Another physical challenge

Those of you who know me will recall I have trained for, entered and completed two nighttime walking marathons. May last year saw me complete the MoonWalk in London and the September before I completed the SHINE marathon (having already completed in a Swimathon in the April and a 15k nighthike in the May). I then injured my hand in a boxing class and didn't train at all from mid August last year until December when I joined a new gym and started trying to bring my fitness back up.

It isn't the time of year to be out walking - nights are long, it is bitterly cold and it just isn't plain safe to be out walking unless it is daytime and with work five days a week and a family it's just not great.  However I have rediscovered my love of the gym and have been going at least 4 times a week doing a combination of spin classes and circuit style classes. I also want to be able to run 5k and then hopefully (maybe!) 10k and so I looked at signing up for a small 5k challenge - you know, to give myself a target. Of course the obvious choice is the Race for Life and look what I discovered when I went to look at dates in 2014...

Pretty Muddy!!  So guess who is signed up for October 2014? - Plenty of time to master running 5k non stop and combined with gym interval/circuit training I am hoping the thoroughly enjoy this event! I love their byline - Cancer plays dirty, but so can we! Just a bit more than a 5k with the muddy assault course thrown in, but after a walking marathon of 42k (26.2miles) a simple 5k run seemed, well, not very challenging! Saying that I currently can't run for much more than 2/3 minutes before I want to stop but as with everything practice will improve this I know. I may even try and undertake the couch to 5k challenge again!! Who knows!!

Project Life - weeks 2 & 3 of 2014 in photos

Sharing my week 2  & week 3 of 2014 in photos which I need to print out to ensure I keep up to date with my Project Life. I am hoping to finish these off this weekend and then I can share the pages here on my blog.

WEEK 2

Back at work in the office 5 days a week

Healthy lunches

New set of nails (pretty!)

Several more Spin classes

Jamie back to Beaver Scouts

Continuation of the Green smoothie challenge

Week 3

Yep, more Green Smoothies!

Hubby celebrates his birthday

A nice new pair of boots (bargain in the sales!)

Rob starts back a Cub Scouts - and is made a seconder

Plenty more gym sessions (and raspberry coloured faces!)

A-Level studies continue for Ellie

January ATDML designers choice

I always get just a little excited when Mel and Jill from A Trip Down Memory Lane (online scrapbooking store based in the UK) allow their design team (me being one of them) to choose what we want to create with  for the gallery. This was the case in December where we could select which products we wanted to create with for the gallery, blog and Facebook page (ADTML #Create)  in January.

I had my eye on this paper collection from Teresa Collins for a little while and knew I could make many layouts by just finding complimentary cardstock from within my (vast) existing stock!  Also there are so many great colours in the collection I knew I'd have no trouble find embellishments to go too.  Add to this the desire to scrap a little more Project Life style in 2014 I had many ideas and a whole collection to play with.

Over on the Created by ATDML blog page today I talk a little more about some of the creation I have made using this collection. I even have a layout made just awaiting photos from this weekend coming when hubby celebrates yet another birthday (he does so every year I find!!).Pop on over and check it out!

30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge

Well I didn't quite make a Jan 1st start but I did commence my 30 day Green Smoothie challenge on Jan 4th. Like many of you who have seen them or read about them I thought "yuk!" How can anyone drink something spinach flavoured for breakfast, no matter how healthy it is supposed to be? ,. BUT, and it is a HUGE BUT... they don't taste of spinach!!. Indeed the first smoothie I made was so delicious I wanted to make it again straight after I had finished the first! Don't get me wrong I love spinach, I love fruit and I love (most) veg, but I cannot eat it for breakfast - not even a banana cut up on my cereal or a handful of berries in my muesli, just no! It is too early and I cannot stomach it. But these smoothies I can honestly say I am almost excited to get up and make! I am getting out of bed just those few minutes earlier, prepping the night before to make sure I don't miss out on my treat! and yes I like them that much!

So today I had Banana Berry Blast:
1 cup of Almond milk (I need to find unsweetened next time)
1 banana
1/2 cup of frozen raspberries
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup spinach

I added a teaspoon of Chai seeds (to keep me fuller for longer), a scoop of vanilla protein powder (to make it last as a breakfast) and another 1/2 cup of almond milk as it was a little too thick. I could have added water, or waited a few minutes as it thinned out once the fruit started to defrost a little - I just needed to be a little patient!! Another tasty success though and I can't wait for tomorrows which contains Coconut milk, lime juice and pineapple - sounds more like a Pina Colada to me!!

Project Life - week 1 of 2014 in photos

Well I have thus far in 2014 managed to keep up to date with my Photo 365 challenge, I have posted to instagram more often too (@mafswife), and I am on day 10 of a 30-day green smoothie challenge. I have been to the gym every other day so far in 2014 doing a combination of spinning classes and body pump/boxfit and I am happy to say I lost weight last week for the first time in a few months. I have been off track with my healthy eating and training ever since I bust my left thumb up last summer but it looks like I have my mojo back!

I also have week 1 project life layout completed and most of week 2 planned out with the photos to print off ready for scrapping this weekend. So I haven't photographed my week 1 layout yet but here are my photos.

Flowers for Nan & Grandad x 

Cinema to see American Hustle & 12 Years a Slave

New Scrapping goodies

Spinning classes at the gym

Playing with my new Soup maker

Read my new book from Ellie "The Edge of Never"

January Photography Scavenger Hunt with ATMDL

Why not make 2014 the year you take more photographs! I have for the last two years taken part in a photo a day challenge. I didn't manage every day the first year but in 2013 I did and you saw the other day a sample of those photos, all taken on with the camera on my phone. This year, with my new compact camera and a desire to scrapbook in a project life style format, I am planning on taking even more. To assist others like me and provide a bit of a focus for what to take photos of each month I write the monthly photography promptsover on the Created-by-ATDML blog. Why not pop over and join in with January? There are just seven prompts to kickstart your camera clicking this month

January photo prompts
1. Celebration
2. Sales/New Purchases
3. Resolutions/aims
4. Footwear/Footsteps
5. Something you've made
6. Self Portrait
7. Winter Chill

I look forward to sharing more photos with you as the months go by.

A layout with scraps

A nice quick layout using twenty 2"x2" scraps of paper and three 4"x4" scraps. I created this class based on a sketch I had seen and it was a bonus kit for my ScrapMates Christmas crop held last month.  All of these were cut from four 6"x6" pieces. I inked the edges of each before creating a background of the 2" squares aligned towards the top of the page and then layering the 4"x4" squares over the top. a 3" x 4" photo was then mounted an added with finishing touches of some washi tape, a doiley, ink splatters and embellishments to create a quick page. If you would like receive the full instructions for this page, drop me an email annfreeman1971@gmail.com and I will send them to you.

Adventures of Timmy the Elf

I admit to being a little sad when on Christmas eve it is time for Timmy the Elf to retreat once more back to Lapland. For those of you who don't know Timmy arrived December 1st 2011 at our home from the North Pole. He is a child watching elf who keeps an eye on the children in the family and reports back to Santa to say if the children should be on the Naughty or Nice lists. Each morning he returns somewhere different in the home, usually causing a little mischief but always ensuing a smile or two from our boys.

I created this page for the December ATDML gallery which features three photos of Timmy and his antics of 2013. It is one of several pages I have done of Timmy - pop over to the December gallery and see what the rest of the design team created along with another Timmy layout from me!

A Winters walk

Few of my fave photos from a winters walk we took at the end of December on what was probably the last dry day! Feels like it has rained every since and I am wondering if I will need the wooden pallets I have been saving for my veg beds as ark material instead!

  

 

Looking forward to when the weather perks up again enough to go do this again. 2 hours spent walking around getting fresh air and exercise with my family - perfect! Definately need more of this in 2014.

Happy New Year to you all.