Nikki

October 16, 2013

Finished products of October

October has one busy month for me.

I finished my first half marathon yay! The Portland marathon was quite the experience with 10,000 other runners, and running on pavement (yuck!) I am glad to say that I have one under my belt. I am hooked! My goal was to finish under 2 hours and I was kind of bummed I didnt but I have a goal for my next one. I must also mention I was sick for a good whole month where I trained a total of 10 days maybe. It was awful, my fear was that I wouldnt be able to finish the half but surprisingly I ran my miles faster than my training times. Woohoo!

With that under my belt I am hungry for more 1/2 marathons. I dont have any desire to run 26.2 miles. Why would I put myself through that pain, agony, and exhaustion. I know that I have ability and can do it if I put my mind to it but I think I enjoy shorter runs. I dont plan on ever running a race where its all on pavement, my shins are still mad at me even after stretching and hot steambaths.

A couple of friends of mine also made the trip which was amazing. Not to mention there were 30 other Bethel folks running the half and the full marathon. Here are some photos from the week of awesomeness.

Here is my 5 am amazing support crew. These guys woke up at 5 am to sit and anxiously wait for me to start and finish :) — Here is my 5 am amazing support crew. These guys woke up at 5 am to sit and anxiously wait for me to start and finish 🙂

A little tired, a little sore but still felt amazing to finish strong!

He is my rock, my best friend and my husband. He keeps me grounded and is there for me when I need him. I am the luckiest woman in the world.

On top of spending a week in Portland with amazing friends I returned home to busy, busy, busy! I have been busy sewing like a mad woman! Busy making Halloween trick or treat bags for my stinkiest neices and lap quilts to sell. Check out my latest projects!

I love making homemade gifts for neices and here their new Halloween trick-or-treat bags

With each project I grow hungry to create more fun things. With scrap quilts you can be as creative and colorful as you want. I really enjoyed making these and glad my hoarding paid off in the end.

With the upcoming cold, dark, winter months I am trying to discover ways to cut costs. As you know living in Bethel in the winter can be costly with heating fuel and any possible way I can cut corners I take those opportunities. I discovered with my employee badge I am able to cut back on my heating fuel from $6 something to $5.63 which if you add it up in the end I am saving quite a bit. Also I was able to jimmy my way out of paying $480 extra a year on my step-sons cell phone bill by removing a data plan that they say is “policy” when we are unable to even utilize that service. Also with my employee badge I can cut my gas from 20 cents a gallon. Every penny counts especially in Bethel.

I am discovering myself as a homemaker and testing my limits, and reaching out of my comfort zones to be more creative on the sewing machine. I scored some awesome fabric from IKEA for a coat that I hope to finish next weekend at a class.

As an individual I am discovering my limits, when to ask for help, and when to say no. I am trying to better myself as a person for me, my family and my friends. I am understanding that friends come and go. Friendships change. And there is nothing that I can do about it. Learning to let go of my mother and let her be. Through writing I find that I am able to express my feelings, use it as an outlet when it comes to my mother and share my creations. This is my kind of therapy that I need to keep up with.

I must return to sewing, sewing, and more sewing. Sew S.

April 17, 2013April 17, 2013

horrible

I just have to say I am horrible at this.

So… Last week I spent a wonderfully long week in southern cali and it was amazing! The first night we arrived in LA we stopped into the laugh factory and was able to see Whitney Cummings, Chris D’elia, Dane Cook just to name a few. It was flipping awesome. If you havent seen any of them I def think you need to check out their shiat. I snapped a photo with a super duper excited Chris D’elia ha.

If your in LA and havent been to the laugh factory I highly recommend you stop in there and catch some laughs. I havent laughed that hard in a LONG time and my face hurt from smiling! LA was good, and SoCal is always good to stop in for a visit. I went back to my old stomping grounds and visited with old friends & family. And got to see my old high school basketball coach, which was a trip!

This whole Boston Marathon bomb is deathly terrifying for me espesh since I am signed up for the Portland 1/2 in October. I am a little skeptical but I cannot let fear take ahold of my life. So I am pushing on and starting my training regimen. I finally found some shoes that might be promising and I can run, run, run!

I am on a mission to lose 10 pounds of fat, and gain 15 pounds of muscle. So here goes nothing with juicing, healthy meals, working out, and resting. I am motivated to get back into my fit old self. Half marathon training is beginning and will be in full swing as well as juicing. I have found that following fitness, healthy gurus on instagram are motivating me to want to do more and be a healthier, better me.

I will get back into the groove of using my blog to keep track of my workout regimen. Yesterday I got back on the treadmill and ran 2 miles, and the day before that I walked an hour on the tundra in a chilly -10 🙂

March 26, 2013

Too long

Its been too long since I blogged! I have been busy sewing like a maniac, traveling across the state, playing too much basketball, and neglecting my homework, work, and blogging!

Here is the latest and greatest since I have been busy sewing! I brought these lovelies with me to Nome and sold about 25 of them and brought the leftovers to Anchorage for state basketball.

Besides sewing like a mad woman, I got to enjoy some fun basketball and happened to jump on a winning team! Finally got a watch since 2009! I neglected to document my trip to Nome during the Iditarod and March Madness but here is a snap shot flying over! This is the reason why I love Alaska!

I was able to swing into JoAnn Fabrics and grab more fabric for my new fish projects! Cant wait to start sewing!

I also made a new summer/fall jacket! 8 hours total with cutting, sewing, and all! BUT on the downside I sewed too fast and sewed over the plastic zipper and it broke 😦 After all my hard work! I was pretty sad! But I also used a bigger pattern so the shoulders were too big and I ended up taking it to Moons Alterations and she worked her magic! The corduroy is super heavy duty, I think for my next coat I will use an old jacket for a pattern and create one! Its fun discovering new talents!

March 7, 2013

Accidental neglecting!

I have been horrible! I have been sew busy being a busy bee with my sewing I have been neglecting to document all my creations!

So far I have made my first parka! The coat took 2 days, ruff 6 hours, and bottom fur 3 hours! A total of 2 days and 9 hours! I think this is a world record for me in finishing a big project like this. Of course I finish this product when its warm & sunny outside! Its okay, I still need to add black beaver to my cuffs because the sleeves are tad bit shorter than what I like.

Before I added the ruff, and bottom fur.

My first parka! The ruff is made up of Arctic fox & black beaver. :D — My first parka! The ruff is made up of Arctic fox & black beaver. 😀

I have made almost 30 fish bags to bring with me to Nome and my next project is to make Dora the Explorer pencil bags, and make up bags of all sizes! I have only 5 days to make as many items as I can to bring up with me to sell. In between all of that I have to squeeze in work everyday, mid-terms, homework, and Spring cleaning!

Yay! I always love this time of year! Melting snow! Longer days! Sunny skies! And warm weather! Except the brown-ness everywhere! On the plus side its means summer is around the corner, and gardening season will be in full swing! I am going to tackle the garden this year and attempt to plant a variety of veggies, and maybe even strawberries! 😀 Wish me luck!

I will post more pictures later of all my finished products! Since we dont have a huge variety of craft stores to choose from I am waiting for buttons to come to finish my fishes!

March 6, 2013

101 Ways to Use Juicer Pulp (Okay, Actually Just Ten) | Plan to Eat

101 Ways to Use Juicer Pulp (Okay, Actually Just Ten) | Plan to Eat.

I am definately going to have to try this with my leftover pulp! I just juiced about 50 carrots the other night and finally decided to save the pulp. Winter is almost over and I can start creating my own compost pile, or carrot bread!

I cant wait!

February 21, 2013

This is the schedule and I am sticking to it!

February 19, 2013

-44 degrees makes me :(

This morning we woke up to -44 degrees with the wind chill, and boy I tell it was cold, cold, cold! On days when its so cold, those are the hardest to get out of bed. We heat our house mainly with the wood stove, and keep the thermo down to 68 degrees, which is beyond freezing for me! But you just gotta keep chugging along! The juice train has slowed down to once maybe if we are lucky twice a day. This morning I made a quick berry & banana smoothie which was delish!

Classes are keeping me busy, and on my toes, as well as work. I have been sewing like a maniac and heres my progress soo far!

Mighty Kuskokwim Fish bags that hold plastic bags!

And!

Make-up bags. You can see the bag on the right was my first back into working with zippers :D — Make-up bags.
You can see the bag on the right was my first back into working with zippers 😀

As you can see I would rather be sewing, sewing away than homework! But my goals have been to do as much homework in one sitting so I can sew away!

To kick my butt back in gear I have been getting or TRYING to get back in the gym every other day! I need to start training my butt into Portland 1/2 marathon shape! In high school I ran cross-country and the fastest 5k I ran was 19:28 today I ran it in 26:58. Thats not too bad considering what it was before! I am making progress each week and I am loving every minute of it!

Onto the juice train! I made a delish juice this evening and am sipping away as I type. I have managed to eat healthy, try to maintain a good work out plan, and juice which has kept me at 130 lbs.

Since my work is nuts and doesnt allow any youtube videos to be watched, or any videos for that matter I must get working on this damn homework! Have a great evening!

February 13, 2013

Relaxing Tuesdays

Ski by day
Study by night

February 11, 2013

My kind of Sunday

A well spent Sunday with a family dinner, juicing, coffee, and sewing.

February 10, 2013

Productive Fridays

Found some crazy inspiration yesterday and went on a baking spree!!!

I was feeling inspired to make homemade pizzas. So to start my day I out I tested out some HUMONGOUS cinnamon rolls. This was my first time making cinnaman rolls and I used this recipe from Finnskimo’s blogspot. It was super easy and quick! They turned out amazing! Well the first batch were most definately on steroids!

From cinnamon rolls it was onto the bread. I have never made homemade bread before so I was a little nervous. But, I think I did okay I made about 9 loaves, and dinner rolls the only thing I will do differently will be to use half and half with all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. For the dinner rolls and bread I used all wheat flour, but the bread turned out great! I used the recipe from The Crafty Conundrum’s website. Heres the recipe.

After the cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, and bread it was time for the pizza! I found an easy pizza dough here. I had a bit of trouble working with the pizza dough because my yeast was too cold. For some odd reason I thought I needed to keep the yeast in the fridge BUT turns out that doesnt do anything. Three times I tried making the pizza dough but the yeast wasnt activating and finally I took it out and let it warm up and it worked!

Overall I had an amazing, productive Friday! My usual Fridays as lounging around, drinking coffee all day and trying to the find the motivation to do something but not this past Friday! Also since I sprained my ankle pretty bad in my basketball game on Thursday I was hobbling in the kitchen all day yesterday. I wasnt going to let a little pain stop me from being awesome!

I also in the process of making of King Salmon fish bag holders. Heres a sample of one. You put your recycle bags in the tail and pull them out from the mouth! They are brilliant!

Tomorrow will be another productive day! But I will most definately be spending more time in the great outdoors. We had an amazing day of snow, snow, snow! So I cant wait to try out my skis for the first time this year .