A Beading Marathon

On the eve of my 30th birthday, I took up running. As a stay at home mom of two (at the time), I felt like I needed something to focus on, besides the kids and getting the laundry done. I signed up for a 5 K and started training. Fortunately, I have a good friend who was a runner and she provided some good training advice. I was off and running. I carved a little time out every other day to run. It did my mind and body good.

Many years later I still run, sometimes not as much as I'd like. I've run countless 5K races and have now completed two half marathons. What have I learned? Consistency is key and you just have to do it (even when you don't feel like it). Some days the run will be great. You'll feel incredible afterwards. Then, there will be days when it takes every ounce of effort to get your butt out the door and you'll still feel crappy at the end of the run. Fortunately, most of the runs are good and I did feel pretty good afterwards.

I applied these same techniques while working on my bead embroidered purse. Bead a little bit each day and the project didn't seem too overwhelming. But like training for a marathon, you have to listen to your body and mind. There were days when I felt like I'd never complete all the beading. There were days when got into a groove and the beads seem to sew themselves. Sometimes I sat there staring at the piece not knowing direction I was headed. But like running, consistency is the key and I kept at it even when I didn't feel like.

I hope you come take a look at the result of my beading marathon here.

I feel exhausted and proud now that it done. I'll do another purse, but maybe after a few shorter projects. But I will be back and I will do another half marathon in the future too.

Happy beading and running!