Rain and Waffles

Fashion forward archers, yes ma'am
Inessa is on the right, I'm on the left in the beez
 

Oh, haiii.

Rain all week, with more in the forecast today. Still shooting, as only two weeks until my first outdoor FITA event. Nervous, as I have a lot of work to do to sort out the longer distances, but have decided this is will be the "first waffle" - the weird waffle that nobody really wants to eat and you just let it go. Just get through it and figure out what's going on and do better at the next one.



Been working out of the garage at Doug's to stay dry, but got to use our 50m lane at home yesterday. It could stand to be baled, but otherwise, it's pretty cool. The little trees to act as a backdrop and it's mowed behind, so you can find your arrows when you miss.

30m

Sunburnt nose and dirty toes

Me in Alaska. "Here moose moose..."

:)

Shot sooo well this weekend. Been doing the extra workouts, even on archery days and feeling the difference already after only four weeks. Went up 8# to my heavy limbs two Thursdays ago and was feeling the connection that I just can't get with the lighter limbs by last Thursday.

The Hubs mowed the back shooting lane and widened up the whole thing to see if we can squeeze in 70 m. Decided to pick one of the state FITA shoots next door to see how it goes for distance the end of June. JOAD classes are off for a few weeks, so hoping to really buckle down and work in between. Slowly cleaning up my diet as well.  Here is my new go-to power snack. No bake - I put some homemade vanilla in there this time - yum!

We took the kayaks out on one of the big bays off Lake Ontario this afternoon after all the yard work was done. Windy, kinda wavy. We are both sunburnt, tired, and have dirty feet tonight.

Must be summer. :)

Archery is Beautiful!

Ok, guys and gals! I need your support here! I just signed myself up for the Under Armour "What's Beautiful" Challenge.
So like everything else I do to push myself, I didn't overthink it, just jumped in with both feet. Holy Crap.

Basically, it's a fitness contest, but since this is my fourth week in my fitness overhaul and I'm doing this anyway, might as well get extra credit and maybe win a trip or some awesome workout clothing. My chances are slim, as I'm not a yoga diva or a Tough Mudder chick, but hey, you need to be FIT to shoot a full FITA round with a recurve. No joke.

So to get through the next 6-7 weeks, I'm asking for your support. Visit my page (link up top there) and let me know how I'm doing to promote the awesome sport of archery on a national (and very personal) level.

xoxo
A

Meeting at 50 m

 

Just a snap from last night's JOAD class, after the kids went home the rest of us kept shooting, as it was waay to nice to go home before dark. Was the first night the targets went back to 50 and 70 m. No bugs, perfect temp. Everything is greening up.

Time to get the heavy limbs out.

Grinning.

Roller Coaster

This was a totally unusual week.  Flew to Chicago, watched Boston triumph over insanity, ran a 5K in the snow and wind with some bad-ass girlfriends (not Boston!) and put my dear dog, Brinny, to sleep. Lots of big highs and big lows. Still trying to get my head around some of it.

This week I had the privilege of listening to Jonathan Adler, designer, potter and a guy that owns his own empire. Think gay, Jewish Martha Stewart, only wicked funny. Most of us work in a world- and some of us enforce it- where there are rules and guidelines that take an act of God to change. He controls both halves of the brand vs creativity. It's good to be the king. One of the great things about conferences is that you get to open up your brain and shut off the filters and embrace new and different. My intent was to problem solve for my day job but am finding my notebook filling with great new ideas for quiver designs that push the limits of what you can find anyplace. Not sure where that will end up yet, but please stay tuned for more.

Boston. Still shaking my head as words totally fail me.
This may make you smile. People and dogs making things better there, one belly rub at a time.

Our awesome team - before
Don't let the sun fool you, it was crazy cold out

The Rochester Color Vibe 5K was run in the wind/rain/snow/hail and finished. Still thawing, thank you. Good way to end a crazy week.

Life is short, do something nice for yourself and the ones you love.

Me - after

Camo Quivers!

Now that we have more daylight, I have more brain for making stuff.  The most recent is this MOLLE military style quiver with a removable pockety.  If you are thinking "Hey, this has no belt or strap? What gives?"  Well heck, if you want this lovely piece all for your ownsome, you tell me which way you want to wear this. If you decide it's a back quiver, we can work in a knife sheath too...

This one will be going up on my Etsy site, Queen Bee Quivers, but if you decide you want this one, let me know if you saw it here first. Will give you a deal since you read this bloggy!

Just bought some henna to apply to my work peeps and another quiver (not at the same time). Should be fun and interesting results. Will post more pics.

The peepers are peepin', the geese are hogging the pond again and it's snowing like crazy. Must be Spring.

A Full Day of Win

nope, it's not the merengue version, but ya gotta admit, tasty!

It's been a day chock full of Win here, even though we've lost an hour of sunny goodness.

Sunny. Key word here. Full sun and 66 degrees today. That equals open windows all over the house, grilling, noticing that my chives are already up and edible, and rhubarb merengue pie hot from the oven. The puppers was out in the yard soaking up the sunshine. The geese are moving and honking. Matt swears he heard a red winged blackbird the other day. Officially spring here.

Ahh... itchy scratchy!

I also got to give my pony some snuffly muzzle kisses and breathe in his winter horsey-yak-mud smell. That in itself is enough to give me a full day of Win all by itself.  My legs are tired from my run, in a good way. The Colorvibe 5K I signed up for next month is looming large and I have yet to hit 3 miles, but getting closer and starting to feel the difference. If you are local and want to join our growing team - please let me know!!

Bought a metric ton of veg at Weggs and am currently roasting what will most likely be the last batch of root veg in the oven for the week. My friend Alli got us hooked on big batches of the stuff done on Sunday nights to last for a few days. I've also bought a new blender - our old one was a wedding gift 20 years old now - and am planning to start doing some yummy veg and fruit shakes for breakfast. Hopefully fast and easy in my not-awake-yet stage of the morning. And hoping a lunch that will be um... not skippable. Breakfast this morning was a handful of spinach, part of an avacado and blueberries. Actually, not half bad at all!

Found an organic grass-fed beef grower on the way home from the barn, stopped and picked up some steaks to try the next night it's grillable temps outside. Trying to find ways to eat more healthy. The owner greeted me in her starched Wranglers and southern accent. The real cowgirl deal.

Sourced and ordered all the materials for my new "MOLLE Marine Quiver" project, that someone commissioned. Super geeked about this one. Will post pics when it's done you can see how it comes out.

No archery this weekend. The "other" States doesn't have a category for olympic recurve (Why? I would totally go if they did!) Hoping my friends there had a highly successful event and a rockin good time!

Teaching/shooting at our JOAD club tomorrow night and looking forward to another great time there. We have such a great group on Mondays. Several pairs of parents and kids shooting together (including MOMS) so it's a great dynamic and such a fun way to end a Monday.

Have an excellent week my friends! Viva Spring!