Oh, By The Way...

I forgot to tell you.
Guess what I did!
This summer I got to run two half marathons and I want to tell you about them.

The first one was, at first glance, a bust.  After only 1.5 miles I conked out.  I got too excited and messed up my pre-run routine, and started out too fast.  Going up a little hill, my friends took off.  My mentor/coach/Mr. Miagi stayed with me and never left, but I was so upset about doing poorly and not keeping up.  Finally she told me to get over it, and I wouldn't have wanted them to stay with me and wait anyway.  I knew she was right, but I still couldn't enjoy my run.

My Mr. Miagi, Sheri

I started to get all philosophical and began to think about how I've also felt left behind by friends who have all gone on and started families, even though I started the race before many of them.  It was an emotionally exhausting run, as well as a physical one, but I don't think it was as much of a failure and here's why:

My mentor helped me realize that I wouldn't want anyone to wait to start families as I wouldn't want these girls to slow down, and neither did the race end at the finish line.  I didn't stop running, and I've only gotten better.  I've gotten healthier and even ran another half marathon since then.  And this is life too; we are all called upon to exercise our endurance at many different times, and we are all forced to run.  But how we react and become stronger from these events is where the true success lies.

So my excitement at their finish on race day is just as genuine as my excitement when dear friends and family announce pregnancies and have baby showers.  There is nothing that will ever keep me from sharing in their celebration, and knowing that their victory is also my victory.  The God that is writing their story is my God too, and I love that he works in the people I love.

This first race was the Laguna Hills Memorial Day Half, and the second was the Freedom Half in Salt Lake City on Independence Day, which I ran during my recent vacation there.

Night and Day.

It was me, running it myself.  No comparison, only enjoying the ride.  Much of it was downhill, and I had no goals but to enjoy it.  I finished 8 minutes faster than the other one, and I had a blast.  My family was so supportive, and my dad even came out and met me at mile 10 on his bike and rode with me for a while.

I've been reading Ryan Hall's Running With Joy, and I finally got it this time.  This is my run, I am not running it in competition with anyone, this is my story and I'm running it at my own pace, my best pace I can.  I love that I have companions to pull me along and encourage me to do better, but ultimately, this race is my own and no one else's.

I have learned so much about life from running, and I have so much more to learn, in both areas.  But one thing is for sure: I am hooked.  And now, I am training for a full marathon in Long Beach this fall.  I can't wait.

Family Legacy

I have so many talented people in my family, and collecting all their wonders caused me to realize anew that I had no choice but to follow in their footsteps.  

This little baby doll was my own, made by my mama and I just love that expression.  The screenprint behind her matted locks was recently created by my fabulous cousin and I still haven't figured out how to use or display it.  Any ideas?

Helen Dardik is ridiculously talented, and her work is just adorable.  It wasn't until after I purchased her print on the right that I realized the darling child in the painting was a girl.  So I decided to paint my own rendition, using some of her other sweet originals as inspiration and concocted the little watercolor cowboy on the left...just in case the wee one we get is a boy, not a girl.  Now we have both bases covered.

My husband's great aunt passed down these embroidered and appliqued throws and they couldn't be more dear to me.  I can't wait to supplement them with a quilt from my amazing mother-in-law.

 So many handmade treasures here!  My little sister made the hugging kitties on the left, an illustration of our sisterly love...they even wear our initials on their tummies.  The teddy bear in the middle is one of the many bears my grandma made and nicknamed "Sheddy Bears," as my mom called them, not being able to say her own name, Shelley, as a little one.  And the pink guy is a Popple; my own from the 80s.  Anyone remember those?  You can also see the zig zag blanket I crocheted.

 What is this edging called, like little lace?  These are two pillow cases great aunt made, hanging on the antique dresser a friend bought us.  And the alligator up top is a pencil holder my grandpa made for all of the cousins when we were little.  He sits by a needle punch I made a few years ago; and YES, those are cloth diapers below!

I saved some of my own Golden Books, my first Bible and my mom's copy of Alice in Wonderland, with some other collected classics from over the years.  And there's no way my Strawberry-mobile couldn't make an appearance, however temporary.

Although this pint-sized room is filling up quickly, I know it will be full to the brim one day with all the practicalities and preciousness of all things child.  For those of you in this boat, how do you keep from busting at the seams?

Everything's Hunky Dory

Last week we were supposed to have our last meeting with our adoption social worker.  It was the last in a string of months of classes, interviews, and inspections.  But we were thwarted.  By a neighbor in a hurry.

She was parked on the street and our across the street neighbor pulled out of her driveway a little too fast and, well, by hitting her car it certainly made for a more than inconvenient evening for all parties involved.

I couldn't help but thinking that this could be good, she is seeing us in a real-life situation, more than she could see in a clinical setting.  And if our perfect little one isn't ready yet, this delay only makes for superb timing.  It looks like we'll have to reschedule, but for now, everything's hunky dory.

Stripey Handmade Nursery Stage 3

Done for now...

After finishing the touch up on the walls, we hung the art and some floating shelves.  A friend bought us a lovely antique dresser when we were trying to pass our licensing, as this was an item we needed.

I've filled the room with several handmade items like embroidered blankets and toys and I can't wait to share those with you.  I'll have to clean out the cat hair if I want to take photos... it seems Milo believes the crib to be a wonderful spot to snooze.

That reminds me, what does one do if the cat won't stay out of the crib?  My little sister was viciously pounced upon by our cat once, and I'm not so keen on a repeat.  Milo darts when we catch him, but is there any way to prevent this?  Once we have a child, we won't be able to keep the door closed all the time.

The swing came from a former student (strange that our students are having babies now), and the rocker is from Jon's mom.  The crib came from another friend who adopted and received it as a gift.  And there are just too many handmade and vintage treasures to spill the beans about just yet!

Stay tuned, I will tell all.  And one day, there will be one very special addition to the room that is unlike any other...

Stripey Handmade Nursery Stage 2

On the striped wall, after the primer, white stripes and backfilling the tape, we then had to do 2 or 3 coats of color, with a heat lamp on them to dry between coats, removed the tape carefully, and there is always touch up.  I've learned that.  If I expect it, I'm not so frustrated.

The other walls look very blue in the evening, and quite green during the day.
 I love how lighting changes things!

No pastels, no ducks, and no mint green or chicken-fuzz yellow.

In choosing so much color, I also didn't want to simply go with a "rainbow" color scheme.  If you notice, there is no green in the stripes.  Turquoise, yes, but not simply primary/secondary true-hues.  I used red and tinted red (red+white=pink) and the charcoal grey has a blue hue to it, which allowed me to not use violet in the stripes.  The pale green on the other two walls isn't really pastel, or maybe an updated pastel, but that's how I got away with not using green either.

I can't wait until the whole room is put together!  This is turning out so nicely... a good pay-off for all that work.  Phew!

Stripey Handmade Nursery Stage 1

Hi!  Look what I've been doing...

One of the things we have had to do for our adoption license is provide a space for a child, and while it would be sufficient to just provide a crib and a dresser, who wouldn't go the whole nine yards?! (good movie, btw).

Here are the beginning stages.  I used these as inspiration, and derived the colors from there.  I looked at a lot of inspiration from Ohdeedoh and knew that since we wouldn't know the gender of our little-one-to-be, creating a gender-neutral nursery would have both its challenges and its delights.  I'll talk about that later, but for now I'll try to summarize the process.

BEFORE:
I painted samples on paper of the colors I wanted for stripes,
then played with the arrangement, taping them on the wall.

Using a dark grey primer, we covered the grey wall first.  Then I added a white to make a light grey to go under the colored stripes.

Next, I measured out where I wanted the stripes, and knew I wanted a white line between each color.  I painted 2 coats of white where they would be, then taped off the areas I wanted to keep white with 1" painter's tape.

The overhanging white (the white that peeked out from under the 1" tape) was then covered with grey primer again.  And here's the real kicker:

           BACKFILL- You know how paint seeps under the tape no matter what you do?  Well, this is how you stop that.  You backfill.  What is the color under your tape?  Mine was white.  So I painted the edges of the tape with white so that it would fill the little holes and seep under, instead of the stripe color.  Voila!  Straight lines every time; no color seeping under the tape.

I Have an Announcement!

A few of my friends have asked me to blog about our endeavors in bringing home baby, but I made the decision to keep much of that content outside this blog, as I wanted to maintain this as a blog about creativity and art.

I have decided that I will include a few little stories and bits of info, just so the people who are watching my life and art are included in all aspects which affect those two areas.

So here's the scoop: we are adopting!  Last year, I never wrote about our plans or our short efforts with the doc, but after three years and no smushy little one to call our own, we decided to adopt.  As I learned, one can do a private adoption (international or domestic) or through the county.  The former can cost between $15-30k, and the latter is free, but likely stickier situations.

If you're more interested in how we came about the decision to adopt versus through fertility treatments, or about how we decided to go through the county versus private agency, or anything else you can think of, I'd be glad to be a sounding board, a mentor, a shoulder, or informational source. 

As for this little blog that I've loved for sometime, and I've had the pleasure of hanging out with you all, I would still hope to share all things creative and motivating and lovely. Don't worry, I'll for sure be posting about DESIGNING the NURSERY! and other such baby-related frippery, but not yet.  I just wanted to keep my loyal lovelies abreast of the situation...and solicit some prayers and such for the long process ahead of us.