Wrap it Up!

It is a great day to look back at 2009 and reminisce about the wonderful times our family had in 2009,  following Margene's lead, I am posting the first sentence of the first post of the month, along with a picture (or 2) to go with that month (may or may not be related to the sentence). 

January: We spent the evening with my brother in law and his family, I made about 80 tamales while the kids went sledding when they came back we made donuts.

February: I want to say a huge thank you for all the donations that have been made to the MS Society.

March: It is finally coming up! Loom Knitting with the Sprite I.

April: Woosh! March went by so fast.

May: The end of the month arrived...way too soon.

June: May seemed to have been overtaken by the Ogden Half Marathon event.

July: I couldn't resist any longer.

August: Never been one to make plans too ahead of time, however, things may start changing soon.

 

September: My fourth half-marathon took place this last Saturday in the gorgeous area of Cache Valley.

October: The colors of this one make me happy! 

November: When the white fluffy stuff comes down from the sky it sends a subliminal message to my brain saying: it is time to knit some hats!

December: The coolest jersey is out, the Twin Six guys and Fatty did it again! Be sure to order yours today. 

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year. May you be blessed with health, love, and the companionship of loved ones.

Dreams of 2010

A day doesn't go by when I don't think about my race goals for the next year. The past two years have been spectacular and I have accomplished so much that I never thought I could. I have become a runner, a slow one, but I am to the point where I consider myself a runner and friends and family come to me and ask me  advice on different subjects on running. I love being a runner. I love the feel of my body being exerted, the way my foot strikes the ground, the thoughts that swirl in my head as the time progresses and I just keep on running. I love the solitude of my training days, especially my long runs of three hours or more. Those long run days are not just a day to hit and go but a day of meditation, a day to look within myself and reach for everything I have and leave it out there on the road. Whenever I run, I can't help but think of an advertisement by Pearl Izumi running shoes that said something along the lines that you can't call it a run unless you have left everything behind on the road. The Ad depicts a runner who is sitting down at the end of a run and has blood dripping down on one leg. That is what I want to be, without the blood of course, but I want to give it all I have while I am out there. It may not look it as I am slow as a turtle but I give it all I have in my heart.

With thoughts like these, my tentative 2010 schedule has been formulated. Once again, I will focus on running but will cross-train with two goals in my agenda: a PR on my 2nd marathon and would love to get a 70.3 completed.

Ogden Marathon: Saturday, May 16, 2010

Boise 70.3: June 12, 2010**

Cache Valley Classic Triathlon: Olympic Distance: June 12, 2010 (Alternate to Boise 70.3)

Wasatch Back-Ragnar Relay: June 18-19

Spudman Triathlon: July 31, 2010*

Park City Marathon: Saturday, Aug. 21, 2010

Top of Utah Marathon: Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010

St. George Marathon: Saturday, Oct. 2nd, 2010

*It is by lottery so chances are I won't get in :(

**Haven't registered yet for 2 reasons. 1)It is quite early in the cycling season. We have snow here in town til June! It would be nice to find another later in the season but the only one that I can see is Texas in October. 2) The fee is quite out there. If I register, I will have to drop 2 marathons if not 3. 

Dreaming and planning is grand!

Loomy Christmas Giveaway

All you have to do is show me some finished little Christmas Tree Ornaments and you will be entered to win one of three Provo Craft Knifty Knitter Purple Looms! Yep, I have three of these wonderful elusive looms to give away. All you need to do is show me a picture of your finished little Christmas Ornament. Get your free pattern and get going, hurry, hurry!

The last day to show me your little finished item is Friday, Dec. 18th, so I can ship the loomy on Monday the 21st just in time for a last minute Christmas present. 

How to enter: 

• Knit a little Christmas Tree Ornament
• Drop me a comment and let me know where to find your picture or send me a picture or add it to the Flickr pool
• For every little ornament you make, you get 1 entry!
• If you knit 10 or more you will be entered into a special DALOOMS.com Gift Certificate Giveaway. Value $20

The Testimonial and Infomercial is Out!

I have to admit that I do not watch much tv so I do not know if the infomercial was on tv or not. Lucky for me, the infomercial and testimonials are online!

My blurb didn't come out in the infomercial, however, I am in the testimonials section of the website. You can see me with my deer in front of the headlights look, LOL. Check it out at www.myknitter.net

Remember these projects? 

The how-tos are demonstrated step-by-step in the DVD that is included with this offer. By the way, the DVD won't be available separately, it is exclusive to this offer! Hurry get your new set of looms and your new project DVD. There are projects from Shannon Earling, Bethany Dailey, Jennifer Stark and myself, Isela Phelps.

Barefoot Heart: book review

I am a reader. Before I was a knitter, I was a reader. Before I was a runner, I was a reader. Before I fell in love with cycling, I was a reader. And way before I learned to swim, I was a reader. It is no surprise that whenever I have five minutes or 10 minutes off, I grab a book or a magazine and become immersed in the story. I once dated a guy who told me he couldn't leave me for five minutes because I always found something interesting to read. It is amazing to find worlds within the pages of a book. Fascinating that people have all these fantastic worlds in their minds and they are able to put them on paper so others like myself can enjoy their worlds.

During lunch at work, I am either reading through the math textbook or reading a book from the staff lounge bookcase. This last week, I found a great book, Barefoot Heart by Elva Trevino Hart. Reading the title just from the spine of the book, didn't tell me much but as soon as I turned it to read the back cover, I was hooked!

Barefoot Heart is the autobiography of Elva Trevino Hart and the stories of her family as a Migrant Mexican family. It tells of their hardships as they migrated from Texas to Minnesota and then Wisconsin year round to find employment. Hard physical labor was part of their everyday life.  Hardships were not only in the form of employment but also finding a place for themselves within the culture and the difficulty of integrating their Mexican persona into the American culture. 

The book touches many strings in my heart as I have felt many of the same feelings Elva speaks of and I have lived through similar anecdotes.  As a Mexican in an American culture, I felt the dislike from others due to my skin color and my accent. As she did, I tried to make something of myself but while doing it, I also isolated myself as I didn't fit into my own culture but my "looks" didn't allow me to fit into the other. The crisis of the self fitting into the world...it is always an iffy spot.

The anecdotes Elva shares about her family and their love and hard work that they all had to go through to "make it" in this new world makes me appreciate and understand my culture so much. The hardships migrants families go through go untold and get judged by the outside appearance. They themselves in a thick curtain and that is all everyone sees. They don't realize that behind the curtain is a shy, lonely person, who yearns to be loved and accepted. The book had me in tears through many of the anecdotes and then full of laughter and longing when something wonderful happened to the Trevino family. 

One day when my kiddos are older, I hope to gift them with this book so they too can learn about the hardships that other Mexican people like ourselves go through. Success comes easy to some for others tears of blood have to be spilled along with dirt under the fingernails. Barefoot Heart quickly became one of my best reads.

December Freebie is up!

The December Freebie is available. Find it at my store, LoomKnit.com from now til the end of December. Enjoy!

Happy Fifth Birthday!

 


Today, my littlest bundle of joy turns 5 years old. Time goes by too fast. I wish I could have captured her baby days in a jar and I could open that jar and hold my baby newborn once again. She brings so much joy to us all. Her storytelling keeps us all entertained during meals and her dreams of planting chocolate chips to flying gives us an insight into her wonderful world. I love you little NyNy. Happy Birthday my little love.

Fatty's Newest Jersey

The coolest jersey is out, the Twin Six guys and Fatty did it again! Be sure to order yours today. The profits benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Help others and look totally hot while doing it ;).

I have the pink and black one and love it! It has a perfect fit. I always get compliments. I wish I had the black version but I missed it by just a day. Hurry, don't miss out.