Blog Archives
Winona Lake 5k/10k
Conditions were perfect for a race today. Hardly any wind, cool and on the verge of warm, but not hot. For this race, you could choose to run the 5k race or the 10k race. I choose to run the 10k since I missed the Indy Mini and enjoy the longer distance. Mentally, it was tough to pace myself. I have not run very many 10ks and have no idea how fast I should go. I ended up running the first 5k at the pace I would normally run a 5k race. Big mistake. Though I was in the lead for that entire time, I soon realized my mistake as the guy behind me was slowing closing the gap. I began to give up as I could hear the footsteps and breathing getting closer. He passed me at mile 4ish. I congratulated him (maybe I should have glared at him instead). My breathing began to get out of control as I reacted to the situation, rather than stay calm and focus.
Thankfully, Mike McKieghen, a running friend and small group member (also winner of the 5k), helped coach me through the finish line. I wish I could have had someone like that through the whole race. I know I wouldn’t have finished as strong if I didn’t have the extra push from a friend. It was a painful finish (see photo below). By the look on my face, it was the most awful experience ever. It hurt, but I promise, it wasn’t as painful as the face says. I think I was over exaggerating.
The race ended up not being measured correctly. It was estimated that rather than a 10k (6.2 miles) it was only about 5.1 miles (a whole mile off). I came in second over all, a mere 10 seconds away from a win.
Baby Steele’s First Photo
I am sure many of you have already seen this on Facebook. Bear with us; we are a tad overzealous parents-to-be.
Here are the stats:
Week 11 // Aprox. Due Date: Dec. 3rd, 2010 // Size of Fig
At the moment we found out about our gift, “Squirt” was the size of a poppy seed. To date Squirt has grown to the size of a fig! (Apparently a fig is approximately 4.12 cm.) Our baby’s just growing so fast *insert new parent baby voice here*! Seeing this ultrasound and holding our baby’s first picture (one of many to come, we are sure) made the reality of having a baby seem a bit more real.
Sarah has been feeling much better this week. However, the past few weeks have been pretty rough in the mornings. Her appetite has been slim. She has, however, been devouring fruits and veggies like a vacuum. Guess that’s better than devouring doughnuts and goat doobers! An answer to prayer is that God has removed much of the anxiety that troubled her during the first several weeks. It is amazing to see God’s Word used as a sword.
James talks to “Squirt” like an experienced father. He is already deeply smitten. He has doubled up on his chores and has “banished” Sarah to the couch during this first trimester. What a servant’s heart.
Web Cam Choreography
Just incredible. An unbelievable amount of complex choreography seems to be at work here to pull this video off. How in the world…
April Showers Bring Potholes
Our car almost fell into this canyon/pothole on the way to the laundromat. I saw this as a potential tourist attraction for Warsaw. The Grand Canyon seems to be pretty popular. Ok, so maybe it’s nowhere near as cool as the Grand Canyon; I was just afraid of falling in.
Debt-free and loving’ it!
On Wednesday, March 31, 2010 we became DEEBT FREEEEE! We made the FINAL payment on our school debt, eliminating the ridiculous $57,500 of debt that we had accrued. It was a 3-year goal completed in 2 years and 10 months! This amazing feat all started with a wedding gift from Dad Hutchens—Financial Peace University. Hesitant at first (since we didn’t need financial advice), we signed up for this Dave Ramsey class all the way in Fort Wayne—an hour long drive every Tuesday night for thirteen weeks!
We soon became intense followers of Dave Ramsey’s “Baby Steps” (see below).
- $1,000 in the bank (It’s Murphy repellent.)
- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball (pay off smallest loans first, not just high interest rates).
- (And this is where we are now.) 3-6 months expenses in savings.
- Invest 15% of household income in retirement.
- College funding (for the kiddos!).
- Pay off home early.
- Build wealth (Boom, baby!).
Giving is included in every step.
Listening to Dave’s radio show via podcasts has been integral in keeping us motivated–hearing how other people have paid off hundreds of THOUSANDS of dollars worth of debt in a matter of years–inspirational! And we’ve now joined that group who can scream with the Debt-Free Friday group that WE’RE DEBT FREE!
To celebrate this occasion, Sarah surprised me Thursday night with an amazing gift–she called off work
for me Friday (without me knowing!) and told me that we were going to Tennessee to see Dave and thank him in person. Wow! So we made the 7-hour trek to TN, listened to his radio show live, shared inspiring stories not only with Dave himself but also with at least a dozen other families in the lobby.
As we look back on this journey and think of how impossible it really should be for us to pay off that much with our average income, we truly must attribute it to the provision of the Lord, especially during seven months of unemployment, two cars breaking down, and putting Sarah through half of her masters courses. Our only explanation? God alone.
Running Season Begins
Sarah and I kicked off our line up of races for the spring and summer with the Run for Hunger 5K in Winona Lake. The race had a great turnout. I don’t have an exact number but it is in the neighborhood of 700 participants.
Results:
Though it wasn’t a PR time, I felt extremely good about where I was coming out of the winter months. I placed 18th overall with a time of 20:03. The only shameful part was being beat by a nine year old. On the third mile a short child coming up to about my waist breezes past me effortlessly. I held my head in shame as I tried desperately to keep up with this nine year old. How could this be! My legs were as long as he was tall, I should be able to at least keep up! How in the world is this happening? I won’t be surprised if this child will be an Olympic runner with the crazy effortless stride he has at nine years old. Nine years old.
Sarah ran a stunning race! Her goal was to be within the 27 minute range. She finished in 26:45 with about 8:30 miles. Another amazing achievement is that during her training she completed a 7 mile run!
You never know what to expect for the first race after the winter months since training can be sporatick. Overall, Sarah and I were excited about the times we ran and feel that this race was a great launch to the season.
Wedding Invites. The Making of. (2)
Congrats to Jeffery and Anna. The wedding is only a few weeks away! This wedding ensemble was designed for my sister-in-law Anna and future brother-in-law Jeffery. Inspiration for the design came from the flower and the transparent sequins on the brides maids dresses. The paper is a thick 110 lb. cover stock from Neenah’s Sundance collection which is one of the few textured papers suitable for digital printing.
Wedding invitations. The Making of.
I had the pleasure of designing wedding invitations for Tim and Courtney (my brother-in-law and future sister-in-law) and Anna and Jeffery (my sister-in-law and future brother-in-law). Congrats to both couples!
For Tim and Courtney’s invites, I dug deep to find my fine-art side — a side that has not seen much light since the college days. I had such a blast with this process I thought I would share it with you.
Since it will be an outdoor wedding, I wanted to give the invitations a really natural feel. Paper played a big part. It was printed on 80 lb. cover, Birch, one of Neenah Papers’s environmental series (100 percent recycled, giving it natural texture and imperfections; I love paper). I also used a vellum overlay to give elegance and a contrast to the rugged recycled paper. The wedding flower is a yellow gerbera daisy that I wanted to incorporate somehow. To achieve the desired effect, simply using offset or digital printing for the gerbera daisy would not work. I wanted a texture to the ink and natural imperfections in the print. To do this, I used a process called relief printing or block printing. I had a print shop print up the ensemble using a spot blue to match the bridemaids’ dresses with a blank area for the block print.
I love the printing process and had a great time designing and printing the invitations. It is a simple process but extremely time-intensive for larger runs. This ensemble required over 400 hand-printed gerbera daises (2 cards for 200 invitations).
Check out the video below to see the process. Click here if the video does not work in your browser. AND Stay tuned for the making of Anna and Jeffery’s invitations.
Marketing at its finest.
I thoroughly enjoyed Listerine’s marketing verbage on their advertised “24 hour protection”. Apparently to get the 24 hour protection, it must be used every 12 hours. I will be putting out my new mouth wash product that has 36 hour protection! (use ever hour).
