Dear Baby Jane

Dear Baby Jane,
You have the most amazing parents. (And your Aunt is pretty cool too!)

You're perfect in absolutely every way... beyond what we could have expected, imagined, hoped for.

I've always admired your Mama, but I have a new perspective now.  She's truly amazing! I know you already think so too. Just look at you already trying to grab at her mouth!

On the other hand, your Daddy can do anything! There's never been a thing that he hasn't been brave enough to try at least once.  I have no doubt you'll have great adventures with him.

Baby Jane, you are already loved so, so much.  The world is a much better place now that you're here to share it with us.

Guess I better go ahead and set up a new blog label, huh?

up to

looking - forward to catching up on the latest episode of Big Brother soon. I've really gotten to the point that I watch hardly any TV and I'm ashamed to say that I've been watching this stupid show three times a week for the past few weeks. Trash. But trash I hate to miss.

trying - and hoping to have an 80 mile month since I have been slacking on my running a little bit this summer. It may be a little closer to a 75 mile month but either way it will be an improvement from June.

reading - Twisted, Silver Linings Playbook, and Violets of March

waiting - for my niece to arrive

making - Pioneer Woman's version of restaurant salsa and Chicken Spaghetti

cursing - my children under my breath every time they start singing Katy Perry's Firework again

working - my triceps and pecs in the July Push-Up Challenge. I've done 50 push-ups every day in July and managed so far to work myself up to doing half of them man-style and the other half from my knees.

watching - The Spirit of the Marathon movie which leads me to...

regretting - not signing up for the FF marathon training program that just started

thinking - about these words from Romans 11, "For from him and through him and for him are all things." The preacher spoke about this verse last Sunday and I've been mulling over it periodically ever since.

packing - leaving for New York later this week. Going to fly for the first time with kids. Even though they're 7 and almost 4, please pray for me. Also, if you have some tips on how to occupy them in the airport I'd love to hear them!

fuming - over my Instagram account getting hacked earlier this week.  Stupid annoying jerks! I think I got all the crap taken down but I'm still so ticked about it!

considering - doing another DietBet challenge in a month or so.  I've done pretty well this time at maintaining my 6 pound loss from the last one. If I can add another 6 pounds to that I'll be incredibly happy.

wishing - someone would just make me a new running playlist.  It's one of those things that I always put off doing and then I find myself listening to the same songs every. single. run.

loving - I got these tear-off placemats for the kids to do this summer. The intent was that they could do them as I got dinner on the table, but we've done them at random times during the days. At any rate, they are wonderful! My kids love them and I enjoy the fact that they're not watching more TV. I got ours at Sam's, but now see that they're available on Amazon as well.


What's everybody else up to?

random phone dump + latest nature box

Oh goodness! We've been busy this week!

Saturday we went to watch the pole-vaulters on Fourth Street.  It was nothing short of amazing.

We had an enjoyable lunch while this was going on right outside the window by our table.

Of course we had to stop by KK on the way home since it was their 76th birthday and dozens of doughnuts were buy one get one for 76 cents.

We went to church and did a consignment sale drop-off on Sunday afternoon.  Then my parents kept the kids while we did our long run and came back to shower for date night. 

Jonathan and I went to eat at Fratelli's and then tried to make it to see The Lone Ranger but since we were late we had to settle for Grown-Ups 2 which was horrible.  At least the company was good though!

Monday we went to the Farmer's Market and I made a fresh tomato pie.

I've also had pre-employment meetings, drug tests, and a meeting at the Y called "My Kids Are Driving Me Crazy!" Ha! That one was funny.

Yesterday we went to see Turbo and then celebrated my dad's birthday with dinner out.

I know y'all are tired of hearing about it but this one was SO good.  I feel like I have to at least mention it.  My latest Nature Box included

• Cheddar Pub Pretzels (new to me)
• Lemon Meringue Waffles (new to me)
• Taj Mahal Snack Mix (oldie but goodie)
• Cherry Ganache Granola (one of my faves)
• Roasted Kettle Kernels (one of J's faves)

My next one is on slate to arrive early next week and in it I requested

• Toasted Cheddar Stix
• Whole Wheat Blueberry Figgy Bars
• Cheddar Pub Pretzels
• Honey Crunch Crisps
• Cherry Ganache Granola

I wanted to repeat a couple of my favorites and also try some new ones which is what I've done the past couple of times.  It works for me!

If you sign up you can use the offer code HEALTHYME at checkout to save 50% on your first box. That makes it $10 for 5 snacks which is less than you'd pay in the grocery store.

Full disclosure: I get a credit whenever someone signs up off my referral link, but I've continued the service regardless of whether or not I've had credits.  I like it enough to pay for it.

update on goals

How did it get to be mid-July already? Seriously. Where did the time go?

Since we're halfway through the year I figured it would be a good time to check on my 2013 goal progress.

Here's the goals I set:

• read 40 books
• get more involved at church
• run at least one half marathon and complete at least one triathlon
• take my kids to Disney World
• (re)read New Testament gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
• spend more time taking care of my physical living space
• sell a bunch of my crafting junk
• lose 15 more pounds and maintain that loss as well as the thirty I've already lost
• plan a couple of trips to states I've never visited (not necessarily go, but at least plan)

Here's where I stand currently:

• I'm only at 9 books when I should be at 20.
• Not really any more involved at church besides being in a small group again.
• I've done at least one half marathon and have already registered for 2 more, plus a triathlon.
• Disney trip is scheduled.
• Reading through the New Testament but I'll admit I'm wayyyy behind. I should be done by now but I'm still at the beginning of Luke.
• Have made no progress whatsoever on taking care of our living space.
• I've sold none of the crafty stuff.
• I've almost maintained the 30 lb loss, well I'm within 8 pounds of it... still a work-in-progress...
• We're going to Buffalo, New York later this month and while it's a state I've already been to I do think it will inspire some other travel ideas and maybe we'll get the itch to start planning.

Well!  That sure did get me a little discouraged, but also motivated.  Better go get something done!

How are you doing on your goals for this year? I’d love to have you share your progress on your goals in the comments. Let's encourage each other!

high tea with Cadbury + a giveaway

my beautiful pregnant sister in her party hat

In true British style, Julianna and I had the chance to host a Blue Bunny Cadbury Ice Cream Bar tea party.  

We invited some people over and threw on our party hats and socialized while eating ice cream bars. What more could a girl want on a hot summer day?

tea party hats

The flavor choices we tried were

• English Toffee
• Royal Dark
• Caramello
• Vanilla Chocolate

I thought Cadbury was known for their eggs, but after eating these ice cream bars I know they will be better known for their partnership with Blue Bunny soon.

The new ice cream bars are fabulous. Very rich and creamy and several people commented on how they didn't expect the chocolate coating to be as thick as it was. People pointed out how normally ice cream bars try to jip you on the chocolate, but not these. They were delicious!

I was also surprised at how few calories they each had.  We recently bought a box of Drumsticks at the beach and they had around 280-300 calories a piece and I was surprised to enter these Cadbury bars into my LoseIt! tracker at only 160-170 calories each.

You can follow Blue Bunny at Facebook.com/BlueBunnyIceCream, @Blue_Bunny and Pinterest.com/BlueBunnyIC.

I was not compensated for this post, but I did receive the party kit as part of a promotional program with Cadbuty and MomSelect.  The opinions are as always my own.


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Random, but if you're interested in entering for a chance to win a free weekend at Myrtle Beach you should follow our personal condominium page on Facebook and enter the giveaway. It ends tomorrow!

stories

Being a mom to a boy sure is a different thing.  I went for a run a couple of nights ago and when I left the kids were laying in the floor with pillows and blankets watching a movie.  When I came back, Josh had a teddy bear in his underwear.

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I was scrolling through Instagram on my phone as we waited for a table to become available at a restaurant one day recently and I flipped past a picture of a baby with a black flower headband on.  Josh quickly said, "Stop, Mom! Go back to that picture of Baby Jane! Why is she dressed like a pirate?"

Translation hints - Baby Jane is my sister's baby due to arrive in August. Josh thought the black flower headband looked like an eye patch.

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Josh loves the commercials for the GoGo Pillow.  In case you haven't seen it, a GoGo Pillow is a pillow that you can tuck your tablet into so you can prop it up or sit with it comfortably on your lap and play games hands-free.

Josh likes this GoGo Pillow so much that he's been asking for a tablet non-stop.  Not because he wants the tablet, but because he really wants the GoGo Pillow.

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**Not that anyone cares, but I wanted to provide an explanation as to why I haven't blogged more Jules stories lately. As she gets older I have a stronger desire to protect her privacy and respect her life stories, learning, and curiosity. I hope that one say she'll share her own stories with the world, but if not that's OK too.

running races

My first real race longer than a 5k was the Hospice Hope Run 10k in April 2007.  If you've been a long time reader then you may remember that race didn't go so well.  My journey to become a runner started before that but I don't have much documented other than this goal I set when I turned 29. 

I've participated in lots of races since then.  A couple of weeks ago I ran a local 10k and set a new PR at 1:07:02.  I was hoping for somewhere between 1:05 and 1:10 so I'd call it a success.  I didn't train as well as I could have for it, but I wasn't hoping to win any awards or anything like that.  I just wanted to have fun. That it was.

My friend Michelle ran with me through the hilly course.  She also ran Mistletoe with me last year.  This year we even made the news! Ha!

Next month Julianna is going to run her first 5k and I am equal parts nervous and excited for her.  She's not excited at all and it's totally OK.  I know she's not going to like everything I like.  I know she can do it though.  She's run 3 miles a few times before just not in the race environment.

I have thought a lot about committing to a marathon this year, but I have decided to put it off again.  I'd want to train with Fleet Feet and that's not in the cards for me this year with the only 2013 training beginning next week and there's the fact that I'll be starting a new job this fall.  It is most definitely going on my list for next year.  Someone get pumped and do it with me!

So that brings me to...races officially on the calendar:

• Mission 5k on Saturday, August 10, 2013
• Ramblin' Rose Triathlon on Sunday, August 18, 2013
• City of Oaks Half Marathon on Sunday, November 3, 2013
• Mistletoe Half Marathon on Saturday, December 7, 2013
• Rock 'n' Roll Raleigh Half Marathon on Sunday, April 13, 2014

Not sure who is going to run any of these with me besides the 5k since we're doing that with our Run For God group with church.  I might just be running a couple of them by myself, but either way I am just thrilled to be running and have some races on the agenda.

It always blows my mind when people say they don't understand how I can run. I know from experience that if you do something enough times you start to miss it when you don't do it anymore. Also, ice cream tastes better after a run.

If you run, what races do you have coming up?

What are you excited about lately?

testing

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I signed up for Bloglovin' and while I still prefer and still will use (at least for a while) The Old Reader, I've seen that many people are making the switch to Bloglovin' so I wanted to make it easy for you to follow me there if you so desire.

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then and now

I've been posting a lot on Instagram so if you'd like you can follow me here.

June 2013

August 2009

August 2009

June 2013

August 2009

June 2013