Color Run 2014 and upcoming races

The Community Service floor at the College I work for has been planning their very own color run for a few months now.  Today was the official race day and other than the weather everything went really well for them.   What's awesome is that the funds went to local organization to help them fund their programs (Hickok Center for Brain Injury).  Most of my co-workers and I supported the event in a myriad of ways in part because our student worker was organizing the race. I supplied a raffle basket, secured some other funds through the campus Wellness Committee, helped with race organization input early on in the planning process, promoted the race and ran in the race. My other co-workers volunteered (or rather I coerced some of them) in being the official DJ and assist DJ for the race and our reception was an overall supporter and helper throughout the event.  Check out the YouTube video that was made of the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DouHYHMssdA

The event was designed successfully down to the last detail. Many clubs and organizations on campus helped out. There were plenty of volunteers, an official large time clock, a race map, bibs, t-shirts and sunglasses for runners, tons of great after race food and drinks, rockin music and awesome raffle prizes. (I haven't found out if I won any raffles yet but I'm keeping my fingers X!) **Update- nope I wasn't a winner.

The only disappointing part was the weather. It was cold, grey, rainy (though it stopped just before the race) and extremely windy right during the parts of the run that had the hills. Uggggg.......  Despite all of that my time was really good. I came in the top 10 out of about 160 runners with a majority of them being college students. Hooray for me! **update- received an email on 4/17/14 with the time results- I placed 6th overall and came in 2nd place for overall female. Boy I was right behind the 1st place female runner by like 20 sec. or less!

So here are the upcoming races I'm signed up for:
1. Mess a Dress 10k April 12th

2. Rochester Flower City Half Marathon April 27th-**Yes, I just signed up.  After many many horrible runs (I think my body was rejecting the thought of running for that long) I was able to run 13.5 miles without killing myself the other day.  I'm still slightly apprehensive about the race but will continue to train over the next 5 weeks, hope for good weather which means no WIND and do a lot of praying that I'll survive and my body won't revolt on me during the race. Goal: Finish without walking. Bonus: Finish in 2 hours or under.

3. Lilac Festival 10k May 18th

*I had really wanted to run in the Corporate Challenge Race and have been helping my college to take part in and then just this past week I found out that the summer session one class I'm taking is on Tues. and Thurs. evenings right smack in the middle of the race which is on a Thurs. evening in May. Boy does that stink big time!!! I'd skip class but since it's only a 6-7 week class probably not the best idea. Damn!

Crockpot Cooking, Races, Sweaty Bands, and Dresses

Okay, so last week was a really rough week for me all the way around. However, I've spent this weekend being somewhat productive, creating and rejuvenating and I'm ready to begin this week with a fresh start.  Below are some of things that did bring me enjoyment this weekend.

1. I registered for another race. This is called the Color Run 5k. I've been helping the Community Service floor students at the college create this race. Proceeds go to the Hickock Center for Brain Injury.  I'm slightly worried about how cold it will be since the race is March 22nd, but I'm going to hype myself up for it. It's going to be awesome!

Here are the upcoming races I'm registered for:
Feb. 6th- Puppy Love 10k (I still want to pick up a cheesy puppy shirt to run in.)
March 22nd- Color Run 5k
April 12th- Mess the Dress 5-6 miler. (It's also my nephew's birthday so it will be a great day!)

2.  The Sweaty Band company held a special MLK day grab bag sale. You could purchase sweaty bands for $4 each!!! I rarely stick to brand names but when I find a product that last and actually works I stick with it. This is one of those products. They are originally 15-20 dollars each. I ordered 2 during the sale since I just got 2 at regular price for Christmas.  It was pretty fun not knowing which ones you would get. I was pleased with both of mine. One is very colorful and will be perfect for the Color Run.

3.  I picked the dress for the Mess a Dress race.  The vote was in 4:1 for the pink dress. I'm totally feeling like Molly Ringwald in Pretty In Pink. I started altering the dress this weekend. I literally think I had to cut off about 2 feet of fabric and tulle. Some of the tulle I'm going to recycle and put another layer back on the dress. I've basically got it ready to hem and take in. I think I'm going to by some satin thick ribbon to create the straps of the dress. Stay tuned to see how it turns out!

4.  I actually read all of the books for my 3 February book clubs! This was a huge feat since two of the books were very long and intense books.  Below are the books and my ratings for them.
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides ***.5
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt ****
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes *****  (This one made me cry or rather sob uncontrollably for the last 100 pages.)

5.  So anyone who knows me knows I'm not a good. Hence my Pinterest account which has mostly food pins because I would love wonderful food like I see on there but I don't want to have to cook it.  Well last night I got an idea and craving for a crockpot meal and it was still there this morning so I decided to give it a whirl.  OMG...it was sooooo good!
Recipe:
1 can of cream of chicken soup/1 can of water
1 chicken breast (reg. size) or I tend to have one that is cut in half
1/2 a cup of sour cream
Put in crockpot and leave all day on low.

I then have a rice maker which makes thy most amazing rice ever! I made a cup of rice in it and put the crockpot dish over rice. Yummy!!!!  Even better is that I have enough left over for a second meal tomorrow night.

6. I also worked on my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project. I must admit I'm getting increasingly frustrated with the thin paper and trying to do work on both sides. Everything seeps through so I have a page I finish and really like and then no matter what I do to try and protect it when I'm working on the opposite side something always seeps through. Even using pencil when you close the book will rub off on the opposite side. Oh well... I will not be defeated and will continue to create!

Splash monsters! Very fun and easy to create.

Recycled piece from a different project.

Poor picture. Water and varies pencils, and sequins.

Fabric, wool and embroidery piece.