Musing

I must admit I often think of great things to blog about when I am out and about doing things. For some reason the ideas seem to flow when I am driving in my car, grocery shopping, cleaning my house or pretty much any time I am not sitting at the computer. By the time I have time to blog I don't have energy to do it and so unfortunately many of my ideas are lost and gone forever. Another frustration I have about blogging is I never quite feel like I can take what is in my head and fairly transfer it to the page. Even now as I write this post I feel like my thoughts are all a jumble and not making sense. Silly, I know but true.

This, however, is not what I intended to blog about tonight. I just feel an immense amount of gratitude tonight. I just got back from Relief Society and a wonderful dinner and program. One of the things I enjoy about this time of year is the constant reminder to think of others. It is so refreshing to forget my own problems and trials and think about someone else and what I can do for them.

I really want this holiday season to be a special one and really bring Christ into our home this Christmas. I don't want to spend all month stressing about everything I "Need" to get done. I want to be able to focus on others "in need" and feel like I can do something about it. I want to be able to bake cookies with my children and deliver them unanimously to neighbors, I want to read uplifting Christmas stories every night, sing carols, and play in the snow with my kids. I want my kids to see that it is fun to give. It will take a little planning but I hope to make it work.

Lastly, sorry to change the subject yet again, but I wanted to write about my awesome running buddy. I think I am a bit selfish when it comes to running. I am not happy running with just anyone. My running buddy fills a very important need for me. It isn't just about the exercise, but the conversation and the whole experience. Running with my friend Jenn filled that need and I was very sad when we weren't able to run anymore. Fortunately, my dear friend Nicole took a risk on me and decided to join me. My only wish is that we could run more than twice a week. I look so forward to Friday and Saturday. I love running but I love running with an old friend even more. Thank you running buddies past and present.

Yeah, I know it has been forever...

I figure now is as good a time as any to start blogging again and even though it has been almost 18 months since my last post I am not going to backtrack but rather move forward. So today you get to hear about my running.


I have gotten back into running (yay!) and I am trying to improve my 5K running time. The last 5K I ran was in August and I finished in 38:47 or something close to that. I know not super fast but I was proud of myself for running the entire way. I ran a 10K a couple weeks ago and finished in 1:21:29. I was hoping to finish under 1 1/2 hours so I was happy with my finish and once again I ran the whole way without stopping or walking. My current goal is to finish a 5K in under 30 minutes. I had a little hiccup in my training recently, however, and I lost my running partner. I have been having trouble finding a suitable replacement and therefore have had to run on my own. This wouldn't be too big of a problem except I am not a huge fan of running by myself in the dark wee hours of the morning so I have resorted to going after Abby leaves for school. I like being able to sleep in a little but this also means I have no child care at home and end up pushing the jogging stroller with two fighting kids, which is less than ideal. I may have a partner for Friday and Saturday so that will help but we'll see.

Anyway, now to my point, I timed myself earlier this week to see how I was doing time wise and was a little disappointed when I was pushing myself pretty hard and still only running at 12 minute mile pace. Of course I was pushing the stroller, but I only went 2.5 miles and took a break in the middle to let the kids play at the park. I'll admit I was feeling like my goal was a bit farther off than I had originally hoped.

Today, however, I was able to go sans stroller and children. It was raining but that didn't really bother me. I mapped out my route beforehand, a 5k with .2 mile warmup, and set off. I pushed myself a bit but not super hard. I actually felt pretty good through my entire run.

As I ended my run I whipped out my phone hoping to see a time under 40 minutes. I was so excited to have finished my entire run, including warmup in 36:31. It took me 3:37 to complete my warm-up so I ran my 5K in 32:54. That is about 10:40 per mile. I can't believe pushing a stroller can make that big of a difference. Especially since my stroller really is quite easy to push. Anyway I am very excited.

I am planning to run a 5K on Thanksgiving and now my goal is to do it in under 30 minutes. I know it will be challenging but I hope it will help motivate me to keep on my training schedule. So wish me luck, oh and if anyone is reading this and looking for a running buddy, let me know!

365 Picture Project Blog

I am creating a separate blog for my 365 picture project. I have decided to make it private because it will have more info than I am comfortable posting on a public blog. If anyone is interested in being able to see my blog just let me know and I will give you access.

Time to Start that Diet again

I have to admit something. I am somewhat of an eternal dieter. I am not big into fad diets or anything extreme I just find myself falling off the wagon often so I have to buckle down every now and then and evaluate my habits. Of course at the moment some of the extra weight I am carrying is merited but there is a lot more that isn't. I am thinking of starting a blog or some sort of support group this time around in hopes that maybe there is at least one person out there who could use a support buddy too. I haven't figured out exactly how it will all work but if anyone is interested in joining me I would love the company. Now is as good a time as any, right?

Picture a Day project

About a month ago I came across a fun idea on my friends blog. I really like the idea and wanted to do something similar myself. Basically the idea is to take a picture every day for a year to document your life. I also thought this would be a great way to better familiarize myself with our camera since it has so many great features I never use.

Anyway, I decided my birthday would be a good start date and since that was Thursday I have already taken my first three days of pictures. Not quite sure if I will post all the pictures on my blog but for now here are my first ones.

Here is my first picture for my 365 project. Since daisies are my favorite flower, Mark and Abby brought me home a big bouquet of them on my birthday. I took several pictures but this one is my favorite. Just leaves me with a smile on my face. 4/17/2009










Here is my cute boy, Ethan, hanging with me outside. He will only be my baby for a few more days which is kind of hard for me to grasp. So silly of me, since he really is a big boy as you can tell from the photo. 4/18/2009

















Do you see what I see? Okay so this picture is just silly. For those who can't tell what it is, this is looking down and my belly. I was kind of hoping not to be pregnant today and well that hasn't worked out yet.
Since last Tuesday, I have been having bouts of contractions that I think are the start to labor only to have them stop after a few hours. Last night I was so convinced that we sent the kids to Grandma's house. Alas no, I am still pregnant. I am still a week from my due date so honestly I shouldn't be disappointed but I am growing tired (literally) of being up half the night just to have it result in nothing. 4/19/2009

There was a whole website on the project if anyone wants more info on this project http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/

Bye Bye Binky!

I meant to post about this a few days ago but kept forgetting until now. I would have just forgotten it all together but I feel it is a pretty monumental thing and since I am terrible with a journal the best place for me to save my memories seems to be on my blog and website. So folks here it is...

Ethan is finally weaned of his binky! Wahoo! I threw the last one away on Sunday and he hasn't needed one for more than a week. admittedly, I am not sure what problems we will run into when Savannah arrives and gets a binky, but I am hoping it won't be too big of a problem.

Some of you may be wondering how we succeeded in this not so little feat so I will tell you. The trick was a birthday gift Ethan got from his Grandma Derrick. She gave him a little Thomas the Train Engine with a little track. He absolutely LOVES it! He didn't want to part with it the first night he got it so we let him take it to bed with him. He was so caught up in the train that he didn't even think about the binky and fell asleep without it. He has pretty much done that every night since. Okay, I will admit we did have a few relapses where he got the binky again but only a few times and they were actually mostly naps. He very very rarely even asks about it anymore which is why I felt comfortable enough to throw it out. I also didn't want Mommy and Daddy reverting back to it when we had a bad night or something. So it is gone. Mommy and Daddy are happy. Ethan is happy. Life is good.

Who would have thought a little plastic train would be the solution to our problem. LOL

My Poor Family

I have to admit the last couple weeks have been less than ideal for my family. I am not "officially" on bedrest but I am supposed to be taking it easy since my blood pressure is climbing. My Mom has been amazing and has taken the kids as often as she can as well as making dinner for my family and even cleaning my house. I honestly don't know how she does it, especially since she has the needs of her own ward weighing on her too (She is Relief Society President).

I know this is hard on Mark. He gets to be Mr. Mom whenever he is home so he doesn't really get a break for himself. It might not be so bad if the kids were their normal selves but they are all out of sorts at the moment.

Abby is super emotional, even for Abby. Today she started crying while watching an episode of "Authur" on PBS. Ethan is super whiny too and has resorted to temper tantrums when he doesn't get something he wants which seems to be about every ten minutes or so.

I am trying to give the kids and Mark attention as often as I can but there is only so much I can do being confined to "relaxing" and trying to stay off my feet. Don't get me wrong the kids enjoy reading books together and coloring but when the weather is nice they want to go out and play and I can't even take them for a simple walk.

I am not trying to complain because at least I am better off than I was when I was expecting Ethan, but I just feel bad for my family and I hate that feeling of being helpless. I keep telling myself just a couple more weeks, but even then we will never get "back to normal."

I really am excited for Savannah to arrive and I want her to be able to arrive healthy and when she is really. It is just hard that I can't be Mommy at 100% right now.