So Many Miles

The girls and I left last Sunday on our travels.  Since we’ve had a few adventures.

1.  mountain roads

2. vomiting

3.  Wyoming wind

4. vomiting

5. a week of helping and playing in Colorado Springs, CO

6.  shopping

7.  blizzard

8.  vomiting

9.  Midwest wind

10.  vomiting

11.  total travel miles = 1,665 and many more to go

BUT…we’re so glad to be here and are having a great time catching up with family!!!

Story Nory Books

In preparation for this lone road trip with the girls I've been looking for stories to download to listen to on the way to Colorado. I know I could just let them watch movies the whole way, but I guess I'm a bit old fashioned and would rather have them listen to a story using their imaginations to visualize characters and still be aware of the landscape around us as we go. I found this great website that has lots of stories for FREE download. Check it out!! It's great. StoryNory

Getting Ready and Ambitious!

I am getting so excited and a little nervous for the upcoming challenge. I'm in awe of my friends and Israel who are taking on the 1/2 marathon!! I am getting through the 3 miles and am starting to slowly build my miles so I, too, can take on the 1/2 by August. This morning I walked my 3 mile loop with a friend and felt good so I went ahead and jogged it after she left. 30:22!! I'm getting there, I hope. My goal is to run the 5K in under 30 min.

I'm REALLY excited to be running this with some of my most favorite people in the world!! And...well, as selfish as it sounds..and maybe is... it looks like Israel and I are getting the weekend off of parenting duties! It will be a MUCH needed break to remember that we are not just Mom & Dad. Ahhh....

What to do?

As many of you know by now, Israel and I are planning on running the 1/2 marathon and 5K respectively on April 18th.  Our plan has been to leave the girls with a friend here in IF, Fri. the 17th and have a weekend together running the race and playing in SLC and come back and pick up the girls on Sun, the 19th.   Unfortunately, just recently that plan fell through as that friend’s husband made plans for her that weekend and is no longer available.  YIKES!! 

Now I’m at a loss as to who to ask since the other friends I have here in IF all just essentially had babies in the last couple of months.  I try to be considerate if possible. :)  I’d love to have family come, but everyone lives pretty far away and have never been an option.  We could take the girls with us, but we wouldn’t get any sleep the night before (not so bad for me, but not so good for Israel)  and then what do we do with them during the race?  My race starts a 1/2 hour after Israel’s and they obviously overlap.  So what do I do?

I’m blogging about this because

#1-  It’s something I’m dealing with right now and I tend to blog about the things I’m dealing with

#2-  I need someone else to think outside the box for me.  Are there other options out there I’ve failed to consider?

It was a 3 mile day!!

Today I actually and truly jogged 3 miles without walking!!!!  ‘Tis a bit amazing for me.  My time was 30:31.  That would be minutes not hours. lol  Not too bad for an amateur like myself.  I am hoping to shave off a little time before race day.  Those of you who have run 5K could you give me some feedback?  Am I going to be like the VERY last person if I jog at this speed or do you think I might pass the old lady toting oxygen? 

Interview with a 5 yr old

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?
Go to Time Out when I'm naughty

2. What makes Mommy happy?
When I choose the right

3. What makes Mommy sad?
When I don't choose the right

4. How does Mommy make you laugh?
By doing silly things

5. What was Mommy like as a child?
A kid

6. How old is Mommy?
I don't know

7. How tall is Mommy?
SOO tall

8. What is Mommy's favorite thing to watch on TV?
Dancing With the Stars (she's right)

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around?
Nothin'

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Dancing with the husband

11. What is Mommy really good at?
Art

12. What is Mommy not very good at?
Coloring

13. What does Mommy do for her job?
All kinds of stuff like doing the dishes and making her bed and making the living room so nice and cleaning the kitchen and putting naughty girls in time out and taking care of kids.

14. What is Mommy's favorite food?
pineapple and spaghetti and eggs

15. What makes you proud of Mommy?
when she does her chores

16. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
A farmer (what!?!)

17. What do you and Mommy do together?
play

18. How are you and Mommy the same?
we have long hair and we're girls

19. How are you and Mommy different?
we have different colors of our eyes and we don't wear the same ear rings and you're tall

20. How do you know Mommy loves you?
because she always laughs at me when i'm doing something silly

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
He kisses you on the lips

22. Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?
Arby's (???? I think we went 2x last year)
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1. What is something Daddy always says to you?
Clean up your room

2. What makes Daddy happy?
when I do a silly thing and he laughs as he's smiling

3. What makes Daddy sad?
when I don't do what he says

4. How does Daddy make you laugh?
because he does a silly look

5. What was Daddy like as a child?
a regular kid

6. How old is Daddy?
I don't know

7. How tall is Daddy?
SOO tall, taller than a Mom, taller than a kid

8. What is Daddy's favorite thing to watch on TV?
American Idol (daddy says never)

9. What does Daddy do when you're not around?
Nothin'

10. If Daddy becomes famous, what will it be for?
For being a great person

11. What is Daddy really good at?
cleaning his guns

12. What is Daddy not very good at?
painting

13. What does Daddy do for his job?
goes to work in an airplane to salt lake and stays at the hotel

14. What is Daddy's favorite food?
chicken and pineapple

15. What makes you proud of Daddy?
when he works on the light and I say he's a really useful daddy

16. If Daddy were a cartoon character, who would he be?
A Rudolf deer

17. What do you and Daddy do together?
play

18. How are you and Daddy the same?
daddy is not the same because he's a boy

19. How are you and Daddy different?
our hair looks different and we have different sizes

20. How do you know Daddy loves you?
because he says that all the time

21. What does your Dad like most about your Mom?
They dance together

22. Where is Daddy's favorite place to go?
to work

Just a Jogging

I say jogging not running because what I do is NOT running. I jog. Israel runs. We were chatting "speed" today and I came to this conclusion on my own. It amazes me that people (like Israel) can not exercise FOREVER then just start up again jogging 4-5 miles at 7 & 8 miles an hour. What the heck? Granted I'm no Denise Austin or Jane Fonda but seriously even as chunky as I am I have been exercising fairly regularly and I'm just excited to hit 2.5 miles today without walking at 5.5 to 6.5 miles/hr with an ending lap at 7. Sheez! I do feel bad for the guy right now though. He's been having some back trouble and it's messing with his workouts.

Last week went well. No major weight loss to report. I have found I am truly a workout buddy kinda girl. I don't necessarily need someone to workout "with" but someone to count on me to be there when I say I'm going to be there and then go on to do my own thing. Translation: If my friend doesn't come over I'm not so good at doing my workout. She comes MWF and the other days I'm pretty much a slacker. I think I got one extra day of a workout in. total of 4 days

This week is: Warm up, Jog 2.5 miles (no walking) and cool down. (MWF)
I also mapped out a 3.2 mile route in my neighborhood and if the roads are clear on Saturday I'm going to see how far I can get without stopping.

My Kitchen with COLOR!!

BEFORE - ALL WHITE

White walls and the good ol' pioneer wagon wheel

You get the idea...

The new look! Please keep in mind I don't have all the decor yet. Just the paint. lol Oh and many of these are my camera phone pics since my regular camera is very temperamental.

No WAGON WHEEL!!

My Funny Kids

Here's Maggie with one her great "I'm a Monkey" renditions.
Here's Emma playing big girl dress up with Maggie.
In preschool a few weeks ago the talked about Foods and choosing good foods. So apparently they got to cut out some good foods from the sheets they had and also from the local grocery ads. She did pretty good, but look close at a few that she managed to slip in there near the bottom.
Yep. Butter, pizza, chips and soda. Although, she did pick Baked! Cheetos instead of regular, so that's good, right?

Let's Try On Some Happy Today!

So I have been drained for FAR too long now by being sucked into the negativity that can abound in the world, my immediate family, my extended family, my friends, etc etc. The complaining has to STOP!!! AHHHH! [disclaimer: venting can be good, but consistent non-problem solving complaining is annoying to everyone, right?] So, as it should, it begins with me! I would like to take the time to share the things I am really enjoying and appreciate right now. I hope that you, too, can also take a moment to recognize the good things happening around you amid the organized chaos of life:).

1. I can jog 2 miles comfortably and feel really good about making a difficult goal for myself. 5K and then 1/2 marathon here we come!
   
2. Emma makes funny faces now (on purpose) that make us laugh EVERY day.
3. Maggie helps me set the table for EVERY meal and doesn't complain. We eat at the table for all 3. Recently, she has begun to request being able to serve our family dinner (walking individual plates to the table) before serving herself.
   
4. Israel makes it a point to say "Thank You for dinner" at each meal and encourages the girls to follow suit.
5. Maggie enjoys memorizing the Articles of Faith each week and is up to #7.
6. I can count on my husband to be with the girls when I have other responsibilities (church/PC) and I have NEVER heard him complain about it.
7. The girls laugh and play well together. They LOVE dancing to whatever music comes on.
8. My friends helped me rearrange my living room furniture AGAIN and didn't complain a bit!!
9. My husband worked 24 hours straight (no joke) on our bathroom to be sure that I could still have the RS luncheon at our house on Friday with a working bathroom.
10. There are some really great people in the world (primary counselors, volunteer teachers, etc) who will do anything for me when I feel like I just can't do it all.
11. I could just go on and on.... So try it out, too! Happy looks good on you!
    

Who Are You?

I have a new follower that joined on Feb 28 under the random identifying name of nCZa1Kx_w8w0GV93Ps7mxS_8KHdM. Since I don't know who you are, I will block you if you don't identify yourself. Please do so in the comments below. Thank you.

Hamster Running

Oh how I long for good weather to run outside instead of on the old hamster wheel. Don't get me wrong. I am grateful for the option to run inside and in my own home even, I just really enjoy fresh air and feeling like I'm getting somewhere...literally.

Here's the accountability for the week. I accomplished my jogging goals!!! yeah!! I've been focusing on pushing my speed through my short jog portions (1/4mile, 3/4 mile) of training and found that it was true on Saturday when I jogged my 2 miles straight at a slower speed, it was cake. Yes, my theory is working. So I'm off to next week's goal. Oh, wait...I have to be honest...dang it. I should have done the Slim in 6 x this week and failed to follow through with either one. Ugh.. Painting the kitchen and ripping up the tile in the bathroom kinda got in the way. They were physically draining, but did nothing for the ol' caboose if ya know what I mean. I won't let it get in my way though! I'm pushing through and starting again this week.

Here's how this week should go:

DAY 1

• Jog 1/2 mile
• Walk 1/4 mile
• Jog 3/4 mile
  
• Walk 1/4 mile
  
• Jog 1/2 mile
  
• Day 2
  
• Jog 1 mile
  
• Walk 1/4 mile
  
• Jog 1 mile
  
• Day 3 jog 2-1/4 miles with no walking.