"If we cannot live so as to be happy, let us at least live so as to deserve it."
~Immanuel Hermann Fichte

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

a few of my favorite things

 ...in no particular order

Elijah's hugs
Pudding
Maiah's kisses
Diet Pepsi
The gym
Vernie's smile
WoW and even better - my Dissension friends
Talking to Kirsten
Brandon's sense of humor
My new shoes - so sexy
Running
My pillow
Bridal sessions
Dancing (in the kitchen. with my kiddos.)
Maiah's laugh
my Victoria's Secret lotions
movie night/girls' night out
Calla lilies
the Beach
Happy babies
Cuddles
Fog
when headache medicines actually work :p

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Eve

Have you ever worried that all you've got was somehow not enough? That's me this Christmas Eve.
Have you ever missed your family or loved ones during a special day & just wished you could change things and show them that they mean something to you even though they're far away? Yep, that's me too.
Have you ever had a sweet little monkey-babe smile at you and make everything seem almost okay, if only for a moment? Their hugs work too, and kisses are the bestest. Yeah. I heart my monkeys, and that's me this Christmas Eve.

Normally I love Christmas. I still do, I just feel a little detached this year - like something's missing. I've spent a lot of years in Utah and have developed a few traditions with my aforementioned babes, but I guess I haven't been caught up in monkey-joy just yet. I'm sure having Chinese food with Vern's family followed by some hopefully smile-filled Christmas morning festivities and our own traditions will bring some good times.

Yeah, it's just been a slightly blue-ish Christmas season thus far. Maybe more blah than blue - but definitely off regardless. Thankfully, I do think all of  my babes will be happy, and so am looking forward to enjoying them (and all of their smiles, hugs & kisses) this weekend. I'm channeling good thoughts to those I love who are far away. I didn't even do cards this year (again) but I'm hoping people feel loved regardless. I was able to do something for my dad that made me feel good. He felt loved I think. :) Hopefully I can do things for everyone else on my list as opportunities arise.

Merry Christmas (or whatever you may be celebrating) peoples! I hope that this entry finds people smiling, healthy and enjoying their loved ones. I'll add tree pictures once Santa arrives. :)
Hooray! Santa made it! My kiddos are going to be so happy when they wake up. Now I hope I can somehow sleep so I can enjoy them in the early morning hours. lol Physically I'm exhausted, but my mind has had problems shutting down & letting me sleep of late.  
Wish me luck!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

a merry-wishing sort of blog entry

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a few days. I've been battling the sickies, trying to get some work done and getting ready for Christmas. I'm all excited to see my kiddos' excitement on Christmas morning - that's my absolute favorite part. :) 
Christmas kind of snuck up on me this time around. I just haven't been all that into it, but we were at least able to do good things by our kiddos in the end, so all is well. 
I'll do my annual Christmas Eve pic tomorrow & hopefully my kiddos and I will all be feeling well enough to enjoy Christmas morning.

Meanwhile, I hope that all of you blog-reading friends are enjoying your holidays. I wish you all happiness and good times. :)

Monday, December 20, 2010

sweetness

For those of us in need of a hug, a smile or some dose of sweetness in these last days before Christmas, I've got just the thing.
Awwww... yep. I love that little face so much! It worked for me. :) If the sweet face of a little one doesn't work for you the best consolation prize I can come up with is to share my cherry cordial kisses. So there. :p

/squishes!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

tis the season :)

We're headed Christmas shopping today. I'm hoping it's a one-shot deal & we're able to get everyone everything we're hoping to get. We shall see! 
Yesterday's photo shoot with Kori & Ryan went awesome. They're going to have a LOT of fabulous pictures when I get them all sorted, sharpened and such. I crashed after getting them uploaded last night (it was such a long day) and am hoping to get a chunk of work done today in between things to start uploading sneak peeks to the private blog for them to see. 
I didn't get to play WoW at all yesterday & today is looking iffy. I'm having withdrawals and am hoping to be able to work hard enough on pics to feel like I've earned at least a dailies run & maybe a heroic if I can catch a guild run. :)
Oh, and with all of the junk food of late an actual get-off-my-butt run would be nice. I really really want my gym membership renewed for Christmas. 
I need to get a shot of my kiddos for a blog-style Christmas card, but you're all stuck with more April face for now, since that's what I had for a quickie attempt at some Christmas wishes.
I hope you readers are having a wonderful holiday season!
Squishes!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Monday morning

It's almost time for me to go pick Elijah up from school, but I wanted to get a quick entry in here first. It feels like it's been awhile.

Arinne hit 85 last night! Just working on gear and rep (mostly for gear) now. I got to heal a couple of runs last night too. (Yay!) Healing in cataclysm is going to be a bit more challenging maybe, but so much fun. :)
...okay, so it's Tuesday evening now & I'm just now coming back to this. I had to go pick up Ej yesterday & then my day snowballed from there. So yeah - I just made dinner & am wanting to log into WoW but here I am to finish this up first. :) I don't even know that I have anything amazing to say. Just hi - I'm here, the kiddos are good and, um - ooh! I can report that I a good temple run last night, and that Ari can run heroics now (though the mana strain should be interesting) and um, no I haven't gone Christmas shopping at all yet. There's not been a way to do it yet. Hopefully things will work out. Kori's bridal/wedding shoot is on Friday so I'll be really busy here soon, and yeah. That's all I've got.

Hugs!

Thursday, December 09, 2010

just another Thursday night

Kirsten's drama showcase at the jr. high tonight was fun. She's so awesome! :)
I was able to get the cataclysm download and played with Brandon last night & got Arinne to 82 this morning. Yay! I'm loving exploring the new stuff - so fun. :) It's been awesome having lots of people on & in vent too - I heart my WoW friends. There are still a few missing, but I'll take what I can get. I hope we get all set to raid & play together. That's the bestest. :)
I'm desperately wanting a treat of some kind and have nothing. I don't even have the ingredients to make something. No pudding. No cookies. No sugar fix of any kind. Sadness.
The race I was thinking might be the next one to train for looks like a no-go after all. I'm a little sad. Mostly because I'd love to have another race to look forward to - though the thought of a 1/2 marathon in March was a little scary. lol I'm hoping to find something to work toward again. Yeah. Gotta find one that fits.
Brandon finally crashed after his couple day blitz to get Groshen to 85. He was fast! He was first in Dissension. He managed to clean the kitchen after helping Nina out with I think hers, then fell asleep the moment he laid down. He looks so cute all curled up on the couch now. :)  lol
It's a little cold down here tonight. I need some fuzzy socks or something. Brrrrrr...
I could use a hug too.
Oooooh, go me! I found a cake mix! There are cookies baking as we speak. It might not cheer me up completely, but it's a start. lol
 I'm torn between cuddling up with a blankie & my book, or finding some socks & finishing out vashj'ir. Mmmm... and my cookies should be ready. Hooray!

Well, either way - 'night blogland! :)

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

cataclysm

So Brandon started playing the cataclysm content last night - I was able to get him the digital copy in time for him to be ready to run as soon as it went live. It's been fun watching over his shoulder. It'll be even more fun when I can play too. :p I was hoping we'd somehow be able to get both of our copies right away but no, I'm still waiting. Starting out a little behind isn't new to me. Thank goodness for friends who'll hold my hand and help me when I'm the lost noob!

There, it feels better to at least mention that I'm excited for the expansion - just don't have it yet. :)
Have a great day!

Sunday, December 05, 2010

the finish line

I figured I'd share the shots from the finish line yesterday. We're all sweaty, happy and sitting in the field listening to the award ceremony. I'm still so proud of us!

When the owie muscles all go away I'm hoping to convince Lauren that she wants to run one again. :)

 
 
 
 
 
 
I'll share the pics from today's excursion to Arches national park soon. It was funny hiking the 1/2 mile to the delicate arch viewpoint with our sore muscles today. lol Good times. :)

Saturday, December 04, 2010

pictures will follow

...but I will say tonight that I'm so happy we did this 10k!

The snags didn't stop - but some will make for good memories. :)
Ask Lauren about her chapstick. And me if I can perhaps spot the port-a-potties at mile 3. o.O
It was much colder than I'd hoped, and I struggled with unexpected things (like having to pee so bad the last 2 miles that I could barely run for fear of accidents lol) but my time wasn't too horrible for a first timer. I came in at 1:10:56 (makes the pace 0:11:37) Ty came in at 1:18:25 (0:12:38) Lauren crossed the finish at 1:19:25 (0:12:47) and Vern was at 1:22 (0:13:17).
 I should have come in under an hour. I could have. If I could have pushed at the end like I planned I'd have made it, but I wasn't going to risk an accident so bounce was kept to a minimum. lol I almost cried when we had to cross a bridge over a stream and run alongside it for a bit.
It's all good. I'm ok with things overall. I had so much fun and am already wanting to train for my next race. :D And hanging out with Laurie & Ty is always fun. We're swinging through Arches National park on our way home tomorrow. Fun!

And like I said, there will be pictures.

Friday, December 03, 2010

ready or not, it's 10k time!

So I'm almost all packed and ready - we leave in the morning for Moab! We pick up our packets tomorrow afternoon after getting checked in to our hotel & try to be ready for race day come Saturday morning.
Wish me luck! Or Speed! And endurance! Yeah... All of the above would be good. o.O
After the sickies & the constant lack of sleep of late I'm just hoping to feel good & strong Saturday morning. I did everything I could to prepare my noob-runner self, so even with the last minute snags I'm just hoping for a good race day.

We'll be back Sunday evening and I'm sure there will be stuff to say. :)
Have a great weekend!!