Just a little something something from ME!

Couch to 5K - End of Week 2

2010-08-27T10:36:00.001-05:00

Week 2 -

Brisk five-minute warm up walk.
Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes (6 reps of each).
Five-minute cool down walk.

YAY I did it!! I didn't slow down, I didn't end early, I didn't cheat...I did all three days this week just as I was supposed to!

I know it doesn't seem like much a challenge but today was. I felt great going into it and I was excited to start but when I hit my first run my right shin and my left knee started hurting. Ack! But I pushed through it and didn't stop. I am so glad I did because when I finished, I was very proud of myself.

I have to admit, I'm a little nervous going into next week but I WILL DO THIS!!!!

Happy Friday everyone!!!

Motivation

2010-08-24T13:12:00.000-05:00

I have none...LOL

Man I don't know what it is this week but I just cannot get with it to work!!!! I should NOT be this way because I am damn lucky to be working right now as it is!!!

I was laid off at the end of March but thankfully was rehired by my company at the end of June doing close to the same thing as I was before which was perfect! Nothing like starting a new job knowing 80% of it already huh???

Ok ok ok...better get back to work :)

Monday is here again!

2010-08-23T10:29:00.000-05:00

I don't mind Mondays really, they aren't so bad.

I had a fantastic weekend so maybe that's why I was ok with today. Friday night was low key, rented movies. Saturday night was a night out at a comedy club. I haven't laughed like that in a long time. Guy Torry was the main act and he was really good! Sunday was a complete BUM day!

I was supposed to go out of town for one of my good friend's 40th birthday parties but I had the kiddos off and on sporatically through out the weekend so I couldn't commit to that :( SORRY NINJA STEVE!!!

Now it's back to work, back to school, back to routine, back to reality...need I go on??

By the way, W2D1 of the C25K program...not so bad after all! I do have to admit the 30 additional seconds added on to the running party was a little tough at first but I managed to adjust to it. I listed to a podcast that talks you through it so that helped because I wasn't looking at the time on the treadmill. In fact, I don't think I looked at the time through the entire 30 minutes on there today. I like that!!!

Couch to 5K - End of Week 1

2010-08-20T10:02:00.001-05:00

Has anyone completed this program??

Well I have finally decided to follow a program for running...crazy concept I know but I have tried to get into running for way too long. I figured with this program, I can't go wrong...right? LOL

It's basically a nine week program where you slowly go from more walking than running to obviously being able to run 3.1 miles aka 5k without walking at all. All by doing three 2-30 minute workouts a week. Shoot I do that anyways!!

I want to sign up for a 5k race for the weekend after I finish or the following weekend to see how good of a time I can get!!! I have a personal goal that I want to beat and get this...my personal best time so far was from MY FIRST RACE EVER! Don't you think I should be improving?? haha Of course I have excuses (shin splints, hot weather, blah blah blah) that have hindered me since that first race but I need to stop with the excuses and just push forward!!

So for the next nine weeks on Fridays I will post about my progress and how I am feeling. Today I completed W1D3 (week 1, day 3) and honestly, it felt good. It really wasn't too difficult this week but in looking ahead to future weeks, I just can't imagine doing it but I gotta get in the mind set that I CAN DO THIS!!!!

Happy Friday!

Once again it's School Time!!

2010-08-18T10:39:00.000-05:00

My kiddos are back in school...Kyler is 14 and is a freshman now. Oh and he also has his permit so watch out on the roads!! Miranda is 11 and started middle school as a 6th grader. Both were SO exited to start today which made it super easy on me!

I of course started back with my gym routine after I dropped them off. I have aquired a liking for running, not a full obsession yet, just a liking. I have done a handful of 5k races which I really love but it just got way too hot to do them so I took a hiatus and will start them back up now that the weather has cooled off.

I actually have my windows open this morning, we've had 100+ temps for so many days it's a welcomed change to have cool, cloudy days for a bit.

Thanks for the welcomes back...I think I might stay for awhile :)

Baby Steps...

2010-08-17T13:34:00.000-05:00

Pssst....look who's back :)

NO I am not pregnant aka baby steps LOL

It's been almost a year and I am thinking of starting this back up but am not 100% sure.

I'm sure everyone has bailed on following me but maybe not!!!

Yardwork - Round 2

2009-09-17T08:18:00.003-05:00

So this is round 2 from my Tuesday post.

I just cannot believe how much different (even though it's still a mess) my yard looks...I mean duh, get the crap out and it's going to open it up but wow...I have a big yard!!

That big stupid square mass of rock and brick...GONE! Next I need to dig up those bushes and maybe replant them.

Look you can see my house!

This was full of overgrown crap...LOL All lined with stones...GONE!

There was SO much stuff along the side of my house too! There was part of a chain link fence right by my front door that was taken over by a honeysuckle bush. Yea pretty but a bee haven! Doesn't make it fun trying to get in the house!! GONE!

Here is all the stuff we've taken out! Can't wait to haul it off!!

Here is all the stone that has been taken out so far. That stupid square place from above had layers of stone, brick and sand. I wish I knew what's it's original purpose was LOL

It really was landscaped nicely...but again I don't have the time or patience to keep up with it! I want a yard!! Plain and simple!!! Give me grass and I'm a happy camper!

Here is a cool post I did awhile back. It will give you an idea of how it originally looked!

My Never Ending Yard Work

2009-09-15T11:12:00.004-05:00

Yes, it is a crazy yard and I am constantly pulling/digging/ripping stuff out! I want a normal yard!!! See this post for what I was doing last year.

So last night we got a little crazy and look out all the crap around the middle section. There is still lots to do but you can see the before and after. Almost all of the bushes are gone, even the prickly ones by the shed!!

Also took out a huge bush at the corner of the deck and two bushes that were on both sides of the sidewalk to the house. They were all just totally out of control!

Again...still SOOOOO much to do but it's getting there!!!!! Can't wait to have a nice huge normal yard!!!

Miranda's Cheer Pictures

2009-09-13T23:04:00.002-05:00

Her first game was so cute! She was the loudest and most out going...which shocked me!!!

Football...finally

2009-09-11T09:42:00.003-05:00

Kyler had his first 8th grade game yesterday, while they lost 22-16 it was a really good game!

Miranda is cheering in her first game ever tomorrow! Since the boys get to wear their jerseys the day before the game, the girls were told they could wear their uniforms. For games she has to wear her hair up but she didn't want to for school. Plus today is picture day...LOL

I'll take a ton of pictures tomorrow and post them later!

GO PANTHERS!!!

Wednesday

2009-09-02T12:59:00.003-05:00

Nothing much is going on here...just busy busy with work, school and practices so I thought I'd just post a couple pictures of Miranda rockin' her tutu that my mom made her.

Tutus are very big all of a sudden so Miranda emailed my mom asking if she could make her one. Within a couple days she had it and loves it! We are going to have her make on in yellow and black which are our school colors.

Oh and check the hair out...who remembers braiding your hair in tons of braids then sleeping in it so that you could have wild crazy hair the next day?? Yup...we did that too!

Fantastic Weekend

2009-08-31T09:17:00.011-05:00

We had such a great weekend, the Roots Festival was better than ever!!!!

Jen went both nights and she remembered SO many people, we were so excited!!! I think she's doing so much better and can't wait to take her to the doc tomorrow to see what he has to say about it all!!!

Here is me, Jen and Jamie :)

Add Robyn in the mix LOL

I love the festival because it's all fenced in and secure (the block off the entire town square) so I just give the kids money and they are gone! They check in every now and then and when they did, I got a couple shots of us.

Kyler looks so thrilled doesn't he?

My mini me Miranda and I

Miranda got some 'ink' again this year...don't worry it's only an airbrush tattoo!

Lovin the panther paws!

Miranda and all her friends bought the same sun glasses, aren't they cute!

Ok so the funniest (and probably stupidest) thing about the whole weekend was the monkey escapade we went on! Last year the monkey came to the festival but stayed around the group. This year I came up with the idea of 'hey let's go around and see how many people we can get to pose with our monkey!'

Here we go....

Monkey enjoying some curly fries with Miranda and Kenzi...

Miranda with the monkey...

Monkey in front of the screen showing the Robert Cray band...

Monkey rockin some cool shades...

Here is tie dyed monkey...

We found a date for monkey in the snow cone booth...

We even got a big bad biker dude to pose with monkey...

Monkey even got some 'ink' too...

That was the funniest picture to take, the guy was such a good sport and was trying so hard not to laugh for the picture!!

I still laugh when I go through these pictures, people probably thought we were crazy but who cares, we were having a blast!!!

Busy busy busy

2009-08-27T09:53:00.002-05:00

This week has just been crazy busy...I think it's that way for a lot of people, or so I've been told.

Jen is doing good, still doesn't know people. I'm really hoping it's just going to take her seeing or hearing something to start kickin the brain around a bit. Just like what happened when she heard our friend Rod. *fingers crossed*

She has been funny as heck with Jamie and I. All 3 of us were texting each other last night and Jen had us rolling with her texts. She was saying things how she needs to wear a helmet, live in a ranch style house, wear bubble wrap...she was totally laughing at herself which was great! She keeps telling Jamie and I how much she appreciates us and everything we've done. I stopped by to see her last night and she seemed to be doing good but then again, she hasn't been out of her house much to really get exposed to things. The three of us are going to go walking tonight so that will be good for her. It's all about baby steps :)

There is a huge festival here in town this weekend that is SO much fun!!! I feel so bad that she isn't going to be able to go, we all think that it's just way too much stimulation for her. There are bands all day and night, tons of BBQ vendors, and not to mention all the tons of people that will be there. I just think it would be really hard on her with people coming up to her, her not knowing them, us having to explain things...it's a tough call but we want her to heal the right way!!!

Jen...Again

2009-08-25T13:14:00.002-05:00

See yesterday's post to understand this one...

So here I sit...working from Jen's kitchen table. I have to say, it's been a good day.

When I got here this morning to pick her kids up for school, of course Kyler and Miranda had to go in and see Jen. When Kyler came in, Jen goes 'who's this huge kid? he's a stud' LOL I had to laugh and say 'noooo don't tell him that it will go to his head'!! haha!! On the way to school her kids told me she remembered Jamie and I coming to visit yesterday so that was good to hear.

Jen was doing great in the morning before the appointment. She was cleaning like crazy and we were having good conversations. She would ask me questions and every once in awhile I would ask her things. I didn't want to try to overwhelm her though. She was asking me why I wasn't married, who I was dating, did I have pet (funny cuz she's the one who takes care of my dogs when I go out of town), things that you would ask someone when trying to get to know them.

I was very happy with how the doctor's appointment went. She wasn't able to tell him her birthday, what month or year it was (her response was 'nobody has told me') but he gave her 3 things to remember (horse, ball and pen) and at the end of the appointment when he asked her what they were, she was struggling but once he gave her the first one, she remembered ball and she said pencil. He was pretty happy with the fact that she remembered anything. He said we are past the 48 hr window of when something could have gone bad and that everything is still up there...it will just take days, weeks or maybe longer to come back to her. It's like she can retain the things people tell her but she can't remember things on her own yet. The doctor wants to see her again in a week and then possibly each week after that. He said she can't drive yet but is ok to be alone in a comfortable safe environment and just to make sure some one is checking on her throughout the day. Luckily working from home, I can do that.

We were at Sonic for lunch and I thought I knew the person in the car next to us and all of a sudden he spoke and Jen recognized his voice. She said 'I know that voice' so I rolled the car back enough so we could see who it was and sure enough, it was our friend Rod! Jen's aunt is married to Rod's brother so they are kind of related. I asked her if she recognized him but she couldn't remember who he was. I kinda told Rod about what had happened and such so he didn't think she was crazy!! In talking to Jen later about Rod, she said he looked different, like clean cut....well normally he has a goatee! Then she said he looks like someone else so I talked about his brothers and she kinda put it all together and then said 'well his name is Rod but we don't call him that, we call him Hector'...yup that's his nickname!!

The brain is such a crazy thing!!!

Jen...Continued

2009-08-24T19:23:00.003-05:00

See yesterday's post to understand this one...

So today I get a text from Jamie saying she was over visiting Jen and to come over. Eek I was a bit nervous but thought, heck yea I'm so there!

I walked into the house to find Jen on a couch, Jamie on a couch and Jamie's baby Cooper playing on a blanket on the floor in front of them. I said hi to Jen and she just kinda looked at me. Jamie goes 'This is Trish' and Jen said 'oh ok...hi'. Ugh...gut wrenching. So we sat there for about 20 minutes kinda making small talk, asking some questions, and having fun laughing at Cooper. She wasn't a mute or anything, she just wasn't our Jen. She answered some questions but I think she knew the answers because someone told her or because they were recent (for example, she knew she went to the hospital in a red car).

She had this constant look on her face like when you're trying really hard to remember something. When we were leaving, her husband asked if she was starting to remember anything more and she looked at us and said...that's Jamie and Trish. We cheered LOL But in reality, it was like talking to a total stranger, someone you'd make casual conversation with. So sad...

She cannot be alone so her husband asked if I could possibly work from their house tomorrow because he is out of vacation days. Of course I said I would. I also am going to be taking her to her follow up doctor's appointment. I'm a little nervous for that but I will do whatever it takes as her friend to get her better.

I'll write again tomorrow night...wish me luck :)

My Friend...Jen

2009-08-23T23:01:00.005-05:00

I love this girl, she's become one of my closest dearest friends over the past 3 years. Our boys are the same age and are really good friends. Our daughters are a year apart in age but that doesn't stop them, they are best buddies too.

Something scary happened to Jen today. She was cleaning off her deck and the deck stairs and somehow fell. She fell down the stairs and ended up hitting her head on the cement patio at the bottom.

When she came to, she had no idea who her husband Eric was, who her kids were, or who her kids friends were. She started yelling at them to get out of her house. Eric took her to the hospital where it was determined that she had gotten a concussion as well as suffering from amnesia. She was discharged after a couple of hours.

I talked to Eric this evening and he was telling me how she is getting more at ease with him and the kids but still has this look like 'who are you' all the time. I guess her mom and sister came over and she didn't know who either of them were.

He said that she can describe her friends but doesn't really know them or can't picture them. She knows that she has a curly dark haired friend that is funny and likes to wear ball caps (that'd be me), that she has a blond haired friend that wears glasses and has a bunch of kids (that'd be Jamie) and she described 2 more of her friends too.

About 9pm tonight I got a text from Jen...it about made me cry...here is our conversation -

Jen - Eric told me we are good friends, goodnight
Me - We are sweetie, good night
Jen - Thank you, I am sad I cannot remember anyone
Me - You will be just fine, we all love you and are here for you
Jen - I love you all too, thanks, I'm gonna try to go to sleep now, I can't watch tv or do anything with too much stimulation so I am bored
Me - Get some rest hon

I was so sad after that but was relieved to kinda hear from her if that makes sense.

Eric said she can't watch tv, read or be on the computer right now because it is too much stimulation. He is supposed to ask her questions to I guess kick start her memory but she gets really frustrated when she can't answer things so he has to do it in moderation. I guess if there isn't an improvement by Tuesday, he is to take her back to the doctor. To me...that seems like forever away. He did say that she got up, got a glass, got ice, got water and got a box of crackers without asking where anything was so maybe it's just that the long term memory is a bit fuzzy??

One funny thing she did though...she has a bearded dragon who is her little baby. I guess she looked at it today and said to Eric that it was the most hideous looking thing and she cannot believe it was in her house! I just had to laugh at that!!!

Miranda made me promise her today that this would never happen to me...gotta love my little girl!

Jen...get better soon hon, we all love you!!!

Dusting Off The Camera

2009-08-21T10:41:00.003-05:00

Last year I splurged and bought myself a new Cannon Rebel camera and have used it quite a bit. Well yesterday I decided to get it out and mess with it during Kyler's football practice. Here are just a few of the shots I took...

The bleachers at the stadium
The press box

The track

On top of the locker room

The field

Miranda was clicking away right by me

I got an awesome shot of Kyler making a tackle

Kyler's practice jersey is #96...he doesn't know his game jersey number yet.

Football is here!!

2009-08-18T08:55:00.004-05:00

School has been going really well for the kiddos. I take that back, Kyler was sick the 2nd day LOL Poor kid had a fever so the nurse called me within a few minutes of the school day starting. Oh well, let's get that over and done with and not miss a lot of school this year!!!

Football practice started for Kyler this week too, he is SO excited. I am too actually, I love watching him play sports. His first game is September 10th.

Miranda's cheer leading practices are in full force too, her games will start around the same time Kyler's does. She is cheering for a city league while Kyler plays for his school.

Let's just say I have it figured out that Wednesdays will only be my non football day of the week:

Monday - NFL
Tuesday - Kyler's games
Wednesday - FREE!
Thursday - Kyler's games
Friday - High school games
Saturday - Miranda will cheer at games
Sunday - NFL

I LOVE THIS!!!!! hahaha!!

Speaking of football, I went to the Chiefs vs Texans game Saturday night with some girlfriends and had a blast!!! The only bad thing was it started to pour and we looked like wet rats but we didn't care!!!

I am still hitting the gym regularly again and love it, I feel so much better!!! Remember those 4 lbs I told you about in my last post? Yea all but 1 pound is gone now :) That took a week...whew hahaha!

I found a local 5k run next month that benefits brain injuries. It's for a guy here in town that suffered it from a bad accident. I am all about supporting local things so I am signing up for it today. There is even a kids fun run that I'll sign Kyler and Miranda up for. They saw some kids running in the Mother's Day 5k I did and both had mentioned wanting to do one.

Well...it came finally

2009-08-12T08:57:00.002-05:00

The first day back to school today...don't they look so grown up?? Miranda, my little 5th grader and Kyler, my 8th grader. Can anyone tell me where the years went cuz I'd really like to know??

Kyler wanted to go to school with some friends so I let him. He's going to probably ride home with them too. I figured Miranda would have more fun if a friend came with us so her best friend Cynthia came over and I took them both.

What a crazy last couple of days though! Monday night I took Miranda, Cynthia, Kyler and his friend Gunnar to our minor league baseball team, The T-Bones, game. Tuesday morning Kyler had his physical to be able to play sports at school then we all took off for Oceans of Fun. My friend Jen and her two kiddos came along too. I swear to you, we were there less than 15 minutes and poor Cynthia had slipped, fell, and cracked her head open! She was bleeding pretty bad. The EMT came and I went with her to the First Aid center and we got it stopped. They said she didn't need stitches but I wondered if she really did, poor kiddo. She sat out for awhile then eventually was back in the swing of things! Last night I had a parents football meeting for Kyler. They get their equipment Friday and practice starts Monday! Their first game is Sept. 10th! I cannot wait!! They we hit both of their back to school nights then I treated them to dinner at Applebees :)

After getting them off to school, I hit the gym...yay me! I weighed myself and was up 4 lbs from my last recorded weigh in back at the end of June. Eh, what's 4 lbs right? I'll lose that within a couple weeks after getting back in to my routine so I am not worried about it at all. I had done some emotional eating of the past 2 months anyways so I wasn't too surprised!!!

Drained...

2009-08-09T19:46:00.002-05:00

This weekend drained me!! Friday night watched movies with a good friend, always is a good time!! Saturday night I went out with some friends from high school who were in town. Man...haven't gone out like that in a long time and I am still recovering from it!! So well worth it though, was a blast!! What happens in KC stays in KC right?? LOL well for them at least! *wink wink* hahaha

So now I sit, on my couch, watching football...thank god it finally has started!!! I love me some football!! I actually am going to two Chiefs games for sure this year. I am going next Saturday night to a preseason game against the Texans and then in December...I am going to the Chiefs vs BRONCOS game!! YAY yes I got tickets to my beloved Broncos.

I must run, the game is back on :)

Another Week Gone

2009-08-07T09:21:00.004-05:00

Sheesh, what a busy busy week!! But actually next week will probably be a little crazier with school starting and some last minute fun stuff (minor league baseball game and a day at Oceans of Fun).

I don't really have any big plans this weekend but I am treating myself and getting my hair done today. I don't really ever go crazy with it but I think today I will. Stay tuned and if I like it...I'll post pictures :)

*update* LOVE THE HAIR!!! I did blonde and red highlights and then did really dark lowlights on the underneath bottom layers!!

A Few Flashbacks

2009-08-05T09:01:00.003-05:00

I started to write a blog about going back to school then I decided to go back and read my entry from last year...LOL that pretty much says it all right there.

Just a few changes, Kyler is going into 8th grade which will be his last year of middle school (then onto highschool UGH!!). Miranda is going into 5th grade which will be her last year of elementary school (then onto middle school whaaaaaaaaaaa). Miranda found out who her teacher is at enrollment yesterday and she is thrilled to say the least. But the teacher is pregnant...not sure when she is due so I'm still wondering how much school she will be missing while on leave. Could be interesting!

Another entry I don't really need to rewrite is about getting back on my gym routine. I had to laugh about that one too!

I hope and pray the first day this year doesn't go like last years according to my entry.

I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes ;)

Just Like I Predicted

2009-08-03T19:04:00.002-05:00

Mama spent some moola! But the kids got new shoes and a few clothes, all the supplies are bought and enrollment is tomorrow. Almost on the week countdown...I cannot wait!

Not only do the kids get back in a routine, I get back in my workout routine!!! I have been so sporadic this summer and really don't feel like I have benefited from it. I still am very interested in doing a 1/2 marathon in October so I need to get back on my training for that.

We did have a fantastic weekend!!! On Friday night we went to the 15 yr old All Stars game. Their tournament was in town so we figured why not go support the home team!! It was a great game, pretty much a blow out. So then they played again on Saturday and we went to that too. They were ahead the entire game til the last two innings and we ended up losing but dang, it was an intense game!!

I'm exhausted from today, seems like it was just NON stop so I am comfy on my couch watching my cheesy reality shows!

:)

Ready For The Weekend

2009-07-31T09:05:00.003-05:00

Although really not ready for all the money I am about to spend.

You got it...it's back to school time...CHA CHING! Luckily I already have Miranda's school supplies but still have to get Kyler's.

Now I am not one of those mother's that goes out and buys a TON of new school clothes because heck, they still wear their summer stuff for the first month or two anyways right? So we usually get maybe a couple shirts and shorts and of course new shoes. THAT is where it gets expensive sheesh!! Then a couple months into the school year we will shop more.

Miranda has a cheer clinic from 10-2 on Saturday so that's probably when Kyler and I will knock out his stuff.

Other than that...we really don't have any plans, I LOVE that!!!

Oh and I finally caved and let Miranda get highlights, they turned out really cute!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

This stuff makes me smile

2009-07-29T12:38:00.004-05:00

Seriously, I just love how people are having fun these days and not always so damn serious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

Unfortunately they have the embedding feature turned off so I hope the link will work.

I know this has been all over the net and they even reenacted it on the Today Show.

I don't know about you but once they pan to the bride walking in, I tear up every time!! I just love this!!!

Oh and can you just imagine how fun that reception would've been????

Fun Weekend!

2009-07-28T09:02:00.002-05:00

So fun I didn't even blog on Monday about it :)

Friday night I did a quick road trip up to Iowa. If you remember about this time last year, I had my 20th highschool reunion. Welp this past weekend was the class after mines reunion so some people from my class and even other classes met up with them. It was so fun seeing everyone!! Crazy times were had...here are some pictures to prove it!!

Saturday night I went to my first demolition derby...yea I said it!!! It was the last night I believe of the week long fair so I thought what the heck. It was pretty fun actually, even though the person I was with said it was a very small derby. Now I am curious and might have to go to an even bigger derby hahahaha!!

Sunday I finally went and saw Hangover. Oh my gosh, that movie was so funny!!! I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it!!!!

Tonight Miranda and I might be going to the T-Bones baseball game. The T-Bones are our minor league team. Last year in school Miranda read a certain number of books and got to pick prizes, well she picked tickets to a game! We have like 4 dates to pick from and only 2 are left so if the rain holds off, we will hang out at the ballgame!!

Psssst....school starts in two weeks :)

Parades and Baseball

2009-07-23T00:04:00.006-05:00

Whew...tonight was a busy one!

Kyler's All Star games were rained out Monday and Tuesday which caused them to be played tonight. The same night as Miranda was riding on the cheerleaders float in our town's parade (to kick off fair week).

So unfortunately I had to miss Kyler's first game so that I could watch Miranda in the parade but I made it to his second game. She was so cute on the float...Kyler's team lost both games....but hey it was a good night overall.

Here are some pictures from tonight :)

Here is Kyler's All Star team picture that will be in our paper :)

Small Towns

2009-07-20T09:34:00.003-05:00

So it's no secret that the first time I lived in this small town I hated it. My kids were too young so they weren't in any activities plus I lived in the country outside of town and so I really didn't meet many new people.

I moved away for almost two years but got very tired of the commute on the days I had the kiddos. See their dad still lived in the small town (long story how we both ended up here but that's another post for another day) so I would drive 40 min to take them to school, drive 45 min to work, drive another 45 min back to pick them up after work then another 40 min home....get the drift??

I moved back down here about 3 years ago and I am so glad I did. This town is pretty damn cool now. It reminds me of the city in Iowa that I lived in from 5th-12th grades. It's small but not TOO small to where everyone knows your business. We have two grade schools (K-2nd, 3rd-5th), one middles school and one highschool. I dig how people take pride in the sports here too. When going to highschool football games, you'll see the stands packed with fans from every age, all the alumni still come! We have the town square where it literally is a block in the middle of town where there is a nice fountain and gazebo, surrounding the square are businesses. During the holiday's they put a huge Christmas tree in place of the fountain and all of the trees and light poles are decorated.

So this weekend we did some fun small town stuff. Friday night we went to the drive in...yup we still have a drive in here!! We saw 'Transformers', didn't really care about the movie, it was more just to go hang out with friends and experience it. Then on Saturday there was a car show up at the square. The kids and I walked up there (I live 2 blocks from the square) and wandered around a bit. Then later that night I went up there again to meet my friend and our girls hung out. We sat on one of the park benches, listened to the musicians who were playing in the gazebo and people watched. Just a nice relaxing evening. There is a huge fair every year too, last night Kyler went and watched the rodeo. This Wednesday is a big parade that kind of kicks off fair week. Miranda gets to ride in it for her cheerleading! I'll be sure to post pictures. One good thing about where my house is, not only can I walk to the square for activities, the parade route goes right in front of my house therefore I can sit on my deck and watch it!!

One last note...tonight is Kyler's All Star games!! *fingers crossed* He has a double header and we have to go to the next town over which is about 30 miles away so we won't get home til at least 11pm! If they win at least one game tonight, they will play again tomorrow night!!

My All Star

2009-07-16T18:20:00.002-05:00

Kyler has pictures tonight with the All Star team so I took advantage of him in the clean white uniform and got some for myself! The actual all star games are Monday night but they needed to submit a picture for the paper so that's why pictures are tonight.

Awe...my two babies!

Typical siblings!

#26...his birth date!

So proud :)

Four Weeks Left

2009-07-15T10:29:00.002-05:00

Can you believe that?

Only four short weeks left??

That's right...my kiddos go back to school four weeks from today on August 12th. Is it me or doesn't that seem really early to be going back?? I looked at the school year calendar and they get out of school on May 21st which again...seems really early to be getting out of school!!

Kyler will be in 8th grade...his last year of middle school then I will have a highschooler...wow. Miranda will be in 5th grade...her last year at elementary school then she will be a middle schooler...wow again. The only time they will be at the same school is when Kyler is a senior and Miranda is a freshman! I already tease them about when that time comes, they will be dating each others friends hahahaha!!!

I'd love to do a short weekend away but not sure that's going to happen. Maybe I'll take them to Oceans of Fun for a day?? Maybe I'll do a day at Worlds of Fun while we are at it. I think they have a special on a two day ticket so we could do one day at each park. I'll have to some looking into this and see what I can come up with. They had so much fun at the water park and Silver Dollar City in Branson, I think they'd like that. Heck I should let them both take a friend too that way I can lay out and be lazy all day too without them wanting me to go on everything! hehe!!!

Four weeks...really?? Wow, where did the summer go???

Emotions

2009-07-14T14:15:00.003-05:00

An emotion is a mental and physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings, thoughts, and behavior. Emotions are subjective experiences, or experienced from an individual point of view. Emotion is often associated with mood, temperament, personality, and disposition.

Um....yea I think I've pretty much been through all of these lately and am ready to stick with the more positive ones!!

Goodbye Weekend

2009-07-12T21:21:00.002-05:00

I'm tired...really tired. This weekend was exhausting for many reasons. Had some great times with friends, met some new people which is always fun, had some down times and had some lazy times.

I'm ready for a busy week. Kyler has all star practice every night this week and possibly this weekend in preparation for the All Star games on the 20th. They've been practicing really well so I hope they do good.

Can I just finish by giving kudos to my friends? Close friends, far away friends, internet friends, it doesn't matter if I've known them for years, talk to them daily, talk to them once a month or have never actually met them, they consistently amaze me. Anytime I need them, I don't have to ask, they just know and they come to me and make things better or at least put forth a great effort to help things.

"My friends are my estate."- Emily Dickinson

My Sides Hurt From Laughing

2009-07-09T12:56:00.003-05:00

Holy cow...that was the funniest night. I have not laughed that hard in a very long time!!! I think the ride there and home might have even been funnier than the show!!!

Chris and I

Jen, Eric, Jamie and Ed

VIP Tickets baby!!

James Johann!!

Funny Stuff

2009-07-08T09:12:00.002-05:00

First off I am SO excited for tonight!!! A bunch of us are going to a comedy club to see James Johann. He's from the town where I live and a few of the people I am going with went to school with him so we got VIP front row seating for his show. I am sure there will be some heckling back and forth! Should be a great time! I will post pictures tomorrow.

Here is his video he did on his hometown...the bouncy ducks are 2 blocks from my house LOL

This second video I came across yesterday and it has completely cracked me up. The kids watched it over and over too.

Baseball has come to an end...kinda

2009-07-07T08:54:00.003-05:00

Last night was Kyler's last games, he had a double header to finish the season. They were undefeated going into it. The first game we were down 2-1 for the entire game but we were the home team and got to bat last. There were runners on 2nd and 3rd, two outs...Kyler got up to bat. He hit the ball, wasn't a great hit but it was hit enough he hauled his little butt to 1st base. Luckily the throw was a little wild and the first base man missed it allowing both runners to come in making the score 3-2!!! YAY Kyler!! All his teammates congratulated him!

Then the second game wasn't so good. We just couldn't pull it together and we had beaten this team two times already!! In the last inning though I thought we might have a chance because their pitcher was tired and started walking our guys one right after another. But unfortunately we didn't get enough walks allowed and ended up losing the game. Ah well one loss out of like 15+ games isn't too bad at all is it?? I'm extremely proud of Kyler!

Kyler made the All Star Team this year for the first time too!!! That team is made up of one or two players from each of the existing teams and those players are picked by the coaches so they saw Kyler's potential!!!

So the regular season is over...but All Star practice starts up tonight! Not sure when the games are yet but I'm excited to see how he does!!

Vacation Pictures...they say it all!

2009-07-06T12:37:00.008-05:00

Our cabin
I have to say, we did end up in a villa (verses the cabin) but I am SO glad we did after seeing the size of it.

White Water

Kyler is on the right hand slide

Wave Pool

Ripley's Believe it or Not

Being dorks in the millions of gift shops

Lunch at Lambert's...flying rolls!!

We had the best vacation!!!

1/2 Way Through Vacation!

2009-07-01T09:15:00.003-05:00

Good morning from my awesome deck of the best cabin in Branson!!! I am sitting here, having my diet coke and pretzels listening to the birds chirp. The sun is out and it's going to be an awesome day!!!! Ohhhh and in case you were wondering, I ended up with the villa but it's HUGE and there is nobody in the studio villa connected to us so we have it all to ourselves!! The cabins were a lot smaller so even though I was mad at first, I'm glad we got this one.

I don't have a lot of time to blog but trying to get the kids up this morning isn't going so fast!

Here's a quick run down of the fun we've had!

Monday - Awesome Go Cart tracks, Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum, swimming at the resorts
Tuesday - Silver Dollar City, White Water, Go Carts again, Hollywood Wax Museum

I'm sure I'm missing something so I'll have to redo my list later. Today will be SDC and White Water for sure again. Both places are awesome!!!

I haven't down loaded any of the pictures from my camera so here are just a couple from my cell phone.

Here's a shot of the go cart track, there are 4-5 different tracks throughout Branson.

Kids swimming in the indoor pool at the resort. There are two outdoor pools and one indoor pool. There is a sand volleyball court, a basketball court, a shuffleboard court, a really nice walking trail. It's a great place!

Here are a couple of the slides at White Water. Kyler and I did the steep one the very first thing yesterday. I think he went on it 20 times! Can you say major wedgie???

Ok ok ok enough of the computer time, I must wake the kiddos and get our butts going for the day!!!

Finally...vacation time :)

2009-06-28T22:07:00.002-05:00

In 10 short hours we will be on the road, yay!! I am so needing this time away! Let's just hope the kids don't fight the entire flippin time like they have for the past few hours tonight!!

Oh an update on the cabin, I got an email back and it says I have the one bedroom cabin so I have printed out everything I have and will gladly present it to the front desk tomorrow! Wish me luck...if they say I don't have the cabin I might just go off a tad after all!!!

I'll have my laptop so I may or may not blog along the way, it's a nice way to end the day after the kids have gone to bed.

Hope everyone has a fantastic week!!

Why?????

2009-06-26T08:33:00.002-05:00

Why is it I get an email yesterday from the resort where we are staying starting on MONDAY saying that they are overbooked and I have been moved from a one bedroom cabin to a one bedroom villa??? I didn't booked a one bedroom villa when I made my reservation over two weeks ago so again...WHY?????

Ughhhh I was SO not happy so I called the number on the email and the reservationist was so rude and was basically telling me there was nothing I could do, couldn't answer WHY my reservation got bumped or anything other than sorry, they were overbooked blah blah blah...I told her to keep it and if I could find a BETTER place I would cancel it.

I looked and looked and looked and of course now can't find anything within the same awesome price range I had gotten with this place so I was just about to bite the bullet and spend another lump of cash to upgrade to a two bedroom cabin but when I called back to do that, the reservationist said my reservation shows for a one bedroom cabin...what the heck?? LOL So I had to laugh a bit and think to myself maybe my complaining before worked??

So when I got off the phone I emailed the resort asking once again for confirmation of my one bedroom cabin reservation. I have yet to receive anything. I think I will call daily just to confirm it...hehe...I am stressing over this! I specifically booked a cabin because we love having our own little place to stay and not be in a hotel type atmosphere. Not that there is anything wrong with that but we are on vacation, we want to splurge a little bit right??? If we get there and we have a villa...yea I'll say a few words but I'm not going to be one of those insane travelers that goes off on the poor front desk person that has no control over it, I will just let it be known that I am not too happy that my reservation made over two weeks ago didn't really matter I guess. Isn't that the point of a reservation??? You RESERVE something so that nobody else can have it??? UGHH!!

Mother Nature

2009-06-25T10:21:00.005-05:00

I have been complaining of the heat right? Well I was really dreading Kyler's rescheduled double header last night because it has just been so dang hot out.

As we were driving to the games, which was about 25 minutes away, I noticed it was getting really dark to the south of us. Hmm...didn't know there was going to be rain. Miranda and I dropped Kyler off at the field then went to grab drinks and snacks. As we got to the store, it started downpouring! Oops! I called Kyler and they were all in the dug out luckily.

When we got back to the field it has quit and the sky looked amazing!! Thankfully I had my camera in my purse so I snapped a couple of the clouds and then realized there was a rainbow too!

So the game stared a few minutes late and we watched the darkness go from the south...to the east...to the north then it started just creeping in closer.

The decided to call the game in about the 5th inning of the first game (great another make up game!!). I took a couple more pictures right before we left.

It rained a little bit on the way home, nothing like what I was anticipating it to be like but check out the storm cloud line that we drove with the whole way. It was bright and sunny under that dark cloud line!!

Crazy Kansas weather! It's nice and hot again today! Go figure!!!

Feeling Hot Hot Hot

2009-06-23T13:35:00.003-05:00

Lordy, it is SO flippin hot here!! I mean nasty hot!

Kyler had a game last night from 6-8 (another win!!), I had sweat just running down my back the entire time. Then when I got home I figured since I was already nasty I would go ahead and mow. So even at 8:30-9:30 at night, I was literally drenched with sweat like I had walked through a sprinkler!!

Right now the temperature is 96 but it feels like 106. Seriously. Ugh! Both kids are off enjoying the water. Miranda is at the pool and Kyler is at the lake. I am going to head to the pool as soon as I am done with work today. The pool is open till 8:00 and even the short time I will be able to enjoy it will be SO worth it!!!

What a Fantastic Weekend!!

2009-06-22T08:31:00.002-05:00

This was probably the funnest weekend I have had in such a long time!!

Friday night I went and met some friends from high school. One of my friend's father had passed away so they had a military funeral at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for him Friday morning. Paul and his wife Stacey came down from Iowa. Amy and her husband Brett came down from Nebraska. I wasn't able to go to the funeral but met up with everyone that evening. Here is a picture of Brett, Amy, Jill and I. It was a lot of fun catching up with everyone.

Saturday was a day of baseball. Kyler had a tournament out of town, about an hour away. The whole way there it was raining like crazy but it had let up by the time I got there. Our first game was to be at 12:30 but the games were running behind so we actually didn't get started until 1:15. We won the first game 3-2, Kyler had a killer game! 2 hits, 4 stolen bases, scored 1 run and had an awesome catch!!!

The next game was to be at 3:30 but of course didn't get started until probably 4:45. We won the second game 4-2!! So now we would be playing in the championship game!! The bad news was...there was still 2 games to be played before the championship game...ugh! There was 3 teams from the town we were in and 3 teams from our town in the tournament. Two of our teams ending up playing in the championship haha!!

The game for 5th/6th place finally got started and ended fairly quickly it seemed so then I was watching the game for 3rd/4th place because I wanted to see our town's team play. It was about 9pm and all of a sudden the stadium lights went off. It was just dark enough you could see but couldn't play. It took about 20 minutes for them to finally come back on so then they started playing again. Then about an hour later...boom the lights went off again and it was pitch black! Miranda was no where to be found, she was off playing with friends but all of a sudden I heard 'Trish??' haha, she was smart enough to call my name and not 'Mom?'! Finally the two coaches decided to reschedule the championship until Sunday back in our town because there was no way of knowing if the lights were coming back on or not! At this point it was close to 10:30pm and our game hadn't even started!!! I didn't get home until close til midnight...zzzzz

Sunday was a lazy day. I called my Dad to tell him Happy Father's Day, did some cleaning and laundry. Then it was time to head to the championship game at 5pm. It was SO hot out!! I took my huge golf umbrella to try to make some shade. It helped but I was still so sweaty! Yuk!! It was a really good game but yes...we ended up winning 8-3!!! Kyler's team is still undefeated! He was so excited too! We've got a game tonight and a double header Wednesday night.

I just hope this week goes by fast because we leave for vacation next Monday!!!!

My Love/Hate Relationship With The Gym

2009-06-18T10:10:00.004-05:00

I have been a good girl and hitting the gym again. Was kinda rough there for a few weeks after school got out, I wasn't too thrilled at the thought of having to set my alarm to go work out. But now my friend Jen is going so we are trying to be accountable for each other! I was pleasantly surprised though when I weighed myself for the first time since my 'break', I had only gained 3/4 of a pound! Then I weighed myself today and I had lost 2.25 pounds! GO ME!!! That puts me at 12.5 pound loss and now 5 pounds away from my goal weight. I'm not killing myself to get there but it feels good to be that close. I have started looking into more 5k races and of course, still have the 1/2 marathon in October. My goal right now is to keep consistent in going to the gym throughout the summer!! Baby steps right?

Rain Rain Go Away

2009-06-16T15:07:00.003-05:00

Wowza did we have a storm last night! Knocked out my power for just a bit but my cable/internet was out till about noon today. I shouldn't complain, some friends are still without power...that would suck. The ball fields were Kyler has been playing are completely flooded but yet they haven't called the game for tonight off yet...um ok?

I did take yesterday off of work and spent the day at the pool with the kids, it was a perfect day! Mama got some great sun! It was nice to have a day off, got some good relaxation in. The storm didn't start until about 10pm luckily.

I had a fantastic weekend too! Saturday night went to my friend's birthday party. Sunday went to dinner and watched a movie with a friend. Overall, was really good :)

The Good and The Bad

2009-06-12T23:34:00.003-05:00

A couple of good and bad things happened today -

Kyler won his game tonight, 6-1 so now they are undefeated!! We don't have an out of town game Sunday after all which means I didn't have to cancel our Omaha trip...grrrr!! We can't reschedule it because now my friends son has already said he will play in his baseball games which he was going to skip.

Found out today that my dad is going to meet us in Branson for one night during our vacation!! That's awesome news but the reason he is doing that is because he is going to be going to Iowa (from Arkansas) to see my grandma and that will be a stop along the way. I guess my grandma is kinda going downhill fast...so that's not such good news. I hope nothing happens while we are in Branson.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!!

Vacation booked!!!!

2009-06-11T13:15:00.004-05:00

YES YES YES YES YES YES

Sorry just a TAD bit excited!!! I finally got a cabin booked! I kept going back to this one resort but it was pricy. I guess I hadn't looked before at their specials so when I did this morning, I was quite excited to see they were running one where if you paid for 3 nights, you got a 4th night free!!! When I calculated that out, the cabin I wanted became cheaper than any other I had looked at!! It has a full kitchen so we can hit Wal-Mart when we get there and stock up on food which will save us more money!

We will be leaving to drive there Monday morning, June 29th and then returning home Friday, July 3rd (just in time to have a fun holiday weekend back at home with friends). That gives us 3 full days and 2 half days to hang out.

I am going to purchase a 3 Day, 2 Park Splash & Play Admission for Silver Dollar City and White Water so that we can come and go as we please at the two parks. There is a killer go cart place that Jess said is a must that we go to. Not to mention all of the other crazy fun places in Branson.

I am so excited to have a full week off work too...that alone is awesome!!!

Tired.....

2009-06-10T22:45:00.003-05:00

I'm tired from work, sports, people, stress, etc...etc...etc....but I'm hanging in there.

I am sad, I was supposed to take the kids to Omaha this weekend to meet one of my dearest friends Rhonda, and her kiddos. We were going to stay at a hotel with a killer water park too. But...sigh...had to cancel it because both of our boys ended up having rescheduled ball games for Sunday so no go on the trip. Sad me...I miss her. She's been such a good friend to me since 1989 when I met her. We really need girl time, she's been going through a lot, as I have, and it would've been nice to just sit and talk with her. Oh well...we will get it planned again soon.

I have Monday off of work (had it scheduled for the above mentioned lil trip) and I am going to keep it. I thought about cancelling the vacation day but eh, screw it...I'll keep it and head to the pool with the kids. That is if the weather is ok. We've had crappy rainy days almost this whole week!! If the weather sucks...we can hit a movie or something else.

My goal this weekend is to get our Branson vacation booked. I have been on brain overload looking at all of the various places to stay. The kids LOVED the cabin that we stayed in last October in Estes Park so I am really leaning towards another cabin in Branson. The problem is...there is a gabillion to choose from in every shape and price! Ughhh, I just need to pick ONE! haha! It's either that or I go with a hotel. There's even more hotels to choose from but there are some with water parks, some with killer pools, some with nice ass rooms...choices dammit LOL

I think I've said this in previous posts...mama needs a vacation :) Mama needs to get away from everything for at least a few days!! *sigh*

Busy but Fun Weekend

2009-06-08T11:30:00.004-05:00

Wow, where did it go???

Kyler had his first baseball game for the season on Saturday night. They won 10-8! I love this year watching him play on the bigger field with the bigger/older kids. He is the youngest on his team and just looks so small!! He holds his own though! I didn't get any pictures of that game because they played on the scrimmage field and there isn't really a good place to stand to get any shots but it was only the first game, I've got time :)

Miranda celebrated her birthday with friends on Sunday. With everybody always so busy between sports/dance/vacations etc...we decided to do a birthday brunch...

Followed by some fun times on the trampoline...

Goofy times in the car...

An afternoon of rollerskating...

Finished off with a stop at Dairy Queen...

Oh it actually didn't stop there, they all went swimming when we got home but I stayed home :)

Busy busy busy

2009-06-02T12:47:00.003-05:00

Lordy where do my days go...it's summer right? Thought it was supposed to slow down...ugh!!

Miranda is in volleyball camp this week, every day from 1:30-3:00. So I'm running her to and from. Then of course she wants to go to the pool so add that to and from. Kyler comes and goes through out the day, he doesn't need mom to drive him anywhere...whew.

Well except for today. I have to take him to the doc's. He's gotten into poison ivy or poison oak over at his dad's house. It's all down his leg and arm. He's had it before but of course they can't just call in a script, gotta take him in!! So add that into my afternoon.

Somewhere between all this I have to be working. I've been able to keep up and also do some work in the evenings which is no big deal.

Mama needs a day off :)

Happy Birthday Miranda!!!

2009-06-01T09:04:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet Miranda. I can't believe she is 10 years old today, where in the world has the time gone???

Here are some cute pictures of her over the years. I could've posted a TON so I was good :)

Miranda and Kyler, Arkansas 2008

Christmas picture for 2005

Miranda's preschool graduation

Miranda on her 3rd birthday

Christmas 2001 - Miranda 2, Kyler 5

What happened to my routine???

2009-05-28T11:39:00.002-05:00

Oh yea...it is summer...UGH! This week has been a mess, I want my routine back please :)

I have got to force myself to go to the gym now when before it was just habit. This is the time last year when I quit going. I've got to get back on track before it is too late!!! UGHHHHH!! My friend Jen is going to join so she and I can go together in the mornings. She needs to hurry up and do that :)

The long weekend was fun. Miranda had a fantastic time at the lake and came back all sun burnt. Lil stinker! Kyler and I had a good time, he was at friend or friends were here all weekend. We went to my friend's BBQ, cosmic mini golfing and saw 'Night at the Museum - Battle at the Smithsonian'. It was a great movie! One I will def be buying since I already have the first one.

This week has so far been 'mom can I have some money' daily. I'm gonna be broke before June is over with!!! Both kids have gone to the pool even though it has been cloudy and overcast almost every day. They are kids aka nothing phases them!! I am waiting for hot sunny days to take some vacation time and head to the pool with them!

Speaking of vacations, I am thinking of taking the kiddos to Branson, MO for a few days. There is SO much to do there and none of us have been. It's only a 4 hour drive from me too which is nothing! Just gotta narrow down the days and pick a place to stay! They both want a cabin (like we did in Colorado last year) but I'm kinda leaning more towards a hotel with a pool or something. Who knows where we will end up!!!

NOW Schools out for summer!

2009-05-22T10:53:00.002-05:00

Yup, kiddos are done with school finally. I swear I don't know where this year went!!!

I do know that I am ready for a nice long 3 day weekend!! We get to 'leave' work at 3pm today but since I work from home I don't technically leave LOL

The boy and I are going to run the girl up to my mom's house. The lucky lil girl gets to go spend the weekend in a condo at Tan-Tar-A at the Lake of the Ozarks. My mom gets the same condo every Memorial Day and Labor Day. It's really nice!! This year my cousin, her hubby and their daughter (who is Miranda's age) are going as well. It will be a really fun time for all of them!! Not a clue what the boy and I are going to do!! I'm sure he will be hanging with friends golfing, riding bikes, or shooting hoops. Ahhh mama relaxation time!!

I hope everyone has a nice weekend :)

Purses!

2009-05-20T09:09:00.004-05:00

I never ever thought I would be that person that loves purses but I tell ya what, I kinda dig them. Now I am not the type that will switch purses daily to match an outfit or something but I do switch for occasions or seasons.

About a year and a half ago I was invited to a purse party and I thought...what the heck is a purse party?? Diva Girl Purses are in house purse parties. The rep comes to your house with up to 100 purses, wallets, necklaces, bracelets, sunglasses and even fancy flip flops! So I went to about 3 and even hosted my own. They were all in the fall though so I wanted to have a spring one!

I had my party last night and had a great turn out! Even had someone book a party off of mine which means I get to go to her party and get a free purse!!

Miranda's birthday is on the 1st so little miss thang decided she wanted a purse for her birthday. Ughhh I said ok ok (in the end her purse ended up basically being free for me due to the amount of my sales). This is the cute funky purse she picked out.

Me on the other hand went with something SOOOO not me. How damn cute is this giraffe print with hot pink?? Gawdy yes, but I love it LOL It's not too small and not too big. I got the wallet as well which came with the check book cover.

So fun! Can't wait for my friend's party, I think she's not having it until October...which means FALL stuff!!!

Schools Out For Summer!

2009-05-18T13:36:00.003-05:00

Well almost...the kids go through Thursday this week but to them, this week is just fun and play.

Today Kyler and the entire 7th grade class is spending the day at the park. They are having 3 on 3 basketball tournaments, softball games, lordy I don't even know what else. I can't wait to hear how he did today. His team had matching shirts and shorts...goofballs!

Miranda had her field day last week and got really sunburnt from it. I hope Kyler doesn't come home burnt today!

The weather lately is so great, it's 74 and sunny. I have my windows open and have heard the birds chirping all day!! I am so ready for the days to stay like this!!

I had a great weekend. I went to Iowa and actually ran into a couple of old classmates that I haven't seen since 1988!! I love going back there because you just never know who you'll see. I went to Bart's kids baseball and soccer games. It was a busy fast weekend but again, was a really good time.

Oh yes it's ladies night...

2009-05-15T10:41:00.004-05:00

It was Ladies Night at the Royals game last night. I took Jen, Jamie and Tina and we had such a good time. I haven't laughed like that in awhile. We had these old guys behind us giving us crap the entire game but it's ok, we were giving it right back!!!

Here are a few shots I took...

Me and Tina...she had on the hat that we all got as a freebie!

Jamie and Jen

Our version of the Kiss Cam

This one cracks me up, check out one of the funny old guys that were behind us! I had no idea he was sneaking in the picture!

Thought the sky looked pretty cool plus had to show off our good seats!

T Minus One Month Til Vacation!

2009-05-13T13:05:00.003-05:00

Where am I going???

VEGAS BABY!!!

Now I have been to Vegas before, actually in 2003 I went three times within that year alone haha!!! I love me some Vegas!! I have stayed at the Excalibur and the Luxor but this time I will be staying here...

Did you see that pool? Wowza! They have this new Go Pool which includes - "The DJ-spun music mix sets a lively mood as guests enjoy European-style sun bathing secluded by towering palms"....um sounds interesting but I think I'll pass on that LOL! I have been in the casino at the Flamingo but that's about it so I'm excited to wander around and see more of the hotel. We will be there for 5 days and 4 nights! That's a LONG time in Vegas but couldn't pass up on the deal that we got!! Flight and hotel for $355 a person! Crazy! Mama is ready to get outta town and have some fun for awhile!!! I haven't had a kid free vacation for about 2 years! YAY!!!

End of a Season

2009-05-12T19:34:00.002-05:00

I love this time of year but I hate it too. All of my shows are coming to an end which makes me sad but then again, I love seeing how they all turn out. Thankfully they are ending so I can step away from the TV and do something else...haha! I'm not that bad honestly, just love me some reality tv!!

Work is super busy but luckily I can work in the evenings as I watch tv so that's a bad thing...now that my shows are ending, what will I watch while I work??

The kids are done with school a week from Thursday. Ugh...since I work from home, that always makes for interesting summers. They will learn to do chores this summer so that they can earn money instead of coming to me daily with an open hand saying 'can I have some money?'.

Breathe....breathe....breathe ;)

Happy Mother's Day, I survived the 5k Race

2009-05-10T15:48:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone had a great day :)

I did it, I did my first 5k (3.1 miles) today and survived LOL I knew I would survive but it was such a rush. Tina and I knew we wanted run as much of it as we could so we started closer to the front then the other girls (runners, then walkers/runners, then walkers, then strollers). We had gotten about half way through and Tina's shin splints really started bothering her so she told me to go ahead and take off and run and she'd see me at the end. I hated leaving her but I so very much wanted to beat my personal walking record of 44 minutes.

The official results: I finished in 39 minutes, 39 seconds, which was a pace of 12 min 46 sec per mile. I got 76th place out of 97 women in my age group (35-39). It was an all females race, probably about 3,000 of us!! For my first race, I'll take it!!! Tina and the others followed with excellent times of their own! I am so proud of us girlies!!!

Here are some pictures from it!

The kids and I pre-race...should I be concerned about the ambulance behind us?

Tina, me, Jamie, April and Jen...we kicked some butt!!

Nice action shot taken by Miranda.

OMG post race...I did it!

Next up...a half marathon in October!! I am sure there will be more 5k races between now and then but that is the biggie I am striving for!!!

Play Ball

2009-05-08T10:06:00.002-05:00

FINALLY it is baseball season for Kyler. He has his first practice tonight. I absolutly love watching him play any sport but there is something about baseball that I love. This year will be exciting too because he has moved up to the oldest age group that plays in this league. After that he will be playing for the high school.

Here are a couple shots from his first game last year.

Next Thursday is Ladies Night at the Royals game. I got free tickets and a free parking pass so me and three of my girlfriends are heading out there. The first 10,000 women in get a cute Royals hat too! Can't get much better than lots of free stuff huh??

This Week...

2009-05-07T09:46:00.006-05:00

This week has been a really good week

I've had incredible workouts (new personal bests for my 1 mile and 2 mile walks/run times)
I'm back on the losing weight train
I'm feeling great overall
I'm excited for my 5k on Sunday
I'm considering doing a 1/2 marathon in October
I booked a vacation for June (details later)

You know you always hear people say 'think positive', 'don't dwell on the past', 'go for it without regrets'...things like that. Honestly, I am actually believing those things now and it feels damn good.

One last thing...

I wanted to thank my friend Sherri aka Wep. She has given me some awesome words of wisdom and as simple as the words were for her to say, they have sunk in and stuck and will be there forever now. So Sheri...here's a big THANK YOU to you!!!

Happy Mother's Day Video

2009-05-06T09:30:00.001-05:00

I see this every year and it cracks me up every time :) Hope you enjoy!!

Who Doesn't Love a Quickie?

2009-05-05T10:55:00.002-05:00

A quickie workout silly!!!

Summer is approaching fast (12 days of school left for the kiddos) which means for many of us, more skin will be shown! Granted I have been wearing shorts to the gym for a few weeks now, I have realized how much of a tan I am needing but that's a whole other topic.

For today, I wanted to share a couple links with you for some quick and easy workouts that anyone can do from home!

Love Your Lower Body - Flatten your belly, slim your thighs, and firm your butt in 2 weeks--without a single sit-up or squat

Tone Your Arms in 10 Minutes - Bare them with confidence in 4 weeks with this targeted routine

No More Flabby Abs - 10 minutes to a tighter, flatter belly

All of these basically say aim for two to three workouts a week of two sets of 10 to 12 reps for each routine. Simple enough right? I mean who honestly doesn't have 10-15 minutes a day that they cannot devote to this small of a workout??? I'm going to start to work these into my evening activities (aka watching every reality show known to man kind).

I've mentioned this site before but I really love Prevention. I get weekly emails of different workout and healthy eating items. Plus you can search and find any type of workout you want on there.

I believe I had said a few posts ago how I changed up my workout routine and sure enough, the pounds have started coming off again. I am now down 11 pounds since January, not a lot but I'll take it. I am now 5 pounds away from what my lowest weight was last year. I'm so close!!! But this time last year was when I stopped working out because school got out, my routine was all messed up so it was easier to quit. Not this year, I am going to get up and go to the gym before the kids are out of bed and get it over with for the day.

There's no stopping me now!!! Bring on summer!

Monday...again

2009-05-04T18:38:00.003-05:00

Hideho neighbors :)

Just wanted to do a quick blog, don't have much time to sit here tonight. The last week has been crazy, lots of emotions and brain farts but you know what, it's all gonna be ok right? RIGHT!

I had a fun fun weekend. Friday was happy hour with some friends I hadn't seen in years, that was so cool to catch up with them. Then I took off for Iowa. Remember the boy that broke my heart? Well we had some good face to face time and things are looking up. We are going to work through our trouble spots and give this thing a go again. I can honestly say I slept peaceful last night, the first time in about the past 2-3 weeks. Also it feels good to not cry daily too. I know, it kicked my butt but my butt is happy happy now.

My 5k is coming up on Sunday. Tina and I just got back from doing 3 miles at the track. I already had done 2 miles at the gym this morning. Ahhh feels so good to walk outside!!

Hope everyone had a good weekend :)

Welcome to the Jungle

2009-04-29T10:07:00.002-05:00

Holy cow...that was my yard last night. It was SOOOO overgrown and huge!!

We have gotten so much rain here, I couldn't have mowed even if I had wanted to! Well Friday it was nice so I went through my yard and picked up all the sticks and such (big old trees don't make me happy when they drop their branches on my yard) and then I got my mower out, filled it up with gas, primed it...pull once...no start...pull twice...no start...pull three times....FLING the cord split in two and came completly off the mower. Ooops, I guess the work outs have been paying off and I don't know my own strength! Crap...I wasn't happy then and wasn't about to run and go buy another mower. No I waited until last night to do that LOL It rained most of the weekend and through Monday so last night was the first nice night so I sucked it up and bought a new mower. Yes I know, for all of you out there saying I could've had it fixed, it was an old mower that had been given to me and it was a push mower. I wanted a self propelled anyways so that's what I bought. I put it all together, got the oil and gas in it, primed it and wala it started on the first try! Damn I'm good! An hour later my yard looks a hell of a lot better!!! I still have so much work to do on it though, I need to seed and I need to pull weeds and...and...and the list goes on. I am going to show Kyler how to mow so he can start doing it this year but honestly, I like mowing so I may keep that job for myself.

Speaking of working out, I have changed up my workout routine and I kinda dig it. I was on this cardio kick where I would do at least two miles on the treadmill each day. I stopped losing weight though so I thougth I better switch it up. So now on M-W-F I still do my two miles but on Tu-Th I do one mile and then I do circuit training on all the weight machines. I can totally feel a change, I am sore again which I haven't felt in forever and it's a great feeling!! I weighed today and had lost a pound from last week, hey it's improvement. So now I am down 9.5 lbs since January and am at my lowest so far this year. I have lost a lot of inches though! I have my weight log from last year when I worked so hard between Jan and May and when I looked back this morning, the entry for 4/29/08 was my lowest weight entry for last year. Kinda crazy it is on the exact same day! I am still 6.5 lbs heavier than I was at this point last year but I'm getting there. The difference will be, I stopped working out mid May last year and this year I won't stop :)

What a fun weekend!!

2009-04-27T08:49:00.004-05:00

Kyler had a great birthday weekend, in fact it was a ton of fun for all of us!

The Royals game was a blast! The give away was a Royals replica jersey representing the 40th year for the Royals so all the kids were so excited to get them.

Here are all the kiddos at the dugout watching the Royals batting practice.

The beloved birthday boy!

Silly kids!

I think the best part of the night was when we happened to look up in between innings and there were the boys on the jumbo tron! Thankfully I had my camera in my lap so I hurried up and took a picture of it! Then I made a copy of it zoomed in so you could see them better! Love Kyler in his foam Royals crown!!!

My baby boy is going to be a teenager on Sunday

2009-04-24T14:32:00.005-05:00

*sobs*

Kyler turns 13 this Sunday, where has the time gone???

Here are some of my fav pics over the years...

I Puffy Heart Love Spring

2009-04-22T12:02:00.002-05:00

It's 77 degrees right now...

I took the dogs for a nice mile walk at lunch...

They are now passed out at my feet with little doggie smiles on their faces...

I'm meeting my three girlfriends from high school for dinner tonight...

This might turn out to be a be a good day after all :)

(Lord knows I need it after the last few days...ugh)

How To Get Over a Broken Heart

2009-04-21T21:24:00.003-05:00

Today was a rough day...damn PMS. I was pretty down most of today but oh well...right?

I was given a link to read when I asked how to get over a broken heart so I'll copy and paste it here. It's a pretty good read.

*****

It doesn’t take a genius to ascertain that I keep a smart-ass establishment (drugs and horoscopes much?). But we all know that underneath the big, bad edge, smart-asses are really the most tender nibblins of all. So here’s a little love for everyone who has the courage to live, but most especially a couple of my bruised peeps - you know who you are. For everyone else, don’t worry - we’ll get back to the sardonic escapades in two shakes of Molly McButter.

Broken heart? Rejection? Failure? It hurts (and hurts, and hurts).

Here’s how to properly lick your wounds:

1. Take heart: you will not die.

Even though it really, really feels like it. Even though you can feel your heart physically swelling in your chest and pain pulsing through your entire body and your ribs are sticking to your sides like macaroni on a microwave - you will not die from this. It might mess up your mental and physical health a little in the short term (you’re allowed to eat some carbs, for Pete’s sake). But you will not die. It still hurts, though.

2. At least it’s a good hurt.

Vera Pavlova wrote:
“If there is something to desire,
there will be something to regret.
If there is something to regret,
there will be something to recall.
If there is something to recall,
there was nothing to regret.
If there was nothing to regret,
there was nothing to desire.”

3. Give yourself as much time as you need.

A lot of the angst of moving on comes from self-judgments about when and how and why you should move on and what you did wrong. Don’t compare yourself to others. You’re not nuts; you’re not strange; you’re not obsessed; you’re not a fool. Your big crime is innocence. The only sin you can possibly commit is doubting yourself. You’re just human and you felt something. At the time, whenever that was, it felt right. Accept that your feelings are your feelings and let them be (to paraphrase Marcus Aurelius). Feelings are hard to feel and even harder to understand. They’ll pass when the time is right and not a moment sooner.

4. Things simply are what they are.

And now they are different. They cannot be any other way. Life is a series of moments and all you really have to do in this life is accept them. No one expects anything more; and believe me, no one upstairs does, either. Sometimes those moments turn into chapters, but ultimately even the chapters conclude.

5. Treat yourself right.

Try to get out as much as you can (but don’t force yourself to jump into something new or go out partying every night). Talk to your friends, even if all you can squeak out is “it’s another rough one today”. Don’t worry about annoying them - even if you do, they are the ones who really know you and they will still love you. You can’t fool them anyway - even if you don’t say anything, they know.

6. Exercise.

A daily bout of exercise - walking, running, lifting weights, dancing, the elliptical, yoga - will help your brain both regulate and release your feel-good hormones. A bonded relationship causes your brain to release oxytocin, a powerful “commitment” peptide. When it goes away you can become depressed. So let those other helpful hormones fill in the void. Exercise!

7. Eat a lot of fat.

Beneficial fatty acids in things like olive oil, nuts, avocados and salmon will baby your brain and help keep your mood stable. Eat some at every meal from here on out.

8. Spoil yourself (but not too much).

Buy your favorite beer, enjoy an entire pint of ice cream. But don’t go overboard - you’ll just end up feeling worse. There’s no hard-and-fast rule for when you’re about to cross the line. I think you’ll know your limit if you listen to your instincts. In fact, I believe our instincts will never, ever let us down, if only we would pay them heed. (And remember, if you cross your line, that’s okay. Mistakes are not bad, they are learning, and that is what life is all about, right?)

9. This too shall pass.

I know - I know - it doesn’t feel that way right now, but the pain will pass. Reality bites and life will give your heart a ruthless pruning, but you’ll grow back even fuller. You might miss a season or two - no worries, so did the damaged peach tree I watched my grandmother coax for 10 patient years. The fruit it finally bore was the best slice of sweet imaginable. That memory has always comforted me; find one that comforts you.

10. Now is not the time to begin training for a marathon, overhauling your investments, or
perfecting your GTD system.

Initial small accomplishments can give you a bump, but if you’re using them to avoid feeling the hurt, that hurt will just come back with a wallop (I don’t know about you but I’m an expert at this one). Do make positive changes and invest yourself in projects that are both distracting and productive, because these things will help you move on with greater confidence. But just remember that as you take positive actions, don’t try to repress those feelings. Feelings always come out eventually.

Although, when they do…that’s good, too. Have a good, long lick and remember: everybody plans picnics in the park. Everybody carries a private hurt (or hundred). Good for you for feeling something and taking a risk. That’s called living and all we can do is our best in each moment.

There is no right or wrong; there is no should. There is only real.

You might feel sad and hurt, but guess what?

I think you effin rock.

My Little Sarah Palin

2009-04-20T12:08:00.003-05:00

*NOTE - this is not a political post...trust me!!*

All of the 4th graders were assigned a famous person to do a poster/report on. Miranda was assigned Sarah Palin. They are supposed to dress up like the person as well.

How do you think we did today??

Stunt Clinic

2009-04-19T18:15:00.003-05:00

Miranda had so much fun at the clinic. I had forgotten my camera, well honestly didn't even consider bringing it so here are a few pictures from my camera phone.

She's one of the smallest girls so she will probably be the 'flyer' for the squad.

She took a turn learning how to be the 'base'

As well as learning how to be the 'spotter'

Sick Boy

2009-04-17T11:36:00.003-05:00

So poor Kyler has been fighting being sick off and on for the past couple of week. He missed two days of school last week due to a sore throat. I took him to the doctor on the first day and the quick strep test was negative as well as the culture test. Great...so he was prescribed cough meds with codeine.

This morning I went to wake him up and he said he didn't feel well (what tween doesn't say that every morning??) so I kinda blew it off then but he wasn't getting up and kept saying he was going to throw up. He wanted to take his temp so he did and it was 103.6...wowza! I told him to stay in bed and rest while I got Miranda off to school. I didn't think too much of it because he was in a t-shirt and sweatpants all wrapped up in a comforter so I thought maybe that made the fever higher.

I got home and went to check on him, he was then just in his boxers with no covers on and he was SO hot to the touch, kinda freaked me out. So I called and got an appointment for him right away. The poor kid was so dizzy and disoriented from his fever, I felt horrible.

Here is a picture of him in the waiting room, he'd kill me if he knew I took it much less posted it LOL

So we finally get called back and his temp is at 103.4 (yay my thermometer is pretty accurate after all). They did another strep test and a flu test and this time the strep test was positive.

Sooo the lil bugger is now on good old Amoxicillin and Ibuprofen and sleeping soundly. I hope he gets to feeling better soon...poor kiddo!

Preview of my little Cheerleader

2009-04-16T20:26:00.006-05:00

I wanted to show off a couple pictures of Miranda. We got her uniform order taken care of tonight. I was able to buy a used top, shell and jacket at 1/2 price so that saved me $77! But I still had to pay $135 (even after the $74.50 cookie dough sales credit) for the briefs, socks, top, poms, and bag. I've already paid in $80 to get her signed up for cheer and another $10 for the stunt clinic she's going to this Saturday sooooo I'm $225 into it and it hasn't even started LOL

Oh well, she's excited for it and she looks damn cute so who cares right???

I also wanted to wish my fur baby happy birthday! Maddie turns 1 year old today!!!

Here she is on the day we got her, June 21, 2008

Here she is today!

What to write about today...

2009-04-15T10:46:00.003-05:00

I guess I can write about my munchkins today.

Kyler has really struggled this year in 7th grade. I'm really nervous he won't pull his grades up before the end of the year which is only 6 short weeks away. His father I are doing some things to see what the heck is going on with him...but that's a whole other post in itself. For now, I'm thinking positive that things will work out. He isn't doing any sports right now which I think was the best decision he could've made. Baseball is right around the corner, if he decides he wants to play.

Miranda has decided she wants to do cheerleading. How damn cute is that?? Since she's only in 4th grade, of course there isn't anything here in town to cheer for at that age. So we've signed her up to cheer in a league based out of 'the city'. She will cheer for our town's team, for her age group of boys that will play football in the fall. Kyler played football in this league in 6th grade before he played for his school this year. She has her uniform fitting tomorrow night and is so excited for it. Then she has a stunt clinic she is going to participate in on Saturday. Through out the summer there will be other clinics as well as some practices. In August the practices will become mandatory. The football games will be Oct-Nov I believe. Kyler told her he doesn't mind her doing this because at least he can watch the games while she cheers. What a good brother huh? LOL She has sat through how many of his various games for how many years??? hahaha!!

Let's see...

2009-04-14T12:31:00.004-05:00

What the heck has been going on in my little non blog world for the last couple months...

I think the last post I had done was on my birthday. I turned 39 and am loving it. I don't feel my age what so ever, never have! My three BFFs from highschool and I are going to try to plan a girls trip sometime over the next year to celebrate all of our 40th birthdays!

I FINALLY got to see Britney and the Pussycat Dolls...wowza, that was an incredible show!!!

Went to a Kansas City Royals game at the newly remodeled stadium and it is amazing!! I am going to take the kids to a game in a couple weeks. I can't wait!!

I'm still working out at least 4 times a week. I have only lost about 8 pounds total but I have lost a lot of inches and that's what counts. My clothes feel a lot better!!

I am still using my Nike + iPod to track my distances. I try to do at least 2 miles every time I workout. I have reached 119 miles so far. I am trying to run more each time but I am SO not a runner so it hasn't been that successful but I am still trying. I just signed up for a Mother's Day 5k that I really want to run a lot of it.

Took the kiddos to the Omaha zoo for a weekend trip. It's a fantasic zoo and I recommend it to anyone that can get there!!

Dated a guy I had gone to highschool with. We had reconnected last summer at our 20th reunion and in January some mutual friends thought we'd make a good couple so we started talking and making plans to see each other. It was a long distance relationship but we were making it work. But over time I came to realize he wasn't the person I thought he was and he really broke my heart. Live, love, learn and move on with positive thoughts...no regrets right?

I'm sure I am forgetting stuff but this was enough for now.

Sneaks quietly in....

2009-04-13T11:48:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone,

I know I know, it's been forever (actually it's been about 55 days) since I've blog...I'm sorry.

I hope to slowly get back into it, I need a way to vent my feelings it seems LOL

I hope I haven't been dropped off of many blogrolls but I am sure I have and that's my fault!

Anyways, just wanted to do a quickie and say I'll be back now!!

Happy Birthday to ME!

2009-02-16T01:39:00.001-06:00

Yup yup, I am 39 years young today :) Feeling great and loving life right about now!!!!

Oh and this is my 200th post, how cool is that???

Sorry I have been a bit MIA lately but just kinda in a blog funk so I will come around....I promise :)

Great weekend

2009-02-09T09:39:00.003-06:00

Just as I predicted...

Kyler's team won their first game 37-20! Then they had to play the team I assumed they would and they won again!! 37-28! They took first place in the tournament and all the boys were so happy! Here is a crappy picture but you get the idea!

After the tourney I road tripped it up to Iowa and had SUCH a blast going out with friends! I can't wait to go back up in a couple weeks to celebrate my birthday!!

Happy Friday

2009-02-06T11:17:00.002-06:00

I'm sneaking away this weekend! YAY! I'm heading back to Iowa to go out with some friends. Will be a super quick trip but well worth it I am sure!!

Kyler's team won again yesterday and he has continued to score in every game. I am so proud of him. He has a tournament tomorrow. It's a small one, only 4 teams. The first team they play they beat 47-27. Then the other two teams play each other, one of which we beat 52-7 and the other is the only team we have lost to. That was the very first game and we lost by a basket. I'm predicting we will win our game and the other good team will win so I'm thinking we will be having a rematch with the team we lost to and play for 1st/2nd.

I'll follow up with all the details soon :)

Quite the Proud Mama

2009-02-05T09:18:00.004-06:00

Kyler has had his name in the paper every basketball game so far but this week he had his picture too!! I was SO surprised when I saw it last night!!

The caption read as follows:

Kyler B. reaches for a rebound for the Paola Middle School seventh-grade junior varsity boys’ basketball team in a home game against Wheatridge on Thursday.

Just wanted to share :)

Another Award

2009-02-04T16:10:00.002-06:00

I received this award from Wendy over at freeul. Thank you sweetie :)

This award originally was started by "Wibeche" from Norway. I'm also am flattered by the honor.

"This is an award for being a wonderful Mom. You do fantastic work. Be proud of your accomplishments."

I will happily pass pass the award to the following wonderful moms:

Amy @ Escape Into My Thoughts
Tabitha @ Fresh Mommy
Summer @ Le Musings of Moi
Ashley @ This Mama Is Fr-exy!

I REALLY wanted to include my animal mommys too...maybe next time :)

For Jess

2009-02-03T09:09:00.005-06:00

Jess yelled at me today....

Said I need to blog and comment more....

So this is for her :)

This week is spirit week at Miranda's school. Yesterday was wacky day so here is how she went to school.

Started with the orange shirt but Maddie kept biting her so she took it that Maddie preferred pink.

We call this her Sanjaya hair....does anyone remember American Idol and the pony tail mohawk?

Let's see...what else....Oh Kyler got his basketball shoes stolen at school over the weekend. That didn't make me happy but then I was told today he hadn't had a lock on it since last Wednesday....UGH! So now I have to decide on filing a police report or just smackin him up side the head...kidding :)

I have decided to road trip up to Iowa to celebrate my birthday with some friends, that will be lots-o-fun for sure!!!

Jess and I have less than two months til Britney...thank god!

That is all for now...I will try to be better at updating this!!

I did it...

2009-01-30T09:25:00.002-06:00

I hit my goal of 30 miles in the month of January!!

I actually did it in about two weeks because my first real workout with the Nike + was on January 14th. I am pretty excited. I am still trying to run more but that will come in time, I'm not going to kill myself!

I think I will set my February goal for 45 miles, not sure I want to set it to 60 miles yet. I'll do that in March!

I'm doing my first 5k on Mother's Day...I'd like to be able to run the whole thing :)

Still need to...

2009-01-28T08:01:00.002-06:00

- Catch up on at least a weeks worth of blog posts

- Do laundry in my own house!! My new dryer came yesterday

- Hit my goal of 30 miles this month...I only have a few days left to do it but I think I can

- Get to the gym today. Have a sick girl home today so I'll have to go later.

That is all....happy hump day :)

This is getting old....

2009-01-26T12:31:00.005-06:00

Remember my power/heat/dryer going out here...

Well today I woke up to no heat again...UGH! I called a heating and cooling place and luckily someone was able to come over first thing this morning. It's 19 degrees today and a chance of snow all week.

Here is where my doggies were all morning...right in front of the space heater.

So repairman was able to fix it ($270 later)...the circuit board was fried. Hmmmmm that is the exact same thing that happened to my dryer! I decided to call my insurance company to see what my deductible was, unfortunately it is $1000 and my expenses haven't been that much. I swear I must have been hit by lightning or something.

My brand spanking new dryer is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. Thank you baby jesus! I am so tired of being without one for almost a month now!!! Can you believe that???

The weekend was good, didn't do much other than go out Saturday night with the girls from highschool. It's been fun reconnecting and getting together once a month.

I have some serious blog reading catching up to do!!!

I'm an ex Biker Babe

2009-01-23T10:54:00.004-06:00

So we had some nice weather yesterday and while driving to Kyler's game (by the way, another victory 42-23) I noticed a TON of bikes out and had to *sigh*....because...

I used to own a Harley. Yup I had a Harley Davidson Sportster....it was purple and oh so shiny and pretty!!

I got my bike back in 2003. I grew up riding dirt bikes so I had an idea of what I was in for but I went ahead and took the motorcycle rider's class because by doing that and passing, I was able to just have that added to my driver's license!

Here was me on the 2nd day I had it.

Look how little the kids were, cracks me up!!

Here is me after a long ride one day. I stopped to see my mom :)

One day I was out riding with a friend of mine and he took some pictures out by the lake, this one is my favorite.

I rode in the Bikers for Babies in 2005.

I sold my bike because I wasn't riding it as much as I should have been. I never minded riding alone but it was more of a safety thing. I was always worried about everyone ELSE, not me.

Miranda told me yesterday I should buy another....who knows :)

I got nothing to say

2009-01-22T10:02:00.001-06:00

Not feeling it...nope, not today.

Workout was tough, my legs are still feeling the bootcamp from Tuesday.

Kyler has an away game tonight, I'll update ya tomorrow on it if I blog.

Adios!

Boot Camp - Week #1

2009-01-21T09:15:00.002-06:00

Class was great! I am sore from it but it's a good sore!! We did tons of lunges, squats, cardio, weights...etc, etc. We went for a full hour! Before the class the took our weight and did our measurements. They will do the measurements again at the end of the six weeks but will do our weight weekly. I got up today and didn't want to attempt running so I just did 45 minutes on the treadmill instead. No need to kill myself!!

Kyler had a home game last night and they won 38-19. Maybe that first game was a fluke since it is the only one they've lost and even then, it was only by one basket! Go Panthers!!!

Another long weekend gone

2009-01-20T09:32:00.002-06:00

Ahhh so nice to have a few days off. I really try to stay away from blogging on the weekends so then I get to play catch up on Mondays, but for this week Tuesday since I was off work yesterday!

Let's see what exciting happened this weekend...

I went to a baby shower for my friend Jamie, she's gonna have a lil boy at the end of January!!

Miranda stayed the night at a friends so Kyler and I got to hang out Saturday night.

Sunday we hung out at Jen and Eric's and watched football.

Yesterday I had to go to the store I hate, Nebraska Furniture Mart, because my dryer ended up being too much to repair so they gave me a store credit to go buy a new dryer. I just hate that store, it's too big, too many people, too much to look at...ugh. So the kids and I went up there and we were in and out within 30 min max. That was even having to deal with customer service for the credit LOL It will be delivered in a week. I hit the laundry mat last night to dry the four loads I did at home. Hopefully I can wait another week to do laundry again...fingers crossed.

Tonight starts the 6 week Boot Camp at my gym. I am excited. This time it is an individual results boot camp. Last year I did a team Maxximum Challenge with Tina. They posted each week the percentage of weight loss. I assume they will do the same with this boot camp. I've got two weeks of work outs under my belt and have lost 5 pounds so far. I have kept a weight log for the past year and I am am the exact weight right now as I was on 1/19/08...crazy huh? I had lost 11 lbs at my lowest last year and I hit that on 4/1/08. I can do that again...no problem! I will hit that and then I will keep going. I will do this...

FRIDAY!!!!!

2009-01-16T08:51:00.002-06:00

I am SO glad it is Friday and the fact that I have Monday off for the holiday makes it THAT much better!!!

Kyler's team destroyed the other team yesterday by 52-7...that's more like a football game score isn't it?? Crazy! Next game is Tuesday at home!

It's SNOWING here...like lots of it coming down. The kids are thinking they will close school early. I guess they don't realize it's been worse this year. We just haven't seen it for quite a few weeks.

The last thing I want to talk about it my friend's company. I wanted to give a little shout out to her! Nicki has created this awesome little company called GiggleBug Boutique. It has some of the coolest, funkiest stuff. She informed some of her friends that a fellow blogger had done an interview and post about her so instead of me rewriting everything, I am just going to link to you it here...

All Things 4 Baby and Mom

Please check it out as well at checking out Nicki's website!!

Have a great weekend and don't forget to work out *hehe*

Baby it's cold outside...

2009-01-15T12:50:00.003-06:00

It's 9 degrees people...ugh! I know it has been colder but not for awhile now. This sucks LOL

I hit the gym again this morning and increased my running just a tiny bit more. I do not want to over do it to where I am too sore to work out the next day or start hating it. I am totally loving the Nike Mini, she cracks me up. I love how she dances and does other things. Cheesy yes, entertaining yes, motivating....well kinda cuz she's doing different things today after I uploaded today's workout results then she was doing with yesterday's results.

Kyler has another away game tonight, about 25 miles away. I have to haul butt to pick up Miranda at 3:10ish then to get to the game. On Tuesday we were a tiny bit late and I missed Kyler starting in the game. I was bummed but at least I was there.

Nothing much else going on, work is busy busy, that's part of the reason my posts have been short!!!

Gotta run to another meeting :)

Just a Quickie

2009-01-14T10:04:00.002-06:00

I'm super busy with work today but wanted to do a quick hiya post!!

I used my Nike+iPod kit this morning during my workout. How cool was that??? There is a little voice that comes on every 5 min and tells you how long you've been going. It's a nice reminder to hear.

I chose a different treadmill routine this morning, I went with a sprint one. Basically you walk fast for 3 min then you run for 1.5 min for a total of 30 min. At the end of it, the treadmill raises up making it that much harder. My calves were burning but I did it!!

I came home and sync'd my routine. Now you can see my results over there on the right. The little character cracks me up!! I have also added my distance goal for January. Since I am starting late in the month, I hope I can still make it.

Workouts, Basketball and Awards

2009-01-13T08:49:00.008-06:00

Workouts ~

Why do we live by what a scale says? Drives me...as Jess would say...batshitcrazy!! I have been busting my butt for the last week, working out and eating better right? Well I got on the scale yesterday and I had gained 3 lbs. What the heck!?!?! After I calmed down and realized I had probably been gaining muscle since I have been doing some weights too, I was ok with it. But your first instinct is to get upset because your goal is to lose weight. So for the heck of it I got on the scale this morning...just to confirm it and what do ya know...6 lbs lighter than yesterday. So in reality I lost 3 lbs this week. I don't think I had that much different clothes on but who knows. I'm gonna stick with the thought that I lost 3 lbs :)

So have you noticed my cute little character over on the right?? Wep recommended the Nike + iPod Sport Kit when I was debating getting the Body Bugg. I got the kit this weekend but don't have the specific Nike shoes and I wasn't going to buy them so I ordered the lace clip that laces onto the shoe and holds the sensor so it can be used with any shoe. I should be getting that any day!! So back to the cute character...what the kit does is track how far you've gone whether it's running or walking or whatever. Then you use the iPod to sync it on the Nike + website and it tracks and logs everything for you. I found that you can put the little character on your blog, facebook...anything like that. Poor thing is sitting at zero right now until I get my workouts logged when I get the lace clip. It's really cool though, there are lots of training tools on the website.

I am SLOWLY getting to where I can run on the treadmill. I have never been much of a runner but would like to try to. Yesterday I ran for one minute straight during my 30 minutes. Doesn't sound like much but for me it is!! Today...I ran two minute sprints and did two of them. GO ME!!

Basketball ~

Kyler had an away game yesterday and they won 33-13. He scored two baskets!! I didn't take my camera since it was an away game, I wanted to cheer as much as I could :)

Awards~

I got this blog award from Two Blessings From Above. What a cool mom who is totally into her twin boys hockey! I love getting weather updates from her too, it's brr brr brr cold up there today!!! Thanks for being a fun blog friend too!!

Here's the Friend Bloggy Award Scoop:

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

I am not going to tag anyone specifically but any of the blogs in my blog roll are 100% worthy of this award!!

Basketball and FMX

2009-01-11T15:25:00.004-06:00

Well Kyler didn't win the first game but he scored a basket and made three free throw shots. The score was 32-35, they were ahead the entire game til the last quarter...ugh!!!

Last night I took the kids to the FMX event that was here at the Sprint Center. If you like motorcycles and dirtbikes, this is the event for you. It was SO fun! We have gone before but it's always a good time. The pictures I took were all blurry since they were going so fast but I was smart and remembered I could take little videos with my camera so here are four of them!!

Game Day

2009-01-08T09:21:00.002-06:00

There he is, the handsome boy, on his first middle school basketball game day. He's played ball for years but this is the first year for any sport that is for the school. He tried out and made the team as I had mentioned before. The team is required to dress up (he picked this out) on game days which I think is pretty cool. It shows that they have pride in being a player on the team. They are required to keep their grades up as well as keeping their hair cut short (which I love because some of those boys look ridiculous with that long scraggly hair). I can't wait to take pictures and post them tonight or tomorrow. GO PANTHERS!!!

Are you sure it's not Monday?

2009-01-07T12:46:00.002-06:00

It's been one of THOSE days...and it's only noonish!!!

I get the kids to school then hit the gym for an awesome workout. I did a hard 30 min program on the treadmill then hit the machines and worked on my arms.

Then I went to my eye appointment. Yup, go figure, I have to get glasses again. I wore glasses from when I was a little girl through middle of high school. I could always go with or without so I got lazy and just quit wearing them. I always passed any eye exam so I never thought anything about it. Well now, after years and years of computer work and getting older, I have headaches constantly. Sure enough, he said my eyes are working way too hard so anytime I wear the glasses, it will be relaxing them and causing less stress on the old eyeballs. I picked out a cute pair (I hope) and they should be in next week.

As I was on the way out of the doc's office, I got a call from Miranda's school nurse, she had thrown up in the hall at school so I had to go pick her up. What the heck LOL

Then about an hour later, I got a call from Kyler's school nurse! He had mentioned his ear was hurting last night and he had gone in to see her today. She said his ear canal was pretty red. I told him to stay at school and I'd do my best to get him in. Of course they are completely booked so I am waiting to see if they can just call in an antibiotic or if I have to drive 25 miles to the nearest walk in doc office. Keep your fingers crossed...sheesh! He's got to get healthy though because he has his first middle school basketball game tomorrow which I am SO freaking excited about!!!

The kids go back to their dad's tonight and I am going to relax!!!!

Day 2...check

2009-01-06T08:49:00.005-06:00

Yes I made it to the gym again this morning...LOL A friend of mine got there shortly after I did so we talked as we knocked out 30 min on the treadmill. It helps having someone there to talk to!! I think the hardest thing for me right now is trying to not drink so much diet coke. It's my crack!! I have made some fake crystal light stuff and am drinking that to try to get more 'water' each day. I have never been much of a water drinker so it's hard for me!!

Now for fun stuff...

I received this wonderful award from Two Blessings from Above. THANK YOU!!!

Rule: Pick 5 blogs that you love or enjoy the most and pass along the award. It is that simple.

The Scattered Mind of a Tattooed Minivan Mom
Bad Mutha Fudruckers
Zander and Me
Escape Into My Thoughts
Le Musings of Moi

P.S. Make sure you post the award on your blog!

Depression

2009-01-05T08:54:00.003-06:00

So like practically everyone else in the world today, I went to the gym this morning. I got on the scale like I do on the Monday mornings that I go and I about cried, I mean I about punched the scale, I mean I about fell off the scale...yea that's it. I am the heaviest I have ever been, outside of when I was preggo. I guess you can figure out I didn't make my Christmas weight loss goal...LOL but then again I didn't put forth the effort that I should have so it's my fault that the scale went the total opposite way. Man, I am bummed but it's self inflicted right?

I HAVE to do this now, I have to lose this weight. It's totally depressing.

I have already gotten ahold of my friend Tina (*waves at Tina*) and told her that I wanted to start going in the evenings with her again. She was the one I joined the gym with last year and did so well with. I hope she can keep me motivated!!

Oh well...

They say if you write everything down that you eat/workout/whatever, it helps you identify things you are doing good or bad. I use the Prevention magazine website. You can create an account and then everything you log gets charted and it is really helpful! Guess I better start that bad boy back up huh??

Today is back to normal routine day!! The kids got up and off to school just fine. They were wired last night and didn't go to bed until about 11pm!! Crazy kids!!! Work is back to normal too. Already dealing with clients...yippee!!!

Happy Monday to all!

Relaxing Weekend So Far!

2009-01-03T16:33:00.002-06:00

Kyler has been gone all weekend, he went to the indoor waterpark with Jen and her kiddos again. They may be staying tonight too!! I bet they are worn out!!!

Last night Miranda and I went to dinner with my friend Jamie and her daughter, Ashleigh. It was a nice girls night out.

Miranda went to spend the night at a friend's tonight so I made some yummy dip and have my butt parked on the couch to watch football. I'm so lame and boring hahahaha!!!

Here is the recipe...it sounds different but it's soooo good. Jen made it on New Years Eve and I think I about ate the whole thing myself!

2 cans of mexicorn-drained
8 oz. real mayo
1/2 can of green chillis-try to drain
shredded cheddar cheese-any amount

Drain the mexicorn, toss in bowl with the real mayo and the other ingredients. Put some tobasco sauce on the top of dip as desired and chill in fridge.

Serve with chips or crackers Enjoy!!

Getting back in the swing of things

2009-01-02T09:31:00.002-06:00

I am back to work today, got lots of emails and such to catch up on but it's kinda nice to have today to do that and then be 100% on Monday when everyone is back.

It's been nice having this past almost week and a half off work. The kids and I have gone rollerskating a couple times already. We have such a fun time. I got some pictures from the first day we went. As you know in a rink, the lighting isn't the best plus everyone is moving so the pictures are NOT that great. I just had my point and shoot too so maybe if I had my Rebel they might have turned out better but I didn't want to drag that to the rink.

Not sure what Miranda is doing in this one but she's having fun!

I love sneaking up and pushing Kyler!

Getting ready to do the Chicken Dance

Kyler is such a goof...LOL

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T10:48:00.003-06:00

I hope everyone had a fun, safe New Years Eve!! I went to a party and had a really fun time. Nothing too crazy or anything, just fun people and hilarious conversations! We played a crazy game called Dirty Minds. You get three clues to guess what it is but it's not what you think it'd be...which is something dirty of course. It was fun!

I'm a couch bound, bowl game watching fool today! So this is all you get from me today!!!