One Little Word: Memories

 Chances are, unless you have been living under a social media rock, you've heard of Ali Edwards and her idea of choosing "One little word" to live by for the upcoming year. 

Last year was the first year I chose a word, and I chose a very appropriate word for a new mama. My word was embrace. I wanted to embrace all the new changes headed my way...and embrace my sweet little baby :) While the transition to motherhood was far from smooth, I think I did my best to embrace the good...along with the not so good :) #SleepDeprivationAnyone I also excelled at literally embracing my sweet boy! 2017 was filled with its fair share of snuggles, and you won't hear me complaining! 

For 2018, I wanted to choose a word that would not only challenge me...but benefit me ;) I thought long and hard about the different words I could choose...and to be honest, I almost scrapped the whole idea altogether..and then...it hit me. My word...while not a common one in the "one little word" community, is a word that fits, it fits the stage of life we are in perfectly, and provides me an opportunity to push myself to learn something new.

Memories...what a perfect word for the mama is who is so desperately trying to freeze time. These last 10 months have gone by in the blink of an eye, and have been filled with so many memories and moments that I will forever treasure. So many pictures, so many videos, so many adventures...

and the best part? This is just the beginning. 

Becoming a mom has been the single greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I always knew I wanted to be a mom...but until Bennett was born, I didn't realize how much I needed to be a mom. 

This little boy has brought such joy to our lives. We often sit and talk after he has gone to bed and wonder what we did before him. 

He is our constant entertainment and the reason I look forward to waking up in the morning. Spending time with him and his daddy is a treasure and while these moments are fleeting...it's only because they are so special.

So this year, I vow to make memories my focus. I want to create them, capture them, and treasure them. 

To do this I have a few things I plan to do...

1) I am using the 1 second every day app to create a video of our 365 days in 2018. If you have never heard of this app or used it, I urge you to download it to your phone immediately. It is super easy to use and even after just a month I am thrilled with the memories we have captured. 

It is going to be so fun in December to look back at all the fun we had and how much Benny has changed over the last 365 days. 

2) I am FINALLY learning to use my DSLR camera. I purchased my Nikon D3300 2 years ago and had yet to shoot in manual mode. I was am overwhelmed with all the buttons and settings. However, if I am capturing memories of my family...I want these photos to be great.

My plan for this is to learn as much as I can through YouTube Videos, blog posts, and possibly take a class or a course. 

3) Through learning to use my camera, I am also participating in Project 365, where I will be taking one photo a day, every day. I have done this in the past, but the majority of my photos were food...this time around it's all about Benny :) I'm hoping as I get better with my camera I will be able to capture more than just portraits of my cute little model...but we shall see :) 

Capturing all these memories is great...but what do I plan to do with the pictures? Well I am glad you asked...

4) I will be creating photo books and albums, first up is finishing Bennett's baby book and I hope to blog more and record some of the little moments that mean so much to me. There are so many things that Benny does, so many fun days and moments that I swear I will never forget...but 18 years from now my brain will likely be pretty full :)

I have also created an Instagram page to document my photo taking journey...and all the cute photos our sweet boy! At the end of this year I am hoping to create a photo album filled with these 365 photos :)

So there you have it...my New Year's Resolution for 2018! I have a feeling this will be my favorite one yet...although I think I have said that every year :) 

New Year; New Goals

It has been a hot minute since I have talked about running on the ol' blog...and if we are being honest it's been awhile since I have talked about anything other than my sweet little guy. 

 

People aren't lying when they tell you life is all about your kids once you become a mom...and I have to tell you I don't mind one bit :) 

While life has been #AllAboutBenny since before he was even born, I have still managed to make running a big part of my life. Running has been important to me for years, and while I am not putting in near as many miles as I was pre-baby, running still plays a really important role in my life. 

Many people assume that I run to stay in shape...and while that is a perk of it, I run more for my mental well being. Running gives me an outlet for life's every day stresses and since having Bennett it has given me something that is all my own. 

Life changed drastically (for the better of course) when he was born, and for several weeks after I struggled with feeling like myself. Returning to running and training for the Gobbler Grind marathon allowed me to grab onto a little piece of my old life, and while at times it wasn't easy, it was so worth it when I crossed that finish line.

I knew going into 2018 I wanted to set some running goals, but I also wanted to be realistic and not put too much pressure on myself. Running a postpartum marathon was a feeling like no other, but the pressure (and early mornings) of training for 26.2 was a lot. 

4 years ago I signed up for my very first half marathon as a part of the Heartland 39.3 series. I ran my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd half-marathons all within 5 weeks of each other. It was a lofty goal at the time, but it was so satisfying. Since that first year I have since run that same series 2 more times. Last year I had Bennett and couldn't run in the series but promised myself I would do it again in 2018 as a "comeback" 

As I started getting the emails about registration for Heartland 39.3 I started to second guess myself. While I wanted to run these 3 races, I also didn't want to put the pressure of training for 3 half marathons on my plate. I then thought about just doing one of the races...but again wasn't sure I wanted to train for a half at all.

While looking at the Garmin half I noticed there was a 10k series with 4-10ks in 5 weeks all being held close to my house. For the first time in awhile I got really excited about a race(s) and decided that THIS would be my running goal for the spring. 

Not only do I want to run the 4-10ks, but I want to get a 10k PR. I am not 100% sure what my 10k PR is since I have only ran a handful of them...but I think it is around 50 minutes.

I'm really looking forward to training for a shorter distance than normal. This will allow me to focus on getting some speed back and long training runs won't take over my life ;) 

I'm only making a goal for the spring...and once those races are over I will reevaluate. I am thinking I might want to run a half this fall...but who knows. I'm just doing life by the seat of my pants these days ;)