Good-Bye 2013

2013 has been an amazing year. I've accomplished big goals that I didn't even know I was capable of.
I've met some amazing people. I've realized that I'm worth more and not to settle for less.

I ran a 5k, two 10k's, a 15k, a half and a full marathon!!!

15 K

Half Marathon

10K

First time I ran 17 miles!

Full Marathon 26.2 Miles. I'm a 1% now.

 

PR'd my 5 k

My dream of being part of MTT. 10K

I've stepped out of my comfort zone a lot this year. I never imagined I could run a marathon and not be in the best physical shape. I proved my misconceptions wrong. I never would have went to a big city solo before to meet up with people I never knew, but I did and I'm so glad I stepped out my comfort zone!

Chi-town hotties

 

Don't judge you know you're jealous of my Pedro look...

Left -2012 Right 2013

 

 

I transformed. I proved myself and any haters or doubters wrong. You don't have to be a size 2 to rock the crap out of a marathon. You need to have drive and determination. You don't have to hate your size. You can dislike it but only you have the ability to change it. Nobody's going to do it for you. I'm not perfect, and I'm still on my journey. I hope everyday that I can inspire someone else, that is doubting that they can do it. I hope that I can spread positivity and ignore the negative. There is enough hate and self doubt in this world and I have the power to raise people up vs dragging them down.

 

 



2013 was just dress rehersal....make 2014 your best year ever!!!

Link-up - Festive Favorites

Just another link-up. Sorry their not combined but well I'm rushing and didn't want to miss the fun!

Favorite Christmas song.  Christmas Canon and Christmas Eve in Sarajevo- Trans Siberian Orchestra and O holy Night ~ Jessica Simpson (she drives me crazy when she sings, but I do love her voice) Sorry I can't just pick one.

Christmas song you can't stand. ~ 12 days of Christmas...lord that is a long-A song

Favorite holiday movie ~ Elf, The Grinch (Jim Carey), Christmas Vacation

Real or artificial tree ~Um fake. I have a black thumb, if I got a real one it would be a Charlie Brown tree the second day.

White or colored lights ~ White

All matching ornaments or more random personal ornaments~ Always random personal one, maybe when I'm 60 I'll have one that is perfect but I like my imperfect mis-match tree:)

Favorite ornament ~ Ahhh..I have to many that I love, maybe my rocking horse I received when I was born

Angel or star tree-topper~Star

Does Santa wrap presents or leave them unwrapped~Santa has his own special wrapping paper naturally.

Favorite childhood memory~ Making Christmas cookies and hanging out with family.

Coffee, hot chocolate, or eggnog~ Hot chocolate all the way.

Christmas morning at home or do you travel~At home with the in-laws and my dad and his girlfriend. They watch the kids open their presents and then we eat breakfast.

Traditional holiday meal or something unconventional~ it's at my in-laws at night so very unconventional. My MIL likes to make gourmetish things

Personalized photo Christmas cards, store bought cards, e-cards, or "ain't nobody got time for that~  LOL, I usually make all our cards by hand. This year well time is slipping away so we'll see what I end up with.

Linking Up With the Queen and Prince...

1. The Best Christmas....I don't have a best Christmas because I love Christmas in general. The lights, the season of giving and I love to give. Each and every Christmas has been great in it's on way:) (Sorry nothing magical, no proposals, or babies being born at midnight, nothing life shattering.)

 

 

2. The worst Christmas I had...it wasn't the worst but it was not fun. The Christmas that our family car got stuck in the driveway in a huge pile of snow and we had to push it out. So imagine here we are all dressed in our holiday best running late to get to my Grandma's that is an hour away, and we're pushing this heavy boat of a car to get it through this pile of snow. After 1o min which really felt like 4 hours we get the car free only for me to face plant it in the snow and now I'm completely covered in snow, and no time to change. So we drive an hour with me soaking wet. Yeah not great memories there. 

 

 

3. That one gift that made me scratch my head and say, "Hmmmm" was...probably this ginormous stuffed dog that I got when I was 15 from my uncle. Yeah that's a cool thing to tell the kids at school so what did you get for Christmas...oh a giant stuffed dog.

 

 

4. One year I.... I woke up and went to sneak out to start breakfast. It was the perfect morning. A light dusting of snow outside, still dark enough that the Christmas tree lights let off a small glow, just a nice peaceful morning. I was so excited to warm up some cocoa and just sit by the tree and be thankful. I had warmed up the cocoa and was just heading to the living room and then I hear BOO. Well I just screamed at the top of my lungs, cocoa went flying and needless to say the whole house woke up. Here my little guy thought it would be funny to scare mommy. Geesh....

 

5. I think the worst gift to give is....I have no idea because I always give the best gifts. LOL

 

6. At Christmastime I typically....Run around like a mad person trying to everything done.

 

7. Typically, family Christmas....starts Christmas eve at my mom's. We all get together in our pj's exchange gifts, eat way to much and play games. Christmas morning, my in-laws and my dad and his girlfriend come over to watch the kids open their gifts from santa and have breakfast. They leave and then at night we have Christmas at my in-laws. We typically eat to much and play games as well as the wonderful White Santa exchange. The Saturday after Christmas is spent at my dad's. We again stuff ourselves exchange presents and watch a movie that we all fall asleep to with the exception of my dad's girlfriend and the kids.

 

 

8. If I could change one thing about the Holiday season....I would make it only about being with the ones you love.  Even though I love to give gifts, it has gotten out of control.  I would much rather forgo the gifts and watch the waves crash in on some beach.  Or...have breakfast with Mickey, at Disney World!

 

 

9. It is so hard to buy for....my in-laws, my dad...in truth you get older and you just buy what you want. I hate to give gift cards because really let's just exchange money. Ughhh, but what do you get for the people that have everything they want?

 

10. My favorite Christmas tradition is...making cookies with the kids, taking them on our HM polor express, spending time with all the family that we only see at Christmas time. 

 

 

11. Santa, baby, bring me a ....younger body that can handle all this running. To say that I should age gracefully is a joke. I'm going to be 27 forever (I'm 34) My hips hurt, my knees hurt, and these big babies I had did a number to my torso from my chest to my stomach. So I want a mommy make-over. That's not too much to ask is it?!

 

 

That's all I got peeps. Link-up it's fun!

What If Christmas, Perhaps Means A Little Bit More

                                     

 “And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?

 

It came without ribbons. It came without tags. 

It came without packages, boxes or bags.

 

And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. 



Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. 

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. 

 

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

 

 

 

So this little topic has been spinning around in my head for a couple days.  I think it was after I heard the wants of some kids and the long lengthy Christmas lists to Santa that have been posted on FB that I felt so inclined to write about it.

 

I thought about it and I can't even imagine dealing with that. I can't imagine having children that have a list longer than their arm of "things" they want. Now, don't get me wrong we all "want" things.

It's a good thing to want things.  Wanting things and working to get them instills the value of hard work. Too many children these days get whatever their hearts desire, and America wonders why our youth don't want to work, feel entitled, and live at home till their 30.

 

When I was younger we were poor. No, I'm not just saying that for sympathy, and we had the necessities most of the time. A home, clean clothes, food, but we didn't have the extras or extravagance that has come with growing up in America. We didn't go on vacations, we didn't have internet, we didn't have new clothes, and sometimes we didn't have a phone. 

 

We had a car that would start sometimes and was covered in rust. I even remember a classmate seeing our vehicle and saying "Is that your car?"

                                                  "yeah", I replied why.

                                                 "Why don't you just get a new one?"

                                                 "Umm...because that costs money."

 

Money that we didn't have. The reason for the lack of funds is for another post all together. We understood at a very young age that you don't always get what you want, and to be thankful for what we did have, and to work hard for what you want.

 

My husband and I have instilled that in our children as well. We aren't strapped for cash (like when I was younger) but we aren't rich either. We are like every other middle-class family with the following exceptions: we don't have cable, we don't have gaming systems, we don't shower our children with gifts, toys or fancy vacations. We do go on vacations but nothing fancy.

 

We teach them that their are many children and families that are struggling to make it, that their are little kids out there that don't get everything they want. We teach them to be thankful and if there's something they really want, to work for it.

 

We teach them that being with family and friends during the holidays and throughout the year is the best present ever, because there are many kids that don't even have that.

 

So at Christmas time when they write out a list to Santa it's not a mile long, and we remind them that they might not get everything on their list. We also want to instill that they need to give to others so  they pick out a present from the store and we donate it to Freedom house (a family shelter) for a family in need. We spend time making memories with them. We take them on the golden ticket tour to see the neighborhood lights, we watch Christmas movies, we decorate cookies, and every Sunday night is family night.

 

Yes, my children do get presents at Christmas, probably many more than they need. We usually pick one big present that they've talked about for the past year and then some smaller ones. We don't go crazy and they are usually grateful for what they receive.

 

Now again I'm not saying this to be all "oh look at me, I'm the perfect parent.", because I'm not. I'm far from it.

 

 I know how it feels to want to give your child everything they want because the heartbreak in those eyes is a horrible feeling for a parent, and their have been times that it has happened.  I would love to give my child everything they want but I also realize that it is my responsibility as their parent to teach them what they need to know to go out into this world and be the best person they can be.

 

So this Christmas maybe re-evaluate what it's really all about. Family, memories, love, caring and sharing, and giving.

What if Christmas, perhaps means a little bit more.

 

 

 

 

 

 





No Rest!!

Wohoooo for Friday!!! I'm so glad it's finally here.
This momma has been busy every night of the week, while resting a bum hip.

I went to the chrio on Monday and lordy these hips that don't lie were outta whack once again. Ahhh. I just hate it. So I took off all week running which has been driving me insane, but good things come to those that wait. Right ?!?!?

I'm kind of glad I couldn't go out this week because this is what the northwest is dealing with

Brrr...that's cold

Well cold or not come Monday it's on.


Last night we had a work party to go to. Good food, some vino and mostly good conversation.

The weekend plans include hair apt, work, kids party and maybe some time with my home girl.

So like the title said no rest. I'll rest when the holidays are over. That's all she wrote!

What are your weekend plans? Running in this cold?

Turkey Day and Hip Pain

Well Hello....Monday...
Who else here would love to crawl back in bed and sleep like Rip Van Winkle? Maybe we could just have one more day off. I sure would like one.
I'm not sure if it's chaos at your Turkey Day get togethers, but here at my casa it is not a day off.

I started off Turkey day with a wonderful 5 miler Turkey Trot.

 

I felt ok about this race. A-why can't it either be a 5k or a 10k what's with this random 5 mile crap.

I ran it last year and I wanted to beat my time. Now normally I could care less about my time but I knew last year I didn't run my best so this year I wanted to give it my all.

Pic on left 2012; pic on right 2013.

Wow amazing how much has changed in a year. Last year at this time I had been running and had lost some weight but I hadn't been doing the mileage that I've done this past year. Oh and look at that it looks like I gave away some of my chins from last year.

I felt good at the end of this race. I stayed at a solid 11:25 min mile. Hey that's fast for me. My friend that I ran with stuck with me or was right behind me. Last year she beat me. My time last year was 1:02. This year I beat her by a whole 2 min and my time was 56:18. Wohoo!!!

I did however have a left hip twinge when I was done running.

 

I ventured home and started getting everything ready for feast #1. Turkey, potatoes, pies, you name it. Our guests arrived at 5 and they all stuffed their faces. I on the other hand was in severe pain. I'm not sure if I pulled a muscle or tore one, or maybe it's because I now have inserts and my body is pissed that I didn't wear them running. Either way I was not a happy camper and nothing was cutting the pain. I iced my hip like it was my job and felt a little bit better Friday but still pain.

 

Friday I took it easy. No black Friday deals for me. I was content with shopping from my computer.

Saturday I was suppose to run but decided to skip it since I could barely walk. I also had to get ready for feast #2.

 

 

 

Again with the face stuffing and me cleaning up everything.

 

Onto Sunday are you following me? I had two family photo shoots. One was a re-do since when we tried to take them the Sunday before it was like 15 degrees outside. I was pleasantly pleased that they were done quickly. The second one went fast too. Yes just the way I like them.

 

Photo Shoot Site for Sunday

 

 

I love Lambeau for pictures. Although, the lighting can be wonkey it's warm and you don't have to do the typical "Packer" themed pictures. A perfect spot for indoor pictures, and since  we played and lost horribly on Thanksgiving there really wasn't any crowds as there can be when we have a home game.

 

The rest of the day was spent trying to clean up from the feasts and getting ready for Monday. School work needed to be done and baths needed to be given. My gal pal sent me a text and invited me to a movie and I was totally down since I'd been stuck with the family (whom I love), but momma needs time to herself too. We went to see Catching Fire. Holy crap, and now I have to wait a whole another year to see the next one. Ekkkkkk....

 

This week is full once again. I'm skipping running in favor of healing. I have a photo shoot on Tuesday and Wednesday, a Christmas party on Thursday. I have a hair apt bright and early on Saturday morning and then get to go and set-up yet more computer stuff at the shop. Oh and lets throw in a kids party on Sunday. Gaaaaaaa....

 

How was your Turkey Day? Any good shopping deals?