DIY Doll Furniture: American Girl Doll Adventures

You can tell when I'm truly desperate for entertainment if I turn to crafts.  With winter coming, crafts will be an ever more frequent occurrence, hopefully accompanied by quiet, cleanliness, and things we can actually use.

I have an American Girl Doll...girl.  She is 11 and adores dolls.  Being 11 means she is also capable of managing a craft of her own choosing without making a ginormous mess.  I have been waiting for this day to come...

She was perusing the internet for all things American Girl, and came across a couple of websites and YouTube channels.  The YouTube videos show gigantic handmade, ceiling to floor and wall to wall doll houses, with 10+ rooms and full of furniture that the dolls can stand in and actually use.  It was seriously impressive.

Here are a couple of those videos.

I'm left to wonder, why oh why didn't I think of this???

The DIY website she found is called "American Girl Ideas" and you can find it here at americangirlideas.com.

The project she picked, after HOURS of debate, was "Julie's Table & Chairs".  Julie is the doll from 1974, so her furniture reflects that time period.

The list of supplies is longish, but you probably have most of the items on hand, which is a large factor in whether or not we do crafts around here.

Everything can be cut with scissors, and this is another big bonus.

This is our mid-project photo, the table is assembled, and the chair and base still needed to be glued together.  We chose two spray paint colors we had on hand, and blessedly Girl #3 was please with this option.  $ saved.

The finished product was darling, and the dolls could actually sit, albeit not very comfortably.  As AGD's knees don't bend, this makes sitting awkward.

The hot glue lasted about two days on the chairs with the torque the dolls place on the joint as they sit.  I'm not sure how to fix this without melting the chair plastic.  I also would like to figure out a heavier base for the chair than the 2.5" steel washer that we glued under the round base.

Photo Cred: Girl #3

She also made the "Hot Lunch" food set from the printable she found on the same website, because obviously there must be something on the table when dolls sit down at it.  Without a color printer it was a little lack-luster but she was thrilled, which is all I ask for.  Cutest video ever, it's long, but it's her perspective. 

All in all it was successful, my daughter was proud of her accomplishment and played for hours with the set.  I was probably a little more involved in the process than I needed to be, but my inner perfectionist wouldn't let go.  Girl #3 is totally capable of spraying furniture, although my trust in her ability to NOT spray the porch was low.

Have fun with your kids and let them be in charge sometimes!

Race Recap: The Huntsville Half Marathon

It's not even fair to call this experience a "race".  I like to think of myself as somewhat athletic, strong, and competetive.  But there's nothing like an event to really put things into perspective.

I started training for the Huntsville Half Marathon (or Full Monte) following a 10 week training schedule, called the FIRST Half Marathon Training Plan, found here at Runner's World online.  It was perfectly suited to me, as I am injury prone, and begin to seriously break down if I am required to run every day.  So with three runs per week, each with a different focuses, I felt like this would be ideal.

I started out being able to run continuously for 3 miles.  Not fast, just without stopping.  I found myself at week 4 having made big improvements.  My long runs were planned to be mostly downhill, similar to the Hunstville route.  But a few things threw a wrench into the works:

It was summer.  I do not do well in the heat.  I was having to get up at 6 am to get my runs in before the sun melted me into a puddle.

My kids were home.  I needed to do more cross training on my non-run days, but my responsibilities as a mother made me feel like I was doing great getting a workout in 3 times per week.  That is great, typically, but my poor stability muscles got completely ignored.  It's an excuse, I know, but nonetheless, it happened.

I got injured.  I knew it was going to happen.  My left IT band would completely seize at mile 5 or 6. I developed high hamstring tendinopathy, and was popping 4 ibuprophen prior to every run, which is a really unhealthy way to train, but was my reality.  It really sucked the fun out of running.

So while at week 4 I was crowing about how I was going to smash my original goal pace, by week 6 I was checking into how I could get my registration fee refunded.  I was so grateful that my husband had talked me down from the Full Monte cliff, and convinced me to do just the half.  But I carried on, doing alternative workouts for cardio and strength, and resting my injuries.

I believe I prepared well the week before the race, resting, eating, sleeping, and mentally preparing.  I picked up my bib and timing chip the day before, and became the proud owner of an real marathon event shirt.

The morning of the race we drove to Huntsville, about 45 minutes from home.  Race start time was a chill 9:30 am, so there was no early morning issues.  I got my number and chip on, ate a snack and jumped on the bus.  I sat next to a 21 year old kid, fresh home from his mission.  The girls were worried about my being alone without a friend on the bus, but I told them I'd make a new one.  And so I did.  At the drop off we parted ways, and I milled around in the crowd.

The race started 15 minutes late, and by this time the crowd was starting to get to me.  Strange people, strange smells, combined with my anxiousness about the race, made for some unpleasantness.  I spent the first three miles in a panic, trying to weave my way out of the craziness, swearing I would never run an event again, going nutso from all the sounds, breathing, music, and varying paces of the runners.  People with phones on their arms, playing music not into headphones, but into the open air.  Seriously.  It was nightmarish.

At mile 4 I was finally in the clear, and started enjoying myself.  The scenery was gorgeous, the course was a nice gentle downhill, the temperature was ideal, and the water stops spaced well.  I found myself at a nice speedy pace for me, around 8:30-9:00 min miles.  Miles sped by and suddenly I was at mile 7.  At mile 8 the course flattened out and came out into the sun.  And things started to get tricky.  I stuck in my headphones and cranked some tunes.

"May the Course be with you"! 

super awesome aid stations

At mile 9 I was feeling good still, feeling like I would beat my goal after all.  There started to be spectators along the road, and I was recognizing where we were.  Part of the problem was that I could see the park where we finished, but then we turned away from it, and mentally that was hard.

At mile 10 both my IT bands seized, and I mean completely froze.  About this time I got passed by the first-place full marathon winner.  That was a painful reminder...  I was feeling thirsty from heat, not from dehydration, and at mile 11 I drank some Gatorade that I felt get only as far as my sternum.  I was completely topped off. Even through the pain in my knees I kept running.  At this point my oldest daughter called me.  She was in Lake Tahoe and had apparently just woken up...She was calling to wish me luck, so I answered it and asked her to cheer for me really loud, which she did.  It was just the thing I needed.  I won't lie, I was emotional by this point.  Something about pushing yourself just gets raw.

The final couple turns I focused on passing people ahead of me.  In the final stretch I could hear my parents and kids ringing our cow-bells, our family cheering tradition.  My mom was complaining that she was the only one cheering, because usually I'm the other loud one cheering with her.  I broke down again when I saw them and veered over to high-five them.  My husband was toward the finish line trying to get a photo shot of me.  I was yelling his name so he would know I was coming, since he hadn't seen me yet.  I'm sure I looked like a crazy woman because I was all by myself screaming his name 50 feet from the finish line.  Whatever.  I really wanted him to see me.

I crossed the line with a huge smile at 2:12:46 (my original goal), and became the proud owner of an event finishers medal.  I know it's kitschy and faddish to run races, but I was so dang happy to have crossed that line.   The finish corral was super, with lots of drinks, fruit, and carbs, all of which I ate.  I was feeling super, one of my athletic endowments: I can exert forever and I recover quickly.  I could feel soreness setting in, which is mostly due to the fact that I ran mechanically strained for the last three miles to relieve the stress I was feeling in my knees.

The funniest thing about this event is that I felt really great up until mile 10.  I got the event photos, which I remember having taken at mile 6.  I even threw on a smile to show how awesome I was feeling.  But they all look like I was speed walking.  Every single one.  Nothing like a healthy dose of reality.  Ouch.

I would highly recommend the Hunstville Marathon & Half for first timers.  It is a fantastic course, the aid stations were well placed and the aid workers were legendary.  They were dressed up in Star Wars costumes at one, super hero women at another, one had a tunnel of the high school cheerleaders.  They provided Gatorade, water, bananas, oranges, pretzels, Skittles, & gels.  There were porta-potties just in case.  And the finishers corral was excellent with all the delicious treats you could want.  The only drawback was that they needed to start on time, and an hour earlier than they did to avoid the valley heat at noon at the finish.

I have done a few things that I am really proud of, things that made me dig deep and find out what I was really capable of.  The 50/20 (walking 50 miles in 20 hours) when I was 12.  Swimming a mile in open water.  Giving natural childbirth.  A sprint triathlon in 2006.  Cycling 100 miles in 2014.  And now a half marathon.  Each time I came through with a stronger sense of who I am, what is possible when I apply myself, and gratitude for the healthy body God has given me.  I wonder if I'll ever know my own full physical potential.  I'm crazy enough to want to find out, which why a full Iron Man triathlon dangles in front of me like a carrot, a possessed near-death carrot.  I don't know when that will happen, because after this event I know that I have an enormous amount of preparation to do and have a mountain of work to do to get there.

I am grateful for my family for being supportive of my crazy ideas.  My parents are the most giving and supportive people, cheering me on every step of my way, in everything, never doubting me.  My husband centers me, and helps me find success if I will just listen to him.  My girls get bored, but they make posters and ring bells, and smile and cheer with all their hearts.  I hope they learn from me that they can do anything they put their mind to, and the value of cheering someone on.

How I Survive Ironing Day: Tips and Tricks

Back in the day when all clothing had to be ironed, my great-grandmother would take ironing in to make money.  She would sprinkle the clothes with water and put them in a bag together overnight to get them all uniformly damp, so the wrinkles would iron out.  Now we use a steam iron.  My grandmother used to get together once a week with her sister to iron, toting all the kids.  They took turns buying and bringing a pineapple, and would eat pineapple, talk, laugh, and iron their way through the day.  My grandma fondly remembers how her mouth would get sour-sore after a eating half a pineapple. I love the thought of her on ironing day as a young mother and wife.

My own mother likes to iron.  She does it all at once and loves the sight of all the shirts and pants neatly pressed and hanging in a row.  When I was about 10, my mom went to her brother's wedding in Thailand and was gone for two weeks.  Before she left she taught me how to iron my dad's shirts.  Can you believe it? What a responsible girl I was!  The thought of turning my girls loose on the work shirts makes me more than a little nervous, I'll admit.  But I'm sure with the right training they would do a fantastic job.  I just need to work out how to leave for two weeks and make it a necessity...

 I've abhorred the thought of ironing since I got married.  As the homemaker and laundress I feel like it falls under my stewardship.  It makes sense, in a really dreary and terrible way.  For years I ironed Mr's shirts and pants every morning, procrastination-style.  It only takes about 7 minutes, but once the kids entered school it became a really precious 7 minutes.  I have struggled for years to get myself to do it all in one go, and the times I did it was very freeing to have it all done.  So much so that I found myself avoiding wearing my ironed shirts because I couldn't face having to iron them again.

About 3 years ago I decided to get this monkey off my back and do ironing right.  None of this last minute ironing, discovering a stain, and starting over on a new shirt, all while the girls clamor for lunches and help getting hair done.

The first thing I did was invest in a good iron.  I looked at many, some that cost as much as $200, and settled on a $70 iron at Smith's Marketplace.  The Rowenta DW4060.

I have a few requirements, and this iron met them all:

The iron must be heavy.  Another word for iron is "press" and you can't press worth a darn with a light-weight iron.

The surface of the iron has to be smooth metal, not teflon, not rough, but shiny metal.  This helps the iron glide easily.

The iron must have a large surface area, smoothing more fabric with every pass.

It must have a strong steam function.  Not a squirt/spray function, but steam.  I use starch on every shirt, and steam is vital to starch use.  It is also necessary for ironing khakis, chinos, and everything else that doesn't get starched.  I also keep a spray bottle of water on hand, to moisten those really stubborn wrinkles.

I use Faultless Professional starch.  I've used homemade before, and it was a fun novelty, but I switched back to purchasing it after I realized I had to mix it every time I wanted to iron.  It started to stink if I saved it from week to week.  And it flaked.

It needs to have a variety of heat settings.  This helps press synthetic fabrics without melting them, and makes it great for crafts as well.  Yes, I use the same iron for clothes and crafts.

The next thing I did was start purchasing and using distilled water.  For a long time I used tap water because I'm the ultimate cheap skate, but at 98 cents per gallon, I can have non-mineralized water that keeps my iron clean and functioning properly.  No more steaming through a cup of vinegar to clear out mineral deposits.  Horray!  And a gallon lasts me about a month.

I have a general problem of dropping my irons.  On my cement laundry room floor (see this post).  I sometimes can catch it by the cord, but not always.  This one has been dropped 2-3 times hard, and the plastic is cracked in a couple places, and the steam isn't as smooth as it was in the beginning.  It spits a lot.  Sometimes in an effort to save money we use something when it is truly no longer useful and suffer through it.  But when we look at the economy of  use, the amount of time spent using an item justifies its replacement on a regular basis when it no longer performs properly.  I have suffered a bit longer with this one because I didn't wear it out, I dropped it.  But I'm ready for a replacement and will most likely repurchase this iron.

I also learned to replace my ironing board cover more frequently.  I like a really padded cover, and have been known to put two on at a time if one isn't sufficiently dense enough.  I had been using the same beat-up, stained, yellowing one for 10 years.  I washed it once every six months but it was really an eye sore.  I was at Home Goods and discovered, much to my amazement, that there are many cute and stylish covers for under $15.  Again, economy of use says I should replace this every two years or so to keep my ironing board functional, have a proper pressing platform, and keep me enjoying this task that is part of my everyday life.

I use a full-sized adjustable height ironing board.  It's only my second one in 20 years, and I got it about 8 years ago, for Mother's Day.  We aren't going to talk about that here, but needless to say it turned out I was grateful for it in the end.  It is sturdy, long, collapsible, and height adjustable.

The last discovery I made was that ironing is soooooo much more pleasant when I watch something on TV.  I am not a TV watcher.  I love to watch movies on the weekend, but the TV is never on during the day.  Until now.  I decided that it would be my reward, my carrot, my incentive to get the ironing done and the laundry folded in a timely manner.  This was a tip from my mom, who loves ironing.  And now I do, too.

None of these things is new, novel, inspiring, or amazing, but it took me a good 15 years to figure them out on my own.  I know, it's really so sad.  So hopefully this will save at least one women the trouble.  The rest of you can just use this to get your laugh in for the day.  Go ahead.  I don't feel judged.

So I now find myself looking forward to ironing day, and to folding laundry.  Some days the girls will chide me about how much TV I've been watching, because I'm always telling them to quit watching it.  But my response is always, "come fold laundry and watch all the TV you want".  And they just grump and walk away.  Their loss.

I started watching "Lost" and that lasted a while.  Then I moved to "White Collar" which has become my all-time favorite series.  Such fantastic characters and story line, and it is pretty squeaky clean, approved for my 15-year-old save for a handful of episodes that I tell her to skip due to adult topics.  It really makes me want to live in New York.  The wealthy, privileged, criminal, cool New York.

I then moved on to "Leverage" which is in the same genre.  It took me a while to love it, but as the characters and story line developed I became more of a fan.  Again, it is atypically clean, complex enough, with lots of humor, and lovable main characters.  I'm two episodes away from finishing the series.  Now what?  Any suggestions?

It is unfortunate that I can't read and iron at the same time.  I could listen to a book on tape...CD...mp3...or whatever, and I may try that soon.  But for now I love whiling away my ironing hour watching an entertaining show.  It turns drudgery into a guilty pleasure, without any guilt whatsoever.  Housework hacked.

The Elephant in the Room: Un-diagnosed Medical Conditions and Families

So I've been gone a while.  The previous post about my Garmin watch...it was scheduled for July 22, but never published, so you get a two-fer today.  Yay!

I have many ideas swirling in my head about this blog.  I have tried several of them.  And I still feel at a loss, wandering the the miasma of the homemaking blogging world.  I am not a super-crafter.  I am not a photographer.  I am a woman, living a life with her family, making a home that is focused on God and family and struggling vainly to keep all the loose ends tied down.

I like to call it organic.  I think that means "lifestyle blog".  Am I right?  I don't know.  All I know is that my life involves many aspects, just like most women I know.  And over the summer things just got complicated, overwhelming, frazzled, and filled with fun with my kids.  I know I promised posts about free activities, parties, and food, but then life happened.  It has an annoying habit of doing that.

I've been dealing with an elephant in the room for the past 18 months.  It is big.  I want it to go away.  It is annoying and disruptive, and I like to ignore it. It has changed many things about our family life, the way we do things.  Some of them have been good changes, and some have been bad.  I can't share them all with you now, but I will start today with a little introduction to our big elephant.

My husband, Lance, has an un-diagnosed medical condition, sickness, ailment, whatever you want to call it.  We can't call it anything because no one knows what it is.  And it is deeply frustrating.

In February 2014 he had something that felt like a heart attack, which it wasn't, and for the next month we went to the ER probably 3 times for similar pain, as well as pain in the upper left quadrant of his abdomen.  He was scanned, ultrasounded, tested, CT'd, and every time came out 100%.

The only test he partially failed, as in 2% below allowable threshold, was a gall bladder ejection fracture, so it was decided to take that out.  It didn't help.

He went on a feeding tube for 18 days in March 2014, lost 30 lbs, started feeling better, went to the University of Utah Gastroenterology department, and was scoped through every inch of his digestive tract.  100%.  No answers.

He was having neck pain in August 2013 related to a bulging disc.  Finally found a doctor who admitted it was a problem and was willing to fix it.  Lance had Mobi-C disc replacement surgery between C6-C7 February of 2015.  It was a success, but still not a resolution to the overarching problem.

So while we feel blessed that he's not riddled with tumors, and that he keeps passing tests, we are beyond frustrated and tired of hearing that there is nothing anyone can do to help him.  We would love to have something to treat, to fight, to fix.

His energy is really low.  Simple things exhaust him.  He still has major headaches, pain in his abdomen, and now severe acid reflux, after the removal of his gall bladder.  And it all seems to be getting worse, rather than better.

We are so blessed that he is still able to work and provide for our family.  Having income, insurance, savings, and the other intangibles that being employed brings, makes us feel as if we can continue to search and fight for answers.

It has put our life on hold, however.  We have 15-, 13, & 11-year-old daughters, and it has been a real challenge to keep life going for them while our life is in limbo. They are the sweetest girls, taking care of him, and me, and helping us have joy in our family and home.  I know they are learning a lot.  Hopefully mostly good things...

I have completely lost faith in the healing power of the medical industry.  Nowhere can we find a doctor who is willing and able to start with the history, look at his global problem, think outside the box, keep in contact, and keep on trying to help my husband heal.

Throughout the past 18 months we have been surrounded by angels; family and friends who reach out in sympathy, empathy, and just listen.  I am forever grateful for them, and still rely on them heavily.

The end is not near, we have no answers, there is no plan, we are on our own.  I have a stack 3 feet high of books on healing your gut through food.  I won't lie, it's a daunting task.  I struggle to get dinner on the table without having to worry about dietary restrictions.  It frightens me.  And we still aren't sure if it is his gut at all.

But we have to keep trying.  We haven't been given trials so we can give up.  God has made us strong enough to make it through the kaleidoscope of challenges this experience presents.  We will conquer, we are just unsure of when that will be and how it will happen.

So in between crafts, recipes, fitness, nails, and fashion, tips, and other ways I try to hold on to my sanity, I'll be sharing a little bit more about the big elephant in our life, and how it affects our family.  This is the thing that will refine my family and make us fit for eternity, but it sure feels a lot like it's strangling the life out of me at the same time.

I look forward to sharing our journey with you in the hopes that I'll be able to make connections with women in the same boat, because I know there are a lot of you out there.  And it wouldn't hurt if we found the answer to his health crisis in the process.  And kept me sane.  That would be awesome.

Lots of love!

My New Fitness Toy: Garmin Vivoactive

This is my new toy, a gift from The Mr. for our anniversary:
the Garmin Vivoactive

I'm in love!

For my entire life I've been a techie.  While everyone else was rolling their eyes, snoring, or dying of boredom, my dad and I would be talking form, tech, mechanics, and constantly finding ways to improve every activity from water skiing and downhill skiing.  

Good thing I married right: we still can talk tech till the cows come home.

For an incredibly in-depth review, follow this link to DC Rainmaker.  He's an athlete who buys every fitness tech and tests it extensively.  I like his review because he actually buys every item, rather than getting things for free from manufacturers, which allows him to give completely unbiased and truthful reviews on every product on his site.

I'll give you my little rundown of my experience based on the three days I've had mine.

I love the white.  It's cute and wearable at all times.  Except to church, where it looks a little...meh...like I'm trying too hard.

The touch screen is fantastic; highly sensitive, but I'm getting the feel.  I like that there are only two side buttons.

I adore the steps and "move" reminders.  I get stuck on the computer (I've been prompted twice as I madly try to get some content on this blog) and I like to remember to stop being a stump and get up and walk.  I walked 13,000+ steps yesterday!  Take that...

I ran for the first time with it yesterday, and it was spectacularly fun.  I wore my Garmin heart rate chest strap, and it made my 800m repeats slick and brainless.  I could keep track of my pace and keep it up even when I thought I was going to die, which I wasn't even close to doing based on my heart rate.  Yay!

As far as heart rate monitors go, Garmin invented ANT+ technology, so while there are now many Bluetooth HRMs out there, Garmin is going to promote its own, so for now Garmin devices only pair with ANT+.  There are some wrist strap HRMs that are nice if you don't like the chest strap.  The Vivoactive does NOT read heart rate by itself.  This is my ONE negative mark thus far. 

I love that it pairs with my phone via the Garmin Connect app, and it syncs with My Fitness Pal to keep all my fitness related information on once screen on my phone.  This is huge for me.  All visible in one place.  

Another beautiful feature of the Bluetooth pairing is that I can get notifications from my phone on my watch face.  So when my phone is tightly tucked in to the waistband of my workout pants, and is not easily coming out, I can check my watch to see if the text or call I'm getting is vital enough to stop and remove the phone.  Handy!

And the final icing on the cake is that I can also control the music on my phone from the watch face.  No more struggling through the slow song that came at a most in-opportune moment, I can quickly skip to something more inspiring.  Ahhhh!

I have enjoyed getting data on my sleep patterns.  I am having sleep-performance-anxiety: I have never slept with a watch and it is going to take some getting used to.  I don't flat-line as much as I thought I did.  Why do I feel competitive in this aspect of my life?  I want the stillest sleep of everyone I know.  How do I train for this...?  

The Mr., in a gesture of helpfulness, downloaded an IQ app:  an added sugar tracker.  Just tap the screen to add a gram of added sugar.  After 12 taps and reaching 52% of my daily allowance by 10 am, I have probably given up on this particularly unhelpful and anger inducing reminder of how naughty I am.  Any programmer can create an app for Garmin watches, for many activities and generally fun and useless purposes that aren't on the freshly-unboxed watch.  You can explore them on the Garmin Connect site.  I am excited to do so.

I also love the customized nature of all the screens.  I can pick and choose which telemetries I want displayed and how deep I have to scroll to view them.  I can also set alarms to remind me to drink water and eat, create my own run/walk program, choose which notifications I get on the watch during an activity so I can have less distraction, set alarms based on low or high pace or heart rate.  All this will help me reach the goals I have and spend my workouts focused on working out, not changing music, checking my phone, and keeping track of minutes and performance.  Quality, people.  If you're going to spend the time, make it quality.

So far I'm sold.  I have yet to get out on the bike with it, and I'm excited to do so.  I do like to have my cycle-computer on my handlebars so I don't have to take my hand off to read my data, but luckily Garmin makes a bike mount that I can hook the watch to, so I can have it just the way I like it.

If you haven't seen TIME magazine for July 6-13, 2015, it is called the "Answers Issue", and here's a link to the good bits. Eeeek!  I am a TIME magazine groupie. (Why don't we get heart cancer?  The answer is fascinating!) I saw it at the dentist and was so engrossed that I made them sit me up every chance I could so I could read, and I very nearly stuffed it into my purse to take home, thought about asking, then left it on the table with a sigh of regret and a wave goodbye, with a promise to run to Walgreens and see if I can still buy it.  Let's hope.  The main idea of this issue is that it is possible to have too much information, and I wholeheartedly agree, in some cases.  I removed one screen of telemetrics from my running activity because really, who needs that much info during a run?  How much info is too much?  With the Vivoactive you are grown-up enough to decide for yourself.

I am perfectly content with my new toy, and madly collecting data about my everyday life that really no one cares much about.  But it makes me feel empowered and knowledgeable, and that helps me improve.

Here's to improvement and drowning in data!