Confessions of a Beach Mama: My battle against sand in my house, it's endless!

My family and I live in a beautiful beach town. It amazing. Check out some of my recent pictures below. But what comes with a beach town besides tourists? Sand. Lots and lots of sand. Sand on my floors. Sand in my car. Sand in my washer and dryer. Sand in my couch cushions. Sand in my garage. Sand in our shoe bin. Sand in all of my daughter's stuff.

The beach is just minutes from our house and it's a wonder that we leave any sand there! But, I wouldn't change it for the world, even if I will forever be cleaning. I feel truly blessed by our church and our ministry here. I love being a beach mama.

Have a blessed week.

God Bless.

Behind again and a Review.

My blog is getting neglected terribly with my job. Here's a quick recap of the things we have been through in the last two months.

• Our daughter had a terrible cough and a double ear infection.
• We then found out she had a wheat allergy that was making her asthma worse. (Apparently wheat allergies can thicken the lining in the lungs and greatly affect asthma)
• We all went gluten free.
• I had bronchitis.
• Our daughter graduated preschool.
• My aunt from CA and my uncle from AK visited us for a week.
• We had Destin's Week of Blessings.

I was also asked to do a review that I totally forgot to post. On the bright side to that I have had plenty of time to use it. ToiletTree Products contacted me to ask me to review their bag. I was given a bag with TSA approved bottles. I have not flown with the bag yet but I have taken it to and from work since I sometimes shower at work after runs. The bag has worked out great. Here are two pictures of the bag.

The inside of the top part of the bag. Still has plenty of room.

Bottom zippered portion with TSA approved bottles.

The bag has been a great addition to my run bag. It holds everything I need to shower at work and pack it up neatly. My only complaint is that the bottles are a little stiff which makes them hard to squeeze. All around it a great bag.

Sorry, it's been so long. I will try to do better.

Have a blessed week

**All opinions are my own, I was not paid for this review**

Catching up and Goals.

Once again I'm seriously behind on my blog. Let me catch everyone (well, if anyone reads this!) up to speed. We moved to Destin FL and I got a job! I'm so excited to tell you about my job too. My job is a sales associate at Run With It in Fort Walton Beach. Yup, I got a running related job. And it was a total God thing too. I had just come from a preschool job interview, I knew that I was going to get offered the job but I didn't want it. The center is not where I wanted to work but I needed a job. I stopped at Run With It on my way home to pick up some Nuun and walked out with Nuun and a job. It was such a huge blessing. Things are looking up for this year. I can already feel it.

Last year most of my goals were not met. But that will not stop me from making goals for this year. I do better when I have actual written goals.

Running/Exercise Related Goals:

• Run 500 Miles. I pulled back my miles goal for the year because I'm still trying to get back into the non-injured routine again.
• Run at least 4 times a week.
• Run at least one half marathon. I was originally hoping for two but I just don't know if that will happen. I will be thrilled if it does though.
• Run the Sunset Stampeded in Navarre Beach FL.

Non-Running Related Goals

• Read through the Bible in a year. My wonderful husband found me a great app for my phone to read my Bible in a year. Here is the web version.
• Read 52+ books. I have been doing this one for the last three years. It's one of my favorite pastimes besides baking.

I raced my first race of the 2014 season this past weekend. I raced the Lucky Leprechaun 5k in Fort Walton. I even had the pleasure of doing it with two Oiselle ambassadors. I ran most of the 5k with Jo-Ana while Atha raced the 10k.

It's gonna be a great year. I can feel it!

God Bless.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

It's January 18th and I'm so behind. This is my first post after my 2013 recap! I haven't even posted my 2014 goals. Well, I haven't posted my goals because I am not totally done writing them and I spent the last week in California visiting my family and friends. 

Big changes are coming again for the Miller family. We will soon to be on the move again. We are heading back to Florida. We will make our new home in Destin FL at the end of the month. My husband will be an Associate Priest at Immanuel Anglican Church. I'm still job hunting but hopefully something will pan out soon.

Here are some fun facts that will remain the same for this year:

• I'm still a wife. That's kind of a given though and so is the next one :)
• I'm still a mother to one beautiful little redheaded five year old girl.
• I'm still an Oiselle runner. Check me out here (but it will soon say in FL).
• I'm still an Esprit de She race ambassador but this year I will be running the 10K in Atlanta GA. Sign up to run with me here.
• I'm still a Girls Gone Sporty ambassador.
• I'm still a Sweat Pink ambassador.
• I'm still a KindRunner ambassador.
• I'm still Road Id affiliate. Click on one of the links in the side bar!
• I'm still baking a way. Check out my facebook page here.

New for this year:

• I'm a Color Run blogger. Use the code COLOR5OFF to get $5 off your registration. **Code must be typed in, not copied and pasted.**

I hope to get my goals posted soon, but they may not happen before we move. I'm dreading the move part but at least we are using a moving company this time and they will do most of the work.

God Bless.

2013 Victories and Failures

Here are my 2013 goals. I failed pretty miserably at most of them, but you know what? I'm not a failure. Life happens and that's ok.

 Running/Fitness Related Goals:

1. Run 825+ miles 400+ miles FAILED. I ran 344. An injury plagued year makes it rough on the mileage goal.
2. Run 13+ races, with at least 2 of those being half marathons. (See my little badge on the side with the 13 in 2013?!) COMPLETED! With a mixture of real races and virtual races that I ran on my own.
3. Run The Inagural Nike Women's Half in DC. COMPLETED!
4. Pace a friend for her first 5k. COMPLETED!
5. Run Monument Ave 10k. Attended a wedding that day.
6. Do trigger point therapy at least twice a week. (Don't know what trigger point is, check it out here.) FAILED! I really need to get on this one.
7. 500+ crunches a week. FAILED! After we moved I just forgot.
8. 500+ lunges a week. FAILED! See #7
9. 5+ mins total of wall sits a week. FAILED! See #7
10. 1+ day of cross training at the YMCA a week. FAILED! This got nixed after I made the switch from being a nanny to a secretary. I couldn't attend the class I really like anymore, I need to find another one.

Non Fitness Related Goals:

1. Teach my daughter at least half of the Nicene Creed. (Don't know what the Nicene Creed is? It is a statement of our Christian faith. You can read it here, we use the modern version.) FAILED! We were waiting for an update on the prayers we use so I decided not to confuse her. But she has successfully mastered The Gloria.
2. Read 52+ books. FAILED! I read 23. I have been baking more than reading. I baked 42 different orders this year, WOW that just blew my own mind. Here is my list:

      The Duck Commander Family W & K Robertson
The Passage J. Cronin
Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the Hidden Power of Adversity D. Brees
Running Tips: Ready to Run! R. Edwards
False Pretenses: A Novel (Secrets of Roux River Bayou) K. Herman
The Light Between Oceans M.L. Stedman
The Run (Running Suspense Series) D. Strong
McKenzie P. Zeller
The Notebook N. Sparks
Bloom K. Hampton
Wings A. Pike
Wild C. Strayed
Peace Like a River L. Engel
The Kitchen House K. Grissom
The Cold Dish C. Johnson
The Longest Ride N. Sparks
Dogs Aren’t Men B. Tiner
Until Forever D. Shortridge
Blue Moon Bay L. Wingate
Falling in Love S. Williams
Fireflies in December J. Valent
The Pastor’s Family B & C Croft
Bridge to Happiness J. Barnett

1. Teach my daughter our phone number. COMPLETED! This one was mostly accomplished by her preschool, but hey it's done. (Sorry for the renumbering, I had issues!)
2. Read my Bible and devotional 3+ times a week. (This one I struggle with from year to year, some years I rock it and others I don't. I struggled last year.) SOMEWHAT COMPLETE. I go back and forth but I'm better than I was.

I'm not happy that I failed at so many of my goals but that's life. I try to stay positive in all aspects of my life. I'm happy that my calf injury was fairly minor, even if did make me take seven long weeks off of running. I'm happy that my family has been healthy this year (minus my husband's bout wih food poisoning while he was away on a clergy retreat). I'm so thankful for all of my cake and cupcake clients. I have so many things to be thankful for even if I didn't accomplish my goals. 

I also had some great accomplishments this year.

• I was chosen to represent Oiselle as part of their race team. See my profile here.
• I raced Esprit de She Cary 10k as a race ambassador.
• I got muddy with Pretty Muddy as a race ambassador. 
• I raced my second half marathon.
• I baked for a wedding this year. That's a first for me!

 I'm truly blessed even if I didn't accomplish all my goals.

May God bless you as we start the new year.  

Color Run 2014

The Color Run 2014 is kicking off with a new tour. It's called the Kaleidoscope Tour.

 It will include some new fun perks. Here are some of the perks each registered participant receives:

• T-Shirt
• Headband
• Wrist Band
• Sling bag

You will also enjoy fun fresh music and crazy color attractions. It's bound to be a blast.

Check out the new updated website. Register using the code COLOR5OFF (type it in, don't copy and paste!) and you will get $5 off your registration. Also, check back soon for a Color Run related giveaway.

God Bless! (And Merry Christmas!!)

C is for CUPCAKES!

I have been making cupcakes like a madwoman. Maybe that is why my blog has gotten so neglected. Here are some of my latest creations.

My daughter's 5th! Red Velvet Cupcakes with Pink Old Fashioned Boiled Icing and Rainbow Sprinkles.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream and sparkling sugar.

Candy Corn inspired cupcakes.

Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream and Spider Mix Sprinkles.

So proud of this little beauty!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese.

More Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese.

Can you guess my most popular seller?

There you have it! Cupcakes are running my house :) And I have five dozen to create this evening. 

God Bless.