Playtime

I would like to play with someone today. Who will it be? As a bunny, playing with just anyone isn't what I want. I have to find the perfect playmate.

I like all sorts of friends and I like to play many different games.

Today, I don't want to play with just anyone. I want to play with someone like me. I am furry. I have a fuzzy tail. I have long ears. I hop. I like to play in fields. 

I have to find someone who is like me. Most of my friends are different. Even though they are all nice, they are just not like me.

Who will I play with today?

Keep coming back. There is more to come.

Where Would a Bunny Live?

If you were a bunny, where would you like to live?

I believe that a cute, little, fuzzy, cotton tail, bunny would like to live in a beautiful green meadow.  This meadow would be beautifully and naturally spotted with a variety of colored wildflowers.  The meadow would be a medium sized meadow so that it doesn't feel too big for a small bunny.

The edges of the meadow, I can see, would be lined with a collection of oak trees.  These trees would provide some shelter from storms and shade on the hottest of days.  A bunny could relax and stretch out in the shade along the side of the meadow beneath the outreaching arms of the trees.  This is comforting to a little bunny.

A bunny could nibble on grass all over the meadow and have plenty of space so she wouldn't be in the way of other bunnies.

If I were a bunny, in a beautiful, lush, green, perfect sized meadow, I would call it Springer Meadow.


To hear more about Springer Meadow and the sweet little bunny, you'll have to come back and read my next post.

December Rocks?

The Christmas season is so busy. The whole month of December is chock full of events and things to do. The month started, on December 1, with Mimi and Grandpapa babysitting our youngest daughter while my husband and I competed in the 2011 GPA World's Benchpress/Powerlifting Competition. It was a very eventful day.

My husband broke and set a new benchpress world record for men's 75 Kg, Master group. He lifted well. He lifted all three attempts and tried again to break the world record with a fourth attempt. He missed that lift but still holds the record. He settled in with 130 Kg. He will hold the record until someone else can beat it or he can beat it himself in the upcoming year.

I broke and set a new benchpress world record for women's 52 Kg, Submaster group. My first two lifts went well but i missed my third attempt. I personally believe that the third attempt should push your limits and mine definitely did. It was so close, I could taste it. However, I will have to settle for a world record of 40 Kg for now. That was my goal for this year. I plan to break the record again in the upcoming year.  My lifts secured the Master Women's Benchpress Best Lifter Award. That makes five in a row!

A side benefit to our competition and through Stonger Than Hunger; we took pledges to benefit our local food pantry. So far, we have collected about $300 for them.

December 2. All home Christmas decorations complete. Blog written.    

December 3rd. Breakfast with Santa. This will be fun. Pancakes, maybe even with chocolate chips. Pictures with Santa. The girls will share their wish list with Santa and decide what they wish for the most. From there we will go to pick up a very large pre-purchased Christmas gift and bring it home. From that point, I hope to go down and watch some of our friends compete in the full powerlifting competition for GPA World's 2011. We love to support our friends.

December 5th. Missions Meeting at our church.

December 6th. Hair appointment. Gonna get a new hair do.

December 8th. HOA meeting. Local Ardetri event. details...

December 9th. Holiday Celebration at our oldest daughter's school.

December 10th. Birthday Party.

December 11. Coming Home For Christmas.  This is a Christmas celebration at our church.

December 12. Dentist appointment for our oldest daughter.

December 13. Our youngest daughter's Christmas program.

December 15. Our youngest daughter's class Christmas party. Longest Night service at our church.

December 18. Our church's Christmas Cantata performed by our Chancel Choir.  I love being a part of the choir.

December 19 - January 3. Our girls are on Christmas break from school. This adds to the already busy days that I will have.

December 24th. Children's Christmas performance and later the adult Christmas Eve service.

December 25th. We will celebrate Jesus's birth. The madness will begin with our children tearing into gifts from Santa and making a mess all over the house. We will have a church service to worship as one large family and then we will celebrate with our family.

There will be many other things going on during the month such as; Sunday school parties, luncheons meetings, homework, baking, shopping, oh, and work. This month, we will definitely be hanging on as a very busy family.

When it is all said and done, this is a very family oriented month so, at the end of every day, I can look forward to my husband walking trough the door and hanging out with our very busy family.  

Defending Title at World's Competition

We are home from the APC National Powerlifting Competition. It was a long trip to and back from Peoria, Illinois. 12.5 hours in the car can wear a person out.

My husband and I went up on Thursday to get settled in our hotel. We had to weigh in to determine our weight class. We both weighed in matching our previous weight classes. My husband competed in the 75kg class and I competed in the 52kg class.

After weigh in we went to watch the Women's and Teen's Full Meet (squat, benchpress, deadlift). It was very entertaining and got us geared up for our competition. After watching the Lightweight and Junior's Men on Saturday morning, we competed in the benchpress only competition that was held on Saturday afternoon.

Everyone was so supportive. It is still pretty intimidating to lift with men who press 400 and 500 pounds. Still, they cheered me on for every lift. I was able to break the current National and World records with my second lift. I am thrilled! Having had only six weeks to train between the Georgia State competition and Nationals, I wasn't sure if I would be able to break the records. I only broke the record by 0.5 Kilograms but, I did it!

So the results are: My husband won his class by tying his National and World records, qualifying him to compete in the GPA World Powerlifting Competition in December. I won my class and also won Women's Best Lifter in the Benchpress. I also qualified to compete in the World Competition in December. I also won the Women's Best Lifter award, beating out a very strong 200 lb girl. The winner is determined by running our lifts through a complicated coefficient formula designed to equalize the results after factoring in age and bodyweight. I guess that makes me strong for my size.

With six months to train until the World Competition, we should make some great gains. I am hoping to set new records.

In the mean time, we will take our family on an upcoming vacation for some very much need R&R. During this time, I won't have to wait for him to walk through the door every day after work. He will be with us all week and it will be great!

In celebration of our wins, Stronger Than Hunger is offering 20% off on all merchandise at www.strongerthanhunger.com. Use PEORIA as the discount code. Remember, profits from the sales are donated to the Southeast Gwinnett Cooperative Ministry for hunger relief. You may also make pledges there for the World Competition in December, 2011. Also, please follow our training and hunger relief efforts on our Stronger Than Hunger on Facebook page or @Strngrthanhngr on Twitter.

Juggling Babysitters

Shewf..... What a busy day!

After getting my oldest daughter off to school, I worked on the laundry a little. It seems to be on a conveyer belt that is never ending. After a little of that, my youngest daughter and I headed off to the local Kroger.

This was not a regular grocery shopping trip. Today, we had to buy stuff for the monthly United Methodist Men's meeting/dinner that was held tonight. We got sweet and unsweet tea, rolls, "tater" salad, a chocolate pudding cake, and a Louisiana Crunch pudding cake. This is dangerous for me. I wanted to snatch the cover off and bury my face in the cake right there in the bakery section of Kroger. I would have gladly walked out of that store with icing dripping from my nose and chin. I guess that will have to wait until after our National APC benchpress competition coming up next weekend. I will very much enjoy what ever I want to eat after we have completed the weigh-in for the competition.

Side note: remember to send up some prayers that our competition goes well in Illinois. You could always go to www.strongerthanhunger.com and make a pledge. Monies collected go to the Southeast Gwinnett Cooperative Ministry.

After shopping, we were off to the church to put our goods in the refrigerator at the church. I wanted to get it done early because I knew there wouldn't be enough time later in the afternoon.

Back home we go to have a little early lunch. My daughter had to be at the sitter's house by 12:45 so I could attend a 1:00 meeting back at the church. Thank you Susan, for being my last minute babysitting savior. I don't know what I would do without friends like you!

This meeting ran a little over one and a half hours. I wrapped up the meeting and ran to pick up my daughter. On our 5 minute drive home, she fell asleep in the car. A nap is a good thing for her. Just as I laid her on the couch after arriving home, her Mimi and Grandpwapaw show up and ring the door bell. I had told them to be here at 3:30 after they agreed yesterday to babysit the girls so I could attend a 4:00 meeting at the church. In their typical fashion, they were at least 30 minutes early. Luckily, my daughter slept until her sister got home from school. It was about 45 minutes: a short nap, it's usually longer.

So, my oldest daughter gets off the bus and it is a mad dash for me to get back to the church for my 4:00 meeting. Luckily, we held this meeting to just a few minutes over an hour. Here I go, back home to pick up the girls and run pick up the chicken trays at Walmart for the UMM meeting. Yes, more food. It's not dinner for men unless there is meat involved. The "Wing Ding Chicken Thing" included a variety of chicken items for the men to munch on.

The grandparents agreed to stay with the girls while I went to pick up the trays at Walmart. It was a GREAT thing because a storm had blown in and I got soaked from the heavy sideways blowing rain returning to my car and loading the trays in the back. I was walking – no, wading – through two inches of water in my slightly raised sandal pump shoes. I don't even want to think of how this would have gone having the girls with me. Thank you Mimi and Grandpawpaw!

Now, on my way back to the church to deliver the trays to my husband who leads the UMM meetings. Luckily, the rain had slowed down to a light rain so I could get the trays inside. So, now I can go back home and relieve the grandparents from babysitting.

After saying goodbye to the grandparents, we fixed a quick dinner for us girls since dad was at the meeting. We finished dinner and sat down on the couch together to finish watching the movie, Peter Pan, that my youngest had been watching earlier. The cable was temporarily out so finishing the movie was the only option I offered besides going to bed early. The movie ended right at 8:00. Bedtime! Jammers, teeth brushing, night-night prayers. All done and girls in bed.

Now, can I relax? I decided to right down my days events and thoughts so I grabbed the computer and stared typing. I never know how it will end up.

Here I am, after four trips to the church, two trips to the store, getting two girls fed and in bed, and a husband gone for the UMM meeting, I sit here on the couch all by myself wishing he were here to snuggle with me. He should be home in just a few minutes and I can't wait because I love it when he walks through the door.

New Ventures....

I have unleashed my creativity! Since I seem to be creative, I have decided to put my creativity to good use. Ardetri has been born. This is my new shop for handcrafted jewelry. I can create custom designs as well as sell any items that I have already made. If you would like to shop, just click on this link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ardetri. If you don't find something you like, keep checking back. There is more coming soon.

It is so fun to sit down and work on a bunch of tiny pieces and watch them turn into something beautiful. Who knew that I would have beads and chain running out of my ears? It is also fun to design a special piece for someone. To collaborate with someone and put our ideas together can turn out some amazing pieces.

My latest venture is making jewelry pieces that can be worn with UGA (University of Georgia) sport wear. Who says you don't need a little bling at a football game? Most Bulldog fans are die hards who like to support the team any way they can. This line of jewelry allows them to do that even when they are not wearing Bulldog sport wear. I will post some pictures in a few days.

I also have a new line in the works but, I am going to keep it a secret until I am ready to unveil it so, I guess you will have to keep an eye out. It is something you can't get anywhere else. Stay tuned for more information on this.

It is so nice to have a supportive husband who allows me to do this. He probably gets tired of me holding up a new piece of jewelry and asking "What do ya think?" Even so, I love it when he walks in the door after a hard day at work and amuses me. Sometimes I even get a "Honey, you do a good job." Thanks, Beebs!

On To Nationals!

Yes. I realize it has been a while since I have written a blog entry. I have let life's happenings take over and not taken the time to write about them. I need to be better about it.

My husband and I have been training for the Georgia State Powerlifting and Bench Press Championships. We have had four months to train for this competition. For me, training was very successful. The story is a little different for my husband. He has battled sickness and a shoulder injury.

The competition was held on April 9th. When we arrived at the competition, we first checked to see the flight list. As always, they listed me first. This is always scary because the first lift can set the precedent for all following lifters. Thankfully, the press command came quickly. I had intentionally trained with a delay before pressing the weight up. Believe me, it made a difference. I was able to press my first lift with ease. 77 pounds does not sound like much weight but I represents a personal best for me. With this lift, I broke the records I set during the World Competition. At this point, I called the competition a success for myself. I had beaten my own record. I ran over to the announcer's table and recorded my next attempt. 82.5 pounds. Yep, I was going to do it or die. At the conclusion of the first round, it was my turn to start the second round. I ran up on the platform, lay myself down on the bench and look up at my husband. I give him the signal and he lifts the bar off to me. I bring the bar down to my chest and listen for the "press" command. Again, thank goodness, it was quick. I pushed up the weight with not much of a problem. Just a little strain but nonetheless it went up. Again, I broke my records! At this point, no matter what else happened the rest of the day, I was thrilled. I was not able to press my last weight. 88 pounds was just a little more than my arms were ready for, but don't worry, I will get there.

With my last lift, I won the sub-master, 52Kg weight class. This secured a spot at the National Competition in Peoria, Illinois.

My husband's day was a little off, but he was able to win his class as well and secure a spot in the National Competition. Yay! We get to compete together again.

The National Competition is the first weekend of June. It will be here before we know it. We only have seven weeks to train. This is a very fast turn around, especially if you have a goal to set records. I guess, first and foremost, I should concentrate on winning my class again. If we are able win at the National Competition, we will secure a spot in the World Competition in December.

Tonight, I attended a board meeting for our local food pantry that provides food and needed monetary help to many families with children. I am very excited about a new program that will be beginning soon. Many school aged children will be able to have a daily meal during the summer months through Must Ministries. The Southeast Gwinnett Cooperative Ministry will be working with Must Ministries and many local churches to make this a successful program.

After attending the meeting, I came home to find my husband getting our girls ready for bed. He is a wonderful husband to help out when needed and allow me to be involved in worthwhile causes. I love him for it. I don't know if he feels the same when I come home after a meeting or something, but as always, I love it when he comes home and walks through the door.