A Mountain Run

Merry Christmas belated to all you fellow bloggers! We just arrived home from our Smoky Mountain Christmas extravaganza... So, I thought I would post in parts about different aspects from our trip- as opposed to overwhelming you with 1611 pictures and oodles of paragraphs. ;)

Well, somewhere in my blonde head, I decided that a mountain run would be just the ticket to shed some of those unwanted holiday cookie poundage. As seen above- my husband captured my good intentions of serious 'running' magazine reading. I was feeling inspired and decided to conquer the mountain in the beautiful and rare 71 degree Christmas "summer".

Huh. Well, let's see... I barely got one good mile in, but it sure felt like death. I don't think ankles were created to run on the steep angles that I tried to overcome this week. At one point I was going downhill so fast that I was afraid that if I tried to stop, I'd start to roll like a hedgehog all the way to the bottom.

So, I did it and now I can say that I did it...that's about it. :)

Thanksgiving 4 Miler

My Little Angel

The blogger returns

Wow, it never ceases to amaze me how busy life can get! I'm falling quite behind on the blogging front lately... So, for those friends and family that only find out how we're doing from my writing- I'd better get back to work! :) Hmmmm...where to start?!

Well, the kids are doing well. So far we haven't been ill at all- which is very wierd for us. Usually, we're on virus #12 by this point in the season...so this is a huge blessing. Of course, I'm waiting for the shoe to drop.

Homeschooling is going smoothly- I've backed down to about 1.5 hours a day on most days. We do breakfast and chores right after waking up and then start our Bible time, followed by math, phonics/reading, handwriting and learning games. That's about the extent of our schooltime right now; just the basics! My oldest is not as applied as he could be, but I think that's because Mommy isn't making a huge deal about that right now. When I 'push' for him to excel, he always does.

Little one is getting taller, but the poor child refuses to gain weight! :) He eats like a bird (unlike anyone else in this family) and could take or leave mealtimes. He gets excited to be a part of school time and is learning phonics right alongside of older brother. Hoorah!

My photography business is doing quite well. I did my last outdoor shoot for the season last weekend and brrrrrr was it chilly! I think it was in the high 20's with lots of wind and absolutely no sun. I dressed quite poorly- only a shortsleeve shirt and a fleece. Husband was kind enough to loan me his coat and my son gave me his little toboggan- I must have looked the sight! The client booked a two hour time slot (senior pic) and we were all shaking by the end!

With the demand to continue the business through the cold season, I decided to purchase a great deal of indoor equipment; backdrops, lighting, props, etc. I know we are in the holiday season, but I hope it keeps up this busy even after Christmas! I'm enjoying working with the families and making some extra money as well.

Our church plant is going well. We have stayed around 20-40 people on a weekly basis and are enjoying getting to know new families and the tried and true ones even better. As of the new year, we will finally transition into a full fledged Sunday morning service... I think. Part of the joy of starting something yourself is that you get to 'make the rules'. Please keep us in prayer as we reach out to the unsaved in our community.

One of the mothers from our church is going to run with me this Thanksgiving morning for a 4 miler race for a local charity benefit. I'm slightly nervous, because although I renewed my membership at the local gym, I'm only running indoors right now! We're gonna freeze on Turkey day!

So, our Thanksgiving plans include a ham this year. I've never cooked a turkey and I don't plan to start this year. Is that bad? Can you have a real holiday meal without the turkey? I'll let you know how it goes...

A blessed day to all!

Angelena

Smoky Mountain Christmas

Can I tell you how excited I am? We decided, this year, to do something different for our Christmas holiday! Our family (hubby, the boys and me) and my parents- are going to the Smoky Mountains for Christmas week! Our cabin is pictured above...

Instead of gifts, we opted to put our money toward a relaxing week in the Tennessee mountains... enjoying the hot tub, nature walks, quietness of nature and all around togetherness time! Memories! I'm so excited for the memories! Baking cookies, the smell of the pine cabin, reading the Word with the boys on the wrap-around porch, listening to Nat King Cole in the wee hours of the morning, finding our tree out in the middle of the woods and decorating it with popcorn... ahhh!

Can you smell Christmas? I love this time of year! I can't wait to praise the Lord and celebrate His birth in the beauty of his peaceful creation...

Family photos

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged! I can't tell you how busy I am right now with the photo biz, homeschooling and the new church plant! Life is 'crazy-ola'. I'm thinking that I need to re-think my organization skills... there has to be a better way to keep everything in orderly fashion!

My parents came over this evening to get their pics taken for their Christmas cards... they looked so cute and matched so well in their lime green and white trendy sweaters. My boys got some pictures with them (totally not matching G&G, but lookin' cute!). Thought I'd let you all see... Hoping you are doing well! Love reading your comments...

Thank You

The Proverbs Woman Fall Home Show

The director of the senior center and myself after a long fun day!

A little out of focus (had my old point n' shoot camera on me!), but shows some of the tables at the event.

Here is a portion of my table; had a lot of fun decorating it!

My awesome cousin has a home business and she sent some fabulous items to sell! They sold like hotcakes... have some items remaining too! Anybody want to purchase a gift basket?

Another shot of my table before anybody else arrived. I decided to be super early to get it all done; that way I could help others when they got there. Too bad I was locked out... :) Oh well! Someone eventually saw me at the door! Ha!

1/2 Marathon Update

My third 1/2 marathon medal now hangs with the others!

So, of course... I have to show the picture of all my race clothing laid out. I'm oddly organized when it comes to running.


Ahhh....yes. So now you all know that I'm a shameless dork at 5:30am.


This is my dear friend "J" that I've been buddies with since elementary school. She is super awesome and a great runner! She was a great support and we had a fabulous time!

Hubby didn't have the camera quite ready as I crossed the finish line, so I turned around after finally crossing to give him a kodak moment shot!

Here we are! Hoorah we finished!

Copyright? What copyright??

So, here is a little rant on my part about copyrighted images...

I did an engagement session for a friend of mine a couple of months ago. We had such a great time and they were such a great couple to work with! For their wedding gift, I gave them the full CD session of all their photos to allow them to print/reprint as much as they desired!

My dad who owns his own CD duplication business was kind enough to provide me with my own professional logo and personalized discs/jewel cases. They look awesome! On the bottom of the CD in huge print it states the following, "Copyright 2008..... All rights reserved".

My friend took the CD to a printer and the employee saw that it was a protected disc and asked for the copyright waiver (which I had failed to give her). She explained to the lady that she didn't have one and the lady said to her, "Well, we'll go ahead and do it just this one time."

Now, granted- she's a friend and it was a gift...I absolutely wanted her to make all the copies of the disc that she wanted to. But, I was shocked about the lack of law abiding behavior on the part of the photo lab employee. I shouldn't be amazed, but I am.

Ummm, copyright? What copyright?

Improvising

Today I decided to improvise with a white backdrop that I just got. I'm doing a shoot tomorrow at a friend's home and wanted to see what I was up against. I thought this one turned out pretty good. I'm currently bidding on ebay for some lighting options.

My little guy enjoyed showing off his shooting skills for this one with his handmade wooden gun from Great Grandpa "N".

Four Days Remain!

Well, only about four days remain until I run my third 1/2 marathon. Part of me is really looking forward to it and the other part of me is asking why I am doing this again. A good friend from high school (also the maid of honor in my wedding) has agreed to run with me! We used to do crazy trips together and random fun outings- so this one is long overdue! Pictures & details of the event to come! Hope everyone has a great week!

Angelena

Our day at the pumpkin farm!

We first waited in line for the hayride that would take us out to the pumpkin patch. And waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, it arrived and off we went!

My youngest reaches up for daddy's hand to get up an enormous bale of hay. There was nothing graceful about walking in this hay barn...the first step down I took had me landing right on my bum. And I wasn't even wearing my trendy little heels!

Part of the ticket price included a homemade doughnut and apple juice. My youngest went to aboslute pieces when part of his fell on the ground in a grand escape from the attacking bees.

We all sit to pose on some major big pumpkins on a photo op wagon.

On the hayride...
A large pumpkin amidst some hearty mums!

Little one lays an egg...err pumpkin.

My little pumpkins.

Yes, I'm a dork. Hubby picked a flower for me out in the pumpkin patch, so I just had to pose for a quick pic for him!

You can't tell, but the boys are quite high up in the hay barn at this point. There were slides that started at the top loft area and landed them in huge piles of hay at the bottom of the barn.


Another enjoyable shot of the pumpkin patch. Probably my favorite...

The boys and I coming out of the hay barn.

Could he have picked a bigger pumpkin?

Oldest called me over and said that I should take his picture while he was good n' ready. (He usually despises pics and I apparently needed to take advantage of this photo opportunity)

Little one found a piece of broken pumpkin stem and it was the joy of the day!

Ask Angelena

I received the following question from a fellow blogger and thought I'd post the answer for all those inquiring minds that want to know. :)

Q: "This summer, I started a walking program with a few friends, mainly to try and develop a healthier lifestyle and shed some pounds. Every once in a while, we'd run about 1/3 of the track, and then we'd have to quit because our lungs were burning. Now that I walk at home on the treadmill, I try to jog a little, just to get my heart rate up, and then go back to my normal 3.0 mph. How long does it take to develop a love for jogging? And for your lungs to stop burning? And to quit feeling panicked because you can't get a deep breath? How does a jogger prepare for a 5K? Can it be done on a treadmill?"

A: Well, first let me just say that I'm honored by your question! I'm am hardly an authority on running, but I will give you opinion based on my personal experience- keeping in mind that it differs for each individual person. This is my rags to running story...

A little over two years ago I decided that I was done living my sedintary lifestyle and wanted to change things up a little. I have absolutely ZERO coordination, so aerobics was totally out; I'm too old to start up gymnastics and too busy to join a competitive sports team. We joined our local YMCA and I had two options that looked appealing to me; play basketball by myself and/or run on the dreadmill...err treadmill. Yes, you can train on a treadmill, but I would encourage you to get outside and run in the open air too. I, personally, prefer running outdoors if you can, but I've run many miles on the treadmill and that's great!

The first time I got on the treadmill with a serious will to acheive greatness- I ran for a total of three minutes and thought I was going to die. Honestly. I had visions of flying off the back of the belt into the wall or on top of some poor unsuspecting person walking by. So, the next time I pushed it and went a whole four minutes. Now, granted- I wasn't running as fast as my legs could carry me... but it was enough. I started off running for 2 minutes and walking for 3 minutes; each day I would increase my total time and over the weeks I'd run more and walk less.

I didn't love running then, but kept it up and slowly increased my time and speed because my goal was a 50 pound weight loss. As I continued to run and maintain a regular regiment of excersize, the burning in my lungs and lack of breath slowly lessened. Little by little I started to enjoy running. You have to push past the point of panic; I find that music can be helpful in stimulating my adreniline to get past the pain. Usually, when I'm running long distance my first 3-4 miles is the hardest and then it eases up for me quite a bit.

A friend of mine suggested that I might enjoy running a marathon and that ANYBODY could do it. The idea was so crazy and so far out from my normal train of thinking that I actually started to consider it. I thought it would make for good conversation and give me a goal. I had never participated in a 5K or even ran much in elementary gym class, but I liked the idea of a challenge. I had lost a little over 45 pounds at the time and wanted to celebrate it with something outrageous.

One thing I would encourage you to do- if you are serious about running- is to find a group of runners in your area that participate regularly in group training runs and events. They don't have to be super elite and hardcore, but if they have the goal to achieve- that will be a great help to you! It's awesome to have friends that you enjoy spending time with walking and conversing with around the track, but if you don't have someone pushing you past your pain point- it's going to be harder to get there. The first time I went out with my running group I had only actually run for one mile straight (an 11 minute mile) at the time. However, with their cheering and coaching along the way, I did a 9 miler that morning! Some of it was running and some walking, but I kept up with the pace and it felt great!

Be careful to avoid injury by not overtraining, but taking it one day at a time. A 5K is a great first time race to train for and it's usually for a great cause! Don't be concerned with your time- just look forward to crossing that finish line! I'm cheering for you!

Angelena

The Bonfire

My parents invited us to a great bonfire cookout the other night! My son's best buddy joined us for hot dogs and smores! It was such a great time!
Thanks mom & dad!

Pride goes before the fall... revisited

Remember those trendy little black heels from this post? Well, I should have known all the troubles that are caused when I wear them...but I too quickly forgot.

Last night I had my first meeting with a wedding client who was interested in obtaining my photography services for her reception. And yes- I wore those trendy little heels along with my favorite jeans and my big red leather purse filled with my folders, samples and portfolio. It's a rare night indeed when I go out into the evening kid-free with my hair washed and an actual hint of makeup. Yes sir, I was feelin' good and professional.

The consult went great and they ended up booking me on the spot. Feeling quite accomplished, I went to the grocery store afterwards and continued to strut around in my heels through the produce...past the deli...and around the bakery. I felt like everyone was looking and saying to themselves, "There is a lady that has it all together".

Yep, pride goes before the fall. The Lord even brought that to my attention as I was leaving the grocery. Are you wondering what's going to happen? Wait for it...

So, I headed over to my parents house to say 'hello' and spend a few minutes with them. Then I went home- unloaded all the groceries and headed up for bed. I went right into our bathroom and flipped on the light...and to my horror I saw something in the mirror that will haunt me for the rest of my days...

A huge (no exaggeration) glob of bright blue-green toothpaste was stuck to the side of my head and all over the stem of my glasses. Ugh. Apparently, prior to my quick departure out of the house earlier on in the evening, I had set my glasses down on the sink's edge (where the uncapped toothpaste was) and put them back on without even considering they might be marinating in minty freshness!

Oh, those trendy heels. Oh, my heart of pride. When will I learn? The Lord is good and always keeps my spirit humble... Praise Him- even for toothpaste!

Photography Contest

Last weekend I had the opportunity to work with one of my friend's daughters on a photography shoot. She is super sweet and adorable!

One of the photo blogs that I follow is participating in an amateur picture contest by phototrade.com. The theme of submission is "portraits". I've entered in this photo and would love to win!

So, if you would be so kind... my bloggy friends- please click on this picture in my sidebar to the right and hit "vote". I'd be much obliged! The contest ends on 10/31/08 and the winner will receive a great camera!

Thanks in advance!

Fall is in the Air...

We went to one of our local metro parks this past weekend and had such a lovely time. It was so cool and crisp and with every crunch in the leaves my heart got a little more excited for Fall. I took a few pictures of the boys in their element... Enjoy!