Handmade Gifts Part DOS...

Yesterday I did my first 5k run/walk. It really was a blast and I'd be lying if I said I ran the whole time, because I didn't. In fact, I speed-walked most of it with a few short stints of jogging. Hey... I'm out of shape. But I was there. I walked 3.2blahblahwhatevermiles in just 46 minutes. That's not bad, that's pretty quick walking mile (with a few huffing and puffing jogging bits thrown in).

To be honest, I was a little afraid to do it. I thought all these little tight-butt runners would be there with their Saucony gear and perfect washboard abs, but actually there were all sorts of people from little kids to probably 350-400 pounds. I was right in the middle. It was great to see everyone out their in their Christmas get-ups... we saw a whole team of reindeer pulling a fake sleigh, a christmas tree, a present, elves, Santas, Mrs. Claus. It was fantastic. I had a great time and I'm really looking forward to the St. Patty's day run in March and I'm signing up early cuz its cheaper. (And I'm frugal. I buy huge 5lb bags of cocoa powder at Cash n Carry, remember?).

(You'll notice I'm running so fast I'm blurry... that was purely for the photo-shoot purposes...)

I've also been making more handmade gifts. There's a store by us that sells local produce and you can always get it cheaper if you buy bigger quantities... over 10 lbs and you save roughly .10-.20 cents per pound. I go there to buy a lot of my produce for jam making because A. its local and B. its a great price. I got tons of big yummy apples so I've been making gobs of fresh apple butter. Not only is it a super fun gift to give, but it also makes my house smell delicious with no chemical fake apple cinnamon smell either. (Although they're getting rather good at imitating scents... sometimes I almost believe its real!)

Here are a few shots of the goods:
(See those adorable tags Steph made us? I love her tags!!!)