Still Famous

Remember years ago when I posted that my Mom and I were famous at the rec center? Over the past couple years, they built an all new ginormous rec center that was completed last summer. It's so big that until recently I hadn't even been on all of the levels. A few weeks ago a coworker came up to me and told me he thought there was a picture of me on the third floor where the track is. Sure enough I went up there and as I rounded the final corner of the track there's a HUGE poster of my Mom and I. Same one as before but it looks like they reversed it. This picture doesn't do the size of it justice. That wall spans 2 stories to give you some perspective. Pretty cool! 

2013 Resolutions

Seems like it's become a tradition now that I make and post my resolutions for the year. I went back and looked at my 2012 resolutions. I'm not sure how well I did on them. My first one was to do more strength training, which I did very good until I got pregnant. I completely forgot about trying to eat meatless one day a week. Oops! Plus being pregnant I needed a lot more protein so I think that didn't help. I'm going to say that one was a fail. I did learn a lot about my camera though. There still is much more to learn, but I got some great shots and realized which lens I need to buy to fully accomplish what I want. I also realized how important photo editing is and what a difference that can make.

On to 2013!

1. Seeing as there are BIG changes coming to my family in a few days (induction on Monday!), my first resolution is to survive (first), adjust (second), and then enjoy being a family of 4. I have no idea what this will all entail but I'm very excited to be figuring it out.

2. Jumping back to the get in shape bandwagon. I've heard it's a lot harder to lose the weight after the 2nd kid, so my goal is to get as close as I can to where I was a year ago...while still juggling a new baby. I'm giving myself the year to do it cause I know it will take awhile. I also need to eat better. Christmas cookies need to go so I can stop bingeing on them.

3. I'm going to piggy back on my camera one from last year. This year I'd like to buy and master my new lens, plus also work more in Photoshop with editing techniques. These girls are only little for so long and I want to capture as much as I can.

That's it! and I think that's enough. #1 in itself is probably enough...Wish me luck.

Birthday Celebrations

Since birthdays come ever year whether you want them to or not, I figure I might as well celebrate. I spent the past weekend doing just that! Cran hosted a Thanksgiving Dinner/Birthday Party with us and the Moehrings. You won't believe this, but I actually took adult pictures and not kid ones! Just know that they were there, running all over the place. Sienna was determined to keep up with them. She surprised me and even played in the basement playroom and had no problem with Mom or Dad not being there. She's getting so big. Anyways, the party was a ton of fun and great food as always.

Can anyone spot Brent in this picture?

The next morning Mom had us over for a delicious brunch.

Sienna had too much fun partying the night before and couldn't even stay awake through the meal. Also note her shiner. She was running around our bedroom, tripped, and fell into my dresser - right into one of the drawer knobs. Ouch!! Poor thing. There were lots of tears but luckily not a very deep cut.

Bring on 32!

2012 Resolutions

I've been thinking for awhile about what my resolutions for this year should be. I can't say I've come up with anything great but there are a few things I'd like to put on the list.

1. Last year I said I wanted to get back in shape. I'd like to thank Life Time's Zumba classes for getting me hooked (obsessed?) and helping me accomplish this. I feel like my strength training has been lacking lately so this year I'd like to make sure I get that in twice a week.

2. This whole "meatless Monday" idea has had me intrigued for awhile. Unfortunately my husband is a big meat eater and really dislikes beans and most other things that would be a good substitute. I was thinking of trying to do a modified version of this idea and have one day a week where I either eat meatless or eat fish. This seems like a really big one for me to tackle. It shouldn't be that hard should it? Oh and lets be clear. I'm only talking about dinner, not all day long. :) Maybe all day will be part 2 of the resolution.

3. I need to learn to use my camera better. I started working on this last summer and it has helped. I think I mastered some good shots outdoors or with natural light. Now I have to figure out how to do that inside. Might need another class for this. Or maybe a new camera lens. That all counts, right?

That's it. If you have good fish or meatless recipe ideas send them my way! Happy 2012!!

2011 begins.

Happy New Year!!

As I do every year, I have been trying to come up with some good new years resolutions. I couldn't for the life of me think of what I had come up with last year so I went back and checked the blog. (love having a good record of my life) Apparently I couldn't come up with any good ones last year so I didn't have any! This year I have a couple.

1. A little cliche but I want to get back into shape. My baby weight is officially gone (Yeh!) but my body is weak and unconditioned. I need to get my cardio going again and tone up my muscles. I also need to stop eating numerous Christmas cookies and sweets every day. (I won't say exactly how many it's a little embarrassing) So it's time to bring on some healthier eating and let the workout regime begin!

2. I want to be nicer to Conner. He tends to get the brunt of my frustrations so I'm going to try to be more patient and share more love and kisses.

3. Relax about life and enjoy my little baby as much as possible. I know she's going to be a toddler before I blink and I have to take in everything that I can now.

That's it! Happy 2011 to everyone! Hope you have a wonderful year and can keep your own resolutions.

Chopped!

I've been asking everyone lately if I should chop my hair off or not. I'm not sure why I even bothered because deep down the desire to get rid of it all was bubbling up. Plus the added fact of having to go back to work in 2 weeks (yikes!) and I needed a style that would take very few minutes to do. Saturday it all came off. Here's the new do.

Happy Birthday to Me!

For a long time I was dreading turning 30. It sounded so much older than I felt. Whenever I'd see a teenager I always felt closer to their age than to someone who was in their 30s or 40s. Luckily, I have come to terms with it. I've realized that my 20s was full of super fun times and it got to be all about me. I accomplished many significant miles stones and wouldn't change a thing about it. Here's a few of the highlights...

Had fun in college...A LOT of fun! :)


Met the guy of dreams


Adopted a beautiful green eye kitty



Graduated and got my first real job (guess it's still my first real job)


Got married


Adopted my favorite little monster


Built our house


Traveled all over the country









Made so many memories with friends and family that I can't even begin to show them all. Now I'm ready to begin the next chapter of my life and what a better way to do that than by starting a new decade to kick it off. So 30s here I come! I hope you are ready for me cause I am ready for you.

5 Things

Abbie posted this game on her blog and I decided to play along even though I wasn't officially tagged. :)

1. What were you doing ten years ago?

Ten years ago I was 19 and in my sophomore year of college starting one of my most fun years. Such a carefree time with new freedoms and not too many responsibilities. Highlights that I can remember were Poms squad, track parties, joining Gamma Sigs, tongue piercing, hanging with the boys in Laux, I'm sure doing some studying, and many more that I can't mention because my mom occasionally reads this. ;)

2. What five things are on your to-do list for today?

We'll go with tomorrow because today is almost over.

-Long to do list at work to complete

-Try and catch up on some of my tv shows. So many to watch!

-Put together menu for upcoming dinner party

-Finish open bottle of wine

-Play with my pups

3. Snacks you enjoy.

Right now I can't get enough of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and cheeseballs.

4. Places you have lived.

Minneapolis, Woodbury, La Crosse, Edina & Shakopee.

5. What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?

-Quit my job and find a fun place to volunteer

-Buy my parents their dream house in AZ

-Travel to Italy, Australia, Hawaii, and wine country, CA - just to start

-Shop Shop Shop and Shop until my feet fall off.

-Put in a swimming pool and hire a pool boy


I'm going to tag Cran because she's a devoted blogger but anyone else is welcome to do it as well!

Blond Moment

I really wanted to come into work early this morning. I had an 8:30 meeting and wanted to get a few things done beforehand. Last night I literally thought for about 5 mins about what time I needed to set my alarm for, how many snoozes I could do and when I need to get up. Set the alarm and went to bed.

The alarm went off this morning. 2 snoozes later I woke up feeling great and refreshed. Got ready and started to drive to my bus stop. I was about to turn the corner and I noticed a big pothole in the ground. I thought to myself how nice it was that it's light out and I can actually see that pothole. Then the panic set in. I did a triple take at the clock while trying to figure out in my mind why it's light out when I'm supposed to be coming into work earlier. The clock didn't change and stated 7:30 - my usually arrival time.

I must've set my alarm for 6:20 instead of 5:20. No wonder I felt so great when I woke up!

Blast from the past

One of my favorite years of school. Had to share!

Tweet

Well I bit the bullet and joined Twitter. I'm still not sure about this whole thing but I'm already starting to get addicted. :) My biggest issues are the site can be REALLY slow and I get impatient with it quickly. Also, their search engine sucks. You can't search for your friends, or at least I haven't found a way how to. If anyone knows please fill me in. It is fun to see the updates. I think once I get more used to it I'll like it a lot! If you are on it let me know your page so I can follow you!

3 simple pleasures

After reading Angie's blog I've been thinking what I would say my top 3 simple pleasures are. It was really hard for me to come up with them. There are so many!!! These are my top 3...at least as of today:

1. Flip Flops. I had to stick with one of Angie's. I love not wearing socks. I love being able to take my shoes off easily so I can sit on my feet or sit cross legged (as I am right now). And what is more comfortable than a flip flop? NOTHING! So great.

2. The first sip of an ice cold Mt Dew from the can. OMG I can taste it right now. Mt Dew is the only non diet pop that I'll drink and it's soo worth it to me.

3. Getting off my Shakopee bus in the morning and seeing my SW bus sitting right behind waiting for me to get on and continue to the U. I get so bored having to wait for my next bus to come. It's especially bad when it's so cold out.

What are your 3 simple pleasures?

Mortified

I am still a little embarrassed about this but it made a great blog moment so I had to post...

Justin took me to Lifetime yesterday to sit in the hot tub with him. We've never tried using his guest pass before so I had never been to this Lifetime. As we're driving there he was telling me how clean the locker rooms are and how nice everything is. He gave me a quick tour of the place and we parted ways at the separate locker rooms. I walk in and the first thing I think is, wow this is really small compared to the U! There was one long row of lockers and then another smaller row perpendicular to the first. There were a couple other women and some kids in there but overall it was pretty empty. I pick my locker and start to change into my swimsuit. As I'm changing I get this really weird stare from one of the girls in there. I didn't think too much of it, just that kids sometimes stare and chalked it up to that. The other weird thing I noticed was the floor was really dirty. Water everywhere and lots of clumps of hair. Yuck. Hair is my pet peeve and started making mental notes to tell Justin how wrong he was about the cleanliness. As I finished changing and started to search for the pool door I see a man walk in the locker room with his kids. I almost died!!! I found the pool door and darted out of there. Apparently I had gone into the family locker room where people change their kids...not themselves. Oops! Could you imagine what would've happened if I had been mid-swim suit change and that guy walked in? No wonder that girl was giving me weird looks. Needless to say after hot tubbing I grabbed my clothes out of the locker, did a small walk of shame, and found the women's locker room.

25 Random Things

I keep getting tagged on facebook to list my 25 random things. I thought it'd be fun to put them on my blog for all non-facebookers. Here they are in no particular order.

1. I like my job but love my coworkers and all the perks way more.

2. I minored in math but have a hard time doing simple calculations without a calculator.

3. I am a horrible speller.

4. I love how my husband makes me laugh every time I try and get really mad at him.

5. Once I start something I can't stop until I finish it (books, movies, puzzles, etc).

6. I hate being cold but I always am and am waiting for the day that someone invents a nose warmer.

7. I hate being hot even worse. Really bad heat and humidity makes me feel like I can't breath and I get dizzy.

8. I love stalking people through blogs, facebook and such.

9. I have never puked from drinking too much.

10. I love playing video games either on my computer, PSII, or Wii. I used to even buy a monthly subscription to download unlimited games from this website but I played all good ones so I dropped it.

11. I do secret shops at restaurants and some retails stores.

12. I love being nerdy and getting made fun of for it.

13. I danced for 23 years and I really really miss it.

14. My step sister and I are only 5 months apart. All growing up we got asked if we were twins.

15. I hate talking about politics

16. I love entertaining and having people over to my house. Usually this includes some form of red wine and/or really bad for you food which I love equally as much.

17. I am terrified of being pregnant and losing control of my body.

18. At most restaurants I have to brush all the salt off my fries before I eat them.

19. I taught dance for 1 year and didn't like it. Loved the kids but hated coming up with choreography.

20. I always thought by the time I turned 30 I would have my life all figured out. Turns out now I don't think that will ever happen.

21. My mom and I talk on the phone at least once a day.

22. I once locked my cat in the fridge for a couple hours. oops!

23. I can't be at home for too many days/nights in a row or I get really antsy unless it's the middle of the winter and then I never want to leave.

24. I did a magic show my for family ONCE when I was a kid and somehow my husband watched the video of it. I have never heard the end of it since.

25. I'm not really a sappy person but I have to say I am so lucky to have so many wonderful and supportive family/friends/neighbors/coworkers/husband/pets in my life. They make every day worth living. Love to all of you!

New Years Resolutions

For the past couple years I've tried to make fun new years resolutions. 2 years ago it was to take more pictures and last year it was to wear cute clothes that make me feel good in them. I also added a bonus one of having Justin smile better in pictures. I think I've done pretty well with both and we're still working on Justin. :) Along with continuing the past years, this year I've decided to be boring and cliche - I want to spend less and save more. I know, lame, but I think it's fitting for this economy. So if anyone has great tips on little ways to save let me know, I'm all ears! Also it would help if you discourage me from all those starbucks trips, and tell me that I don't need to spend the Express coupon just because it's a great deal. hehe. Happy New Years to all!

5 years ago today...

we got married!!! And what a fun day it was. I can't believe it's been 5 years already. The time goes so fast. It was fun to go back and look through all of the pictures. Here are couple for you to enjoy too:

The boys.


The girls.


Us!!


Heading to the reception


At the head table


High school girls.


Also a happy anniversary to Rocky & Lori!! You guys picked a great day to get married on. :) And Happy Birthday to Lucy. Can't ever forget your bday pup!

Kinda Famous!!

Earlier today I was at the rec stretching after my spin class. I remembered that a couple classes last semester got photographed so I scanned the posters for people I knew. I got to one and slowly started to recognize the hair cut, tank top and person in the background...It was my mom and me!! I'm the one up front and she's the one in back. Not only is this on the wall at the rec but it's also in all of their brochures. Whoo Hoo the back of our heads are famous!! I will gladly autograph anyones brochure. :)

A 3-fer

3 things I want to blog about. Might be a big post!

First I got my hair all chopped off yesterday. Super cute so I had to post it. Hopefully these pictures aren't too muppet like. It also already passed the convertible test. We were out driving yesterday and there were no tangles afterwards. LOVE THAT!





2nd Justin brought home some flip flops that Spalon was selling to see if he liked them. We both tried them on and determined that they are horrible! I think Rocky summed it up best when he said, "My toes are in jail!!" See for yourself.



3rd the acorn squash in my garden has over taken everything!! It started as this tiny little plant, so I put it right in the middle. Mistake! Maybe I should've read to see how big they get. It's now covering 4 pepper plants, the basil, oregano and about to over take the cilantro. We better get some good squash in the end.

It's the big leaves in the back


You can see the basil poking through on the left.

Blast from the past

Yeah, that's me a few years ago...

Last night I went to my old dance studio - Woodbury Dance Center - recital. It was so fun to see my old line do their routines and amazing to watch the dancers. They are incredibly good! Of course it brought back tons of memories especially seeing the middle schoolers in their awkward years. There was one girl who was so skinny that seriously my arms were bigger than her legs. She looked pretty tall, so I'm guessing (hoping!) that she just hit a growth spurt and will start to fill out soon. I couldn't stop staring at her though and not because she was that great of a dancer. It was a little scary looking. And of course the whole show made me really miss dancing and being involved in that whole scene. Such good times. Maybe I really will start taking classes again in the fall?!?