled a banana and a vitamin water down my throat, hoping it would be enough. In my training, my longest run was only 10.25 miles, so I was a little worried about actually getting to the 13.1. I said a quick prayer and started to talk to a couple of the girls on the bus. I got to know a couple of girls from Logan, Traci and Katie, and we waited for the start of the race together.

We waited....and waited...and waited. There was no actual start time posted on the website, nor at packet pickup, but there were rumors that we would start at 7:00 am. 7 came and went, as did 7:30. It was drizzling rain, which was definitely not good for morale. I was thinking about how far I could be along the beaten path, but realized there was no good to that. The runners started to get anxious and started congregating behind the sorry excuse for a "start line" around 7:35. Fortunately the rain let up and we could see patches of sunlight on the west side of the lake. The race director gave a few instructions, letting us know that we would be sharing the road with traffic and that we should be cognizant of what is going on around us, and sent us off with a bang at about 7:40.

I was determined to maintain my pace throughout the race, only stopping to walk if I really needed to. I kept reciting to myself the mantra "pain is inevitable, suffering is optional." I was not going to allow myself to suffer (at least until the end of the race). The adrenaline was pulling me through quite nicely. In fact, Traci's husband managed to snap a shot of me around mile 7 or 8 (as we were going uphill for what seemed like forever - doesn't my leg look AWESOME?!). It was also raining again at this point, but surprisingly, I wasn't bothered by it.

I was feeling my energy plummet as I got to the rest stop at the sign that read 3 miles to go. I knew I had reached the furthest I had ever run before, and decided to have a half a banana to take me to the finish line. I walked for a minute or so while I ate my banana and had a little self-talk. I mentally calculated the time it would take me to reach the end and again convinced my brain (and my legs) that I could make it. I took off again, and to my delight, John Mayer came on the Shuffle. My Stupid Mouth is not one of my favorites of John's, but I figured, if he would take the time to run with me, I would accept whatever he would give me. It was a very pleasant 4 minutes on the route.

The last 2 miles felt like 6 as my legs quit cooperating. I was sending every shred of positive energy to keep my legs moving in forward propulsion. Both of my achilles began to ache at this point, making it very difficult to maintain any kind of technique. I didn't really care, as my only "real" goal was finishing. My secondary goal was 2:30:00. As I got closer and closer to the finish, people began lining up along the route to cheer us on. It was truly appreciated (and motivating - as long as there were people watching, I couldn't stop to walk). I got to the final yards of the route and I was coached to expose my number (which I had pinned under my jacket, assuming I would have removed it by the end of the race). In a "flashing" maneuver, I lifted my jacket and showed the crowd my number, and held the position as I began my sprint to the finish. I crossed the finish line with flair and felt a huge sense of accomplishment as I slowed to a walk. Krista and Savannah were there to greet me with hugs and compliments, proving to me that I needed a "fan club" at the finish line. I'm so grateful that Krista still came to support me!

I made my way up to the pavilion where they had posted the official times and was completely overcome when I saw that I had finished in 2:15:09. I was so shocked that I had to double and triple check in case of error. That was a full 15 minutes faster than my goal - a 10m 30s per-mile pace. I was beaming. I was overcome with a sense of pride in an accomplishment I had worked so hard to achieve. Again, I have to sing Krista's praises for convincing me to run in the first place. I had a really great time, and I think that the experience was a good one - and I definitely haven't ruled out running another half. You won't be hearing me say "I want to do 26.2" anytime soon (or ever), but I'm sure there's another 13.1 in my future. I now comprehend the old adage, "The greater the pain, the sweeter the victory."

Just a Taste.

I'm holding out on writing the full post on the race this weekend...just until I feel like I can do it justice. Suffice it to say, I'm still alive, I finished with a perfectly "bloggable" time, and I made it to church today to play the organ and give my "spiritual thought" in New Member Meeting. The "I MADE IT" finisher picture is all you get for now.

Love Connection??

Do you ever compare your life to TV shows? I've adopted this horrible habit, and right now I would liken the events of my life to a bad episode of Love Connection. I half expect a crazed Chuck Woolery to leap out at any moment and critique. It started with Hot or Not. Eric insisted that I upload my picture, and I insisted on an alias - Candy Cane. This was, of course, in the wake of the Mike fiasco, and I had nothing to lose, so I did it. Naturally, the "double matches" started rolling in and the emails abounded. That was fun and amusing for a few weeks, but then the hysteria died down and I became your average 9.5.

Ash always has a guy up her sleeve, which is why I wasn't surprised when she begged me to go out with her friend. "Just log into my Facebook and check out his photos." Ironically, he was online and choosing to chat with "Ash" at that very moment. I decided to chat him up, and had myself a date for that weekend.

Walking the halls of church more than 5 minutes prior to the start of Sacrament Meeting isn't common for me. Planning on just making a beeline for the Bishop's office for a tithing envelope, my mission was interrupted by a guy remarking that I was "quite the runner." I'm so self conscious about the way I run and how I look that I was immediately caught off guard. He had seen me running and I begged him to just keep it a secret and not tell me. We got to chatting about running until I had to retreat to the organ for prelude. Later that night he popped up on my chat and I debated for a good 10 minutes before I hit enter to send the simple message, "Hey." The night ended with me at his house, watching the white trash guilty pleasure Talladega Nights. Glad I hit enter on that bad boy.

Going out to my car after the movie, my phone beeped loudly at me signaling a message. The voicemail was from a guy my mom has been trying to set me up with for a month. He had finally called, and chosen that night to pounce. He accused me of screening my calls (not true) and asked me to call him back. Unintentionally, his phone call still remains unreturned.

Ladies and gents, I now turn to the old adage when it rains, it pours. Love to hate it, but, boy oh boy, it's true.

validated!

Okay, so I'm about to toot my own horn here. I have been working my tail off for the last 6 weeks training for this half marathon. I've thusfar been discouraged by the number on the scale, assuming that I would lose weight based on the number of miles I'm logging - I haven't lost an ounce. I'm down in size, but up in pounds.

Today a Board Member was in our office meeting with my boss. She had to take a phone call, and he meandered back to my office to say hello. I stood up to go refill my water bottle and he asked me, very pointedly, if I had lost "a lot of weight." Taken very much aback, I responded with a firm and resounding "NO." Then he asked if I had been working out and I told him that I have been training for a half marathon in June. He told me that "it definitely shows" and that I "looked great." I thanked him and went up front to refill my bottle with a huge smile on my face and a huge feeling of validation in my heart.

Thank you Bruce! You made my week!