Lake Monona 20K 2017

Way back in 2010, a friend of mine and I decided to run the Lake Monona 20K. Twenty kilometers is 12.4 miles, making it 0.7 miles shy of a half marathon. That's a long way to run! I survived it well enough that I decided to do it again in 2011.

Then, in 2014, I planned to do it again, but my ankles and knees didn't agree. As 2016 came to an end, I found myself considering this long run once more. I asked a few friends, and one of them said she'd do it with me!

Now, we are 17 days away from the May 6, 2017, event. We've been training hard, and it's hard to believe that in just over 2 weeks, all of our hard work will be put to the test. When I registered, I also registered to raise money for the summer mission trip I'm going on with some of the high school youth from St. John's (Evansville, WI). If you feel so inspired, you can make a financial donation. My friend and I should cross the finish line around 11:30am. Come cheer for us!

How to Make a Fishing Bracelet

Looking for a fun, inexpensive, and easy craft project? This fishing bracelet is a great entry into jewelry-making because it doesn't require any tools, and the finished product looks great!

For the after school programs I help lead, we are always looking for fun, easy crafts that fit with the theme for the day. This week, our groups will hear the story of the great catch of fish (Luke 5:1-11). In this story, some men have been fishing all night and haven't caught anything. Jesus asks them to try again, and they catch so many fish that their nets almost break and their boats nearly sink! We will make fishing bracelets to help us remember the story and to help us remember to trust Jesus.

But you might want to make one of these bracelets just because they're beautiful.

To make these simple bracelets, you will need barrel swivels with safety snaps. (I bought mine at Farm n Fleet for $0.69 per pack of 7.)

And you will also need seed beads - I bought mine at Michael's ($2.99 per tube), but you can pick them up at any craft store. I used size 11/0, which are teeny, tiny, so be careful if you are making these with young kids.

Open the swivels, add two beads and connect to another swivel. When it's the right length, you're done! I needed 6 swivels for mine.

I would recommend leaving one swivel without beads and use that for the clasp so you don't have to worry about those tiny beads falling off when you take the bracelet on and off.