Running Full Steam Ahead

Among the many things to get in do, here are a couple of things I have found exciting and challenging:)

The Nike Sport Band 2...The most nifty little contraption:) You where the one part as a watch and the little red and white chip you put in your shoe. It will than by your stride tell you how far you have gone mile wise. It will tell you how many calories you burned. It will tell you your pace. It will tell you the time lapsed. And it actually tells time as well.
When you are done with your run you can remove the watch part of the band and it than can be plugged into your laptop or computer. You than can see a graph of how you did. This not a graph of one of my runs, but it gives you an idea of what you'll see each time you plug in your band.
The first time I ran with this band, was on a 5k the other day. It was a little hard to scroll through and not crash into anyone, but I kept it for the most part on my pace. It was awesome for it to tell me how I was doing pace wise through the whole run. It helped me stay at the same pace. The sad thing was thought, that I thought I was running alot faster than just a pace of 10 min. miles...oh well...we'll just have to get stronger and better;)
Thanks to my sister-in-law for bringing this to my attention:) Best thing I have bought yet!!!!

There they are!!! My beautiful New climbing shoes:)

Another thing that I am supper excited about is my brand new Mad Rock climbing shoes. Did you know that most companies around this time of the year get rid of their old stock for dirt cheap!?!?! Companies like Evolv and Mad Rock had some great prices...try like half to a one fourth the cost of new model shoes. I am sure other companies do this as well...but if you can catch it right it's a great deal!!!
I got the Mad Rock Frenzy-Velcro. They look and feel like they are going to be a good fit for me:) From what I read from the reviews they are wicked breathable and don't smell like most rock climbing shoes. We will see if that is for real...because all of us who climb...we know that climbing shoes just smell...lol
Now to something that I have tried. I saw this on Pinterest...My favorite website:) I get all my ideas and can't wait to try them! This is for a facial. I got it from a blog called "My Yellow Sandbox"  by Abby...She has alot of great ideas on beauty and such and this is one of the best I've seen yet:) Here is her blog if you want to see what she has to say fully...I am going to abbreviate...
http://www.myyellowsandboxblog.com/2012/06/burning-face-mask.html

 Recipe:
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp honey
2ish tsp lemon juice.  (I used the juice from 1/4 of a lemon)

Directions: 
"Mix together into a thick paste.  Apply on your face for half an hour... or ten minutes if you can't handle the burn!  It'll only burn for the first five minutes or so and then it sort of wears off.  Rinse the mask off with warm water and moisturize.  NOTE: If you have sensitive skin leave out or dilute the lemon.  I'm serious.  I call it the burning mask for a reason!  This is a mask and not to be used to exfoliate your skin.  It'll hurt.  Promise.  Don't do it!  If you leave out the lemon just use enough honey to make it paste-y.  I used the creamy honey so I had to nuke it in the microwave for a few seconds to get the right consistency.  You're just going for a paste though, so don't worry if the measurements are all off.

Don't I look beautiful?  GORGEOUS!  Ha, if this mask wasn't so awesome!  Nutmeg is an anti-inflammatory.  It's been used since ancient times to heal many skin diseases including ringworm and eczema.  And speaking of ancient times- cinnamon.  Don't even get me started!  It's been used for thousands and thousands of years as an anti-fungal, astringent, anti-viral and blah blah.  Cinnamon is awesome.  And it tastes good in my hot chocolate.  You mix those two with some honey, an antiseptic, and some lemon, which people use to fade acne scars and age spots, and you get this wonderful concoction of a mask.

Again, lemon is pretty powerful.  If you have sensitive skin, leave it out or dilute it first.  This mask isn't going to move mountains in one night but with consistent application it will lighten up marks, blemishes and scars.  No more than three times a week though please!

YAY for DIY masks!  I honestly love this mask.  It is so refreshing.  It leaves my skin feeling smooth and soft.  You're just going to have to try it!" -Abby
It really was an awesome feeling. I personally like a little of a twinge when I am taking care of acne. I get acne all the time do to the hormonal changes in my body. I have tried alot of different masks and I will say that this is probably going to be one of my favorites. I smelled like pumpkin pie:) Yummy!
Some projects that I am undertaking this week....

We got a large bird cage on freecycle.com. Quick note, if you have never heard of freecycle.com check it out! There is a Freecycle in every state I think.Here is the link: http://my.freecycle.org/. People post stuff they want to get rid of and it is posts for free. So you can get stuff people don't want any more and use it. So We got a bird cage...think like large parrot type cage:) The lady didn't want it any more and couldn't sell it do to the rust on it...I am an opportunist. I have taken it apart and have started spray painting it:) YAY! It looks  so good thus far! And to think we got it for free:)
Speaking of free things....I got a lovely little blue chair by the dumpster a couple of months ago...I finally got the materials to redo it...so future post will be me reupholstering a chair... 

Ty and I, before he went off shore, got to go to Colorado for a couple of days for a friend's wedding:) 
 So there is proof of being there even if it was only for just a couple of days:p
I sure to miss the cold weather and the aspens as they are changing.
If you look behind us in that first picture, those were rain clouds. the wedding was about to start, and it started to rain. It rained for 15ish min. We all had to huddle inside for a little bit. Poor Chelsea(the bride)...But it turned out to be a lovely wedding after the rain stopped:)

Ah yes...The beauty of the Rocky Mountains!
That is all for now- Jules

Summer Exertions

I realize that my last blog was in May...I have June, July, and August to make up on. Hehe...Life has been going too fast.
Tyler was home for the summer going to the office every day...Least to say I was a happy camper, because he came home every evening....Since than, it being September he is back on his normal rotations off shore. He rotates every two weeks off shore to an oil rig off the shores of Louisiana. He enjoys the helicopter ride out there:) BP has been a great company for him to work with:)

In June and July, I spent a lot of time up at Sandy Creek Bible Camp. I had so many projects that I needed to get done before camp started.
I covered both old freezers with old wood to dress them up and make them look pretty, because....they were not pretty.
I organized the tools. enough said...
Junked the old erase board and put a new one up and made it look pretty.
I organized the tack room so that everything has a place now and each horse has assigned equipment and everything is labeled. It took me quite a while but I got the job accomplished:)

Tyler's Birthday came and went:) I made him a yummy red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting:) Yum!!!

Our little puppy, Zed is no longer little...He has grown so much! This is our little charmer now 8 months old!
                           He's lost all of his puppy face now! He is the best thing that we could have gotten though! While Tyler is gone Zed makes me laugh and keeps me going.
In August a lot has happened. The first thing is that we moved to a smaller apartment in the complex. The one we originally started with was too big for what we needed, so we decided to down size. I love this apartment far better than I did the old one. Our stuff fits in there so much better:) Pictures will come soon...I just need to finish cleaning...It is a never ending job if you unpacked everything in a hurry and than left for NH.
This begins the next part of my summer. While Tyler was off shore, I went to spend time with my family in New Hampshire:) I went a week early and than Tyler came and joined me for the second week. I did all kinds of things with my brother, Dan and his wife, Emily that first week.:)As you can see, Dan, Em, and I went rock climbing at the Rumney Rocks:) Em and I both did a 5.8 and a 5.9:) yay!!! It was a good time.
Dan, Em, and I ran a 5k in Plymouth. Em and Dan got times some where in the 25 min range I think...And I got a time of 28 I think:) It was alot of fun and a good race to start off the next couple of months of races.

                            When Tyler got here, one day we went hiking up to Cascade Falls in Waterville Valley.
 What a beautiful hike. Got some great pictures of mom and dad and of Tyler and I.

I also got one of Tyler being a monkey and climbing on the rocks near the falls:) His smile says it all;)
 We went for a night and stayed at Dan and Em's apartment. Dan and Em took us climbing at Dan's Rock barn that he climbs at. Tyler once again showed his awesome monkey skills:)






We spent some time working on the outside of Seth and Anna's house. We scraped off the old paint..from what I hear, the front has been painted...YAY!!! Success.
 The next best thing that we got to do with Seth and Anna, was play with their two wonderful children:) I got to hang out with them the week before Ty can and than they came while Ty was there and we went down to the river. David had a great time....

And look at Tyler with  Emma:) He is going to make a good daddy some day:)







                                                                                                                                     

We went to Wallis Sands Beach in Dover, NH. Oh the day was so beautiful...but the water was really cold!!! So cold I couldn't stay in it very long! Grandma Savage, Aunt Beth and Uncle Jim came as well. It was good to Grandma out and about. My family is thinking that this will be the last time she goes to the beach.

Makes me a little sad to think that she does not have a long time to live...and yet I think of what she has to look forward to and I can't help but smile:) She has been looking forward for so long to go home and be with Jesus. He has kept her here this long...94 years old. It will be hard for me to say goodbye, but I know that she is going where her heart has longed to go for so long!


To finish our time in NH, Tyler, Dad and I went out on New Found Lake and Tyler slalom skied around the lake:) He got up on the first try and he had never done it before!
 Good job Ty! He had a grand time...but was pretty sore for the next couple of days afterward.

This takes me to the part in my blog where I tell ya all what God has taught me over the summer. This summer was a unique summer in that I felt myself getting immersed in the book of Nehemiah. My church was studying Nehemiah, my small group of girls in the apartment complex was studying the book "Nehemiah" by Kelly Minter, plus our life group was studying Nehemiah and discussing the things covered on Sunday. A word comes to mind... immersion! Every where I looked and read I felt that God was speaking through this book. Funny thing was that to top it the girls youth group study, Crazy Love by Francis Chan(of which I was also leading) went right along with what I was learning in Nehemiah. So You might be wondering what did I learn?
One thing I learned is that you should never judge a book of the bible...when I first heard that we were going though the book of Nehemiah, I was slightly curious and other wise a little bit annoyed. I thought it was sort of weird to pick a random book of the bible that no one really talks about. Little did I know it would rock my world.
One of the biggest things I learned that with all ministry that God is calling you to, prayer needs to be at the for front of it all. I really felt God through all the studies I did this summer challenging me to look at my prayer life. I will be honest, I barely understand how to pray. In Crazy Love, Francis Chan brings up a verse that Solomon wrote concerning prayer.
"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifices of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few." Eccl. 5:1-2
Okay so when I read this it sort of blew my whole perspective on prayer. I always would come in and pray but half the time I was distracted by all the things around me that needed to happen that I didn't fully engage my brain. According to this verse anyone who comes before God without thinking before speaking is a fool. That has definitely challenged the way that think on prayer.
A thing that struck me is that Nehemiah prayed about everything. He prayed when he became burdened for the city of Jerusalem. He prayed for direction when his enemies began to confront him and threaten him. However, he didn't just end with prayer, he was a man of action. He did faithfully what God was calling him to do.
Another thing I was convicted by through the life of Nehemiah, was that he was faithful with the job God had given him to do. One of my struggles this summer, was driving to the hospital. As you all know from a earlier post, I work at Texas Children's once a week doing art on the bone marrow transplant unit. I grew up in the little town of Rumney, NH population 1,480. There is never traffic to speak of. So to go from little town to Houston, TX is a little intimidating. Going to the hospital means going into the city...big and scary. I usually go with my mother-in-law, but over the summer, she was very busy. So there were a lot of times that she didn't make it, so I didn't go either.
As we went through Kelly Minter's book Nehemiah, I was struck by the fact that God had given me a job to do, a ministry. He had given me a passion for it and the ability to carry it out. And what did I do with it? I was too scared to drive into the city by myself! God really convicted me that I needed to be faithful in the work he had given me to do.
I could continue to share with ya all many more things that God showed me through my many studies this summer, but I think my day is getting away from me...so I need to stay good bye for now:)
Hope everyone of you had a great summer as well:)
-Jules