Cartoon App

On our Buy Nothing Group on facebook someone said they got a 3 day free trial of an app that converts photos into 3D cartoons and she offered to do some for us. 

I sent her some photos and she made these for me. 

It was really hard to even find pictures that would work of just one person and then on facebook you had to scroll back to the date and I could not just open my favorites photo or anything. But it was really nice to have these done. The one of Dave was actually in a group shot and I didn't ask her to do it but she did anyway. 

I don't know why they are cropped so close to the head. The ones she used to show us what she did, did not crop off any part of the person's head. 

Hike 6/9/21

We hiked with Beth, Gio, and Abree. After a year of doing nothing with anyone it was so nice to be out. We both forgot to use sunscreen. The kids loved climbing on rocks. I predicted early on right when my kids would get fed up and not want to walk and I was right. (Once we passed where we could have parked but didn't they really didn't want to do it.) It sure is nice having a stroller to hold all the waters and snacks. 

I made the video compilation of all live photos and then 1 video. I didn't even take any videos but it's nice that you can make a video out of live videos. 

#itsmomchallenge comparison

I am doing a challenge again this year. I did it in May of 2019. Then I unofficially did it in May 2020. I hope to do an entire post or 2 of all the photos but I never get to anything anymore.  Here are a couple things I have pictures of multiple years. 

I'm always late at Liam's yearly photos so his 1 year and 2 year photos both landed in May. 

Here I have 3 years of running photos. 2019 and 2020 were in July but I got some in May this time. 

I spun Miles. I have to say I felt like it was so much harder this time around!

I really like comparing. Maybe I should try to get us doing the same things and then find my old ones for more. 

5k - 30 Day Breakaway

I did all the 30 Day Breakaway runs and was surprised how much my speed had improved. I did a 5k at the end. I kind of wished I just did a 5k at the start to see the full improvement. My previous 5k times I have are just 5k splits.

My plan is to do all of the runs again and then do another 5k for time after. I am also trying to increase my weekend miles and having trouble finding time to run so we shall see how it goes. 

I feel like my times would be better if I ran with anyone too. 

I started putting the overall distance and time on my table because I noticed the last few miles would always bring up my average to having a faster pace. I wanted to show that. 

 

I often wish Garmin would have personal bests by year. I have some race PRs listed when I check but they are way back almost 10 years ago! 

12-Minute Run

A few months ago I heard there is a 12-Minute Run you can do for time. You do a 10-20 minute warmup and then do the 12 minute run. Well, of course, I had to start doing that periodically. I can't believe I improved by so much. I was going so fast for me that at 8 minutes I couldn't believe I still had 4 minutes to go! My garmin popped up with a notification of fastest mile on the run. I can't find that in personal records on the app anywhere.  In ~6 weeks I'll do this run again.  You can calculate how you do based on it but I just compare myself to myself. 

I also do a bechmark run where I run .25 fast after .5 warmup. I keep track of a few  5k splits too! 

I need to stop injuring myself so I can keep improving. 

What other thing should I start doing  and then comparing over time?

4/28/21 instastories

Liam is always so excited by Poly. Liam got into the K Cups and organized them. Liam doesn't like to get out of the car and likes to play all around. 

I ran while Ella biked. We did 30 day breakaway. I liked this workout.  Dave was on a walk with Liam at this time. 

I took photos of Liam outside practicing with my camera.  I used my DSLR and my phone.  Liam splashed me. 

Liam and Ella played with lids. 

I took the kids to the park on the way home.  The arrows at the school are so weird. 

We made lemonade. I gave someone something and she gave me lemons as a thank you.  I took video but haven't looked at it yet. Here are a few screen shots. 

4/14/21 and some of 4/13/21 instastories

Liam thinks he can do whatever and just rides his bike.

I ran late at night to get my steps for my step bet. 

The light was on in the kids room and I went in. They were asleep in the same bed.  Miles's leg hurt so he didn't want to climb his ladder. 

Happy Birthday Liam. 
Compression socks selfie. Liam and Miles posed with me on their own. I didn't like the selfie so I took one with my phone in the tripod versus just being propped. 

I showed Liam his birthday video from last year. He loved it. He watched it a few times. Only 3 people said happy first birthday so it's fine. 

I was at preschool for a meeting. Since Liam is now 2 he could visit the 2s classroom. He didn't even care about me or need me over there with him. I can't wait until he actually starts school.  All day I'd ask him about preschool and he'd be so excited. 

I started #mbfa again. I also started with Day 3 again this time.  I wish I had 17s like some people have. 20s were tough and 15s were too easy. My arms were toast by the end. 

Liam put on Dave's shoes. 

We had ice cream cake for Liam's birthday. We took our yearly photo in front of the cake. Liam was so happy to be sung to.  Liam opened a few presents. He loves the gifts and so does Miles. 

I have been doing step bets for a long time. I can't believe I've been doing so long. They are fun and sometimes more challenging than I want but it gives me something extra to track. 

4-22-21 instastories

Miles was still upstairs so I asked him to go get the gray masks I just washed. I forgot to bring them down. I thought I was very specific saying that they were by my desk on my desk chair but he claimed he couldn't find them. I go up and they were right where I said. 

Liam just uses the piano as a step stool. 

Miles is obsessed with the swings.

Liam was miserable with teething. Nothing was fun for him. I ended up taking him for a run. I meant to run consistently but as I warmed up I just naturally went faster. 

Liam was so cute before nap in bed.

Miles and Liam were silly and Miles kept sitting on Liam. 

My monthly goals are a bit inconsistent. I'm ahead on some and behind on some.

4/18/21 instastories

 If I don't record myself drinking my energize, then it takes me 20 minutes to drink it. I much prefer 15 seconds. I don't post it all the time when I chug it and record it.

I ran almost 4 miles. The second half was rough. I did Day 15 and Day 16 of 30 Day Breakaway. I really am enjoying the guided runs. If I could do my own interval timer to do a few different settings than what I do normally.  I feel like my speed is improving a lot. I enjoy looking at the pace and heart rate afterwards when I do intervals. It's so much more fun.

Liam opened the cupboard made himself a hat and then kept hitting me with it. 

Dave cleaned his car and we swapped car seats a little.  We let Liam go for a ride in Miles's car seat for a ride around the block. Liam was not so happy when I took him out of the car. 

I'm trying to take my picture everyday in the compression socks. I have missed a few outfits when I changed my clothes after a workout. 

Once it was shady we washed Dave's car.   Liam played. Liam found a small puddle and jumped in it.

4-23-21 instastories

Miles chose his bow and arrow we got on Buy Nothing to use for his sharing for school. We used to send pictures but now he likes to send a video. I went for a run when Dave took Liam for a walk. I passed him too close to home so I had to cut my run short.  I forgot to take a pic of my outfit before my run but then I took a photo after I changed my clothes. 

Liam helped pump up the ball.  Later he helped bring in groceries.  Then we went on the swing.  While waiting for Ella's friend, Ella shot baskets. I made my very first shot so she was so excited.   Ella's friend came over and we made necklaces outside in the backyard.  

5k Splits

I decided periodically to mark down my time at 5k.  I was going to do this about once a month but then I did it every couple weeks. It's hard because I have to actually see the watch at 5k. I can't figure out how to find the distance at the exact time later in the app. I used to be able to but they changed things about 10 years ago.  I added some columns because I kept doing a negative split so the second half of my run would have had a better 5k split.  So here's the stats since I started documenting it. I also found 2 old ones to put in too. 

Just now I noticed I got 5 minutes better since my August 5k. Even now when I head out I think I'll hit 40 minutes and I try for 37ish as I play bonus seconds in my head.   10 years ago I was 10 minutes better than my current!

I wish I could automatically track different things. Everything I do is pretty manual! I use 2 apps but they don't give me enough information 

Benchmark Runs

I started trying to do 1 benchmark run a month since Beth told me about them. I couldn't do the exact splits she does but then learned the method I do is also one the internet says exists too. I jog .5 mi then run .25 mi as fast as I can. That .25 is the benchmark time I mark down. Then I cooldown about a half mile or so.  The cooldown distance is just the distance to home! 

I used to do a cool graphic in canva but then I didn't have all the times in one place. More recently I typed in the details into a google sheet.  Then I added overall run pace and distance. My warmup and cooldown used to be much slower.  Then I added some notes about my injuries. 

Sometimes I run in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, sometimes with a stroller, sometimes without, sometimes in the shade, sometimes in the sun so it's not a perfect comparison. Also the courses vary. 

Nerd: Exercise Dashboard

I'm a nerd. I started keeping track of my monthly goals. Then I found it too difficult to just guess how far I was through the month so I knew if I was on track or not so I added a column at the right. But that still wasn't so fun.  I also had made a dashboard for the end of every month what percent I did for completing each goal. Well now I went and automatically calculated percent through the month based on current date and I know my progress!  It's so fun. 

I just need to figure out how to automatically update what sheet I'm pulling data from based on what month it is. Also I kind of don't like it that I cant see what the actual goal was each month but then it's too busy. (I started adding my injuries at the bottom for quick reference. 

March Exercise Goals

In March I made my monthly goals. I met them all! I met them all with a few days to spare then I still did more.  I increased my push-up and sit-up goals from February but I had decreased my number of runs from 12 to 11 since I had hoped to run longer runs so then I wouldn't get out there as much to run.

I get so many workouts because I really hold myself to trying to complete the beachbody programs and so then I'm less likely to skip. It helps that Beth is doing the same programs with me.

I was very tired by the end of the month so I kept all my goals the same for April.

1st Haircut

Liam got his first haircut. He sat in a chair and wasn't buckled in.  Liam wasn't buckled in. He stayed in his seat the entire time. I was surprised.  Liam moved his head a lot so it took longer than it could have. 

The video quality doesn't seem that good but it's still fun to watch.

Haircut (4.5.21)

Some of Liam's hair has been getting long and then getting all over the place. Some of his hair doesn't grow at all yet in the front.  Today I asked him if he wanted a haircut and he said "yeah" so I gave him one. 

He moved his head a lot. It's not the best cut. Liam wanted to be buckled in. Ella did not want me to cut his hair and she got annoying. She also kept distracting him and getting him to turn his head. 

#mbfa March 2021

I did #mbfa after completing 2 rounds of #mbf. I did injure my hip so had some mobility issues. But I shocked myself how strong I got. I could go heavier on weights than I did in September when I did this program the last time because I own heavier weights now. But I definitely went even heavier than I would have the last time. 

I didn't write about each day as I did it. I did it with Beth. We both took 3.5 weeks to complete it on purpose. We both wanted to run a longer run on the weekend but not have to double up.  I would talk about it daily with her and I didn't type about it. I was part of challenge groups but I didn't even check in more than a couple times. I just can't bring myself to spend the time. I started recording some videos in a normal speed to look at form but then I'd spend too long looking or compiling videos.  I decided it wasn't worth it. 

Last time I had to modify the side and front sit throughs. This time I was able to do them most of the time. 

Building 10.17.20

 Miles built a bridge or maybe it was an ottoman for his legs.

Photo Taken October 17, 2020.

First Day of in person School (3.18.21)

School finally opened for in person. Other people we know have been going since October. You could choose to stay all virtual or go in person. We struggle with virtual so we went with in person. Ella got a new teacher and almost all new classmates. 

She will attend in person 4 days a week and have 1 asynchronous day a week.  

Dave walked her to school and I said he better take pictures. He did!

I picked Ella up after school and took pictures of Ella with her friend. (I fixed the letters that were twisted. They were twisted all day. but didn't stay very well.) 

Ella had a great first day. She did have to go to the bathroom but was unsure where to go so she held it. From what I hear that happens to many kids especially this year with different bathroom rules. 

#mbf 3rd round

 I decided to do Muscle Burns Fat again. This time with Beth. I made weekly compilation videos. 

Week 1

 

Week 2

Week 3