GOTR Columbus 5K

I spent last weekend with my family! We all went to Columbus to enjoy a little family together time and a little race time!

This is the welcome my sister and I got when we arrived! A welcome banner in chalk that covered the WHOLE driveway! Awesome!!!

 We started the weekend by going to a few games of soccer for this little cutie! She had a tournament and played A LOT this past weekend!

Sitting in the rain and enjoying soccer!! LOL!

This is Saturday morning! We were all registered to run in the Girls on the Run 5K in Columbus! It was both of my nieces first 5K's and they killed it! This is my sister and her running buddy my niece!

And my other sister and my other niece (her daughter)...

 This is a group shot with our running buddies! Basically Girls on the Run pairs up one girl with one runner that goes at their pace so the girl is never running alone! You can encourage the child and also just plain keep them safe!

Girls on the Run also tries to show that exercise and running is fun! The girls wear removable tattoos and color their hair - they also wear tutus and design their own shirts!!! So cute! 

My other nieces hair...

So stinkin cute!

The matching rainbow Dash sock girls!!

This is the view of the Start right before we took off! There was a light drizzle the whole morning but the crowd was so excited!

And the crowd behind us.... it was packed!

 Our group!!!!

And we finished!!! Aly and Kyleigh's first bling!! Love running for medals! HA! My niece did great and did not complain ONCE!  If anyone is looking for volunteer options this is a great one! Almost every school has the program and you can volunteer to be a running buddy there!

The exhausted car on the trip home - LOL!!!

 Sunday was spent watching more games! We got to to see my other nieces soccer game!!! Pink number 12!

So cute!!!!!

 And my nephews soccer tournament - they won! WHOOP!

Thanks for reading!

Anyone running their first 5K, 10K? Anyone else a running buddy?

I hope everyone had an amazing weekend and I wish everyone a great week!!!

Happy Birthday Donna

I cannot beleive I never posted this! I left it in draft and I HAVE to post! I had an awesome night out last week with two of  my two favorite girls!!!  

It was a Girls Night Out for Donna's birthday! She is an amazing woman and friend! She gives me guidance and direction in my life often and it is SOOO appreciated! I am proud to call her my Sponsor and Friend!!

We went to her favorite place...Saga!!! Here is our entertainer and chef!!!

Making the signature onion volcano!!!

He did a little I HEART U with the noodles and rice!! LOL

This is the best group shot we got!!! Love these girls!!!

Oh, and by the way, I decided to take myself out on a date! So I am taking myself to the Pens playoff game next week!!!!!!!!

YIPPEE for me!!! Best date ever!

So very true....LOL!

I hope everyone has an awesome week!!!

A Little Sports, A Little Hike and A Lot Of Love

I had to honor of traveling to Columbus, Ohio this weekend to spend time with the youngest of my nieces and nephews! My family is amazingly close and I love that! My niece had a soccer tournament and we all went to watch that! Along with soccer we also got to see many exciting games of baseball and softball!

Here is my nephew at his baseball game running to be safe on first base!

And my niece at her softball practice...gotta love the hot pink shorts and bat! What you can't see is that her bag has a hot pink Nike stripe! TOTAL coordination for this Diva!

Here is the main reason we were there to watch! My niece playing goalie at her soccer tournament!

And - as if there were any doubt - her team won the WHOLE kit-an-caboodle!!!! Yea~~~!

This is just one of MANY hilarious pictures I find on my phone after a trip to Columbus! Love these kids!

We decided on a family hike for Sunday with my brothers family and my parents. We hiked a trail at Highbanks Park called Overlook Trail - when you get to overlook on the trail, you can see a bald eagles nest! Majorly cool! Here is me leaning over a bridge railing so you can see how high up we were along the hike! LOL!

At the overlook, without binoculars, here is the view. I circled the nest in the picture below. Note to self - next hike take binoculars! HA HA  - Here is a link to the Camera they have pointed on the nest from the overlook!

It was mothers day so it was very fitting that I got a good photo with my Mommy!! I have the best Mom ever - LOVE her soo much!!!!

Here is my brother and his adorable family - minus his little boy - he was probably hanging on Poppy!

And lastly, a little snippet of my and my sister-in-law and niece!

We had a great weekend and I am so grateful for my family! They are and always will be my favorite people! I am sooooo blessed!

Say No To Sugar!!! Day 1!

Time to get really serious! Back on Track!! Take Care of ME!

It is Day One of no sugar and no white flour!!!

I am actually excited because I know how good I will feel in a few weeks and the pounds should start heading in the right direction as long as I keep up with my daily exercise!

Yippee!

Who wants to join me?!?!?! Two months of clean eating.

Rules are simple:

1) no sugar

2) no white flour

3) eat healthy and clean whenever possible

4) exercise everyday

5)drink AT LEAST 8 glasses of water a day

For two months...8 weeks... 56 days! That's it!

Then summer will be here and we will look amazing!!

I will do a weekly post of how much I lost that week.

Let's get it on!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Welcome to another edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer the questions on your own blog, and then be sure to leave a comment for the blogger who linked before you. Here we go...

1. What's something fun you're looking forward to on your May calendar? 

WOW! That is easy! The entire month is filled for me with a bunch of family birthdays and MY BIRTHDAY! I also have a soccer tournament for my niece, Mothers Day, a Girl's On The Run Race in Columbus, and we will be putting the boats in the lake at the end of the month and celebrating Memorial Day!!! How can this not be a rocking month????

2. What are some images that come to mind when you hear the word mother?

My beautiful mothers face and the faces of my beautiful Grandmothers! I immediately feel unconditional love and comfort. I cherish every day I get spend with my mother! She is my biggest cheerleader and one of my best friends!

3. What's something beautiful you own or have seen that's made of glass? 

I own a friendship ball. I actually watched it being made too! It is from a little shop in Jane Lew, West Virginia! It is beautiful!

4. Was today typical? If not what made it unusual? 

It's only 9 AM so it has been so far. We shall see. So far I went to Pure Barre class at 5:45 and then to work at 7AM. So far, no fires at work so maybe it's not typical....HA HA!

5. What is a quality you wish you could have more of?

 I wish I had more self confidence. I have worked on this a lot and it is getting better but I can be a very possessive and jealous person sometimes and I hate that about myself.

6. What's the next major purchase you need to make? Will it happen in the month of May? 

I wrecked my car and the deductible is $500 - does that count? I will be picking my car up on Friday hopefully!  It's not a purchase I wanted to make but I do not have a choice! UGH!

7. What responsibility/job/work did you dislike while growing up but has proved helpful to you as an 

adult?

I think just chores in general helped make me a responsible person that helps out when needed but specifically cutting the grass. I think cutting the grass is very therapeutic and others hate it! LOL

8. Insert your own random thought here.

My mind is blank...

Permanent Lip Liner and Blend at Copsmetic Solutions

Before I fill you in on my latest beauty adventure, I want to set the stage. I have always been that person who said I want to love myself the way God made me. For the person I am. With all of the features he gave me. Just the way he made me. Well, that's still true, however since I've now passed the age of 40, I've had some friends make some non-surgical modifications that are awesome and I decided that maybe I could just get some little enhancements. I'm worth it, right?!?!

My latest beauty adventure was recommended to me by someone at a spa I frequent.  I was complaining about how much trouble I have lining my lips and keeping lipstick on. BTW - I was not born with any lips. They are very small and very colorless. LOL - but seriously. My lipstick always ends up on my teeth, clothes or hands instead of on my lips where it belongs. My lip liner, just a sad state of affairs! UGH. She mentioned that a friend of hers just got permanent lip liner and lip stain and loves it! She recommended Cosmetic Solutions as the most talented and recommended place she had heard of in the South Hills of PA. 

So, I mulled over it a few weeks and finally called to look into it. I asked over the phone for pricing and some details about what the procedure entails. The person that answered the phone was extremely knowledgeable, answered all of the questions I had and set me up for my appointment the following week. My appointment was booked with Heather Hunter, she has been practicing her art of permanent make up, etc. for over six years now and is extremely skilled and talented. Her sister Rachel who started Cosmetic Solutions has been practicing her art for over 16 years! They both came so highly recommended - I knew I was in good hands! As soon as I posted the company on Facebook, I had multiple people say that they had gone there for procedures and loved everything they had done!

On the day of my appointment I showed up about 15 minutes early to fill out paperwork. In the lobby they have a photo album that has pictures of previous clients and I was able to use it to select the look I wanted for my lip liner and fill.

Heather was so sweet and immediately made me feel comfortable and answered any and all questions I had! Even some I did not know I had! She put numbing cream on my lips and we let that sit for about 15 minutes. We then went back into the procedure room. Beautiful and comfortable and very private.

Here is my before picture she took (see, no lips) HA…

 

She showed me the tools she would use (always a new needle), helped me pick my color and got me comfortable in the chair. She began by outlining my lips. I would compare the needle pinch to a sting and the more she went around the less the sting hurt...kind of like when you pluck your eyebrows. After the first time lining all the way around she then filled in the lip area with some color. That inside lip area did not hurt much at all. 

Next Heather applied more numbing cream and we waited another 15 minutes. She then repeated the process of outlining the lips and filling in the color on the inside as well. This process was repeated three times total. Here are the pictures after all three rounds.  The first is without Vaseline and the second is with.  It is recommended that you keep only Vaseline on your lips for the first week.

The color will not stay this dark. The color will start to disappear and peel off and it will look like you did not have anything done.  Then, depending on your body and its healing rate, the color will within a week or two begin to show back up again.

I love the color she selected for me and my skin tone and any little bit of pinching is worth the result I got! I roll out of bed with beautifully lined and defined lips without doing anything!

This procedure lasts for over a year and then some people will need to come back in for touch ups. The touch ups are much less than the initial procedure in cost. I am so happy with my new lips and the ease of my new makeup routine! This girl that used to say "who needs procedures" is ready to call and schedule her permanent eyeliner and brow shading next!! 

Here is the final picture with Heather and I after the procedure...I love this woman and my new lips!

 

Do yourself a favor and give it a shot! You will love it I swear! These two woman are truly artists that can enhance the beauty that you have been given and save you so much time in the morning with your beauty routine. Not to mention...save you money in cosmetic products that need replaced every three months! And, support a small, local business!!