creating art on arms and hands.

So yeah, I'm going to post a picture of my son's arm. and then pictures of my arm.

You ask why? What do you mean why? Doesn't everyone post random pictures of arms? Oh.

Well, my daughter likes to draw all over herself. I always have markers all over the place. She draws on herself a whole lot. I learned that I don't mind if she uses sharpies to draw on herself because unlike washable markers, they stay put and don't get all over the rest of her body...and because darling daughter "gets away with it," the other littles want to "get way with it," too.

Not too long ago, one of my little guys wanted me to draw something for him and so I grabbed this book 

and found two pictures that he wanted. I followed the steps and bam! a fishy and a penguin were on his arm and he thought I was the coolest mom ever and that he was the coolest kid ever. 

I mean, check it out!  Pretty cool :)

That same day, I drew a teddy bear on little girl.  We've done flamingos and alligators and little birds, too. sigh. no pictures of those today, but I drew them. promise. Perhaps I'll have to add new pictures to this post when I draw more for them. 

I have found that markers are definitely less messy than face painting. ;)

So yeah, I've been known to write/paint/draw on my own arms and hands, too ;) 

I tend to write words as reminders of what I need for myself in the moment or for a certain day or time.  Or I'll wear bracelets with the words that I need to keep in mind. 

Oh, this bracelet says, "Be Brave.  Practice courage every single day."

Blessings! and Joy!

nicole mArie

Recovery Day. Race Swag.

I really like our race shirt. It's bright and cheerful.

 Race Bib. Joy for my family members via initials. Yes, I run for me, but gosh, I run for my family and for my charity and for those I love. That's a lot of foot steps to pray with! 

The medal this year was a heavy duty piece of hardware. It totally rocks.

Recovery day.  My blue compression sleeves are amazing! (I purchased them at the expo). I highly recommend compression socks and sleeves for anyone who spends a lot of time on their feet, for runners, for atheletes, etc. They rocked for recovery after the race. 

half marathon recap. (finally)

oh yeah. I have a blog.

;)


It's been a while.  May was one helluva month, and that's me putting it mildly. I am going to to post a few times today to catch myself up on the life that I just lived and experienced since the last time I posted.

We'll start with Marathon Day.

Let me say this -- I finished!  I crossed the finish line. I did walk a lot of the race, but I expected to walk since my training went down the tubes in March and April.  *shrugs* whatev, I did it ;)

This was a poster at the Expo -- I thought it was cool.

Those were my reasons to run :) 

So this is the room that my husband and I stayed in the night before the race, and below you'll see what my view was when I woke up in the morning.  That's Heinz Hall (where we had breakfast) and the Starting Line. 

This  ^^^  is what I planned to wear. This ----->
is what I wore. Well, I actually wore green compression socks instead of the pink sleeves, but it's basically the same get-up.

 The starting line is really really far away from here -- it took me about 25 minutes to even reach the start!

I took a picture of  this woman before the 5k mark and I really was worried that I wouldn't be able to manage 13.1 miles.  I saw my husband a little past this point and he promised to keep up with me on the course (he was riding his bike along the way and I kept finding his smiling and supportive face when I needed to see it) and he said that I could do it, even if I chose to just walk. And I did it, he was right. 

I snapped the jagoff sign somewhere in the South Side and tweeted it out because I thought it was hilarious and quintessentially Pittsburgh. It found it's way from twitter to this blog  JoggingJeans tweeted it here. All of this is quite fun. 

I like shadow pictures ;) 

Am I there yet? Okay, yet? Now? Perhaps, now?

Back at my charity booth, I got a quick massage and hung out with the girls who work at Women's Choice, then ran back to the hotel with 10 minutes to spare before check out to grab a shower before heading to lunch. 

I am again a Runner (er, well, walker?) of Steel :D

 

Me and the darling husband. Dude, he cycled a whole lot that morning. 

He was a busy guy chasing me around. Also, port a potties for the win  ;)

That's my race day recap. It was an awesome experience and can't wait for 2014. Maybe I'll actually train well and run the full!

Blessings! and Joy!

nicole mArie

goal reached. 3 days to go :)

I am using an email as double duty again -- I send this "email" to you, my blog readers, too. Thank you for your support! 

Hi, All! 

I humbly and proudly want to announce that I have, in fact, reached my goal of $2620! I've raised $2622.  Woo! I want to thank each of my 33 monetary supporters and all of my prayer supporters!! You did this. I am blessed that you are my family and friends. Really blessed. Really thankful. Really grateful for you.

If you still want to make a donation, just follow this link :D 28 more dollars will allow for our money to fund WCN centers for a full 10 days. Totally cool!!!

Race day fun stuff: If you'd like, you can sign up to receive my split times via text. If we are friends on facebookor twitter my times will be posted there, too.

 http://pittsburghmarathon.com/spectators  

Don't expect to see fast numbers though -- I am perfectly aware and at peace with the fact that my body won't carry me fast this year, and that I will not run the entire 13.1 miles. Months ago, I made a commitment to race for brave and courageous women and their families, and I will absolutely do this on Sunday.  I will remember them.  I will just do it slowly as I will probably walk a good deal ;)  My one and only goal is to finish in 3 hours. 

I'll wrap up here by asking you to please keep the 30,000 runners racing on Saturday and Sunday close in thought and prayer.  Remember that when you want to cuss about traffic patterns on Sunday that us crazyrunner folk really are SO GRATEFUL to the City of Pittsburgh for opening the streets for us, and that we are, in fact, sorry that you might be inconvienced.  Here's a link to the road closure map that might help you out ;)

Gosh, I really am so grateful for you. I really am humbled that you are my people.

I wish you so much joy and many blessings! 

My love to you,

nicole mArie

donate: http://www.crowdrise.com/teamwomenschoicenetwork/fundraiser/nicolepost