Today... I Celebrated...

Yup..today is St. Patrick's Day, but today I did not celebrate being Irish and drinking green beer.

Today I didn't celebrate another year older or our next wedding anniversary...

Today I celebrated life! Today I celebrated strength... Happiness... A journey... A struggle... A prolongment to my life...

Today I celebrated my one year run-niversary!!

Two years ago, after my husband had completed his next half marathon and watching my friends cross the finish line at the same Rock N Roll USA Half, on our ride home on the metro, I told my husband that I wanted run a half marathon...but of course my first half would have to a Disney race of-course.

That was 2012...
 >>>>>Fast forward March 17, 2013 >>>>
One year later, I started my journey with my first race...St. Patrick's Day 5K Fun Run & Walk. (Hey...it said "fun," so how bad could it be?) Zero...I mean ZERO...training was put into the race. Sure, I had walked a couple of miles here and there on the treadmill but nothing like actual running. But like I said... the name of the race had "fun" in it!

We arrived at 7:30 at East Potomac Park, picked up our bibs, and waiting for the start. It was definitely intimidating, waiting around, looking at the tall, much thinner people around me. My husband and I started, and he really tried to get me motivated to run, measuring it out by light poles and other landmarks. By the end, I definitely wasn't first...but I wasn't last either!! The "fun" run/walk wasn't officially timed but I think we ended up finishing in 56 minutes. I even got a little gold medal on a green ribbon to commemorate my first ever 5K run....still smiling at the end. 

>>>> Fast forward again to March 17, 2014 >>>>

I just completed my 4th half marathon at the Rock 'n' Roll USA Half and I broke my personal best time by almost 5 minutes. In this year, I haven't become the fastest runner out there, but the fact that I am out there doing it and improving each time still amazing me today.

 Today I celebrate 4 half marathons, 1 10 Miler, 3 10Ks, and 2 5Ks (yes including my "fun" run/walk)

I have become a stronger person. I have lost 52 pounds to date (and still going) . I have meet a great group of friends who understand what I am going through and are encouraging every step of the way (POSSE OR DIE!!). I have a closer relationship with my husband, 'cause we are now going for runs and to the gym together. I have become more helpful to those who never though they could do it. I have become a motivator to encourage those along their journey.
 

March 17, 2013

March 15, 2014

Today I celebrate the new person who has always been there on the inside but didn't know how to come out and achieve her dreams.

Today I celebrated an anniversary....

Today, I celebrated the anniversary of ME!





 

Love Project Life Style?? You're Gonna Love This... New from Kellybell Designs!

Every layout is special. Each page documents some very special memories and shows off precious photos. But one layout is extremely important to get right -- the cover page. When you're creating an album or printing a photo book, this is the page that you and everyone else is going to see first. It's the page that will get viewed the most. It's the page that everyone has trouble with because you want it to be so perfect and so fitting for the memories inside.

To help give you some inspiration for creating those unique cover pages, Kelly has 2 new sets of amazing cover embellishments called 'That Covers It'. One set is silver based, one set is gold based. Inside is a collection of word art, journal tags, pixie dust, word sayings and a few embellishments. It's perfect for documenting your cover page or your pocket pages.

Kelly's very excited to announce her first set of templates, perfect for cover pages or pocket scrapping. They come with PSD, TIF, PNG and PAGE files so they can be used by several scrapbooking programs.

This new collection is priced at 25% off for this weekend only so pick these up early in the store while they are discounted. All of Kelly's collections can be found at www.KellybellDesigns.com.

These templates can be used over and over again for documenting your cover page as well as photos from character meals, rides, shows and all your park scenery. Here's a page that I made.

Kelly's team has some freebies that match this new collection. Here's where you will find some journal card and word art freebies that you're just going to love! Leave some love for the girls along the way. Have a great weekend! Have fun working on that perfect cover page!

Jenn - http://scrappingwithjenn.blogspot.com/

Julie - http://www.designsbyjul.blogspot.com/

Roxana- http://scrapscardsandmore.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!
Jessica

Something New & Different from Kellybell Designs

Check out a sneak of what Kelly has in the works this... Can you guess what it is??? 

Head over to her blog at www.kellybelldesign.com/blog to give her a guess at what you think she has in the works! 

Have a great rest of the week with the extra daylight and warmer temperature! 

See ya Friday! 

With a little Pixie Dust... Kellybell Designs' Newest Release

When you think of Tinkerbell, what words come to mind? Fairy, beautiful, delicate, green, sassy, pixie dust. She's a very popular icon for Disney. Their logo has Tinkerbell and a spray of pixie dust. The castle PhotoPass images have Tinkerbell flying over the cast. And who doesn't want to believe in their dreams? You just gotta love that green fairy girl!!

Kelly's newest collection was inspired by Tinkerbell and all her fairy magic. It's a beautiful kit that's a perfect addition to your Disney scrapbooking stash.

Introducing....

So pretty! Inside you'll find over 60 elements including a Tinkerbell doll, mushrooms, frames, thread spool, pixie dust, flairs, stars, flowers, greenery, hearts, mushroom house, fairy wings, banners, ladybugs, lantern, wooden sign, journal tags, stitching, grass, watering can, buttons and much more. There's a full alpha in green outlined with yellow. You'll also get 15 papers in soft pastel tones.

The coordinating packs of word art, page starters, journal cards and paper stacks are a perfect complement to this gorgeous kit. Each pack is a must-have!

Kelly's new collection is priced at 25% off for this weekend only. You can find Fairy Magic and all of Kelly's kits at www.KellybellDesigns.com.

While Fairy Magic was made for scrapping Tinkerbell, it can also be used to scrap lots of other Disney photos. This LO just means so much to me. After running the Tinkerbell Half Marathon, we lined up to take a picture with the woman of the hour, Tinkerbell herself. She cracked me up! I loved when she had to fix her hair in my sunglasses before we took our picture! Here's a page that I made:

And because I just LOVE Tinkerbell I am honored to share a cute and sassy paper stack for you. Hope you like it!

Download link to 4Share on picture or clicking HERE

Two more of Kelly's Creative Team also came up with the most amazing freebies for this release. I just know you will love them too.
For Fairy Magic you'll find these 2 gorgeous freebies by heading over to Kelly's Blog and Lisa's Blog. Have a great weekend and happy scrapping!

Coming Friday with a LIttle Pixie Dust!

Click and comment to win at Kellybell Designs! 

See you back on Friday!

Jessica

March Blog Challenge!

The random winner will be announced the first week of April. That's also when the participation prizes will be sent out.

Kelly's got some neat animal themed kits to use for this one. Take a moment to check your stash or browse through Kelly's store to see if you want to pick up a new collection to scrap with. Here are a few of Kelly's kits to use.

You can find lots of inspiration at Kelly's Blog to give you some ideas of what to scrap for this challenge. Here's my page for the 'Animal Kingdom' challenge.

New from Kellybell Designs!

Well...I am finally back from Princess Half Marathon Weekend. What a great time we had. And now I am so excited to get back into the swing of things, including announcing Kellybell Deigns newest Around the World kit...

Get your passports ready because it's time to take another trip through the Epcot World Showcase. Kelly has landed in Japan this week. The Japanese pavilion is a beautiful place to relax and soak up the traditional scenery. It's a mix of maple trees, bamboo trees, footbridges, koi ponds and tranquil garden settings. So let's take a peek at what the new collection looks like.

Don't you just love it?? The unique country specific elements are really what makes or breaks a good kit. And this new kit has the perfect blend of Japanese tailored elements and papers. You'll find this kit is a great match for scrapping your photos from Pick A Pearl, Teppan Edo, Taiko drummers, Tokyo Dining and serene pagoda temples. Inside this kit you'll find koi fish, banners, Japan flag, fans, flowers, flairs, paper lanterns, noodle bowl, rice bowl, chopsticks, pagoda temple, shell, shrine, gate, gate post, stitching, cat, ribbons, bonsai tree and much more. There's 15 papers in soft pastel tones mixed with serene patterns. The full alpha is a lovely mix of cream and red. This collection allows you to mix soft colors and yet highlight boldness with the reds and blacks.

The premade page starters, paper stacks and word art titles really show off the great mix of colors in this collection. I've come to rely on using 1-2 premade items in each layout. It's just so easy to use them as a jump starter on your page.

The pack of 6 journal cards is a must have! Even if you're not a pocket scrapper, theses can still be used for journaling or to add an accent to the page.

All of these new items will be be 25% off this weekend only. You can find Bonzai and all of the Epcot World Showcase collections inside the Kellybell Designs Store.

One of the best ways to visualize what you can do with a kit is to see some sample layouts. It certainly helps to spark some creativity and get some good ideas of ways to scrap with this kit. To see the Bonzai layouts from all of Kelly's CT members, head on over to Kelly's Blog.

Here's a page that I made with the Bonzai collection.

I know you're looking forward to seeing some out of this world freebies that Kelly's CT members have made for you with the Bonzai collection. Here's your path for today. Make sure to give the gals a hug and have a great weekend!

Jennifer - http://ibrakeforthemouse.blogspot.com/

Linda - http://www.mjajdesigns.blogspot.com/

Sharon - http://quietangelsb.blogspot.com/