Happy New Years !!

I hope you find you find yourself healthy and in good company. I am happy to be done with 2012 and I am looking forward to starting over.. I love new beginnings. There is so much excitement and dreaming involved with starting over.. Did you choose your word for 2013?  Not only did I choose a word but I signed up for "One little word" at Big Picture Classes.
I am looking forward to what ever the universe has planned for me in 2013. My plan is to practice my painting and enjoy the process.  I also plan on running more.  I'm trying to get faster but  my goal is to complete my first 50 miler.  I can't wait to tell you about my word and why I chose it.
HAPPY NEW YEAR !!
please be safe and no drinking and driving.

It was Merry..

This holiday Season has come..The best part for me was spending time with all the children in my life. My two little kids spent the night at their dads because that's how our custody arrangement works. My oldest Paola spent last night with me.  She slept in my bed. It was really great waking up with my big girl and having her hold my hand and say Merry Christmas Mommy. Then I went for a very short run walked in the door, got ready and headed over to pick up my kids.  One hour later with my 3 kids Christmas was complete...  After opening up our presents hours we headed to my mom's to see all my nieces and nephews... I love kids at Christmas the look in their eyes is priceless.  Especially when they are opening their presents.  I love how happy they are all day long.. We all exchanged gifts which was great but I was super excited about giving my sister her gift. I painted her this picture of her and her twin girls. I actually finished it on time and I was excited to give it to her. She loved it and we both got teary eyed. That made me feel so good.  I love my sister and her children.. I hope you had a special Christmas wherever you are..

Weekend in Pictures

I hope your Sunday was amazing..

I am a dreamer.

Its funny how things work out like me being absent from one of my favorite places...here
I often dream about what I would like my blog to look like and then what I could do here..That's when I get afraid. It feels like stage fright. I blog about what I am passionate about. Things that fuel my quirkiness. My blog is my on line journal about life..So here is whats is going on for me. I have many plans for the new year.All my plans usually start of as day dreams that I have while I run. Running provides me with a place to dream. I have been dreaming all about what I would like to create for my life in the new year. I want to learn so many things. I was watching this movie about the end of the world and I felt like the main message was life is to short not to love ridiculously. We must find those things we love to do and try doing them.  I find a great escape in moving my body the way running allows me too. Sometimes it feels so easy that my mind just flies away. I am taking a painting class that starts January 1st.

  True Free Spirit
Mindy Is a really sweet girl and her style is whimsical and free.
The class is a all year long and totally affordable. I consider mindy to be my friend and I am really looking forward to making way more time in my life to paint and just creating away. As a teacher I feel she has that ability to help you let that little girl in us paint. I am also going to a retreat she is teaching in San Francisco. 

Color Play with Mindy Lacefield and Carissa Paige

My dreams have been colorful and excited about painting .

Since my dreams are all over the place taking big leaps in running seems to be on my mind a-lot. I run almost everyday even if its just 3 miles. My plans for early next years are a full marathon in January . A half marathon in February along with my second 50k. I always picture myself having such a good time dancing and pretending to fly as I run. Its what I do. I also really like that I have be disciplined. When I run I dream about having my very own house and how cool it would be live in Boulder again. I am not moving but I can dream. I also chose my word for next year on a run. Mindful , I really need to be more mindful of life. I am working on being grateful and more aware of all the blessings I have right in front of me.. The one thing about getting older I love is that I am able to see what I need to work on with in myself and I know when I need to apologize. I am more aware of how lucky I am that I have my 3 kids.. I can not ever even begin to imagine what would happen if I did not have them. There is so much I dream about and so much I know I take for granted that I want to work on being more simple and grateful. I dream about forgiving. How good it would feel to just let go...I did forgive my x husband this month. I am even taking the time to acknowledge what I did wrong in my marriage. That is big for me. I was not the perfect wife and I know that but I am woking on just being good friends. Good Parents to our kids. Forgiving myself and him was big but its also taken a huge weight of my shoulder. 

So I am off to run with my dad this morning and I hope you are happy and that this post did not bore you. I like you am just trying to figure my life out and making it the sweetest I can.

A Kelcema Christmas Song

,

I love how this video makes me feel.

It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It also makes me miss living in Boulder Co.

I wish everything on TV was this sweet.

It is important to surround ourselves with things, people and music that nurtures our being. It is also equally important to nurture those who we hold dear. 

Holiday Soiree 2012

One of my loves is live music. It really makes me feel good to attend live venues. When I heard my local radio station KPRI was having their Holiday Soiree I got really excited and immediately bought tickets.  There are so many parts of going to a show that I like. The anticipation of the event. Getting dressed up in the proper attire. On this particular night I felt lucky because the show was downtown and I was able to walk around before and after the show. I love that.  The show started at 7:30 and it was an intimate show.  The performers had a lot of energy and there were several Christmas Songs during the night.  The singers made mention of San Diego in their songs which got everyone jazzed up.   Then everyone around me stood up and danced.  It was such a fun night...

The Performers where
Matt Kearney
ZZ Ward
and
Allen Stone
I want to share videos of each performer to see if you like them.  Sadly I think this was my last concert of 2012. It was a great night and I will remember it for a while.

Practice

HI guys.. I have been busy busy.. I signed up for painting class that starts January 1st, so I decided to get some practice in. I thought it would be fun to paint my sister and her two baby girls and give it to her for Christmas.  What do you think?

“Every artist was first an amateur.” 
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

I have more to share about my running life, sadly I only managed to get to day 14 in my goal of 30 runs in 30 days.  My ankle swelled up the other day and although part of me feels I still could have run, I was afraid of making it worse, so I took couple of days off.  The good news is I started back up today.  December has always hindered my workout regime.  I used to say this was my hibernation month.  I thought about that this morning as I  headed out, Dang, it's cold outside.  Of course we all know that this is just my brain making excuses. That is why I had to challenge my self w/ the 30:30 running schedule.  When I don't run I want to kick myself in the butt because I love how running makes me feel.

"The more you practice, the more you can, the more you want to, the more you enjoy it, the less it tires you.”

― Robert A. Heinlein 

Things I see that help me glow.

My favorite holiday drink is a peppermint mocha at 140 degrees.

My favorite homemade scarf is the color green.

My favorite space is the one you see..
During this holiday season do you have three things that just make you happy ?

Why I run

When I decided to take on this challenge to run for 30 days straight I did so for a bunch of reasons. I read this article that made sense to me.  It stated that running consecutive days can improve my long distance and reduce the chances of me hitting the wall. That is all I need to hear.  I was like... I am in. The other reason I did it is because I like having that routine in my life.  Running provides me with me time. There is a part of me that thinks I am being selfish, but than there are health benefits, stress release and I just feel more stable and energetic... I don't know how to explain it but I feel that running along side the beach makes me a better person and a better mom.  Running along the beach as the sun sets takes away all the negative crap in my head. My dad always says that if you run far enough it's like having a Q-tip in your head that takes all the dust away.
The other reason I run is because I have made a conscious decision to lead a healthier life.  I used to be a McDonald's girl. My kids and I would go to KFC for dinner once a week.  I still love Fast Food but I am trying to make good choices for both my kids and I.  I have noticed a difference in the whole all of our bodies. Don't get me wrong I still have my daily cup of McDonald's coffee...
I feel that running has giving me so much freedom... I put on my shoes and I go. Sometimes while running I pray, other times I day dream or plan and sometimes I just remember what used to be... It's the perfect activity for me...
Today, with the encouragement of a dear friend, I signed up for my first 50 miler.  A huge part of me thinks I am crazy. Than there is another part that is really excited about the challenge..
G
XOXO

SeaSide Soiree

This past weekend was so much fun. I was able to attend a Sea side Soiree and Art retreat put on by Elena Lai. She runs a non profit called Charity Wings to learn more about Elena and her work go here.. The project you see above was created by Jennifer Priest . She has been my friend for several years and she is such a  talented artist..

One of the reasons I was so excited about attending this retreat was this wonderful artist, who I now call my friend, was teaching.
Her name is Danita Arts  http://danitaart.blogspot.com

This very sweet soul was teaching us about painting. She created a wonderful piece of art in about 20 minutes and we were all in heaven watching her create it. I really enjoyed how much information she gave us and how she took the time to explain the process. The theme of the Sea Side Soiree was mermaids.    All of us painted little Danita's girls with beautiful fish tails. I recommend this event for a 2 reasons. The first one it's affordable. The 2nd is everyone was very kind and the group had a creative buzz to it. 

I love when to watch an artist create a piece in front of me. I feel as though I really get to see their creative process. Danita was  present and very patient with all of her on lookers.

This was my creative space. Notice my McDonald's ice coffee.

The creative space that Elena provided for us, over looking the beach in La Jolla California, was magical.. 

This was the mermaid I created with Danita's help. 

This project was lead by Jen Cushman

I also made an Ice Resin medallion.. There were lots of little things made for us by other students.  I made so many new friends and had a great time catching up with old ones.  I really had a great time at this event.  This led me to think how great it would be to paint and run at the same time... Man I would be a happy camper.. Have a great tuesday..
G
xoxo

Happy December

Its hard to believe this year is almost over. It has been a crazy last two weeks with going on a family vacation to Chicago and then going to an Art Retreat the fallowing day. Chicago was really interesting and big. I thought San Diego's down town was big.. I was wrong. I can only imagine New York..I will share my art retreat expirience very soon. I learned lots..

Now my running goals for this month go as fallows..
I am going to log a minimum of 200 miles this month. I do not have any races but I am challenging myself to run 45 minutes everyday this month. I can add more if I want but not less. I read this article and thought why not. http://www.endurancecorner.com/library/running/30_day_run_camp
I am definitely feeling way better about my running skills. I know what I need for next year is more endurance and many more miles under my belt. I believe that fallowing through is the key to success. I was watching Oprah 9 years ago and I just had a baby. I think my baby was about 1 at the time. I had a-lot of weight I had not lost and I needed to get outside. Oprah had a some kind of doctor on the show and they said if you anything for 21 days it becomes a habit..I had nothing to lose and at the time I was a stay at home mom so I said why not and started walking everyday for the 21 days. I also prepared myself for success. I got a calendar and one of those big black markers. I wrote one through 21 on my calendar and then each day crossed it out. I also put a picture of what I was going to treat myself to if I finished...
That started a whole new chapter in my life. I lost the weight I needed to lose but more importantly I found this inner strength within myself that I never I had. I honestly had the experience that having a healthy body helps you lead a healthy life and make  life choices according to that life style. I love a fun challenge. This is day three for me and if you too would like to join.. You should...The hardest part is day 13 to day 17 after that you are good to go..
My next race is the Carlsbad full and then my second 50k is in February. I will share my training ups ad down with you and tell you all about my art adventure..

Chicago day 3

Thank You Chicago for being such a great host. We truly loved visiting you and we hope to come back in the summer time. I feel I have to run the Chicago Marathon now too. This was a very memorable 100% family vacation and I am so grateful for the great food the cold and feeling the buzz of your city..
Sincerely,
G

Exploring Chicago day 2

We arrived at the zoo at noon. We heard we needed to check out the buildings and the old fashioned feeling of the Brookfield Zoo. This zoo had a vintage feel to it for sure.

So we did.. I have to tell you that it excites me to know that my kids will remember the time spent with my dad and how much closer they are to him because we are here together.  

We find that having a camera can be fun ..When the seals wont come close to you..Then you pose !

I love this picture of them running to the Ferris wheel. Its so cool to be a child and to see the Ferris wheel and then you just run as fast as you can to get in line ..The anticipation of going on a ride is so magical when your little..I hope they never lose that feeling.

There were not a-lot of people there maybe 50. It could be because it was cold or maybe because everyone knows that most of the animals are sleeping here during the winter. 

Add caption

I love this picture..They are hugging my dad and wanting to be next to him. I am sure he felt the love.

The zoo was fun but being together was special. My kids have behaved so well and everyone seems happy..I am grateful for all this time we are having together.